Toxic (76 page)

"Dammit," he mumbled. "It's blocked and I can't see any opening mechanisms."

"Let me see," the biologist said, contorting himself to reach him.

He then felt the solid barrier and inspected its frame, as the marine had just done.

"Shit! He wouldn't have done something so stupid. He planned a way. He had to."

He was talking about his father, the colonel understood.

The girl tugged at his sleeve.

"I think I felt a sort of hole a little while ago. Like a niche."

Bruce and Masters looked at each other. The soldier wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve.

"Where?"

She pointed backwards. "Not too far."

They found the cavity by running their hands along the walls. The tiresome exploration was a success.

"I found it," Masters whispered, sliding his hand into it.

He felt around until touching a lever. He smiled at the biologist, who let out a sign of relief.

"I'll follow."

The device controlled a lock, which allowed the grating to fall in one piece.

"Everybody out!"

Alva and Alison gave him beaming smiles, relieved at getting back to fresh air. He didn't dare dampen their spirits and contented himself with a light tap on the shoulder while helping them extract themselves from the tunnel. They became disillusioned at the moment when they set foot in the stagnant water.

"How do we get out of the moat?" Bruce said in a whisper.

"No idea."

Masters looked around him, searching for a solution. After the villa-bunker, the safe room and the secret passage, they were only going from one prison to another. He raised his eyes to beyond the concrete wall. This one was under an open sky. That was progress.

"For the love of God!" Dan exclaimed before controlling himself. "Pardon my language, my Reverend."

The latter leaned towards the hole in the hatch. The explosion had destroyed the shelves and bed as well as reduced the boxes to pieces, spreading their morsels everywhere. They didn't find any bodies, which brought up the same questions as before:

"Where are they?"

"They were hiding here in any case," one of the men confirmed.

He pushed aside the mattress and then kicked away the burst cans, the contents of which covered one of the walls of the safe room.

"They also had food for a regiment. Too bad."

"I don't' care!" Dan grumbled. "I want to know where they are! There has to be an emergency exit."

"I don't see anything that looks like one, boss."

The loyal lieutenant left the room, swearing, followed by his spiritual leader.

"I understand your frustration, my child."

"Yeah. Those bastards are slipping between our fingers and this is really starting to piss me off."

"Maybe it's time to move onto something else?"

Dan scowled.

"Out of the question. We owe it to our brothers who died back there at the farm."

"As you say."

"I'm going to catch them, my Reverend. It's just a question of time. They're around here; I can feel it."

The white-haired man raised his hood.

"I hope," he whispered.

Elaine handed the communication sphere to Jool.

"I want to get some air," she told him. "I need time to think."

They went back to the interrogation room and its long table bolted to the floor. The alien led her to the airlock.

"I did my best to protect the members of my groups. You must understand my position."

"Of course. Everything will be alright."

How could she know if he was sincere, and what he was really thinking?

The creature was more than seven feet tall. Regardless of his monstrous stature, from a human point of view, his features were impossible to decipher. He could have just as easily said that it would be nice out tomorrow, without an ounce of emotion appearing on his smooth features.

We transmit so many things in our non-verbal communication
, she remembered. A wink of the eye, the furrowing of eyebrows, the corner of stretched lips. She didn't perceive any of these signs among the aliens. It was worrying.

"I sure hope so."

She stepped into the airlock and once the door was closed, she was able to go back to the fresh air and Hector, under the strict surveillance of Richardson's men. The nurse took off her respirator and placed it on top of the oxygen bottle.

"How are you,
chica?
" the Colombian asked.

She didn't have the time to respond, as the leader of the platform took her aside.

"An expedition risks exposing us to an attack. You've seen our facilities, so you know how important what we are doing here is. The alien made you a promise that as a responsible man, I can't keep. It wouldn't be a good idea."

Interesting, she told herself. Richardson didn't completely consider Jool an ally. Those creatures behaved in a very dry way, as if they were going after different goals or that the presence of humans was an annoyance to them rather than an advantage. Even in their actions, they were hard to read.

"Jave won't come if my friends aren't here, on this platform, safe and sound. They're my friends and I want them back."

And I need Dewei
, she thought.

"You trust that alien, that Jave. Is he a Lynian?"

"I don't have a choice. It's the only card that I can play. And as for him, he trusts me. He saved me from a bad situation that would have killed me if he hadn't helped."

Richardson smiled. Elaine wondered what that spontaneous expression meant.

"I don't have enough men to carry out a rescue operation, especially if we're going to encounter serious resistance. If we run into that, the members of your group are already dead."

Elaine shook her head.

"Maybe, but at least I would know."

"If we find them, they might think my men are the enemy and shoot at them. You will accompany them to guarantee their safety in that case."

Leaving the platform was out of the question, Elaine thought. He was right: the work being carried out here was too important, and she needed to keep an eye on the progress. She turned towards Hector.

"I can offer a better option."

Richardson sighed.

"You never give in, do you?"

"My dad taught me one thing: don't stop until you reach your goal."

"You think that trafficker will agree to help you? When we snagged him, he looked like he was running away."

In turn, Elaine smiled.

"He owes me. As a good Latino, I'm sure that he will honor his debt. Can I speak with him?"

"You have five minutes."

Since their first encounter on the semi-sub, she had asked herself so many questions about him and his sincerity, about his goals in this world of perdition, about his relationship with Alva and about how much to trust him. When he had been shot in the shoulder, she hadn't hesitated a second.

She insisted on his decision to abandon the group once again.

Hector looked penitent. "
Chica
, it wasn't that easy. Far from it. Don't think that I left happily relieved to be rid of all of you. If that were the case, I would have never let you back on board in Key West."

"And you don't need to ask me,
chica
," he continued. "I'm going to find them and bring them back. Alive.
Te lo prometo
."

Elaine put her hand on the trafficker's shoulder and her lips came close to his ear.

"Most importantly, don't tell them about Dewei."

"The Asian?"

"Don't call him that. He has a name. There are vats down there, full of infected that are being..."

She interrupted herself. How could she define this type of operation?

"...repaired. Dewei might have come out of one of them."

"
Madre de Dios
," Hector mumbled. "Are you sure?"

"No, but my intuition tells me. But Dewei is still very important. Our survival depends on him."

"OK,
entiendo
. I wouldn't be surprised if they were keeping living dead locked up somewhere. You should be on the lookout. They showed you what they want to do with you. Surprises,
chica
, are never good, especially when it's not your birthday."

"I'll try to remember."

Richardson put an end to their meeting. Hector confirmed his wish to join the expedition and even offered his boat. The leader of the group consulted with Jon, who approved the integration of the new member to his team with a nod of his head.

"Timing is crucial; I need to make speed the priority. Your boat is too slow, so it will stay here. Under guard, of course. We might have to fight to get your people back."

On the other side of the window, the creature was following the discussion.

"You can use the drugs," Hector said.

"The drugs?"

"You can't just arrive and shoot at everyone. It might end up happening, but you need something to trade. Offer them cocaine."

"What will they do with it? There are no more users."

The Colombian winked at Elaine.

"We know one."

On platform A, the nurse watched the men walk down the spiral stairs around the metal pillar. She didn't take her eyes off of Hector until he got on to one of the boats. Before they left, Annie's brother came up to her with a serious look on his face. Soldiers preparing for battle, Elaine thought.

"I hope that you're right, otherwise everything we created here won't count for anything. We have a responsibility towards humanity."

"Bring me my friends," Elaine responded. "That would be a good start."

He leaned towards her and placed a kiss on her cheek. She moved back, surprised by the sweeping gesture.

"In case I don't come back. Thanks for my sister."

"Uh... your welcome."

T
he T-J flew over the Mediterranean, leaving behind Rome, its Coliseum and its history. According to the tera-servers, this water basin had been the cradle of many human civilizations. Jave understood it easily. An enclosed marine space offered a cocoon, which encouraged the development of navigation, exploitation and most of all, trade between the communities established on its edges. On a larger scale, the Collective represented the equivalent of an interior sea linked via a communication network, the branches of which extended from the edge of the large galaxy that the locals called the Milky Way. The races who had been lucky or intelligent enough to discover this kingdom of commerce hidden in the heart of several nebulae were located on one of its millions of dots. Plants, moons, and stations that were springboards towards prosperity.

Trade frees
, the members of the Combinate claimed. That was a point of view shared by most of the members of the Collective, all of whom were vendors, buyers or often both. The merchandise never had the right to speak.

Jave had entrusted the navigation of the T-J to the onboard calculator. He had been counting on thinking through the operations to follow during the flight, but the Säzkari was worried, and for a good reason.

"You know," he started, "I almost never work in the field. Normally, I carry out my experiments in my laboratory and then deliver my conclusions. The samples come to me, and I just need to request what I need."

"Are you worried?"

The reptilian's tongue sniffed the dry air of the cabin. He pointed to the cryo-coffin attached to a standard pallet in the middle of the cargo hold.

"I'm monitoring it. We'll only have one chance."

"You already told me. I think that the idea will work."

"Is that your talent whispering to you or do you hope to get by letting the sand slide over your scales?"

"I don't have scales," Jave reminded him.

In the same way that plants withstood severe weather conditions, the cryo-fluid preserved bodies, stopping their cells from exploding under the effect of the ice. The revival process was partly based on medical information and on experience to a significant extent. The fact was known: they had never revived a human, or even tried to do it up until the past hours.

Elaine had practiced this art on hundreds, or even thousands of people during her life. At least, he hoped.

"By leaving Rome, we're lowering our chances of reaching our goal. You realize that, right?"

"There's a way to increase them."

"A miracle? You have all of my attention, Emissary Jave."

"You're going to have the help of an assistant. A human female."

The doctor let out a long whistle. His head scales turned purple with surprise.

"This one is a sort of Säzkari, like you. Before the invasion, she cared for her fellow creatures in centers that they called hospitals. She will share her experience and knowledge with you. I will get her to agree."

"In that case, you may be right."

Satisfied with the effect, Jave made the excuse that he needed to stretch out. He went up to the cockpit. After closing the door, which slid silently behind him, he opened the palm of his hand. The Lynian wrote a message. He read it several times before encoding it. Once it was sent, he went back to his place, wondering if the Primark was going to take the bait.