Blood Harvest (10 page)

“Yep, concussion,” he softly spoke out loud, understanding why the word had been flying around in his head the entire time since he’d regained consciousness.

Searching his pockets the best he was able, Steve located his wallet, keys and cellular phone. He opened the flip phone and scrolled down the contact list until he found the one he wanted. Depressing the send button he waited until the line connected to the other end.

“About time you called ass face!” came over the speaker end in a volume far too loud for Steve’s condition. Chris Barnes was in his usual jovial mood, playfully reproaching Steve in his own humorous way. “What, were you planning to keep me hanging all night? Dude, that is so not cool and I have half a mind to…”

“Chris…” Steve’s voice was so cracked and so slight he was barely able to get the word out.

Silence followed on the other end of the receiver.

“Chris…” Steve spoke again and this time his voice was marked with the pain that accompanied the effort to speak.

Chris’ voice and attitude changed to a deadly seriousness.

“Hurt or sick?” Chris said gravely as if he already knew the answer. Over the phone Steve could hear Chris’ footsteps hurrying over hardwood floorboards and the sound of keys being scooped up from a countertop.

Steve tried to reply but his head started swimming and his eyes began to lose focus.

“Steve,” Chris spoke calmly and directly into the other end, “Tell me where you are.”

Steve could barely focus enough to respond; he was only able to utter an unintelligible sound as he slumped to one side.

“Steve! Concentrate and tell me where you are!” Chris almost hollered in a commanding voice.

Using every last ounce of effort Steve managed, “Dumpster. My place I think.”

“You’re in the trash?!?” Chris sounded panicked. “Can you climb out?”

“No.” Every word seemed like a full physical effort so Steve limited his answers as best he could.

“Holy crap dude! What days do they collect at your place?”

Steve tried to think but his thoughts were muddy.

“All right, never mind, I’m on my way. Stay with me, keep talking and I’ll be there before you know it.”

Steve couldn’t stay awake anymore as his body slid into the filth that lay beneath him. He gave a silent thanks that his head landed gently on something soft and dry as opposed to a used diaper or some other such nastiness.

“Steve!” Chris urgently yelled from the other end of the phone line. Steve looked to his left hand and was amazed to see he was still holding the device.

“Chris…” Steve managed.

“I’m coming bud, stay with me.”

“I’m still here,” Steve whispered into the dark as the shadows danced around him swallowing him whole into a sea of black.

Welcome to KTLA Channel 3 News. Our top story this morning:

The United States division of the World Health Organization has declared a state of emergency surrounding what appears to be a biological or chemical agent let loose inside the popular nightclub “The Inferno” last evening at approximately four minutes past midnight. Officials on the scene are reporting a serious contaminant used primarily in biological or chemical warfare was released into the ventilation system of the trendy nightspot, resulting in several casualties. The officials are not releasing the names or the exact number of victims nor are they stating the mortality rates among the victims; however, they do feel the threat has been contained and the surrounding area is free of any danger of exposure. Lead officials on site had this to say:

Currently we are detecting absolutely no residual traces of the suspected agents outside the nightclub. We are in the process of performing sterilization procedures to the interior of the club, at the completion of which we are confident all remnants of the agents in question will be eliminated.

Clean up continues at this time and all traffic has been re-directed around the area. Most gridlock has been kept to a minimum due to the light Sunday traffic in the immediate vicinity, but commuters are cautioned to take alternative routes for the majority of the day. We will update this story as information is made available.

Chapter 10

The Pharmanetics Building, Downtown Los Angeles

Corporate Headquarters, Pharmanetics Corporation

Alex Daniels loved working the weekends, particularly on Sunday since the building was so quiet and peaceful he could actually relax inside his executive office. He would look out the floor to ceiling windows, see the ocean on a clear day and read the Sunday paper while drinking a decadently heavy cream café latté and eating a scone.

His company had struck it rich with two different patents on new cancer drugs evidencing the same success rate as traditional chemotherapy without all of the side effects associated with normal cancer treatments. Not that there hadn’t been a few problems along the way. Rival companies had released similar drugs first, which caused Pharmanetics’ cash flow to plummet to the point the company had declared a Chapter Eleven bankruptcy.

Alex scrambled and found a group of investors who were willing to infuse substantial amounts of capital into Pharmanetics. The group’s only stipulation for the investment, aside from a significant amount of ownership in the company (which Alex had been reluctant to part with), was for Alex to employ one of their hand-picked executives to oversee their interests within the business. This liquidity of cash enabled Alex to “grease the wheels” within the FDA; the drugs passed through the human trials in half the time it would normally have taken to have the substances legally approved. The money also funded a massive PR campaign for the drugs once they were available to the public and the drugs sold at unbelievable rates. Now Pharmanetics was one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world and one of the largest in America.

As Alex scanned through the Sunday paper, CNN played on the 60” plasma TV from the wall across from his desk. He had been paying partial attention when the news of the incident at
The Inferno
had been announced on the national news. Details about the condition of the victims were now being released:

Eyewitness reports state the victims were in a comatose or catatonic state, but there appeared to be no fatalities.

Alex lowered the paper and stared off into the distance of Los Angeles. The news broadcast now commanded his full attention:

Apparently, the list of casualties includes most of the members of the Los Angeles Police Department who arrived on the scene soon after the outbreak of what people are calling the worst biological attack in the history of the United States.

Alex spun toward the television as he swallowed hard and tried to control his breathing, his hand shaking as he reached for the phone and pressed a speed dial button.

“Where are you?” Alex spoke into the phone as the line connected. “You’re in the building? Good, come to my office immediately.” Alex nervously set the phone down on its cradle. He began to pace the room, something he had not done in years, a clear indication of just how agitated he had become.

It had been such a perfect Sunday. Now Alex wondered if this latest development could ruin the whole project. If the Press were to get any leads which pointed back at Pharmanetics the whole world would find out what they were working on. This would spark other pharmaceutical companies trying to beat them to the Patent Office. Industrial espionage would become so rampant the company would be spending all of its resources trying to prevent it instead of finishing current projects.

Pharmanetics had been trying to develop a new form of anesthesia without negative side effects. The number of patients who have complications, including death, as a result of adverse reactions to anesthesia is staggering. The development of a side-effect-free surgical anesthesia would be worth billions of dollars to the company able to patent it. Pharmanetics’ latest research, spearheaded by their incredibly eccentric head researcher, had taken the company into a direction they had previously never been fathomed.

The research was so cutting edge they were managing a minimum head start of five years on the competition, assuming the idea had even occurred to them, which Alex doubted. The only way for another company to compete would be to steal the research, reverse engineer it and then get the patent first. It was a technique Alex knew well, having used it in the past with significant financial success. He would not allow someone else to beat him at his own game; he could still control the situation. He simply had to reign in a few loose ends. Ironically, his investors had saddled him with the perfect man for the job.

Alex heard a slow knock on his large oak office door. Before he could call out “Enter,” the latch turned and Kenneth Kunnert walked into the office unbidden in that arrogant manner of his. Kunnert was a big man, standing six foot four inches tall with sharp facial features, long, seemingly unnatural, blonde hair and blue eyes. He was in incredible shape, carrying his frame with an effortless and confident air. He was the man the investor group had requested, demanded actually, be employed within Pharmanetics. At first Alex was highly put off by the man being given such free reign within the company he had developed. However, as time went by Kunnert proved himself to be a tremendous benefit to the company in several different ways. Security was the man’s specialty. Alex had come to respect and rely on Kunnert for the various operations within the company that required extremely secure or “deniable” solutions.

“You called?” Kunnert spoke with the slight trace of an accent. He was an American, born in Philadelphia, but his grandparents had raised him in Johannesburg, South Africa from the age of three. At age 18, he was awarded a scholarship to West Point and graduated with honors four years later. He entered the military immediately after and excelled at all duties to which he was assigned. Two years later Kunnert filled out an application for Special Forces and completed the training necessary to become a Green Beret. He’d extended his tour of duty beyond the mandatory requirement attendant to graduating from West Point. He was later recruited by Delta Force and led his own team on several “Black Ops” type missions for three years.

Alex knew that was where the man’s file ended and the mystery began. There were rumors of a covert team Kunnert led for a couple of years outside normal military channels. Alex had some of his best sleuths investigate this unknown period of time, but all leads turned cold shortly after the inquiries had started.

“Have you seen the news this morning? What the hell is going on and why wasn’t I informed?”

“I have been controlling the situation ever since I was made aware of it,” Kunnert replied calmly.

“Controlling it?” Alex exploded. “The goddamn World Health Organization is all over the scene! If they find out…”

“Who said the WHO is on the scene?” Even Kunnert’s accent couldn’t hide the emotionless quality of his voice.

“It’s all over the news for Christ sakes!”

“Yes…and?”

A thought slowly crept into Alex’s mind, too incredible to believe. “You…you mean to tell me those are actually all our people?” Alex lowered his voice, completely lost in the grandiose dimension of what was being presented before him.

Kunnert gave Alex an expectant look.

“You? How?” Alex managed.

“That is the reason you pay me the extremely large sum of money you do.” Kunnert spoke calmly as a slight half smile broke through the right side of his mouth. “Do you want to know the details?” Kunnert asked, with no expectation of having to reveal any details.

“I want to know everything and anything you do on behalf of the company. This is not a request. What if someone was actually trying to call the WHO?” The air of authority returned to Alex’s voice and he could see Kunnert’s physique shift to a more submissive demeanor.

“They will be told Pharmanetics is acting as duly appointed representatives of the World Health Organization and we have been given full authority to function on their behalf in Los Angeles,” Kunnert spoke calmly.

Stunned, Alex said “You have a contact within the WHO?”

“Yes, within the WHO’s main headquarters in Europe. This enables our credentials to be confirmed at the highest levels of the organization.”

Alex was impressed, but moved quickly on to other matters. “Right now I want to know if we are safe. Have our plans in any way been compromised?”

“We have not been compromised. All equipment at the location was collected and returned to our research facility. The witnesses have been dealt with and the Press has been misled.”

“That’s quite a mass of witnesses Kunnert, including the majority of them being LAPD. Are you sure their abduction was wise?”

“Wise or not, it was necessary. If need be, we can always say our efforts to save their lives were ultimately in vain. I have already stockpiled enough Anthrax to create the corpses necessary to substantiate our story.”

Alex nodded. “Good.” He stopped pacing behind his desk and sunk into his large leather chair. He calmed himself and gestured for Kunnert to sit across the desk from him. Kunnert obliged and sat in the guest chair.

“How do you plan to proceed from here?”

“I would say we should move to the next phase; however, Dr. Whelan feels another test is in order.”