Dream Sky (11 page)

“That is correct,” Sanjay said. “After the last of these Project Eden people left, two of my friends went into the compound to have a look around. Most of the place has been destroyed, but there is one room that has escaped harm. We think it is a communications room.”

Ash’s mind was still not completely awake, so it took a few extra seconds for him to process what Sanjay had said.

“Is that right?” he asked looking at Crystal.

As she nodded, Sanjay said, “As far as we can tell, yes.”

A communications room. In a Project Eden facility.

“And you’re staying it’s still operational?” Ash asked.

“I am saying the equipment is still there, undamaged as far as we can tell, and there is power, so it seems to us that everything should still function correctly. We thought it might be helpful to see how Project Eden personnel communicate with each other.”

There was no
might
about it, Ash thought.

“Our problem is,” Sanjay went on, “we do not know how to make it work.”

“We can absolutely help with that.”

“I have been told this, but also told that such a thing would need to be approved first.”

“Consider it approved.” Ash locked eyes with Crystal. “Do whatever you need to do to make this happen right away.”

“Of course,” she said. “Sanjay, I’ll need to get a few things organized here. Can I call you back? Fifteen minutes at the most?”

“I will be here.”

As soon as Crystal disconnected the call, Ash said, “Pull whatever resources you need. Make this a priority.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ash headed for the door, and then stopped. “If they are able to get things working, wake me up again.” He paused and looked over at his daughter. “As long as that’s all right with you.”

Josie gave it a moment’s consideration before nodding. “But right now you go back to sleep, okay?”

__________

C
ALEB MATTHEWS STOOD
on the street corner in a constant state of anticipation. Every few seconds, he would lift his foot and start to step out, but without fail the black car would screech around the intersection and zip along the edge of the road, forcing him to jump back again.

He only wanted to get across. Why? He didn’t know. But the other corner was where he was supposed to be. Again he lifted his foot. Again he inched it toward the street. And again the black car appeared.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he yelled as he pulled away from the curb.

“Caleb.”

After the car passed by, he restarted the cycle.

“Caleb.”

He lifted his foot. He inched it forward.

“Caleb, get up!”

His eyes flew open as his whole body jerked away from the hand that had been shaking his shoulder. “What? What?” he said, blinking.

Crystal was kneeling next to his bed. “I need you down in communications.”

He looked around, half expecting to see the black car heading toward him. As the real world began to embrace him again, he rubbed his eyes and scratched his beard. “Um, what’s wrong?”

“I’ve got a project for you.”

“Now?”

With a smirk, she said, “No, I just woke you up for fun.”

“Wouldn’t put it past you.” He started to pull his covers off, but stopped.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked. “We need to go.”

“I, um, sleep naked.”

“Dear God,” she said, standing up and backing toward the door. “I’ll meet you down in communications.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“You’ve got five.”

__________

C
ALEB WALKED INTO
communications wearing his favorite
Firefly
T-shirt and a pair of jeans that probably should have been in the wash. He hadn’t bothered doing anything about his hair so it was still in the same messy state it had achieved while he was sleeping. He had, however, taken a moment to stop by the cafeteria to pick up a cup of coffee and a couple of leftover rolls from the previous night’s dinner.

“All right, ladies. No need to worry anymore. I’m here.” There were groans from all three of the women manning the stations. “So what earth-shattering disaster do you need me to save us from now?”

“Just sit,” Crystal said, pointing at a chair next to hers.

He plopped down and took a bite of one of the buns. It was going stale, but his taste buds weren’t really awake yet, so it didn’t matter.

“Want some?” he asked, holding out the bun to Crystal.

“No, thanks.”

He shrugged and shoved the rest of the bun into his mouth. As soon as he’d swallowed enough of it so he could talk, he said, “So what’s the deal?”

Crystal grinned. “I think you’re going to like it.”

“I doubt it,” he said, trying to look skeptical.

“What would you say if I told you we’ve gained access to an undamaged Project Eden communications hub?”

He leaned back. “Is this a joke?”

Instead of answering, she said, “And what if I told you we don’t know how to get it working?”

The corner of his mouth ticked up. “I would say that’s because you hadn’t talked to me yet. Now please tell me you’re not pulling my leg.”

“I’m not pulling your leg.”

Adrenaline began jolting through his system. “Where is it? When do we go?”

“That’s the tricky part. You’re going to have to deal with it from here.”

“What do you mean?” he said, his growing excitement turning to confusion.

“It’s in India.”

“India. The country India?”

“Uh-huh. In Mumbai.”

“How the hell did we get access to a communications hub in Mumbai?”

She reached for the two sets of headphones on her desk. “There’s someone I’d like you to talk with.”

10

LIMÓN, COSTA RICA

5:55 AM CST

R
OBERT OPENED HIS
eyes to a sun barely peeking over the horizon.

As he sat up, he was greeted with the aches and pains from sleeping on a too-thin cushion covering a too-hard wooden bench. He took a few moments to stretch and then rose to his feet.

Pax was still asleep, breathing long and deep. One of the man’s arms had fallen off the bench, and his hand now rested on the deck. Robert would be surprised if Pax didn’t have a knot in his shoulder when he woke up.

As he stepped into the central aisle, he suddenly remembered Kat had been sleeping up there with them. Apparently she had decided not to slit their throats; that was good. Robert walked down the aisle to check on her, but stopped short when he caught sight of the bench where she’d slept. It was empty.

He hurried back to the front of the boat, not worried so much that the others might have broken out, but more that if they had, they’d taken Robert’s and Pax’s things with them. The rope holding the stairway door closed was still in place, however, so it appeared Kat had left on her own.

Wanting to get as early a start as possible, Robert hopped off the boat and jogged over to the fuel truck. The tank was less than half full now, but he was confident it would be more than enough to get them to Isabella. The dock was too small for the truck to drive onto it, so he had to pull the hose out to the ferry. By the time the last bit of fuel flowed out of the truck’s tank, Pax had begun to stir. Robert pulled the hose back on shore and wrapped it in its holder.

As he walked back on board, someone pounded on the stairway door.

“Hey! You gotta let me outta here!”

“Pipe down,” Robert said.

This only seemed to increase the man’s anxiety. Rapid-fire thuds, followed by, “You can’t leave me down here with him! Come on! Please! Let me out!”

A sleepy-looking Pax came around the side of the toilets. “Our guests are awake, I take it?”

“Jesus, man!” the guy behind the door yelled. “It’s inhuman! You can’t just leave me here! I don’t want to catch it! I don’t want to catch it!”

Robert and Pax looked at each other.

“What are you talking about?” Robert said.

“It’s Aiden! He’s sick! I don’t want to be sick!”

Robert looked back at Pax and whispered, “What do we do?”

Pax moved up to the door. “Listen very carefully, Luke. We’ll let you out, but only if you promise to head straight off the boat and not touch anything. Do you understand?”

“Come on, open the door! Come on! Come on!”

“We are
not
opening anything until I know you will follow my directions.”

“Sure, sure. Whatever. Just open it.”

“Not good enough. What are you going to do?”

“What? Uh, uh, walk off the boat.”

“Without…?” Pax said.

“Without what?” Luke asked.

“Touching anything.”

“Right. Without touching anything. I get off the boat without touching anything.”

Pax turned to Robert, and said in a voice loud enough for Luke to hear, “Get the rifles.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” Luke said. “What d’you need rifles for?”

“To make sure you follow directions.”

“I’ll follow them, dammit! Don’t shoot me.”

Robert retrieved the rifles and gave one to Pax.

“Tell me again what your instructions are,” Pax said

“I, um, I go off the boat and don’t touch anything,” Luke said.

“Okay. Now you’re going to hear some noise around the door, but you hold still until I tell you that you can open it. Got it?”

“No problem.”

From deeper in the hold they heard a muffled cough.

Pax whispered to Robert, “You ready?”

Robert pointed his weapon at the door and nodded. After setting his rifle down, Pax untied the rope holding the door closed and tossed it out of the way.

As soon as he was rearmed, he said, “Open it. Slowly.”

The handle turned and the door eased out, revealing a terrified Luke standing on the other side. More coughing echoed from below. Luke glanced over his shoulder as if the sound was a monster he could actually see, and then looked back at Robert and Pax, his eyes pleading for release.

“Come on out,” Pax said.

Luke stepped through the doorway. Robert and Pax adjusted their positions so they could keep several feet between them and Pax’s former kidnapper.

“It’s a nice straight shot,” Pax said, nodding his head toward the dock. “Keep on going and everything will be fine.”

As soon as the way was clear, Robert closed the staircase door.

“I don’t want to be sick,” Luke said. “I don’t.”

“Whether you are or not shouldn’t be what’s worrying you at the moment,” Pax said. “Keep moving.

Luke walked across the deck as if his feet weighed a hundred pounds each. When he finally reached the edge of the ship, he stopped and looked back. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked.

“Not our problem,” Pax said.

“You can’t leave me here. You gotta help me.”

“Nope,” Robert said. “We don’t.”

Luke looked at Robert and then at Pax, panicked. “I’m sorry. About the boat, I mean. And…and pointing a gun at you. We were just trying to get home.”

“Get. Off,” Pax said.

Robert bobbed the end of his rifle to emphasize the point.

“Where’s your compassion?” Luke asked.

“I’m about three seconds from pulling this trigger,” Pax said.

Luke used the first two to continue to stare before he finally scrambled onto the dock.

“Don’t stop there,” Robert said, his rifle still aimed at the man.

“I’m off, goddammit. That’s what you wanted.”

“I said, don’t stop.”

Luke clenched his jaw, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. “You can’t do this!”

Pax adjusted the aim of his gun from Luke’s chest to the man’s head. “Move!”

Luke huffed out a breath, whirled around, and started walking toward the street. He only made it about a dozen feet before he stopped, his head turned to the right, looking at something.

Robert followed the man’s gaze, and then groaned under his breath.

Kat was standing halfway between the storage building and the boat, cloth bags dangling in both hands. She had obviously been heading back to the
Albino Mer
, but had stopped when she saw Luke being escorted off.

“Keep coming, Kat,” Robert yelled. “Don’t get anywhere near him!”

Luke shot a quick glance back at the boat and adjusted his course toward Kat.

“Don’t even think it!” Pax yelled. “Don’t you get anywhere near her!”

Luke slowed but didn’t stop.

“What’s going on?” Kat asked. She was frozen in confusion.

“Aiden’s sick,” Robert told her. “Luke’s been exposed! You don’t want to get anywhere near him!”

There was a second’s hesitation as the words sank in before Kat dropped her bags and began running toward the boat. Luke sped up, undoubtedly thinking he could use her as a bargaining chip to get back on the ferry.

“Luke! Stop!” Pax yelled.

The man was no longer listening.

“Stay away from me!” Kat yelled.

Jumping off the boat, Pax shouted, “Stop now! Last warning!”

Luke was thirty feet away from Kat and showed no intention of stopping. Robert could see Kat was not going to outrun him.

The boom of Pax’s rifle echoed across the water.

Luke thrust forward, as if trying to dive the rest of the way to Kat, and smacked into the ground.

With his rifle still tucked tight against his shoulder, Pax rushed over to the downed man, Robert following right behind.

“Get on the boat,” Pax told Kat.

She had halted in terror when Luke fell. “Is he…is he…”

“Get on the boat,” Robert said.

She looked at Robert.

“Now,” he said. “Or stay here. But make the choice.”

With a tentative nod, she headed for the ferry.

Pax knelt down next to Luke.

“Is he dead?” Robert asked.

Pax scanned the body without touching it, and then stood back up. “He was dead the moment the virus entered his system.” A flash of anger touched his face as he looked at Luke. Without another word, he headed back to the boat.

Robert glanced at the body one last time. The area around Luke’s eyes had started to darken, a sure sign the man was getting sick. A part of Robert wished Pax’s bullet hadn’t killed the man. A suffering death was exactly what Luke deserved.