Pressure (25 page)

Fumbling, Paolo ejected the weapon's magazine and squinted in the dim light. “I think six? And maybe one in the chamber.”

“We might need them,” Abhi said. “We have to consider the very real possibility that they're following us right now.”

“I haven't seen any cars tailing us,” Carrie said.

“They don't need to tail us,” Abhi explained. “Barbet said they had aerial drones as part of their security at the clinic. And we know they had high-tech listening devices. It stands to reason they've got a GPS or something else tracking this vehicle right now.”

“Shit.” Carrie's skin prickled. “You're right. In all the excitement, I never even considered that.”

“It's okay,” Abhi said. “I don't think any of us were in our right minds.”

He paused, and glanced back at Paolo. There was an uncomfortable silence, and then Paolo cleared his throat.

“I had no choice,” Paolo said. “I thought he was going to kill me, or take the gun and kill one of you. What would you have had me do?”

“I don't know,” Abhi admitted. “And yes, I know very well what their plans were for us. But still, I just … it's the first time I've ever been involved in killing someone, Paolo. You'll have to excuse me if I'm a little … what do the kids say? Freaked out?”

“How do you think I feel, Gordo?”

Abhi swiveled around so fast that it startled Carrie. The SUV swerved into the other lane.

“I told you before,” Abhi warned, “don't call me fat. And as for how you feel about killing a man, I don't know. Maybe you don't feel anything at all. You're always so goddamned smug. I don't know what Carrie sees in you.”

Carrie's eyes went wide. “Hey!”

“I still don't understand your motivations for joining us in this,” Abhi continued. “I know you said you were worried about Carrie and worried about your reputation, but—”

“Enough,” Paolo interrupted, holding up his hand. “Enough, Abhi. Please. You're right. I haven't told either of you everything. And I will, right now. I swear it. But first, we must figure out what to do about this car. I think you are right. They are probably tracking us. Not counting Ochse, there are twelve agents assigned to the facility. We can account for the two in the truck, the one in the custodian closet, the three at the gate, and the two that got off the elevator as we were leaving.”

“And the one that you shot,” Abhi replied.

“Yes, him, too. That means the others are unaccounted for. And have probably freed the others by now. Probably called the cops, too.”

“I'll find a populated area,” Carrie suggested. “The village of Moka is just up the road. We'll find somewhere with lots of lights and people. Somewhere they can't confront us in the open without witnesses. Then we'll abandon the SUV and get a taxi to take us to the embassy.”

“How are we going to pay for it?” Abhi asked. “What little money we had left is back at the clinic.”

“We'll figure that out when we get to the embassy. What we need to do first is ditch this thing and find us a cab.”

After both men agreed with the plan, Carrie and Abhi stayed silent, waiting for Paolo to continue with whatever he had been about to tell them. When he didn't speak, Carrie prodded him gently.

“Now, what were you saying, Paolo? Something about not telling us everything?”

“I know what the creatures were,” he said softly. “And I know why Alpinus is trying to kill us.”

Carrie and Abhi glanced at each other. Then Carrie's eyes darted to the rearview mirror. Paolo stared out at the passing countryside, his expression one of grim resignation.

“And how did you come by all this information?” Carrie asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.

Paolo sighed. “Because I work for Alpinus. When the United Nations awarded Alpinus the expedition contract, it led to certain risks. There were things they didn't want uncovered. I was assigned to spy on the expedition, and keep anyone, including you—especially you—from discovering the wrong things.”

“Which is?”

“The research and development arm of Alpinus Biofutures has been working on nanotechnology for the last decade. The progress they've made is absolutely stunning, but there is only so much you can do in a laboratory setting. Two years ago, they began testing nanobots in the wild.”

“What the hell are nanobots?” Abhi asked.

“Tiny robots,” Carrie explained. “Built on the scale of a nanometer. Microscopic in size. In theory, you could inject them into a human being and repair damaged tissue or attack cancer cells, or utilize them in molecular research.”

Abhi shook his head. “And I have trouble sending an e-mail. Do these things actually work?”

“They were supposedly theoretical, for the most part,” Carrie said. “A few primitive versions have been tested, but it sounds like Alpinus got much further along.”

“You have no idea,” Paolo said. “And that's the way it always is. Over the last five years, drones have dominated the news. You see them discussed everywhere as the latest in cutting-edge technology. They're used in everything from warfare to home deliveries. But your Central Intelligence Agency had developed drones and were using them in the field as far back as the Vietnam War. Not big, bulky drones, but sophisticated, advanced units, built to scale and designed to look like dragonflies, catfish, and other creatures.”

“Why would anyone make a catfish drone?” Abhi asked.

“It's easy,” Paolo replied. “Suppose there is an enemy dam you wish to destroy. You pilot the drone up the river and monitor the dam. You take pictures, via the drone, of the best place to plant explosives. If anyone sees it, there's no chance of discovery, because they assume it's just another catfish. But getting back to my point, drones aren't some brand new thing. They've been in development for decades. They're only new to the public. It's the same with nanotechnology. Carrie said that only a few primitive machines have been tested, but it goes way beyond that. Those primitive machines were being secretly tested back in the early seventies. They're much more advanced now.”

“Hang on,” Carrie said, noticing a pair of headlights closing fast on their rear. She held her breath and gripped the steering wheel tighter as the other vehicle approached. Then, it sped past them. She caught a glimpse of four young faces—kids, out having fun in a fast car. She exhaled, and her grip loosened.

“About a year and a half ago,” Paolo continued, “Alpinus released nanomachines into the ocean here. As you know, with the exception of the northern fringe, the water temperatures in this area keep the production of phytoplankton low. As a result, life in the ocean is more limited than it is in other regions. That and the warmer temperatures made it an ideal location for their experiment, the intent of which was to ultimately create a temporary hypoxia that they could dial up or down at will.”

“Hypoxia?” Carrie frowned. “Why would they want to do that?”

Paolo shrugged. “Control the oceans, and you control an array of natural resources. Some of the world's biggest oil and natural gas reserves are beneath the ocean floors. Consider how the oceans feed us. If you controlled the oceans, you could create famines, which do wonders for the prices of various commodities. If successful, Alpinus would have unprecedented control of not just their competitors, but entire populaces—entire nations. Billions of people would be dependent on them.”

“Jesus,” Carrie muttered.

“Well,” Abhi said, “that settles it. Once we get to Port Louis, I'm calling Alpinus and quitting.”

The joke elicited only a wisp of a smile from Carrie, who was struggling to control her anger at these revelations. And what bothered her more than Alpinus's unscrupulous experimentation and sheer arrogance, was the fact that Paolo had known about all this, and said nothing. Indeed, by his own admission, he'd been paid to keep her—and anybody else—from discovering the truth. Her emotions regarding Paolo had just started to warm. This betrayal was like plunging into the Arctic Sea.

“So, what went wrong?” Carrie fought to keep her tone neutral.

“There were unexpected … complications. The experiment led to a rapid mutation of the sea life near the trench. The nanobots began building, using various bits of the sea life around them. Tentacles, gills, claws—it was like they borrowed something from everything they encountered and used it to make their very own Frankenstein's monster. I don't begin to understand the science involved. In truth, I don't think there are many at Alpinus who understand what happened, either. Somehow, these mutations ultimately yielded the two massive nanomachine-enhanced apex predators we contended with.”

“Wait a minute,” Abhi said. “Those monsters were really just tiny robots?”

“No, they were biological,” Paolo corrected. “They were flesh and blood. We don't know what their original stock was, but they were enhanced by nanobots. The machines took the best from a variety of sea life near the trench, and mutated it, the same way they were starting to mutate my brain. But while the process was halted in me, it went unchecked in the trench. Those two predators were the result. And somehow, their presence and the hypoxia effect have led to the rapid deterioration of the sea floor.”

“That's a lot to swallow,” Abhi mused.

“Perhaps so, but that doesn't make it any less true. There is also the very real danger of this spreading farther out into the ocean. Not only will they wreak havoc on other ecosystems, but they'll gain access to a greater variety of life from which to feed and build. And sooner or later, humans will be part of those raw materials. But unlike what happened with me, the process won't be halted.”

Carrie's head throbbed. “So, why tell us now, Paolo? I mean, you strung us along. You goddamn knew what was down there when we dived—”

“I didn't know the full extent—”

“Shut up.” Carrie spat. “I don't want to hear your excuses. Peter died because of this. You knew what was down there and you didn't warn us. Peter would still be alive now!”

“But I honestly didn't know,” Paolo insisted. “I don't think anyone from Alpinus knew the true extent. The mutations—the impact on the trench—none of that was supposed to happen. The nanobots were just supposed to engineer a controllable version of hypoxia. Alpinus knew they would copy some lesser forms of sea life, but it wasn't supposed to be anything like this. Certainly not predators like the ones we encountered. Their size, their aggressiveness, the fact that they are breeding—it was unexpected. Nobody at Alpinus knew the true extent of it until after you and I dived.”

Carrie gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles popped.

“They must have suspected,” she reasoned.

“I know there was another research vessel—a private craft—one of theirs, that disappeared just after the collapse sped up. They sent it out here to investigate things discreetly. Do you remember Asselin and Edidin from when we worked at the Scripps Institute?”

“Janelle and Rachel?” Carrie nodded. “Of course I remember them. They were brilliant.”

“They were both part of the original expedition.”

Carrie sighed in dismay. “They were a part of this? They knew?”

“I don't think they knew, at all,” Paolo said. “But Alpinus hired them to accompany a team out here.”

“Where are they now?”

“Their boat disappeared. It was never found, nor were any of the crew's bodies recovered.”

“The predators?”

“That's what I assumed,” Paolo said. “Now, I'm not so sure. Perhaps it was Ochse and his men. There have also been some instances of other people disappearing—a few fishermen, but mostly tourists, and all of those back before the authorities banned people from diving in the waters around the trench. But these disappearances happened over a length of time, so nobody suspected anything like Alpinus could be behind it.”

“The body count just keeps rising,” Carrie muttered. “You must be very proud of yourself, Paolo. You talk about growing up in the shadow of Pinochet, but that old man had nothing on Alpinus. How could you work with people like that?”

“I swear, Carrie. I never meant to put you in danger. Need I remind you one of those things nearly killed me, as well?”

Abhi crumpled the atlas in his fists. “It nearly killed all of us, you little asshole.”

“So,” Carrie asked, “when you warned me about the Novak being under surveillance—was that just another lie?”

“No,” Paolo said. “It wasn't a lie. The ship really was under surveillance. At the time, I just didn't know it was Ochse and his men. I wasn't told of their involvement. I thought perhaps it was a competitor—Globe or someone like that. Or maybe one of the journalists, trying to go rogue, and get a deeper story.”

“You didn't know about Ochse,” Abhi said, “but were he and his men aware of your involvement?”

Paolo shrugged. “I'm sure they were.”

“Why are you telling us now?” Carrie asked.

She saw him smile in the rearview mirror, his perfect teeth flashing white in the dark.

“I'm hedging my bets, Carrie. Plain and simple. I think you would agree that my situation has drastically changed?”

She shrugged.

“And they lied to me. One of the reasons I was hired was because of our past relationship. I was promised that neither of you would be hurt. That changes things. Even after the United Nations shut everything down, I stayed on because I wanted to keep you safe. I had to answer to them, yes, but you were my number one priority. I couldn't let you discover the truth, but I couldn't let anything happen to you, either.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No,” Paolo said. “But it is the truth.”

“I don't know what the truth is anymore, Paolo. And you know what's even worse? I don't think you do, either.”