The Leaves in Winter (11 page)

Curtis knew what his boy would say. Like a save-the-planet poster, facts and statistics flashed into awareness:

People discard over 4 trillion cigarette butts every year.

Nearly 30% of all cigarettes smoked end up as litter.

Over 500,000 tons of pollution per year.

Butts are made of “synthetic polymer cellulose acetate” and never degrade.

In 12 years they might begin to break apart.

Within an hour of contact with water, cigarette butts leach chemicals.

Cadmium, lead, arsenic are common, along with hundreds of others.

Many are eaten by whales, birds and other marine animals.

Curtis had to walk. Everything came back to human nature.

Was it beastly or divine – or something else?

Was it a cancer consuming the planet or the reason the Earth existed?

Was it too far gone or something worth saving?

Either way, would it ever be in anyone’s self-interest to do what was necessary for the common good in the time allotted? It was only human nature to encompass both sides, the problem and solution, and everything in between.

Curtis strolled back through the damp air.

He no longer felt the sting of its chill. He was used to it.

All around, a restive ocean gave fair warning.

Chapter 9

Dugway Proving Grounds

Tooele County
,
Utah

The uneasy silence had lasted many miles. Flat and arid spaces under a dusting of snow surrounded them as far as the eye could see. Faye Gardner felt sick to her stomach, a queasiness brought on by anxious thoughts following the in-flight briefing. No matter where she looked, specters of what might be were unavoidable.

The trip out from
Washington
D.C.
had changed her. It was chilling how quickly the world could transform. As respite for her nerves, she clung to distraction and anything more mundane than the pressing questions troubling her.

“Does this road have a name?”

Lost in thought at the wheel of the Humvee, Colin Insworth hesitated before answering. “
Stark Road
.”

“Not very original.”

“I give it points for accuracy.”

Faye studied the contours of a mountain range up ahead to escape the sameness of the ride. “How far do we have to go?”

“About twenty miles. The east side of
Granite Peak
.” Colin swept one hand to the southwest. “This section is called GPI – Granite Peak Installation. It covers 250 square miles of the Proving Grounds.”

“There’s more?”

“A million acres. The whole thing’s larger than
Rhode Island
.”

Faye’s response was kneejerk and humorless. “Impressive, except most things are larger than
Rhode Island
.”

“I guess so – even test sites for weapons.”

The added context hit Faye and left her pale. “You don’t mean that.”

“What?” Colin shot her a glance, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses.

“What kind of testing goes on out here?”

“Back in World War II, the Korean War, the War Department tested all kinds of things: chemicals, biological agents, flamethrowers, smoke bombs, flares. They even built mockups of German and Japanese villages to test the effectiveness of incendiary bombs.”

“What about now?”

“The mission is defensive.” Colin’s attention shifted back to the road. “Part of that will always be preparation for what the other guy might do.”

Faye looked away from Colin, out the passenger side window. “It makes sense. If you want to find out how to stop a bullet – first you need some bullets.”

“It’s not quite that simple.”

“How else would you explain it?”

“I don’t. You can read all about DPG on its website – dugway.army.mil.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“What do you expect? No one knows more than they’re supposed to know.”

The Humvee slowed. Colin turned off onto a smaller dirt path that stretched arrow-strait on a sharp diagonal into nothing. Faye marveled at the lack of road signs or markers of any kind since leaving Michael Army Airfield.

“I’m glad you know where you’re going. I wouldn’t want to get lost out here.”

Colin accelerated and a fine cloud of dust trailed the vehicle. “If you want some real fun, try doing this at night.”

“Impossible.”

“If you’re not prepared.” Colin tapped a GPS readout. “Passive transponders are buried at key intersections. Each one becomes a beacon for an authorized signal.”

“I take it those are used for something more than navigation.”

“That’s right. I wouldn’t advise driving in certain places unless your vehicle can light up the beacons. Same with the airspace – it’s restricted as far up as you can go. Dugway is part of the larger Utah Test and
Training
Range
with controlled airspace that includes Hill Air Force Base to the North.”

More miles passed by. The dirt path led to an even less travelled trail in the shadow of a mountain. Flanked by low-lying scruff of vegetation, the Humvee followed the trail to an encampment at the base of rocky foothills. Two structures were visible; a single-wide trailer and a windowless building three stories high and thirty feet square with a flat roof.

In between the structures was a parking area in the dirt with room for a half dozen vehicles. Off to one side, away from either structure, a flat and level square of land sat open, cleared of vegetation; a platform awaiting something.

Colin parked on the mountain side of the taller building. It was the only side with a door. Faye got out and stretched her legs. The drone of the Humvee’s engine was gone and the full impact of the surrounding stillness closed in. Faye hugged her coat close and braced against the freezing temperature.

“Strange place to keep a database.”

Colin handed her a holographic dog tag on a chain.

“Here, wear this. Along with your palm print, it’s your ticket anywhere within the facility. The palm print takes fingerprints and a RIDIS scan.”

Faye slipped the chain over her head and eyed the flat-top building. “There’s more to this I hope.”

Colin stepped off towards the lone door. “This way.”

“What’s the trailer for?”

“Temporary quarters for anyone not authorized to go below.”

“Why would such people even be out here?”

“Lots of reasons.” Colin pointed at the flat and level square of dirt. “When fully operational, helicopters can shuttle personnel in and out. The pilots have no business below. Also, surface security teams sometimes need a forward command post.”

Colin stepped up to the three-story building and opened the door. Faye followed him into a bare lobby. The small, austere space was just enough room to wait for the elevator while shielded from the weather.

The elevator door opened without any visible security check and their descent started. Faye searched but there was no buttons to press to select level or floor.

She fingered her dog tag. “What about this? Don’t we have to be cleared?”

Colin stood solid beside her. “Anybody can go down. Clearance is only needed to come back up.” The elevator door opened upon a vault-like structure under video surveillance. “This is the Landing Zone. It’s blast-proof. Sensors detect a variety of chemical agents. Once the elevator door opens, the elevator is grounded until our passage through here is complete.”

Colin moved forward and placed his open palm on a metal plate. He stepped aside for Faye to do the same. Moments later, a negative-pressure airlock door opened to their right. Faye followed Colin down a narrow corridor as the airlock door thudded closed behind them with a pneumatic hiss.

“This is where we get the final scan. Pressurized doors on either side seal this space shut if anything is detected while we’re in here.”

“You mean weapons?”

“Anything.”

As they approached the far side, another airlock released. On the other side was a guard station. Grim with duty, the armed guard nodded both of them through. Again, Faye lifted the dog tag from around her neck.

“I guess somewhere back there this got scanned.”

Colin continued down a hallway into an office area. “All you have to do with that is wear it. You never know where it’s needed, so have it on you all the time.”

The office was staffed with a skeleton crew. The administrative area bordered a series of corridors leading to various labs. From directional signage, Faye could guess their purpose. As they walked, the message on the signs added up.

“I thought you said this was about RIDIS – the DNA database.”

“That’s right.”

“Why do you need a Level Four safety lab for a database – especially a lab like this, hidden underground? I thought we were going to the place where you work.”

Colin shook his head. “As you said, this would be a strange place to keep a database. Besides, databases can be accessed from anywhere via secured connection. The actual location of the RIDIS database is classified above your security level.” Colin stopped and turned back to Faye. The weight of his task was upon him. “As we discussed, your expertise is not in databases; it’s in Ghyvir-C.”

Faye walked up to a lab door and looked through a small window. A pair of researchers in lab coats worked at elevated tables. “We’re talking about a virus that causes the common cold. This place was designed for Ebola or smallpox. What’s a lab like this doing out in the middle of nowhere anyway?”

“It’s here in case it’s needed.”

“In case it’s needed? This place was set up to work on dangerous biological agents in secret. When is
that
needed?”

“When is anything needed? Some things you can’t prepare for at the last minute. This had to be built – just in case. As we now know, the unthinkable can happen. It’s a good thing it’s here.”

“What about the
Geneva
Protocol of 1925 or the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972?”

“An empty lab breaks no treaties. This was built as a contingency. In times of crisis or war, there isn’t time to start from scratch.”

“I get it. Above ground, everything is defensive. There’s no such thing as dual-use. Below ground, facilities are in place to weaponize on a moment’s notice.”

“It’s only common sense. To do anything else effectively would be unilateral disarmament. The time for preparing for a crisis is
before
it happens.”

“You expect me to believe sites like this exist and are never used to assess offensive capabilities?”

“Believe what you want. What you see here doesn’t prove a thing other than the government likes to spend lots of money.”

“There’s only one reason for a site like this.”

“Conduct a search – you won’t find any hot agents stewing in Petri dishes.”

“No – those are probably warehoused down another dirt road, guarded in another hole.”

“What you believe and what you can talk about are two different things. Remember your oath. I’m not going to get into speculation.”

“This still doesn’t make sense. You said
RIDIS
was kept underground.”

“It is. Somewhere. Not here. We have a connection to it.”

“I don’t need a BSL4 lab to find out why a common cold virus causes sterility.”

“No, you don’t.” Colin stepped up to her and looked her in the eye. “But you’ll need a lab like this to engineer Ghyvir-C to undo what it’s done.”

The true motive for being added to The Project hit Faye. Colin couldn’t have said it more clearly but her first reaction was to deny its import.

“What are you asking me to do?”

“You heard me. We’re facing global panic if news of this gets out. We’re facing extinction if we don’t fix it. The powers that be have decided. If sterility is proven correct, as I know it will be, then the best way to handle both problems – panic and sterility – is to undo the problem the same way it came about, by stealth from a natural cause.”

Faye stormed away down the hallway. “I’m not going to engineer a pandemic.”

“We have no choice.”

“You can’t mitigate the risks. The chance of something even worse going wrong are too high.”

“What’s the alternative? If you found a fix, how would you deliver it? Do you want to go on the evening news and explain it to everyone, tell them to line up for a government-issued shot? Don’t forget to bring their children.”

“You can’t be sure of unintended consequences.”

“What about the consequences we
can
be sure of? Sterile children are reaching puberty. How long will it be until the world notices the drop in teenage pregnancies? Project research has identified at least three groups that are already red-flagging early statistics.”

Faye bolted into one of the unoccupied labs. She paced before biological space suits hanging in an open locker. “This is all about keeping secrets, isn’t it.”

Colin stood his ground and followed her with his eyes. “Think about it. Some secrets
should
stay secret. It’s a good thing.”