The Leaves in Winter (57 page)

Chapter 54

Apartment Level

GARC
Building
2

Faye swung open her apartment door and Colin rushed in.

“What the hell is going on?” demanded Faye.

From the text message he had received, Colin expected a confrontation. If it had to be, he wanted to set the pace. “When did they let you back in the apartment? I thought everyone got herded into the basement shelter.”

“I just got back.” Faye followed him across the room. His bandaged arm drew her concern. “What happened to you?”

“I’m all right…”

Faye drew near. “What’s going on with Janis and Alyssa? Did they get out of the sub-basement or not?”

From the elevated window, Colin peered through darkness to find a campus in disarray. “They both got out.”

“Then where are they?”

Colin paused. “They’re gone. They had to get away.”

“Gone! Where?”

“She didn’t want to say…”

Faye paced and rubbed her temple. “You’re not making any sense. They wouldn’t just leave and you wouldn’t just let them.”

“It was necessary to keep them away from The Project…”

“Were they hurt? Are they going for medical care?”

“No….” Colin turned from the window to face Faye. “I told you days ago – I needed to talk with both of you…”

“Janis didn’t want to meet; you know that. I kept after her to make it happen. It was only earlier tonight I finally got her to agree to meet you.”

“Really…,” noted Colin. “Well, I spoke with her. I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. This business about a final option, giving plague survivors extended life…The Project never intended to make good on that.”

“Why not?”

“All they want is sole control of 2GenGEN. They only agreed to Janis’ plan to get her to synthesize what no one else in the world possesses. Once they got her process documented and they knew they could duplicate it…well, tonight they saw a way to make sure she’d never get a chance to use it.”

“They’re behind the attack tonight?” Confusion mixed with surprise.

“No,” answered Colin. “NCO and André Bolard was behind the attack. But as usual, The Project never lets a good emergency go to waste. When they found out the attack was on, they ordered the lab destroyed.”

Faye took it in. “How do you know this?”

“I placed a tap on any secured calls in and out of here that connected to the agents that came back with me from D.C.”

“You’ve never talked about that trip. Why?”

“At first I wasn’t sure. I suspected something wasn’t right. I took a chance in D.C. and planted a bug. After I left the meeting, I monitored conversations for days. It took about a week to catch them speaking their truth.”

“But that’s two months ago. Why wait so long to tell us?”

“I didn’t want to bring you two in on it until I had a grip on what to do. When Janis refused to meet, it gave me time to think.”

“What’s to decide? Janis could have stopped work on 2GenGEN.”

“It didn’t matter. She had already drafted her process. Key concepts were already in place and backed up. You don’t understand the kind of people you’re dealing with. Believe me, if we get cut out of the game, there’s no chance to win.”

Faye folded her arms. “That’s the difference between Janis and you. She never looked upon it as a game.”

Laden with the weight of all that had happened, Colin sat down. “There’s something else you must know. It’s not easy to say…”

Seeing his face taut with dismay, Faye drew near and sat across from him. “It’s about Janis, isn’t it?”

Colin swallowed on a dry throat. “I told her about The Project…how they were going to destroy the lab. I told her what I overheard the Project talking about…”

“What else did you hear?”

“Even if we come up with a vaccine for 3rd Protocol or a sterility fix, they plan on a distribution that’s phased and selective. They have no intention on giving it to everyone.”

“What happened in the lab?” Faye filled with dread.

“She said there was only one way to defeat them. She had to go in and save it.”

“2GenGEN? She went back in?”

Colin nodded.

“…but you said she was all right…” Faye’s anxiety rocketed.

Colin lowered his gaze. “I said she got out. I never said she was all right.”

“I asked you if they were hurt…,” snapped Faye, her dread venting as anger.

He raised his eyes and leveled with her. “The fire was about to take the lab. There was only one specimen left. There was no time to do anything else…”

Colin paused, hoping Faye would realize what he was about to say so he wouldn’t have to say it. But Faye stayed silent, stunned by unthinkable anticipation.

“…she infected herself.” Colin’s words split the air between them. Into the gaping space once reserved for hope poured sadness one could drown in.

Faye gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. “The interaction test…”

Colin nodded. “She told me she believes she has 48 hours.”

Faye slumped back, buried her face in her hand, and wept. Through her tears, she managed to vent an aching rage. “Why on Earth did you let her go!”

“It’s her time. It’s what she wants to do with it.”

Faye lurched to her feet. “What she wants to do with it! And what exactly do you think that is?”

Colin kept calm. “My guess? She wants to spread single-dose
GenLET
.”

“That’s right. She has it in her blood. She’ll catch the cold and spread it from person to person. Aren’t you missing something?”

“What?”

Faye paced away her agitation. “She obviously wasn’t in her right mind. She was probably in shock. Of course she can walk around spreading the 2GenGEN virus but my God, there’s a better way!”

“She had to get away. She couldn’t take the risk of The Project finding out what she had done and putting her in a locked-down quarantine.”

Faye stopped before Colin and lectured him. “Don’t you understand! We need to take and preserve samples of her blood. You shouldn’t have let her out of your sight! If she dies before we get those samples, her sacrifice could be all in vain. There’s no guarantee she’ll pass 2GenGEN to enough people to make a difference. She sacrificed all to get it out of the lab for us. Now we need to preserve it in a way that makes sense – a way that The Project doesn’t know about.”

“What good is her blood? It’s also loaded with 3rd Protocol.”

“The non-contagious kind. One can be extracted from the other in the lab.”

“What lab?”

“You’ll have to find me one. But first you’ll need to find Janis.”

“I got a report from the private pilot I hired. She told him to fly her to
Atlanta
.”

Faye backed off and sped to her computer. “And why not – it has the busiest airport in the world. Lots of people to mingle with…”

Colin caught on. “People flying everywhere.”

After a quick Internet search, Faye scanned the statistics. “Hartsfield-Jackson serves 151
U.S.
destinations and more than 80 international destinations in 52 countries…more than 240,000 passengers a day.” Faye turned back to Colin. “When The Project discovers her gone, you know they’ll be going after her…”

The facts were harsh but Colin had to say them. “There’s no treatment for 3rd Protocol plague. With every passing hour she becomes less valuable to them.”

“Regardless, they still won’t want her spreading 2GenGEN. Are you saying they won’t go after her?”

“No, they will. They won’t want to take the chance of letting her spread it.”

“Then we need to get to her first.” Across the room, Faye’s phone buzzed. Rushing to it, she noted an incoming text message.

“Who is it?” asked Colin.

Faye’s eyes lit up. “It’s from Janis!”

Colin jumped up and hurried to her side.

Faye punched keys to retrieve the message. When it appeared, she stood surprised, saddened, and overwhelmed. A past conversation and a flash of memory conjoined upon an insight. At first it made no sense – and then it meant everything.

LIBIPONOCO

Colin sounded out the word. “Libi-Po-No-Co…what does it mean?”

Faye had to sit down. Through her tears, she smiled. “It means success.”

“In what language?”

Faye thought back to college days with Janis. “Our language.”

Colin sat down next to her. “You lost me.”

Faye had to smile. “It was my answer to BIOPONORE.”

Colin answered, “…biological point of no return.”

“Yes…”

“And LIBIPONOCO?”

For Faye, the college memory was now clear.

“…
Libido’s Point of No Control
.”

Chapter 55

Fourteen Hours Later, Concourse D

Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta
International
Airport

Delta Flight 422 from
San Juan
,
Puerto Rico
disembarked at 3:46 p.m. into a concourse cluttered with activity. A throng of passengers waiting to board the next flight sat or milled about the gate area. Threading their way through them, a stream of arriving passengers emerged from the breezeway and headed for baggage claim.

Faye Gardner stood aside a support column, out of view of the main hallway. She kept a watchful eye, her attention split between arrivals at the gate and suspicious faces in the crowd.

A woman traveling by herself with a shoulder bag caught her eye. Deliberate and serious, the woman stepped out of the flow of disembarking passengers and paused by the ticket desk. Her eye roamed the crowd until they met Faye’s.

Contact had been made.

The woman set off straight away in Faye’s direction. In reaction, Faye stepped forward on an intercept path ever mindful of her surroundings.

“Thank you for coming, Doctor Yeats.”

Faye directed their steps back towards the main hallway.

Rebecca Yeats fell right in step beside her. “I’m glad to help.”

As Alyssa’s doctor back at GARC, Rebecca had acquired unusual access to Project personnel and workspace all due to her availability and medical specialty. Although not part of The Project, she had come to know certain members quite well over the past many weeks. Faye was one such person who had confided much to her about Project goals and issues. From Faye’s first hand testimony and what both had witnessed at GARC, Rebecca had grown suspicious of The Project and its motives.

“Did Colin have a chance to see you before you took off?”

“Yes,” confirmed Rebecca. “He briefed me on the situation – as much as he was willing to tell.”

“Then you know the urgency of getting this blood sample.”

“Yes. Have you located Janis?”

Faye directed their steps out of Concourse D towards Concourse E.

“It took a while. The RIDIS scanner helped…”

“RIDIS scanner?”

Faye needed Rebecca’s implicit trust and cooperation. This was no time to keep her in the dark. “It’s a device Colin let me borrow. Apparently, all Project personnel are given something during their intake physical that shows up on this scanner. It makes quick work of picking Project members out of a crowd.”

Since Faye was so forthcoming, Rebecca followed up with something else she was wondering. “How did you get here so fast?”

“I was at
Rafael
Hernandez
Airport
before the sun came up. Colin had a private plane waiting. You were closer to
San Juan
. There was no sense you driving to the west side of the island. A commercial carrier made more sense. This is your layover time isn’t it?”

“I have an hour and a half before my flight boards for
Europe
.”

“At least you’ll have lots of time to rest on the flight. You won’t get to
India
until tomorrow. You all set for
Hyderabad
?”

“I think so,” offered Rebecca. “I’ll be at Janis’ house in Jubilee Hills. Colin said to stay there until his people escort me to NovoSenectus. Apparently, he knows somebody on the inside who will take the blood samples.”

“Yes…” confirmed Faye. “He made several contacts there many years ago. It was on the RIDIS project – just like the scanner I used today.”

“That remind me,” hurried Rebecca. “Colin told me to tell you – he got word that The Project has activated something called ORIDIS. He seemed quite concerned.”

Faye kept their pace steady. Thoughts from past conversations with Colin came to mind. He knew just the mention of that name would tell her all she needed to know.

“Do you know what he means?” asked Rebecca.

“Orbital RIDIS,” announced Faye. “It means The Project is using everything they have to track down Janis. We may have less time than we think.”

“Orbital…?” quizzed Rebecca. “Whatever could they do from orbit?”

“They could scan buildings looking for Project personnel signatures inside.”

“They can do that?”

“I suspect they can do even more. Colin told me certain groups or classes of people have been given different markers. From orbit, members of any one group can be targeted for identification.”

“That’s incredible!” gasped Faye.

“I wouldn’t worry. Colin wouldn’t have asked you to do this if he knew you had the mark.”

“The mark?” Rebecca recoiled. “It sounds like the mark of the beast.”

Faye sneered. “It very well may be. But you were brought in quickly, during Alyssa’ emergency – you didn’t have a Project medical intake, did you?”

“No,” sighed Rebecca. “There was no time; they thought she was going to die.”

Faye turned down Concourse E. “If ORIDIS scans the airport, it’ll pick up three signatures – Janis, Alyssa, and me. As long as we get the blood sample and you get to your next gate before Project agents get here, we’ll be fine.” Faye caught sight of her target in the distance. “Come on….there they are.”

Rebecca followed her line of sight. Milling among departing passengers waiting at a crowded gate were Janis and Alyssa.

Faye held out a hand. “Give me the sample pack.”

Rebecca handed over her shoulder bag.

“Hang back here for a minute,” ordered Faye. “Let me make contact first. If they’re under surveillance, we don’t want you compromised.”

Rebecca slowed her pace then veered off the walkway towards windows behind an empty ticket counter. Faye stepped on. As she did, Janis then Alyssa caught her eye. When Faye came close, she couldn’t resist giving each of them a hug.

The last hug was reserved for Janis. She held it as she spoke in Janis’ ear.

“What have you done?”

“You once said good things happen in threes….I finally found the third.”

“You’ve broken my heart.”

Janis looked haggard and weak. She hugged back. “No lectures, please.”

Faye fought back tears. “I know what you’re trying to do. Let me help you.”

Janis pulled back. “You’re here to take samples, aren’t you?”

The surprise of Janis’ insight struck Faye and lit up her face.

Janis smiled. “I’m not stupid, I’m just dying. After wandering the gates for a few hours, the same thing occurred to me. I’m just a little slow…”

Faye stayed close. “You should be in the hospital. It’s any wonder you can stand at all. You were dead tired last night before any of this started…”

“Poor choice of words…but yes, I’m dead tired…” Janis reached out and smoothed back Alyssa’s hair. “But I’m with Alyssa…and we’ve been meeting lots and lots of people.”

Faye glanced back to locate Rebecca. “I don’t have much time. The Project is on its way. I need to draw blood.”

Janis noted Faye’s glance and followed her line of sight to recognize Rebecca across the Concourse. “I see you have help…”

“Don’t worry about the details; it’s been all arranged.”

“Where’s Colin?” asked Janis.

“He’s been coordinating everything. He couldn’t come. For as long as he can, he needs to make The Project believe he’s still one of them.”

“How can he ever do that now?”

“He won’t for long,” admitted Faye. “He only needs to hang on until we can get a sample of your blood to an independent lab. Once we separate the viruses, we can mass-produce and release 2GenGEN – just the way you planned.” Faye saw satisfaction sweep across Janis’ face. Faye added, “…the final option.”

Faye leaned close to whisper, “Colin told me about Project plans…”

Janis steeled herself against the thought. “…
phased and selective
…we can’t let them get away with that.”

“You’re right. With enough time, some among the survivors will break through. We’ll give them time to do it. The Project…no one will be able to contain it.”

The prospect of such support buoyed Janis’ energy. “All right…let’s do this. We can go in one of the restrooms.”

Faye bent down to Alyssa’s level. “Doctor Yeats is right over there. Go visit with her. We’ll be right back.”

As Alyssa scuttled off, Faye grabbed Janis by the right arm and supported her walk to the nearest restroom. Once inside, they locked themselves in a handicap stall.

As Faye dug into Rebecca’s shoulder bag for a cotton ball and sterilizing fluid, Janis took a seat on the commode.

“Did you get my message,” asked Janis.

Faye doused the cotton ball and rubbed it on the inside of Janis’ right elbow. “Yes, I did,” grinned Faye. “It brought back memories.”

Janis’ eye blinks dropped heavy until she left them closed. “Good ones I hope.”

Faye reached back into the bag for a syringe and collection vials. “It was a different time, wasn’t it?” Faye’s voice trailed off.

Janis’ head wobbled and jerked alert. “We didn’t know what we didn’t know.”

Faye brought a needle to Janis’ right arm. “Now we know too much.”

Janis opened her eyes. “If you could go back, would you?”

Faye stuck the needle in. “Only if none of this had to repeat.”

Janis winced at the pinprick. “Would it make any difference?”

“It would have to.” Pulling back on the stopper, Faye watched a trickle of crimson become a gush and fill the first vial. In seconds the length of it was full.

“It depends…” countered Janis. She closed her eyes again. “What if some things are meant to be? Maybe all we’re doing is interfering with it.”

“With what?” Swapping collection vials, Faye started drawing blood again.

“What if your college paper was right? Maybe there
is
such a thing as
Programmed Species Death
. Why can’t there be a natural process that triggers the extinction of species – for the good of nature?”

“You don’t believe that,” asserted Faye. “Neither do I any more.”

“I’m not so sure.” Janis bowed her head. Her chin fell into her chest.

Faye rushed to grab Janis shoulders to keep her from toppling over. “Stay with me…I’m almost done.” Faye fought back tears.

Janis planted the palms on her hands on her knees and held on. “I didn’t know how tired I was until I sat down…”

Faye plugged in the last collection vial into the back of the syringe. She needed to keep Janis alert and talking. If possible, she hoped to convince Janis to leave the airport with her right away. The last thing she wanted for Janis was to spend her last hours in Project hands. No telling what lab tests they had planned for her.

“What kind of symptoms are you having?”

Janis paused to answer. “It’s hard to describe. I feel like I’m slipping away.”

“Hold on a minute more and we’ll be out of here…” Faye pulled out the syringe then pressed a cotton ball on the puncture. She directed Janis’ other hand to hold the spot of cotton in place.

“I’ve had some time to think while wandering around…” Janis reflected.

Faye turned and began packaging away everything into Rebecca’s shoulder bag. “You’ve worn yourself out. I bet you’ve been all over this place.”

Janis was lost in her own line of thought. “…I got thinking about all that’s special about Alyssa. Of all the children her age and younger…she’ll be the only one who can have children.”

“That’s right.” Faye slung the bag over her shoulder. “And Alyssa’s children might be the key to finding a fix for sterility.”

“Except, I was thinking…” added Janis. She looked up with heavy eyes ready to weep. “She and I share genetic changes and antibodies that are unique…”