Toxic (65 page)

“None. Follow me; we are going to move aside to discuss the details of the expedition to come.”

He steered them towards the adjoining room which served as a meeting room, his thoughts still on the call.

“You didn’t respond to my question.”

The glass door opened in front of them and they went in.

“We estimate that there are between fifteen and twenty million units which have been spared by the virus.”

“That’s not many,” the GenoSaran observed.

The discussion seemed to be never-ending. Throughout it, Jave was searching for an opportunity to slip away for a few moments. The human might be in danger. He could even clearly imagine a mission to save her. Naakrit’s second in command then appeared. The emissary jumped on the occasion.

“Office Kjet is going to explain security aspects and the rules to follow on the ground. Humans aren’t dangerous but they can be unpredictable. Please excuse me, but I must leave you for a moment,” he then announced.

As soon as he was outside, he hurried towards the hallway and then disappeared in the elevator tube to get back to his quarters.

“W
e organize regular patrols of our borders. One of them spotted you yesterday.”

The sun was rising over the gulf, which was as still as a mirror. Elaine saw shadows going down the stairs that she had had so much trouble climbing. She saw AKs over their shoulders.

“You start early.”

His eyes were red and had dark rings under them. Jon had clearly not had a peaceful night, she told herself. The disappearance of his sister explained it.

“They’re going to the camp. Your information caused trouble. They are going to check out the situation. If what you’re saying is true, then we have to take another look at our plans.”

“You know them?”

“We trade with them. A deal as old as the world: food for guns and materials. We aren’t self-sufficient here on the platform. Fresh water, for example, is a permanent worry. We also need fresh products, like fruits and vegetables.”

Was that how the Reverend had obtained a radio?

“Why aren’t you one of the party?”

“The boss though that it would be a bad idea.”

“Because of your sister?”

He nodded and grabbed his mug, which displayed the logo of Heiss Corporation.

“He’s afraid I’ll lose it. I tried to contact her last night,” he revealed. “A mistake.”

The nurse seized her chance immediately.

“The Reverend had a radio. Do you have one as well?”

Jon narrowed his eyes and drank another sip of the nasty coffee which she hadn’t yet touched.

“You need to keep that information to yourself. Richardson might not take it well if he discovers you know.”

Right away, she wondered what secrets these former oil workers were hiding within this metal vessel.

“They won’t come back before night falls,” he declared, watching the first speedboat leave. “I feel like it’s going to be a long day.”

He put a hand on her arm.

“I thank you, for Annie. And don’t forget: you’re free to move around in the common areas of the platform. On the other hand, the other areas are off limits.”

“Don’t tell me you’re hiding zombies,” she joked.

The spark that she noticed in his eyes worried her. She watched him start up the ladder and disappear onto the helipad. These people seemed disciplined and organized like a troop, just like the paramilitaries in the camp. If they were also keeping living dead for who knows what reason, she had to find out. She couldn’t let herself be surprised again.

She went back to her room and closed herself in the bathroom. In the palm of her hand, the communication device lit up with a cobalt halo.

“Hello?” she spoke, feeling like an idiot.

The aliens likely weren’t acquainted with the meaning of this universal dialogue opener, according to human criteria. The nurse repeated her call several times, in vain. She became annoyed and swore at the mute sphere for a few minutes. Then, right when she was going to stop, its surface went orange. She heard the voice, which was only a little louder than someone whispering at her side.

“I only have a bit of time. I’m listening to you, Elaine.”

Right away, the alien seemed... annoyed, if that expression even meant anything in this case.

“Your directions were correct. I found Pony Field and the platform. They have a radio.”

“You must locate the transmitter on board. Continue to observe. I’ll contact you again.”

“Uh... wait! And my friends! We have a deal.”

“They’re OK.”

Elaine frowned.

“Are you sure?”

“A pair of drones is spying on them.”

“Where are they?”

“I’m sorry, but my time is too limited to speak. I’ll contact you again.”

The ball became transparent once again. She signed, not in relief but in frustration. They are OK, she repeated. Three words. That was so little. Apparently, she had to make do. What was going on with this creature?

Masters raised his arm carefully, stretched it out, bent it, and then repeated the movement. He grimaced, but this simple gesture was notable progress compared with the day before. Its complete healing would just be a question of time. He left the king bed and its pile of sheets to put on his army suit and dark t-shirt.

The smell of coffee coming from the kitchen woke up his taste buds. He found Alva, dressed in short shorts and a baggy sweatshirt, her shoulder uncovered, leaning over a can of fruits preserved in syrup. She seemed to be in good shape, and almost happy. Normally, the marine told himself, she would have felt the effects of withdrawal and from what he knew, it wasn’t very nice to see. The conclusion seemed obvious to him: she was hiding it somewhere and she was managing her tiny supply by spacing out her snorting sessions. That definitely explained her insistence to go back to the Colombian.

“Do you want some?” she asked.

“Coffee first.”

Alison put her head through the door frame. He gave her an enthusiastic good morning. The young girl smiled, an empty bowl in her hand, which she put on the work area.

“And your arm?” Alva asked.

“I think it’s getting better. So, this breakfast?”

The singer pointed to two open packages.

“Cereal and powdered milk.”

“Yeah, it was yucky,” the girl added.

“But you gulped it all down.”

“I was really hungry.”

The colonel leaned towards her. “When I was on duty, it was the same. What counts is to get back your strength.”

“Have you seen Dewei?” Alva asked her.

The girl shook her head.

“He’s still asleep, I think.”

The two adults exchanged a discrete glance and then the soldier got off of his stool.

The sleeping area consisted of five rooms with a double bed each. None of them had a child’s bed. He didn’t know anything about Bruce’s dad’s plan, but it obviously didn’t include saving young people. Bruce was an only child and, if he trusted the few elements that he knew of the story as well as the biologist’s remarks, he was an accident, a mistake along the way. The half-open door worried him and when he pushed it open, his jaw dropped.

Scribbling – Chinese ideograms, he guessed – filled one whole side of the wall. Markers without their lids were scattered across the ground at the base of an unmade bed, but the Asian wasn’t there. Masters touched the clear-colored wallpaper which had been invaded with the writing. He noticed words in English, which corresponded to chemical formulae.

“Fuck! What does this mean?”

“Colonel!” he head from the hallway. He went out, taking care to close behind him as Alva made him signs with her hands from the corridor leading to the kitchen.

“He’s outside, with Bruce.”

Dewei was on his knees in front of a pile of dirt squirming with earthworms. Alison let out a “uuck” while keeping her distance, beside the singer. The Asian  was staring at the heap of live spaghetti. Masters went up to the biologist, who had been watching the situation for a moment. Bruce summed up the situation for him.

“I think he’s having a crisis. He was like this when I found him.”

Masters kept from sharing his discovery, but he admitted that this was similar to one of his detachment episodes. He crouched beside the pile as high as a molehill. The worms twisted and intertwined themselves in the humid clay.

“Dew, are you OK?”

Before the lack of a reaction, the soldier picked up a twig and started to crush the worms. Alison put her hand to her mouth and then hid her face in Alva’s legs.

“That’s disgusting!”

He showed the improvised stick, on the end of which a pink-skinned worm was curled.

“That reminds you of something, right? Are memories coming back to you?”

Finally, Dewei moved his head, as if he was coming to once again. He took out the usual notebook from his pocket and his pencil danced nervously on the pages.

There were a lot of them. On me. Hundreds
.

“What did he write?” the artist asked.

They... they were eating me. It was cold, and slimy, like pasta dough
.

“I think that it’s better not to talk about this in front of the girl if you want her to keep her breakfast in her stomach.”

That’s all I remember
.

Later on, they held an improvised meeting on the corner of the patio. Alison was playing cards in the living room and Dewei had fallen asleep on the couch.

“It might be some sort of nightmare,” the singer proposed.

What he had seen on the wall wasn’t from some bad dream, the soldier told himself. They would end up finding out about it soon enough, so he decided to tell them about the existence of the Chinese writing, pieces of equations which intrigued the scientist, who wanted to check it out right away. Masters held him back.

“We have the time. We’re in a safe place and there’s no hurry. OK?”

The young man agreed.

“Is Dewei getting back pieces of his past?” he asked.

“That’s what I think,” the marine shared.

Alva sighed in spite. “Yeah, but that doesn’t make any sense. Writing, worms... can you make something of that?”

“Some types are used for recycling,” Bruce said spontaneously. “Leeches are used for medical reasons.”

Alva looked skeptical.

“It could be anything! I’ve had my fair share of hospital stays and I’ve never seen anything like that!”

“Traditional Chinese medicine,” the young man continued, “is very different from Western norms.”

“We picked him up in Key West and he has nothing to do with China as far as I know.”

“Maybe he got off a ship?”

Masters listened to them go back and forth and then sounded the end of the match. “The most important thing is to make sure that he doesn’t run away during a crisis. Bruce, you’re going to study the writing in his room. We’ll talk again later.”

His crises, the worms, the strange writing and his immunity to the L-Ds... How could these parts form a coherent whole?
he wondered, heading down to the living room. Elaine had felt it before everyone. The Asian was important, she often told him.

The Reverend lowered his binoculars.

“The three adults left the terrace. So, there are five of them. Two children. At least, one for sure, I don’t know too much about the other one.”

“The chink?” Dan said.

“That kid’s a strange one. He doesn’t talk. I don’t know why they keep him around.”

A semi appeared at the end of the road with its exhaust pipes spitting out black smoke. Dan came down from the hill to guide the driver in the parking lot. The latter leaned out of the window. “We found what you want, boss. All the parts. It wasn’t easy to load them all up.”

The second soldier got out of the cabin.

“We took out a few L-Ds in front of the warehouse, and there isn’t much diesel left in the storage tank.”

The trio arrived at the back of the hitch. Once the doors were opened, the two henchmen expressed their doubts.

“Do you think this is going to work?”

“Of course! I built one of these myself and tested it with a bag filled with frozen chicken.”

“So, in that case, we won’t need any mounting instructions,” one of them joked.

“Very funny,” Dan announced. “We have work to do. I’d like to do a test before the night.”

He glanced at the former construction site turned enclosure. The L-Ds were wandering around the vague terrain, their steps wobbly. One of them banged against the metal fence.

The Reverend went up to him, his arms crossed under his habit.

“We’ll let them rest a little longer to settle their suspicions. They’ll feel safe, let their guard down and we’ll attack then,” the loyal lieutenant said.

The boss gave his blessing, which came in the form of a warning.

“I’m leaving the operation up to you because you know these people, this Masters, and because I understand your wish for revenge. Even I’m motivated by the same desire. But... I suggest that you finish them quickly, as other tasks are waiting for us.”

“Yes, Reverend.”

As a rule, Elaine had decided to name the platform where she was A, where her space in which to move around freely consisted of two floors of the twenty or so which made up the structure. If A was liked to B and B was connected to C, there was no bridge between C and A. To get to C, she would have to pass through B. That meant two crossing points, twice the risks and twice the complications.