Caplan glanced at Morgan. Morgan gave him a little nod. Then she knelt behind a tall cedar tree and looked southeast, studying the forest with great care.
“You didn’t answer my question.” Caplan looked back at Perkins. “Why shouldn’t I just kill you and be done with it?”
“Look, I deserve to die,” Perkins replied. “No denying that. Truth is, I let James into my brain. I let him twist my mind and convince me we were doing good things. His enemy list was a mile long. I flew dozens of them here — including these three — on his orders. I abandoned them to certain death and didn’t think twice about it.”
The mud-covered woman didn’t move a muscle. But the bookish guy clenched his jaw. And the knockout’s blue irises seemed to double in size.
“But then James said he wanted to kill everyone at Hatcher,” Perkins continued. “I started questioning him, doubting him. Doubting everything I’d ever done for him. So, I stole those tablets, smuggled them aboard the helicopter, gave them to you.”
“Yeah, you’re a real Samaritan.”
“I know I should’ve told you the truth about HA-78. I almost did. But…” He trailed off.
Caplan stared into the man’s eyes. In that instant, he felt Perkins’ pain and tortured anguish. Perkins had committed great sins. He’d knowingly caused unimaginable horror and death and he would have to live with that knowledge for the rest of his life.
Caplan’s feelings didn’t suddenly jump into the realm of positivity. But he reached out and offered a hand to Perkins.
Perkins grasped the hand and rose to his feet. He took a few deep breaths. But the haunted, hollow look remained in his eyes.
Caplan’s mind buzzed with questions about HA-78. But other questions also fought for his attention. Questions about 48A. Questions about the wildfire. And questions about the knockout’s logbook.
He shook his head, clearing his mind. There would be time for answers. Right now, he had to focus, to prioritize.
He fished the amber pill container out of his pocket. Popping off the cap, he offered a tablet to Perkins.
Perkins shook his head. “I was immunized before the flight.”
Caplan turned to the trio, handed out tablets. “In case you didn’t follow all that, you’re infected,” he said. “You need to swallow these down.”
The bookish guy made a face. “Without water?”
Caplan nodded at a small mud puddle. “Help yourself.”
“What do we look like? Savages?”
“What’s your name?” Caplan asked.
“Brian Toland.”
“Let me make this simple for you, Brian. Take the tablet, you live. Don’t take it, you die.”
Toland frowned. But he stuck the tablet into his mouth and swallowed it all the same.
Caplan glanced at the others. “Names?”
“Bailey Mills,” the knockout said.
The mud-woman didn’t respond.
“Her name is Tricia,” Mills offered. “Tricia Elliott.”
“And was he telling the truth?” Caplan asked, with a nod at Perkins. “About the three of you being abandoned here?”
“It wasn’t just three of us.” Mills’ eyes clenched tight. “It was five in the beginning.”
Morgan’s head tilted a few inches to one side. “Did you wake up in a field? Surrounded by strange animals?”
“Just one animal. A saber-toothed tiger.” Mills arched an eyebrow. “How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess.”
“Well, any enemy of James’ is a friend of mine. I’m Zach Caplan and that’s Amanda Morgan.” Caplan studied the trio, feeling an instant kinship with Mills. Elliott seemed distant, as if lost in another dimension. And Toland, well, the less said about him the better. “It looks like you’ve been through a lot.”
Mills clutched her logbook a little closer to her side. “We lost two people to the saber. And still, it kept chasing us. We thought that barn-like building—”
“Wait.” Morgan, still keeping a lookout, paused for a long moment. “What building?”
“The building.” Elliott’s voice took a wild turn. “The hatch and the basement. Wheels and tubes and—”
“Tell us later.” Caplan turned to Perkins. “How’s the landing skid?”
“Fixed,” he replied.
“Think you can fly us out of here?”
A smile crossed Perkins’ face. “Just try and stop me.”
Chapter 56
The inferno curled deep within the forest, gaining substance and momentum by the second. Caplan tried to estimate its height, its width. But it was impossible to tell at that distance.
He heard snarls and growls, distant yet close. According to Mills, they came from a saber-toothed tiger, presumably the same one that had slaughtered two of her friends.
Briefly, he thought about his conversation with Morgan, about the possibility that 1-Gens were growing to terrifying proportions. How big could a Pleistocene beast actually get? Eventually, gravity would take over and pull it into the earth. That is, if its bones and cartilage didn’t give out first. But such a monster could do a lot of damage before that happened.
The clearing came up fast and Caplan refocused his attention on it. He saw the Rexto 419R3, sitting quietly in the clearing. Corbotch stood alongside it, his gaze aimed at the wildfire.
“No sign of Pearson… he must be searching the forest.” Caplan studied Corbotch from head to foot, searching for signs of weapons. “That means James is alone.”
“Not exactly,” Morgan whispered. “Bailey told me she saw over a dozen people packed into the cabin.”
“The dignitaries?”
“That’s my guess. They’re probably armed.”
“Yeah, but they’re not Pearson.” Caplan shook his head. “Why would Pearson leave Corbotch by himself? It doesn’t make sense.”
“I think I can answer that one.” Perkins, wincing and clutching his right side in a firm grip, sidled up to Caplan. “He’s looking for me.”
The truth dawned on Caplan. “You’re the only one who knows how to fly the Rexto?”
“Yup. Without me in the cockpit, they’re stuck here.”
“Then stay out of sight. We can’t let them know you’re with us.” Caplan glanced at Morgan. “James or the cabin?”
Morgan cocked her head to one side. “That depends. Are you going to let me shoot him?”
“On second thought, I’ll take James. Here, take this.” Caplan shrugged off his rifle and handed it to Morgan. “You’ll need it more than me.”
She slung the rifle over her shoulder and handed her pistol to Caplan. “Ready when you are.”
Caplan spun around, looked at the others. “Don’t come out until we say so.”
Elliott didn’t respond. But Mills, Toland, and Perkins nodded in unison.
Crouching down, Caplan stole into the clearing. He kept one eye on the blaze as he cut through the deep grass. It continued to grow bigger and bigger. He figured they had twenty minutes before the fire turned them into ash.
He paused upon reaching Corbotch and checked his surroundings. Still no sign of Pearson. Warily, he rose to his feet and took careful aim at the old man. “Fancy meeting you here.”
Corbotch froze for a second. Then he slowly turned around. His weathered, wrinkled face showed no signs of anger or fear. “I have to admit I had my doubts. But you really are a survival expert.”
“And you’re a murderer.”
“But you’re still going to let me go.”
Caplan’s teeth gnashed in disgust. “And why would I do that?”
“Because this planet is dying.” Corbotch exhaled a long breath. “And I’m the only one who can help it.”
Chapter 57