Maddock had barely extricated himself from beneath the dead tiger, kicking his legs free at last, when the Russian flung the egg to the ground.
The delicate ornamental shell cracked open.
Everything seemed to freeze, suspended in a moment that would determine whether they all lived or died.
But, as far as Maddock could tell, nothing happened.
He didn’t know what he’d expected; some wisps or curls of noxious gas rising from the two halves, maybe. There was nothing.
The Russian started running, barging past Bones who had clamped his free hand over his mouth.
“Too late!” the Russian cackled. “Romanov’s Bane is free! Free!”
Bones grabbed hold of the madman’s arm, hauling him back, spinning him and throwing him up against the wall. He slammed a fist into the man’s gut, doubling him up. As he sank to his knees, Bones stood over him. When he looked up, all the wild haired fool seemed capable of was more babble, his grip on sanity seemingly lost once more.
“Get out of here,” Bones said.
“I’m not leaving you,” said Maddock.
“That’s good, because I’m not planning on staying here. Just go. Keep your distance. And don’t breathe.”
“We need an antidote. He has to have it.”
“If there is one… if it’s here… I’ll find it. Just get outside and wait.” Maddock was about to argue, but Bones cut him off. “There’s no point both of us being exposed any longer than we need to be. Someone has to get off this island. Check the rest of the complex, who knows if there’s anything in here.”
Maddock knew that his friend was right.
They needed to find the antidote, assuming there was one, but how could they do that without knowing what they were up against? The gas had been colorless and odorless. They’d both been exposed to it. They were both dying. It was as simple as that.
“I’ll get him to talk,” Bones promised.
Maddock didn’t doubt him for a moment.
TWENTY NINE
Maddock took the stairs two at a time, oblivious to the danger. It was all about time now. His chest was stained red with the animal’s blood and his own.
“Maddock!” Someone shouted when he emerged into the corridor.
It took him a moment to orient himself. He could see their silhouette backlit in the bright light streaming in through the doorway. “Zara? What the hell are you doing in here? I told everyone to keep out.”
“We heard a gunshot. Are you all right? Where’s Bones.?”
“I’m fine.” He waved her away. “Bones is back there. The egg’s been broken — whatever the hell’s inside it is out, and we’ve been exposed, stay back.”
“Are you all right?”
“On top of the world. Bones too. But we need to find the antidote, if there is one, to whatever agent or toxin was in there.”
“Well this just got a heck of a lot more interesting,” Willis said, appearing with Professor behind Leopov’s shoulder. “What are we looking for and where are we looking for it?”
“No idea. Anywhere. Everywhere. We don’t even know for certain that there is one. If this virus or whatever it is has been inside that egg since the time of Rasputin and the Romanov’s there’s no guarantee any antidote even survived.”
“Are you sure there was anything inside?” Professor asked. “Or if it’s still viable?”
“Not a chance I’m prepared to take. There’s not going to be anything on board the ship that’s going to be able to deal with an unknown virus. The chopper should be on its way to pick us up now, but we’re not getting on it if there’s even the slightest risk we’re going to become Patient Zero and bring a plague to the mainland. Simple as that. So we’ve got until the chopper gets here to find what we need or we wave it away.”
Maddock gave orders for them to work in pairs. It might not cover the whole building as quickly, but it would increase the thoroughness of the search. They just needed to cut out wasted time and not allow themselves to become preoccupied with places where the vaccine was unlikely to be hidden. Doors led to offices and sleeping quarters that did not look promising. Other doors opened onto bare rooms with only a bench and bars on the windows. There were survivors. They weren’t in good shape. Maddock found an old man huddled in a corner, arms wrapped around his knees, knees tucked under his chin, rocking in a ball. He left the cell door open, the man could leave if he wanted to, or stay there and rot.
The next three were the same but the inhabitants had not been so fortunate.
They needed to keep looking. Fast.
Door after door, room after room, cells, offices, they were all the same. Maddock felt like screaming, until finally he opened the doors on a fully equipped laboratory. There was more equipment in the one room than he’d seen in any lab in his life.
“Doesn’t it seem weird to you there are two laboratories in this place?” he asked.
“Two?” Leopov said.
“Yeah, there’s a full scale lab downstairs, that’s where the Russian was.” He patted the tear across his Artic jacket where the blood had already begun to crust. “Our little furry friend seemed right at home down there.”
“You found one inside?”
“Took out the whole Spetsnaz team.”
“But inside? That doesn’t make sense. Where did it come from? How did it even get inside? Those things don’t live in captivity, hell they don’t even exist outside of places like this, surely? This island’s been inhabited for years. There were expeditions up here long before the Russians laid claim to it.”
“I’m not sure it was wild,” Maddock said. “More like a guard dog.”
“But how would that work?” Leopov frowned. “Aside from the obvious, sabertooth tigers are extinct, so how could anyone have domesticated them? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Unless they found a way to clone them… is that even possible? I mean that was some lab down there… maybe they’ve been doing some kind of genetic engineering?”
“I don’t know. The only thing any of us know is that something killed those people out in the exercise yard,” Leopov said. “I didn’t see tooth and claw wounds, so that makes me think it was a virus or nerve agent or something. It’s the same thing that took those people out on the submarine, too. Beyond that, it’s all just guesswork, and even that’s stretching what we know. But if you guys have been exposed, then we’re exposed, and we’re wasting time we can’t afford to.”
Maddock knew that she was right.
A noise behind him caused Maddock to turn, gun in hand.
He was a hair’s breadth from pulling the trigger when he recognized the man as the prisoner they’d released.
“Has it gone?” he asked, his eyes wild with fear.
“The sabertooth?” Maddock asked.
The man nodded, his head moving rapidly.
Maddock nodded. “It’s dead.”
The old man walked toward them, pitifully frail.
He reached out to support him, but the man shrugged him away.
And then the strangest thing happened: his face lit up when he saw Leopov.
“Natasha?”
THIRTY
He looked a lot older than the picture she’d been shown back in the briefing. Even so, there was no doubt in her mind that this was Hans Luber. She’d never expected to come face to face with him despite the fact she’d been told that he would be there.
“I’m sorry. You’re mistaken.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. A shiver raced down the ladder of her spine. She felt her knees tremble and felt momentarily unsteady on her feet.
“Forgive me,” he said, a tear forming in the corner of his eye. “You look so like her… my daughter. But you are too young, much too young. I am sorry… we have to get out of here. We have to get out of here before it’s too late.”