“Yes, ma’am. Can’t be too careful these days. You know, we’re not too far from the capital. You never know what one of these terrorist <beep> might be up to. Oh, sorry.”
“Did you take a look inside?”
“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t go anywhere near that thing. Roger, he works in produce, he walked over to check it out, but he couldn’t see anything other than a few drops of water on the ground.”
The image switched back to the robot as it rolled to a stop near the container.
Fredrick Price said, “In a move police say is strictly precautionary, residences in a four-square-block area surrounding the shopping center have been evacuated until it can been determined whether the container poses a threat.”
Tamara watched the PCN broadcast in disbelief.
She had been hoping Matt was wrong, and that this had all just been some big mistake. But the image of the robot approaching the shipping container erased all doubt. Project Eden had done the unthinkable.
She forced herself to look away from the TV and over at Bobby. He was sitting at the dining table, hunched over his laptop.
“So?” she asked.
“The links are still active.”
“All of them?”
“Uh-huh.”
That was a surprise. The video had been uploaded to a half dozen sites for over fifteen minutes. Usually Project Eden techs would have taken them down by now.
“How many views?” she asked.
“Around a hundred so far. I’m sending out links to anyone I can. As long as it stays up, I think we have a chance.”
She tried to give him an encouraging smile, but failed. She turned back to the television.
Yes, maybe they would have a chance, but a chance at what? Saving a few thousand, or, if they were lucky, a few million? When weighted against the numbers of those who would die, it was a drop in the bucket. As scared as she’d been by what Project Eden represented, she’d always thought that the Resistance would find a way to stop them. That’s what always happened in these kinds of situations, right? The bad guys might seem dominating, but, in the end, the side of good would come out on top? She’d been taught that from an early age, both in history and in books and movies.
Good always prevailed.
”Always,” she whispered under her breath, hoping voicing it would make it come true.
“My name is Tamara Costello. I am a former reporter for PCN. Last spring, during the Sage Flu outbreak, it was reported that PCN cameraman Bobby Lion and I were victims of the virus. As you can see, that was a lie. But it was not the only one.
“The outbreak was blamed on a rogue army officer, Captain Daniel Ash. While Captain Ash was present, he had nothing to do with it. The virus was released by an organization known as Project Eden, but it was merely a test, a very successful one. Project Eden’s plan has always been to release the virus worldwide.
“This video is only being released because we have learned that is what’s happening right now. We believe there will be dozens, if not hundreds, of different methods used to spread the disease. We have recently become aware of one that involves shipping containers loaded with the virus and moved into populated areas. If you are near one of these, it’s probably already too late. For everyone else, I’m going to tell you what you need to do to stay alive…”
DOUG MINOR: I’m starting to get a little freaked out: <link redacted>
<time break—27 seconds>
JOSE RAMOS: This has got to be some kind of joke, right?
DM: I don’t know. But that woman, I remember her. I looked it up and she is supposed to be dead.
<time break—5 seconds>
JR: Think I’ll post this on a couple of our sites. Let people decide if it’s a bad joke or not.
DM: Good idea. Look, going to run to the store and grab a few things, then come back home and lock myself in.
JR: Seriously? Think you might be overreacting.
DM: Hope so. But what’s it going to hurt? I work here anyway. Are you at the office today or at home?
JR: Office.
DM: Maybe you should think about leaving.
<time break—18 seconds>
JR: Maybe.
13
Olivia’s people had seemed indifferent to Ash, Chloe, Red, and Gagnon when they climbed aboard earlier, but they had at least allowed one of their people trained in first aid tend to Gagnon.
The pilot still had not regained consciousness, but, after being given a shot of morphine, seemed not to be in as much pain. The four of them were then taken to an unused stateroom that was barely large enough for the two single beds inside, and the door was locked behind them.
Exhausted, Ash and Red put Gagnon on one of the beds. Ash told Chloe she could have the other.
“And what are you two going to do?” she said.
“Stretch out on the floor,” Ash replied, finding it hard now to keep his eyes open.
“Really?”
She looked at the ground and he followed her gaze. The space between the beds was narrower than the beds themselves.
“Move Gagnon all the way to the wall,” she suggested, then glanced at Red. “You can share with him.” Her gaze moved to Ash. “You can share with me as long as you don’t try any funny business.”
“Not feeling very funny.”
“Good.”
Ash barely remembered lying down beside her. The next thing he knew someone was shaking his leg.
“Get up,” a male voice said.
Feeling no better than he had when he’d fallen asleep, Ash forced his eyes open. Standing at the end of the bed were two men.
“We need you to come with us,” the closer of the two said.
Chloe stirred. “What’s going on?” she asked, her eyelids barely parting.
“I guess I’m going somewhere,” Ash told her, groaning as he sat up.
“Both of you,” the man said.
With one of the men in front of them and the other behind, Ash and Chloe were guided through the ship to a room next to the bridge. Inside, a man and a woman were sitting at a long table.
Ash recognized them immediately. The Resistance had nicknamed them Adam and Eve, when the two were seemingly just innocent lovers who’d sneak occasionally onto the grounds of the Resistance’s California facility known as the Bluff. Turned out they were really setting things up to rescue Olivia from the Bluff’s detention level. Ash hadn’t seen them with Olivia’s people on Yanok Island, so they must have remained on the ship.
The two escorts stayed in the hall, shutting the door as soon as Ash and Chloe passed inside.
“Please, sit down,” the woman said.
They did.
“You’re Captain Ash, aren’t you?”
“Just Ash,” he said.
“Something to drink?” the man asked.
“Water,” Chloe said.
The man retrieved two bottles of water from a cabinet along the wall and gave one to each of them.
“I hope you’ve been able to rest a little.”
Ash shrugged while Chloe simply took a drink of water.
“We apologize for not waiting earlier,” the man said, sitting back down. “We didn’t think anyone was left alive.”