Ash pushed the transmit button. “This is Daniel Ash.”
“Mr. Ash, I regret to inform you you’re going to have to leave. We can’t have you here.”
On shore, the man who’d gone into the building reemerged, holding what was undoubtedly a portable radio in his hand.
“All we need to do is get to our plane so we can leave.”
“Plane?”
“The jet parked on your strip. That’s ours.”
“Hold on.”
They watched the man run down the dock to the others. There was another conference, then a different man broke from the crowd and headed to shore.
“Listen,” Ash said into the radio. “We’ll go directly to the airstrip. We won’t come near anyone.”
“Just stay where you are,” the man said.
Several minutes passed before the person who had left returned with someone new. When they reached the group, the radio crackled to life again.
“Ash? Is that you?”
“Harlan?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” Harlan Pinto was the pilot of their private jet. “Where’s the seaplane?”
“No time right now. Tell the men there with you we just want to get to the jet and that’s it.”
“They understand that, but I’m told they’re not comfortable with you coming ashore at all. Everyone’s freaked out about what’s going on in the rest of the world. The news have been showing the video Tamara Costello made telling everyone it’s a biological attack. People here have created a kind of reverse quarantine zone.”
“Let me talk to the man in charge,” Ash said. “But you stay close and listen in.”
“Okay. Just a second.”
A pause, then, “This is Gerald McKay.”
“Mr. McKay, you’re in charge of Grise Fiord?”
“That’s right.” McKay had a rough, smoker’s voice.
“I can make you a deal, and guarantee that no one in your town will ever get sick by what’s happening elsewhere.”
“So can I. That’s why we can’t allow you to come ashore.”
“My guarantee works no matter who comes ashore, now or in the future.”
“And exactly how can you do that?”
“By providing you all with a vaccine.”
McKay fell silent. In the lights on the dock, Ash could see the men talking to each other. They seemed to be directing much of their attention at Harlan.
When things settled down, McKay came back on. “How is it you have a vaccine for a disease some terrorists just released in the last twenty-four hours?”
“It’s not just any disease, Mr. McKay. It’s Sage Flu.” He paused, letting the reality of that sink in. “We’ve had the vaccine ready for some time now, knowing the day would come when these terrorists tried it again. We’d hoped to stop them, but…”
“Bullshit. You’re just saying anything to get us to allow you ashore. You know so much about this, maybe you’re already infected.”
“What do you have to lose? Harlan will get it for you. You can choose to take it or not after that. But I’d take it if I were you.”
“Maybe it’s water, or even poison. Hell, it could even be a vitamin shot. You think we’re going to believe you’d show up right now with a cure for something we’re not even sure exists yet?”
Ash would not get through to them. He could see that.
“Hang on,” he said to Chloe and Red.
He restarted the engine.
“What are you doing?” McKay asked.
Ash tossed the radio on the floor, gunned the motor, and headed around the end of the dock in an arc he hoped would make them harder to hit.
“You’d better be going back out to sea! You’re not wanted here!” McKay yelled at them.
Once he cleared the dock, Ash aimed the boat at the spot on the shore that would put them just below the road leading to the airfield.
“They’re heading off the dock,” Chloe said. “You want to share your plan?”
“Get to the plane.”
She smirked. “Brilliant. But I guess it’s better to die from a gunshot than freeze to death out here on the water.”
“I’d rather not do either.”
As they drew closer to the shore, Red said, “Ice ahead, all the way to the beach.”
“How far does it come out?” Ash asked.
“Looks about twenty-five feet.”
“All right. Let’s hope this thing rides the ice better than Gagnon’s plane did!”
“Seriously?” Chloe asked.
“You have a better idea?”
She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head.
Ash opened up the motor as fast as it would go, building up speed while he still could.
“Here it comes!” Red yelled.
At the last second, Ash killed the motor and pushed it down, so that the propeller end lifted out of the water instead of jamming into the ice and stopping them cold.
The boat skidded across the surface, slewing left and right, then turned until they were sideways to the beach, with only their momentum keeping them headed in the right direction.
“Bump!” Red said.
With a loud thump, the boat jumped up and slammed back down. Ash shot out a hand and grabbed Chloe, barely stopping her from flying over the side.
As they passed from the ice onto the rocky beach, there was a rip followed by the loud hiss of air, and the inflatable sides of the boat began to collapse.
Ash was the first out. He grabbed Gagnon’s legs and said, “Come on. We’ve got to keep moving.”
With a grunt, Chloe crawled out after him. Red shook his head as if he were dazed, then took a hold of Gagnon’s shoulders. The two men lifted the pilot out of the boat, and followed Chloe up to the road.
From that point, it was just over a quarter-mile to the small airfield. They headed toward it as fast as they could go, but made it only fifty yards before they heard running feet behind them.
“Stop!” a man yelled. It was McKay’s voice, though unaided by the radio now.
“Keep moving,” Ash whispered.
“Dammit, stop!”
They didn’t even pause.
There was a double crack of gunfire and two bullets screamed by them, one on either side. They still didn’t slow.
“Don’t make us shoot you!” McKay yelled.
“We’re not making you do anything,” Ash called out.
Another gunshot, this bullet sailing over their heads.
Red looked over at Ash, worried.
“Keep going,” Ash told him.
There were three more shots before they reached the plane, but none hit them. As they neared the aircraft, the side door opened and Barry Kincaid, the copilot, looked out.
“Ash!” he said, surprised. “You made it.” Then he noticed the others coming behind them with guns. “Oh, shit.”
“Get the plane ready for takeoff,” Ash ordered.
With a nod, Barry disappeared back into the plane.
“You first,” Ash told Red as they reached the short stairway to the entrance. As soon as they got Gagnon inside, Ash passed the man’s legs off to Chloe, and headed back toward the door.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Get him comfortable and warmed up. I’ll just be a minute.”
A few feet past the door was a storage compartment. He opened it, pulled out a two-by-ten-inch blue box, and climbed outside.
As his feet hit the ground, the plane’s engines growled to life. Gathered in a line about fifty feet away from the plane were the men who’d been on the dock. There were nine of them, ten counting Harlan, whom they were holding back.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” McKay’s voice came out of a red-bearded man standing near the middle of the group.
“Leaving,” Ash said.
“You shouldn’t have come ashore. You may have exposed us all.”
“Lucky for you, I didn’t.” Ash leaned down and set the box on the ground.