He had got out another I.V. and was prepping whole blood when Elise asked, her mouth full, “You got dextrose?”
He nodded.
“That’s what he needs, more than blood.”
That made no sense to his training, but something about her look convinced him she knew what was she was talking about. So he prepped dextrose instead and slid it into Larry’s femoral vein, the biggest available vessel in the body and the way to get it in him fastest. It drained rapidly through the short tube as Daniel held it up.
Elise fed Daniel a chunk of protein bar. He gobbled it from her fingers. It was unbelievably sensual, like that first taste of water in the parched desert. She fed him another, felt his mouth on her hand, wanted his mouth on hers...
“More,” he gasped, working between bites. She fed him.
“Give him more dextrose,” she said, gesturing at the I.V.
“That would be too much. It could make him hyperglycemic. He could go into shock.”
“No,” she disagreed. “The Eden Plague is taking hold of him already. Look, his wounds are closing. He just needs to be fed. Give him more, now.” Her tone brooked no argument.
His mind’s eye flashed back to the bizarre lip-lock she had given Larry. That confirmed it. She had passed the XH, the…the Eden Plague she called it. Just like a bite, only a bit gentler. He was right, this stuff would put him out of a job. He didn’t have time to care about that right now, switching out the empty I.V. for a full bag. “This is the last one of dextrose. Just whole blood and saline left.”
“Wait,” she said. She stuffed one more piece of protein bar into Daniel’s mouth, then hung the saline drip on a drawer handle next to her. Standing up, she ran to the other side of the big laboratory, rummaging in a glass-fronted medical refrigerator. Larry looked like he was stabilized, breathing easier and not bleeding much.
She came back with four one-liter I.V. bags of something nonstandard, a pale pink liquid Daniel didn’t recognize. It had “NS” handwritten on it in marker. “It’s a nutrient solution they use for the primates, when they do tests. It’s better than dextrose. It’s IV food in a bag. Only for Eden Plague carriers.”
He waited for the last of the dextrose to drain, then switched the bags. The pink stuff started down the tube, and they knelt there, watching Larry. After a moment Daniel felt her staring at him. He looked up into her shining blue eyes, confident for the moment that the Eden Plague was doing its work. Thank you, he mouthed to her silently.
She blushed.
“Larry’s gonna make it,” he said over the link, his voice hoarse. “Anyone else need medical attention?”
“Neg.”
“Negative.”
“No.”
“Excellent.” Because he wanted to keep staring into those azure orbs, to lose himself there. He wanted to do it forever.
-13-
Daniel opened up an MRE, Meal Ready-to-Eat standard field ration, and started sharing it between himself and Elise. It was twelve hundred calories in a package about the size of a bag of potato chips, but they ate it all fast.
Zeke gave Vinny a summary situation report, then came over to the rest of them. By then everyone was gathered around Larry, who seemed to be out of danger.
Daniel thought about giving him a dose of morphine but decided against it. If Elise could deal with the pain of being shot, Larry could too.
“We have to extract,” said Zeke urgently. “That last bastard had a radio and a phone in the security room there. No doubt he made a call. If they’re brave and stupid they’ll react with their helo. If they’re smarter, they’ll get together something we can’t handle. Either way, we don’t wanna hang around. Larry, can you move?”
Larry’s eyes were open by then. He opened his mouth, coughed, and said, “Yeah, I think so. Hey, pretty lady.”
Elise pressed her lips together in a wan, tearful smile. “Hang in there. You’ll be fine now.”
They helped Larry to his feet, leaving the shreds of his armor and most of his clothing in a bloody heap on the floor. Daniel handed him an MRE, then opened another one. Mmmm, chicken a la king. He could have eaten raw chicken at this point. He laughed to himself. Actually yes, I could. Salmonella is no threat anymore.
Skull dragged in the hog-tied man they had caught sleeping, slung him next to the other one. “What about these two?” he asked, gesturing at the immobilized men on the floor.
Spooky walked over to them with his P90 aimed.
“No!” Daniel yelled.
“Shut up, Markis,” warned Skull. He swung his HK Daniel’s direction, an implicit threat. “It’s not your call.”
Daniel stood up, stepped up to Skull. His forward motion stopped with the flash suppressor of the HK in his chest. One twitch of the man’s finger and he might be dead. He wasn’t at all sure his armor could stop a high-powered rifle bullet at point blank range.
Their eyes locked.
“I’m making it my call. This guy’s not the enemy, he’s just doing a job.” Daniel reached up to grasp the barrel with his left hand, shoving it aside. Then he stared Skull down.
“They almost killed Larry,” the thin sniper grated, his eyes cold and fixed.
“But they didn’t. And we saved his life. Nothing to avenge.” Daniel stepped into Skull’s personal space, put a hand on his chest, pushing him inexorably back. Skull stumbled, and Daniel shoved his skinny frame. The thin man sprawled on his back as Daniel pointed a finger at him. “Next time you aim a weapon at me, you better shoot me, or I’ll shove it up your ass.”
Skull spread his hands, backing down for the moment, but Daniel could tell it wasn’t over between them.
“He’s right,” rumbled Zeke. “Nobody kills anybody if we don’t need to.”
Daniel let his breath out with relief. Elise stepped up behind, staring at the unconscious man on the floor. “It’s Miguel,” she said softly. “He’s a slimy bastard and rapist. This is the first time I’ve regretted the virtue effect. I’d like to teach him a lesson he’ll never forget. But I have a better idea.” She reached over to open a drawer and pulled out a syringe. She filled it with blood from her own arm, then plunged it into each of the prisoners in turn.
“Great. You’re rewarding them for being assholes?” Skull asked disgustedly.
“Actually,” she said, “this is the best revenge. The virtue effect will make him regret his own misdeeds, and he won’t repeat them. Maybe it will keep other people safe from him later. And he’ll be useless to the Company now. They both will be.”
“That’s smart, and kind,” said Daniel approvingly.
Elise brightened with his praise. She reached to embrace him, putting her head against his chest.
Skull snorted.
A note of envy in there I think, Daniel said to himself.
Zeke broke the moment. “That’s enough of that. Time to get out. Listen, you,” he poked Miguel, “tell your masters that we got the healing stuff. If they want it kept under control for a while longer, they’ll stop coming after us. Otherwise, maybe we’ll just release it into the water supply. Or start biting people.”
Elise shook her head, started to say something.
Daniel held up a hand to stop her. Rogett remained out cold. Miguel was blindfolded, and Daniel didn’t want him to see Zeke or hear any commentary, because he knew Zeke was bluffing.
Or Daniel thought he was.
He also didn’t think the bluff would work. Governments, or government employees, generally don’t react well to blackmail. We’ve bloodied their noses, embarrassed them, stolen their secret formula, and the person or people behind the whole thing will want it back. The only question was, would they still try to do damage control, or would it be confession time, bump it up to higher authority and turn it into an official reaction by the whole Agency or worse. Daniel really didn’t want that. “Sure wish we could destroy this lab,” he remarked. “That would slow them down a bit.”