Valère nodded.
“Let us see this through to the end, Valère. Let us complete our mission.”
He nodded again.
No one spoke at first. Finally, SARA’s voice boomed through the walls. “We will need your verbal commitment, Monsieur Valère. Please provide verbal confirmation of your agreement to the chosen contingency.”
Good Lord, she was remarkable. SARA had parsed, compiled, and transcribed the conversation, as she had been instructed, but she had also extrapolated from the silence that the other man was waiting for Valère’s confirmation, as per the contract, as well as the fact that he didn’t want to specifically ask for it.
Technology. Incroyable.
“Yes,” he stammered. “Yes, I confirm. We shall commence with a contingency that merely supports our overall direction, as discussed in previous communications. SARA, please transcribe, encrypt, and archive this discussion into your database, and remove all references therein.”
“Oui, Monsieur Valère,” SARA said. As Valère stood from his computer desk, the woman’s computerized voice followed the location of his head with pinpoint accuracy, causing Valère to feel as though she were inside his head, not just talking to it. “I will alert you of any updates.”
He nodded, knowing SARA could see that, too.
Chapter Forty-Two
“How far are we from the lab?” Julie asked. She had her feet up on the dashboard. One of Ben’s pet peeves, but he didn’t say anything. He was driving, again, but rather than responding with one of the myriad of retorts he’d been constructing, he found himself grinning instead.
“We’re almost at the park border, and then there’s another half hour or so to the lab.”
She nodded once, then focused again on her laptop. Malcolm sat in the back seat, reading through a stack of papers Julie had printed at the hotel’s business center, all on infectious diseases, viral outbreaks, and bacterial infections. It was internal CDC documentation, mixed with reference material and some medical applications, but most of it was the type of information that existed publicly online, through sites like WebMD and Wikipedia.
Malcolm was specifically looking for research into anthrax-type infections, where the originating material was powdery, dry, or airborne. A fast reader, he had almost made it through the entire stack when they finally reached the gates of Yellowstone’s northeast entrance, with nothing intriguing to show for his efforts.
Julie looked out the window to see a welcome sign with the “Yellowstone National Park” title and the National Parks Service arrowhead logo. The wooden sign had been placed atop a log display, surrounded by a freshly manicured garden of flowers, shrubs, and small trees. Behind it, the sprawling landscape lay in invitation, beckoning the three-million-plus visitors each year into miles of protected forests and open terrain.
The road narrowed slightly and pointed them toward an entrance area with a service building standing sentry nearby. In front of the building, Julie saw two police officers and a few rangers and park personnel milling about. Two police cruisers were parked facing each other on the road, blocking the entrance. Outside the service building, a white tent had been constructed, and Julie could see that it was meant for hazmat teams from her own organization for the mobile treatment of any infected individuals found inside the park.
“Are they going to let us in?” Julie asked.
“The north and northeast entrances are open year-round, so we should be able to get in. I’ve got my access badge, but I’m not sure about you.”
One of the police officers had seen their truck coming toward them and walked into the road, standing in front of the police vehicle. He held up his arms and began waving them down.
“Well, maybe I was wrong,” Ben muttered under his breath as he slowed the truck to a stop and rolled down the window.
The police officer almost had to stand on his toes to see into the truck’s high window, but he removed his sunglasses and spoke loudly over the rumble of the engine. “Park’s closed,” he said. “No access in or out.”
“I understand,” Ben answered, removing the ID badge from his wallet. “I work here though, and she’s —”
“Doesn’t matter.” The police officer cut him off, curtly. “No one in or out. You can turn around right here, then head back on this road…” His voice trailed off as he pointed in the direction from which they’d come.
“Officer, I’m going to need to get into the park. We’ve got information on this virus, and —”
“Son, I’m not going to ask you again. Park access is prohibited. Get home, stay inside, and keep watching the news.”
Ben gritted his teeth and revved the engine. As the officer stepped backward, Ben spun the truck around him and accelerated onto the north-bound side of the road.
“That was helpful,” Julie said.
Malcolm called up from the back of the truck. “Now what?”
Ben didn’t answer. He drove another mile and turned left onto a dirt road leading back to the southwest, and sped up again. They bounced over the uneven, rocky road and swerved between trees that jutted out over their heads. “This is a private access road. There are four other public entrances to the park, just like the one back there. But there are a thousand little roads like this one that crisscross the entire area. I doubt they’ll be monitoring these smaller ones, at least not at the park borders.”
“Won’t they still find us? There are probably hazmat and outbreak teams from every branch of government and local police forces inside the park.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Malcolm answered. “They’ll know soon enough that we’re here, but if we don’t get to that lab and figure out what makes this thing stop, it will be too late anyway.”
As a confirmation, Ben poked at the radio until he found a news station. It didn’t take long — one station was playing a prerecorded commercial, but the second he tried was broadcasting a nationwide message. He turned the volume up as an anchor’s voice solemnly dictated the latest update.
“…Reports are in that the viral outbreak has extended as far south as Albuquerque, New Mexico, and as far east as Wichita, Kansas. Experts from the CDC and other sources suggest that if the outbreak can be contained, the death toll will rise to around 10,000 people, but if not, that number could skyrocket to more than a million. Estimates predict that number to be far too conservative, especially if the trajectory of the disease places it anywhere near the western seaboard.
“As a reminder, please stay inside, try not to interact with anyone outside of your immediate family, and stay tuned to news and radio updates.”
The anchor signed off, promising another update in an hour, and went to a commercial break. Ben punched the power button.
“Well that’s dire,” Julie said. Her voice was hoarse, weak.
“It is, but we can change it. They don’t know how large-scale this could be, and they don’t understand the virus like we do. They’re doing what they’ve been trained to do — throw resources at this problem until it goes away, trying to limit the fatalities as much as possible. We don’t need more people studying it, just the right ones, with the right information.”
“That’s why we need to get to the lab,” Ben said. He smashed the gas pedal, sending the already fast-moving truck hurtling over potholes and bumps as if they were no more than pebbles on the road.
Minutes later, they reached the lab facility. It was a brownish-tinged building, painted to blend into the surrounding forest and not stick out to any vacationers camped nearby. Ben pulled the truck onto the long driveway, relieved to find that it was paved, flat, and straight. He parked outside the main entrance. The building was dark and appeared unoccupied — not a surprise, considering the park’s staff had been released shortly after the explosion.