Finally they reached a junction in the tunnel. It peeled to the left and crossed with three other tunnels. DC chose the far left. A short distance later he halted. Sophia stopped and everyone else followed suit.
DC turned, his light almost destroying her night vision when he switched it off a bit late. She kept her Glock in hand, low ready position. She wasn’t taking any chances.
‘What’s in the ruck?’ Sophia said.
DC took a few steps closer.
‘I can hear you just fine from here,’ she said.
DC frowned. He still held his carbine in both hands, relaxed.
‘Aviary, want to take a look?’ Sophia said, her thumb pointing to the second ruck on her back.
‘Sure.’ Aviary walked across the rocks and track to Sophia.
She unzipped the main compartment of the ruck.
‘What is it?’ Sophia said.
‘It’s a … uh … a rock,’ Aviary said, disappointed. ‘Better than a nuclear warhead, I suppose.’
‘This little rock seems to be in very high demand,’ Sophia said. ‘Care to explain why?’
‘It’s not the rock that’s in high demand,’ DC said. ‘It’s what’s inside the rock.’
‘Gremlins,’ Aviary said. ‘Is it gremlins?’
‘The Phoenix virus,’ DC said.
Sophia felt goose bumps run across her arms. That name couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘One of three Phoenix viruses,’ DC said. ‘Each dangerous in its own right. But all three together … well, it makes the Chimera vectors look like a qualifying match.’
‘How dangerous?’ Sophia said. ‘Plague dangerous? Enough to infect seven billion humans?’
‘OK, firstly the world’s population is eight point four billion. Public stats aren’t even close,’ DC said. ‘Secondly, they don’t kill people. Not the Pheonix viruses. They make you them more powerful. That one on your back is called the Recognizer. It puts your holistic and information processing into overdrive. You become a human lie detector. A behavioral analyst of extraordinary talent. An expert on humans.’
‘Isn’t that a standard feature of psychopaths?’ Sophia said. ‘Denton can already do a lot of that.’
‘Imagine it tenfold,’ DC said. ‘And it’s only one of three Pheonix viruses.’
‘Hold on a sec. This is the rock from Peru, isn't it?’ Nasira said.
‘No,’ DC said. ‘The Peru meteorite is—’
‘On its way here,’ Nasira said.
Sophia turned to her. ‘How do you know about this?’
‘How do you think I got back so quick?’ Nasira said. ‘I came across the landing site in Peru, and the testing camp. I saw them take it. The Berets got there, thought I was in on it and brought me back for, um, torture, I guess.’
‘Them?’ Sophia said. ‘The Fifth Column took it? From the … Fifth Column?’
‘From the Fifth Column,’ DC said.
‘I’m confused,’ Jay said.
‘We know,’ Nasira said. ‘But is this some sort of rogue element stealing these rocks all over the joint?’
‘Yeah,’ DC said. ‘If you call Denton a rogue element.’
‘That was Denton’s men at the base in Peru? He took the meteorite and burned the rest of it to the ground?’ Nasira said.
‘He will have the sample soon. It’s in transit as we speak,’ DC said. ‘I already have confirmation that it contains another Phoenix virus.’
‘What does that one do?’ Sophia said, trying to stay calm.
‘Called the Detector,’ DC said. ‘The ability to detect and interpret pheromones.’
Jay sniffed. ‘What, like body odor?’
‘A little more complex than that,’ DC said. ‘It’s a type of ectohormone produced through your skin.’
‘What the hell does that do?’ Jay said. ‘Warn you when someone stinks?’
Nasira raised her hand. ‘I want that ability.’
‘They’re secreted when you trigger alarm, you’re sexually aroused, attracted, repelled by someone, warning them off, planning to attack them,’ DC said. ‘Early warning system. You interpret them through your vomeronasal organ in your nose, connected to the hypothalamus in your brain. It’s like an extension to your sense of smell.’
‘Sounds like what Lucia had,’ Nasira said.
‘More sensitive, more powerful, different function,’ DC said. ‘Even if someone washes away their pheromones and obscures them with deodorizing and scented products, you can still detect them. Pick up on their moods, their intentions, their attractions, their repulsions.’
‘And the third Phoenix virus?’ Sophia said, wondering anew just what had changed in her, seeing as DC had just described the second Phoenix virus as pretty much what she’d been doing all evening.
DC pointed to the ground. ‘An old OSS — Fifth Column — base eight hundred feet below Grand Central terminal, disused since the eighties. Large enough to hide half of Manhattan’s population. Or a mislabeled sample of the third Phoenix virus.’
‘You know this for a fact?’ Sophia said.
‘No,’ he said. ‘But Denton set up camp in Grand Central a few hours ago, which seems quite the coincidence.’
‘And this one?’ Sophia thumbed at the ruck slung over her own.
‘Reclassified just a few days ago,’ DC said. ‘Until now it was hiding in plain sight.’
Sophia felt her throat tighten. ‘It was taken from the museum, wasn’t it?’
‘The American Museum of Natural History,’ DC said. ‘Blew up eight city blocks just to cover their tracks. I’m guessing you heard the explosion.’
‘I was there,’ Sophia said. ‘I did more than hear it.’
‘Shit,’ Jay said. ‘That’s a lot of collateral.’
‘Not for a psychopath,’ Sophia whispered, more to herself than the others. ‘Who’s doing this?’
DC met her glare. ‘You already know the answer.’
Sophia’s fingers squeezed around the pistol grip of her Glock. ‘Denton’s gunning for all three, isn’t he?’
DC nodded.
‘So he’s on his own now?’
‘That’s a gray area,’ DC said.
‘Speak for yourself,’ Sophia said. ‘You’re still with the Fifth Column, far as I can see.’
‘It’s a temporary engagement, on my terms,’ he said.
‘That’s what they all say. Besides, we have no reason to believe anything you’ve told us,’ Sophia said.
‘We have common goals, you and I. To get this rock as far away from Denton as possible,’ DC said. ‘That firefight in the foyer as we were leaving; those were Denton’s operatives trying to steal it back. A lot of operatives. They think Denton is Jesus and that they’re still working for the … OK, “good guys” isn’t quite right, but you know what I mean. If they’d got to us it would’ve been over very quickly.’
‘No shit,’ Nasira said.
Sophia heard the crunch on rocks as Damien and Jay swiveled to face their rear, half-expecting operatives to spring from nowhere.
‘You mean we have operatives on our tail?’ Damien said.
‘Bit of info you could’ve told us earlier,’ Jay said.
DC shook his head. ‘They don’t know how to get here. Not yet.’
‘So he already has the other two meteorites?’ Sophia said. ‘Two Phoenix viruses?’
‘One, if they’ve found the sample in the old base downstairs. Which they probably have,’ DC said. ‘Two, if he gets that Peru meteorite in here before the hurricane hits. And plenty of time to extract and prepare the virus. Three, the one on your back.’