The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2) (34 page)

“How many rescue centers failed because of the Gaia Cult?” Lindsey asked, her gaze openly hostile.

Solomon settled back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Most of them.”

“It’s the hidden history of the outbreak,” Dr. Curran said somberly.

With a shrug, the former chief defender said, “We didn’t have to work too hard to topple countries and governments. The strife already ripping apart the world helped with the downfall of civilization. Once ISPV appeared, it became the weapon of choice against one’s enemies. That’s why humanity learned to build walls and lived behind them for nearly a century before the fall. When it became evident that this was our extinction event, Gaia Liberation just helped Mother Nature along.”

Torran shook his head in disbelief. “Why? Why do that? We’re all humans!”

“There is a natural ebb and flow to life. Life evolves. Life goes extinct. Look at the history of the planet. It was our turn. ISPV evolved to rid the planet of
us
. Global warming, wars, overpopulation, the stripping of natural resources, the out-of-control building of mega-cities...” Solomon shook her head in disgust. “Just look at the history vids. It was our time. Or so the founders of the Gaia Liberation believed.”

Dr. Curran was unrestrained, so she made her way to an empty chair in front of a gutted console and sat down. “Your fairytale amuses me.”

“Fairytale?” Solomon shot the scientist a fierce look. “Look at history. Look at science.”

“You said the founders believed it was our extinction event,” Lindsey interrupted, “but you give the impression that’s not what
you
believe.”

“When the existence of the Inferi Boon came to light, it became evident to the leadership that maybe Mother Nature didn’t want all of us dead. This was confirmed when Dr. Curran admitted in a personal conversation—”

“With someone who was sent to spy on me,” Dr. Curran snapped.

“—that she didn’t actually create the Inferi Boon virus. She discovered it among samples from other labs. Mother Nature created a virus to destroy humanity, but also one to save us.”

“You talk like Mother Nature is real,” Torran said skeptically. Though Solomon had valid points about certain aspects of history, he couldn’t understand how it warranted the destruction of human civilization.

“Isn’t she? The planet is an organism that we’re just a part of. We made the planet sick and it responded. Call it Gaia, Mother Nature, Terra, Earth, whatever...it’s still the same thing.” Solomon gave them a sad, weary smile. It was obvious she thought they were ignorant. “When we started to spread our disease outside our biosphere, that is when the ISPV appeared. Coincidence?”

“You’re talking about Luna Colony and Mars Outpost,” Lindsey said, her voice accusing. “Gaia Cult wiped them out?”

“That was our first major operation. It took years of preparation.”

“It was one of the greatest acts of terrorism in the history of mankind. Thousands died!” Torran stared at her in horror.

In school, all children learned of the destruction of the two Earth colonies. At the time, no one had claimed responsibility. Wars had broken out among countries that had accused each other of the terrorist act. Conspiracy theorists had blamed aliens. Then the Scrags had started to spread across the globe and the world had fallen apart.

“Oh my God,” Lindsey whispered in shock. “You’re so wrong.”

“You’re clearly close-minded,” Solomon retorted.

“No, you’re wrong because Mother Nature had nothing to do with the virus.”

“Rooney! No!” Dr. Curran snapped.

Torran swiveled toward Lindsey. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing else like ISPV exists in nature. It’s perfect and unique,” Solomon said in a sharp tone. “Nothing. It wasn’t created by humanity. It was created by Gaia to purge herself of us.”

“No, it was created by an alien race as a gift to us,” Lindsey snapped back. “We just screwed it up by altering it.”

Solomon broke into wild peals of laughter as did the others gathered in the room. “Really? Is that what you believe?”

“Think about it. The virus appeared after we started making our forays out into the solar system and sending more advanced probes into deep space,” Lindsey answered, but she sounded a little meek in the face of the Cultist derision.

From the look on Dr. Curran’s face, Torran suspected Lindsey was telling the truth, and the scientist was relieved that no one believed her.

“We’re wasting time,” Solomon said, dismissing the whole conversation with the sweep of her hand. “We need your help, Rooney, to find Maria Martinez. We won’t hurt her. We just need a sample of her blood so Dr. Curran can extract the modified virus and begin replicating it.”

“I don’t know where she is,” Lindsey replied, her eyes downcast.

Torran shifted his weight so his arm pressed against her shoulder. Though he knew her refusal would have dire repercussions, he stood by her choice and supported it. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to save them. “It’s the truth. She doesn’t. I tried to get the information out of her for the SWD.”

“So you
were
conscripted to recover Maria. Dr. Curran wasn’t lying about that,” Solomon said, and this obviously pleased her. “She also said you might be sympathetic to our cause.”

“I don’t agree in the mindless destruction of civilian populations, but I’m not opposed to the Gaia Cultist starting their own colony elsewhere in the world.  I will help you if you agree to let The Bastion continue to exist while your people start over.” In his periphery, Lindsey gave him a sharp look. “I have information I’m willing to share if you’ll come to an agreement with me.”

Solomon’s eyes narrowed, her fingers tapping on the armrest. “Why do you think the Gaia Cult would destroy The Bastion?”

“Because it fits with your belief system. You believe Gaia has provided a path to a new Eden with the virus Maria has in her veins,” Torran said, shrugging. “Let’s say that Dwayne and Maria are the new Adam and Eve out there in the world. Now, you and your people want to join them. I totally understand that desire. But Gaia Cult has actively tried to destroy people who don’t agree with their philosophy in the past. What I’m asking you to do is let nature take its course. If I help you, then you must allow the last vestiges of humanity to have a shot at surviving.”

Yates stepped forward. “They’ll come for us, Solomon.”

“They don’t know you’re alive,” Lindsey said. “And if you let us go, we won’t tell them.”

“This world is vast. It’s huge. You can pick any spot in the world and start over.” Torran knew that any promise Solomon gave him would most likely be broken, but he needed more time for a solid escape plan.

“If The Bastion survives, we fail,” Yates insisted.

“If the citizens of The Bastion survive, they’re trapped,” Dr. Curran pointed out. “They can’t leave their valley. The Inferi Scourge will forever keep them trapped while you take over the world.”

Solomon patted the armrests of her chair with the palms of her hands a few times, then stood up sharply. “All right, Torran. Let’s talk terms.”

“First, you give up the search for Maria Martinez.”

“We need the virus!”

“There is another way to get it,” Torran said boldly.

Dr. Curran swiveled about to stare at him with widened eyes filled with uncertainty. Lindsey cocked her head while staring at him with interest.

Solomon set her hands on her hips. “If you can find another source of the virus, we will let you and Rooney go.”

“Dr. Curran, too,” Torran added.

“No. Not her. We need her. We need her to administer the virus in the proper dosages and to oversee the process.” Solomon shook her head adamantly. “We can’t let her go.”

“I’m fine with that,” Dr. Curran said, her voice hollow. “I have nothing to return to.”

“And you can’t just turn us out into the world,” Lindsey said firmly. “We have to be provided with safe passage back to secure a location where we can contact The Bastion for retrieval.”

“Good point.” Torran gave Lindsey an appreciative smile. Solomon might just decide that plopping them down in an infested city was sufficient in keeping her side of the bargain.

“Fine. Agreed.” Solomon cocked her head and gazed at Torran. “Are we done negotiating now?”

“Yes. So...” Torran took a deep breath and stared directly into Solomon’s eyes. He had to sell this lie and buy them time.  He hoped he could keep the lie simple. The more elaborate the falsehood, the more likely he’d be discovered. “The SWD has knowledge of another sample of the virus in the dead world. I was told to either retrieve Maria Martinez or return with the sample.”

“I see,” Solomon said warily. “Where is it?”

Searching his memories for a plausible location, Torran hesitated. His lie seemed to have Solomon on the hook, but he was piecing everything together as he talked. Wherever he chose had to make sense.

“I know where it is,” Dr. Curran muttered.

Torran gave her a sharp look.

“It’s in an offsite lab attached to the Saint Marie Center for Disease Control in the upper city of the Notre Dame Metroplex,” Dr. Curran continued. She looked very tired and was as pale as her uniform. “Though the primary lab was destroyed, the offsite wasn’t. Right before the fall of the city, some of the modified virus samples were moved to the offsite location. I don’t know how the SWD found out about the samples. I scrubbed all the information from the databases after the disaster with the Inferi Boon.”

“Why didn’t you reveal this information yesterday?” Solomon demanded.

Dr. Curran shrugged. “I just wanted all of this to be over. For it to end. I didn’t realize the SWD knew the truth.”

Torran and Lindsey exchanged apprehensive looks. They hadn’t expected this development.

“You had best not be lying,” Solomon said to the scientist.

“I’m not,” Dr. Curran replied, lifting her bruised chin defiantly. “But now that you know, you’ll let them go, correct?”

“Not until the virus is secured,” Solomon answered. “Take them back to their room. Tomorrow morning, we retrieve the virus.”

Chapter 32

“Can we talk?” Lindsey asked in a lowered voice once they were returned to their room.

Torran stood with his head tilted to gaze through the small observation window tucked in the locked door. He held up a hand, indicating for them to wait.

The lights that had been on earlier were now off, and the only light source was the glow under the door emanating from the hallway. The gloom infesting the rest of the floor had already helped her vision adjust to the dim lighting. Dr. Curran was the first to activate her wristlet to cast more light in the room, and Torran and Lindsey followed suit. The starting menu popped up, but access was being denied due to the suppression program Carter and created.

In the dim illumination, the man she loved looked much more composed than she felt, but then again, he was very good at hiding his emotions.

Setting her hands on her hips, Lindsey waited while watching Dr. Curran closely. She definitely didn’t trust the scientist.

After a few minutes, Torran relaxed. “They left. Is there a camera in here?”

Dr. Curran shook her head. “They don’t have enough remote generators to activate security.”

Lindsey exhaled and sat on the edge of one of the beds. “So now what do we do?”

“Well, I’m not really counting on them to keep their end of the bargain,” Torran admitted. “So I’m trying to sort out how to escape.”

Looking around the room, Lindsey yearned for the comfort of her old flat. “If we escape, how do we get out of the building?”

“We’d have to steal the tiltrotor,” Torran answered.

“And there is how many of left of the squad?”

“Twelve.” Dr. Curran settled onto a chair, crossed her arms, and stared at Torran thoughtfully. “Tell me, MacDonald: how did the SWD know about the virus?”

Torran’s smirk was barely visible as he turned to look at the scientist. “They don’t. I lied to give us more time to come up with a way of getting out of here safely.”

Dr. Curran stared at Torran in surprise, then started to laugh. “I see.”

“How did
you
know about the virus samples in the offsite lab when no one else in the SWD did?” Lindsey asked.

“During my initial research for the Inferi Boon project, I discovered a manifest from the primary lab to the offsite lab misfiled in the historical database. It didn’t seem important at the time, but when everything went to hell with the Inferi Boon special ops team, I destroyed it to prevent the SWD from acquiring it.”

“But you wanted samples from Dwayne and Maria,” Lindsey said.

“Yes, but I would have hidden that fact from my superiors. I want to find a way to inoculate
everyone
without risk of Anomalies or Aberrations developing. The SWD would just use it to acquire more power,” Dr. Curran answered tersely.

“And you wouldn’t?” Lindsey gazed at the woman distrustfully.

“Believe what you like.”

“Fine, but back to the matter at hand. You said
you
had a plan,” Lindsey said sharply to Dr. Curran. “What is it?”

“Just trust me.” The scientist’s shadowy smile made Lindsey feel unsettled and not comforted.

“That doesn’t sound like much of a plan,” Lindsey replied sourly. “Especially because I
don’t
trust you.”

“Why don’t you tell us what you have planned so far as a show of good faith?” Torran curtly suggested.

“I’m still working on the details,” Dr. Curran answered, shrugging slightly.

Lindsey scoffed. “You can’t just leave us in the dark. And that wasn’t meant as a joke.”

Dr. Curran narrowed her eyes, looking a tad peeved in the pale illumination from her wristlet. “Yes, I can.”

Torran sat on the bed next to Lindsey and gave Dr. Curran his best glower. “You’re not being helpful.”

Lindsey wrapped her arm around his and leaned her head against his shoulder. The dreadful idea of never being able to hold him again was making a mess of her nerves. “Come on, Curran, out with it. We’re all in this together.”

“If you’re lucky, they’ll let you go. If you’re not lucky, I have a plan. That really should be enough for you to know,” Dr. Curran sniffed.

“That’s not acceptable,” Lindsey snapped.

Though she hoped Torran and she would both make it out alive, she had enough doubts to make her short tempered. It was hard to cling to her last shred of hope.

Dr. Curran shrugged, slid off her chair, and entered the sanitation station. The door shut, leaving the couple alone.

“I hate her,” Lindsey grumbled.

“So do I.” Torran slid an arm around Lindsey’s shoulders and kissed her temple. “I would do anything to be anywhere but here right now.”

“Same here, but at least we’re together,” Lindsey replied.

If he hadn’t rescued her, she’d still be in Franklin’s clutches. What would’ve followed was torture and a lonely death. She was certain of that fact, so it was hard to ignore the feeling of living on borrowed time. “Everything is better when we’re together. Even when it’s bad.

Torran’s lips spread into a charming smile and he stared at her adoringly. “Well said, and true.”

Melting under his admiration, she tilted her head upward for a kiss.

Torran adorned her lips with several short pecks, then a longer smoldering one. “We’ll be okay,” he said again.

Lindsey almost believed him. “I have faith you’ll do everything in your power to get us out of here.”

“But you don’t think we’ll make it, do you?”

Snuggling into his side, she tucked her head under his chin. “No, no, I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to just give up.”

“Neither am I.”

Lindsey was lost without her pad, active wristlet, and computers, but her brain was still spinning out possibilities for survival. None of them were feasible.

When Dr. Curran stepped out of the sanitation station, her face and hair were a little damp. Maybe she was feeling overwhelmed, too. Lindsey still didn’t want to feel sympathy for her. Pointedly ignoring the couple, Curran lay on the bed furthest from them and faced the wall. The light on her wristlet turned off.

Lindsey and Torran followed suit and the room was filled with darkness.

Since apparently they weren’t going to be secured to the bedframes again, Lindsey and Torran stretched out on one of the medbeds. It was cold inside the building without any heat, and their black jumpers didn’t provide the warmth their armor would have. Burrowing under the covers, the couple snuggled together for warmth.

“Much better,” Torran whispered against her ear.

Resting her hands on his arm wrapped about her, she couldn’t help but smile just a little. “I agree.”

“I have a confession to make,” Torran said in a low voice.

“Oh?”

“I can understand the allure of the modified virus. We wouldn’t have to be trapped here, and we could venture out and see the world.”

“Where would you choose to go?”

“Scotland. Back to my family’s homestead. I’ve seen photos and heard stories about it all my life. You?”

Lindsey pondered the question. “I’d go there. With you. You’re my home, Torran.” Rolling her head to the side, she kissed the tip of his nose.

“You’re the only thing I believe in anymore,” Torran confessed.

“Then I’ll do my best to not let you down.”

“You never could,” Torran assured her. “Ever.”

* * *

Hours later, Lindsey was dragged out of a nightmare by the sound of the tiltrotor lifting off. The entire room trembled around her. It took several seconds to realize she was no longer curled up next to Torran, but strapped to a bed. Both her hands and feet were secured and she couldn’t move.

“Torran,” she rasped.

“Bloody hell,” he grunted. “Did they hit us with the electroshock rifles again while we were sleeping?”

Trying to lift her head, Lindsey grunted. “Ugh! It feels like it.”

“Shit,” Torran muttered.

“I really hate them. So much.” Tilting her head to one side, she saw the third bed was empty and the sanitation station was open. “They took Curran.”

“They’re getting the virus.”

“Yeah.” Lindsey jerked her hands, trying to wrestle them free of the restraints. “We need to get free of these damn beds and attack them when they come to get us.”

“Agreed.”

It was nearly two hours later when the tiltrotor returned, and neither of them had even managed to free one limb. Solomon entered the room with Yates and Carter soon after. The former commanding officer noted Lindsey and Torran’s raw wrists from their escape attempts and smiled with amusement.

“Not trusting our agreement?” she asked.

“I have this great aversion to being tied up,” Torran answered.

“Unless it’s by me,” Lindsey added.

“True,” Torran said with a grin.

“Charming.” Solomon motioned for her prisoners to be released. “Our mission was a success. Carter was able to disable the security and we retrieved all the samples.”

Lindsey raised her eyes to stare at Carter. His beefy body and vacant look had deceived her. She never would have pegged him as a hacker. It made her a little angry that she’d been fooled by so many.

Yates dragged Lindsey to her feet while Carter did the same with Torran. This time they left their ankles unshackled, but bound their wrists.

“Dr. Curran is looking over the samples we retrieved. She should be able to confirm whether or not we have the modified virus or not,” Solomon said.

“You didn’t take her with you?” Lindsey was a little surprised by this revelation.

“She was overseeing the setup of her new lab,” Solomon answered. “She’s earned a certain degree of our trust.”

“So once the virus is confirmed, you’ll see about returning us, right?” Torran queried.

“Of course,” Solomon answered.

And Lindsey knew she was lying.

* * *

Without a doubt Torran knew they were about to die. It was a feeling unlike any he’d had before. Whenever facing the Scrags, there had been the hope of survival. But not now. Looking into the hardened faces of the Cultists escorting him and Lindsey through the dimly-lit corridor, Torran was certain that each one of them was more than willing to kill him and Lindsey. Meeting Lindsey’s gaze, he saw that she’d come to the same conclusion as well. He supposed it was a solace that they’d had one more night sleeping in each other’s arms. Anger and sorrow filled him when he considered the loss of a future together. A small, encouraging smile flitted across Lindsey’s lips and he tried to return it, but it was hard.

Most of Solomon’s people appeared out of various doorways clad in their black jumpsuits. Seeming curious, they joined the escort to the lab, and Torran was very troubled by that fact. Any attempt to escape now would only speed up their deaths. The only reason they were still alive was as insurance. If the virus was in the Cultists’ hands, they would be dead in minutes. If the virus hadn’t been retrieved, then at least Solomon would have chance at finding Maria through Lindsey. Torran was fairly certain he was alive because he’d be tortured to convince Lindsey to talk.

Yet, reflecting on the last few months, Torran realized his death was actually coming at one of the happiest times of his life.

“I’m glad we took that walk that day,” Torran said abruptly.

“Me too,” Lindsey answered, grinning.

“Both of you shut up,” Yates ordered.

“I’d rather not be taking this walk though,” Torran added.

“Yeah, the company leaves something to be desired.” Lindsey glowered at Yates.

The building was very cold, and the air tasted and smelled stale. Instead of proceeding to the command center, they were directed down another hallway. Several remote generators were set up at the far end and the open doorway glowed with bright light.

“Why not torches?” Torran asked. “I mean, you hate tech, so why not shuck off the generators and go for good old fashioned fire?”