HAYWIRE: A Pandemic Thriller (The F.A.S.T. Series Book 2) (35 page)

And there could be even more,
Coleman thought.

It didn’t take a genius to realize their failing communication system was linked to the attack. That meant the ship’s bridge had also been compromised.

Bryant was on the bridge. If they have taken the bridge, then they have access to the cameras Bryant was using to help us.

Everything suddenly made sense.
That’s how they found us in the hospital. That’s why they were shooting through the walls. They knew exactly where we were.

Coleman noticed Neve had a wad of medical files wedged down the side of her chair.

‘What are they?’ he asked.

‘The patients’ personal medical details.’

Neve pulled the files out. Something fell and hit Coleman’s boot.

‘Myers brought this in,’ Coleman remembered, picking up the plastic bag with the photo ID. ‘This might belong to the woman the ship rescued.’

Neve opened the bag and stared at the card.

‘What is it?’ asked Coleman.

‘I know this woman. I’ve met her at conferences. This is Elizabeth Green. She studied virology, like me, but she’s also a marine biologist.’

Neve slowly lowered the ID to her knee. ‘I think I know what’s happening on this ship.’

‘Then tell me,’ prompted Coleman. ‘Quickly.’

‘Elizabeth Green had a huge research grant,’ explained Neve. ‘She had a team. Her job was to collect specimens of marine life from endangered reefs all over the world to identify new compounds. New medical compounds. She was looking for ways to cure diseases using the drugs that marine animals naturally manufacture. She was worried that as species went extinct, we might be losing the cures to important diseases.’

‘How did she end up here?’ asked Coleman.

Neve rubbed her thumb over the plastic ID. ‘Her research stalled about three years ago. She didn’t find any promising compounds on the reefs. She lost her funding. It sounded like her entire project was going to collapse.’

‘But it didn’t,’ prompted Coleman.

‘No.’ Neve shook her head. ‘She was approached by a company. They offered her a job. They wanted to pay her to complete her own research. They even wanted her to expand her project to search in different ecosystems. She began looking for new medical compounds in animals that live around deep sea thermal vents.’

‘Deep sea thermal vents?’ Coleman asked. ‘Really?’

Neve looked down at her legs. ‘She did it. She found a way to reverse permanent nerve damage. This must be the most significant medical breakthrough since...well, I can’t even imagine.’

‘Who was the company?’ asked Coleman. ‘Who paid for all this research? Who owns it?’

‘Well, a pharmaceutical company,’ replied Neve, as though the answer was obvious. ‘They were spending hundreds of millions on developing new drugs. If Elizabeth found something groundbreaking, which she obviously did, they were in a position to make billions of dollars profit.’

‘What was the company’s name?’ asked Coleman.

‘Pharmafirst,’ said Neve. ‘They took Elizabeth offshore to their private research station. It was near the thermal vents she needed to study.’

‘Then she ends up here,’ said Coleman. ‘And within twenty-four hours the ship is overtaken by a private security team.’

‘Private security?’ asked Neve. ‘How do you know?’

‘Their uniforms and weapons,’ said Coleman. ‘Their level of training. They’re not military. They must be Pharmafirst. They arrived quickly, so those thermal vents can’t be very far away.’

‘You mean the man who shot me worked for Pharmafirst?’

‘Who else could it be?’ replied Coleman. ‘Who else invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Elizabeth Green?’

‘But Elizabeth is dead. Why would they still need her?’

‘Perhaps they’re not looking for her,’ reasoned Coleman. ‘Maybe they’re looking for something she brought with her. Maybe something she sacrificed her life for.’

Neve began to crumple up the plastic bag.

Coleman stopped her.

‘What’s that in the corner of the bag?’

Neve plucked out a small object. ‘It’s a phone memory chip.’

‘Do you have a phone?’

Neve reached around and found her phone.

‘It fits,’ she said, pushing the chip into her phone. ‘It’s opening. There’s only one file.’

‘Can you show me?’

Neve touched the screen. Her phone began playing a video recording.

‘That’s her,’ said Neve. ‘That’s Elizabeth!’

‘It’s a video message,’ realized Coleman.

The young woman began filming herself. Her face filled most of the screen. Yellow plastic filled the background. She was in the life raft. Her image swayed. She rubbed her face and then said into the camera:

‘This is Dr. Elizabeth Green. It’s been
(she checked her watch)
about fourteen hours since I escaped the labs. I’m going to wait another six hours before I set off the emergency beacon. I won’t be alive when you find this message (she held up a small vial with a blue liquid inside). This is the biotoxin we use to destroy the infected chimpanzees in the lab. It’s a painless death. I don’t want to die, but I can’t be alive when I’m found. I’m infected with the drug like everyone else at Pharmafirst. My life isn’t important any more. This is what is important.’

 
She held up a silver tube with digital numbers on it.

‘Everything you need to know about my research is on this drive. Christov is not going to use our miracle drug to heal people. He won’t give me enough time to isolate the violent side effects from molecule M-47. He’s going to sell it as a weapon. He’s turning a truly miraculous drug into a weapon and that’s not something I can be a part of. The side effects I’ve seen….’

She shook her head, as though the memories left her speechless. Her face had gone pale. Her voice sounded shakier.

‘Please tell my family that I love them.’

The message ended.

Neve turned off her phone.

‘Her plan didn’t work,’ said Coleman.

‘What do you mean? We have her message now. We have confirmation that Pharmafirst is behind all this.’

Coleman shook his head. ‘That wasn’t her plan. She planned to be dead when her life raft was picked up. If she was dead, she couldn’t spread the infection. Whatever she used to kill herself with didn’t work in time. Or maybe her miracle drug prevented it from working. Either way, she was still alive when they found her. She carried the infection right onto the ship.’

Christov was furious.

Furious at himself.

He should have accepted Bolton’s help to kill the Marines, but he thought the element of surprise was enough. It wasn’t nearly enough. His men were pursuing the scattered Marines, but all he’d caught was one skinny boy.

Christov cable-tied the boy’s hands together, yanking the cables tight.

The boy hissed.

He might be useful
, thought Christov.
If only to lure the Marines out so I can kill them.

Christov grabbed the boy’s hair and dragged him over to his men. ‘If he tries to run, burn him.’

Christov knew the boy wouldn’t run. He was terrified of the flamethrowers.

Everyone was scared of fire. Even the infected.

Christov strode into the main pathology lab.

Blood had splattered everywhere. Over the benches. Up the walls. Across the ceiling.

All this blood. We must have wounded somebody
, Christov thought.

Then he saw the blood samples.

The benches had been covered with blood samples. When his men opened fire, they’d hit the samples, sending the blood everywhere.

Not a single blood pattern was consistent with a bullet wound.

In fact, it was Christov’s team who were down two men.

Christov examined the projectile that had electrocuted one of his best security officers.

This is an electro-dart from the XREP-26. They’re firing non-lethal ammunition. They don’t even have real weapons. No wonder they’re running.

Christov had his men searching the surveillance monitors right now. They should find where the Marines were hiding any second.

‘We’ve got them,’ came the voice over Christov’s radio. ‘They’ve split into three groups.’

‘Where’s the woman in the wheelchair?’ asked Christov.

‘She’s been wounded. She’s with a Marine. They’re in the casino.’

‘I’m on my way,’ said Christov.

Right after he dealt with Elizabeth Green. He entered the room with the life raft and lifted his flame-pistol. The weapon’s pilot flame was already hissing.

Burn you bitch.

He pulled the trigger and totally engulfed Elizabeth’s body in flames. She and everything around her instantly ignited. Christov watched until the heat became too much.

He waved forward his men.

‘Burn this place,’ he yelled. ‘Burn the equipment. Burn the samples. Burn everything!’

His team triggered their flamethrowers in unison. Their heavier flamethrowers were far more powerful than Christov’s. Huge spouts of fire leaped out and devoured the lab as though the weapons were opening a gateway to hell.

‘Keep going!’ Christov yelled.

His men swept the powerful jets of flame around the lab, leaving burning ruins in their wake. The flames filled every crack. They found every nook and cranny. There was nowhere to hide from fire. Christov watched until every surface in the entire pathology lab was ablaze.

‘Get back!’ he yelled.

He nodded in satisfaction.