The Plague Forge [ARC] (8 page)

“This one,” Tim said, tracing a finger along the line Skyler had drawn east from Belém, “runs roughly toward where the mother ship is parked in orbit.”

Skyler frowned. “Roughly?”

Tim nodded and held out a hand for the pencil. Skyler handed it over, and the young man drew a box around a portion of the Sahara in northern Niger. “Right about here,” he said.

The spot lay just below the cone Skyler had drawn. His guesswork on the spread of the cone had no evidence to back it up; it was really more optimism than anything else—something much wider would take months to explore even from the air. Still, the mark Tim made was close enough that it couldn’t be ignored. Perhaps the Builder’s mother ship had parked itself directly over one of the crash sites.

“Interesting,” Nachu said after a moment. He and Colton had remained in the cramped room in case additional supply requests came up. At this point they knew the city better than Skyler himself.

Skyler glanced at the kid and was reminded of the university students he used to beat at cards back in Amsterdam. All the intelligence to take on the world, just enough experience to think they could pull it off. Only one in a thousand could stand out in a crowd like that, and this kid was one of those. Same went for the other, Colton. In another time they’d have been future Neil Platzes, waiting to happen. “What’s interesting?”

“That spot.” Nachu pointed to the mark in Niger. “It’s due south of where they say the SUBS virus started.”

Skyler looked closer. Tania and Tim both leaned in, too, and Nachu took the pencil. “They never nailed the exact place down,” he said, “but it was somewhere around … here. This map shows it as forest and grazing land, but this is a historical map, see?
A
.
D
.
2100. Today that’s all part of the Sahara.”

The circle he drew encompassed parts of Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria, and it lay right in the middle of the cone Skyler had drawn. He swallowed hard. It couldn’t be a coincidence, and as he stared at the map a sudden chill made him shudder.

“Tania,” he said.

She looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“What if …” He paused, considering his words. “Suppose that new ship
is
a weapon. Only, not aimed at us, but aimed at the disease.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Why would they start the disease and then attack it?”

“Maybe it got out of control?” Tim offered.

“Or,” Skyler said, thinking aloud now, “maybe they didn’t start the disease.” Everyone stared at him now. “Look at us. I mean, humanity. We’re a mess. Our colony. Blackfield coming after us, Platz and the Council, factions like the Jacobites. Grillo and all the other minor syndicates. We’re fractured all over the place, but we’ve been making this assumption that the Builders are a cohesive whole.”

Tania nodded slowly. “So, one Builder faction decides Earth should get a free space elevator. An opposition group can’t stop it from being sent, so they decide to wipe us out instead.”

“Exactly.”

“Then,” Tim said, “the first group somehow sets up the Elevator to offer some protection, the aura, until they can devise a way to stop the disease.” He was smiling, but it turned to a frown almost instantly. “Doesn’t explain the Belém Elevator, or the aura towers.”

“Or these crashed ships, and that room inside the Key Ship,” Tania said. “I mean, if it’s a weapon, why not have it ready to go? Why scatter these bits across the planet and require us to reassemble it?”

Skyler shrugged. “How should I know?”

“Besides,” Tania added, “it doesn’t mesh well with the fact that Neil somehow knew exactly how many events would occur. Hmm …”

“It’s just a theory.”

Tania patted him on the forearm. “Relax, Skyler. We’re scientists. Poking holes in theories is part of the job.”

Nachu spoke up again. “Maybe this opposition group sabotaged the weapon in flight. They couldn’t destroy the parts, but they could make them really hard to find, hard to gather. Buy time for the virus to do its job.”

“Yeah,” Skyler said. “How about that? I like this kid.”

“Not bad,” Tania agreed. “I’ll admit it’s probably the best theory I’ve heard yet, save perhaps for the insane space clown theory Greg and Marcus cooked up. But it doesn’t change the mission. It adds urgency, yes, but the task remains the same.” She gave him a serious look. “Are we agreed to the plan?”

The conviction in her eyes startled him. He’d hoped against hope she’d abandon the idea of joining the Emerald mission. “Look,” he said. “I know you’ve trained hard, Tania. But you’re not immune; at least it’s highly unlikely that you are. Your presence on the mission is an unnecessary complication. I mean, it could last weeks.”

“There’s plenty of room for compressed air tanks in this plane.”

“Air, sure, but how are you going to go to the bathroom?”

“Is this craft rated for high altitude?” she asked.

“Yes,” Vanessa said. “Thirty klicks.”

Tania nodded. “So, we keep the cabin sealed until we reach the aura towers, or get to half our air.”

Skyler shook his head. “Too many things could go wrong. A leak, an emergency landing. Hell, you’ll have to recharge the caps at some point.”

“Um,” Vanessa said, raising her hand. “Don’t forget, on this aircraft the cockpit is a separate compartment. Pablo and I would ride up there, get out if we need to, all without breaking the seal on the cargo compartment.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side,” Skyler said to her.

Vanessa shrugged.

“A third pair of hands,” Pablo said, “could be useful.”

Skyler looked at all of them, exasperated. Then he turned to Tania. “You’ll be cooped up in here for days. Weeks, maybe.”

“Skyler, I’ve lived on a space station for almost my entire life.”

“Okay, okay. What about when the time comes to get out? How much help can you be in one of those environment suits?”

“I thought of that, too,” Tania said. “I won’t need one.”

“Come again?”

She grinned knowingly. “Remember those spacesuits we wore over to the Builder ship?”

“Yes. I won’t soon forget those.”

“Well, I brought them. They’ll work just as well in atmosphere. They’re sealed, and they have excellent mobility.”

He grunted agreement. The suits were undeniably superior to any environment suit he’d ever seen. “You brought both? Why?”

Tania shrugged. “I thought you might want some help on your mission, too. Maybe one of these two,” she said, gesturing at Nachu and Colton. The two young men glanced at each other, then back at Skyler.

He knew he’d lost the argument, probably before Tania had even stepped off her climber. The next hour was spent hammering out details, supply requirements mostly. He waited until the group had split up for the evening to tell Colton and Nachu that he thought they should stay in Belém. The colony would need them for any scavenging needs while the immunes were away.

He felt glad when both agreed. Though either of the young men would be a welcome addition, Skyler had a different sort of help in mind.

Two days later the
Helios
took off. Skyler watched the aircraft arch across the cloudy sky until it disappeared behind the city’s dark downtown skyline. The Tombstones, so the colonists called the ghostly high-rises. The bleak structures moaned when the wind came up off the Pará and rushed through their broken windows. Usually rain would drown that sound. Today the thunderous roar of the
Helios
’s engines did the job, though that noise dwindled with each passing second.

“Everything’s green here.” Vanessa’s voice, over the comm. “We’ll see you soon,
amigos
.”

“Godspeed,” Tim said. He stood within the comm room, hunched over the lone terminal. Skyler had spied the young man wiping a tear away when the aircraft lifted off. He’d seen the way the man looked at Tania before that moment, too.

A cool sprinkle of rain whipped about him. Even now, with the
Helios
gone from view, he stayed just outside the comm room and ignored the playful spray of water. He tried to imagine the aircraft, putting himself in the pilot’s chair as city gave way to the wide river, then rainforest, then the unknown. Nothing but a path carved almost two years ago to guide the way. And Tania, huddled in back, isolated, one small window to look out of. A pang of guilt rippled through him as he recalled the final words he’d said to Vanessa before she climbed into the cockpit: “Don’t let her out until you know it’s safe.”

Vanessa had agreed, but her eyes held a hint of something that said otherwise. She’d been impressed by Tania, he saw the evidence of it in that look, and he couldn’t blame her. Still, he had to say something, despite the fact that Tania would probably slap him again if she knew.

She’ll do worse when she finds out what I’m doing next.

“Keep an eye on them?” he asked Tim.

“Will do,” the man said, and smiled. “For as long as they’ll put up with me.”

“Good.” He shook the water from his hat and studied the sky for a moment. “I guess it’s the Magpie’s turn, before this becomes a real storm.”

Tim nodded. “Good luck out there, Skyler.”

“Thanks. We’ll be off within the hour.”

Skyler entered the dimly lit room and set the duffel bag on the floor beside him. The prisoner’s gaze darted to it for a split second, only the slightest hint of fear on his face. Then he glanced up, past Skyler at the woman behind him.

“Well, well. Skyler Luiken, we meet again,” Russell Blackfield said. “Who’s the tart?”

His words tumbled out with no real emotion behind them, as if some part of his mind had forced him to speak. The once-impressive man looked thin, haggard. Dark lines marred the skin under his bloodshot eyes. He had an uneven beard and his hair was matted. There were bruises around his wrists, likely from restraints applied too tightly. His lips were cracked from dehydration.

Skyler glanced away from him and focused on Ana, who stood in the doorway of the colony’s only holding cell, arms folded.

“Well?” Skyler asked her.

She pursed her lips slightly, then gave a small shrug. “Yeah, I could do it.”

“Do what?” Russell asked, a slight amusement in his voice.

“Kick your ass from here back to Darwin,” Skyler said.

“Ah. No need for violence, young lady. I’m a lover, not a fight—”

“He gives me the creeps,” Ana said to Skyler, ignoring the prisoner. “But I’ve met worse.”

With a grudging nod, Skyler went to Blackfield and set a canteen on the floor in front of him. “Go start the preflight,” he said over his shoulder. Then he waited until he heard the outer door click closed.

Russell picked up the canteen, removed the cap, and sniffed the contents before taking a swig. His eyes closed ecstatically as he swallowed.

“The water has a price,” Skyler said.

Russell took another sip. “Put it on my tab? I’m good for it, thanks to this work furlough program they’ve planned for me. Digging ditches, my dream job.”

“I want information.”

The man paused. His eyes flicked to Skyler, then back to the canteen. “Is this going to be more bullshit about how my presence here is some kind of ruse? I’ll let you in on a secret, Skyler. The only secret here: I am
not
that clever.”

“Oh, I know.”

Russell laughed once, raised the canteen in cheers, and took another sip.

“I want to know about Nightcliff.”

The man lowered his hands, a flicker of doubt crossing his face. Then the bemused smirk returned. “What about it? No offense, mate, but I’m not running the show there anymore.”

Skyler rubbed his neck, feeling a headache coming on.
I can’t believe I’m doing this
. Still, if he could kill two birds with one stone … “Maybe not, but you know its secrets.”

Blackfield gave a slight shrug. “Maybe. Some, yeah. I’m a bit curious why you’d care.” His gaze went to the black duffel bag again. “Darwin’s a lost cause, or hadn’t you heard?”

“That may be true, but there’s still people I care about there, and I’m going back for them.”

“So? You’re immune. Land in the Clear and hike in. As long as you keep your head low, I doubt the vigilant Jacobites will notice.”

“It’s more complicated than that, unfortunately.” He’d debated how much to say all night, and he chose his next words carefully. “There’s something we need, inside Nightcliff. Something Grillo won’t want to lose.”

Russell’s eyebrows shot up, and Skyler knew he’d played the right card. Blackfield was a lot of things, but at his core lay a thirst for revenge. The slumlord-turned-ruler was currently atop that list, from the look on the man’s face. “That so?” he said, mustering an impressive disinterested tone.

“You can help, Blackfield.”

“How?”

“Patrol routes. Door combinations. Weapon storage locations. Medusa launch codes.” Skyler saw a flash of interest in the man’s face and went on. “How to gain access to the secure storage.”

“Is that all?”

Skyler shrugged. “Anything else you can think of that will help, I’m listening.”

Russell held up his hand and gave a thumbs-up. He held it there in silence for a long time.

A hot flare of temper began to course from Skyler’s head down to twitching fingertips. He checked it, took a breath. “You’ll want to start helping right about now, or this ends badly for you.”

Blackfield raised his thumb higher. “I am helping.”

Skyler drew his pistol.

“This,” Blackfield said, wiggling his thumb. “Everything you asked for Grillo would have changed. He’s smart, that one. But one thing he can’t change is the biometric access for the locks. Those are keyed to my thumbprint.”

“If he’s so smart, wouldn’t he have them re-keyed?”

“Sure. And he’ll succeed, for the primary access. But I was there when the system was recalibrated. I bribed the contractor to use my print for the maintenance access. The fallback in case all other parties leave or die. He had to fly someone in from his home office in New Zealand on the same day SUBS hit, just to make that happen. On the down low, if you get me. Cost me a fucking fortune. Point is, Grillo won’t be able to change that. He probably doesn’t even know it’s in there.”