Invasion (23 page)

“Well, I wanted to reward you for your hard work,” the captain said. He opened the center drawer of his desk, reached in and pulled out one of the black discs!

Jesse’s eyes widened in shocked surprise.

“I want you to have this symbol of a new beginning,” the captain said. He had the disc in the palm of his hand, and he extended it toward Jesse.

Jesse felt a sense of panic. “Thank you, sir, but I can’t accept that.”

“Of course you can,” the captain said. “It doesn’t look like much, but it will change your life. Trust me.”

“Oh, I believe you, sir,” Jesse said. “I just don’t deserve it.”

“Nonsense,” the captain said. “Take it, my man.”

“No, thank you,” Jesse said. “I’m really tired. I got to get some sleep.”

“I’m ordering you to take it,” the captain said. A distinct edge had appeared in his voice.

“Yes, sir,” Jesse said. He reached forward with a quivering hand. In his mind’s eye he saw the glistening chrome needle. At the same time he remembered that to stimulate
the mechanism, he’d touched the edge of the disc. He also noticed that the captain was not touching the edge but rather palming the disc in his flattened hand.

“Take it, my friend,” the captain urged.

Jesse flattened his own hand palm up and put it next to the captain’s. The captain looked him in the eye. Jesse returned the stare and noticed the captain’s pupils were widely dilated.

For a few moments it was a Mexican standoff. Finally the captain carefully insinuated his thumb beneath the disc and lifted it with his index finger on top of the dome. He was obviously avoiding the edge. Then he put it in Jesse’s palm.

“Thanks, Chief,” Jesse said. He avoided looking at the cursed thing and beat a hasty retreat.

“You’ll be thanking me,” the captain called out after him.

Jesse dashed out to his desk, terrified by the fear of being stung at any moment. But it didn’t happen, and he was able to slide the disc out of his hand without incident. It clacked up against its colleague with a sound like two ivory billiard balls colliding.

“What on earth…” Pitt remarked.

“Don’t ask!” Jesse said. “But I’ll tell you one thing. The captain ain’t on our side.”

HOLDING THE COFFEE CREAMER JAR UP TO THE LIGHT
, Sheila looked beneath the label at the scrap of blotter contained inside. “This might be the break we needed,” she said. “But tell me again exactly what happened.”

Cassy, Pitt, and Jesse all began speaking at once.

“Whoa!” Sheila said. “One at a time.”

Cassy and Pitt deferred to Jesse. Jesse retold the episode with Cassy and Pitt adding bits of detail. When Jesse got to describing the part about the slit appearing in the disc, he opened his eyes widely and yanked back his hand in imitation of what he’d done at the time.

Sheila placed the jar on her desk and peered through the oculars of a binocular dissecting microscope. One of the black discs was positioned on the tray.

“This situation gets more and more bizarre,” Sheila remarked. “I gotta tell you; the surface appears fault-free. I’d swear it was a solid chunk of whatever it is.”

“It may look that way, but it isn’t,” Cassy said. “It’s definitely mechanical. We all saw the slit.”

“And the needle,” Pitt added.

“Who would make something like this?” Jesse questioned.

“Who could make it?” Cassy asked.

The four people stared at each other. For a few minutes no one spoke. Cassy’s rhetorical question was unsettling.

“Well, we won’t be able to answer any questions until we find out what’s in the fluid that soaked into the blotter,” Sheila said. “The problem is I’ve got to do it myself. Richard, the head tech in the hospital lab, has already blabbed to the CEO about our CDC visitor. I can’t trust the people in the lab.”

“We need to get other people involved,” Cassy said.

“Yeah, like a virologist,” Pitt said.

“Considering what happened with the man from the CDC, that’s not going to be easy,” Sheila said. “It’s hard to know who has had this flu and who hasn’t.”

“Except when it’s people we know well,” Jesse said. “I knew the captain was acting weird. I just didn’t know why.”

“But we can’t use the fear of not knowing who’s been sick as an excuse to sit around and do nothing,” Cassy said. “We have to warn people who haven’t been infected. I know a couple who could be a great help. She’s a virologist and he’s a physicist.”

“Sounds ideal provided they’ve not been stung,” Sheila said.

“I think I can find out,” Cassy said. “Their son is a student in one of the classes I’m student teaching. He has an inkling that something strange is going on because his girlfriend’s parents apparently were infected.”

“That might be a source of worry,” Sheila said. “From what Jesse has told us about the captain, I have a distinct and uncomfortable sense that the infected people feel evangelistic about their condition.”

“Amen,” Jesse said. “He was not to be denied. He was going to give me that black disc no matter what I said. He wanted me sick, no doubt.”

“I’ll be wary,” Cassy said, “and as you said before, discreet.”

“Okay, give it a try,” Sheila said. “Meanwhile I’ll run some preliminary tests on the fluid.”

“What are we going to do with the discs?” Jesse asked.

“The question is more what are they going to do with us,” Pitt said. He was looking at the one positioned under the microscope.

9:00
A.M.

IT WAS A GLORIOUS MORNING WITH A CLOUDLESS
, crystal-blue sky. The distant saw-toothed purple mountains looked like amethyst crystals bathed in a golden light.

At the gate of the estate an expectant crowd had formed. There were people of all ages and from all walks of life, from mechanics to rocket scientists, from housewives to presidents of corporations, from high-school students to university professors. Everyone was eager, happy, and glowing with health. The atmosphere was festive.

Beau came out of the house with King at his side, descended the steps, walked fifty feet, then turned around. What he saw pleased him greatly. Overnight a large banner had been made that draped all the way across the front of the building. It said: “The Institute for a New Beginning…Welcome!”

Beau’s eyes swept around the grounds. He’d accomplished an extraordinary amount in twenty-four hours. He was glad he no longer needed to sleep except for short snatches. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible.

In the shade of trees or walking through sun-dappled meadows, Beau could see dozens of dogs of various breeds. Most were large dogs, and none had leashes. Beau could see that they were as alert as sentinels, and he was glad.

With a happy spring to his step, he returned to the porch to join Randy.

“This is it,” Beau said. “We’re ready to begin.”

“What a day for the Earth,” Randy replied.

“Let in the first group,” Beau said. “We’ll get them started in the ballroom.”

Randy took out his cellular phone, dialed, and told one of his people to open the gate. A few moments later Randy and Beau could hear a cheer rise up into the crisp morning air. From where they were standing they couldn’t see the front gate, but they could certainly hear the people shouting as they entered.

Buzzing with excitement, the crowd swarmed to the house and formed a spontaneous semicircle around the front porch.

Beau extended his hand like a Roman general and instantly the crowd went dead silent.

“Welcome!” Beau shouted. “This is the new beginning! You all bear witness that we share the same thoughts and vision. We all know what we must do. Let’s do it!”

A cheer and applause erupted from the crowd. Beau turned to Randy, who beamed. He was applauding as
well. Beau gestured for Randy, to enter the house and then followed him.

“What an electric moment,” Randy said as they walked toward the ornate ballroom.

“It’s like being one huge organism,” Beau said with a nod of understanding.

The two men entered the vast, sun-drenched room and stood off to the side. The crowd followed at their heels, filling the room. Then, responding to an unseen, unspoken cue, they fell to dismantling the room.

CASSY BREATHED OUT A SILENT SIGH OF RELIEF WHEN SHE
found herself facing Jonathan when the Sellerses’ front door had been pulled open. Expecting the worst, she’d anticipated having to face Nancy Sellers right off the bat.

“Miss Winthrope!” Jonathan said with a mixture of surprise and delight.

“You recognized me away from the school,” Cassy said. “I’m impressed.”

“Of course I recognized you,” Jonathan blurted. Consciously he had to resist letting his eyes wander below Cassy’s neck. “Come in.”

“Are your parents home?” Cassy asked.

“My mom is.”

Cassy studied the boy’s face. With his flaxen hair hanging down over his forehead and his self-consciously flitting eyes, he looked himself. His manner of dress was reassuring as well. He had on an oversized sweatshirt and a loose-fitting pair of Jams that were just barely hanging on to his buttocks.

“How’s Candee?” Cassy asked.

“I haven’t seen her since yesterday.”

“What about her parents?” Cassy questioned.

Jonathan let out a little sardonic laugh. “They’re gonzo. My mom had a talk with Candee’s mom, and it was like zero.”

“What about your mom?” Cassy asked. She tried to study Jonathan’s eyes, but it was like trying to examine a Ping-Pong ball during a game.

“My mom is fine. Why?”

“A lot of people are acting strange lately. You know, like Candee’s parents and Mr. Partridge.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jonathan said. “But not my mom.”

“Your dad?”

“He’s fine too.”

“Good,” Cassy said. “Now I’d like to take you up on your invitation to come in. I’m here to talk with your mom.”

Jonathan closed the door behind Cassy and then bellowed at the top of his lungs that there was company. The sound echoed around the inside of the house, and Cassy jumped. Despite trying to act calm, she was as taut as a banjo wire.

“Can I get you some water or something?” Jonathan asked.

Before Cassy could respond Nancy Sellers appeared at the balustrade on the second floor. She was dressed casually in acid-washed jeans and loose-fitting blouse.

“Who is it, Jonathan?” Nancy asked. She could see Cassy, but because of the way the sun was coming through the window into the stairwell, Cassy’s face was lost in shadow.

Jonathan yelled up who it was and motioned for Cassy to follow him into the kitchen. No sooner had Cassy sat at a banquette than Nancy appeared.

“This is a surprise,” Nancy said. “Can I offer you some coffee?”

“Sure,” Cassy said. Cassy eyed the woman as she motioned for Jonathan to get a cup while she went to the stove to pick up the coffeepot. As far as Cassy could tell Nancy looked and acted the same as she did when Cassy had first met her.

Cassy was beginning to relax a degree when Nancy reached out to pour the coffee. On her index finger was a fresh Band-Aid, and Cassy felt her own pulse quicken. A wound of any sort on the hands was not what she wanted to see.

“To what do we owe this visit?” Nancy asked as she poured herself a half cup of the coffee.

Cassy stumbled over her words. “What happened to your finger?”

Nancy glanced at her Band-Aid as if it had just appeared. “Just a small cut,” she said.

“From some kitchen implement?” Cassy asked.

Nancy studied Cassy’s face. “Does it matter?” she asked.

“Well…” Cassy stammered. “Yes, it does. It matters a lot.”

“Mom, Miss Winthrope is concerned about the people who are changing,” Jonathan said, coming to Cassy’s aid once again. “You know, like Candee’s mom. I’ve already told her you talked with her and thought that she was out in left field.”

“Jonathan!” Nancy snapped. “Your father and I agreed
we wouldn’t discuss the Taylors outside the home. At least until…”

“I don’t think it can wait,” Cassy interrupted. Nancy’s little outburst had encouraged her to trust that Nancy had not been infected. “People are rapidly changing all over the city, not just the Taylors. It might even be happening in other cities. We don’t know. It’s happening with an illness that resembles the flu, and as far as we can tell it is spread by little black discs that have the capability of stinging people on their hands.”