Authors: Riley Barton
She smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir. We’ve found it.”
“I’ll say you have! This cure could really turn things around for us. It’ll be worth a fortune!” he said, returning his gaze to the screen. “Have you started synthesizing more of this serum yet?”
“Well … we’ve run into a bit of a snag there.”
Edgard raised an eyebrow, and she continued. “You see, the sample came out negative because of a fluke—an accidental cross-contamination from a neighboring sample.”
“Go on,” Edgard said, seating himself in an adjacent chair.
“I had Alex scan the other samples, and we’ve determined that the key to this cure is an enzyme produced by a specific species of protozoa native to the swamp in the Oklahoma region.”
“Let me guess: Alex can’t synthesis a serum without this protozoa.” Edgard leaned back in his chair.
“That’s correct. And according to Alex, the lab where the sample was taken has been evacuated on your orders, Mr. Edgard.”
“Lab 121? Yes, I remember. That entire region has become a hotbed for
Swamper activity.”
Luna sighed deeply, preparing herself for what she had to say next. “Sir … I can’t make any further progress on the cure without a sample of that protozoa. I request that you let me go to the swamp and gather the samples I need.”
Edgard rose quickly to his feet. “That’s impossible, Miss McKelly. The area around 121 is too dangerous.”
She felt her hopes beginning to crumble.
Why is this happening?
Luna thought, fighting back her building anger.
Doesn’t he
know
how important this cure is to everyone? To Me?
Edgard placed a hand on her shoulder. “That is to say … it’s too dangerous for you to go in there
alone
. You’re going to need the best help you can get. The kind of help my agents can give you.”
She stared at him in astonishment.
“Sir! Thank you!”
“Don’t thank me just yet. You still have to find your samples.” He released her shoulder and walked toward the door. “It’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack, but you seem to have a considerable amount of luck with that sort of thing. That being said, I have every confidence that you will find what you’re looking for. After all, it can’t be much harder then accidentally stumbling across a cure.”
He laughed and scanned his ID badge at the airlock. “I’ll send word to Security Chief Landers. Meet his men in hanger eight at 4:00 this afternoon.”
“I’ll be there,” she replied, grinning. “Thank you again, Mr. Edgard.”
She watched him walk back down the hallway. If all went as planned, she could be cured within a matter of months—maybe a year at the most.
Luna’s smile widened at the thought. In just a few hours, she would be on her way to the swamp—and the cure.
Chapter 7
“You wanted to see me, sir?” Agent Tagawa asked, stepping into
Chief Lander’s office.
The older man stood and greeted him with a firm handshake then offered him a seat. “I’ve read your report on that Chavé woman. You did good, Agent.”
“Thank you, sir. But I take it you have some other matter you wish to discuss.”
Landers nodded. “Indeed I do. Tell me, do you know anything about the Blister Wart disease?”
“From what I understand, sir, it’s a potentially debilitating disease caused by the inhalation of Blister Wart spores. If left unchecked, the fungus spreads and eventually consumes the host. Fortunately the rain barriers and air-scrubbers keep the spores out of the cities. But the disease is becoming quite a problem in the Swamper population.”
“I see you know your stuff, Agent,” Landers said, seating himself behind his desk. “For nearly twenty years we’ve been treating the disease with light-therapy treatments. The treatments don’t cure the disease. But they do keep the fungus from ever maturing past its dormant stage.” Landers reached into his desk drawer and produced a file, which he then handed to Keith.
“Alex, activate your maximum security subroutines. No one outside this room must ever hear the following discussion,” the chief said, addressing both Tagawa and AI alike.
Keith turned the file over and read the printed letters stamped on its surface:
Top Secret.
He cautiously opened the file and skimmed over its contents. Inside he found a holographic picture of a young woman with blue eyes and long brown hair, along with a detailed medical history and the results of several high-level background checks.
“That’s Miss Luna McKelly.” The chief leaned forward to rest his elbows on his desk’s polished surface. “She’s a Unitech scientist who’s been trying to find a cure for the Blister Wart disease for the past two years.”
Keith raised an eyebrow. “It says here she
has
the disease.”
“Indeed, she does. Miss McKelly has been fighting the Blister Wart disease almost as long as she’s worked here. There was a freak accident in the labs a few years back, and unfortunately she wound up being the only victim.”
Poor girl,
Keith thought, realizing how young she had to have been. Silently he wondered if he could have found the strength to continue living if he’d been in her place.
“She’s your next assignment, Tagawa.”
Keith shut the folder, the chief’s words drawing his attention back. “What’s the mission, sir?”
“Escort duty. You’re to meet her in hanger number eight at sixteen-hundred. Once in the swamp your orders are to babysit and, if necessary,
provide fire support while she does whatever it is she’s planning on doing out there. These orders come from the CEO himself. So I’d make sure I was prepped and ready to roll on time, if I were in your shoes.”
Keith rose from his chair, “Sir, what about my men? I’ll need good backup for a mission of this nature.”
“Way ahead of you, son. Your team is assembled and awaiting your arrival in armory number two. There’s been some heavy Swamper activity in the area, so I would suggest going in equipped for a full assault.”
“I understand completely, Chief. Don’t worry. Miss McKelly is in good hands.”
The chief cracked a half smile. “I certainly hope so, Agent. Godspeed.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Keith snapped a quick salute, turned on his heel, and strode out of the room, making his way to the lift leading down to the armories.
Chapter 8
Luna had arrived at the hanger a half hour before she was supposed to, fully expecting to immediately climb aboard one of the aircraft. Instead she was greeted by an agent named Rosa who walked her through a lengthy section of liability paperwork and requisition forms before escorting her to something she referred to as a
prepping room
. Luna had thought little of it at first, but when the woman had told her to roll up her sleeve, she began to get suspicious.
“What are you doing?” she asked the agent, who was disinfecting an area on her left arm.
“Just implanting a tracer chip. Try to relax.”
“Tracer chip? What—”
A loud hiss and a sharp pain in her arm made her jump.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“It’s a precaution we all take—just in case something unexpected happens and we get separated. Don’t worry. One of the docs will remove it when you get back.”
I sure hope so,
Luna thought, massaging her arm. She was certain she could feel the
thing
moving
around under her skin. She decided it would be best to try and ignore both the mental and physical discomfort. Maybe she would forget all about the chip during the grueling hours of swamp combing that lay ahead.
Rosa walked to a large locker and removed a tightly folded dark gray bundle, which she handed to Luna. “Here, put this on. I’ll wait outside until you’ve changed.”
Luna unfolded it, surprised at how heavy the jumpsuit she held in her hands was.
“What’s this thing made of?” she asked the departing woman.
“Mostly Kevlar. But it also has a water-resistant nano-fiber layer and a kinetic gel lining to make it bulletproof. That’s what I remember anyway. They covered it all in detail back in basic training. But that was so long ago I hardly remember any of the details. Sorry.” The Agent shrugged then walked out of the room, leaving Luna to change in privacy.
Luna quickly undressed and slipped into the tight fitting jumpsuit. She then folded her work clothes neatly and placed them in a nearby footlocker along with her handbag and other personal belongings.
“All right, you can come back in now,” she called, fidgeting awkwardly with the jumpsuit in an attempt to make it somewhat more comfortable.
The woman returned to the room and sealed the door behind her.
“It looks like that one fits you about right,” she said, looking Luna over.
“Are you sure about that? It seems a bit tight.”
“Tight is good,” the agent replied, opening a locker adjacent to the one the suit had been stored in. “Even though it’s pretty much impervious to bullets, it can still rip if you catch it on something just right. And if you get a suit rupture in the swamp, you might as well kiss your butt goodbye. Out there, this suit is your life.”
Luna watched the agent unpack several large pieces of equipment from the locker, silently wondering what they were for. Her answer came when Rosa began attaching the oddly shaped pieces to Luna’s suit. When Rosa was finished, Luna found herself encased from head to toe in overlapping layers of padding and ballistic-rated armor laced with high-tech circuitry and environmental controls.
Finally, Rosa placed a padded helmet over Luna’s head. She heard a hiss and click as the suit’s collar seal locked into place. A series of small lights switched on inside the helmet, illuminating both her face and the holographic heads-up display being projected onto the helmet’s transparent faceplate.
“Wow … this suit is really something,” Luna said with a wide smile, feeling unusually safe within the warm confines of the pressurized suit.
“You get use to them. Are you right or left handed?”
“What? Oh. Right. I’m right handed.”
“Good. That makes it easy,” Rosa replied, strapping a sidearm to Luna’s right hip.
“Wait. What’s the gun for?” Luna inquired, surprised that she—a woman who’d spent most of her time staring through a microscope—was being issued a weapon.
“It’s dangerous out there. The swamp is full of wild animals, Swampers, looters … If you’re going out there, you need to have
some
sort of protection.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Luna agreed, letting Rosa fasten the weapon to her armor—though she desperately hoped she wouldn’t have to use it.
“All right, you’re all ready to go, Miss McKelly. Stay with the other agents, and whatever you do don’t get lost.”
“Thanks. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
Luna followed the agent out of the prep room and stared at the squadron of V-244 Stratocruisers lined up throughout the hanger.
A distant descendant of the V-22 Osprey, the V-244 had replaced both the helicopter and the antiquated C130s of the twenty-first century—along with most other civilian and military aircraft. In place of wings, the gigantic aircraft sported a pair of independently moving rotors, each one safely enclosed within a thick titanium support ring. A set of powerful jet engines were mounted within their massive hubs, allowing for rapid acceleration and maximum maneuverability.
Luna had seen many of the powerful aircraft flying in and around New Denver and the Unitech complex, but she’d never been so close to one before. The sheer size of them was unnerving. Each aircraft measured over eighty feet from the dome of their double cockpits to the tail rotors nestled within their tall stabilizer fins.
Rosa led Luna to one of the Stratocruisers parked near the hanger bay’s main doors and presented her to the five men who would be protecting her. Each one was clad in the same environmental suit that she wore, their only distinguishable features being their dimly illuminated faces. One man, whom she assumed was their leader, stepped forward and extended his hand in greeting.
“Miss Luna McKelly, I presume?”
She smiled and took his hand. “That’s me.”
“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Agent Keith Tagawa, and these,” he said indicating the men standing behind him, “are Agents Fox, Patterson, Rush, and Perkins. I’m sure you’ve probably already been told this, but we’re going to be acting as your escorts today.”
Keith Tagawa?
Luna thought, wondering if he was the same man Bridget had been telling her about. For a brief moment she considered asking him. Then she thought better of it. She would have to talk to Bridget about it when she got back.
Luna turned to the lead agent. “Thank you. I could probably use a few extra hands when we’re out there. After all, the more eyes we have combing the swamp, the quicker we can find what we’re looking for.”
“That sounds like a plan. I think everyone here will agree that the sooner we get out of the swamp, the better.”
Luna looked around the group, saw their looks of affirmation, and then nodded to the V-244. “Is that our ride?”
“Yes, ma’am. Everything is aboard and ready to go. All we need to do now is get ourselves strapped in and we’ll be on our way.”
“By everything, I take it you mean my field equipment?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Keith replied, nodding.
“All right then. Let’s get this show on the road,” she said, walking toward the Stratocruiser’s rear loading ramp with the agent team falling in behind her.
The interior of the aircraft was brightly lit and spacious with plenty of room to move about freely. Luna walked past a number of built-in storage compartments and the metallic crates containing her field gear. She seated herself in one of several reinforced seats built into the aircraft’s fuselage. Since the high-backed chairs faced each other, and she had no idea whether or not she would be susceptible to airsickness, Luna had deliberately chosen a seat directly across from one of the Stratocruiser’s two small windows.
She took hold of her seat’s shoulder restraints and pulled them across her body, securing them firmly with an audible click.