The Harvest (19 page)

“I'm afraid if somethin' don't happen soon, it's gonna make all our work for naught.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“With the hospitals fillin' up,” Bear says, his eyes shadowed with worry, “lots of people what was on our side started thinkin' the OAC has all the answers again. 'Fore I got here tonight, I had someone I trusted accusin' me of poisoning him, sayin' I was out to get him. I'm afraid it'll take us back to the days before Linnea put out that broadcast, before Remy showed everyone what happened at Round Barn. And …” He goes quiet and shifts his eyes over to me, where he just barely meets my gaze. “… Luis has it.”

I jerk upright, leaning forward. “What?”

Bear looks tired, and I realize what a toll this must be taking on him. “We knew he had it when he hid from Rose. He'd had a bad fever, was burning up, and when she tried to help him, he locked himself in a bathroom and wouldn't come out, said Rose was tryin' to kill him. He went downhill fast. Rhinehouse is looking after him, has him in quarantine, but Rose is out of her mind with worry.” Bear turns to Vale. “Your Demeter's in touch with Rhinehouse now, you know, and she tracked down Luis's dietary profile. He's been off his MealPaks since Round Barn, but Rhinehouse wanted to study his complete files. Looking for clues, maybe, as to why this illness seems to affect some, but not others. I think he's even replicating some of the formulas and trying to feed him through his arm. I don't understand it all, but I know it's not good.”

“Has any of it been working?” Saara asks, leaning forward.

Bear shakes his head. Saara is silent, but her pursed lips tell us she still has more to say.

“Spit it out,” Eli says finally, locking eyes with her. She sighs.

“You're going to think I'm crazy.”

“You're sitting with the best of 'em,” Eli retorts. “Tell us your worst fears, and we'll see if they can hold a candle to our own.”

“You're only crazy if your theories aren't true,” Osprey adds.

Saara glances at Zeke and Miah. She'd already spent time with the two men, telling them about Rachel Sayyid's last days, how she mumbled their names, talked about them before she'd been too weak to speak. She told us all how she watched as Rachel and the others died of a virus that was supposed to have been cured decades ago, a cover-up to disguise the true nature of the experiments the OAC was performing.

“I think it would be awfully convenient for the OAC to engineer some virus or parasite that causes serious symptoms but doesn't kill, and then disseminate it through MealPaks or through the water system. Tell everyone it's an act of bioterrorism from those renegades outside the Sector. Then a few weeks later, after panic sets in,
voila
! Suddenly the OAC's brilliant scientists have a cure. A pill or a tonic or a vaccine to save the day, something that allows Corine to ride to the rescue and put everyone's growing fears to rest once and for all. She'd be the savior in the face of the Resistance's terror. The OAC would once again be seen as the answer to the Sector's prayers.”

Vale sucks in a breath and runs his hands over his face. His voice is hard when he speaks. “We've forced her hand.”

“How? What do you mean?” Bear asks.

“They may not know exactly what you're doing, but they know something's up. Our movement has pushed the OAC's back against the wall. So Corine takes the offensive. She engineers this outbreak so she can claim it proves the Resistance and its ideas about re-cultivating Old World seeds is dangerous. Old World seeds breed Old World disease. It would be the perfect way for her to discredit everything the Resistance stands for in one fell swoop. And to hell with any real repercussions. People sick and suffering? So what? Drowning themselves? Small price to pay.”

“Exactly,” Saara says. “They want everyone afraid. Four years ago, they kept it all hush-hush. Rachel and the other patients were top secret. But now, they want everyone afraid, because they want everyone to think that the OAC has the only solution. They want everyone crying for their MealPaks, their drugs, their Dieticians.”

“And it would make perfect sense for her to introduce it in the outermost towns and Farms,” Osprey adds. “Easier to blame the Resistance that way.”

“Exactly,” Saara whispers.

Later, in bed, Vale holds my hand against his chest.

“There's something I never told you.” I can hear his breathing, loud in the darkness. “When I was being held at the chancellor's, Moriana came to visit me.” My eyes go wide, but I stay silent. “She wanted to ask me what happened, why Miah and I left.”

“What did you say?” I ask.

“I told her the truth. She wasn't happy about it. But she defended Corine to the end.” I remember meeting Moriana in Reunion Park a few weeks ago, being surprised by how happy she was. Wondering how someone who had just been tortured and interrogated by the Sector could have been so unconcerned. “She wasn't on the line with us that night, Remy. Corine never tortured her. They copied her vocal patterns and made it sound like she was afraid, in danger. But that never happened.”

“I knew it,” I breathe. Vale rolls over so he's facing me and props himself up on his elbow.

“What do you mean? How did you know?”

“I ran into her in Reunion Park. She was too happy, out playing netball with friends. She acted like nothing was wrong. How could she have been so carefree if she'd just been through such an ordeal? I knew there was some part of the story I was missing. After you got shot on that building, I—”

“What?” In the darkness I can just make out the wrinkles on his forehead. “I didn't get shot.”

Now it's my turn to sit up, locking eyes with him.

“Yes, you did. I saw it. A Bolt hit you in the chest, and you fell off the ledge, right into the nets of those rescue drones.”

“I—no, that's not possible. I stepped off that ledge. I did it deliberately, to give you time to escape.”

“Someone gave the order to shoot you, Vale. Whether it was Aulion or Philip or Corine, someone gave the go-ahead.”

“Maybe,” he says slowly. “My parents never told me. They let me believe—” He pauses for a long breath. “But it wouldn't have changed anything.”

I take all this in, realizing what it means.
Vale stepped off that ledge. He meant to fall. He was prepared to die for me.

I rub my eyes and peer into the distance. After waking early, I'd rolled away from the warmth of Vale's sleeping form, slipped from under the covers, and headed out to the dock to practice my breathing, watching the dawn break in violent streaks of purple and blood orange. The air is cool and moist, a morning fog hovering above the water like a silvery veil, and I watch as a heron takes flight, winging its way across the water and lifting gracefully into the air.

“Coffee,” a gruff voice calls. I turn to see Miah behind me, eyes bleary from wine and lack of sleep.

“Be there in a sec,” I call back. Miah turns to lumber back to the house. I finish my morning stretches and clamber to my feet.

Inside, the house is coming to life. Osprey appears first, her hair pointing every direction in lawless rebellion. Miah pours her a cup of rich chicory coffee and she tips it up and downs the whole thing.

“Don't you even want some almond milk or something in that? It's thick as sludge.”

“Why are you talking to me before I've had my second cup?” She holds her mug out. “Pour, minion.”

“Yes, master.” Miah bows and pours as the slightest hint of a smile curls at the edges of Osprey's mouth.

Eli shuffles into the room, steps over Bear, and hugs me absently as he grabs a chipped mug from those Miah has set out. “Remind me again why we're all here,” he growls. “And why we drank—” he stares at the empty bottles lined up on the far counter—”seven bottles of wine last night. You'd think we were drinking to celebrate something—or to forget. Which is it?”

“A little of both,” I venture. “Celebrate that we're all together. Forget why we're all together.”

“Ah, yes, Little Bird.” He rubs my shorn head. “My very wise, nearly bald little bird.”

Vale and Soren make their way into the room at the same time, like life-sized toy soldiers in formation, one dark, one fair, followed by Saara, who limps along behind them.

“I don't know how I managed it, but I got another blister yesterday,” she says by way of good morning.

“I'm going to put in a call to the Director,” Eli grouses. “I'm already in a bad mood, so I might as well get that task out of the way so the day can only get better.”

“Should we wake Bear?” I ask.

“Have a little compassion for the poor boy,” Eli says. “We'll wake him if the Director has some earth-shattering news. Besides, he'll have to get moving soon enough.”

Vale and I follow Eli into my grandfather's study where Eli and Miah set up a makeshift comm center. With a lot of cursing and moaning, Eli gets situated and is just about to put in the call when the receiver lights up and a voice comes blaring through.

“Montana Four, are you there? Montana Four, come in.”

Eli's face contorts into a frown and he twists one of the dials as if he's got a personal vendetta against it. “For fuck's sake, Zoe,” Eli says. “Why the hell are you so loud?”

“Good morning, Eli. Glad to hear you're your usual bright, sunny self. The Director and Rhinehouse are both here. Everyone's here, in fact, so watch your language. Corine is making an announcement in ten minutes. Get your team together and we'll patch you in so you can listen to the feed live.”

Eli turns and glares at us, and Vale and I both get the picture. We head back down the hall to rouse everyone and get them into the comm center before the speech starts.

“Eli, is everyone assembled?” This time it's the Director's voice, not Zoe's.

“All present and accounted for.”

“Vale?”

“Yes, ma'am. I'm here.”

“Your father hasn't introduced Corine as he usually does, and Jon Spironov has announced that Corine will be appearing alone. Can you shed any light on this development? Do you have any idea why he won't be with her?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I'm just as surprised as you are. As I told you, at Windy Pines my father had expressed—”

“Hold that thought. The broadcast is starting.”

“Citizens of Okaria,” Corine begins. I take Vale's hand in mine and squeeze. “The Okarian Sector is facing a challenge unlike any we have faced before. As most of you know, many of our fellow citizens have recently fallen ill. Hospital admissions have spiked precipitously in the last five days alone. Fortunately, working around the clock with doctors and medics throughout the Sector, scientists at the Sector Research Institute and in my own OAC laboratory have been able to identify the cause of the illness. Dubbed River 1, because the first outbreak was seen in River and the surrounding area, we can now say definitively that the symptoms are caused by a parasite not seen since before the Famine Years.

“This parasite did not turn up in the Sector on its own. It did not evolve in nature. We have identified key genetic discrepancies that indicate it has been genetically altered and manipulated. We believe it has been introduced into our food and water by forces seeking to destabilize our citizenry. By combing through historical data on disease research, we have identified markers in the parasite's DNA and have traced those markers to research done by Dr. James Rhinehouse, a brilliant man who was once one of our finest scientists, but who is now a member of the terrorist organization known as the Resistance.”

“Oh, for fuck's sake.” Soren is the first one to say it, but he's not the only one. Vale shrinks into himself, like he used to whenever we'd discover some new atrocity his parents were responsible for, but I draw him to me, not letting him pull away.

“I am speaking to you today,” Corine continues, “to assure you that we will find Dr. Rhinehouse and hold him and his comrades accountable for this horrific act of terrorism. I also want to tell you personally that we are very close to developing a way to kill the parasite. We're not there yet, but with Dr. Rhinehouse's own research at our fingertips, we are able to work faster than we dared hope. Soon we will put this terrible chapter in our history behind us and your loved ones will be back home with you, happier and healthier than ever before. We are working as hard as we can and will keep you informed by issuing daily updates until this crisis is resolved. For now, remember the citizens of the Okarian Sector have made it through tough times before, and together we will make it through again. Thank you.”

17 - VALE

Spring 91, SA 106, 19h25

Gregorian Calendar:
June 18

She leaves OAC Headquarters at 7:30 on the dot every work night. Even when we were younger, Moriana was always methodical and deliberate in her habits. If she has extra work to do, she's up early in the morning instead of staying up late at night. She always follows the same path to and from work, and—at least before Miah and I left—she rarely deviated from the same restaurants or clubs that we'd been going to for years. She was a creature of habit, and I knew she'd leave the OAC campus via the main entrance and then veer south toward the nearest PODS station, taking our familiar shortcut along the way. This is why, at exactly 7:28, Eli checks his watch and nods at me.

“Go time.”

I amble toward the arching covered walkway that divides OAC headquarters with its multi-story greenhouse. I pick a spot and lean nonchalantly against the elegant twisting carbon frame, modeled after the DNA molecule's double helix, that girds the exterior of the main building and remember how not too long ago I'd snuck into the complex to break into my mother's lab. I'd been looking for answers then. Just like now.
Why are there so many secrets?
This time, at least, I'm not breaking in, I'm not carrying a grappling hook, and I have no intention of getting stuck in a dumbwaiter.

After listening to my mother's broadcast about the River 1 parasite, the Director gave us an order: get Moriana Nair. As my mother's protégé, the Director figures—and we all agree—that Moriana must know where the parasite came from since it sure as hell didn't come from Rhinehouse. Considering Moriana's history with Miah and me, the Director believes Moriana can be persuaded to share her knowledge, maybe even join our cause. I hope she's right.

Now, Eli, Soren, and I are back in the capital disguised as OAC operatives, wearing the modified contact lenses Kenzie was working on back at the Resistance base. Although our disguises are good, we're still vulnerable to routine retinal scans taken by security drones, and if a security guard or a Watchman gets suspicious, all they'd have to do is wave a retinal scanner at our faces to discover our identities. But Kenzie's new contacts can be coded to either mimic someone else's retina or to blend with hundreds of other retinal patterns so the scanners can't process the input data. They can't even register you as having a human retinal pattern. To the average Watchman on the street, it would look like the scanner is on the fritz. And you become unidentifiable. Invisible.

Confident in my disguise, I smile at a passing researcher who looks vaguely familiar, and then glance up at the sightless eyes of the drone screening all passersby to make sure they're authorized to be on the OAC campus. The red eye blinks, flashes, and … nothing. The drone doesn't move. No alarms go off. I make a mental note to thank Kenzie the next time I see her.

I hear the main door to the headquarters slide open and then shut again as I let my gaze wander up the double helix.
Some of the enhancements we made were basic.
I can hear my mother's voice in my head, patiently explaining the ways she altered my DNA, how she changed who I am. Permanently. The muscles in my jaw clench, and I remind myself not to grind my teeth.
Visual, auditory, olfactory, sensory modifications
.
You'll be able to experience more of the world than you ever dreamed.

If only you had asked my permission, Mother.

I hear footsteps around the corner, and I know it's her. Ever punctual. Even her gait sounds familiar. How different would things have turned out if Miah and I had asked her to come with us? Would she have believed the accusations against my mother, her hero? Would she have given up the opportunity to work with the Director of the OAC to follow us into the Wilds, risking life and limb? She told me we never gave her a chance to decide.

Well, things are different now. She'll get her chance.

Sixteen years we spent together, as close as any best friends can be. I draw in a breath. Then I see her. Her lanky frame, dark shimmering hair, the way her confident stride is just a little too long for her legs—she's impossible to miss. She heads my way and I meet her eyes, hoping she won't recognize me. She doesn't. Glancing away almost immediately, she brushes past me without the slightest acknowledgment.

Good.

At a safe distance, I turn to follow her. I'm careful to keep my footsteps quiet, but she seems utterly indifferent to the possibility of being followed. After all, aside from the massacre at the SRI four years ago, this part of Okaria is the safest place in the Sector. Especially for someone like Moriana.

A Watchman crosses the street and walks toward us, my heart rate spiking the closer he gets. But worrying is unnecessary; he gives Moriana and her long legs an appreciative look and ignores me completely.

Moriana heads to the right, and, sure enough, a moment later, she takes the narrow alley she always uses as a shortcut between the OAC campus and the transport station. As I follow her, I catch sight of Eli slouching next to a composter, pretending to be reading something on a v-scroll. He's ready.

I quicken my stride. As Moriana draws closer, Eli's hand goes to the Bolt in his holster, and then in one smooth move, he steps in front of Moriana and pulls the weapon, holding it tight to his side so Moriana can see it, but an overhead drone won't notice a thing.

“Don't move,” Eli orders.

“What the—”

“OAC Security Directorate,” I say, stepping from behind her to Eli's side and flipping open a fake ID just long enough for Moriana's jaw to drop in shock. I'm consciously trying to speak in a lower tone than usual. I don't want her recognize my voice. “We need to ask you a few questions.”

“About what? Do you know who I am?”

“Of course we know who you are,” Eli says with a snarl. “You think we just pluck random citizens off the street to interrogate?”

“Interrogate?” Moriana's voice rises. “But I work with Corine Or—”

“And just who do you think ordered the interrogation?”

“Don't worry, Ms. Nair,” I assure her. “We're not going to hurt you and you're not in any trouble.”

“So far,” Eli adds. Good cop. Bad cop. I think he's enjoying this.

“There's been a security breach, and information about River 1 has been leaked. The last thing we want, I'm certain you will agree, is for that information to land in the wrong hands. Our job is to find out who leaked the information and why.”

Moriana scowls as if offended. “But I wouldn't—”

“Not here,” Eli says.

“Our orders are to transport you to a secure location for questioning.” I step closer. I don't think she'll try to run, she's too much of a stickler for following the rules, but we have to make sure. “You don't have any problem with that, do you?”

“No, no. Of course not. I'll do whatever is necessary. Whatever Corine requires.”

“That's very wise of you,” Eli says, nodding at me to start walking. “Very dedicated. Now, my colleague will lead you—”

Moriana doesn't budge. “I don't understand. I just left the lab. Why didn't you question me there?”

“In order to find out where the information leak originated, we'll be questioning every member of the team assigned to the River 1 research project,” I reply calmly. “We can't conduct these interrogations at the OAC for fear you'll share information. Everyone will be questioned separately, quietly, and off-site.”

I can almost hear the cogs and gears turning in Moriana's mind as she processes the situation, trying to decide what to do. I take the initiative and, with a firm grip on her elbow, lead her toward the hovercar waiting at the end of the alley. “Now, if you'll just come along quietly, this whole thing will be over before you know it.”

At the end of the alley, Soren leans against the hovercar Snake procured for us from who-knows-where. Painted to look like an official OAC security vehicle—who knows, maybe it
is
an official OAC security vehicle—we'll drive it through the streets of Okaria back to the rendezvous point in Gingko Park where Snake is waiting with the hovercar Zeke loaned us to get into the city. Soren steps up and opens the back door while Eli and I hustle Moriana in. Soren climbs in and takes his place at the nav console and eases the car away from the curb.

“Please hand over your plasma,” I order. “We need to ensure you won't be communicating with any other members of your team while these interrogations are taking place.”

Moriana scowls, but she opens her bag and puts her plasma in my open palm.

“So, Ms. Nair,” Eli says, his finger curled around the trigger of the Bolt resting in his lap, “shall we begin?” Having been interrogated himself, Eli knows what he's doing. “Tell us what you know about the River 1 parasite currently spreading throughout the Sector.”

Sitting between the two of us, Moriana glances at me, then at the back of Soren's head, his hair covered by a dark cap. Her brows knit together as she turns back to Eli. It's been years since she's seen Eli or Soren in the flesh, but I'm thankful she hasn't seen past my disguise or recognized my voice yet.

“You said you were going to ask me if I'd told anyone about River 1, not ask me about the parasite itself. You should know I'm not at liberty to talk about top-secret programs.”

I shake my head as if disappointed in her powers of reasoning. It almost pains me to do so. “And just how do you suppose we will be able to determine who leaked what information, if we don't know which lab workers are privy to which aspects of the classified program?”

“Oh,” she says simply, as if that hadn't occurred to her.

“I repeat,” Eli says again, “tell us about the parasite, the symptoms it causes, and how it is currently spreading throughout the Sector. And it will be helpful if you do not leave out any details. Being very specific in your answers will help us clear you of violating the oath of secrecy you signed when you were hired.”

“Violating—” she begins to protest.

“Your cooperation,” I add quickly, “will help us put this unfortunate occasion behind you, and you can be back at work in your laboratory first thing in the morning.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Answer the question.” Eli's hand tightens around the grip of the Bolt, and his voice loses all pretense of polite conversation. As if it had any before.

Moriana swallows hard. Her hands play nervously with the clasp on her bag. She's not convinced, but I can tell she sees no way out.

“Perhaps it will allay your misgivings if I told you this conversation is being recorded for your personnel file,” I say. “Our superiors will review the recording, as well as our notes on this meeting, as soon as we complete this part of our investigation.” I'm not lying completely. Demeter
is
recording, and we'll report to the Director as soon as we're back.

“All right,” she says. “Here's what I know. Once ingested, the parasite attacks the brain, but it does no permanent damage.” She pauses.

“Go on,” I command.

“It's a modified version of the Old World parasite
Naegleria fowleri
, an amoeboflagellate that inhabits both soil and water. The parasite in its natural form causes a range of neurological symptoms, from headaches and nausea to fevers, lack of attention, confusion, and eventually hallucinations and seizures. Ultimately, it leads to death. However, our modified version is incapable of killing a human patient by itself, going only so far as to render him or her comatose.” She continues for a few minutes in this vein. I can tell Eli is trying not to look as though he's lapping up her every word. Finally she stops and looks up at us expectantly.

“What else?”

“That's all I know! I swear I didn't tell anyone. I never said a word.”

“You're not off the hook yet, Ms. Nair,” I say, glancing out the window to get my bearings. By my estimate we're about five minutes from the rendezvous point.

“We are well aware,” I continue, “that you know more than you're letting on. It will go better for you, if you keep talking.”

“So River 1 does no permanent damage. How can you be so sure of that?” Eli demands.

“Because it's not some dangerous disease. It's a diversion!”

A
diversion
? What the hell does that mean? I avoid Eli's eyes, trying to appear unaffected.

“Is that what you told your friends in the Resistance?” he says. “‘Don't worry, the little bug won't hurt you, it's just a diversion'.”

“My friends in the Resistance? Are you
joking
?” Moriana practically spits the word. “I have no friends in the Resistance. I didn't tell anybody anything.”

“I don't believe that's true,” I say quietly.
There are people in the Resistance who love you.

Eli leans toward her. “You say it isn't dangerous, that it's just a diversion. Then you know why Corine made her special broadcast yesterday. Did you tell your friends about the broadcast? Are you the source of the OAC leak?”