The Immortality Virus (29 page)

“Scanners indicate you are each carrying one 84x disruptor with stun capability. Place them in the box.”

Grace gave up and put her weapon in the box. Alex followed suit.

A thin bit of the force shield opened and they went through to the other side. It closed behind them.

“ID bracelets, please,” said another bored voice, this time a woman’s.

Grace took one last look at her options. She was so tired that with the sun setting, her eyes could barely stay open. There were a dozen men and women watching with weapons trained on her.

Grace held out her wrist and let the woman run her scan. Something flashed in the woman’s eyes as she read the results and she suddenly looked less bored.

Here it comes.

“You’re cleared to go.”

“What?” Did she say that out loud?

“Mr. Edgers didn’t want to hurt anyone, but the late Mr. Cooper’s will made him the rightful owner and Junior refused to allow him access. He hopes to make restitutions to your families for this horrible incident and offer you your job back.”

“Uh–”

“Come on,” Alex said, pushing her in the small of the back. She moved away from the force field, away from the farm, away from her cage, and out into open space.

“Something weird is going on here,” Grace said, “but I’m too tired to think about it. I’m going home and sleeping for a very long time.”

“Not before we get to a doctor.”

“We?”

Alex didn’t answer.

She hadn’t been sure if Alex would come with her or if she wanted him to. She thought of trying to convince someone–Alex or herself–that she worked alone but the line just seemed too cliché to give voice to. He had been useful and now he didn’t even have a place to go.

They boarded the train to Kansas City together and fell asleep as soon as it pulled out of the station.

Grace didn’t know where she was. She blinked her eyes several times, adjusting to a dim overhead light source, and then looked around. Nothing appeared familiar. She lay in a bed, covered with pale blue sheets and a thick wool blanket. To her left, several machines binged in steady rhythm. Long wires and tubes stretched like tendrils towards her. One ended in a sharp needle that dug under the skin of her left forearm. The others ended in suckers attached to her chest.

Alex sat in a chair at the foot of her bed, eyes locked on a news report shimmering in functional 3-D from a holoset.

“All transportation both in and out of Kansas City is indefinitely delayed,” the reporter was saying. “Any attempts to leave the city will be met with deadly force. No air traffic will be permitted during this crisis. Any vehicles in the air will be shot on sight without warning. Able bodied men and women are to report to staging areas immediately to aid in the defense of the city.”

Alex sucked in his breath.

“What’s going on?” Grace asked.

Alex leaped to his feet and whirled to face her. For a second, his face registered panic, but then it softened into a smile. “How are you?”

She had to think about that question for a minute. She didn’t feel any pain. Her head felt relatively clear, though she could not precisely remember the events of the last few days. Perhaps that was her mind’s way of coping. What she did remember made her shut her eyes and try to block other thoughts from creeping into her mind’s eye.

That’s when she remembered her hand. She looked down at her right arm, still handless, but now wrapped in some kind of gauze. For some reason, her hand itched like crazy. She scratched at the stump, but withdrew her hand immediately when she felt the unfamiliar shapes. “It itches. It’s not even there.”

“That’s normal,” Alex said. “The nerves are still sending random signals to your brain. They gave you some drugs for the pain. You’ve been asleep for a while.”

A while? That didn’t sound good. There were too many people who might want her killed if she fell off the radar for too long. Captain Flint had made it clear that her only chance to live involved undertaking his little investigation. “How long?”

“Almost thirty-six hours,” Alex said.

“Thirty-six...” Grace started to swing her legs out of bed, but Alex put a hand on them, stopping her. “What?”

“No one knows you’re here. Relax.”

“Where is here, exactly?” Grace asked.

“St. Luke’s.”

“That’ll eat into my profit,” Grace muttered. “I’m surprised they took me in unconscious. It’s not like I had cash on me.”

“I paid. Besides, I needed a little help, too. It was all I could do to carry you here from the rail station.”

Now that was an image. Alex, her knight in shining armor, had rescued her again. She didn’t know which was worse, that she needed so many rescues or that Alex kept stepping up when she did.

“How did we get out?” Grace asked.

“We walked out.”

“Edgers let us go?”

Alex turned toward the holoset. “I don’t know.”

She listened to the reporters telling people to stay inside their homes, and she put it together. “Edgers is attacking the city.”

“Yeah.”

“He wasn’t supposed to come here next. They said St. Louis or maybe Memphis. Here he’s got enemies coming from the east and west.”

“Mmm.”

“He couldn’t have come here after us,” Grace said. “Why would he do that? He had us in Iowa. Why would he let us go and then come after us here? It has to be a coincidence.”

“Either way, the city’s under attack. We can’t leave.”

As if to emphasize the point, the ground shook.

“They’ve been throwing energy weapons at the city shields for a couple of hours now,” Alex said.

That would make things more difficult, but she couldn’t quit. Not now. If Edgers took the city, there might never be another chance. “I have to go.”

“Where? Do you have any idea where to look next?”

“Yes.”

Alex arched an eyebrow.

“Medicorp,” Grace said. “I think Matt Stanton knows more than he’s been saying.”

“If you find my grandfather, will you turn him over to them?”

Something about the way he’d said that made her hesitate in answering. She thought she would have said, “Yes, definitely,” but the words got stuck in her throat. Maybe it was the “turn him over” part. She hadn’t thought of it that way. Medicorp wanted to find someone who could help them–someone on the run who may not know people needed him. Someone she hadn’t thought of before as anyone’s grandfather, but only as an echo in an old diary.

The diary.
The diary was incomplete. Ethan had known about entries made later, while Jordan was on the run from the law. Matt had to know about them too, which meant he was keeping things from her. Probably a lot of things. When had Jordan finished his virus? When had it been released? How had Mr. Stanton really come by that diary?

“Grace?” Alex asked. “I don’t trust Stanton. Or Medicorp.”

“Neither do I, but they’re the ones with the resources to put the world to right again.”

The room shook again.

“The cops think Matt killed his father,” Grace said. She didn’t know why she said it; maybe she was as unsure of Mr. Stanton as Alex. She’d tried to convince herself it didn’t matter whether or not he’d killed his father, but maybe it did. If he was willing to kill his own father, then why not her when this was all over? She had trouble believing Sam would be involved with someone like that, but then again she hadn’t known the man in decades.

“Do you think he did?” Alex asked.

“I’m supposed to find out.” That wasn’t true. She was supposed to find proof. There was a difference. Briefly, she told him about Captain Flint’s ultimatum.

“You’ve got enemies on all sides, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“How are you going to find out if he killed his father?” Alex asked.

She needed to confront him. She already knew he was lying about the diary but...but why had he lied about the diary? What was on the rest of that diary he was so afraid to let her hear? Evidence?

“I have to go to Medicorp,” Grace said again. “They owe me an explanation.” She reached with her right arm to pull back the covers but only had a stump to brush them aside. She stared at the stump for a minute before adding, “They owe me a hand, too. Medicorp has some of the best prosthetics in the world.”

Alex had bought some clothes for Grace while she slept. It was a nice thought, although he had underestimated her size and the pants rode up uncomfortably. At least she managed to button them.

“My ex-wife used to lie about her dress size,” Alex said. “She’d get offended if I bought her the right size.”

“She must have looked silly walking around in clothes that were too small,” Grace said as she tugged at the shirt to loosen it up around her bicep.

“I think she exchanged them the next day.”

Grace just shook her head. “For the record, I have a twenty-six inch waist and thirty-six inch hips and like clothes that fit.”

Alex grinned. “You think I might need that information, then?”

He was trying to trip her, but it wasn’t going to work this time. She couldn’t let him reel her into a serious relationship. Here, off the farm and away from the constant fear, she could think clearly.

She lifted her gaze to his and looked into his bright green eyes shining in silent laughter, but she couldn’t remember what she had been about to say.

He leaned forward, his lips slightly parted. She stood still, watching him draw close. Her lips parted slightly, almost of their own volition.

Then the clouds in her mind parted and she stepped to the side, causing him to miss entirely. Served him right.

“I deserved that,” Alex said. He straightened and added, “Next time.”

“There won’t be a next time.” But she wasn’t as sure as she would have been two weeks ago.

* * *

St. Luke’s was not very far from the Medicorp building. Grace didn’t even have to take the rail, which was good since the city was in a state of chaos. Above, she could see the periodic flashes as energy bursts hit the city shields. Some of the bursts caused the ground to shake.

Hundreds of fighters dotted the sky, some defending and some attacking, though Grace had no idea which were which. She noticed the recruiters rounding up “volunteers” from the city’s street population to use as ground troops. This left the streets almost walkable. A couple of recruiters approached Grace in a threatening way as she neared Medicorp, but one look at her bandaged hand made them turn away to find healthier prey.

Sam met Grace in the lobby of Medicorp. He enfolded her in an embrace the moment they drew close, a confusing and not entirely welcomed contact. She did not return the embrace, though her heart still quickened as she drew away.

Sam leaned back and studied her, his eyes lingering on her face and then falling slowly downward. “Your hand! God, what happened?”

“Nothing I care to discuss in public,” Grace said. “I need to see Matt.”

“I’m supposed to take you up.” Sam flagged the receptionist, who let them into Matt’s private elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he pressed her again. “What happened?”

“I’ve been to hell and back and I think Matt’s to blame. He’s left a lot out of this story of his.”

“Matt’s kind of upset with you,” Sam said. “He says you let the story out and that’s why Edgers is attacking the city. He says we’re not the only ones looking for Jordan now.”

“Do you believe everything Matt says?” He hadn’t been that trusting when she’d known him. She hoped he still retained that sense of skepticism.

“I, er.” He faltered. “I believe the important things.”

“I don’t even believe that.”

“Look,” Sam said, “I know whatever happened out there, you did the best you could. I believe in you, Grace. I’d love to know what happened. Maybe I can help.”

He stepped closer. Grace forced herself to step back, a more difficult move than she would have expected. What was the matter with her? Why did she enjoy the crestfallen look on Sam’s face as she stepped away?

The elevator stopped and the doors opened onto the thirtieth floor lobby.

“Mr. Stanton will see you now,” Lucas said as soon as he saw them. That couldn’t be a good sign.

Sam started to follow her in but Lucas held a hand out. “Mr. Stanton only wants to see Grace right now.”

Grace didn’t even turn back. She pushed open the door to Matt’s office and readied herself for an argument.

Matt stood at the window again, staring out at the city below. He turned when she entered, a half-strained smile on his face. “Grace! How lovely to see you alive.”

“Save it.” Grace held up her right arm. “I want a prosthetic.”

“Of course.”

Grace had an argument waiting on her tongue but had to bite it off. Matt’s easy acceptance completely flummoxed her.

A genuine smile touched Matt’s lips. “You were injured making inquiries on my behalf. If you are to make more inquiries, I imagine it would help if you had both hands.”