Toxic (33 page)

The Lynian didn’t give it the chance. At the last second, he activated his repulsors. The rhinoceros followed through with its buck, without stopping or even turning half around. Its weak vision didn’t allow it to know that it had just missed its target, but the suspicious smell had evaporated. Jave watched from the sky. The animal pointed its ears towards the origin of the mechanical noises. A drone flying overhead scared it off. It escaped in the direction of the forest and disappeared.

The Lynian moved away, looking for the Primark, who he found about a kilometer away, on a trail that the villagers used, to judge by the footprints. The reptilian’s vibroblade was planted in the ground in the middle of a sea of blood. Naakrit greeted him by raising his crimson claws.

“I’ve never seen that type of creature before,” he said. “And you?”

“I just saw a strange specimen with horns. A surprising encounter. Where are they coming from?”

“The drones detected their presence inside enclosures. I guess that the humans freed them in the hopes of hindering our operations by creating a diversion. Not all of their efforts went to waste, but not to their benefit but for ours.”

At his feet, the Lynian noticed two animals with beige fur. The tera-servers delivered the information almost instantly: lions.

“This world is bursting with unknown pleasures. I’ve always loved hunting,” the head mercenary added.

As soon as he returned to the base, Naakrit inquired about the first day of the raid. His tongue whipped the air several times, Jave noted, resting behind the scenes. There was no doubt that the numbers were good or even excellent. The Nairobi operation was promising. It was better that way, he told himself, because if things went wrong, there would only be one person to blame.

Lined up on the tarmac of the former airport, the transporters unloaded the bodies onto levitating pallets, which floated in one line until reaching two sparkling white protrusions. The bulbous shapes seemed to be lit up from inside. They irradiated a glow that diffused into the night sky. The manufacturing capacity was around six thousand units per octo-diem per dome. The mercenaries would be able to honor the contract with the Kuatians shortly. They wouldn’t stop on such a good track. The Primark, galvanized by this first success, had the firm intention of ridding the region of its inhabitants. He gave the order for the construction of additional domes to be accelerated. He called the orbital station so that they would prepare to send the materials. Those responsible for logistics went to work right away.

Nairobi wouldn’t take long to become the most important center on the planet. That’s what the masters of this world had decided.

Jave took the vial out of his pocked.
SD966
−
NT
, he read once again. There was only one way to clarify this enigma. On one of the pallets which were moving by a few steps away, he saw a female whose sky blue tunic was dragging on the concrete.

Beyond the perimeter of the base and the double confinement ring, the wave of infected continued to grow. Their bodies, brought to life by one primal and mechanical desire, pushed against the energy barrier. Test subjects were not lacking, he told himself, and the troopers would be busy supervising the chain. The Primark thought he was hunting. The ideal opportunity to carry out his own experiment was presenting itself.

He isolated himself close to a row of containers. The palm of his hand projected the translucent green upside-down pyramid. “Phase B. First tests being done. Results to follow,” he wrote. The message erased itself at the end of the transmission. He closed his hand once again. He also had lots to do right now.

E
laine sat on a stone bench in front of the broken window of a former Laundromat. The meet-up location was a few streets away from the marina. Hector had refused to go with them. He had stood behind the argument – which according to him was not up for discussion – of monitoring his boat. The colonel wore his 45 on his belt in clear view. Bruce held up the rear. Making the wait longer was always a good strategy for putting pressure on people and destabilizing the opposing side. Whoever Dew’s kidnappers were, they controlled the timing. They decided where and when.

Masters, at rest, arms behind his back and feet slightly spread, was giving them a message that was just as clear: he was waiting for them. What would that suggest?

Elaine inhaled, her gaze on the ground.

She was hoping to get the Asian back in one piece. Her thighs shook in a repetitive rhythm and her hands didn’t stop moving around on the floor. All of a sudden, she got up. The kidnappers came out of four corners of the intersection and neighboring streets. At that moment, she thought that they were infected because of how they seemed so bitter, dirty and covered in wounds or scabs. But they had guns. She recognized AKs and several M-4s. She went up to the colonel.

“Where are these idiots coming from?” he whispered.

The members of the band positioned themselves in a circle around their boss, who spit on the ground as a greeting. Big and dry and wearing a khaki vest and clear-colored cargo-pants, his military haircut emphasized an emaciated and sickly face. As for his forearms, she made out bruises on the pale skin spotted with blue veins when the individual approached, sniffing constantly.

“Keep your guard up and most of all, don’t talk. I’m in charge of the negotiations,” Masters whispered.

The boss cleared his voice and then turned towards his companions.

“We should have taken the broad,” he joked, causing an uproar of laughter from the troop. “We would have been a lot better off than with this useless chink.”

Elaine clenched her firsts and wanted to move forward. Masters blocked her path with his arm.

“Don’t do anything. He’s provoking us. He’s testing us.”

“Dew...”

The man, around forty and maybe older, stood in front of the marine.

“You’re right to hold her back. You’re together, eh? You make a nice couple. And the young guy back there? He’s the third wheel?”

His rant provoked a volley of laughter once again. Masters didn’t frown.

“Who are you? Eh? A soldier, I’m speaking.”

“I’m colonel Masters, USA Marine Corps, second infantry regiment.”

“It’s not worth spouting out your pedigree, bud. We don’t’ care.”

“So, get to the point instead of discussing. What do you want?”

The boss spat once again. He leaned to the side. “Where’s Hector?”

“Who?”

He turned towards his companions.

“This guy is fucking with us. He says that he doesn’t know that Hector bastard. But they arrived on his pretty boat, isn’t that right guys?”

All of them nodded their heads, and their gazes hardened.

“Why isn’t Hector with you?”

“He’s watching the boat.”

“Yeah, my ass. He’s protecting his dope, that son of a bitch.”

Elaine tensed up. She masked her surprise by clenching her jaws.

“Do you know the Colombian?” Masters asked, fearless.

“For sure. I know that fucker well. We were in the slammer when this shit broke out. The asshole managed to get out of that hell with his stash.”

“I see.”

“OK. So you’re going to go back to your boat and tell him that Xavier wants his twenty kilos. And I’m expecting him to deliver them to me in person. Is that clear? Twenty kilos, uncut, if you want to see the chink again.”

“And if he refuses?”

“Jesus fucking Christ. Do I really need to draw it out for you? Do you want to get your buddy back in one piece or not?”

“I’d like to know that he’s still alive, without intending any offense.”

The boss whistled. Dew appeared at the corner of the street, flanked by two other people.

“His name is Dewei,” Elaine added. “He’s... He has autism. If he starts to get into crises, don’t leave him alone...”

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Simmer down young woman. I don’t give a fuck about your problem. I want my twenty kilos.”

Masters put a firm hand on the nurse’s shoulder, who didn’t let the Asian out of her sight.

“You’ll have them.”

“Perfect. You have two hours.”

On the path back to the marina, Elaine remained silent. Bruce and Masters exchanged their impressions.

“Junkies or L-Ds, did you see any difference?” the biologist shared.

“I would have preferred L-Ds; at least with them there are fewer surprises and you know what to expect. Druggies are unpredictable. We can’t trust them.”

They summarized the situation to the Colombian as soon as they arrived. He raised an eyebrow. “Twenty kilos?”

“That’s what they asked for,” Masters confirmed.

Hector scratched his neck, which irritated Elaine. She didn’t swallow her words.

“You have the drugs on board and you didn’t say anything?”

“You didn’t ask,” replied the trafficker, annoyed by her attitude.

“What’s the decision, then?” Bruce said impatiently.

“He’s in charge,” Masters said, sitting down on a bench. “But we should give them what they want. There are a lot of them. Determined.”

Elaine didn’t manage to make out the Colombian’s face.

“Who’s Xavier?” she asked.

“A prisoner.”

“You were in jail? For drug trafficking?”

“
Sí
.”

“How much did you have?”

“
Cuatro cientos kilos
. Cocaine.
Pura.
”

Bruce whistled. “Holy shit!”

Elaine didn’t know how to react. The quantity seemed enormous to her as well.

“Where are you hiding it?”

Before the Colombian’s silence, Elaine got angry. “This is Dew’s life we’re talking about, for fuck’s sakes. What’s so great about twenty kilos of your shit that isn’t even worth anything anymore?”

“
¡Cállate chica!
”

“Don’t call me
chica
anymore, you piece of shit!”

Seeing that the situation was at risk of getting out of control, Masters took Elaine outside.

“Try to calm down. I...”

“No! You know why it’s so important to get Dew back! That bastard won’t even give a gram of his coke to save him.”

“Calm down, for the love of God! As far as I know, he hasn’t decided yet, so control yourself. I’m going to talk with him. We’ll make an arrangement.”

As soon as he had let them on board, Hector had understood that this time would come sooner or later. In a certain way, it wasn’t that bad for it to happen now. The nurse was right; cocaine was no longer worth anything. He carried it around because that was what he had always done. He delivered merchandise. A good haul. Better paid than any other job he could have tried to get, even if he had an education.

The marine went back down the stairs.

“We have a little time. What’s your decision?”

Instead of answering, the Colombian went towards the corridor that led to the rooms. He lifted up the rug, which hid a hatch. He opened it and took out a ball of blue plastic which he placed on the table. Next, he took another one out of the hold.

“
Veinte kilos
,” he announced.

“I can’t believe it,” Bruce stuttered.

Masters unfolded the blade of his knife and cut the first package carefully, exposing dozens of white bags.

“Already packaged?”

“If it’s delivered early, it’s on the streets sooner. Less changes to the final product. That’s just business, man.”

“I imagine. We’ll put all of it in two backpacks. I think Xavier doesn’t know how much you have, otherwise he would have asked for more. Don’t let him get an idea.”

“
Sí, entiendo
.”

When Hector went back to close the hatch once again, he stopped in his tracks. Alva was standing in the middle of the hall that led to the rooms. She kept her hands on the two walls. Her pale skin, almost translucent, made the color of her dark eyes stand out. The diva advanced slowly, her gaze stuck on the display of merchandise. Even back in the good old days, she had never seen so much coke on a table. Her eyes shone with excitement. Hector shook his head. He knew that empty expression.

Bruce stood in front of the singer to reason with her. The Colombian let him.

“This isn’t a good idea...”

“Get out of my way, asshole!”

Bruce moved away. She stopped in front of Hector. She slapped him so hard that the sound was heard in the whole cabin. The Colombian touched his cheek. Alva grabbed a bag and sniffed it. The colonel took her hand lightly and put the plastic container on the table. “This won’t solve your problems.”

Masters winked at Bruce, who went with her back to her room.

This time the biologist remained on the boat to watch over Alison and the diva. Even though he wasn’t pleased at the idea of seeing his friend once again, Hector had accepted to conform to the demands of his ex-jail mate. When the trio arrived at the same address as before, Xavier, different from before, had a delighted look during the reunion. He crossed the street with a smile on his lips. Elaine felt the unpleasant sensation of seeing an infected person with almost human behavior and the power of speech.

“
¡Mi amigo!
”