Department 19: Zero Hour (22 page)

She had been identified as a person of interest by the Russian Security Services when she was barely ten, and had been recruited into the SPC from the University of Leningrad when she was eighteen. Almost immediately, she had been sent to a foreign country, where she knew absolutely nobody, to work on the most important scientific project in the history of humanity. And the Lazarus Project was lucky to have her; she was staggeringly intelligent and highly capable, one of the very foremost minds of her generation.

She was also, Matt had concluded, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Her face, slender and soft-featured and remarkably pale, still bore the last remnants of the injuries she had sustained when the bomb Lamberton had placed in Kate’s quarters had detonated right in front of her. The room’s heavy door had saved her life, shielding her from the worst of the blast, but she had broken a number of small bones, and been sliced to ribbons by flying wood and metal.

The sun slid behind a cloud, as though keen to afford them privacy. Natalia was looking at Matt with an expression that seemed to be mostly nervousness, but Matt could see affection too; he was certain that he could.

God, he hoped he could.

Stay calm,
he told himself.
Take it easy.

“Matt?” she asked, her voice low and soft. “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine,” he said, and smiled. “I was just thinking how little I know about you. We sit two metres apart for sixteen hours every day, but all I really know is your name and where you went to university.”

“That is all you know?” she asked, her eyes fixed on his.

Matt felt heat rise into his face. “Tell me something,” he said, quickly. “Something I don’t know about you.”

She stared at him for a long moment full of crackling tension. “When the FSB came to take me from my home,” she said, eventually, “the men of my village thought I was a criminal. They did not understand me, and they did not like that I was cleverer than them. They thought I was some kind of … what is the word … something unnatural?”

“A freak,” said Matt, softly.

Natalia’s mouth curled into a small, sad smile. “Yes,” she said. “A freak. They thought I was a freak. The FSB came and they told my mother and father that I was valuable, that I should be making a contribution to my country. My mother did not want me to leave, and started to cry. My father asked how much money they were going to give him for me.”

“Jesus,” whispered Matt.

“One of the men was a Colonel named Gregorovich,” said Natalia. “When I was at university in Leningrad, it was him who stayed in touch with me, who made sure I was OK. He told my father that he did not deserve to have such a child, and that I would be better off away from them. My father got very angry, and tried to stop them from taking me, but one of the FSB men hit him in the stomach with his gun, and he fell to the floor. They took me out of the house, with my father on the ground and my mother screaming, and most of the village had gathered outside to watch. Some of them were shouting things, and one of them spat on me as I was taken to the car. Gregorovich took out his gun and shot the man in the chest, and left him bleeding in the road. I got into the car with them and we left. I have not seen my family since.”

Matt stared at her, his eyes wide.

Natalia blushed deeply. “Was that not what you meant by something you didn’t know?” she asked.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “That definitely qualifies. I just … I can’t believe that happened to you. It’s awful.”

Natalia nodded. “It was,” she said. “But it was a long time ago. And now I am here.”

Matt took a half-step towards her, his arms stiffly at his sides. He was suddenly incredibly aware of them, and found himself wondering what people usually did with their arms and their hands, what
he
usually did with his; nothing felt comfortable, or natural. Natalia took a small step of her own, eyes wide, lips slightly apart, her small body seeming to tremble slightly in the cool of the shade.

Matt swallowed hard. They were so close that he could have reached out and touched her, which was exactly what he was trying to will himself to do when the console on his belt let out a loud beep.

For a second, the world seemed to pause. Matt’s hands were centimetres away from his body; they had stopped en route to a destination that he was not remotely sure of. Natalia’s eyes were wide and fixed unblinkingly on his. Then the spell was broken, and Matt was fumbling for his console as Natalia blinked and shook her head, as though trying to clear it.

He thumbed the screen, his heart pounding at the possibility of what might have been about to happen, and looked at the message that appeared.

FROM: Holmwood, Interim Director Cal (NS303, 34-D)

TO: Browning, Lieutenant Matt (NS303, 83-C)

Come and see me ASAP. Lazarus business.

“Is everything OK?” asked Natalia. Her voice was low, and it sounded like she was out of breath.

Matt looked up from the console; pale pink had risen into the skin of her face, and the moment, so pregnant with promise, was gone. He held out the console; she took it from his hands and read the message.

“We should go,” she said, handing the plastic rectangle back to him. “You must not keep him waiting, and I should get back to the lab.”

To hell with that,
thought Matt.

“Come with me,” he said.

“To see the Director?”

“Yes.”

Natalia frowned. “He did not ask for me.”

“I don’t care,” said Matt. “It’s to do with Lazarus, so why shouldn’t you be there too? The Professor is in China and I’m no more senior than anybody else.”

“I don’t know,” said Natalia. “Are you sure?”

“No,” said Matt, and grinned widely. “But you’re coming with me. And I don’t care whether Cal likes it or not.”

“She can’t go in,” said the Security Operator stationed outside the Interim Director’s quarters. “She’s not on my schedule.”

Natalia tugged at Matt’s arm. “This is stupid,” she said. “I will just go.”

“You don’t have to go anywhere,” said Matt. He smiled at her, then turned back to face the Operator. “You have me on your schedule, right?”

“Correct.”

“You know the Interim Director ordered me to come and see him as soon as possible?”

“Right again.”

“Great,” said Matt. “So you know it’s probably important?”

The Operator shrugged.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Matt. “But I’m afraid I’m not going in there without my colleague. So you’re going to have to explain to Colonel Holmwood why his urgent message went unanswered. I’m sure he won’t blame you.”

The Operator narrowed his eyes. Matt could see him turning the situation over in his mind, trying to find the solution that carried the lowest possible likelihood of trouble for himself. After a long pause, which Matt waited silently through with a pleasant smile on his face, the man spoke.

“I have to call this in,” he said. “Stay where you are.”

“Of course,” said Matt, glancing over at Natalia. “We aren’t going anywhere.”

The Operator moved away from them, pulling his radio from his belt, and holding it to the side of his face.

“Matt!” hissed Natalia. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry,” he replied. “It’s fine. Cal trusts me.”

Natalia frowned. “This is not like you,” she said. “I hope you are not doing this for me?”

Matt smiled. He wanted to explain that he wasn’t doing it
for
her, but rather
because
of her; that when he was with her, he felt as though he could do anything.

“Don’t worry,” he repeated.

Down the corridor, the Security Operator nodded, then placed the radio back on his belt. He strode towards them with a face like thunder, and jerked a gloved thumb in the direction of the door.

“You can go in,” he said. “Both of you.”

“Thanks very much,” said Matt, and turned to Natalia. “After you.”

She gave him a long, careful look, before giving in to a small smile that warmed his heart, and walking down the corridor towards the Interim Director’s quarters. Matt nodded politely at the Security Operator, then followed her.

I’m going to pay for that,
he thought, as he stepped round Natalia.
One way or another. But right now I couldn’t care less.

He had pushed the heavy door open no more than a few centimetres before Cal Holmwood’s voice boomed through the gap.

“What the hell do you think you’re playing at, Browning? Get in here, both of you.”

Natalia looked at him with wide, nervous eyes. Matt placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling a vast cloud of butterflies descend into his stomach as he did so, and mouthed, “Trust me.” Then he pushed the door all the way open, and stepped through it.

Cal Holmwood was seated behind his desk, his face pink with obvious anger. Matt crossed the room, wondering momentarily whether he had misjudged the situation, had read too much into the Interim Director’s friendly manner towards him during their Lazarus update meetings, and had actually managed to do nothing more than get both of them into completely unnecessary trouble.

“I asked for
you
, Lieutenant,” said Holmwood. “If I had wanted Miss Lenski to accompany you, I would have sent her an order as well.”

“Yes, sir,” said Matt. “I wouldn’t have brought her, but your message said it was Lazarus business, and with the Professor away, I thought it would be good to have her here. I’m sorry if I was wrong, sir.”

“You’re not wrong, Lieutenant,” said Holmwood, the colour in his face gradually calming. “Insubordinate, and bloody infuriating at times, but not wrong. Have you been taking lessons from Lieutenant Carpenter?”

Matt frowned. “Jamie? What’s he done?”

“Something stupid,” said Holmwood. “And classified, although I’m sure that won’t stop him from telling you about it. Breaking fundamental rules seems to be a hobby of his lately.”

“OK, sir,” said Matt. He didn’t have the slightest idea what the Interim Director was talking about, but he resolved to go and find Jamie as soon as they were finished here.

“To be honest,” said Holmwood, nodding at Natalia, “it’s probably for the best that she’s here. I need someone to relay what I’m about to tell you back to Lazarus, and you’re going to be prepping for departure.”

Matt frowned again. “Departure, sir?”

Holmwood nodded. “We have new intelligence regarding the vampire who was allegedly cured by Christopher Reynolds, when the treacherous bastard was working for our friends in Nevada. The cured vampire known as Adam. NS9 are launching a mission tomorrow in the hopes of locating him and securing his cooperation. General Allen has requested a technical observer from the Lazarus Project to go with his team, and with Karlsson away, I’m sending you. You are to extract tissue and blood samples for circulation to the rest of the Departments, then bring Adam back here for examination by Lazarus. You told me you needed a miracle, Lieutenant Browning. I may just have found you one.”

Matt stared at the Interim Director, his heart pounding in his chest, his mind racing with possibilities.

The DNA of a cured vampire. Holy shit. Holy shit. An endpoint we can work back from. A process we can reverse engineer. Holy shit.

“That is remarkable,” said Natalia, her eyes wide. “Such a subject could allow for a big leap forward.”

Holmwood nodded. “I certainly hope so, Miss Lenski. If they can find him, that is, and if he agrees to help.”

“Why wouldn’t he help?” asked Matt.

“Hopefully, he will,” said Holmwood. “But given that he fled his last-known location, and left behind an IED that killed three NS9 Operators, I’m taking nothing for granted, and neither are the Yanks. They’re going after him fully armed and Ready One. Go with them, find him, and bring him in.”

An IED?
thought Matt.
When was that? That didn’t come up in any of the reports.

“OK, sir,” he said. “When do I leave?”

“You depart on the
Mina II
at 0700 tomorrow,” said Holmwood. “You’re going to arrive in the middle of the night, so get some sleep when you arrive. The NS9 briefing will be on your console within the hour, so read it, study it, and be in the hangar at 0630. Miss Lenski, you will communicate this development to your colleagues downstairs. Clear?”

“Yes, sir,” said Natalia. She glanced over at Matt, and he felt warmth rush through him as he saw the obvious pride on her face.

“Lieutenant Browning?” asked Holmwood.

“Yes, sir,” he replied. “I’ll be ready, sir. Thank you.”

“All right then,” said the Interim Director. “Dismissed.”

Matt nodded and headed for the door, Natalia beside him. As he reached out to take hold of the handle, Cal Holmwood called his name.

“Yes, sir?” he asked, turning back.

“Next time I tell you to come and see me, you come on your own. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” said Matt. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“My capacity for indulging you and your friends is not infinite, Lieutenant,” said Holmwood. “And neither is my patience. Now get out.”

As the Zero Hour Task Force meeting disbanded, Larissa saw Kate nod at her, then jerk her head in the direction of the Ops Room door. She looked around at Jamie, saw him deep in conversation with Jack Williams, and felt a stab of frustration. She was extremely worried about her boyfriend; the look of defeat on his face as he shook his head at her had sent a chill up her spine. But she knew that Jamie would not appreciate her interrupting his conversation to ask him why he had seemed on the verge of tears, so she turned back to her friend and nodded. Kate smiled and headed for the door, carefully making her way through the black-clad mass of her colleagues. Larissa waited for a second or two, then followed.