Digital Winter (44 page)

To his parents' surprise, Donny didn't resist when Jeremy started to dismantle the computer setups. In fact, he looked pleased.

The C-23 Sherpa, a small prop-driven transport aircraft, was comfortable but slower than the fighter jet. With a range of a little more than 700 miles, the craft had to refuel several times on its journey across the country. Happy to have a plane that could still fly, Jeremy made no complaints. They wouldn't arrive in Maryland until the wee hours. Jeremy had planned to sleep on the flight, but sleep wouldn't come. Donny, however, slept the sleep of the heroic.

In the dark thirty-seat cabin, Stanley asked the question Jeremy knew he would. “General, are we really to blame for what happened in the world? Have people suffered and died because of us?”

It took a moment before Jeremy could answer. “I don't know, Mr. Elton. The early form of the worm is on Donny's computers. His computers and your condo were not affected. That looks suspicious.”

“But Donny isn't capable of doing such a thing. He doesn't see the world the way we do.” Royce had been in tears most of the day.

“Perhaps that's the problem, Mrs. Elton. He didn't know what he was doing. Still…something doesn't ring true. I wonder if someone used him and his genius. Maybe gave him the Stuxnet worm and let him play with it.”

“I've never heard of Stuxnet, and neither my wife nor I are capable of writing such a complex piece of software.”

They could be lying, Jeremy thought, but for some reason he believed them. He wondered about the name he found in the code. Eli Shade…a hacker's nickname? Each time he thought of it he felt disquiet.

“What will happen to us?” Royce asked.

“I've set up a place for you to stay at Fort Meade. USCYBERCOM is located there, as is the NSA. They're going to want to go over the code line by line, and that will take some time, even for a team. It's extremely complicated.”

“So we're prisoners?”

“You'll be staying on base in one of the officer homes for visiting dignitaries, not a prison cell.”

“Are we free to leave at will?” Stanley pushed.

Jeremy hated saying it. “No. But I'll make sure you're comfortable, and you will not have to worry about food.”

“I suppose that's good,” Royce said.

“Look, I don't know how this will work out. It's not up to me. Just continue to be honest and straightforward.”

“Do we need a lawyer?” Stanley asked.

“That's a good question. Are there still attorneys?”

The flight continued with little conversation.

Jeremy was travel weary and glad to be back home even though home was deep below Mount Weather. Now that Roni was with him most days,
home
seemed the right word. With Roni and now Cody, a tent in the desert was home. He was looking forward to a hug, a kiss, and a bit of sleep before reporting to the president.

Roni waited outside their small apartment. Her eyes hinted at a story she didn't want to tell.

“It's early, even for a doctor,” Jeremy said. He retrieved his hug and kiss. “I assume Cody is in bed.”

“Yes, sleeping like a rock.”

“He may be the smartest of us all. You're not going to believe what I uncovered in San Diego.”

Roni smiled and it looked as if the act took effort. “We need to talk, babe.”

He didn't like the sound of her voice. “What's wrong?”

“It's the president.” She poured out the story like a faucet streaming water.

The news was a punch to Jeremy's middle. The months had brought the president and Jeremy close. He doubled over, propping himself up with his hands on his knees. He fought the urge to vomit and the almost irresistible desire to curl up on the floor and weep. Instead he straightened, took a deep breath, put his arm around his wife, and entered their apartment, the day's success a distant memory.

J
eremy and Roni stepped from their officer's home at Fort Meade. After spending slightly more than a year living below grade, returning to a house, small as it was and situated on a military base, was a pleasure. They decided to stay at Fort Meade for several reasons. First, Jeremy's work with USCYBERCOM was still much more than a nine-to-five job. He didn't keep track of the hours he worked. He didn't have time. Second, their home in College Park had suffered extensive damage from looters. Much of DC was still unsafe. Jeremy couldn't focus if he had to worry about Roni and Cody's safety. As it was, every time Roni went to DC to do hospital rounds and surgery, he had to release her into the hands of God. Fortunately, the military provided security for the facility, and Roni always traveled with two armed soldiers. The same was true for other doctors who still needed transportation from home to the hospital and back.

The air this morning was sweet and cool. January had come around again and with it a more stable world, at least in appearance. Communications between countries had improved, which was good for the most part. Still, disturbing reports from central Europe trickled through. The members of NUTO thrived more than their counterparts in almost unbelievable ways.

President Grundy had taken the reins of leadership in a steel grip. He was no Barlow, but he didn't lack for confidence and focus. He made his goal clear: Bring the United States back to its previous glory. Jeremy wondered if that was possible.

President Barlow's body had been treated in the small mortuary in Mount Weather and kept in a simple coffin stored in a cold room. He was buried in Arlington Cemetery on Christmas Day. The service had been recorded and would be broadcast when enough television stations were functioning again.

Radio and newspapers became more important because they took less work to resurrect. They were nothing like they were before the Event, but it was a start.

The Eltons lived on base. Few knew their connection to the Event. Donny was proving useful. Though he seldom spoke, he made his ideas clear in programming language. With his help, Slipper became even more secure, as did networked computers. In the years ahead, the rebuilding of the Internet might rest on the man-boy's work. It took a team of six to decipher what he wrote. That team included Jeremy.

Roni stepped on the porch. She held a mug of coffee. “Beautiful day. The sky is so blue.”

“That's because air travel is still limited. Less pollutants in the air.”

“I suppose, or the sky could just be pretty because it wants to be.”

“Why, Dr. Matisse, you're still a hopeless romantic.”

“Someone's got to do it.” She took a sip. “Cody is getting his shoes on. He'll be out in a moment.”

“I've got to get that kid to stop calling me General. It's respectful and I appreciate it, but it doesn't seem right.”

“You could ask him to call you something else, like Dad.”

“Dad?” He chuckled. “You think he'd go for that?”

Roni nodded. “I think so. Why don't you ask him?”

“I think I will.” Jeremy's smile faded. He looked into the distance, over the buildings and roads that made up Fort Meade.

Roni took his hand. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

“Nothing, eh? I'm a doctor and a woman. You can't lie to me. Spill it.”

He shrugged. “Just thinking about the future.”

“That always depresses you. You know, most people think the worst is over.”

Jeremy shook his head. “People are still dying because of this thing, and the more I know about the changes in the world, the more I think the worst is yet to come.”

“More Bible prophecy?”

He nodded. “The Bible doesn't tell us everything, but it tells us enough. There is more darkness on the horizon. Something is going on. Something in the spiritual world I don't understand.”

“I wish we could believe it was all just the work of an innocent savant.”

“Me too—”

The front door opened and closed with a bang. Cody burst on the scene like an artillery shell. “Come on or we'll be late for chapel.”

“That sounded like an order, General.”

“I believe it was, Doctor.” Jeremy took Roni's mug and set it on a small table next to one of the porch chairs. He picked up two Bibles, handed Roni's to her, and offered his arm. She took it as they stepped from the porch.

A few steps into the short walk, Jeremy called to Cody, who was making his way along the sidewalk by leaping over every crack and joint in the concrete. “Hey, kid, I've got a question for you…”

Dr. Sean Scotcher returned to his small, cluttered office in the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, found a recent biomedical journal, and threw it on the floor. “Shot down again. What's wrong with me? I must be hideous.”

He wasn't hideous. Short, sure. Pencil thin, okay. Balding more than a thirty-two-year-old man should be, admittedly. But none of those are horrible, so why did yet one more woman politely tell him to get lost when he asked her out? He didn't understand. What he lacked in some areas, he made up for in brains.

To make things worse, there were few women to pick from. Only the most-needed scientists, researchers, and administrators were allowed in the facility. Theirs was one of the few that received immediate attention when the power went out. Rightly so. Confined in the building were strains of the most deadly viruses, spores, and bacteria known to humanity. Ebola and its variants, altered malaria, dengue fever, military-grade anthrax, and a hundred more. Just one mistake or one unhappy employee could unleash invisible murderers. Millions would die.

Precautions had been taken to make sure such a thing could never happen. That was before the events of this last year.

At night, Scotcher fabricated tales of a man who released a plague on the world. It was just a way to pass the lonely hours. Maybe he would write a novel or movie script. Hollywood liked a good tale of destruction by disease. Boy, could he teach them a few things. Of course, no one was publishing books or making movies anymore. Maybe someday.

The door to his office creaked open.

“Go away. I'm busy.”

It opened anyway, and an odd-looking man in a black coat and hat entered. “I'm sorry to bother you, Dr. Scotcher. My name is Eli Shade, and I wonder if I might have a word with you.”

1. Jeremy is a Christian man married to an unbelieving wife, yet they have a happy marriage. What qualities did they exhibit that made this possible?

2. Although not a person of faith, Dr. Roni Matisse goes to great trouble to help the patients who come to her hospital, even to the point of refusing an opportunity to leave for a safer place. What makes her so giving?

3. Before the Event, life was good for Jeremy and Roni. After the lights go out, each is challenged to be something they never expected. What challenges did they face? How did they face them? What sacrifices did they make?

4. Cody is a ten-year-old boy who has lost everything. As a doctor, Roni has seen such things before. Why does she bond with Cody?

5. Cody changes Roni in subtle ways. How did his arrival in her life alter her?