Epic: Book 02 - Outlaw Trigger (19 page)

Galina reached out to him. “Maybe we should get you something to eat—”

“
Get out, now!”

Both women flinched back. Galina stuttered then nodded her head. “Da, lieutenant.”

As Galina abandoned the room, Esther eased her way in. She stared with nervous uncertainty.

“
Close the door.”

“
Yes sir.” Esther clicked the door shut. Galina was left in the hall.

Scott flung the sheets from atop him; he sat upright on his bedside. He gave no mind to the fact that he was shirtless. Her comfort was not his concern.

Esther swallowed as she maintained her distance. “I’m sorry, sir, I just came to see how you were doing. We’re all very worried…”

His arm muscles flexed as he pushed himself up. His EDEN-issue sweatpants were wrinkled. “The Silent Fever. What is it?”

She stared in bewildered silence. “Sir, I don’t know—”

“
I know you don’t know.” He began to track toward her. “But that’s what you’re going to find out.”

She backed into the wall. “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t think I understand…”

There was nothing to misunderstand. His intentions were simple and plain. “The Silent Fever killed my fiancee. You’re going to find out what it is.”

She raised her arms to cover her chest as he leaned forward and invaded her personal space. She quivered for the first time, finding herself forced back against the brick. “But sir, I don’t know what I can—”

“
You’re a Type-
2
scout! Tactically
observe!”

She started at his volume, as her teeth clenched in fear.

“
I don’t care how you find out. I don’t care what you have to do. I don’t care who you have to kill. But you’re going to find out. And then, you’re going to tell me.” There was no room left for discussion. “Is that understood?”

She stood there, her body shaking as her hands protected her chest from the unbridled force of his presence. When she finally spoke, her trembling covered her words. “Yes, sir…”

Scott stepped backward. Her personal space was released. “Get it done.”

She stayed against the wall for several seconds before nodding and facing the door. Her fingers searched for its knob. She was emotional. When she finally found the handle, she gave it a turn.

Galina glanced in from the hallway. As soon as Esther slipped out, the medic hurried into the room. “Scott?”

Scott was already by his closet. His time for mourning had passed. His lust for the truth had taken its place. “I no longer require supervision,” he said, grabbing his jersey.

“
I…are you sure? We do not mind staying with you—”

“
If you make it a habit to question me, I will make it a habit to punish you.”

Galina’s mouth hung open.

“
Inform the captain that I am returning to active duty. I expect a private memorial for Nicole before she’s sent back.”

“
Yes, lieutenant.”

“
Tonight.”

She nodded again.

He zipped up his jersey and laced up his boots. “That’s all I need from you. You can leave.”

She stood in the doorway for a moment before bowing her head in submission. Without a word, she back-stepped into the hallway and softly shut the door behind her.

Scott finished his lacing, rose, and turned to the mirror by his sink. For the first time since Nicole’s death, he looked at his face. His eyes were shadowed by circles. His glare burned clear through the glass. Tiredness screamed from his face, as it hardened the skin around his mouth. No…it wasn’t tiredness at all. It was wrath.

The lion was mad.

* * *

Becan shook his head beneath the hot rush of water. With the Fourteenth’s morning workout then finished, the customary assault of the shower stalls was in full swing. As courtesy stated, the women were allowed to go first. Now, it was Becan, Travis, and Oleg who stood behind the curtains. Most of the others had already left.

Becan sputtered as water cascaded down his face, then he stepped from beneath the flow to slick back his brown locks. “I hate Dostoevsky week.” He reached beneath the spray to grab his soap.

Travis grimaced from behind the adjacent stall. “The only thing worse than Dostoevsky week is an extra day of Dostoevsky week.”

“
Bleedin’ righ’,” said Becan. With Scott temporarily relieved, the commander had taken his place that morning for the workout session, one day earlier than he was scheduled. “So much for a mournin’ period.”

“
When do you think Scott’ll be back?”

“
I don’t know. Remmy’s a tough one, he is. But I can’t imagine wha’ he must be goin’ through.”

“
I hope he comes back soon.”

“
Me, too.”

Oleg bathed in silence.

As Becan lathered the soap in his hands, the door to Room 14 swung open. “Didn’t know annyone was still ou’ there,” he said at the sound.

“
I don’t think anyone was,” said Travis.

From the silence of the unseen bunk area, a timid voice quivered forth. “Becan?”

Becan’s hands stopped in mid-lather. “Esty?”

Esther exhaled a breath. “I need to talk to you.”

“
Righ’,” Becan said, rinsing the soap from his arms. “Is somethin’ wrong?”

“
Yes. Please, come and find me in the lounge.”

“
I will, righ’ away.”

Within a minute, all three men—Becan, Travis, and Oleg—were out of the showers and in front of their closets. They pulled on their jerseys over their still-damp bodies and quickly made their way to the lounge. Esther sat alone at a table in the back corner—there was no one else there.

“
Wha’s wrong, Esty?” Becan asked, lowering into the chair beside her.

Esther’s face was flushed, and she drew in a calming breath. Her eyes flitted between the three men, before they settled on the Irishman. Her fingers played in nervousness. “It’s about Lieutenant Remington.”

Becan and Travis swapped a look. “How is he?” Travis asked.

Her eyes darted between them and the door. Only when she was sure no one else would walk in did she take a breath and speak. “He’s gone mad. He…” Her words trailed off.

“
Esty, wha’ is it?”

“
He came upon me, and he ordered me to find out about the Silent Fever. I think he suspects something.”

“
Righ’, I think most o’ us do.”

“
But that’s not all he said. He was steaming. He told me that he didn’t care what I had to do to find out. And he didn’t care who I had to kill.”

Travis’ eyes widened. “
Scott
said that?”

“
He did.”

Becan shook his head and leaned back. “It’s not like him to say somethin’ like tha’.”

“
He told me to find out, then to report what I’d found to him.”

Travis turned to look at Becan. “Do you think Scott would do something? I mean like…something bad?”

“
He just lost the love o’ his life. Wouldn’t
you
do somethin’?”

“
I don’t know what to do,” Esther said. “I only went to see if he was well.”

“
Righ’, well yeh got your answer.”

The door to Room 14 opened again. They regarded the lounge entrance, where two voices made their approach. It was David and Galina. As soon as Galina stepped in the lounge, her eyes found the table. David entered right behind her.

“
We have a problem,” he said.

“
Yeah, I think we migh’ be talkin’ abou’ it.”

“
Scott?”

“
Yeah.”

David stepped to the table. “Do you know what he told Galya?”

No one at the table answered.

“
He is returning to active duty,” Galina said. “He no longer wants supervision.”

“
Wha’?”
asked Becan.

David leaned against the counter. “He also told her that if she questions him about it, he’ll punish her.”

“
Punish?” asked Travis. “Punish like how?”

“
He did not say,” answered Galina. “But I dared not ask. He looked like he would strike me if I did.”

“
That’s not like Scott at all.”

“
I have never seen him like this. In all my time with him, he has never looked like he does now. He looks like different person.”

“
Do yeh think he’s gone loopers?”

“
That is the thing that worries me. He does not look crazy. Not in that way.” Galina paused and frowned. “He looks focused. He looks like a man with a mission.”

“
That’s exactly how he came across to me, as well,” said Esther.

“
What did he say to you?”

“
He ordered me to find out what the Silent Fever was. He said he didn’t care who I had to kill to do it.”

“
Scott
said that?” asked David, arching his eyebrows.

“
That’s the same reaction we had,” said Travis.

“
He hollered,” Esther said. “Several times. He said I was a Type-2 scout. He told me to tactically observe.”

“
Well, wha’ does he expect yeh to do? Wave your hands an’ make the answer appear?”

“
I don’t know, Becan!”

“
The bottom line,” Galina said, “is that he suspects something. He does not think her death was an accident.”

Becan’s nostrils flared. “Yeh know, I said tha’ before, an’ nobody listened. There’s somethin’ not righ’ abou’ this at all.”

“
Just because Scott suggests foul play, doesn’t mean there is,” said David.

“
Dave, wha’s your bloody problem? This is Remmy we’re talkin’ abou’.”

“
I don’t have a problem. I’m only saying he’s unstable.”

“
He didn’t sound unstable,” Esther said.

“
Wha’ if Remmy has a point?”

“
If he does,” David said, “we’ll find it. But let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“
I can’t bloody believe I’m hearin’ this. It sounds like you’re defendin’ this God-awful place.”

David scoffed. “I’m not defending anything. The only thing I’m saying is to study the situation. Study it, and if there’s something to conclude, do something. But
veck
, let’s keep our heads on here.”

“
He wants a memorial,” Galina said. “Tonight, for Nicole. Before she goes back to America.”

“
He wants to see her again,” Esther said.

“
How can he even be thinking straight?” Travis asked. “I mean…his fiancee just
died
.”

“
He’s finding something to blame,” said David. “I know. I lost friends in the force. If you can’t deal with it, you find something to get mad about. You can cope with
that
just fine.”

“
Then who’s his bloody target?”

“
The Silent Fever. Whatever it is.”

Esther folded her arms against the table. “Please, someone tell me what I’m supposed to do. He expects an answer from me, but I haven’t the slightest idea where to go. Does anyone even know what the Silent Fever is?”

“
No,” said Galina. “It is unknown disease.”

“
Have yeh ever studied it?”

“
Nyet.”

“
Could she have caught it from one of us?” asked Travis. “We were the only ones around her.”

“
If she caught it from one of us, one of us would be dead,” said David.

“
But what if some people have natural immunity?”

Becan turned to Galina again. “Wha’ would yeh have to do to study it? To get a sample?”

“
I am a combat medic,” she answered. “I am not medical researcher.”

“
Well I’m no technician, but I can un-jam a bloody rifle.”

“
Do you even know what a medical researcher
is
?”

“
Maybe it was something in the food,” David said. “She got sick right after she ate.”

“
Wouldn’t we be sick as well?” Esther asked.

“
I don’t know.”

“
She had a shoulder ache before she ate anything. Big Willie said tha’ was one o’ the symptoms.”

Galina turned to David. “Scott saw her that morning, before he came into the lounge. Whatever it was, it happened between then and when she sat down in the cafeteria.”

“
Maybe after Scott left,” Travis said. “When she was by herself in his room.”

“
I wonder if Joe was by himself when
he
got it?” David asked.

“
We could ask Will,” Becan answered. “Annyone seen him lately?”

“
He’s probably in Room 8,” said Travis. “Or the weight room.”

Becan and David exchanged a glance. Becan rose to his feet. “I’ll go find him.”

“
Do that. Anyone else know anyone who died of the Silent Fever?”

Galina shook her head. “Many have died, but none that I knew personally. I could ask some people I know in R&D.”

“
Good idea.”