In Irina's Cards (The Variant Conspiracy #1) (17 page)

“Hey, at least we got picked up before we made it to your car. Saves the hassle of trying to pluck the car out of an impound lot after finding us in jail,” Faith said proudly.

“Can we get back on track and go get this goddamn envelope now?” said Ilya.

“I’ll feel better once we’re off the island,” I said.

“I’m one step ahead of you,” said Cole. “Jonah is packing up back at the building. He’ll have all our stuff at the downstairs door, ready to go when we get back from this government place. After that, we’re on the next ferry out of here.”

“Hopefully the first boat of the morning,” I said.

“Where are we staying in Vancouver?” asked Faith.

“Uh, good question,” said Ilya.

Cole sped up as we left the downtown core on the Island highway that stretched ahead like a streak of wet charcoal paint. Streetlights blinked in and out of view as we accelerated down four lanes of fresh pavement.

“You know, it’s not like I had an illustrious career ahead of me, but it’s starting to sink in how much this is going to suck, even best case scenario,” I said.

“We
are
talking about living like fugitives. Is that really necessary? I mean is Ivan seriously going to have some thugs chase us down?” said Faith.

“I don’t know. But my father takes Innoviro more seriously than anything else in his life. I was practically a toddler when he started the company. Before that, I think he did more of the same kind of research. It’s his life. I don’t know exactly when it morphed from helping people into selling science, but I’m hoping we find something at this facility that points the finger at someone else. Or even just a really good reason for what he’s doing.”

“Buddy, I used to think your old man was a pretty awesome guy, but from what I’ve seen in the last few days, I don’t know if I can get behind him anymore,” said Cole.

“If you think you might have a problem staying on the other side of the line from your dad, do you want to bow out and stay here in Victoria?” I asked Ilya.

“No, I’m with you guys. I don’t agree with what he’s doing, for whatever reason he’s doing it. That’s why I moved out to the beach and took so many variants with me. I always figured I’d make peace with my father though,” said Ilya.

“We’re probably a few flimsy locked doors away from finding out some bad shit here, something that could be worse than any of us thinks right now. Sure, it could clear your dad, but if it’s something else . . .” Faith drifted off not knowing how to finish her thought.

Cole slowed down for a red light at an intersection ahead and I suddenly recognized where we were. I knew there was a mall down the hill on the left. On our right, I saw the government building with its weird snaking ventilation looming ahead.

At twenty minutes past midnight a handful of cars trickled here and there. A few vehicles turned up the hill toward the grey concrete cube from my vision, but they all passed the building without a glance. Other than the twist of exterior ventilation on the roof, the building itself was unremarkable and even more plain in person. Small rectangular windows dotted the solid, flat walls. A lush lawn surrounded the sides of the building that faced the highway, sloping down to tall weeds that ended in a ditch next to the road. On that lawn, the sign simply bore the Government of Canada logo with no other indication of what offices were housed there.

Cole followed the cars turning off the highway and parked on a residential side street near the government property. As he turned off the car, Ilya held up his hand in a gesture of pause.

“What now?” said Faith.

“Shhh, I’m listening. There are a lot of people still awake in these homes and I have to concentrate to filter the chatter,” he said irritated and focused. A few moments later he said, “Okay, there’s nobody in the building. I’ll stay behind and maintain the illusion that the place is empty and locked. Turn on lights, make noise, do whatever you need to do and nobody will see or hear you.”

“Sure, ’cause that worked so well back on the beach,” Faith said with a derisive laugh.

“The beach incident was my fault, even I know that,” said Cole. “So could you snap out of your little mood swing until this thing is done? Who knows, maybe if we actually score some intel from Ivan’s inner sanctum, we’ll find the cure for bitchiness.” Cole stepped out of the car and slammed the door behind him.

I looked up at Ilya in the passenger seat. He stared out the front window and refused to look back at us. Faith glared at me and rammed her car door open.

“We won’t be gone long, but if you see anyone coming towards the building, text me,” I said nervously.

“I don’t have a phone,” Ilya said flatly.

I paused for a few seconds trying to come up with a solution. Faith followed Cole towards the building. I took a deep breath and sprinted to catch up to them. How bad would it be if some security guard walked in on us? I felt fairly certain I’d already seen the inside of Victoria’s worst jail cell. And I trusted Ilya, for the most part.

To catch up I had to jog down the street and along a clean-cut brick path to the entrance where Cole and Faith argued.

“What do expect me to do, melt the handle apart? Do you know how much light that will give off? And I might not short the right circuit,” said Faith.

“Fine, we’ll do it my way. If an alarm sounds, it’s on you.” Cole reached out and gripped the aluminum doorknob. It popped off quite cleanly and the door eased open. We froze for a moment, waiting for a siren, or bell, or some flashing light. Nothing happened.

“Are we going to wait for an invitation?” Faith slipped inside and Cole and I followed.

“Irina, do you know where to go from here?” said Cole.

“I’m pretty sure it’s on the fourth floor. The room across the hall is number 402. If we go up to the fourth floor and find 402, the office we’re looking for is right across from that.” My skills finally came in handy. I’d become an asset instead of a walking collection of nightmares.

We went up the nearest stairwell and found the door to room 402. Directly across the hall was room 410. I tried the handle and noticed the keypad next to the doorjamb. Faith reached out and I knew her next move was to try melting an electrical wire.

“Noooo,” I hissed, and whispered, “I can figure it out by touching it. I did it at Innoviro, remember?”

Chapter 16

Faith took a step back to where Cole stood behind me. I took a deep breath, stalling as I imagined police officers thundering up the stairs and hollering in our faces. I took another breath. I touched one of the numbers, gently so as not to actually depress the button. I expected the hallway around me to fade, but nothing happened. I shifted to gently place my whole hand on the keypad.

The dark hallway dissolved, shifting slightly to a day-lit version. An olive-skinned man with short salt and pepper hair walked towards me. As he checked something on the stack of papers cradled in his arm, the hall disappeared and I was back in the dark. A sharp shove in my back jolted me forward and my hand, still gently touching the keypad, pressed every button.

Back in the deserted night hall, an electronic buzzer sounded two quick beeps that the code was incorrect. Then a melodious female voice chimed in, “Your code entry contained an error; please try again.”

I stood in shock, and then whirled to glare at my friends. Faith and Cole stopped wrestling. I gave them a look of incredulity. The woman repeated herself. “Your code entry contained an error; please try again.” She repeated herself again, the third time adding, “Failure to input your code will trigger an armed response. Please enter the correct code now.”

“Holy shit!” I said.

“What’s the code already?” said Cole.

“I don’t know! One of you pushed me into the keypad and snapped me out of it before I saw anything!”

“What kind of armed response comes to a government building? Probably the cops. Try touching the keypad again,” said Cole as the recorded voice repeated its threat.

“Who cares! Rip the door off!” Faith shouted as a siren wailed overhead.

“Goddamnit!” Cole groaned as he reached out and jerked open the door.

Instead of removing a flimsy doorknob as he’d done downstairs, he actually strained for a moment as the entire doorjamb popped away from the wall. He pulled back and the steel frame slid off several giant bolts inside the solid core door. I felt a moment of exhilarating vindication knowing that something really valuable sat inside this room if that door was justified.

I rushed into the office–which was smaller than I expected–and scanned all surfaces frantically. The room appeared messier than I’d seen in my vision. I must have seen the envelope where it originally landed when it finished its journey. What if someone had beaten me to it? Had Rubin and Hugo come here before going into hiding?

I searched the bookcase beside me, the hutch next to the window, and each drawer of the large L-shaped desk. Only one was locked.

“Cole! I need this drawer!” I called over my shoulder. He stepped in and pulled the drawer out as though it had never been locked.

Inside, like a shining medal, the Innoviro logo on pure white paper rewarded me with its presence. I snatched it and turned to run, gesturing at Cole and Faith to follow me.

We bounded down all four flights of stairs until we burst out into a side hallway of the main floor. Blue and red light flashed on the opposite wall reflecting the activity in front of the building.

“How do we get out?” I shouted over the wailing alarm.

“This is your stupid plan!” yelled Faith. “You’re supposed to know that already!”

“Ilya said he’d conceal us. I think we have to trust him. We don’t have any other choice, unless either of you has a surprise up your sleeve. Stay behind me.” Cole stepped out into the hallway before I could stop him, not that I stood a chance of holding him back.

I held my breath and followed Cole closely, sensing Faith right behind me. I peeked around Cole’s shoulder and saw a blur of lights ahead. I couldn’t make out cars or bodies, but I assumed several officers in uniform had guns pointed at the entrance.

“I don’t think they can see us.” Cole sounded less than confident. “Now we’ve got to find a way to get out the door.”

“Maybe they won’t see that either,” I said softly, putting one foot in front of the other.

“Why don’t you give it a try, chickie?” Faith glared at me.

After we got out of this, I’d have to find a way to make things right with her.

“Any occupants of this building, identify yourself and come forward!” shouted an aggressive male voice outside the entrance. A few moments passed. None of us said anything. A group of male voices muttered outside.

“We are entering the building! Identify yourselves and approach slowly with your hands up!” shouted one of the men. I heard the stomping of shoes running up the driveway. I peeked around Cole and glimpsed two officers inspecting the damage done to the front door. One gestured that he was going to enter. He slowly wedged the door open with his foot.

After the first officer scanned the lobby, gun pointed and ready, he beckoned for the others to follow him. The last man to enter kicked the hinged doorstop down on the damaged door, leaving a clear path for anyone to enter or leave quickly.

Cole looked back at Faith and me with an earnest expression and nodded towards the open door. He walked briskly and quietly towards the door and we followed suit, creeping out the door, down the walkway, and past the empty cars with lights still flashing parked on the street.

We followed Cole all the way back to his car. I had to resist the urge to both run and pee. Each of us eased open our doors and slipped into the car. Cole started the engine and casually drove back out to the main road as we held our breath.

“Well, what happened? Did the police see you?” said Ilya as Cole turned back onto the highway towards downtown.

Faith let out a gasp she’d been holding since we left the government building. “That was totally intense!”

“No, they didn’t see us, but it was close. We almost botched the entire thing. Could you hear that alarm from the street?” said Cole.

“I think you could have heard that alarm from across the city,” said Ilya. “But it’s a good thing I had that horrendous sound to warn me how much I’d have to concentrate on you before those cop cars arrived.”

“
You
had to concentrate? Try being on the inside!” said Faith.

Cole glared ahead at the highway. I looked down at my hands and the precious envelope.

I opened it right there in the car and pulled out a single sheet of thick white Innoviro stationary lit by the undulating cool orange of streetlights. The memo read,

Attn: Dr. David Plume,

As per our recent negotiations, this letter is to offer you contract work with Innoviro Industries, the privately held company owned by myself, Ivan Krylov and Tatiana Krylov.

The scope of your work will include supervising aspects of Project Compendium Transmuto as outlined in the master document we discussed. Using your knowledge of global climatology, you will work with geologists, geneticists, biologists, and cryptozoologists.

Your contract with Innoviro Industries must be completed before the end of this calendar year, barring any redefinition of project parameters, initiated and approved by myself or Ms. Krylov.

Should your participation in this project be terminated at any time, you remain bound by confidentiality not to discuss your work performed for Innoviro Industries with any other parties for any reason.

Please contact my office at your earliest convenience to arrange a time to meet with me and sign your contract.

Sincere Regards,

Ivan Krylov, BSC, MBA

CEO, Innoviro Industries

I flipped over the sheet of paper. Stark white blank paper mocked me. All this letter told me was that Ivan had hired a climatologist and that the real information remained hidden somewhere else in some master document.

“It’s not here,” I said weakly as Cole, Faith, and Ilya bickered.

“What?” said Cole. All voices stopped.

“It’s a letter offering to hire a climate guy. It mentions a project and another document that has everything they’re working on. I think,” I said quietly.

“So all we have is another lead–maybe?” said Ilya.

I felt disappointment and frustration emanating from all three of them.

“Fuck it,” said Faith. “Let’s go to Vancouver anyway.” The rush of our brush with the police still coursed through her veins.

“This doesn’t really change anything. We knew that envelope might not contain anything useful. We didn’t even know for sure we’d find it. But we’ll have more than enough cash between the five of us. I know what my father paid for wages. Unless one or more of you have a serious drug addiction or gambling problem I don’t know about, we can to stay in Vancouver for several months.”

“I think you’re all forgetting that Faith and I got arrested tonight. We’re wanted, maybe even twice over now,” I said.

Faith laughed out loud and the guys chuckled.

“I’m having serious second thoughts about all this fugitive stuff,” I said. “Even if we drain our accounts, what are we supposed to do afterwards? What are we going to live off of? And where, for that matter?”

“Weren’t you listening to yourself reading that letter? Ivan’s experimenting on more than people. This is about more than just our friends. He could be doing something mega dangerous,” said Faith.

“But you’re talking about living off the grid, maybe for years and years.
Really
running from the law,” I said, frantically trying to convince my friends that we weren’t going to enjoy a vigilante lifestyle. A deep sense of helplessness mingled with the desperate hope that my life would change in the next ten minutes.

“When we pick up Jonah, we’ll take an official vote. If he’s still in, I say we hit the nearest bank machine and take everything we can. We can still board a ferry first thing in the morning. Once we’ve got somewhere safe to stay in Vancouver–probably the downtown East Side if we want to stay under the radar–we’ll start looking for this warehouse hanger place Irina saw,” said Ilya.

“I dunno man, this is getting intense. My little sister is an adrenaline junkie, but that doesn’t mean this is a good idea. Irina’s right. We’re talking about crossing a line. I don’t wanna go to jail.”

“What did you think we were after tonight? Your friend may be dying. No, he probably
is
dying. And Faith is right. It’s become more obvious to me every step of the way that my father has set something in motion that’s bigger than unethical genetic experiments. If it were
your
father, wouldn’t you try to find out why he was doing something so awful?”

“I can’t see my dad doing anything remotely dangerous, but I feel you on the responsibility angle.”

“I know it’s not going to bring them back, but I still want justice for my parents,” I said. “Rubin is gone, but Ivan still has to answer for it.”

“Dude, I’m so in!” Danger had improved Faith’s mood.

Cole parked on the street outside our abandoned Chinatown walk-up. As promised, Jonah had been watching and waiting. But he wasn’t alone. He and Vincent emerged from the shadowed alley carrying several backpacks and tightly rolled sleeping bags.

“To what do we owe this visit?” Ilya sounded as though he’d come home to find an unexpected family friend over for coffee.

“I wish this was a social visit. I had a run-in with your father. Or I should say a near miss,” said Vincent. Ilya’s face fell as the rest of us tensed with anticipation.

“He was waiting for me in my apartment. He had a new friend; a replacement for Rubin and Hugo all in one. If I hadn’t spit at the man on sight, I’d probably be dead right now.”

“How can you know he was there to kill you?” said Ilya.

“Buddy, seriously?” Cole said to Ilya.

“I don’t like it either, but we’re all going to have to come to terms with the fact that this isn’t going to end in a vindication for Ivan,” said Jonah.

“Why don’t you tell us exactly what happened, Vincent?” My immediate concern was for finding out what our new opponent was packing for a variation. The idea of someone as strong as Rubin and Hugo combined put my financial future into a less catastrophic light. What would I need money for if I wasn’t going to live to spend it?

“Ilya’s got a point. They could have been there to recapture me. But my gut told me otherwise. I wouldn’t have let them take me even if they’d tried. We didn’t exactly have a heart-to-heart conversation though. I shouldn’t have gone home, but I thought I had time to pack a bag before anyone came looking for me. And why me? I have no idea. But, I walked into my apartment and I sensed something was wrong. Like most of us, I live–sorry, lived–at an Innoviro building. The one out in Oak Bay. So there were no signs of a break-in. Instinct had me on edge when I walked into my living room. I’m pretty sure Ivan was sitting in my reclining armchair, next to the balcony. But when I rounded the corner, what I focused on was the beast that confronted me. This may sound stupid . . .”

Vincent paused and took a breath. “It looked like some sort of caveman. I’m sure it was a man though. He had wild hair, long and matted, not like dreadlocks, but like a stray dog with dirty tangled clumps of fur. His skin had a dark tanned hue–practically scorched or burned. He grinned at me with sharp brown teeth. His pale orange eyes were bloodshot. I don’t even remember what he wore other than that it was filthy. I’d never seen him in my life. He would have stood out, even in the catacombs.”

Vincent fell silent and we absorbed it all. The possibilities of Ivan’s reach and the likely multitude of other variants in the world hit me like a pair of dumbbells.

“Well, what can he, you know, ‘do’?” I said.

“Yeah, this guy sounds ugly, but if you spat on him, shouldn’t he be out of commission now?” said Faith.

“He should, but my venom rolled off that skin of his. He probably needs new clothes now. Other than his thick skin, I don’t know what his variation is. But Ivan’s telekinesis is as strong as ever. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my television hit the dividing wall next to where I’d been standing. If I hadn’t turned to run, the blow would have turned me into jam.”