Toxic (31 page)

All of a sudden, the door sounded. Kjet announced himself. Jave took the vial, which disappeared into his pocket. Even though he didn’t know what they would make of it, he didn’t have the intention of letting it go or letting any of them know of its existence. He ordered him to open.

“Emissary Jave,” the mercenary excused himself, “I’m requesting a meeting with you. If you accept.”

Surprised, he accepted the request of the lieutenant. He invited him to take a seat on one of the volcanic rock plateaus. The reptilian sat there, his hands flat on the rock that was smooth like glass and had a color like that of a starless night. He seemed worried.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“About a detail that has been bugging me for a few days. I need your enlightening skills.”

Jave knew that feeling well.

“I’m all ears.”

“During the attack, you weren’t wearing a PAS, just a suit, your visor and some weapons.”

“I gave priority to the ability to move around over firepower.”

“I understand, your Excellency, and if I believe that, you also had two thermal detonators at the time of disembarking.”

The mercenary produced the sequence on an interactive flexi-panel. The transparent plastic sheet lit up. He couldn’t deny the evidence.

“Yes.”

Kjet changed to another video.

“Here, at the moment you arrived in flames on the boat’s deck, there was only one attached to your belt.”

Jave didn’t lose his composure. “It was clearly lost in the heat of the action.”

“I thought about that.”

He turned off the screen.

“We apply strict orders regarding contact with the native population, and one in particular: our technology should never end up in their hands under any circumstances. Of course, on a battlefield, anything can happen, even the unimaginable. Because of that, we track our weapons, including detonators.”

“Let me guess, you didn’t find mine.”

“Exactly. Either you used it or the beacon stopped working. I don’t want to disrespect you or accuse you.”

That was exactly what he was doing right now, Jave decoded, wondering about the real motive behind the visit.

“A material failure?” he proposed.

“I also imagined it that way. So, I verified the registers of the officer charged with the maintenance of our weapons systems.”

The emissary leaned in towards the reptilian. “Do you think that I caused the explosion intentionally?”

“No, your Excellency, not for a moment. But there’s just this little detail.”

“The detonator detached when I was hit by the shock. It’s at the bottom of the ocean right now. I have nothing to add. Have I met your expectations?”

“Yes, your Excellency.”

Kjet excused himself and took leave of him.

The Lynian allowed himself a moment of thought. He inhaled the lightly refrigerated carbon dioxide with the aerosol that he always had within reach. He had put his mission in peril to save the lives of two humans. All of a sudden, taking that risk didn’t seem very wise.

He didn’t enjoy his pause for long. Naakrit showed up shortly afterwards.

“The Nairobi operation is entering into its active phase,” he informed him.

“You’re going to capture your one hundred thousand units. The Kuatians will be satisfied.”

“And maybe more, thanks to you.”

“I serve the Combinate. Their interests and therefore yours are my priority.”

“The cartel isn’t the Combinate.”

“If the Kuatians decided to kill you because you didn’t respect the contract you signed with them, that becomes a problem for the Combinate all the same. If they are filled, that is also convenient for the interests of the Merchant Princes. We’re talking about the basis of business here.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“OK, so now we’re on the same wavelength.”

“In fact, this is making your presence useful, that is, necessary, in Nairobi.”

Jave told himself that the opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time. He needed to get away from the HQ for a bit. Kjet would be back in charge. He didn’t seem like the type of reptile who would let details hide beneath a rock.

“Absolutely. I’m eager to get to know the region.”

T
he heat provided her with a pleasant awakening, filled with softness, much nicer than the last one in the middle of the ocean. Under the eyes of Alison, who filled the only seat in the tiny cabin, Elaine cracked a giant smile. The girl had watched over her during the whole night, it seemed, and a part of the day as well. The sun’s rays fell from the porthole in the roof, almost vertically onto her pillow.

“Are you awake?” the child asked.

“Yes. I...”

She remembered that with the shipwreck, the girl had lost all hope of once again seeing her mother someday.

“Come here.”

Alison sat on the edge of the bed.

“Are things OK with you?”

She moved her head timidly, which didn’t seem to mean either yes or no. Maybe she didn’t yet realize.

“I guess that must have been pretty hard for you.”

“We can find the cure. Papa always said that smart people keep their work in multiple places.”

“I guess he was right and that he would be proud of his little girl.”

“So, let’s keep on looking?”

Elaine grabbed her hand.

“I’m not the only one who can decide. About that, where are the others? And Alva?”

“On the deck. We’re going to get off. Finally, I think.”

The news chased away the haze that filled her mind. She leaned on her elbows. “Where are we?”

“Jupiter.”

A place north of Palm Beach, the nurse remembered. She had been assigned there for a few weeks during an exchange program between health establishments. The small coastal town had been able to preserve a certain charm, a curiosity in the middle of the urban seaside centers designed for mass tourism.

Her companions, reunited on the rear deck, welcomed her warmly, happy to see her normal and most of all, healthy and safe. Their warmth touched her. Hector showed sincere joy when he saw her. They had gone through ordeals together. Now, they were a group, and one that was more like a family given the circumstances. In any case, that was what specialists confirmed when individuals, in particular strangers, worried about what happened to their companions.

Alva moved towards her.

“A smoke and a line of coke, eh?” Elaine said.

The singer hugged her. The Colombian raised a questioning eyebrow. Alison smiled at her. She gave her a wink over the diva’s shoulder. The others displayed sustained joy. Of course, they were delighted, but there were still so many questions and so much suspense. And important ones at that. When Bruce asked her how she had managed to save Alva and escape from the boat, she refused to talk about it. She blamed it on her still confused memory, which she needed to clarify and to put into order. Her companions, who seemed worried, respected her decision. The colonel returned to his observations, the binoculars around his neck. Hector went back to the helm. Dewei gratified her with an enigmatic smile. The nurse walked towards the bow.

The sailboat was moving along the shore at a few hundred meters distance from it. As far as she remembered, an opening on the north of the city would allow them to access numerous canals and connect to inland bodies of water. The water network stretched until the highway that linked the north of the United States to the south. Hector aimed the semi-sub in the direction of the gap that had appeared in the middle of the landscape, a gash framed by two stone jetties that they passed by slowly. Masters continued with his visual inspection. With the binoculars, he scanned the surroundings like human radar.

“No infected in sight. This seems clear to me. A good place to restock.”

Each of their expeditions had ended in disaster. They had even almost lost several members of the group. The colonel’s public confidence didn’t reassure her. As soon as they would approach dry land, Elaine would feel her stomach contract. This time wasn’t an exception.

They passed by Dubois Park. She recognized the places where she had walked, often in the evening to relax after work. The neighboring motel offered a pool but the service left a lot to desire. They crossed the threshold of the mythical US One, the renowned highway of the American east. On the other side, they took the first left.

“I have the impression that you know where you’re going,” she said to the trafficker.

His smile was enough to make comments unnecessary. After a few minutes, they came to a small marina, hidden in the middle of the vegetation. Their only difficulty was that of choice, as all of the sites were empty. Hector opted for the one closest to the exit. A wise precaution, Elaine thought.

“Three or four hundred meters from here, past the road, there are stores.”

“Have you been here before?”

“
Chica
, I’ve sailed to many parts of Florida,” he bragged.

Elaine hated how he called her
chica
because to her ears, it sounded like an insulting and vulgar way of saying “doll.”

“We’re going to stay in the area for a while,” Masters said conclusively. “I think we all need to stretch our legs and it’s imperative that we find supplies to get back on the road. This is becoming critical.”

In reality, they didn’t have anything left to eat. The cupboards were empty.

“Shopping!” Alva exclaimed, welcoming the news of a prolonged layover with joy and also delighted to get away from the water. The diva grabbed Alison by the shoulders.

“What do you say?”

The singer seemed to be full of life and almost euphoric. This resembled a post-traumatic effect. The victims of shock looked to attach themselves to positive elements and to embellish them with exaggeration to mask their own anguish, Elaine remembered. Dew observed the excitement placidly. Elaine crouched down in front of him.

“Because of your crises, it’s important for you to always stay with someone. Do you understand?”

The Asian scribbled a response on his notebook. Not the one that she was expecting from him.

Was he there?

“Who?”

The alien. On the boat.

She once again saw the creature in its metal armor in the middle of the hallway with its ceiling smashed open with severed cables falling. The chrome tips, the carbon shell... She got up. “I really don’t know.”

Bruce and the colonel got to exploring the area.

They checked out the surroundings before coming back half an hour later. Masters shook the trafficker’s gun in satisfaction. The biologist covered the soldier’s back, which was significant, as the soldier had entrusted him with his precious 45. He had been brilliant the other day. His idea of freeing the infected to slow down the aliens showed itself to be a correct intuition and the right decision taken in the heat of the action.

The duo confirmed that they could disembark safely. They hadn’t found any L-Ds. The abandoned streets were calm, they confirmed. There were surely hordes moving around, like in all cities, but this area seemed calm. For the time being. Elaine knew how easy it was for the situation to fall apart in a few seconds.

Without waiting, Alva got off the ship. With a sharpened sense of theatricality, she got on her knees to hug the ground. Hector stared at her. He placed his eager gaze on her body as soon as she turned her back to him, Elaine remarked, remembering the singer’s confused words.

“He felt me up.”

The diva had talked a lot, attempting an emotional and primarily incoherent discourse concerning her life and other subjects that the nurse had considered the delusions of an ex-addict. Some of them clearly stemmed from the truth, whether consciously or not.

Masters put them into exploration teams and reminded them of their goals, which hadn’t changed one bit. They had to gather supplies, potable water and things to improve their bare bones rations. Elaine used the excuse that she didn’t feel well.

“Are you OK?” Hector asked.

“Yeah... I... I’ll catch up with you later.”

“I guess you have to put your
cabeza
in order.”

Without putting his guard up, he shot a furtive glance at the biologist, who was in the middle of checking out the contents of a bag.

“What are you trying to imply?”

“We’re wondering how the both of you got off of the ship,” he finished.

“Still?”

“The
señorita
Alva told us that you were trapped in the middle of a section near the front hold. She remembers that a monster shot at her. We would like your version of the story.”

“My version? I don’t understand,” she reacted, shaking her head.

“We’re trying to make sense of what happened there. Nothing more.”

The Colombian’s shady eyes probed her. “Your alien friend helped you,
verdad
?”

The nurse furrowed her eyebrows. “What the...”

“When we found you, you were connected by a rope and had life jackets on.”

Elaine got angry all of a sudden, raising her voice so that everyone could hear. “We were attacked! That thing shot me. When I woke up, we were in the middle of nowhere. I thought I was going to die, for fuck’s sakes! You had all disappeared. The boat has sunk, taking all its secrets with it and maybe even the cure that could have saved us.”