Chapter 60
Remy
True to his word, Jordy led me down the boardwalk to the Cold Shore outpost in the harbor on the K’alii Canal the next morning. The mountains surrounding the town on either side held back the sun’s warmth until late morning, but the sky was bright blue above us.
I’d left Ripley behind in our room, since she’d been sleeping happily in the blankets. I had also left her with a big elk bone, in case she woke up hungry and bored.
“I don’t mind helping you, obviously,” Jordy said as we walked. “But I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”
“Getting my hopes up too high has honestly never really been a problem for me.”
“I get that,” he allowed. “And I’m still telling you that your hopes for Cold Shore might still be too high.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Are they trying to find a cure for the lyssavirus or not?”
“They are,” he agreed, sounding reluctant. “But… just because the goal is noble doesn’t mean the people working there are. There’s a reason that I noped out when I was still a teenager.”
“Nothing’s ideal anymore,” I said. “I guess it’s never really been all that ideal to begin with, if I’m being honest. So we gotta work with what we have, warts and all.”
The outpost building for Cold Shore was stark and utilitarian, a squat arrangement of corrugated metal, sandbags, and reinforced timber planks that looked ready to repel anything from a marauding band to a harsh northern storm.
It was flanked by battered watchtowers and flags emblazoned with a faded logo: a red droplet of blood over an icy blue globe.
As we neared, I caught the oily scent of machinery and the faint odor of something sickly sweet mixing with the salt air.
In the watchtower on the right, a man wearing indigo-fading-to-gray coveralls was working the guard station. He looked a bit younger than me, with an oblong face and pale skin with ruddy red cheeks. His hair was hidden underneath a black knit cap pulled down to his ears.
He'd been slouching against the pass-through window, staring vacantly into space, but he straightened up when he saw Jordy and I approaching. The nametag embroidered on his chest read Q. Stensrud.
“What do you want, Duvall?” He sneered at him. “You know we have orders not to deal with you anymore.”
“Good news, Stensrud, because I don’t want anything to do with you either,” Jordy replied. “But my friend here, she wants to be a part of the organization.”
Stensrud scowled in confusion when he looked over at me. “Why?”
“I wanna fight the good fight,” I answered, but Stensrud was unmoved and continued staring blankly.
“Come on, man,” Jordy said. “I know you always need an extra pair of hands. Can’t you call up Post Commander Rhodes and set up an ARK testing?”
“Commander Rhodes is dead,” Stensrud replied. “Dr. Leila Lund administers the ARK now, but she’s up at the main base in the Alaska Territory for the summer.”
“And no one else can do it?” Jordy asked, sounding in disbelief.
“Not since Commander Rhodes died,” Stensrud reiterated.
“Is there anyone I can talk to?” I pressed. “I want to help. Like I’ll volunteer to scrub floors.”
“Nobody’s allowed in through the gates without clearance,” Stensrud said.
“Well, how do I get clearance?” I asked, growing irritated.
“Post Commander Victor Garnett, Dr. Leila Lund, or Director-General Michael Haugen,” Stensrud recited the names flatly. “But Dr. Lund and the Director-General are both in Alaska.”
“Can I meet with Post Commander Garnett?” I asked.
“No one is allowed inside the outpost without clearance, unless they’re taking the ARK,” Stensrud clarified unhelpfully.
“Can the Commander come out and meet me?” I asked, doing my very best to mask my growing irritation.
“That’s unlikely, because the Commander rarely leaves the outpost,” Stensrud said. “Even then, he only leaves when absolutely necessary.”
“Okay, but Dr. Lund and the Director-General, they can give the ARK?” I asked. “When will they be back?”
“The Director General never leaves the base in Alaska,” Jordy answered for him. “And I don’t mean like the Commander who rarely leaves. The Director General hasn’t stepped foot outside of the base since he first went in after the virus broke out.”
“That is all very fascinating,” I replied wryly. “What about Dr. Lund? When will she return?”
“Late August usually, sometimes later if there’s storms,” Stensrud said. “The sea can be unpredictable. The only way to get to the main base is by a ship, and that’s why it takes so long going back and forth.”
“Is there anyone I can meet with other than you that I can talk to about joining your illustrious organization?” I asked.
“Not without clearance, not really,” Stensrud said. “We do have other guards that work different shifts than me, but they’ll tell you the same thing I did.”
I looked over at Jordy for help, but he could only shrug.
I had been so worried about getting here that it hadn’t occurred to me how difficult it might be to get anyone to take me seriously.
On that note, I had always been so focused on keeping my immunity secret that I hadn’t thought on how I would prove it when faced with a skeptical bureaucratic guard.
“Okay then,” I said, because I clearly needed time to regroup. “Thanks for all your help.”
“No problem,” Stensrud replied as Jordy and I started walking on the boardwalk back toward the inn.
“Are you feeling sufficiently underwhelmed?” Jordy asked me once we were out of earshot of the outpost.
“I just have to figure out a way in there,” I said.
He sounded surprised when he asked, “Are you still sure you want to go with them?”
I stopped and faced him fully. “Let me ask you something, and I want your honest opinion. You trade a lot, so you’ve heard things. You know things. Is there anywhere in the world – that you know of – that is closer to finding a cure than the Cold Shore Contingency?”
“No,” he admitted reluctantly after thinking for a minute. “But the thing is, I don’t think Cold Shore is all that close to finding a cure, either. Maybe a cure isn’t possible.”
“Maybe not, but if this place is the best chance at finding it, then that’s where I need to be.”