Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Jeff’s day had been long and frustrating in various ways.
Two small bands of refugees had arrived, which required his team to do battle with the infected to get the newcomers safely into the arrival space.
The next phase of intake made him grit his teeth, as the battered and weary refugees were welcomed, tested and sent on their various paths to an assigned dormitory.
Knowing what he did about Glastine now, plus what he strongly suspected.
It was hard for Jeff to participate in luring new people into the place.
He had to play his part until he and the two women were able to escape, however, and once the refugees were inside the perimeter it was already too late.
Any warning he might give would be useless.
One man refused the blood test and demanded to leave so he was shoved out the gate with no further discussion or help and his weapons weren’t returned to him.
Jeff and his squad provided covering fire as the man ran desperately toward the tree line but at the last second he stumbled and fell and the infected were upon him.
By the end of the day the only thing Jeff wanted was a shower to wash the grit of Glastine off his body and soul, dinner and Melly, not in that order.
He was surprised to find the apartment empty as he was running late, but supposed his wife was probably still at the clinic, doing her charting or taking care of last minute patients.
He took his shower in the communal showers on their floor of the apartment building and walked into their place toweling his hair and refreshed only to find Melly still not home.
He tried to reach out to her via the subaural com but hit a blank wall, his signal not going through.
Hey, Tamsyn, he made his next attempt. Are the two of you at the clinic?
Her reply came through loud and clear. Gosh, no. I left right at closing time but Dr. Sharpton wanted to talk to Melly about something. I clearly wasn’t invited, doctors only, so Melly told me to go on without her. That was a couple of hours ago. She isn’t home yet?
No. I’ll head over to the clinic myself and see what’s going on. Thanks.
Jeff got dressed in a rush and left the building in a sprint.
Unease ate at him and he hurried through the camp to the medical facility, only to find it dark and locked tight.
There was no response when he pounded on the door and after a few minutes of this he stepped back to check the situation.
No one was in sight so he used his Special Forces override code and unlocked the portal, stepping inside and easing the door closed behind him.
He made his way through the dimly lit halls but couldn’t find any room labelled as his wife’s office.
Retreating to Dr. Sharpton’s office, he gained entry with his code and made a fast search of the desk and cabinets but found nothing helpful.
Slamming the door in frustration, he made his way to the rear entrance and ducked outside.
Carefully he checked the front of the building and found a team of the camp’s guards deployed there, waiting for him, he guessed.
Must have triggered an alarm. Taking evasive action Jeff retreated deeper into the shadows and worked his way around the waiting men.
Once he was clear, he took off for the admin building at a jog and proceeded straight to General Quantike’s office.
When he took out the two guards at the door and then pushed past the startled aide to gain entry to the inner office, Jeff found Quantike with Briskinn.
“Where is my wife?” he demanded, holding the two officers at bay with his blaster.
“We’ve been looking for you, Captain Pearson,” the general said smoothly, not ruffled at all.
“You were supposed to have been briefed earlier but the timing was flawed.” He shot Briskinn a glance.
“Dr. Jericho received an offer no ambitious young doctor would refuse—she was given a chance to join the staff at the research facility in the north and in fact she departed this afternoon on the truck we had going there.”
Even though he’d been expecting and dreading this very answer, Jeff’s heart stuttered. Clenching his jaw, he said, “Melly wouldn’t leave without talking to me first.”
“There was no time, captain.” The general was patient. “It’s an incredible opportunity to be on the cutting edge of the research that might save Randal Four. I’m sure she was so excited—”
“Save the bullshit.” Jeff kept his weapon trained on the general. “My wife wouldn’t leave without talking it over with me.”
“Maybe you don’t know her as well as you thought you did,” Briskinn said insultingly. “Dr. Sharpton assured us she was thrilled to go.”
“Like I’d believe anything that old fart said.
” Jeff eyed both men. “All right, send me to the research facility too. I’m sure the place can use another trained man on their security team.
You don’t even have to use one of your trucks.
Give me the directions, let me out the gate and I’ll get there on my own. ”
“Access to the research facility is strictly limited and on a need to know basis only,” Quantike said.
“You haven’t been requested, she was. End of story.
Now we can forget this unfortunate incident, Captain Pearson, if you holster the weapon and return to your apartment.
Maybe a day or two off from duty to calm down.
Surely you can appreciate the necessity of Dr. Jericho’s assignment for the greater good of the remaining uninfected on this planet.
She can help resolve this ongoing crisis. We all have to make sacrifices—”
The tight control Jeff had over himself and his emotions snapped.
In all his years of missions he’d never broken, never given way to impulsive action, but the general’s sanctimonious words were the last straw.
He launched himself over the desk and pistol whipped the man with his blaster, before slamming it into his holster, putting his hands around Quantike’s neck and choking him mercilessly.
He was only dimly aware of Briskinn fleeing the room, yelling for help and when three soldiers rushed into the office, attempting to subdue him and pull him off the general.
Jeff shifted into full combat mode, allowing Quantike to fall gasping to the floor and fighting the trio of guards.
A tiny corner of his mind whispered he’d become a berserker and this wasn’t going to help him find Melly but he was so terrified for her safety and angry at himself and the Glastine authorities for putting her in harm’s way, that he continued to do battle as more men piled into the room.
Eventually, despite his lethal skills, Jeff was overwhelmed and someone got in a clear shot, stunning him multiple times until he collapsed onto the floor. As he was losing consciousness, Briskinn came over to kick him in the ribs, swearing. “All you had to do was be a team player, Pearson.”
The cell was small, cold and smelled of mold.
Jeff groaned and rubbed his forehead gingerly as he came awake.
When he tried to sit up, his ribs protested and he remembered Briskinn’s assault after he was safely neutralized.
Not my finest moment, he admitted ruefully, berserker fires cold and dead.
I should have said yes, sir, thank you, sir for kidnapping my wife, gotten the hell out of there and made a clean escape.
Moving gingerly he investigated the cell but aside from a bucket in the corner and the wooden slab of a bed, there was nothing.
He’d been stripped of his weapons and the barred door required an old-fashioned key.
Jeff had nothing to use to pick the lock.
There was no window. He supposed the facility had been a small sheriff substation when Glastine was a fairgrounds, not meant to hold a man like him but right now he couldn’t see a way out.
Pacing to the hard bed, he sat. There didn’t seem to be any vids in the cell.
Cody?
Yes, boss? Are you okay?
I’ll live. They kidnapped Melly. Did you put a drone tail on the truck which left the camp yesterday?
I did but I also found the location of the research facility in one of the databases I hacked.
No problem, we can follow her but first we gotta bust you out of there.
Say the word and we’ll attack. You know those force fields can’t stand up to what we have on board.
And I’m working on hacking the central controls.
Tell me where you are in the damn camp and we’ll get there.
Jeff shook his head. You rupture those force fields and the infected will swarm in here.
I can’t condemn hundreds of innocent people to die just to get myself out of a jam I should have been smart enough to avoid.
I let my emotions get the better of me. I never should have brought Melly in here and exposed her to the risks.
Doc knew the risks and she volunteered, Cody reminded him. My wife’s working on a plan to break you out of jail.
Tamsyn? Jeff considered what the rancher might have up her sleeve but she wasn’t trained military personnel so he was wary.
Yeah. Stay frosty and wait for developments.
Jeff leaned his head against the wall and took a few deep breaths, testing the limits of his painful ribs.
He didn’t think any were broken, which was a relief.
He certainly didn’t want any medical care from Dr. Sharpton.
The idea made him chuckle. He wondered what Quantike would do to him now.
I should have killed him when I had the chance.
Whatever’s going on here at Glastine is bad news for the refugees.
There was a noise in the corridor. Jeff stepped to the bars and craned to see but his field of vision from the vantage point of the cell was narrow. A moment later Les McDaniel came into view, holding a blaster and a ring of old-fashioned keys.