Exit 9 (5 page)

Gagnon turned up the volume.

Bowop-bowop.

Bowop-bowop.

“Is that them?” Wright asked.

Gagnon looked at the radio. “It’s the right frequency.”

“Which way is it coming from?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Gagnon banked the plane to the south to see if the signal strength would grow, but instead it diminished to almost nothing. When he turned back in the other direction, its intensity increased for a minute or two, then started to fade again. He brought the plane around once more, heading back to the point where the signal had been strongest. From there, it would have to be coming from somewhere off to one side or the other, but which one?

“You see anything out there?”

Wright was moving the light around. “No.”

As they neared the height of the signal, Gagnon mentally flipped a coin, then turned the plane east. Instead of fading this time, the signal got even stronger.

After a few seconds, Wright said, “Is that an island up ahead?”

Gagnon studied the ocean ahead of them. Sure enough, about a mile away, there was the tiny silhouette of a rocky hill sticking out of the water.

“Maybe they’re just stranded there,” Wright suggested, unable to keep the hope out of his voice.

Gagnon wasn’t quite ready to jump for joy yet. “Let’s find the signal first.”

As they flew closer, it was clear the signal was indeed coming from the island, specifically the northwest side. As soon as they were within range, Wright fired up the spotlight and aimed it at the tiny piece of land. At first all they saw were just rocks and a few patches of snow and ice. No sign that anyone had ever been there. But then, as the northwest edge came into view, they found what they were looking for.

Both of them stared silently at the debris caught in the circle of light. It was piled haphazardly on the beach. Not even close to a full boat’s worth, but enough for them to know that whatever vessel it had belonged to was unlikely to still be afloat. Wright panned the light over everything, then held it steady on one point as they flew by.

“There it is,” he said.

He didn’t have to elaborate. Gagnon had seen it, too. An empty life vest, stuck in the middle of the debris. The light near the top was blinking weakly in the night, at almost the same rhythm as the message of distress coming from the radio beacon buried somewhere inside the vest.

“Do you see them anywhere?”

“No. Go by again.”

In the end, they made four passes of the wreckage, and two complete circles around the island, but there was no sign of anyone, alive or dead.

“I don’t like it,” Gagnon said.

“What do you mean?”

Gagnon frowned. “Just enough wreckage to prove that something happened to the boat, with a life vest that still has an active emergency beacon conveniently washing ashore where it could easily be found? Does that seem likely to you?”

Wright was silent for a moment. “It
could
happen. The current could have washed it up.”

Gagnon stared back at his partner. “Did you look at the water? There weren’t a lot of waves on that beach. If there were, that stuff would be even more broken up than it is. I’ll bet you the current runs right past that end of the island.”

Wright looked out the window again. “You’re right. It does feel wrong.”

Gagnon took one last glimpse of the wreckage, and turned the plane back toward the small village where they were staying. Once the course was set, he picked up the satellite radio and called the Ranch.

“Bravo Four,” a voice at the Ranch answered.

“This is Brown,” Gagnon said.

“Go ahead, Brown.”

“Blair House,” he said, using the active code.

“Wanda June.”

Satisfied he was indeed speaking with the Ranch, Gagnon said, “Wreckage found. No apparent survivors.”

Momentary silence on the other end. “Please confirm. No apparent survivors.”

“Roger, Bravo Four. No survivors.”

“Any idea what happened?”

“Rough seas, maybe. A storm. It’s pretty rough out there. I’d say this is an unfortunate accident.”

Another pause. “Confirming.”

“Roger, Bravo Four. That’s what it is.”

“Roger, Brown. Get some rest. Will touch base in the morning with new assignment.”

“Will do, Bravo Four. Out.”

__________

“T
HEY’RE LEAVING,” THE
senior man said into the encrypted radio.

“You think they will be back?” Major Ross asked. He’d been patched in from Bluebird.

“No, sir. They’re returning to the outpost, then will be getting a new assignment in the morning. I think it worked.”

“Good. Return to base.”

__________

P
AX KNOCKED ON
the door of Matt’s office.

“Come in,” Matt called out.

Upon entering, Pax found Rachel and Matt in the more casual sitting area in the front end of the room. “Sorry, but you wanted to see this.”

“Brown team found something?” Rachel asked.

Pax nodded grimly. “Yeah, but there’s more.”

He handed over a transcript of the conversation that had just come in. Rachel and Matt read it at the same time. Their first reaction was to the news that by all appearances, yellow team was dead. Their second was to the hidden message contained within brown team’s words.

“‘An unfortunate accident,’” Rachel read. She looked up. “That means…”

“…yellow team found Bluebird,” her brother finished.

6

T
HE DIRECTOR OF
Preparation tapped the lever another half inch toward Hot. Within a second, steam began to rise from the water washing over him. While Bluebird was always kept at a warm, comfortable level, the frigid view outside often made him feel like he was freezing. Other than avoiding the windows, the best remedy was always a hot shower. He took at least two a day, sometimes three. Though the official allotment was one, that didn’t apply to him—like most of the other facility rules.

He was just starting to feel thawed out when the soft
bong
of his doorbell sounded in the other room. There was a time when he could have afforded to ignore it, but not now, not when they were this close to activation.

He turned off the water, and stuck his head out of the narrow stall. “One moment!”

He toweled off quickly, pulled on his slacks and shirt, then flipped on the monitor next to the door. His visitor was Carl Herlin, one of his aides.

The DOP opened the door. “Yes?”

“Sorry to disturb you, sir, but Major Ross wanted me to tell you they have the information, and that he would be in the map room if you’re looking for him.”

“Tell him I’ll be there in a moment.”

He shut the door without waiting for a response, finished getting dressed, and headed out.

Technically, the map room was called Conference Room B. It received its unofficial name from the table that dominated the space. Using touch controls on either side, a map of any location on the planet in any format could be projected onto the tabletop from underneath. With another selection of the controls, the user could draw whatever they wanted on top of the map—lines, words, circles—and the resulting image could be saved and printed out.

Ross was leaning over the table when the DOP stepped inside. He instantly straightened up.

“Good evening, Director.”

The DOP walked up to the table. “I hear you have some news.”

“We think we’ve been able to pinpoint Bravo Four’s location, and by the size of it, I would guess that it’s their main headquarters. May I show you?”

The DOP dipped his head, and Ross touched the controls. On the table, a map of an area that encompassed parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado appeared.

“Their return messages have been coming from here.” Ross touched a button, and a red circle appeared in the western portion of Montana, less than a hundred miles from the Canadian border.

Ross zoomed in on the map, then switched to a satellite view. The circle was in a wide valley with mountains blocking off the western end, and rolling hills to the north and south. Trees and meadows took turns filling the valley, but from the height the image was taken, the DOP could see no roads.

Ross removed the dot and pushed in again, focusing on an area near the center. Suddenly, several things came into view at once. There
were
roads, though none appeared paved. The more interesting item, though, was the large building right in the middle of where the dot had been.

The magnification increased one more level.

Large was not right, the DOP realized. Huge was more accurate. This was no mountain mansion. This would have been a big building in any city in the state. And yet, the only way to get there was by dirt road.

“Look at this,” Ross said.

He was pointing at a spot that had to be a mile or two from the building. At first, the DOP didn’t see anything important about it, but when Ross moved his finger back and forth in a line, it became clear.

A runway. Either covered with grass or painted to look that way.

Was this really it? Had they found it?

If so, he and the other Directors were going to be very, very happy.

It was, he knew, not a discovery that was necessary for their success. The people who lived there would all die just as quickly as those on the rest of the planet once KV-27a was released. If he could help it, though, that wasn’t the kind of death he wanted for them. He wanted a more direct hand in what they would suffer. He wanted them to scream in pain, then beg and plead for their lives. These were the gnats who had been dogging Project Eden for years, never enough to throw things off, but causing annoyances just the same.

Definitely unnecessary, but wholly satisfying.

“Excellent work,” he said. “Come up with a plan on how we might best deal with them.”

“Yes, sir.”

7

I.D. MINUS 13 DAYS

ALGONA, IOWA

T
HE BALL FLEW
past the boy’s glove, hit the ground, and rolled across the sidewalk into the grass-lined drainage ditch that ran along the road.

“Should have dived for it,” his father said.

The boy retrieved it, and threw it back. It hit his dad’s glove with a wet slap. Muddy water sprayed out from the impact, hitting his father on the cheek.

“Sorry, Dad,” the son said, laughing.

“I’ll bet you are.”

Across the street, their neighbor Charlie Newcomb had just come out of his house. “Your boy’s got quite a spitball, Adam.”

“He does, doesn’t he?” the boy’s father replied as he tossed the ball back to his son.

“Hear we might be getting some snow this weekend,” Charlie called out. “You guys need anything, you just let us know.”

“Thanks.”

Charlie gave him a wave, then got into his car.

“Snow. That’ll be cool,” the boy said.

His dad smiled knowingly. “Tell me what you think in a couple months.”

They had moved to Algona, Iowa, just before the school year began. The man had taken a job teaching math and P.E. at Algona High School. In addition to his son, he also had a daughter, currently inside the house and, no doubt, lost in a book. She’d become quite a reader in the last several months, exhibiting a growing interest in vampires and ghosts and worlds that existed beyond the one she lived in. He wasn’t sure if that was good or not. He knew a lot of other girls liked the same thing, but most of them hadn’t lost their mother recently or had their lives completely upended. His fear was that the books were keeping her from facing reality and accepting it, but he couldn’t bring himself to question her on it. Maybe escaping reality for a thirteen-year-old wasn’t a bad thing.

As far as the people in town knew, Adam Cooper was a widower who’d moved with his family to Algona from Florida. “Too many memories back there,” he’d say when asked, though he seldom was. The people of Algona were too polite to push the issue.

The boy, known to his classmates as Scott, had made the adjustment quickly. He was doing well in school and had lots of friends. Mary, as the man’s daughter was called, was not faring as well. Her grades were fine, but she was withdrawn socially. There were a few girls she’d hang out with now and then, but for the most part, when she wasn’t in school, she was in her room reading.

At some point, he would have to do something about it. Just…not yet.

After they threw the ball around for a bit more, the father said, “Getting a little too cold for me, buddy. How about some lunch?”

The boy nodded. “Grilled cheese?”

“If that’s what you want. Last one in has to cook.”

They raced to the front door, the boy getting there a split second before his dad did.

“You’re it,” the boy declared.

“Two out of three?”

“No way.”

They removed their shoes in the mudroom, and entered the toasty confines of their small house.

“Sweetie,” the man said, raising his voice so his daughter could hear him. “I’m making grilled cheese. You want one?”

No answer.

“Honey, grilled cheese?”

Still nothing.

He looked at his son. “Go see if your sister wants one.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “She’s just going to yell at me.”

“She’s not.”

“She is.”

“Just go ask her.”

The man walked into the kitchen, washed his hands, and pulled out the fixings for lunch. As the cast-iron skillet warmed on the grill, he began buttering the bread. He was only halfway through the second slice when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” his son called out.

By the time the man had wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and walked into the living room, his son had the door open.

“Is your dad home?” a male voice asked from the porch.

“Just a second.” The boy turned toward the kitchen, then stopped when he saw his father approaching. “He wants to talk to you, Dad.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

As he reached the door, he gave his son’s hair a tousle and looked outside.