Chapter 16: The Best Laid Plans
Valerie had spent the better part of two days making methodical sweeps of the jungle, looking for Alex. There were a few spots nearby that were particularly suited to lovers' trysts, and she'd checked those first—to no avail.
That left Rousseau. It had been weeks since Alex had learned about her mother—it wouldn't be all that surprising if she'd decided to take Karl and go looking for the French woman. Alex was smart enough to figure out where Rousseau's camp was. That's where Val was headed next.
Ben hadn't told Alex about the freighter and the threat that it carried—she'd have no reason to think that the Barracks could be evacuated at a moment's notice. And her father had been distracted lately—while he'd managed to undo some of the strain on their relationship, he still put his work first.
Valerie knew that she had been a distraction to him as well. Since learning who she really was, he'd been in a strange sort of state. He looked at her differently—there were shades of her version of him in his eyes now. She wondered whether he felt any of it, or if those looks were because he was just stunned to learn that someone had loved him.
She wasn't sure how to feel about him. He wasn't her Ben. She'd loved that man very deeply, but he was gone—she'd held him as he died. But this man was still Ben—and she felt the same magnetic attraction to him that she'd felt when she'd first met her Ben—and, in spite of everything, her body wanted to do something about it.
She'd considered the moral implications of acting on that attraction. It had only been months since he'd died, so, in theory, it seemed too soon—but it wasn't as though she had moved on. The only reason she wanted to sleep with Ben was because he was nearly the same man, and she loved him in the same way. Perhaps love wasn't the right word. Then again, perhaps it was. In any rate, she hadn't figured out what to do.
The sound of footsteps startled her out of her daydreaming. She darted behind a tree and held her breath.
"We have to find Naomi—if something went wrong with her chute—"
"She's fine."
"You can't know that, Miles."
Valerie peered out from behind the tree. There were three of them—a tall redheaded woman, a scrawny, scraggly looking guy, and an Asian man—Miles, she gathered from the conversation. She exhaled—they weren't mercenaries. They were the scientists that had been sent along on the mission. She knew a bit about them—Miles had stayed in touch with Hugo, for a time. And Desmond had told her about the physicist—Daniel. Daniel was the reason she'd stashed a photo of Ben in her pocket.
She stepped out from behind the tree. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"Holy fuck!" Miles shrieked, fumbling with his gun.
"Calm down, Miles," she instructed, holding her empty hands in the air.
"How do you know my name?" he demanded.
"I was eavesdropping."
"Who are you?" the woman asked, eyeing Valerie. "Were you on Oceanic 815? Or are you from here?"
"A little of column A, a little of column B," she answered opaquely. "Can I help you?"
Miles glanced at his teammates and back at Valerie. He pulled a photo from his pocket and showed it to Valerie. "Can you help us find this man?"
She started laughing—it was a surveillance photo of Ben. He appeared to be in line at an airport.
"Who in the name of fuck let him go out in public wearing a white vest? Jesus."
"You know him?" the woman asked.
"He's my husband."
"Your what?" Miles replied. "He's not married."
"I beg to differ," she chuckled. "Valerie Linus," she added. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Miles," he replied cautiously, tucking his gun away and taking her outstretched hand. "Miles Straume. This is Charlotte Lewis, and the fidgety guy is Daniel—"
"—Faraday, yes—I'm quite familiar with your work," she said, turning to Daniel.
"You are?" he asked, frowning.
"I am," she confirmed, nodding.
Daniel's eyes widened. He didn't say anything, but his lips curled into a slight smile.
"Are you aware that your husband is a mass murderer?" Miles asked pointedly.
"Yes—well—I mean he isn't really. He participated in a tiny little genocide. It wasn't his idea. It was more of a disproportionate use of force in an armed conflict, if you really think about it. Still bad, I guess, but not genocide bad."
Miles squinted at her.
"He's not the person that you've been told he is," she continued. "Your boss is the one who ordered that genocide."
"Disproportionate use of force, you mean?" Miles corrected.
Valerie stifled a laugh. "Ben is taking his people somewhere safe. I'm sure you saw the more heavily armed passengers on your ship. A lot of innocent people are going to die if we let your mission continue."
"We have to find our leader," Charlotte told her, ignoring the warning. "Naomi. Her comms have been down. We need to find her. If you won't help us find him, will you help us find her? She might be hurt."
"She's with the survivors—on the beach."
"Is she okay?"
"I think so—maybe a little banged up."
"She must have been a bit more than banged up," Miles replied. "We didn't hear from her at all—and she'd be doing everything she can to contact us."
"Well that's probably just because her comms are jammed—there's a signal jammer in the Looking Glass." Valerie's eyes widened in realization as she spoke. "Oh, fuck. Fuck. We need to stop them before they do something stupid."
She started walking, and the science team followed. Rousseau's camp was near the Looking Glass station—she could head directly there and try to find Alex along the way. If she led them to the beach camp it might be too late to stop the survivors from trying something—but if they went directly to the station, there was a chance.
"Who is they?" Miles asked.
"The survivors."
"What are they going to do?"
"Try to unjam that signal so that they can use Naomi's comms."
"Why is that stupid?"
"Because they're all supposed to be dead, Miles, and if your boss—who, I might add, is responsible for the fake fucking plane full of bodies on the floor of the Indian Ocean—finds out that they have the ability to tell the world they're still alive—we'll have another little light genocide on our hands."
"What did our boss do?" Charlotte asked. "How do you know all of this?"
"We have our sources," she replied evasively.
They marched quickly through the jungle until Valerie stopped in her tracks.
"What is it?" Miles asked.
Valerie ignored him. She'd heard a slight click in the distance.
"C'est toi, Danielle?" she called out.
"Val, it's me," Alex answered, lowering her rifle as she rushed up to Valerie.
"Did you find your mother?" she asked, pulling the girl into a hug.
"Yes—what's wrong? Who are these people? Where's my dad?"
"They evacuated—they went to the Temple. I came to find you—he's expecting you to join them—is Karl with you?"
"I'm here," Karl replied, stepping out of the woods.
"Okay, good," Valerie replied, assessing the situation. "I think you guys should stay here. Hide."
"What? Why?"
"There are some hired guns coming to the Island. They're looking for your dad. If they get a hold of you—they'll use you to get to him. The best thing to do is stay with your mom. She knows how to hide."
"Wait, did you guys all know this was happening? Why didn't you tell me?"
"We should have—it wasn't my call."
"Did you know about my mom—who she was? That she was alive?"
Val nodded. "It wasn't my place to tell you. I'm so sorry. I'm glad you found her, though. She can keep you safe."
"Who are these people?" Karl asked.
"Oh, uh—time nerd, talks to dead people, lady Indiana Jones," she explained, pointing at each of them in turn. "They're from the freighter. But we've got to get to the beach before—"
She was interrupted by the sound of an explosion in the distance.
"Fuck," Val said, her face falling. "We're too late."
Charlotte and Daniel shared a concerned glance.
"Alex, Karl—find Danielle and stay the fuck out of sight," Valerie instructed. "You three—we have to go. Now."
They tore off towards the beach. Valerie could hear the sounds of screaming in the distance.
"Why are we running towards the screaming?" Miles asked skeptically.
"We have to help them."
They burst out of the tree line and onto a catastrophic scene. The water was littered with smoldering debris. Kate was comforting a screaming Claire while holding a sobbing Aaron. Desmond was facing the ocean with his hand over his mouth. Sayid was trying to calm Hurley as he shouted at the water for Libby, and Sawyer was pacing back and forth, swearing.
Far in the distance, Valerie could make out a diver climbing on to a dinghy.
"Sawyer!" she snapped.
He looked up, confused.
"What happened?"
"Wednesday, what the hell are you doing here? Who are these people?"
"We were with Naomi," Charlotte explained. "What happened?"
Desmond walked over to them and put his hand on Valerie's shoulder. "Charlie took Naomi and Libby down there to try to unjam the signal. They were down there for a while—Charlie radioed us to say it wasn't Penny's ship—then…" he drifted off as he noticed Daniel standing behind her. His face creased into a frown.
"Then it exploded," Sawyer finished.
"They probably sent someone to blow it up," Valerie explained.
"Who did?" Charlotte asked.
"Your people," Valerie answered.
"They wouldn't do that," she replied defensively.
"Well," Miles interrupted, squinting, "they might."
"Wouldn't blowing up the station kill the signal jammer?" Daniel asked, frowning.
Valerie pulled her hair away from her face. "Yes, but it's also the hub for all of our external comms. Destroying it kneecaps us—limits the range of communications." She looked around at the shell-shocked survivors. "Sawyer—where are Jack and Juliet?"
"They kept trying to warn us," Sawyer replied, still distraught. "They said the ship wasn't a rescue mission. We went behind their backs to help Naomi call her team."
"You didn't listen to them?"
"We thought Jack had been brainwashed—we thought Juliet was managing him—they weren't making any sense."
"Shit." Valerie looked at the despondent Hugo. "Why did you let Libby go with them?"
"She insisted on helping—she said she was a good swimmer." Sawyer answered sadly. "You never met Libby," he noted. "How did you know about her and Hurley"
Valerie took a breath as she came up with a reasonable lie. "Juliet was spying on you all for Ben—just to keep an eye on things. We knew they were coming. She wanted to keep you safe."
"Shit," Sawyer answered.
Val wiped her face with her hands, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Listen up!" she shouted, waiting for the shaken group to pay attention to her. "This was horrible—but there's nothing you can do now to undo it. There are some very bad people on that freighter. They are not here to rescue you. They are here to take Ben and exterminate everyone else."
She heard Charlotte let out a slight gasp.
"I realize that you're all in shock, but we have to act fast if you want to keep everyone safe." She turned to Desmond. "Desmond, go with Kate and Sayid—take Claire and Aaron back to the camp. Tell Jack and Juliet what happened. Tell Juliet the Others have evacuated and gone to the Temple—she'll understand what that means."
"Daniel, Charlotte—you know about Tempest station, I take it?"
Charlotte nodded hurriedly.
"Go there—shut it off. Widmore knows about it—I know you were told that Ben might use it, but it's not Ben I'm worried about."
They looked at each other and nodded at Valerie.
"James, I need you to take Hugo and go to the Temple. I'll draw you a map. Find Ben—tell him what happened. Tell him that he needs to get away from the Temple—anyone near him is in danger until we can stop these guys. If he stays with his people, they're as good as dead." She paused and thought about it for a moment, a rough plan forming in her mind. "Tell him to go home."
"Shouldn't Hurley go with Desmond?"
"He needs a goal right now—distract him. He can grieve later."
"What about me?" Miles asked.
"You're staying with me, Miles. I need your help."
"Why would I help you?"
She stared him down. "What are your alternatives?"
"Fair enough."
She turned back to address the group. "There's not much time," she told them. "Go!"
The group dispersed, following Valerie's directions.
Daniel stopped at Valerie's side. "You're familiar with my work?" he muttered quietly.
She smiled at him, nodding slightly.
"Incredible," he replied distractedly, then jogged away, catching up to Charlotte.
As Valerie drew a map for Sawyer, Miles took Hugo aside. "She knew you loved her," he said.
"What?" Hugo asked, his voice small.
"I can hear dead people—it's what I do. Libby—she loved you too. She wants you to know that."
Hugo nodded, his eyes wet. Sawyer smiled grimly at Valerie and led Hugo in the direction of the Temple.
"That was a nice thing you did," she told Miles as they crossed back into the jungle.
He shrugged. "Whatever."
"Look, I know you only care about the money. And I know you're aware that Ben has access to loads of it."
Miles looked up, his interest piqued.
"How much are you getting paid?"
"One point six," he answered quickly.
"Does five sound a bit better?"
"Are you serious?"
"If we can get rid of your mercenary friends with minimal collateral damage—I think that would be more than fair."
"Why should I trust you?"
"I don't know. But I'm pretty sure your current employer is going to let you die here so that you'll never be able to tell anyone what you saw—just something to keep in mind."
He grunted in acknowledgment. "So where are we going?"
"I think I know where your friends are going to go first."
"And you want to find them?"
"I have an idea. It's—honestly, it's probably fucking stupid. You're going to hand me over to them and tell them who I am. They'll use me as bait to get to Ben."
"How do you know?"
"It's just a guess—seems like the kind of tactic that would appeal to them."
"So where are we going?"
"They destroyed the comms hub—they'll probably want to destroy any possible means of escape. I'd bet Charles is banking on Ben trying to make a run for it. There's a sub docked on the other side of the Island. It's a long walk, but that's my best guess."
She explained the rest of her plan to Miles as they trekked across the Island to the Galaga. They made good time as they hurried through the jungle. It was a day and half away, but they were fueled by adrenaline—and the energy bars Valerie had stuffed in her pockets. It wasn't much, but it was enough to go on.
Mid-morning on the second day of the walk, Miles stopped dead in his tracks.
"What?"
"Uh, there's a big pile of genocide victims over there," Miles said, clearly shaken as he pointed in the direction of the mass grave. He stopped for a moment, grimacing.
"Are you alright?"
"It was a war," he answered. "They'd invaded, in a sense."
"They didn't deserve to be dumped in a mass grave," Valerie murmured.
"I didn't believe you," he admitted. "I thought Linus had just callously killed them all."
"It's easier to wrap your head around doing difficult things when you think your enemy is a monster," Valerie replied. "But it's never black and white."
He nodded thoughtfully at her. "I guess not."
An hour or so later, they heard the deep echoing crack of another bomb going off in the distance.
"Called it," she announced, with a certain amount of smug satisfaction.
"The sub?"
"I don't know what else they'd blow up."
"Does this mean they're close?"
"Probably. You better hold me hostage."
Miles drew his gun and pointed it at her as they continued walking through the jungle.
It was only a few minutes before they were swarmed by a large group of heavily armed mercenaries.
"Don't shoot!" Miles called out. "I'm with you guys. My name Miles Straume. My job was to find Benjamin Linus."
"Who's the bitch?" their leader asked, making his way to the front of the group. "She doesn't look like a Benjamin to me."
"I'm Valerie Linus," she said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled the photo out and tossed it at his feet.
He knelt down to pick it up. He looked at the photo, then back up at her, frowning.
Valerie took a deep breath. "I'm Ben's wife."