Langley Landing Pad
Alec looked out the window and saw the lights circling the landing pad below. The car park outside the building was full of cars but there wasn't a single light on in the building. He scanned the area and noticed a solitary figure standing beside a black van. He started moving towards the landing zone as the helicopter descended. Wasn't Veronica a woman? Where was she?
They touched down and Alec pushed open his door. CeCe unbuckled her restraints and grabbed their gear from by her feet. Alec took one of the bags and helped her down. "He went around the helicopter and tapped on the pilot's window. "Are you sure this is the place?"
"I had instructions to bring you to CIA headquarters, that's all I know." The pilot's radio crackled and he turned away from Alec. He adjusted his microphone and said, "Jeremy here, go ahead."
"We need an urgent pick up. Newark port, wharf 32."
The pilot started up the rotors again. "I'll be there as soon as I can. I have to refuel."
"Can I give them an ETA?"
"Twenty minutes."
Alec was about to interrupt him again when CeCe nudged him. The guy that he'd seen from the air was crossing the grass and was waving them over. Alec adjusted the strap on his shoulder and nodded for CeCe to follow. As the helicopter lifted off behind them, they met up with the man halfway to the car park.
The young man extended his hand to Alec. He looked to be his early twenties, far too young to be a field agent. At least for a norm, the government wasn't still actively using transgenics were they?
"Harry Quinn, I run op-tech for Veronica's team. I know you were expecting her to meet you but I haven't heard from her in over an hour."
Alec watched the younger man worry his bottom lip and wring his hands. Smirking to himself Alec wondered if there was more than plutonic and professional interest on Harry's part for his colleague. And what was Logan's connection to her? An old friend he'd said. Eyes Only contact or genuine friend? She was doing an awful lot on behalf of the transgenics; she'd gone out on a limb offering to plead their case in D.C. and to hold onto the information of a possible cure from the CDC. "Do you know where she was going?"
Harry nodded. "She asked me to do a full background check on Senator McKinley. Usually I need prior special authorization for someone that high profile, but these are extenuating circumstances and my boss said Veronica had lead and to give her any back up she needed."
He was rambling, it was a whole lot of information that they really didn't need to know and CeCe could tell that if she didn't cut in soon, they'd waste another five minutes just standing around waiting for the guy to realize that they were on a mission. "What does she want with McKinley?"
"She believes that he might be involved in what happened today, so she wanted to look into it."
"She should have waited," Alec said grudgingly. "When did she last contact you?"
Harry wrung his hands again. "She should have called by now, she was just going to look around. She had local PD help her out, but she should have checked in…"
Alec grabbed Harry by the arm and urged him toward the van. "Talk and drive. We're going to the Senator's place now."
Inside the van
Alec kept an eye on Harry while he drove. CeCe had climbed in the back intent on checking out the equipment. He could hear her rummaging around and he hoped that her conscience was operational. Not that he'd turned into an anti-theft advocate, but stealing from under the nose of a government agent whilst working with them wasn't a smart move. All the heat already on the trangenics at present was enough to handle, without ticking off a techie that was okay by him, for the moment.
"So where do you work out of Harry? I'm assuming not at Langley since you managed to escape the lockdown…"
"How did you know about that?" Harry said with a raised eyebrow.
Alec shot him an impatient glare and he watched the man swallow uncomfortably. A sheen of sweat seemed appear around the rim of his collar. He made him nervous, good Alec thought with an internal grin of satisfaction.
"…ah our unit is a covert branch, and we operate out of D.C." he answered avoiding looking in Alec's direction.
There was a clatter behind them and Alec almost laughed when he saw Harry flinch and cringe. Someone was playing with his toys and he didn't like it one bit.
"Ah huh. GPS has her at stationary at…1150 Lone Oak Rd, Charles Town."
"That's West Virginia," Alec frowned.
"Four hours from here, but only an hour from D.C.," Harry said with a grimace. "I'm backtracking…I was in D.C. with Veronica earlier this morning, seems like I've been everywhere in the past few hours."
"Maybe we should have hitched a ride with Jeremy?" At Harry's confusion gaze, Alec explained, "The helicopter was headed for Newark."
"But then we'd have no equipment."
Alec had a rebuttal to that dilemma, but he doubted Harry would appreciate his talents as a cat burglar. "If Veronica's in trouble, which I'm assessing as very likely, she could be dead before we get there."
Harry sent him a look of alarm. "He wouldn't…she had a warrant to search his house."
Shaking his head at the younger man's naivety, Alec sighed. "If McKinely's behind the outbreak he can make her death look like an accident." He tapped the wall and CeCe appeared in the grate. "Patch into Jeremy's radio. We're going with him to Newark."
Senator's house, Charles Town
McKinley smiled bitterly at his companion. "I designed the security system just last year. Never actually thought it would prove useful."
The woman in a black suit, wearing a dark frown studied the unconscious woman in the chair McKinley was standing over. "Who is she?"
"Someone who will soon be of little consequence. What is the Conclave's report?" Before calling the Conclave to advise them of the possible threat to their operation, he had searched the intruders. The people he'd found in his basement turned out to be CIA Special Agent Veronica Walter, Police Captain Fred Grayson and Detective Laura Holloway.
"Delivery on all targets. We will have our results finalized by the end of the week. Seems Ames proved worthy despite all his problems."
McKinley nodded. "Indeed." They'd developed the delivery system based on White's NSA funded, highly expensive, air dispersed, genetic targeting experiment. He bent to slap the unconscious woman's face. When she didn't rouse, he retrieved a syringe from his desk. Tapping the plastic, he watched a few air bubbles disappear from the liquid within. He pushed the plunger and a small amount of fluid spurted from the needle. "How about we give you a little air." He stuck the needle into her neck and emptied the contents into her vein.
Veronica's eyes flew open and her head fell back. She sucked air into her lungs like a person who just broke the surface after being under water for too long. It took a minute for her vision to clear and she felt her skin crawl when she realized who was standing next to her. A woman with cold assessing eyes watched her from across the room. She didn't recognize her. But from the gold chain around her neck, Veronica recognized the symbol as the one Logan had associated with the group responsible for outbreak. "What did you do to us?"
"Nothing that wouldn't have happened to you eventually," McKinley said with an unsympathetic stare. "But I did give you something to temporarily bring you around. Feeling a little drowsy, a bit feverish Ms Walter?" He smiled at her with a calculating grin. "Don't worry, it means you're still alive."
"Why keep me alive? I can prove that you and your friends are the ones behind this and not the transgenics…"
"Who said anything about that? You'll die Ms Walter, just not before you tell me everything you know. Who have you been talking to?" McKinley demanded, quietly circling her chair to stand in front of her.
Veronica straightened. Her muscles felt stiff and her nerves burned. How long had she been out? "Where's Captain Grayson?"
McKinley smiled cruelly. "They won't be interrupting us any time soon."
"You're not here to ask questions. We're asking, you're talking, what do you know?" the woman said, her pale hands curling into fists.
Swallowing thickly, Veronica tried to process a plan. They weren't going to let her go. They probably killed the Captain and Detective Holloway. Without whatever McKinley had given her, they would probably stay in the induced coma and die. Stalling would just aggravate them. Maybe if she told them what she knew, it'd make them nervous. Maybe if she told them she had already spilled the beans, it'd buy her a little more time. Logan had sent back up. They should have already landed by now. 'But they're in Virginia, Veronica. Impatient as always, you didn't wait. It'll be too late by the time the figure out where you are.'
McKinley could sense that she was biding her time. "Rescue or no rescue, you're all going to share the same fate. I've just postponed your end for now. That gas you breathed in carries the same pathogen that's infected cities across America." He chuckled at the sudden loss of color in her face. "Don't worry. If you're a good girl, and you tell me everything, I might make it quick for you." He pulled a gun from inside his jacket. "Your choice."
She felt her eyes glaze over. Already her chest started to feel tight again. It was getting harder to breathe. "I know you and your precious Conclave planned today's attack. It was the reason why you were conveniently absent from the White House session and subsequent quarantine. How fortunate that after every cabinet member dies from this mysterious illness, you'll be the first in line to the Presidency," Veronica managed to spit out while she started to wheeze.
McKinley leaned forward to glower down at her. "Big accusations there, pity you'll have no one to share your concerns with." He smiled triumphantly at his companion by the window. "If you had anything, you wouldn't have risked coming here."
"Ames White gave up a list of names. You executed a mass strike, targeting all the major governing bodies simultaneously. Whilst he wasn't privy to the exact plan, his testimony will put every one of you behind bars for conspiracy against the President and an act of terrorism against the American people. Eyes Only will go live with a state-wide broadcast, in less than an hour. And then everyone will know what you've done."
The woman by the window folded her arms, and smirked with callous indifference. "Eyes Only, isn't a transgenic and what he knows won't matter because he'll be silenced before he can tell anyone."
"Any closing threats, Ms Walter?"
McKinley was aiming his gun with her head when someone crashed through the den window. The distraction allowed a second intruder to take McKinley by surprise. The gun fell to the floor as his arm was twisted behind his back. The gun was kicked and slid along the floor bumping into her foot. Veronica struggled against her ties, trying to get loose. The muscles in her arms and legs burned and it hurt to move at all but she knew if she stayed put, she'd wind up dead.
The older woman in a dark suit went for the gun and Alec shot her at close range in the shoulder. "Not so fast." He picked up the gun from the floor and by that time, CeCe had McKinley kissing the wall.
Veronica sagged in her chair when she saw a familiar face come barrelling through the door. He was red faced and breathless. "Harry."
Gun in hand, and sweating profusely, Harry gave her a relieved smile. "Way to call in back up." He holstered his gun and pulled a pocket knife. Cutting Veronica free, he helped her stand. "You okay?"
Veronica shook her head. "But I will be." She sent a pointed glare in McKinley's direction. "It's your turn to start talking."
Melbay Pharmaceuticals, Seattle
Max held Jesse trying to feed him formula from one of the bottles White had supplied. He was fussing and there was more milk going down his clothes than in his mouth.
Beverly stood to one side on the phone with Metro Medical. She was getting an update on the state of their emergency wing. She'd just finished talking to a contact at Harbor Lights. The situation was getting worse. Soon there wouldn't be any more beds to house the sick. Hanging up the phone, Beverly put her hands in her coat pocket and talked toward Max. "Heath Services have declared it an epidemic in Seattle. It's looking that way in emergency rooms around the country. Hospitals are treating it as best they can but it's like the killer flu outbreak decades ago. It's spreading rapidly and sooner there's not going to be anyone to treat the patients.
Dr Adrian Steen, who'd been working on infected blood samples with Lexie, waddled over in his biohazard protection suit. He'd been playing with bacteria all week and had been lucky enough to be in self-imposed quarantine when the outbreak hit the news. "It's got a fast incubation rate. Less than twenty-four hours. We've narrowed the biology of the pathogen slightly. It has a limited life span outside the body and it's not a strain of bacteria or a virus they've can identify. However it's being spread, the infected had to have come in direct contact with the contagion or with an infected person's blood."
"We haven't been able to figure out how it's spreading. Most of the patients are too sick to communicate once they're admitted." Beverly looked over at the car seat Tia was in when she heard the baby start to cry. She noticed the distress on Max's face and touched her arm. "I'll get her."
Giving up on the bottle. Max lifted Jesse to her shoulder and began rubbing his back. He settled after burping loudly, and Max sighed in relief. The feeling didn't last as she got the distinct impression that there was something wet seeping through her top. Inspection proved that part of what had gone into her son, had just come up again. Forgetting her discomfort and frustration for the moment. A thought came to her. "Last year when I was cut with this cult's knife, they'd dipped it in python's blood. It was some sort of ritual testing for certain antibodies. Could it be the same thing?"
"It's worth checking out," Adrian agreed. "Anyone know where to get a python on short notice?"
"The CDC are sending two agents from their Epidemic Intelligence Service. They'll be here in an hour. I'll ask them to pick one up on the way in," Beverly said. She held Tia to her chest and rocked her gently. "I know this is probably a really invasive thing to ask Max, but there's something you can do in the mean time."
Her hand stilled on Jesse's back. "I won't let you use the children, that's non-negotiable…"
"I wasn't going to say that, and I would never ask you to jeopardize the safety and health of your children. But we know that they're immune, Max. We also know that you are, but there are dozens of newborns in Seattle alone, that aren't."
"I don't know how I can help without giving blood and there's no way it'll be enough to save them all."
"I'm not suggesting that you can. But your breast milk has your immunity and we can give it to those sick babies." At Max's stricken look, Beverly tried to reason her through her obvious shock. "Jesse and Tia don't need it right now…"
"I don't even breastfeed them," Max argued uncomfortably. "I don't know the first thing about it."
"Please just think about it," Beverly pleaded.
McKinley's house
Alec has his own form of interrogation. "Transgenics are supposed to be scum right? I wonder how your partners would feel about how up close and personal you're gonna get with one?"
CeCe uses her camera phone to take pictures of them. She pretends to lick his ear, and grins wickedly at the involuntary shudder her proximity evokes from him. "Oh don't act so shocked James. I know your dirty little fantasies…"
"Kill us, torture us, you'll never get us to betray our cause," the woman spat.
Alec shot her a dark look, and tightened the plastic cords around her ankles until her skin started to turn blue. "Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way." He went to McKinley's desk, noticing the discarded syringe. He picked it up and wiped the needle on his pants. Inserting the syringe in his arm, he began to draw blood. Half filling it, he extracted the needle and bent his arm to stop the bleeding. He could feel the woman's eyes on him as he approached McKinley. "Maybe you'd like a taste of what you've been so intent on bleeding for the past two years."
Veronica watched in shock as Alec started to put the needle into McKinley's neck.
McKinley's eyes grew wide and his hands shock uncontrollably. The woman in the corner stifled a gasp and CeCe's lips curled into a feral grin. "Wait, wait. What…what do you want?" McKinley stammered.
"I want the names of every single familiar responsible for today's attack. What is it that you top dogs call yourselves? Ames said, the Conclave? Is that right?"
McKinley nodded weakly. Alec still had the needle in his neck and he could feel the muscles bunching around the intrusion in his skin. "The Conclave has 29 chairs, but I can't give you the names of all the people involved – it's impossible."
Alec rolled his eyes and started to depress the plunger.
McKinley felt the added pressure instantly and tensed in the chair, his legs trembling, as sweat started to pour from his temples. "Wait, please."
"Why should we? No amount of pleading stopped you from hunting us like animals," CeCe grated savagely.
"Someone always knows," Alec prompted. "There's always a head bastard that knows everything his little minions are doing. Or is it a head bitch?" He turned his head to zero in on the woman in the corner. "Maybe I'm asking the wrong person."
HQ, Terminal City
Logan pulled out his phone but frowned when he read the number. It was Alec. He'd been expecting a call back from Laura. She still hadn't responded to his message regarding White. They were running out of time. In ten minutes, they'd find out if White had been bluffing or if he really was a merciless killer. "Yeah."
"Logan, we have the list. Veronica is sending it now. Access it on secure remote account beta. We've also forwarded a copy to Langley and the White House Office. Give them half an hour to respond. If you don't hear from us, go ahead and broadcast."
Logging onto the server as Alec had instructed, Logan opened the message and scanned the contents. He paled as he recognized some of the names on the list. These were industry heavy weights, powerful government officials, and even foreign contacts living in the States with diplomatic immunity. The CIA and President Glassner's administration had limited time to respond, but they were all on borrowed time. Every second that ticked by, someone else took their last breath fighting the effects of the outbreak.
Biggs jogged up the stairs to the Command Center and put a hand on Logan's shoulder. "We have a problem."
"What now?" Logan said the strain he was feeling, revealed in his voice. He rubbed his temple with one hand and glanced up at Biggs.
"It's probably too late, but you should move to the containment facility on the other side of the main complex." At Logan's questioning look, Biggs continued. "The men I had watching the parameter have been admitted to the infirmary. Seems Clemente's guys are out too. Emergency services rolled in five minutes ago. Two of those guys didn't make it."
"It's spreading too fast. We might not be able to get a cure in time," Logan admitted hopelessly.
"Any word on White?" Biggs asked. With all that had happened in the last hour, the threat to the children had been constantly on his mind. Max was counting on them.
Logan shook his head. "I have to call Max."
Biggs squeezed his shoulder. "I'll send Josh to help you with whatever you need to take down there." He walked away not envying Logan's position at all. Sie, a Manticore trained field medic like Lexie, was confident that all the transgenics would pull through despite their current symptoms, but Logan wasn't a transgenic. His only chance now was the cure that the Docs were working on, or not getting infected. And with how fast things were spreading, that possibility seemed highly unlikely.
McKinley's
Thirty-six minutes had passed and still no word from Langley or Washington, official or otherwise. Veronica flipped her phone shut with a short grunt of frustration. "I understand how stretched thin everyone must be at the moment, but there had to be someone still working on this out there?" She whipped her hand across her forehead. Her throat felt dry and sore. She shed her jacket and gratefully took the bottle of water Harry passed her.
"You're feeling it aren't you?" McKinley said quietly. "The white blood cell boost I gave you is spent. The Day of Reckoning has been foretold in our history books, and can't be stopped."
CeCe stood up and made a point to kick him as she walked past to switch on the television. "Perfect timing," she said smiling proudly. They'd missed his intro, but the familiar red and blue lines told them all they needed to know.
"…These are just some of the people responsible for the attack not only on the President's life but also that of every American citizen. This group who call themselves The Conclave, and their associates will be brought to justice. You can't run, and you can't hide. We know who you are, and the lives lost today will forever be marked against your names. As citizens we put our faith in the government to uphold the law and serve justice. How President Glassner and his administration responds to these terrorists will shape our future and our faith in the system. This has been an Eyes Only streaming video bulletin. Stay strong in the struggle. Peace. Out."
The woman's face darkened with uncontrolled scorn. "You think you've won? This is far from over. 5000 years of planning won't be undone by a few freaks of science…"
"Shut up," CeCe barked.
Alec lounged casually against the desk, surveying the two Familiars leaning, bound against the wall. "So while God was planning Earth's salvation you guys were planning its demise?" The woman clamped her mouth shut, but shivered in fear as Alec waved the syringe for her to see. "You didn't sell Sandeman and his work proves that the Conclave are wrong about the future. I just want to know one more thing. How are you spreading it?" When neither of them answered, he stood up and started to walk over.
"It won't matter," McKinley practically screamed in desperation.
Squatting down in front of them, Alec pushed the plunger just a little so that blood coated the needle. "How?"
Veronica scanned over the list that CeCe had taken from the woman. Her vision was starting to blur but she was sure there was something significant about one of the names she'd read, Denis Truss. She blinked and looked again, trying to make sure her eyes weren't reading something that wasn't there. She leaned her head against the wall. The cool wood gave her a moment's relief and she closed her eyes. Where had she heard that name before? Then it came to her. He was the director of Odezz Inc, the makers and distributors of the most popular air freshener in the States. "They're using aerosols," she whispered weakly. "Denis Truss owns Odezz Inc."
"What?" CeCe asked. "They're spreading it using air freshener?"
"It doesn't explain how they've hit Terminal City. Transgenics don't exactly use the stuff." Biggs had called in a few minutes ago to update them on the latest from the home front. He'd tried to ask about Max but Biggs sounded hurried, and Alec understood the chaos that HQ must have been under so he kept things short.
"That's not all they produce," Harry supplied. "They have military and private market contracts for tear gas and pepper spray. I'll call Langley with the new information."
"I'll call… the CDC…" Veronica said her eyes drooping closed. It was so hot. Her temples were pounding and it was getting harder to concentrate.
Alec noticed her sway and caught her as she fell forward in the chair. "CeCe call Logan, and tell him how they're disbursing it. He can call the CDC and the lab." Turning back to Veronica, he checked her pulse. "Come on, Veronica, stay with us. You'll get through this, just hang on okay."
"What do we do with them?" Harry said with a nod in McKinley's direction.
"We'll drive them over to the transgenic holding complex in Washington. Got friends dying to meet them," CeCe said casually. "Come on pops. We're going for a little ride."
Notes: Thank you to tabitha5 & calistra for the super-fast betas. If you want to see more on this and you liked this chapter, please let me know.