Ch. 15 - Codes
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"And this program will ensure that the message doesn't fall into the Ramseys' hands?" Captain Slattery asked, leaning against the wall to the small room they had dubbed the wardroom, which was currently filled to the max with senior military officers and the upper echelon of the civilian government.
Nobody wanted to miss this meeting.
Kara nodded, clicking a button to move to the next slide in her presentation, one filled with lines of code. "I have gone over the computer program line by line. It will not open on any phone with the hangman app installed or any phone within wi-fi range of the app. If a phone that previously received the message moves within range of a phone with the app, the message self-deletes. There are a few ways around the safeguards, such as taking a screenshot of the message. But I think it's a very low risk, given what we know about the Immunes and how they operate."
As the liaison to the civilian governing body, Kara typically wore civilian attire, even when reporting to Captain Chandler or Captain Slattery. But not today. Because this was no ordinary meeting, not even within the upside-down world they now inhabited. Today was about the course of the future.
Would they begin to distribute the cure? Take the risk of exposing their existence? Save the world?
Or die trying.
Kara's decision to don her uniform reflected a truth that they all understood. Because despite the presence of the civilian government with their their endless questions, ultimately this decision fell to one man. Captain Chandler. So, instead of her usual slacks and blouse, Kara wore her coveralls to present the plan to distribute the cure, the one she spent every waking moment of the last few weeks developing. It was a good plan. A solid plan. A plan that the old Danny would have supported without question five years ago.
A plan that required them to trust Valerie Raymond.
Because as annoying as the man was, Tex was right. Of course he was, as he spent the last week reminding Danny. Valerie Raymond designed the Ramseys' communication system, developing the ingenious idea of leapfrogging from one phone to another using Bluetooth. Figuring out a way to notify people of the cure without alerting the Immunes was child's play. Because no matter how divorced Valerie Raymond was from reality - and a week spent in her company before Captain Chandler decided that it was safe to bring her to the bunker gave Danny plenty of time to see what a wack-job the woman was - she understood one fundamental fact.
People kept their phone.
They clung to them, really. To the pictures. To the normalcy they presented. To the hope that, even after so many years, someone might call. Hell, Danny was no exception, keeping his buried in his go-bag. Checking every so often for messages that never came through.
Watching Kara click to the next slide, Danny was struck by a feeling of deja vu. He could almost imagine that they were back in the Arctic watching Kara present the results of the latest weapons' test, the same low bun, the same focused expression, maybe even the same uniform. With the exception of a few gray hairs, Kara hadn't aged a day, the only noticeable difference in her appearance the name tag that she had painstakingly restitched.
The one that said Green.
"And you trust her?" Captain Slattery pressed.
Kara's hesitation was so slight, the flicker of her eyes in his direction so brief, that Danny doubted anyone else noticed. "I don't believe that she is lying to me about the program, sir."
"I agree," Kelly Tophet interjected. This question was the reason for her presence, after all. "During the week that I have spent with Valerie, I have found her to be very truthful. Sometimes painfully so."
Danny wasn't the only person to snort at the understatement. Valerie Raymond was rude, obnoxious, and annoying. Plus there was the fact that she was a mass-murderer.
Ignoring the interruption, Kelly continued. "I don't believe that Valerie had much life experience before the virus struck. Her tendency towards paranoia and conspiracy theories made her the perfect target for the Ramsey brothers, one which they manipulated quite masterfully. I believe that she did think the Ramseys were looking for the labs in order to offer their support to the scientists working on the cure. When told that they were too late, and that the labs were empty upon arrival, Valerie had no reason to question that information. She was naive and too trusting, but she also had nothing to gain from the destruction of the labs given that she herself is not immune."
That was a puzzle that Danny couldn't begin to understand. How a woman who was not immune managed to get so tangled up with the Ramsey brothers.
"Commander Green." Captain Chandler spoke for the first time. "You've spent time with the woman, what do you think?"
Danny paused, fighting the urge to look at Kara, their argument from the night before echoing in his head.
Her proposal is brilliant, Danny. Simple yet ingenious. Just like her idea to use the hangman app was.
Too brilliant. None of us understand it. She could be playing us and we would never know.
I know you better than than. You don't think she's lying any more than I do.
You're right, Kara, I don't think she's lying. But it doesn't matter. Putting ourselves out there is too risky.
I'm willing to take that risk.
I'm not. Not with your life. Not with Frankie's.
"I think Ms. Raymond has a good sense of self-preservation, and she knows what will happen to her if she betrays us," Danny said finally, guilt overwhelming him as he took in Kara's disappointed posture, the appraising glance that Carlton sent him.
Duty versus family, the never-ending battle.
But Captain Chandler seemed to notice nothing amiss. "What about preparation of the doses, Doctor Scott? Is ethanol still the limiting factor?"
"It is, although I believe that I've figured out a solution for that," Doctor Scott moved around the table, switching spots with Kara as she took over the presentation. "Doctor Tophet has been working to reduce the cure to a powder. It would be easier to transport, and could be packaged in pill form or mixed into water. We are working now to stabilize the formula."
"How many doses of a usable cure do we have presently?" Captain Slattery pressed.
Pursuing her lips at the interruption of what was no doubt intended to be an extended presentation on the modified cure, Doctor Scott responded. "Several hundred."
"That's enough to do a few trial runs and fine-tune the distribution plan, sir," Kara added.
Captain Chandler turned to Teylor Cruz. "Any sign of Immunes during your patrols?"
"No, sir," Teylor replied. "We've done extensive surveillance and believe that the Immunes have vacated the area. They appear to be focusing their attention on a a few militia groups that have been giving them problems in the Northeast."
Captain Chandler glanced around the room, his face breaking into a smile. "Well then, people, looks like it's time to start saving the world."
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"I wanted to kill her. I think I would have killed her if Tex wasn't there." Danny buried his head in his hands.
"But you didn't." Kelly's words were calm, and Danny waited for more. But that was it. A simple statement. One that was true, but meaningless.
"Not killing somebody isn't exactly an achievement." He laughed bitterly. "And I kind of wish that I had."
Without Valerie's program, there would be no trial run distribution.
And then Kara and Frankie wouldn't be in danger.
Or maybe there would still have been a trial.
One that was even riskier.
The thoughts swirled around and around, just as they had for the last two weeks, no answer in sight.
Would Valerie's death have made things better? Or worse?
"You have every right to be angry at Valerie. You have every right to want to kill her. You even have every right to wish that she was dead. What she did led to countless deaths. And if she were here with us right now," Kelly added, "I would tell Valerie that she is very lucky to have a useful skill. Because you are far from the only person in this bunker who feels the way that you do. And not all of them have your restraint."
The anger in Kelly's voice caught Danny's attention and he looked up. "Do you feel that way?"
One thing that Danny liked about Kelly was that she never shirked his questions.
"Not Valerie. When Ruskov was holding me captive, I imagined killing him a hundred different ways. A thousand. When I thought about what he done to me, what he did to my daughter... If I had run into him that night when we were rescued," Kelly paused but her voice never wavered, "I would have slit his throat."
Danny spoke without thinking. "But that was different."
"Why?" Kelly asked, holding his gaze. "Why was that different Danny? Because he raped me? I've heard that answer before. But he didn't kill me, or Ava. He did kill Cossetti. He killed your friend, your teammate, your brother-in-arms. What makes what he did to me any worse than what he did to you?"
Silence fell as Kelly's words sunk in. Danny opened his mouth, then closed it. What could he say? That Kelly's situation was different because she was a victim? Because she was a woman? He had lived with Kara long enough to know that there was no answer to Kelly's last question. But there was an answer to her first. "Valerie's a civilian. There's a different standard. A higher standard. I kill when the mission demands it. No other reason. If one of my guys lost it the way I did at that hospital, I would bench him. Permanently. I've done it before."
Both before and after the Red Flu hit. Men who had snapped, who could no longer distinguish between friends and foe. Men who only saw the enemy.
But Kelly was unwilling to let him dwell on his own thoughts. "If you ran into Ned Ramsey in that hospital, what would you have done?"
"Killed him." There was no hesitation in Danny's voice.
"Would you have cared whether he was armed?"
"No."
"And if he wasn't alone, would you have killed those with him?"
"Yes."
"And would we be having this same conversation if that is what happened?" She pressed.
Hell, no. If he ever got the opportunity, he would break that sick bastard's neck.
Danny paused before admitting, "Probably not."
Kelly sighed. "You aren't a robot, Danny. Kill one time, not another, always get it right. And in this case, there was no right. Valerie might not have worn a uniform, she might be a civilian, but she was working with the Ramseys. She made a choice to join a side - the wrong side. There are going to be times when you get it wrong, and you'll have to live with that. But in this case, killing Valerie Raymond wouldn't have been wrong, any more than killing Ned Ramsey would be."
"But the computer program..." Danny's protest was immediate.
"Is the only reason we are having this conversation." Kelly's eyes were sad as she shook her head. "Like I said before, Valerie is lucky that she's useful."
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"Kara! Wait!"
Dashing after his wife, Danny cursed the fact that they were in the middle of the corridor. But given that finding "alone" time was nearly impossible these days, he would take what he could get. Catching up with her, he ignored the carefully neutral face she presented, the one that told him without words that she was still upset about this morning. He forced a smile. "Dinner? Ravit said she'll keep Frankie."
Seconds passed and a cold ball formed in Danny's stomach as he wondered what excuse she would use to turn him down. Work? Headache? Washing her hair?
But Kara surprised him. "That would be nice."
An uncomfortable silence settled as they walked through the hall toward the cafeteria, Danny trying to remember the last time they did this, ate together, just the two of them. No Frankie. No Carlton. No Ravit or Wolf or Kat. But try as he might, Danny couldn't. Following Kara to the empty end of one of the tables, watching as she lifted her mystery meat burger - beef was long a thing of the past, most of their meat now deer - Danny's stomach twisted. Was it possible to survive the Red Flu, only for their marriage to buckle under the weight of the mundane?
"I'm sorry," he blurted. Kara's head came up, staring at him evenly, until he clarified. "For not supporting you this morning. About Valerie."
Kara's eyes widened and she set her burger down carefully. "I'm not upset about that."
"You aren't?" Danny wondered if he sounded as baffled as he felt.
"Of course not. Trusting her is risky. I think it's a risk worth taking. You don't. I would never ask you to change your opinion on a mission for me." Kara shrugged. "If I wanted a yes man, I would have married Nishioka."
A chuckle escaped Danny. As Kara's direct subordinate for years, Carl had developed a reputation for agreeing with just about everything Kara proposed. The fact that she was right most of the time, and that her plans usually succeeded, hadn't lessened the amusement one bit. "But you're upset about something."
"You volunteered for the distribution team." Kara picked up her burger, but didn't take a bite. "That ethanol run went from two days to ten and now you've been back barely a week and you're already volunteering to go out again. Just like with the vaccine trials. You insisted on doing every one yourself. Why can't someone else..."
She stopped, and Danny thought he saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes. "There is nobody else, Kara. Not unless we want to send civilians."
Kara nodded slowly. He wasn't telling her anything that she didn't know. The team selected for the trial run, comprised of Slattery, Danny, Tex, Wolf, and several enlisted men, was already skinny but there were few other options. With Ravit due any day, both she and Carlton were off the list, and Cruz's team was fresh from a three week trek north. Danny reached out to touch her arm. "I won't be gone long. Two days, max."
She looked up, and this time he couldn't mistake the tears. "That doesn't mean something won't go wrong."
Which is why he needed to be there, because if it all went south, he would personally make sure that nothing led the Immunes back to this bunker.
Not that he was going to tell his wife that. "Kara, it's a good plan. It's your plan. Trust that it will all go the way it should."
The skeptical look on Kara's face told him that he had not been entirely convincing. "You'll be careful?"
"I promise."