Black Rose

CHAPTER 18

Lights on the corners of Krivi's laboratory buildings cast a bright glare into the night, reflecting from the harsh white of the snow covering the grounds. There was no moon. The sky was filled with dark, unseen cloud and the scent of a coming storm lay heavy in the night air.

Nick and the others had parked a quarter of a mile away. They were dressed in black and armed with the MP-5s and pistols. The C-4 and detonators were in a pack Nick would carry once they got out of the car.

"Those lights are a problem," Nick said.

"Once we're a little closer, I can take care of that," Ronnie said.

"You got something in your bag of tricks?" Lamont asked.

Ronnie held up an odd looking device shaped like a radar gun.

"This puts out a focused EMP burst. It's simple, point and shoot. Aim at the light, and out she goes. No sound to bother anyone."

"One of Langley's toys?"

"Yup. You know, we should have our own shop for stuff like this. Harker could set it up where we practice urban targets. There's plenty of room."

The metal building across from Project headquarters was used to practice live fire against electronic targets that popped out of rooms and mock buildings and alleys at random places and intervals. The shooter had to make an instant decision. Friend or foe? It was easy to mistake a toaster or a baby for a bomb, a beer bottle for a gun. There were a lot of dead, fake civilians in that building, though there were a lot fewer than when the range had first been set up.

"'ll talk to Harker about it," Nick said. "Steph would appreciate another techie type to talk to."

He unfolded a set of plans for the ground floor of the lab and spread it out across his lap and clicked on a small flashlight. In the back seat, Lamont and Selena leaned over to look.

"This wing at the far end still looks like the best bet for entry," Nick said. He moved the light over the page.

"No windows, so no one sees us from inside. There's one exit door, on the far side away from the main entrance. Cameras on the corners. With Ronnie's gadget we can take out the cameras and the lights without knocking out the lights up front. If we're lucky, no one will notice. On the other hand, the guards will be at a monitoring station. If they're paying attention, they'll come looking to see what's up when the cameras go out."

"Rules of engagement?" Selena asked.

"It's a hard call. They may not know what's going on in there. Take them out but try not to kill them. If they start shooting, all bets are off."

"What if the samples aren't there?"

"Then we get the hell out of Dodge and come up with a new plan," Nick said. "But I'll bet they are."

"Let's get it done," Lamont said.

They pulled on black balaclavas against the cold and to conceal their faces from any cameras.

"Weapons free," Nick said.

They moved out of the car, black ghosts against the white countryside. The road was deserted. Snow was starting to fall, thick, heavy flakes that stuck to their clothes. They ran in a low crouch to the wall bordering the grounds. Ronnie settled behind the wall, pointed his EMP device at the nearest camera and pulled the trigger. He did the same to the camera on the far corner. Then he aimed at the nearest light. It went dark, with a soft pop. He followed up with the second. It went dark.

"Neat," Nick said. "Go."

They scrambled over the wall and ran to the back of the windowless wing. The entry door was made of metal. It had no window. It was marked with a large triangle and the universal bio-hazard sign with its three sharp-pointed open circles.

"Must be the right place," Lamont said.

Ronnie knelt before the lock with his tools. In a moment it was open. They stepped inside and closed the door.

"What is this place?" Selena said. "This doesn't look like a lab."

They were in a large room lit by fluorescent lights set in a row along the middle of the ceiling. There was a closed door at the far end. A stack of six refrigerated lockers took up part of one wall. The lockers hummed. The room smelled of disinfectant and conditioned air. It was cold.

Next to the lockers was a gleaming steel gurney wheels. A large, gray furnace with a steel door took up one corner. A chimney rose from the top and disappeared through the ceiling.

"Why do they need a big furnace like that in here?" Ronnie said.

"Explains the chimney outside," Nick said. "I don't know why."

In the center of the room was a glass cubicle. Inside the cubicle was a stainless metal table bolted to the floor. There was a drain underneath it and a hose hanging on a pivoting rack above. A rolling tray with shiny steel implements was placed neatly by the table.

"I think I know what this room is," Selena said. "It's a morgue. They must dispose of dead test animals in here. Do autopsies."

Nick walked to the lockers and opened a door.

"Shit," he said.

Ronnie walked over next to him. "Not just animals," he said.

Human feet lay behind the door. It was hard to tell if they belonged to a man or a woman. The feet were black and crusted, swollen and distorted. Several toes were missing.

"Close the damn door," Nick said.

"They're using humans as test subjects." Selena's face was white under the ski mask. "It explains the furnace. They must burn the bodies when they're done."

"Are we exposed because we opened that locker?" Lamont asked.

"I don't know," Nick said. "I don't think so. If the bodies were still contagious there'd be more safety protocols in place. It looks like they're only concerned when they open them up. In that cubicle." He pointed at the glass room.

"Let's find those samples and get out of here," Ronnie said. "This place gives me the creeps."

The door at the end of the room was unlocked. They stepped out of the morgue into a dimly lit hallway.

"I don't see any cameras," Nick said.

Ronnie took out a spray can from his bag and sent a long cloud of white dust into the hall. Halfway down the hall, a green line appeared at ankle height.

"Laser trip wire," he said.

Six doors lined this end of the hall, three on each side. A window was set in each door. They looked in the first room. It looked like a cubicle from an ICU in a modern hospital. The bed was surrounded by a clear plastic enclosure. The room was empty.

"That looks like an isolation unit," Selena said.

"These rooms must be where they keep their test subjects before they die," Nick said. His mouth was set in a tight line. They moved forward. Ronnie sprayed again and they stepped over the laser alarm.

They came to a junction. The hall formed the top part of a T. Straight ahead led toward the front of the building. To the left was a short hall and another door marked with the triangle and pronged circles.

"Bingo," Nick said. "We go in, verify it's the right place and ID the samples."

"How do we do that?" Selena asked.

"There has to be something. The Koreans called it E495. Whatever they call it here, it has to be labeled."

Ronnie sprayed again. "Another one." He pointed at a laser line across the hall. "They should have stuck with cameras. I still don't see any."

They stepped over the beam and entered the lab.

The guard station for the laboratory building was located on the second floor, out of sight of prying eyes. There had never been a need for more than one man at night. It wasn't necessary. If there was a breach, a response in force was not far away.

Hans Kepler was studying a photograph in a Swedish porn magazine and failed to notice when the cameras went dark at the far end of the building. It wasn't until the door to the disposal wing opened and a soft alarm signaled intruders that he realized there was a problem. The magazine fell to the floor, forgotten. Hans studied the images from the hidden cameras on his screen.

Four pros. Armed.

He picked up his phone and dialed the emergency number.

"We have a breach," he said.

"How many?" The voice at the other end was impersonal.

"Four. They look military, black gear, machine pistols. They're carrying something in a pack. Right now they're in the disposal wing. They opened a locker."

"All right. We'll be there in ten. Wait for us."

"Don't worry. I'm not getting paid to be a hero."

"Ten minutes," the voice said, and disconnected.