Invasion

13

6:30 A.M.

“These people are with me,” Nancy Sellers said. Nancy, Sheila, and Pitt were standing in front of the Serotec Pharmaceutical night security desk. The guard was fingering her ID. Nancy had already shown it at the gate before driving onto the parking area.

“You people have any picture IDs?” the security man asked Sheila and Pitt. Both produced driver’s licenses which satisfied the man. The trio trooped to the elevator.

“Security is still on edge after the suicide,” Nancy said.

The reason Nancy had them get there so early was to avoid the other workers. And it worked. As yet no one else had arrived, and the entire fourth floor was empty. The fourth floor was reserved entirely for biological research. There was even a small menagerie of experimental animals at one end.

Nancy unlocked her private lab, and they all entered. She locked the door behind them. She did not want any interruptions or questions.

“Okay!” Nancy said. “We are going to wear containment suits and everything will be done under a level three hood. Any questions?”

Neither Sheila nor Pitt had any.

Nancy led them into a side room which had changing cubicles. She gave them appropriate-sized gear and let them change. She changed as well.

Meeting back in the main room Nancy said: “Now, let’s have the samples.”

Sheila produced the coffee-creamer jar containing the snippet of desk blotter. She also produced multiple blood samples from people who’d acquired the flu. The samples had been drawn at various stages of their illness.

“All right,” Nancy said, rubbing her gloved hands together in anticipation. “First I’m going to show you how to inoculate a tissue culture.”

“Where the hell did you get this thing?” Carl Maben asked his boss, Eugene Sellers. Carl was a Ph.D. candidate who also worked for the physics department.

With raised eyebrows Eugene glanced over at Jesse Kemper, whom he’d invited to watch the analysis of one of the black discs. Jesse told them that it had been taken from an individual who’d been arrested for lewd behavior.

Both Eugene and Carl expressed interest.

“I don’t know the details,” Jesse admitted.

Eugene’s and Carl’s faces fell.

“Well, I do know that the man had been arrested for making love in the park,” Jesse said.

“My God! It’s amazing the risks people take,” Carl said. “It’s dangerous just to walk in the park at night, much less make love.”

“This wasn’t at night,” Jesse said. “It was at lunchtime.”

“They must have been embarrassed,” Eugene said.

“Quite the contrary,” Jesse said. “They were irritated at being disturbed. They said that the police should be more concerned about the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the resultant greenhouse effect.”

Both Eugene and Carl laughed.

As soon as Jesse told the story it reminded him of the conversation the previous evening about the infected people’s concerns about environmental issues. The possibility that the noontime lovers were infected people had never occurred to him.

Redirecting his attention to the task at hand, Carl said to Eugene: “I don’t think this is going to work.” At that moment behind a darkly tinted glass screen they were blasting one of the black discs with a high energy laser to knock off some molecules. A gas chromatograph was poised to analyze the resultant gas. Unfortunately the laser wasn’t doing the trick.

“All right, turn it off,” Eugene said.

The bright beam of coherent light was instantly extinguished when the power was interrupted. The two scientists gazed at the small disc.

“That’s one hard surface,” Carl said. “What do you think it’s composed of?”

“I don’t know,” Eugene admitted. “But I’m as sure as hell going to find out. Whoever made it better have a patent or I’m going to file one.”

“What should we do next?” Carl asked.

“Let’s use a diamond drill,” Eugene said. “Then we’ll vaporize the shavings and let the gas chromatograph do the work.”

Slipping an antacid tablet into her mouth, Cassy emerged from the airline terminal building and waited her turn in the taxi line. She’d been anxious from the moment she’d awakened that morning, and the closer she got to Santa Fe the worse it had become. She’d magnified the problem by having coffee on the plane. Now her stomach was in a knot.

“Where to, Miss?” the cab driver asked.

“Do you know anything about this Institute for a New Beginning?” Cassy asked.

“For sure,” the driver said. “It’s brand new, yet it’s the destination of half my fares. Is that where you want to go?”

“Please,” Cassy said. She sat back and blankly watched the scenery roll by. Pitt had been adamantly against the idea of Cassy visiting Beau, but once it had taken hold in Cassy’s mind, she couldn’t let it go. Although she admitted there might be some danger as Sheila predicted, in her heart she could not imagine Beau would ever harm her in any way.

“I have to drop you off here at the gate,” the driver said when they had reached the edge of the institute’s property. “They don’t like car exhaust up near the house. But it isn’t far. Only a couple of hundred yards.”

Cassy paid the fare and got out. It was a pristine location. There was a white fence as if it were a horse farm. There was also a gate across the driveway, but it was ajar.

Two nicely dressed men about Cassy’s age stood off to the side of the gate. They looked tanned and healthy. They were both smiling pleasantly, but as Cassy approached, their smiles didn’t change. It was as if their faces were frozen in an expression of gaiety.

Even if the smiles seemed contrived, the two men were cordial. When Cassy said she was hoping to see Beau Stark, they replied that they understood perfectly. They directed her to walk to the house.

Mildly unnerved by this strange interaction, Cassy followed the twisting driveway through the trees. On either side beneath the shade of the trees she caught sight of an occasional large dog. Although every dog she saw turned to watch her, none of them bothered her.

When the shadows of the pines gave way to the sweeping lawns surrounding the mansion, Cassy was impressed despite her anxieties. The only thing that marred the gorgeous scene was the huge banner draped across the entrance.

The moment Cassy started up the front steps a woman appeared who was approximately Cassy’s age. She sported a similar smile to the men at the gate. From inside the house Cassy heard sounds of construction.

“I’m here to see Beau Stark,” Cassy said.

“Yes, I know,” the woman said. “Please follow me.”

The woman took Cassy back down the steps and around the enormous house.

“Beautiful home,” Cassy commented to make conversation.

“Isn’t it,” the woman replied. “And to think this is just the beginning. We’re all very excited.”

The rear of the house was dominated by a large terrace complete with ivy-draped pergolas. Beyond the terrace was a swimming pool. At the edge of the pool was a large umbrella shading a table seating eight. Beau was at the head of the table. About twenty feet away lay King.

As Cassy approached she studied Beau. She had to admit that he looked wonderful. In fact he’d rarely looked so good. His thick hair had more than its usual shine and the skin of his face glowed as if he’d just emerged from a refreshing plunge into the sea. He was carefully dressed in a white billowy shirt. The rest of the people were dressed in suits and ties, including two women.

Several easels were set up to support large pads of paper. The exposed pages were covered with arcane schematics and incomprehensible equations. The table was strewn with papers with similar content. A half dozen laptops were open and humming.

Cassy had never felt more uncertain in her life. Her anxiety had gone up a notch the closer she got to Beau. She had no idea what she was going to say to him. It made it worse that she was interrupting a meeting with important-appearing people. They were all older than Beau and looked professional, like lawyers or doctors.

But before Cassy reached the table, Beau turned toward her, smiled broadly when he recognized her, and leaped to his feet. Without a word to the other people at the table, he ran to Cassy and took her hands. His blue eyes sparkled. For a second Cassy swooned. She felt as if she could have fallen into his huge black pupils.

“I’m so glad you’ve come,” Beau said. “I’ve been so eager to talk with you.”

Beau’s words nudged Cassy from her momentary helplessness. “Why didn’t you call?” she asked. It was a question she’d not dared ask herself until that moment.

“It’s been so hectic,” Beau explained. “I’ve been busy twenty-four hours a day. Believe me.”

“I guess I’m lucky to get to see you,” Cassy said. She glanced over at the group at the table who were patiently waiting. Same with King who’d raised himself to a sitting position. “You’ve become quite an important man now.”

“There are responsibilities,” Beau admitted. He led her a few yards farther away from the group and then pointed up at the house. His other hand still held hers.

“What do you think?” he asked proudly.

“I’m a bit overwhelmed,” Cassy said. “I’m not sure what to think.”

“What you see here is only the beginning. Only the tip of the iceberg. It’s so exciting.”

“Only the beginning of what?” Cassy asked. “What are you doing here?”

“We are going to make everything right,” Beau said. “Remember me telling you over the last six months that I was going to play an important role in the world if I got a job with Randy Nite? Well, it’s happening in a way that I never could have anticipated. Beau Stark, the boy from Brookline, is going to help lead the world to a new beginning.”

Cassy looked directly into the depths of Beau’s eyes. She knew he was in there. If only she could get to him behind this megalomania facade. Lowering her voice and not taking her eyes from his she said: “I know this isn’t you talking, Beau. You are not doing this. Something... someone is controlling you.”

Beau put his head back and laughed heartily. “Oh, Cassy,” he remarked. “Always the skeptic! Believe me, no one is controlling me. I’m just Beau Stark. I’m still the same guy you love and who loves you.”

“Beau, I do love you,” Cassy said with sudden vehemence. “And I think you love me. For the sake of that love come back home with me. Come to the medical center. There is a doctor there who wants to examine you, to find out what’s made you change. She thinks it started with that flu you had. Please fight this, whatever it is!”

Despite Cassy’s vow to keep her emotions in check, they welled up anyway. Tears came and formed rivulets on her cheeks. She’d not meant to cry but was powerless to prevent it.

“I do love you,” she managed.

Beau reached out and wiped the tears from the corners of Cassy’s eyes. He regarded her in a truly loving way. He pulled her toward him and enveloped her with his arms, pressing his face against hers.

At first Cassy held back. But as she felt Beau clutching her she relented. She put her own arms around him and, closing her eyes, squeezed him tightly. She didn’t want to let him go, ever.

“I do love you,” Beau whispered. His lips were brushing her ear. “And I want you to join us. I want you to become one of us because you won’t be able to stop us. No one will!”

Cassy stiffened. Hearing Beau’s words was like having a knife driven into her heart. Her eyes popped open. With her face still pressed up against his she could see the blurry form of his ear. But what made her blood run cold was a small patch of skin behind his ear that was grayish-blue in color. Reflexively her hand came up and her fingers touched the area. It was rough, almost scaly in texture, and cold. Beau was mutating!

With a rush of revulsion, Cassy tried to extract herself from Beau’s grasp, but he held her tightly. He was stronger than she remembered.

“You’ll be joining us soon, Cassy,” Beau whispered. He acted unaware of her struggles. “Why not let it be now? Please!”

Changing tactics, Cassy abandoned trying to push away from Beau. Instead she quickly ducked beneath his arms and collapsed on the ground. She was up immediately. Her love and concern had turned to terror. She took several steps backward. The only thing that kept her from bolting was the shock of seeing tears had formed in Beau’s eyes.

“Please!” Beau pleaded. “Join us, my dearest.”

Cassy tore herself away despite Beau’s unexpected show of emotion and sprinted beneath the nearest pergola, heading for the end of the house.

The woman who’d met Cassy on the front porch when she had first arrived stepped forward. During Cassy and Beau’s conversation she’d stood discreetly to the side. Now her eyes met Beau’s, and she motioned toward Cassy’s fleeing figure.

Beau understood the meaning of the gesture. She was asking if she should send someone after Cassy. Beau hesitated. He was struggling with himself. Finally he shook his head and turned back to the men and women waiting for him.

Having already found most of the things on the shopping list, Jonathan rewarded himself by loading up with Coke and then strolling up the aisle with all the potato chips. He selected a few of his favorite types and was nearing the meat department when his cart practically ran into Candee’s.

“My God, Candee!” Jonathan blurted. “Where have you been? I’ve called twenty times.”

“Jonathan,” Candee said happily. “I’m so glad to see you. I’ve missed you.”

“You have?” Jonathan asked. He couldn’t help notice how fantastic Candee looked. She was wearing a miniskirt over a tank top body suit. Every curve of her tight, lithe body was there to see and appreciate.

“Oh yes,” Candee said. “I’ve been thinking about you lots.”

“How come you haven’t been at school?” Jonathan asked. “I looked for you.”

“I’ve been looking for you as well,” Candee said.

Jonathan managed to coax his eyes to travel northward to Candee’s elfin face. When he did he noticed her smile. There was something abnormal about it even though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

“I wanted to tell you that I was wrong about my parents,” Candee said. “Totally wrong.”

Before Jonathan could respond to this shocking reversal, both of Candee’s parents rounded the end of the aisle and came up behind Candee. Her father, Stan, put his hands on Candee’s shoulders and beamed.

“Now this is one cute chick, wouldn’t you say?” Stan said proudly. “And as an added inducement, there’s good, healthy genes in these ovaries.”

Candee glanced up into her father’s face and gave him an adoring look.

Jonathan averted his eyes. He thought he might puke. These people belonged in a zoo.

“We’ve missed you at the house,” Candee’s mother, Joy, said. “Why don’t you come over tonight. Us adults will be having a get-together, but it doesn’t mean you two youths can’t spend some quality time together.”

“Yes, well, that sounds great,” Jonathan said. He felt a mild degree of panic since Joy had moved to his side, hemming him in against the shelving. Candee and Stan were blocking his way forward.

“Can we count on you?” Joy asked.

Jonathan let his eyes streak past Candee’s face. She was still smiling that same smile, and Jonathan realized what it was that was abnormal about it. It was fake. It was the kind of smile people made when they tell themselves to smile. It wasn’t a reflection of inner emotion.

“I got a lot of homework tonight,” Jonathan said. He started to back up his shopping cart.

Joy gazed into Jonathan’s cart. “You certainly are a busy little shopper. Are you having a meeting at your house as well? Perhaps we should all come over there.”

“No, no,” Jonathan said nervously. “Nobody’s coming over. Nothing like that at all. I’m just picking up some TV munchies.” Jonathan wondered if these people somehow knew about their little group.

Another glance at their fake smiles gave Jonathan a shiver of fear and propelled him to “make tracks.” Abruptly he yanked his cart backward, turned it around, yelled that he had to be going, and rapidly headed toward the check-out lanes. As he walked he could feel the Taylor family’s eyes on his back.

“This is the street,” Pitt said. He was directing Nancy to his cousin’s apartment where they’d all agreed to meet once again. Sheila was in the backseat of the minivan clutching a sheaf of papers.

It was already dark and the streetlamps were lit. As they approached the proper garden apartment complex, Nancy slowed.

“Seems to be a lot of people out tonight,” Nancy said.

“You’re right,” Pitt said. “Looks like noontime in the city center rather than evening in the suburbs.”

“I can understand the ones with dogs,” Sheila said. “But what are these other people doing? Are they just walking aimlessly?”

“It’s weird,” Pitt admitted. “No one seems to be talking to anyone, yet they are all smiling.”

“So they are,” Sheila said.

“What should I do?” Nancy asked. They were almost to their destination.

“Drive around the block,” Sheila suggested. “Let’s see if they notice us.”

Nancy took the suggestion. As they came back to where they’d started, none of the many pedestrians appeared to look in their direction.

“Let’s go in,” Sheila said.

Nancy parked. They all alighted quickly. Pitt let the women go ahead. By the time he got to the common entry door, the women were already heading up the interior stairway. Pitt looked back out to the street. He’d had the distinct feeling as he’d come up the path that he was being watched, but as he scanned the area, none of the people were looking in his direction.

Cassy opened the door in response to Pitt’s knock. Pitt’s face brightened. He was relieved to see her. “How’d the trip go?” he asked.

“Not so good,” Cassy admitted.

“Did you see Beau?”

“Yes, I saw him,” Cassy said. “But I’d rather not talk about it now.”

“Okay,” Pitt said supportively. He was concerned. He could tell Cassy was truly troubled. He followed her into the living room.

“I’m glad you all are finally here,” Eugene said. His blue chambray shirt was open at the neck and his knitted tie was loosened. His dark eyes darted from person to person. He was wired: a far cry from his bored condescension the evening before.

Sitting around the coffee table were Jesse, Nancy, and Sheila. On the table was the Tupperware container with the two black discs along with an assortment of potato chips from Jonathan’s shopping foray. Jonathan was at the window intermittently peeking out. Pitt and Cassy took chairs.

“You know there’s a shitload of people wandering around outside,” Jonathan said.

“Jonathan, watch your language,” Nancy scolded.

“We saw them,” Sheila said. “They ignored us.”

“Can I have everyone’s attention,” Eugene said. “I’ve had an interesting day to say the least. Carl and I threw everything we had at this black disc. It is incredibly hard.”

“Who’s Carl?” Sheila asked.

“My Ph.D. assistant,” Eugene said.

“I thought we agreed to keep all this among ourselves,” Sheila said. “At least until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“Carl’s fine,” Eugene said. “But you’re right. Maybe I should have been working by myself. I have to admit I was skeptical about all this, but I’m not now.”

“What did you find?” Sheila asked.

“The disc is not made of any natural material,” Eugene said. “It’s a polymer of sorts. Actually more like a ceramic, but not a true ceramic because there’s a metallic component.”

“It’s even got diamond in it,” Jesse said.

Eugene nodded. “Diamond, silicon, and a type of metal that we have yet to identify.”

“What are you saying?” Cassy asked.

“We’re saying that it’s made of a substance that our current capabilities could not possibly duplicate.”

“So say it in English,” Jonathan voiced. “It’s extraterrestrial, that’s what it is.”

The reality of the confirmation stunned everyone, even though everyone except Eugene had expected as much.

“Well, we’ve made some progress today as well,” Sheila said. She looked at Nancy.

“We’ve tentatively located a virus,” Nancy said.

“An alien virus?” Eugene asked, turning pale.

“Yes and no,” Sheila said.

“Come on!” Eugene complained. “Stop teasing us. What are you suggesting?”

“From my initial investigations,” Nancy said, “and I have to emphasize initial, there is a virus involved, but it hasn’t come in these black discs. At least not now. The virus has been here a long time: a long, long time, because it’s in every organism I tested today. My guess is that it is in every earthly organism with a genome large enough to house it.”

“So it didn’t come in these little spaceships?” Jonathan asked. He sounded disappointed.

“If it’s not a virus, what’s in the infectious fluid?” Eugene asked.

“It’s a protein,” Nancy said. “Something like a prion. You know, like what causes Mad Cow disease. But not exactly the same because this protein reacts with the viral DNA. In fact that’s how I found the virus so easily. I used the protein as a probe.”

“What we think is the protein unmasks the virus,” Sheila said.

“So the flulike syndrome is the body reacting with this protein,” Eugene said.

“That’s my guess,” Nancy said. “The protein is antigenic and causes a kind of overcharged immunological insult. That’s why the lymphokines are produced in such abundance, and it’s the lymphokines that are actually responsible for the symptoms.”

“Once unmasked what is this virus doing?” Eugene asked.

“That’s a question that’s going to take some work,” Nancy admitted. “But our impression is that unlike a normal virus which only takes over a single cell, this virus is capable of taking over an entire organism, particularly the brain. So just calling it a virus is misleading. Pitt had a good, suggestion. He called it a mega-virus.”

Pitt blushed. “It just came to me,” he explained.

“This mega-virus has apparently been around way before humans evolved,” Sheila said. “Nancy found it in a highly conserved segment of DNA.”

“A segment that researchers have ignored,” Nancy said. “It’s one of those noncoding segments, or so people thought. And it’s big. It’s hundreds of thousands of base pairs long.”

“So this mega-virus has been just waiting,” Cassy said.

“That’s our thought,” Nancy said. “Perhaps some alien viral race or maybe an alien race capable of packaging itself in a viral form for space travel visited the Earth eons ago when life was just evolving. They planted themselves in the DNA like sentinels that waited to see what kind of life might develop. I suppose they could be intermittently awakened with these little spaceships. All they need is the enabling protein.”

“And now we’ve finally evolved into something that they want to inhabit,” Eugene said. “Maybe that’s what that blast of radio waves was the other night. Maybe these discs can communicate back to wherever they come from.”

“Wait a sec,” Jonathan said. “You mean that this alien virus is already inside me, like in hibernation?”

“That’s what we believe,” Sheila said, “provided our initial impressions are correct. The virus’s potential to express itself is in our genomes, sort of like an oncogene has the power to express itself as a cancer. We already know that bits and pieces of regular viruses are nestled into our DNA. This just happens to be a humongous piece.”

For a few minutes the room was dominated by an awed silence. Pitt took a potato chip. His chewing sounds seemed abnormally loud. He glanced at the others when he became aware they were staring at him. “Sorry,” he said.

“I have a feeling that these so called mega-viruses are not content just to take over,” Cassy said suddenly. “I’m afraid they have the power to cause organisms to mutate.”

All eyes turned to Cassy.

“How do you know that?” Sheila asked.

“Because I went to see my fiancé, Beau Stark, today,” Cassy admitted.

“I hardly think that was wise,” Sheila said angrily.

“I had to,” Cassy said. “I had to try to talk to him and get him to come back and be examined.”

“Did you tell him about us?” Sheila demanded.

Cassy shook her head. Thinking about her visit, she fought against tears.

Pitt got out of his chair and sat on the arm of Cassy’s. He put his arm around her shoulders.

“What made you think about mutation?” Nancy asked. “Do you mean somatic mutation, like his body changing?”

“Yes,” Cassy said. She reached up and took hold of Pitt’s hand. “The skin behind his ear has changed. It’s not human skin. It’s like something I’ve never felt.”

This new revelation brought another period of silence. Now the threat seemed even greater. There was a monster lurking in everyone.

“We have to try to do something about this,” Jesse said. “We have to do it now!”

“I agree,” Sheila said. “We don’t have a lot of data but we have some.”

“We’ve got the protein,” Nancy said. “Even if we don’t know much about it yet.”

“And we have the discs with the preliminary analysis of their composition,” Eugene added.

“The only problem is we don’t know who is infected and who isn’t,” Sheila said.

“We’ll have to take that chance,” Cassy said.

Nancy agreed. “We don’t have any choice. Let’s put all our data together in a more or less formal report. I want to have something in hand. A good place to do it is in my office at Serotec. We won’t be bothered, and we’ll have access to word processing, printers, and copiers. What do you all say?”

“I say time’s a’wasting,” Jesse remarked and got up from the couch.

Eugene put the Tupperware container with the two black discs into a knapsack that also contained printouts of the various tests he’d run. He slung it over his shoulder and followed the others outside.

Everybody squeezed into the Sellerses’ minivan. Nancy drove. As they pulled away from the curb, Jonathan looked out the back window. A few of the many pedestrians were watching them but most ignored them.

Within an hour the entire group was hard at work. They divided the task up according to abilities. Cassy and Pitt were busy typing on computer terminals with Jonathan’s technical assistance. Nancy and Eugene were making copies of their test results. Sheila was collating the patients’ charts of hundreds of flu cases. Jesse was on the telephone.

“I think you should be the one to speak,” Nancy told Sheila. “You’re the medical doctor.”

“No doubt about it,” Eugene said. “You’ll be much more convincing. We can back you up by providing details as needed.”

“That’s a lot of responsibility,” Sheila said.

Jesse hung up the phone. “There’s a red-eye to Atlanta that leaves in an hour and ten minutes. I booked three seats. I assumed that just Sheila, Nancy, and Eugene were going.”

Nancy looked over at Jonathan. “Maybe Eugene or I should stay here,” she said.

“Mom!” Jonathan whined. “I’ll be fine.”

“I think it is important that both you people come,” Sheila said. “You’re the ones who have done the tests.”

“Jonathan can stay with us,” Cassy said.

Jonathan’s face brightened.

SEVERAL CARS PULLED UP TO THE FRONT OF THE SEROTEC building. Pedestrians stopped their wanderings and walked over. They helped open the doors. From the first car emerged Captain Hernandez. His driver got out on the other side. It was Vince Garbon. From the car behind emerged plainclothes officers as well as Candee and her parents.

The pedestrians stood in front of the captain and pointed up to the lights in the fourth-floor windows. They told the captain that all the “unchanged” were up there. The captain nodded, then waved to the others to follow him. En masse they entered the building.

Cassy had finished her typing and was waiting by the printer as it spewed out the pages. Jonathan moved over so he was standing next to her.

“I still don’t understand why Atlanta,” Jonathan said. “Why not just go to the the health authorities here?”

“Because we don’t know whose side the local health people are on,” Cassy said. “The problem is here in this city, and we can’t risk spilling all we know to somebody who might be one of them.”

“But how do you know it’s not happening in Atlanta?” Jonathan asked.

“We don’t know,” Cassy admitted. “At this stage we’re just hoping.”

“Besides,” Pitt said, overhearing, “the CDC is the best bet for handling this kind of problem. It’s a national organization. If need be they could quarantine this city or even the whole state. And perhaps most critical of all, they can get the word out. This whole affair has happened so fast here that the media haven’t even picked up on it.”

“Either that or the people who control the media are all infected,” Cassy said.

Cassy got her pages together and joined them with Pitt’s. As she was stapling them together the lights flickered.

“What the hell was that?” Jesse asked. He was tense like everyone else.

For a moment no one moved. Then the lights went out. The only illumination came from computer screens that had backup battery power sources.

“Don’t panic,” Nancy said. “The building has its own generators.”

Jonathan went to the window. He cranked it open and stuck his head out. Below he could see light coming from lower floors. He relayed this disturbing information to the others.

“I don’t like this,” Jesse said.

The faint but high-pitched whine of the elevator permeated the room. The elevator was coming up.

“Let’s get out of here!” Jesse yelled.

Frantically the group threw together all their papers and packed them into a leather briefcase before racing from the room. In the darkened hall they could see from the floor indicator that the elevator was almost there.

With Nancy silently beckoning to show the way, they ran the length of the corridor and burst through the door into the stairwell. They started down but almost immediately heard a door opening three floors below them on the ground level.

Jesse, who was now in the lead, made a snap decision and detoured into the corridor of the third floor. Everyone followed.

They dashed to the stairwell at the opposite end. Jesse held up until Sheila brought up the rear. As Jesse was about to open the door, he caught a glimpse through the door’s window of someone coming up the stairs. Quickly he ducked down and motioned frantically for the others to do the same. They all heard the heavy footfalls of several people charging up the stairs, heading to the fourth floor.

The moment Jesse thought he heard the stairwell door above close, he pulled open the door in front of him. He looked up. Satisfied the stairwell was now empty, he motioned for the others to follow him down to the ground level.

They regrouped in front of a door that said it was armed and was restricted for emergency use only.

“Everybody here?” Jesse whispered.

“We’re all here,” Eugene said.

“We get in that van and we’re out of here,” Jesse said. “I’ll drive. Let me have the keys.”

Nancy gladly passed them to him.

“Okay, go!” Jesse said. He burst through the door, setting off the alarm. The others followed closely at his heels. They ran half bent over. Within a few seconds they were inside the car, and Jesse had the engine roaring.

“Hang on,” he warned. He gunned the engine. With a screech of tires they rocketed out of the parking lot. Jesse didn’t bother to stop at the security gate. The van hit the black-and-white wooden bar and snapped it cleanly off.

Jonathan turned and looked out the rear window. Glancing up at the darkened windows of the fourth floor, he saw several pairs of glowing eyes. They appeared like cats’ eyes reflecting the beam of a headlight.

Jesse drove rapidly but purposefully within the speed limit. He’d passed a few squad cars and didn’t want to attract their attention.

At a traffic light everyone began to calm down enough to discuss who it could have been that had tried to corner them in the Serotec building. No one had any idea. Nor did anyone know who would have tipped them off. Nancy questioned whether the night security man might be one of “them.”

At the next light, Pitt happened to glance over at the car alongside them. When the driver turned to look at Pitt, his face immediately reflected recognition. Pitt saw him reach for his cellular phone.

“This sounds crazy,” Pitt said. “But I think the guy next to us recognizes us.”

Jesse responded by ignoring the red light. He surged forward between cars, then turned off the main street. They bumped down a back alley.

“Aren’t we going the opposite direction from the airport?” Sheila asked.

“Don’t worry,” Jesse said. “As the expression goes, I know this city like the back of my hand.”

They made a few more surprising turns down small, out-of-the-way streets. Then to everyone’s surprise they sped up an entrance to the freeway that no one in the car besides Jesse knew existed.

They drove the rest of the way to the airport in silence. It was becoming clear to everyone the extent of the conspiracy and that they could not let down their guard.

Jesse drove up to the departure level of the airport and pulled to a halt at terminal C. Everyone piled out of the van.

“We can take care of ourselves from here,” Sheila said, grabbing the briefcase containing the hastily assembled report. “Why don’t the rest of you get back home to safety?”

“We’re going to see you three off,” Jesse said. “I want to make sure there is no more trouble.”

“What about the van?” Pitt asked. “Do you want me to stay here with it?”

“No,” Jesse said. “I want all of us inside.”

The interior of the terminal at that hour was all but deserted. A cleaning crew was polishing the expansive terrazzo floor. The Delta counter was the only one occupied. The monitors said that the Atlanta flight was on time.

“All you people head out to the gate,” Jesse said. “I’ll get the tickets. Just be sure to have your picture IDs handy.”

The group hurried across the terminal and approached airport security. There were a few other passengers who were waiting their turn to put their carry-on baggage into the X-ray detector.

“Where are the black discs?” Cassy whispered to Pitt.

“Eugene has them in his knapsack,” Pitt answered.

At that moment Eugene dropped the knapsack on the conveyer, and it disappeared inside the machine. He stepped through the metal detector.

“What if they set off an alarm?” Cassy said.

“I’m more worried that the security personnel might be one of ‘them’ and recognize the image on X-ray,” Pitt said.

Both Pitt and Cassy held their breath as the woman security guard halted the machine. Her eyes were glued to the X-ray image. It seemed like a full minute before the woman restarted the conveyer belt. Cassy sighed in relief. She and Pitt stepped through the metal detector and caught up with the others.

They all avoided locking eyes with any of the other passengers as they walked out the concourse. It was nerve-racking not knowing who was infected and who wasn’t. As if reading everybody’s mind, Jonathan said: “I think you can tell who they are by either their smiles or their eyes.”

“What do you mean?” Nancy asked.

“It’s either a fake smile or their eyes glow,” Jonathan said. “Of course you can only see the eyes in the dark.”

“I think you are right, Jonathan,” Cassy said. She’d witnessed both.

They arrived at the gate. The plane was already mostly boarded. They moved to the side to wait for Jesse.

“See that woman over there?” Jonathan said while pointing. “Look at that stupid grin. I bet five bucks she’s one of them.”

“Jonathan!” Nancy whispered forcibly. “Don’t be so obvious.”

Vince Garbon pulled the unmarked police car over to the curb, directly behind the Sellerses’ minivan.

“Obviously they are here,” Captain Hernandez said as he got out of the car. A second car pulled up behind the first. Candee, her parents, and the other plainclothes officers emerged.

Like iron filings being drawn to a magnet, a number of infected airport workers immediately drew around the captain and his group.

“Gate 5, terminal C,” one these people said to the captain. “Flight 917 for Atlanta.”

“Let’s go,” Captain Hernandez said. He stepped through the automatic door into the terminal and waved for the others to follow him.

“Now where’s Jesse?” Sheila asked. She looked for him back along the concourse toward the main terminal. “I don’t want to miss this flight.”

“Eugene,” Nancy whispered to her husband. “With all that’s going on, I’m having second thoughts about leaving Jonathan. Maybe one of us should stay here.”

“I’ll watch out for him,” Jesse said. He’d come up behind the group in time to hear Nancy’s comment. “You do your thing in Atlanta. He’ll be fine.”

“How did you get here?” Sheila asked.

Jesse pointed toward an unmarked, locked door just behind them. “I’ve been to the airport so many times investigating various crimes that I know the place better than my own basement.”

He handed tickets to Nancy, Eugene, and Sheila. Nancy gave her son one last hug. Jonathan remained stiff with his arms at his side.

“You be careful, hear me?” Nancy said, trying vainly to look Jonathan in the eye.

“Mom!” Jonathan complained.

“Let’s go,” Sheila said. “It’s last call.”

With Sheila in the lead and Nancy bringing up the rear to give her son a final wave, the three checked in at the gate, showed their picture ID’s then disappeared down the jetway. A few minutes later the jetway pulled back from the plane and the plane taxied out into the night.

Jesse turned from the window with a sigh of relief. “They’re off, thank God,” he said. “But now we... ”

Jesse didn’t get to finish his sentence because he saw Captain Hernandez and Vince Garbon leading a large pack of people. They were walking quickly down the center of the concourse, heading directly toward gate 5.

Cassy saw the cloud descend over Jesse’s face and started to ask what was wrong. But Jesse didn’t give her a chance. Roughly he herded the group back against the unmarked door.

“What’s going on?” Pitt demanded.

Jesse ignored him and quickly punched in the combination on the keypad next to the doorknob. The door opened. “Go!” he commanded.

Cassy was first through the door followed by Jonathan and then Pitt. Jesse pulled the door shut behind himself.

“Come on!” he whispered harshly. He rapidly descended a flight of metal stairs, and ran along a corridor until he came to a door to the outside. On a series of pegs next to the door were yellow rain ponchos with hoods. Quickly he tossed one to each of the others and told them to put them on, including the hoods.

Everyone complied. Cassy asked who he’d seen.

“The chief of police,” Jesse said. “And I know for sure he’s one of them.”

Once again typing the combination onto a keypad, Jesse opened the door to the outside. The group stepped out onto the tarmac. They were directly below the jetway for gate 5.

“See that luggage train over there?” Jesse said as he pointed. It was a tractor-like vehicle hitched to a string of five baggage carts. It was parked about fifty feet away. “We are going to walk over there real casual like. The problem is we’ll be visible from the windows above. Once there you all are going to climb into one of the baggage cars. Then, God willing, we’ll ride back to terminal A, not C.”

“But our car is at terminal C,” Pitt said.

“We’re leaving the car,” Jesse said.

“We are?” Jonathan asked. He was shocked. It was his parents’ car.

“Damn right we are,” Jesse said. “Let’s go!”

They got to the baggage cart without incident. Everyone was tempted to look up into the windows, but no one did.

Jesse started the engine while the others climbed aboard. They were thankful for Jesse’s decisive authority. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the baggage train twisted around like a snake and then headed for terminal A.

They passed a few airline workers, but no one challenged Jesse’s performance. They arrived at terminal A baggage claim without incident. There, they again benefited from Jesse’s knowledge of the airport layout and procedure. Within minutes they were outside on the arrival level waiting for the airport bus.

“We’ll take the bus back to the city center,” Jesse said. “I can get my car from there.”

“What about my parents’ van?” Jonathan asked.

“I’ll take care of it tomorrow,” Jesse said.

The sound of a huge jet thundered overhead, making conversation momentarily impossible.

“That must have been them,” Jonathan said as soon as he could be heard above the din.

“Now if they can only find receptive people at the CDC,” Pitt said.

“They have to,” Cassy said. “It could be our only chance.”

Beau was occupying the master suite at the château. There were French doors over a balcony that looked down on the terrace and the swimming pool. The doors were ajar and a soft night breeze rustled the papers on the desk. Randy Nite and a few of his more senior people were there, going over the work that had been accomplished that day.

“I’m really pleased,” Randy said.

“So am I,” Beau said. “Things couldn’t be going better.” He ran his hand through his hair and his fingers touched the area of altered skin behind his right ear. He scratched it, and it felt good.

The phone rang and one of Randy’s assistants answered. After a quick conversation he handed the phone to Beau.

“Captain Hernandez,” Beau said happily. “Good of you to call.”

Randy tried to hear what the captain was saying, but he couldn’t.

“So they are on their way to the CDC in Atlanta,” Beau said. “I’m glad you called to let us know, but I assure you there won’t be a problem.”

Beau disconnected but did not hang up the receiver. Instead he dialed another number with a 404 area code. When the call was answered Beau said: “Dr. Clyde Horn, this is Beau Stark. That group of people I told you about today is on their way to Atlanta as we speak. I imagine they’ll be at the CDC tomorrow so handle them as we discussed.”

Beau replaced the receiver.

“Do you expect any trouble?” Randy asked.

Beau smiled. “Of course not. Don’t be silly.”

“Are you sure you should have let that Cassy Winthrope leave today?” Randy asked.

“Goodness, you are a worrywart tonight,” Beau said. “But yes, I’m sure. She’s been rather special to me, and I decided I didn’t want to force her. I want her to embrace the cause voluntarily.”

“I don’t understand why you care,” Randy said.

“I’m not sure why I do either,” Beau admitted. “But enough of this talk. Come outside! It’s almost time.”

Beau and Randy stepped out onto the balcony. After a glance up at the night sky, Beau stuck his head back inside the room and asked one of the assistants to go down and turn off the underwater lights in the pool.

A few minutes later the pool lights went out. The effect was dramatic. The stars were much more intense, especially those in the galactic core of the Milky Way.

“How much longer?” Randy asked.

“Two seconds,” Beau said.

No sooner had the words escaped from Beau’s lips than the sky lit up with a profusion of shooting stars. Literally thousands of them rained down like a gigantic fireworks display.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Beau said.

“Marvelous,” Randy said.

“It’s the final wave,” Beau said. “The final wave!”