OUTCAST Ops: The Poseidon Initiative

FORTY-FIVE

“It’s been five minutes now and I’m still getting worse.” Jasmijn sat on a stool in front of the lab bench, watching the clock on the wall tick away her final remaining minutes. Her legs suddenly felt rubbery. She would have fallen from the stool if not for Dante and Stephen who moved quickly to hold her up.

“It just needs a little more time to take effect,” Naomi offered. She of course had no idea if this was true, but didn’t want Jasmijn to give up hope.

“No.” The scientist held her head in her hands. “Oh God, no. I remember now. It’s not going to work.”

The battle-hardened trio of operatives were taken aback to see Jasmijn so distraught.

“What is it?” Naomi put a hand on her shoulder.

“No,” she said, lifting her head and wiping away a string of tears. “It can’t work the way I did this last iteration. I realize now what I did wrong but I don’t have time to explain it to you.”

Stephen got down on one knee so that he could level his gaze right into her eyes.” Then don’t explain. Just do it. Make the next iteration.”

Jasmijn took a very deep breath and looked at the ceiling for a second. “I can prepare it. I can set it up and leave instructions to you as to how to complete it…”

She started to cry. “…but there won’t be enough time for me to use it. There are multiple stages — mix these two samples together, autoclave for twenty minutes, chill in the fridge for thirty minutes and so on. Over an hour prep time altogether. By then, I’ll be…” She broke down again.

“Stay with us, Jasmijn,” Nay said. “There’s no time to feel sorry for yourself.”

“Or to kick yourself for mistakes you might have made,” Dante added.

The scientist took another deep breath — or was it just a normal breath that was more labored than usual? “You’re right. Let me get to work. I’ll write out the instructions so that you will be able to cookbook it to completion. Then you just need to test it on a rat. Be extremely careful handling the STX–I’m spending my last remaining minutes trying to save people, not get more of them killed.”

“Don’t worry, Jasmijn, we’ll be careful. Please, document the procedure.”

“Help me over to the sample ‘fridge.”

Dante and Stephen carried her over. “She shook her head and mumbled to herself as she worked, no doubt chastising herself for sticking herself with the STX needle, or for not getting the antidote right last time, which would have saved her. Or both. But she worked, pausing after a major step to think, to make certain she was getting it right this time.

Dante also noticed that her movements were becoming more labored, more difficult. “If you need us to do anything for you, don’t hesitate.” She nodded in response, lost in thoughts that he couldn’t even imagine. Meanwhile, Stephen was on the other side of the room softly reporting to Danielle over the comm system, and receiving an update from her on the Boothbay status. Naomi stood next to Jasmijn, physically supporting her on the stool so that she wouldn’t fall off.

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before,” Jasmijn said, staring into a fluid-filled test-tube. Then she placed the tube into a rack and looked up at her three guardians. “I’ve gone as far as I can go. I feel extremely weak.”

Dante came and gently held the arm that Naomi didn’t have. “I need you to put this tube in the autoclave for twenty minutes. After that…” She picked up a pen and began to write in a lab notebook, but frowned when she looked down at what she had written.

“Jesus. I’m sorry, this chicken-scratch won’t be legible. My hand — it’s shaking…” Her voice cracked with the realization that her body was rapidly breaking down.

“I’ll write for you.” Stephen ran to the lab bench and picked up the notepad and pen.

Jasmijn proceeded to dictate the remaining procedures to him while Naomi steadied her on the stool. Dante would move to the different apparatus and specialized machines she talked about, clarifying the specifics of their use, including the computer programs. When she had finished, Jasmijn had Stephen read the notes back to her while she listened, now being propped up almost exclusively by Naomi.

“Good. You got it.” Her voice had lost much of its tone and sounded like a wheezy rasp. “I need to lay down,” she told Naomi, who eased her on to the floor.

“Jasmijn, do you want me to take you to the hospital? You’d be more comfortable…”

“No. There’s nothing they can do for me. By the time I even explained what was wrong, I’d be…gone.” She closed her eyes.

“Jasmijn!” Naomi pleaded with her to open her eyes. A few seconds later, she did.

Stephen gained Naomi’s attention by waving a cell-phone in her direction and looking down at Jasmijn, his meaning clear. Nay gently shook the dying scientist.

“Jasmijn…listen to me. We’ll carry out the lab procedure to create the antidote. But is there anyone you want us to call for you? Anyone you want to talk to…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it—before you die.

Jasmijn’s movements were very slow now, her breathing shallow. Even her eyes opened slowly as she looked at Naomi. The OUTCAST agent leaned in close to hear the words Jasmijn struggled to project.

“I’m at peace with everyone. Tell Tanner I’ll miss him.”

Naomi leaned in close. “I will. He’ll miss you, too.” Naomi had heard the rumors that Tanner and Jasmijn were romantically linked in the past.

“Jasmijn…” Naomi wasn’t sure what she wanted to say to her. She supposed she just wanted to reach out to her to let her know that someone else was there. “Goodbye,” was all that came out.

And then Dr. Rotmensen went into her death throes. As she herself had watched her lab assistant do, she began to convulse, her throat constricting, her lungs no longer powerful enough to perform their own expanding and contracting. The death wasn’t a pretty one, and although all three of the OUTCASTs had witnessed many people die in various situations, later they would all agree that this was one of the very worst.

Jasmijn’s lips turned blue with lack of oxygen. Her arms and legs twitched but couldn’t really move. The neurotoxin had fully taken hold over her nervous system. She had lost all motor control including the ability to regulate her breathing. Dante and Stephen tried to hold her still so that she wouldn’t bash her head into the tile floor. Naomi did her best to soothe the scientist. She might still be able to hear and process what was going on.

“Relax, Jasmijn. It’s okay. Let go. Let go. You’ve done great work. The world will be a better place for it. They will know how important your work was. It’s okay…”

She continued cooing to her for another minute and then the researcher’s body lay still, a yellow foam issuing from her mouth.

Dante felt her wrist for a pulse. He looked up at his two colleagues and shook his head.

Dr. Jasmijn Rotmensen was dead.