Patient Zero

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The DMS Warehouse, Baltimore / 3:44 P.M.

THE FOUR OF them went to change out of civvies into the nondescript black BDUs that one of Church’s people supplied-correct sizes, too, even for Bunny. I was about to head off to the bathroom to swap out of my clothes when I saw Rudy standing by the row of chairs, an armed guard by his side. I walked over to Rudy and we shook hands, then gave each other a tight hug. I looked at the guard. “Step off.”

He moved exactly six feet away and stared a hole through the middle distance.

I punched Rudy lightly on the shoulder. “You okay, man?”

“Little scared, Joe, but okay.” He glanced covertly at the guard and lowered his voice. “I’ve spent the last few minutes talking to your Mr. Church. He’s ” He fished for an adjective that probably didn’t exist.

“Yeah, he is.”

“So, you’re Captain Ledger now. Impressive.”

“Ridiculous, too.”

He lowered his voice another notch. “Church took me on a quick tour. This is not some fly-by-night operation. This is millions of taxpayer dollars here.”

“Mm. I still don’t know anything about how it runs. I’ve only seen two commanding officers-Church and this woman, Major Grace Courtland. Have you met her?”

Rudy brightened. “Oh yes. She’s very interesting.”

“Is that the shrink talking or the wolf in shrink’s clothing?”

“A little of both. If I was crass I’d make a joke about wanting to get her on my couch.”

“But of course you’re not crass.”

“Of course not.” He looked around the room. “How do you feel about all this?”

“Borderline freaked. You?”

“Oh, I’m well over the border into total freakout. Luckily I have years of practice at a professional appearance of calm tranquility. Inside I’m a mess.”

“Really?”

“Really.” His smile looked frozen into place. “Church told me about St. Michael’s and about that village in Afghanistan.”

I nodded, and for a moment I had this weird feeling that we were standing there surrounded by ghosts.

“And now you’re working for them,” Rudy said.

“Working for them maybe isn’t the right way to say it. It’s more like we’re both working against the same enemy.”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend?”

“Something like that.”

“Church said that you might be leading a small team against these terrorists. Why not send the entire army, navy, and marine corps all at once?”

I shook my head. “The more feet on the ground the bigger the risk of uncontrollable contamination. A small team wouldn’t get in each other’s way; there would be fewer instances where a soldier would be faced with the choice of whether to shoot an infected comrade. It simplifies things. And if worse comes to worst and the infection has to be contained like it was at St. Michael’s then there are fewer overall losses of assets.”

“ ‘Assets’?” Rudy echoed.

“People.”

“Dios mio. How do you know all this?”

“It’s just common sense,” I said.

“No,” he said, “it’s not. I wouldn’t have thought of that. Most people wouldn’t.”

“A fighter would.”

“You mean a warrior,” said Rudy.

I nodded.

Rudy gave me a strange look. Behind him my four team members came filing in dressed in black BDUs. Rudy turned and watched as they walked over to the training area. “They look like tough men.”

“They are.”

He turned back to me. “I hope they’re not so tough that they’re hardened, Joe. We’re not just fighting against something we’re fighting for something, and it would be a shame to destroy the very thing you’re fighting to preserve.”

“I know.”

“I hope you do.” He looked at his watch. “I’d better go. Mr. Church is going to introduce me to the research teams. I think he’s trying to recruit me, too.”

“Ha! That’ll be the day.”

But Rudy gave me a funny look before he turned and headed back into the offices with the guard a half step behind him, rifle at port arms. I watched them until they passed through the far doorway.

“Shit,” I murmured. I walked over to the team and had just opened my mouth to explain the first drill I wanted them to do, but I never got the chance as behind us a door banged open and Sergeant Gus Dietrich came pelting into the room.

“Captain Ledger! Mr. Church wants you immediately.”

“For what?” I asked as Dietrich skidded to a halt.

Dietrich hesitated for a fraction of a second, the new chain of command probably still uncertain in his head. He made his decision quickly, though. “Surveillance teams found the missing truck. We think we found the third cell.”

“Where?”

“Delaware. He wants you to hit it.”

“When?”

“Now,” said a voice, and I wheeled to see Church and Major Courtland striding across the floor. “Training time’s over,” he said. “Echo Team is wheels up in thirty.”