The Solomon Curse

CHAPTER 48

Sam shifted on the hard stone floor as awareness seeped back into his brutalized cranium. His eyes fluttered open, unfocused, and then the blur of indistinct objects resolved itself into the concerned face of Remi, staring down at him, Lazlo looking over her shoulder. Sam blinked, and his head felt like someone had broken a two-by-four over it. He raised a tentative hand to his temple and drew a sharp breath when pain radiated through his skull from the swollen bump, crusted over with blood where the pistol had broken skin.

Sam tried to sit up, but the room spun, and a sound like a freight train roaring through a tunnel filled his ears. He thought better of it, deciding that a few more moments remaining supine wouldn’t hurt, and then his brain began processing the words that Remi was urgently whispering.

“We’re back in the caves. But this one’s different,” she said. He tried to make sense out of that. Last thing he remembered, he was on the road, waving down an ambulance…

His memory came rushing back in a jumble of images. The gunmen. A blow to the head. Darkness.

Sam struggled up, leaning on one elbow, and regarded Remi. “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice a croak.

“Yes. They roughed us up some, but you got the worst of it.”

“I feel like I wrestled a bear.” He blinked again. “The bear won.”

“Not far from the truth,” Lazlo said. “You look a trifle played.”

“That’s what happens when they use your head for a punching bag,” Sam said, and sat up. This time, the room didn’t spin — it tilted — and the nausea that accompanied that sensation surged before slowly receding. He looked back at Remi. “What do you mean, this cave’s different?”

“It’s not the same one we were in. It’s better lit, and has multiple chambers… one of which has some hospital beds in it, along with medical equipment.”

“Medical equipment?” Sam asked, trying to make sense out of hospital beds in caves. “What kind of medical equipment?”

A rusting iron slab at the far end of their empty chamber creaked open and Carol Vanya stepped in, a pleasant smile on her face like she’d dropped by to chat. Two gunmen followed her, brandishing their weapons with ugly expressions.

“Oh, mostly vital signs monitors, IVs, oxygen tanks, that sort of thing,” Vanya said. “We’ve got a solar array set up in a clearing with a considerable battery bank, and a wind generator, as well as a water-driven generator that’s surprisingly powerful.”

Remi glared at her in shock. “You! Why have you kidnapped us?”

Vanya shrugged. “I did try to warn you to leave the island. Several times. But you wouldn’t pay heed. This is what happens when you think you’re so superior that you don’t have to listen to the well-intentioned advice of those who care about you.”

“That’s not an answer,” Sam managed. Vanya shrugged again.

“You stuck your noses where they didn’t belong. That created a problem. Again, you were warned.”

“What are you talking about?” Remi demanded.

“Apparently, you believe I’m here to answer your questions. You’ve got that backwards. So let’s start with why you were rooting around in the caves. What were you looking for?”

“We weren’t looking for anything,” Lazlo lied unconvincingly. “Just exploring.”

Vanya sighed. “My associates here are waiting to take you apart, limb by limb. I’d hoped to have a civilized discussion, but if you want to progress to the ugliness, so be it…”

Remi shook her head. “We were looking for artifacts. Some of the evidence we found in the sunken city pointed to the caves,” she said, offering a partial truth.

“Ah, yes. The infamous sunken city.” She regarded them curiously. “What artifacts?”

“Items of potential archaeological significance,” Remi fired back.

“Well, I hope it was worth it to you because it cost you your lives.”

Sam fixed her with a hard stare. “You’ll never get away with this. Too many people know we’re here.”

Vanya laughed. “In case you haven’t noticed, the island’s awash with rebels. Foreigners and politicians are falling like bowling pins. So a few misguided, pampered dilettantes disappear into the jungle in the midst of a civil war? I’m sure the memorial service will be touching. Perhaps I’ll deliver the eulogy — about troubled times, adventurous souls, generous spirits.”

“Why are you doing this?” Remi whispered.

“You’ve intruded into matters that are none of your concern. Unfortunately, once seen, your discoveries can never be unseen, so even if you swore to remain silent, there’s no way I could allow you to leave.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “You’re involved in the skeletons? The children?”

“Regrettably, some of the more aggressive medical treatments result in terminal side effects. When dealing with incurable illnesses like malaria, it’s often necessary to try experimental approaches in order to advance the human condition. It’s a necessary by-product of discovery, of developing new cures.”

“You’d kill some of your patients,” Lazlo said, almost in awe. “The disappearing village children…”

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work in an unofficial capacity with some visionary pharmaceutical companies. But, as with most industries, they’re hamstrung by arcane rules and regulations that prevent them from creating cures that could save millions. So they seek out medical professionals who understand that the greater good sometimes requires regrettable sacrifices.” Vanya offered another smile, but instead of warming her face, the effect was chilling. “Don’t look at me like that. I assure you it’s nothing new. For decades, Africa has been a testing ground for new vaccines and treatments. Nobody cares what happens over there — or even knows anything is happening at all. A few villages nobody’s heard of suffer casualties, but disastrous human plagues are averted. It’s the way of the world.”

“It’s monstrous. A violation of international law,” Remi stated flatly.

“Spare me your high moral tone. Your country refuses to abide by international law and flouts it constantly. Why should I be any more bound by it than you?”

“You’re insane,” Sam said, his voice quiet.

“Oh, right. Of course I am. That’s always the reaction of the uninformed when you confront reality. You don’t want to know the truth, preferring to live in a dreamworld.” Her face darkened. “In Guinea and Liberia, there are ‘defensive’ bioweapons laboratories that are funded by your country. Why? Because those nations never signed the bioweapons proliferation treaties your government did, so your military-industrial complex can develop nightmares there without technically violating the treaties. It’s a shell game designed for one purpose — to carry out research the civilized world has agreed shouldn’t be continued. But how much outrage does that cause in you? None. What I’m doing is far more benign.”

“It isn’t the same as murdering children,” Remi spat.

“Are you kidding me? I just told you that the same thing has been done in Africa for most of the twentieth century.”

“That’s a rationalization for taking money from the same drug companies you claim to despise and conducting research that would land you in prison for life. It’s got nothing to do with idealism, and everything with money,” Sam countered.

“You can’t be that blind. This is the way the world works. The appetite for medical miracles is insatiable, and there are large tracts of the planet that are off the radar, where shortcuts can be had, saving years, and sometimes decades, so developed nations can enjoy breakthroughs. Do you really believe that ethics and morality, which shift depending on which side of a border you’re on, guide behavior all over the world?”

She frowned. “Your government, your corporations, are guilty of so-called crimes as bad, or worse, than anything I’ve done here. For all your self-righteousness, you’re no better than I am. You want the benefits — you just don’t want to hear about how the sausage is made.”

“You swore an oath — the Hippocratic oath. Which you’re violating every day,” Lazlo said.

“I merely grasp that in order to progress, one needs to make accommodations. Compromises. I’m focused on results. We’re no different at all. I simply admit what I have to do in order to get things done. You want to remain ignorant.” She snapped her fingers and the gunmen stepped forward. “I’m tired of this. Good job capturing them. You have my permission to use whatever means necessary to obtain the information I’m after.” The chilling smile returned as she fixed Sam with a hard stare. “Artifacts indeed. Before you join the skeletons in the cave, you’ll tell my men the truth about what you were doing here.”

“We told you the truth.”

“You told me fairy tales. But we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“So now you’re going to have your rebel associates torture us? Is that also in the interests of medical expediency?” Lazlo demanded.

“Think of that as a fringe benefit of being the leader of the so-called rebels.”

Understanding settled over Remi’s face. “You’re behind all this? But Manchester was your friend…”

“Orwen was a drunk and a fool. For the only time in his life — in death — he served a productive purpose.”

“You sat with him, ate with him, joked with him…”

“And enjoyed myself. But he was standing in the way of progress. That’s always a dangerous stance to take and he paid the price.”

“You really are nuts,” Sam muttered disgustedly.

“Perhaps. But your opinion on the matter is irrelevant. Soon you’ll be part of the boneyard, dead and forgotten in a mass grave.”

“Then you’re nothing but a common murderer,” Remi said. “After all the lofty rhetoric, you’ll murder to protect yourself, to keep your evil from becoming known.”

“Don’t forget to make money,” Sam said. “Why do I suspect that this whole popular rebellion is nothing but a pretense for a swindle? Remember who’s talking — a woman who will experiment on her fellow islanders for a buck while coloring it as some noble way of getting cures to market.”

Vanya sneered at them. “Say what you like. This discussion is finished. It was nice knowing you. I would have enjoyed taking your money for the clinics, if that’s any consolation.”

“You won’t be able to keep your crimes secret,” Sam said. “We’ve made a find that will put Guadalcanal on the national news and have scientists swarming over the island. It’s just a matter of time until they come across your misdeeds and then you’ll be judged harshly by the same laws you believe don’t apply to you.”

“Right. Assuming the Solomon Islands government allows them access to the island. Which is doubtful at this point in light of the antiforeigner sentiment ruling the day.” She eyed Sam like an owl would a mouse. “And at some point soon I can see the caves being destroyed by demolition charges I’ve already had placed, erasing any evidence. And before long I’m going to be rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, so I won’t have to bother with chasing pennies from pharmaceutical companies for doing their dirty work. I’ll be a billionaire many times over, at which point all this becomes an unnecessary distraction.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Sam tried, struggling to hide the distaste he felt. “Once the caves are destroyed, there’s no proof of anything. You said so yourself.”

“True, but I don’t need a pair of multimillionaires claiming I’m the Antichrist. I’m not so provincial that I don’t understand you could stir up enough interest to drive an investigation. No, I’m afraid there’s only one way this ends. You and your colleagues must die. Think of it as a noble sacrifice, if it makes you feel any better, makes your deaths seem meaningful to you.” She checked her watch. “And now I’m afraid I have a hospital to run and politicians to counsel. Good-bye, Sam and Remi Fargo. And you — whatever your name is,” she said, eyeing Lazlo.

The nearest gunman held the iron barrier open for her and both men followed her out, shutting the heavy door and locking it behind them. The sound of the bolt sliding into place was as final as the closing of a coffin lid. As Vanya’s and the men’s footsteps echoed down the passageway, Sam and Remi shared a bleak look with Lazlo.

Sam was the first to speak. “Tell me about what you saw when they brought us in here.”

Remi collected her thoughts and eyed the door. “This cave is farther down the ridge from the one with the bodies and the one we were ambushed in. This is probably all part of the same cave system, though — maybe the fork we didn’t take when we were making our escape.”

“How far in are we?”

“We went through two smaller caves after we entered the mountain.” Remi shuddered. “The one on the other side of the door has the medical equipment and beds in it. It smelled like death.”

Sam nodded. “Think hard. Is there anything we can use, anything either of you saw, that could help us?”

Remi and Lazlo were silent for several moments and then Lazlo shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Bit of a bind this time, I’d say.”

Sam looked at Remi. “Anything at all?”

“If we could get into the next room, some of the equipment could be used as weapons. The oxygen tanks. Some of the cleansers and solvents…”

Sam grunted. “Help me up. I want to look at the door.”

Remi and Lazlo did as Sam asked and they approached the iron door, Remi supporting Sam. He ran his fingers over the hinges, examined where rust was bleeding down the seams, and gave Remi a sour look. He didn’t have to say that there was no way they could work the oversized pins loose — the door had to weigh hundreds of pounds and had been competently installed, framed by concrete rather than the softer limestone of the cave walls.

“They built quite a bunker here,” Lazlo said. “The door and the cement look old. Might have been the Japanese.”

Sam studied the metal slab. “Probably. The Japanese built a lab for their experiments and the good doctor took it over. Makes sense — if the Japanese did it correctly, they probably bored ventilation shafts and ran wiring. All Dr. Vanya had to do was step in and modify it, depending on its condition when she found—”

Sam’s rumination was interrupted by the lights shutting off with a snap, plunging the cave into darkness.