Brett Battles - Exit 9

“Yeah.”

Looking completely confused, she asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

He patted her on the leg and stood up. “Get dressed. I’ll wait for you in the hall.”

Once she joined him, he took her down to the kitchen where Bobbie had some hot chocolate waiting. The house was eerily quiet, in part due to the hour, but also because, as Matt had told him, most of the resistance personnel had shipped out not long after the destruction of the Bluff was discovered, so as not to be caught in any action that might have happened at the Ranch. Those remaining would be moving into the Bunker in the next few days, where they would remain, acting as communications hub, until it had all played out.

It took Ash an hour to fully explain everything to his daughter. He left nothing out, and answered all her questions as honestly and directly as possible.

She took it surprisingly well, but telling her the world might end in the next few weeks wasn’t the hardest part.

He took a sip of his now lukewarm cocoa. “There’s a chance we might be able to stop it. It’s not a good chance, but we have to try.”

“What is it?” she asked warily.

“We think we know where the Project’s headquarters are located. If we can get to those in charge before anything happens, we might be able to stop it.”

“Where?”

She was talking around the real question she wanted to ask, and he knew it.

“About three thousand miles north of here.”

She contorted her face. “You mean the North Pole?”

He couldn’t help but let out a quick laugh. “No, not that far, but close. On one of the islands in northern Canada.”

“Oh.” She stared down at her mug, lost in thought.

He waited patiently for a minute, then two. Finally he said, “They want me to go.”

“I know,” she whispered. “When?”

“As soon as possible, but it will probably take a few days to get everything together.”

She stared at her hot chocolate again.

“I won’t go if you don’t want me to,” he said.

Quiet again, then, “I don’t want you to.”

“Okay. Then I won’t.” He raised his mug to his lips.

“But, Dad?”

He moved the cup away an inch. “Yeah?”

“You have to go.”

“No, sweetie. I don’t have to. I told you, if you said no I wouldn’t go, so I won’t.”

“No. That’s not what I mean. I don’t want you to go, but I know you have to.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, trying not to cry.

He looked her, his chest tightening. “Sweetie, I don’t have to. They’ll still send a team. I just won’t be on it.”

Eyes full of tears, she said, “You have to, Dad. You’re the one who can make it happen. You found Brandon and me. You saved us. Now you need to save everyone else.”

As she started to cry, he moved around the table and knelt beside her, wrapping his arms around her. In that moment, she reminded him of his late wife more than ever, nearly bringing him to tears, too.

“You have to go, Dad,” she whispered in his ear between sobs. “You have to.”

I.D. MINUS 9 DAYS

MUMBAI, INDIA

Sanjay could not believe his luck. Not only had he been given a job the day he’d finally accompanied Ayush to the Pishon Chem offices, but after he took the test they gave him, he’d been given the position of supervisor, responsible for operations in his home neighborhood and several more surrounding it. Ultimately, over one hundred others would work directly for him.

Ayush had done even better. He was given the title of Coordinating Officer, and worked over the group of supervisors in charge of nearly half of Mumbai. Which made him Sanjay’s boss.

Though the project they’d been hired for was a temporary one, the people at Pishon Chem made it clear that if they did their jobs well, some of the supervisors and coordinating officers would be kept on permanently. And the money they were paying! It was even better than he had hoped.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day. For the first time, the sweepers-the title of those working under the supervisors-would be practicing with the spray machines. The managers from Pishon Chem wanted everyone to be completely familiar with the equipment. When the day finally came for dispensing the miracle spray, the sweepers would need to move quickly, covering as much ground as possible in a single day.

Sanjay would observe those training under his command, and give instructions and encouragement to those who needed it. At the end of the day, he was expected to give honest assessments to his coordinating officer-Ayush-so that adjustments could be made now while there was still plenty of time.

But that was tomorrow morning. Tonight he would make a stop at the fruit stand, because he knew for sure Kusum would be there. She had told him herself.

With a wide grin, he hopped off the bus and headed to the market, happier than he’d ever been.

GILSTRAP HALL

HAWKINS UNIVERSITY

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

Corey was getting annoyed.

It had been several days since he contacted Hidde-Kel Holdings and requested an information pack about the company. He’d stressed the importance of getting it quickly, and had been told they would rush it right out, but, as his latest check of the mail just proved, it had yet to arrive.

It wouldn’t be so crucial except for the fact he’d been hard-pressed to find other information about the company. Apparently it wasn’t very big on publicity, as evidenced by its website, which was woefully devoid of useful information. He wasn’t even sure where its headquarters were actually located. The address on the website corresponded to a tiny office in a multiple-tenant building in Portland, Oregon. He knew this because he’d looked it up on Google Maps, then switched to street view and saw the actual building. From that he was able to get the name of one of the other businesses that shared the same premises. He called and persuaded the woman who answered to give him a little information on her neighbor.

Turned out Hidde-Kel’s address was more a mail drop than anything else. So was the company even in Portland?

As he walked back to his dorm room, he knew he had to come up with some other options. If he didn’t, his paper wouldn’t be much more than a page or two, guaranteeing him a failing grade.

There was one thing he could do. He’d been avoiding it because he’d hoped Hidde-Kel would be more cooperative, and because, technically, it would be breaking the law. But perhaps it was time to push things a bit.

His friend Blanton Kirn, also a student at Hawkins U, was working on a degree in computer engineering, a natural offshoot of his computer-hacking hobby. Corey thought that maybe Blanton could cut through the BS on the Hidde-Kel website and get to some real information.

Yeah, it was crossing the line a bit, but if Hidde-Kel wasn’t going to help him, then he’d just have to help himself.

As he reentered his room, he pulled out his cell and gave his friend a call.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

“See what I mean?” Patricia said.

She’d convinced Rodrigo to come back with her to the not-quite-so-abandoned building. He’d been dubious from the start, but she had talked him into it, and now they were standing next to the collapsed portion of the wall, looking in at the blue metal box.

“You did this?” he asked.

“The wall? Well, yeah, but that’s not important.”

“Patricia, you damaged the building. Maybe you even damaged that.” He pointed at the container.

“ That’s what’s important. The wall doesn’t matter.”