Sean Black - Lockdown

‘The thing is that a big company like Meditech doesn’t operate like the army. The way the army is, every task gets broken down into tiny little steps. That makes it idiot-proof, but it also means that no one can just go off and do their own thing. In a private company it’s different. They don’t give a shit about how something is achieved, all they care about is the bottom line. That’s how you get guys with security companies out in Iraq smoking civilians left and right. They’re all former soldiers but all of a sudden they don’t have a command structure, no one to stick their ass in a sling if they do the right thing the wrong way.’ He paused, rubbing at his stitches. ‘Suppose Meditech has someone blackmailing them, and the wrong person gets hold of that information, and they decide to solve the problem directly. And as soon as that line’s been crossed once. .’

‘So who was it who took Josh Hulme?’ Carrie asked.

Lock looked straight at her. ‘Someone with boardroom backing from Stafford. More than likely Brand.’

‘Are you sure? You and he never saw eye to eye.’

‘That’s true, but that’s not why I think he’s involved.’

‘Then why do you?’

‘Because Brand was sleeping with Natalya Verovsky. But he told her his name was Cody Parker.’

Josh Hulme sat huddled next to his father as the cruiser surged its way towards the dock, churning foam in its wake. Ahead of them lay the old Brooklyn Naval Yard, home to Meditech’s new research facility.

Richard gazed up at the hulking compound. A twenty-foot wall ran to the edges of his peripheral vision. Atop the wall, a solitary Stars and Stripes snapped tight in the wind. Beneath the flag two guards prowled a walkway. Both of them armed.

Richard pulled Josh in closer and kissed the top of his son’s head. ‘You OK, sport?’ He reached into his pocket, pulled out a packet of Scopace tablets. ‘If you’re feeling seasick, I can give you one of these.’

Josh waved him away. ‘Dad, when can we go home?’

‘Daddy has some work to finish up first.’

‘Today?’

‘Maybe in a week or so.’

‘But it’s almost New Year.’

‘I know, big guy, I know, but Daddy made a promise.’

In truth, Richard hated himself. Josh needed him. Needed him now more than ever. But without the undertaking he’d given Meditech, Josh wouldn’t be here, might not even be alive, so what could he do?

Stafford clambered down into the cabin of the cruiser. ‘Bit choppy out there.’ He settled on the bench seat next to Richard, tousled Josh’s hair. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be there in a minute or two.’

Josh stiffened and pushed away his hand.

‘Listen, can I borrow your dad for a second there, sport?’

Richard followed Stafford out on to the deck as the boat ploughed onwards.

‘Eighty million dollars. Beautiful, isn’t it?’

All Richard could see was a blank wall which ran maybe a thousand feet along a parcel of land facing the dock. The only notable thing was its height. A solid twenty feet. Maybe more.

Stafford slapped Richard on the back. ‘He’ll be OK.’

‘He’s not your son. You can’t possibly imagine what this has been like for us.’

‘That’s true. But the main thing is, he’s safe now.’

Richard stared straight ahead.

Stafford looked at the wall too. ‘Don’t think we’ll have too many whackos coming out here to protest, somehow.’

‘You don’t think all this security’s overkill?’

‘Jeez, Richard, I know you academic types sometimes don’t see the big picture, but for crying out loud. We’re going to be dealing with Level 4, Category A here. You could take out half the country with what we’ll have inside.’

‘But no animals?’

‘Nothing with a tail, paws or fur. You made your case, Richard. And I for one agree with you. What we were doing was bad science. Which made it bad business.’

The boat pulled in at one of the piers and tied up. Stafford clambered off. He stretched out a hand to Richard, who in turn helped Josh on to dry land.

They followed Stafford along a walkway and up on to a concrete apron, Josh struggling to keep up with Stafford’s long strides. They then walked along to the very end of the wall and turned left.

Stafford glanced over his shoulder at Richard. ‘Not far to go now. I thought the river approach was a better idea. Give you more of an idea of the size of the place.’

Four hundred yards further up, the wall was split by a driveway big enough to accommodate trucks passing either side with a metal drop-in booth manned by a middle-aged African American man dressed in a Meditech security uniform. They stopped at the booth and Stafford presented his laminated Meditech card. Richard followed suit. The guard checked them without saying a word, then matched their name against the visitors list.

‘Could you folks look up for me, please?’ he said, pointing to a spot behind him.

They did so, and there was a flash from a fixed point on the wall where a camera had been mounted.

The guard looked at a computer screen. ‘That’s fine, you can go through now.’

‘Facial recognition software,’ Stafford said, marching on through.

‘The security here’s like Fort Knox,’ Richard said.

‘Not like,’ said Stafford. ‘Better.’

Once through the gate they passed through a guardhouse manned by two guards, both armed. It was wide enough to obscure the view of the area behind it from anyone standing at the first checkpoint. They ran through the same rigmarole and stepped through into the body of the compound where Missy was waiting for them, stomping her feet to keep them from freezing but otherwise as perky as ever.

‘Hey, Josh, let me show you where you’re staying,’ she chirped.

Stafford had, apparently, drafted her in as unofficial childcare.

They passed a series of single-storey white buildings, notable only for their uniformity. The sheer scale of the place was impressive, especially so close to the city.

Josh didn’t release the grip on his father’s hand.

‘We’ve got a Christmas tree for you and everything,’ Missy said.

‘It’s OK, Josh,’ Richard reassured his son, ‘you can go with her. I’ll catch you up in a few minutes.’

Reluctantly, Josh let go of his father’s hand and Missy led him away. Richard watched them go.

‘This couldn’t have waited until after the holidays?’

‘Richard, we’re on a deadline here. We wait, we lose our competitive advantage.’ Stafford slapped Richard on the back. ‘Listen, the trial goes well and you can have three months’ paid vacation. Hell, I might even come with you. Now, let me show you the research lab first. I think you’re going to be pretty blown away.’

Stafford turned left, but Richard stayed where he was. His attention had been drawn to an area maybe two hundred feet away. A building the same as the others, it was surrounded by chain-link topped with razor wire. ‘What’s that?’ he asked.

‘It’s an accommodation block. Don’t worry, you won’t have to go anywhere near it if you don’t want to.’

‘What are we accommodating?’

‘The test subjects.’

‘You lied to me.’

‘Semantics, Richard. That’s all.’

‘And there’s something else,’ said Richard. He hadn’t even thought of it until now. It was something that Lock had said to him back in his apartment that only now floated to the surface. Something about the presence of the abnormal, and the absence of the normal. The razor wire landed in the abnormal column, but there was something else about the place that was off. ‘I’ve been here five minutes and the only people I’ve seen are guards. Where are the technicians?’