Jonathan Maberry - Patient Zero

“If he was black ops or Delta Force,” Grace offered, “then his records might have been altered or sealed. Field agents’ names are often deleted from records of actions, especially when the agent is active military and the action technically illegal. Assassinations and infiltrations over enemy lines. It’s all plausible deniability, which means this bugger could hide even from MindReader.”

“What kind of person are we looking for?” Rudy asked. “A rogue government agent, a terrorist sympathizer…?”

“Unknown,” Grace said. “All we know is that this person, or persons, unlocked Room Twelve for reasons unknown.”

Church nodded. “This impacts you most of all, Captain. We don’t know how, or even if, this relates to the planned raid on the crab plant. Before the meeting Major Courtland advised me to push it back; Sergeant Dietrich wants to hit it with all the troops and go for a clean sweep. The mission is yours to call, however.”

“Jesus Christ,” Rudy said, “he just came out of a combat situation. Two combat situations—”

I touched his arm to stop him. “No, Rudy. You can get me on the couch later, but right now I can hear the clock ticking big time. If what happened in Room Twelve is not directly related to the crab plant then I’ll eat Sergeant Dietrich’s gym socks.”

“I’ll cook them for you,” said Dietrich.

“Church,” I said. “About hitting the crab plant at dawn?”

“Yes?”

“Fuck that. I want to hit it right now.”

Rudy gasped, but Church nodded. “I figured you would. Choppers are on deck and my computer team is getting your communications gear ready.”

I grinned at him.

“Joe,” said Grace, “are you sure about this?”

“Sure? No. I’d rather hit that place with a five-hundred-pound bomb and scratch them off the to-do list; but now more than ever we need to go soft and see about nabbing some prisoners. I think we should plan immediate interrogations, though.”

“Okay,” Grace said. “My team will be ready to rush the door at the first sign of trouble. But if you want everyone else to remain back at an unobtrusive distance then it still leaves us with a five-to-ten-minute lag for a full-on attack.”

“Joe… that’s suicide!” Rudy barked. “There’s no way that you could—”

“It’s my call,” I said firmly. “And I can’t think of a better plan that we could put into action right now. The longer we wait the more time there is for the spy to get a message out.”

“No messages are going out right now,” Church said. “We have jammers running everywhere in the building. However, we still have to consider the possibility that messages and intelligence may have been sent out before the lockdown.”

I sat back and looked from face to face. “Okay, but we’re going to need a diversion. Here’s what I have in mind…”

The DMS Warehouse, Baltimore / Tuesday, July 1; 12:59 A.M.

ECHO TEAM CAME jogging into the big room at the warehouse looking very much awake. Wired, scared, and thoroughly pissed-off, but awake. I told them to gear up and they followed Gus Dietrich over to the arms locker. Alpha Team was already there.

Rudy turned to Church. “This is killing you, isn’t it?”

Church looked at him.

Rudy said, “I don’t know you, Mr. Church. We’ve only had some weird little talks.” He waved a hand. “Zombies and all that. But since what happened in Room Twelve I’ve been thinking about this situation, about this organization you’ve constructed. I know only enough about the military to know that this isn’t the way things are done; and I do know enough about governments to know that the DMS operates on its own schedule. It’s virtually red-tape free. Lots of authority, and it’s shared.” He chewed his lip for a moment. “Your background has to include some training or practical experience either in psychology, therapy, or psychological manipulation. Maybe all three. You know how to set a mood and cultivate trust; you apparently care about the well-being of your staff. You like toys, and you pride yourself on having the best toys in the schoolyard. The labs here are bizarrely overdone. You have equipment I’ve never heard of let alone seen in actual use. Everyone I’ve met here has an above-average IQ. A lot of individuals, not a lot of team players.”

“Your point being?” Church asked, though if he was impatient or unnerved it didn’t show.

“What Joe and I are seeing is probably DMS lite. I’ll bet your Brooklyn hangar is ay-jay squared away. The tightest security, checks, and double checks; a lot of security redundancies. But down here you’ve had to put this facility together in days. Mind you, what you’ve accomplished in those days is incredible, and I frankly would never have thought it was possible to do. You’re a remarkable man, Mr. Church.”

“I don’t need an ego-stroke, Doctor.”

“Nor am I in the mood to give you one,” Rudy said with a touch of asperity in his voice. “My point is that out of necessity you’ve had to put this whole thing together too fast and under too much pressure. The Brooklyn model is probably a good one but for it to be as tight as you want it would require time. More time than you have. You’ve probably had to call in markers, ask for favors from other agencies; you’ve probably had to go through channels in ways you normally wouldn’t, and as a result the local reality of the DMS station here at the warehouse has holes in it. And as a result of that… people have died.”

“Hey Rude, c’mon, man,” I said softly.

He ignored me. “I’m not saying any of this to blame you, Mr. Church. Not at all. My point is that you are up against the wall, and all of the practiced cool in the world can’t change the effect that has on you as a physical being. Brain chemistry is only ever partially under our control. You are under tremendous physical and psychological strain… and right now you are probably tearing yourself up inside because of what happened in Room Twelve.”

“I don’t think we really have time for this,” Church said, but his eyes never left Rudy’s face. I don’t think he even blinked.

“We don’t have time for us to get into it as deeply as we need to,” Rudy said, “but we have to address it, in part, right now. My friend’s life is being put on the line. For the third time today. My own life is potentially in jeopardy as long as I’m in this facility and as long as there is a traitor here.”

“We’re all at risk—”

“No. That’s not what I mean, and I think you know that. I’m not asking you to open up to me, Church, not here and not ever unless you choose to; but what I am saying is you have to acknowledge that these events and the presence of the traitor are connected to actions you’ve taken.” He held up a finger to keep Church from interrupting him. “Actions you have had to take. If we could wind this back and start over again I don’t know if there is anything that could have been done differently. This may be an inevitable occurrence given the circumstances. Therefore you need to bear in mind that today’s events may have been beyond your control. Yes, you need to tighten security in any way you can. Hindsight advises that. Yes, you need to conduct your search for the traitor, leaving no stone unturned. Yes, you need to triple-check the backgrounds of every single person in the DMS, especially recent hires. But—and this is the real point—you have to keep focused, eyes on the prize, and not let guilt or anger deflect you from the primary purpose here, which is to stop the terrorists from launching this dreadful weapon. If today’s tragedy throws you off your game, then we could all die. My advice to you, Mr. Church, is to take your guilt and anger and put them on a shelf, at least until Joe and his team are back from the crab plant. Stay focused and stay in charge.”