Page 12 of Resolution
Jeff shook his head. “Getting nothing from my translator module but again, send it to Cody and let him dig.” He gave her a kiss. “I’m not happy the test results were focused on the three of us, from what you said about the big red marker.”
“I wish I could get into his desktop but he keeps his office locked tight when he isn’t there and his nurses are devoted to him,” Melly said.
“Give it time.”
“I don’t want to give it time. I want to get out of here.” Her protest was a soft whine. “This place creeps me out.”
Jeff rubbed her arms. “You have goosebumps all right. I don’t like it here either nor do I like putting you and Tamsyn at risk but we don’t know enough yet. We have bits and pieces and suspicions but nothing actionable. We’ll make our escape the minute I have enough intel to make this trip pay off, I promise.”
Chapter Five
Patrolling the outer wall the next day with his assigned unit, Jeff wiped his brow and fought off misgivings. The infected were right below the fortifications, separated from the camp by a thin force barrier. If that failed, they’d be climbing the jury-rigged physical wall in no time and with their sheer numbers would overwhelm the defenders and then the camp. The sound of the moaning couldn’t be ignored here, nor the smell.
Suddenly his small Glastine com crackled and a panicked voice announced, “We’ve got another one1 High on feelgoods, dancing on the wall, station three.”
Jeff and Les broke into a run. Ahead a person teetered on top of the wall, arms outstretched as if he was going to take flight and the fool was indeed naked.
“Third one this month, “ Les said as they sprinted. “There’s a new feelgood circulating in the camp—people call it Freedom, makes them believe they can fly over the walls and the infected.”
“How do illicit feelgoods get into the damn camp?” Jeff asked.
“They don’t. Someone is making them here, cooking them up in a nook or closed off room or maybe even inside a vehicle in the salvage yard—” Les broke off and swore. “That’s Frawkins, the general’s aide. Oh the shit will hit the fan now all right.”
As Jeff reached the spot and made a grab for the intoxicated man, he gave a shout and jumped, falling through the air spread eagled. His momentum took him clear of the wall and the thin force field, which was a bit shorter than the actual wall but then he crashed to the ground in the midst of the infected.
Sick, Jeff leaned over the wall and rather than the gory scene he was expecting, he saw the jumper sprawled in an awkward position making it clear he’d broken at least one leg in the fall but the infected around him were motionless, swaying side to side, tightly packed in a circle with Frawkins at the center, clawed hands flexing, but making no move to attack. “What the seven hells—” Then he noticed the alien bracelet on the man’s arm, the red colors inside winking brighter in the sunlight. “It’s the bracelet,” he said to Les. “Somehow it’s protecting him.”
“Even if you’re right, how long can it last?” the sergeant replied.
Jeff turned to the guards surrounding him, gawking at the scene. “All right, I need Cutlem and Rogens but the rest of you return to your assigned stations. We don’t need the infected attacking us while we’re distracted.”
“I reported this incident to Captain Briskinn,” Les said. “He’s on his way.”
“Just what we need, oversight from a pencil pusher. Get me the man who controls the force fences. We’ve got to get on the ground and collect our jumper before the infected decide he is on the menu.”
“Do you think whatever is protecting him will work for us too while we’re in proximity?” Les asked dubiously.
“I have no idea. We’ll need ropes to rappel down.” Jeff sent Les off to locate the requested item.
A woman in fatigues arrived. She didn’t salute but said, “I’m Madrigan, force fence coordinator. You sent for me?” Tapping a feelgood stick against a glittery case full of more, she placed it to her lips and blew a stream of smoke from the self lighting stick. “Ugh, stinks out here.”
“We’ve got a man down,” Jeff said, gesturing at the victim below. “I need to grab him.”
“I’m not turning off the fence,” she said, pulling in another hit of the aromatic smoke from her feelgood. Talking a good look at the injured man below, she added. “Not even for Frawkins.”
“There’s a narrow gap between the fence and the real wall,” Jeff said, not willing to give up and simply let the man die of his injuries. “The sergeant and I’ll rappel down to him, you turn off a narrow section of the barrier for ten seconds, we drag him to the other side, and you reactivate the fence. Can you do that?”
She considered the question, a muscle in her jaw jumping. “You’re taking a hell of a risk, captain. Yeah he’s the general’s pet protégée, or was, probably not after today’s stunt. He’s high on Freedom, isn’t he?”
“We believe so, yes,” Jeff replied.
“Damn bracelet is protecting him,” she said, studying the feelgood in her hand as the embers at the burning end glowed. “I have to say I didn’t believe it myself but now I’m seeing it I still don’t believe it.”
Jeff had noticed the same alien jewelry on her arm. Another one of Quantike’s original crew. He figured the immunity the bracelets bestowed must have been a powerful incentive for people to join the general’s crew and help set up and run Glastine.
“Got the ropes and a harness for bringing Frawkins up,” Les said, arms full of the requested items. “Are we going?”
“Anchor us here and here,” Jeff said, pointing out the spots he’d identified. Turning to the two men he’d kept on standby, he said, “You’ll haul Frawkins up once we drag him inside the safe zone and secure him to the rig Sergeant McDaniel brought, got it?”
