Sick

the team that had been at Barker Flats had either left with Dr. Karp and the children, or had relocated to Bluebird already. So with the exception of his team and Captain Ash, there was no one else anywhere on the decommissioned base.

“Are you telling me there’s no manual override?” he asked.

“No, sir.”

“Well, where are Causey and Ellison? If they’re not in there with you, they must be somewhere in the facility. They can let me in.”

“Not sure, sir. I’ll try to locate them.”

Littlefield reached the main door. Sure enough it was locked tight. He made his way around, trying each of the three emergency doors, but they were sealed shut, too.

“Control, have you found Causey or Ellison yet?”

“No, sir. Neither is answering his radio.”

A sudden chill ran down the major’s back.

“What was the status of Cell 57 when you were last able to check?”

“The captain was sound asleep. Vital signs unchanged.”

“Are you sure he was asleep?”

“Absolutely.”

That was good, but it still wasn’t enough to ease Littlefield’ mind. “There’s got to be a way for me to get in. Something-”

“Sir?” a new voice came over the radio.

“Who is this?” the major asked.

“It’s Jones, sir. I believe if you go to emergency door B, you might be able to get in there.”

“I’ve already tried each of the emergency doors. No go. All closed tight.”

“Yes, sir, but…”

“What is it, Jones?”

“Sir, I believe…if I remember correctly, there is a manual override outside door B.”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“It’s…hidden, sir.”

Littlefield began running back toward emergency door B. “How do you know it’s hidden?”

There was a pause. “One of the other men, sir. He left with Dr. Karp last week. He found it and showed it to me. We’d used it when we needed a smoke.”

That was a potentially serious breach of security. Jones should have known better. It would have to be dealt with later but at the moment, the major could take advantage of the rule-breaking.

“Okay, I’m here,” he said half a minute later. “Where is it?”

“If you face the door, you’ll see a little panel low and to the right, about three feet from the entrance.”

“I see it.”

“Open the panel, sir.”

Littlefield did. There was a lever inside in the down position, and above it, a series of six tumblers with numbers on each barrel.

“Okay,” he said. “I see the lock. What’s the combination?”

“Are all ones still showing, sir?”

“Yes.”

“Then you just need to pull the handle, sir.”

“The combination is all ones?”

“I…think it’s just waiting to be reset when the next permanent operation moves in.”

Good God. How easily they could have been compromised if someone had snuck onto the base.

He pulled the lever and the door sprang open.

Inside the facility, he couldn’t see his fingers even if he tried to poke himself in the eye, so once again he resorted to using his cell phone as a flashlight.

“I’m in,” he said as he took off running down the hallway. “I’m going for the emergency power first, then I’ll check the cell.”

When he got to the emergency panel, his worst fear was confirmed. This wasn’t just a simple fault. Someone had tampered with it. Thankfully, it wasn’t enough to put it out of action permanently.

He spent several annoying minutes getting enough of it back online so he could engage the backup system. The moment the emergency lights flared on, he began sprinting toward Cell 57.

His radio crackled. “Major Littlefield?” It was Brewer again.

Littlefield raised his radio without slowing his pace. “What?”

“He’s not there.”

The major didn’t have to ask who “he” was. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir. The emergency power gave us some limited camera access. Cell 57 is empty.”

Littlefield nearly tossed the radio down the hall ahead of him. “Dammit!”

“Sir, where are you?”

“Approaching the cellblock-50 corridor.”

“Stop, sir! Stop and get out now!”

The major skidded to a halt. “What is it?”

“The door to Cell 57 is open and the cycle is running again. The cellblock corridor will be contaminated.”

The major stared ahead. Not just the cellblock corridor, he realized.

Fifty feet in front of him, he could see the open door to cellblock 50. Soon the whole facility would be contaminated. There was no question his own life was already over.

“Contact Dr. Karp. Inform him that the subject is missing, and that we are conducting a full facility search. Tell him upon completion we’ll be initiating Protocol Thirteen.”

“What? There’s no reason for-”

“Can you access the camera outside cellblock 50?”

“Uh, I think so.”

“You should look.”

The pause that followed lasted about ten seconds.

“Dear God,” Brewer said.

“The main corridor’s your only way out, and it’s been compromised.” What the major didn’t have to add was that the door to the observation room was not biosafe-rated. “We’re dead one way or the other.”

It was nearly half a minute before Brewer finally responded. “I’ll call Dr. Karp.”

Suddenly, Littlefield heard someone running farther back in the facility. Thinking that it might be Ash, he took off in pursuit, but whoever it was got out at one of the emergency exits before Littlefield could reach them. As much as he wanted to continue tracking the person into the night, in his contaminated condition it was no longer a possibility.

He spent forty minutes searching the building for Ash, but the only person he found was Sergeant Causey. He was lying unconscious in a supply closet near cellblock 30. The major decided not to wake him just to tell him he was about to die.

Ellison, though, was nowhere to be found, making it a pretty damn good bet he’d been involved in freeing Captain Ash. No matter. They’d both be tracked down soon enough. Dr. Karp would make sure of it. Littlefield was just disappointed he wouldn’t be there to pull the trigger when it happened.

He walked all the way down to Cell 57 and sat on Ash’s cot. He then had Brewer patch him through to Dr. Karp.

“I can’t say that I’m pleased,” the doctor said when Littlefield finished his report.

“I can’t say that I am, either.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes, sir.”