Exit 9

“Did you try to get me out at any point during that time?” She shook her head. “Don’t answer. You’ll only embarrass yourself.”

She returned to the computer and accessed a new area of the security program. When the DOP saw what it was, his eyes widened. On the screen were the controls for Bluebird’s self-destruct mechanism, intended to be used if there was no other way to protect the Project. But there was no way she could set it, was there? She would need the correct security sequence, and it was kept safely locked away in-

The vault in Costa Rica.

In the security boxes at every depot, there was always one that contained the self-destruct code for Bluebird in case it had to be remotely activated. The other boxes that had been opened had been a ruse to cover up what she really wanted.

Activating the sequence would still need one of the Directors to sign on, but he’d already done that for her.

Dear God.

46

Ash had never felt so relieved as he did when Olivia stopped the man from activating the release of the virus. He didn’t even flinch when she killed the older man. But when she started working on the computer again, he moved forward so he could see what she was doing.

She’d accessed a self-destruct system. Good. This place needed to go.

He watched as she set the timer to fifteen minutes, then hit Start.

Without getting up, she turned to the men she’d kept at the front of the room. “You’ll stay here. The world won’t be needing your services after all.”

One of the men said, “You can’t let us die in here.”

Ash started to scoff at the irony, but was cut off by the sound of Olivia’s gun. The bullet ripped into the man’s leg, sending him crumpling to the ground.

She looked at the others. “If any of the rest of you want to try to leave, I’m happy to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

There didn’t seem to be any takers.

“Good.” She glanced at Ash. “You and your friend should move out into the hallway with my men. We’re not going to have a lot of time to get out of here. I’ll join you as soon as I’ve had a final, private conversation with my old colleagues.”

There was a tingle at the back of Ash’s neck, that sense there was something he was still missing.

But the threat was over. Olivia had stopped it, and in less than fourteen minutes the entire place was going to be destroyed. If he wanted to get back to Josie and Brandon, Olivia was right. They needed to leave.

He nodded, and started for the door. Ahead, Chloe and the members of Olivia’s team were already filing out.

A few of the Project Eden people tried to go, too, but they were shoved back. Those that Ash passed pleaded with him with their eyes, as if he might take them along, but he had no compassion for any of them. They had chosen their path when they joined the Project. They could all go to hell as far as he was concerned.

47

Olivia tore open the envelope the late Principal Director had given to the Director of Preparation. This was it. The activation code.

The DOP had been so very close to being the one who carried it out. She couldn’t have that.

She removed the piece of paper, and read what was written on it-the code that simply had to be input on the screen, followed by the Enter key. One word followed by one number: EXIT 9.

Was there a hidden meaning to them? she wondered. Did it matter? The only important thing was that they were the two most powerful words in the world.

Five simple characters that could wipe out mankind.

If anyone was going to bring on that kind of chaos, it would be her.

She placed her fingers on the keyboard.

E-X–I-T-9

48

As Ash reached the door, he heard paper ripping behind him. It was a familiar, distinct sound. Not a sheet being torn in half, but something slower with stops and starts along the way. As he turned to see if he was right, he heard the tapping of keys.

The Go code for the virus! Olivia had opened it and was entering it in the system.

His weapon was in his hand before he even realized he’d reached for it.

Olivia struck another key.

“Stop!” he yelled, moving forward.

She looked over at him and smiled. This was what she’d intended to do from the beginning, he realized. This was what she’d been hiding. She wanted to both destroy the Project and bring its nightmare to reality.

“Olivia, don’t do it!”

She raised her right index finger, letting it hover over the edge of the keyboard.

Over the Enter key.

49

The only thing Sanjay has tried that keeps Kusum from running away is to promise that if nothing happens in the next few days, he would take her back and turn himself over to the police. He knows she can tell he’s not lying, and eventually she gives in.

He drives them deep into the countryside, where neither of them has ever been before.

He assumes Ayush has died. His cousin looked nearly dead the last time he saw him, so Kusum is the only thing he has left.

As long as he can save her life, she can hate him forever.

Jessica Whitney sits numbly at her brother’s desk. She still cannot comprehend that he is dead.

Killed by an explosion? It just doesn’t make sense.

The only reason she has come to Palmer Transport amp; Shipping is to find a list of his contacts and clients, so that she and a few of her cousins can start letting people know in the morning that he’s gone.

Her eyes wander over his desk, stopping momentarily on a pad of paper near his phone. On it, in typical John fashion, there are the doodles and scribbles he often made when he was on the phone. It’s a new sheet so there aren’t quite as many marks as usual. Some are impossible to read, while others-“H-K,” “WHO,” and “container”-are clearer.