The call was unexpected, which usually meant something new, something bad, or something worse. The studs only had a short range, and the communication satellite had to be focused to allow them to pick up a long- range transmission. Alex’s regular check-ins with headquarters were timed for when the communication bird was doing a sweep over the continent. Seeing this wasn’t a designated intersect time, Alex guessed Hammer deemed whatever information was coming to be critical.
As always, the colonel wasted no time on introductions or pleasantries. ‘Be advised, Arcadian, mining camp has entered an unexpected communications void. VELA is being rerouted and will be “eyes on” in approximately 260 minutes. No detonation heat signature, no prior communication warnings and no new hostile activity encountered — there’s a high probability the problem is technical. No other information until visuals. Over.’
‘Understood. Over.’
Alex exhaled and turned around to look at the team. All their eyes were upon him. He motioned to Sam, who immediately walked forward with eyebrows raised.
‘News, boss?’
‘The mining camp’s in blackout — they don’t know why.’ Alex’s eyes ranged over the jungle surrounding them. ‘But the Hammer wouldn’t rotate a VELA if he thought all was okay. We’re moving too slow, Uncle; we need to pick it up.’
Sam shook his head slowly. ‘We could, but they can’t. We’ll burn them out and then either have to carry them or leave them behind. We can drop the toy soldier, but we’ll need the CDC when we get there.’
Alex stared at the non-HAWCs for a moment, then swivelled to look at Chaco and Saqueo, then back into the jungle.
Sam must have guessed what he was thinking. ‘Boss, I reckon it’d be best if we didn’t split up right now — won’t do a lot of good if you get there hours before us. And if it
Alex slowly turned back to Sam. ‘You’re right. Hammerson said he’d have visuals in a few hours — nothing we can do till then anyway.’ He nodded towards Michael and Maria Vargis. ‘Let’s grab their packs and push it up another gear.’ He squinted into the thick vegetation again and made a decision. ‘Let’s put the gauntlets on — I think we’re getting close. Inform Mak.’
‘You got it, boss.’ Sam walked back to update the HAWCs.
Alex turned back to the jungle and swore under his breath as he thought about Aimee.
Maria Vargis came up to him, wiping her hands together, then rubbing her face, ears and neck. She handed him the small plastic bottle she’d been holding under her arm. ‘Insect repellent — our own brand — CDC strength.’
‘Thanks,’ Alex said. He’d removed his torn sleeves after the boar attack and saw that she was frowning at the scar tissue that had formed over the top of injuries that were only hours old. She looked about to ask a question so he interrupted her.
‘Michael your only son?’
She nodded.
‘And where is Mr Vargis?’
‘Dead, I hope.’ She swore under her breath in Greek before changing the subject. ‘What’s this for?’ She pointed to the dark gauntlet that extended from the top of his armoured glove to just below his elbow.
‘Wild boar repellent — our own brand.’ He winked at her.
She mouthed
‘Nice thought.’ Alex chuckled and slathered the lotion over his exposed skin. He knew she was right to be concerned about insects — they were very efficient parasites and disease carriers. In fact, he’d been wondering about them himself.
‘You think the disease in the drill camp may be spread by bugs?’ he asked. ‘That’s where it might have originated?’
Maria shook her head. ‘Down here, the percentage of insects that are haematophagous — blood drinkers — is a large part of the total biomass. Most of them inject an anticoagulant to keep the blood flowing as they feed. A large grouping of warm-blooded mammals, like the campsite, will attract millions of biting and sucking organisms. So I would say, yes, they are my definite suspects for vector transmission. But do I think that’s where the disease came from?’ She sucked in a deep breath as though steeling herself for a distasteful thought. ‘No, I don’t think so. I hope I’m wrong, but I think this could be an incidence of something I have only seen once, via some CDC archival photographs.’
Alex’s eyes were on his team as Maria spoke: Sam had portioned most of the contents of Maria’s and Michael’s packs between the HAWCs and Captain Garmadia. He had set aside the heavier objects, and pointed to them and then to Alex when he saw him watching. Alex nodded; he would take those things himself.
Maria seemed to be thinking of a way to phrase what she wanted to say next. ‘If the information we have been sent by the scientist on site is accurate…’ She stopped and looked up at him. ‘Captain Hunter, do you know Dr Weir? Is she competent?’
Alex walked over to the pile of extra gear and started to incorporate it into his pack. ‘I know Aimee very well,’ he said without looking at Maria, ‘we’re old friends. She’s the best in the world at what she does.’
He felt Maria staring at him; he guessed she was probably smiling.
‘Well, of course she is,’ she said. ‘Okay, now I see why we need to hurry, yes?’
Alex didn’t answer; he wouldn’t be drawn on his and Aimee’s past relationship. Just the thought of her in danger made him want to charge ahead of the group and make sure she was safe.
‘Hey!’ Maria was jogging to keep pace with him.
He slowed down slightly and allowed her to catch up, then spoke without turning. ‘Tell me where you saw the disease before.’
‘It’s rare, or we think it’s rare as we’ve only come across it once before — in the 1920s, when South Africa was digging extraordinarily deep mines to keep up its production of gold. But that one time was enough to scare a lot of people and put it straight onto our Bio-hazard Level 1 watch list — in fact, probably as our first inglorious member. The miners went down a long way — miles, in fact — and without all the fancy digging and drilling equipment we have today. Some of the mines were so deep they built donkey stables down there, and even installed beds so the men could sleep between shifts without going back to the surface. As they went deeper, the mines got hotter and the rocks became more pressurised. Did you know that at that depth stone can shatter like glass?’
Alex nodded, his eyes grim. ‘I know a little about working in caves.’
Maria searched his face for a moment then continued. ‘Well, they found more gold, and also diamonds, but also something else. The most famous mine at the time was the Egoli, the great Golden Well. They dug through into a cavern about two miles down that contained a type of stone never seen before, and the sedimentation striations above it were all crushed — as if the new stone had punched through the layers above it and come to rest where it was found. The men decided to take a look inside…and that’s when things went bad. According to the one remaining record, “the stone bled” where they dug into it, dripping a “tar-like substance that stung the eyes and stuck to the skin”. Within a few hours, there were instances of horrifying biocorrosion in both the humans and pack animals. Within a few days, twenty men were dead. Again going by what was said in that one remaining record, the men “just melted away and disappeared between the cracks in the rocks”. Whatever that tar-like substance was, it contained a biological residue that was inimical to living tissue.’ Maria shivered.
‘Jesus Christ. How did they cure it?’ Alex didn’t want to believe this may be the same thing that had closed down Aimee’s camp.
Maria looked at him, her face devoid of emotion. ‘They didn’t. They dynamited the mine and sealed it, with over one hundred men, or what was left of them, still below ground. The mine entrance was bulldozed over, and, to this day, the site is off limits to everyone. We don’t know what the hell that disease was; or if it even was a
