Page 90 of Smoky Lake

And right now, lives could be at risk.

“You have to listen to me!” she cried. “We have to do something!”

Suddenly, she and Dr. Christianson were surrounded by military folk, and she was being hustled out of the tent. “Come along,” said one soldier. “Let the doctor work.”

In the chaos, Ani caught Sergeant Thomson’s eye. “Sergeant. Please.”

Thomson elbowed the other soldiers aside. “I’ll handle this situation.” She grabbed Ani by the elbow and hauled her out of earshot of the buzzing researchers and military folk. “Talk,” she commanded Ani.

“We need to get to Smoky Lake. That’s ground zero for all of this, that’s where Victor is right now, and I think that’s where there’s a group of kids still missing. It can’t be a coincidence. Maybe they stumbled across those mercenaries and are being held captive. Something is going on. Please.”

“Do you know where these kids are?”

“I think so. I can’t know for sure, but from looking at the map I think they’re on the farthest end of Smoky Lake, nearest the glacier.”

Thomson nodded briskly. “Then let’s go.”

“Go? No, no, I want you guys to go. People with guns and planes and military training. Not me. I’m a…I’m just a pediatrician. A very ordinary, boring pediatrician.”

Thomson rolled her eyes and tugged her toward the tarmac, where a small flock of military aircraft perched. “No one is just anything. I’m an Army soldier but I’m also a poker champion. And my pork ribs could win prizes if I ever entered a contest. You really ought to work on your self-confidence.”

Ani gave a helpless gurgle of laughter as she stumbled after Sergeant Thomson. “You sound like my friends.”

“Don’t think of me as your friend, think of me as the soldier who is going to keep you safe while we stop a virus and locate some kids.”

They reached a helicopter—not the amphibious kind that had rescued them from Smoky Lake. This one was painted olive drab. Thomson rapped on the hatch of the helicopter. A pilot looked down through aviator shades. She gave him a signal he seemed to understand as “let’s go.”

“And rescue them,” Ani added. “We have to actually rescue the kids.”

“Now you’re just getting bossy. Can we fight some bad guys too while we’re at it?”

“I won’t stop you.”

Thomson laughed as she opened the hatch and helped Ani into the belly of the helicopter. “Maybe you can make up with that hot guy of yours along the way too.”

43

Gil scrambled down the slope, keeping his eyes on the place where Nyx had hit the water. Just as he reached the dock, Nyx burst through the surface, gasping and flailing.

“Did you get hit?” Gil reached a hand over the side to help him up.

“No. Maybe. Fuck.” He rolled onto the dock and pulled up his pants leg. Blood trickled down toward his ankle. “I got shot! He shot me!”

“Calm down. That’s not from a gunshot. You probably got a scratch climbing onto the dock. Take a breath. You okay?” He patted Nyx’s back, even though he didn’t have much sympathy for the guy. He’d brought this on himself.

“I fucked up.” Nyx groaned and covered his head with his hands. “I really fucked up.”

“What’s going on? What are those mercenaries after and who are they working for?”

Nyx struggled with himself for a long moment, then gave in. “Fuck them, might as well tell you. They’re called New Frontiers, they’re some kind of venture group. I think maybe they own the company that did the core samples in Ninuk? Anyway, they knew all about the omegavirus. They wanted to know what Victor was working on. They said he was stealing knowledge from the Ahtna for his own purposes. Which he was!”

“So you spied on Victor’s research?”

Nyx touched the tattoo on the side of his head. “It’s not exactly spying when I’m his assistant. Besides, he was mostly just losing it. He had this spray that he claimed was going to save the world.”

“Yeah, it’s from some type of fungus that interacts with your immune system.”

Nyx gave a hoot of laughter. “Yeah, no. That’s bullshit.”

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