Page 31 of Lethal Game

She thought it was a rhetorical question, but she answered it anyway. “Chemical weapons have a limit. Infect people with the right disease and it could end up everywhere.”

“I think you’re right.” He gave her a sidelong look. “That’s creepy.”

She ignored his last remark. “It makes sense if the goal is to kill as many people as possible.”

“The anthrax he used killed in hours.”

“Yes, it did, but we haven’t seen it pop up anywhere since. I think he’s moved on to something more infectious. Something more easily transmitted from person to person.”

“Like what?”

He asked the question like there was a simple answer. There wasn’t. “There are many possible pathogens that fit the criteria of infectious and deadly.”

Connor looked startled. “Howmany?”

“Dozens. Some bacterial, some viral, some more exotic. There is an entire microscopic world that most people don’t realize exists. Most microscopic organisms are benign, some even helpful, but there are plenty of pathogens that are primed and ready to wipe us out if the conditions are right. Or wrong.”

“Something tells me,” Connor said slowly, running one hand through his short hair. “I’m going to learn way too many things I don’t want to know on this mission.”

She scooted over to him and poked his shoulder. “Lucky for you, I happen to be an excellent teacher.”

***

Dinner that night wasoddly entertaining.

Jones watched Eugene with covert glances while he blushed and pretended an extreme interest in his food. Max and Sophia spent the whole meal discussing which viruses and bacteria would make the best weapon in Akbar’s mind. They came up with a short list of eighteen possibilities. When Con had commented that eighteen was seventeen too many, they tried to explain to him why they couldn’t remove one deadly disease after another from the list. Plus, if they removed one possibility, and Akbar used it, then they wouldn’t be prepared to deal with it.

He swallowed his sigh and simply nodded.

What he’d learned about Akbar sparked anger and anticipation. The guy deserved to die. He’d murdered soldiers and civilians alike, and taking him out would go a long way to put to rest Con’s need to administer retribution against the extremists who killed his team.

So why was he so damned tired?

Max and Sophia were still chatting about pathogens, their voices determined, confident and full of energy. For a moment, they sounded like his teammates used to when talking about a mission plan. Identifying problems, brainstorming solutions, and making inside jokes only they understood.

Loss hit him like a shot to the gut. For a moment he couldn’t breathe and didn’t much care to. Without his battle buddies, he was just a desperate fuck who couldn’t wait to die.

“I need some air,” he said, getting to his feet and trying not to look as fucked up as he felt. “Are you okay sticking with the colonel?” he asked Sophia.

She nodded.

“Yes, yes,” Max said absently. “I’ll watch out for her.”

“I’ll pick you up at your quarters for your Tai Chi lesson in a couple of hours,” Con said. After he got his head back on straight.

“Okay.” She waved absently at him and he almost laughed at her single-mindedness. He should thank her for it. So why was he almost disappointed by her dismissal of him?

At first he wandered, no particular destination in mind. He watched as a group of men went through a physical training routine led by a loudmouth sergeant. The drill, the personnel going about their duties, was so damned normal he found himself easing back from the emotional ledge he’d been balanced on.

Still, he could feel the abyss in the back of his head, ready and waiting to suck him under.

He’d done the standard tour of the base, but he wanted to take another look around to note every way to get in and out, whether it was marked or a route only an acrobat could manage. Construction was ongoing, with new barracks, administrative, and operational buildings all going up. Lots of civilians all over the place.

That made his trigger finger twitch.

Infiltration was a possibility he couldn’t ignore. The checkpoints inside the base were only an inconvenience to a determined attacker or group of attackers. If this Akbar guy was targeting Max and his group, the construction crews could be a useful cover to get inside.

The medical clinic was just as busy as the Freedomsouqdespite the time. The only area with no one on it was the ball diamond.

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