The stress and strain of the last few weeks had taken its toll on Forrest. He was taking a much needed nap. Liu was sitting in the chair reading. The phone rang several times before Liu could pick it up. “Yes?”
“Let me speak to George!”
“Who is this? Mr. Forrest is not to be disturbed.”
“Get him now!”
Forrest opened his eyes and glared at Liu; the sound of the phone had awakened him. “Give it to me. I’ll teach them some fucking manners!” Liu passed the receiver to him. “What part of ‘do not disturb’ went over your fucking head?” he growled.
“Don’t be so rude, George. Is that any way to talk to an old friend?” Sir Richard’s voice was calm and even.
Forrest’s eyes widened. His face flushed with rage. The blip of his EKG sped up.
“In case you haven’t already figured it out - you can’t see me, or hear what I’m saying, anymore.”
“Triplet as usual, you’re full of yourself; which means you’re full of shit; like all you filthy, disgusting, wanky….”
“Forrest you fucking moron! Shut your mouth and prepare to eat your bollocks!” Sir Richard spat back impatiently. “If you still think you can see me and Gary, go for it. Turn on your little monitor, which I’m sure you have in the room there with you and see for yourself.”
“So, if you’ve found one of my little ‘toys’, then you’ll know that you can’t turn them off. If you do, you’ll kill your precious Donna!”
Forrest was perturbed that Sir Richard had discovered his bugs, even though Liu had assured him they were untraceable. Forrest switched on the monitoring system as he continued their conversation. “I’ll give you two hours to repair any damage you’ve managed to do and release the ones in your possession. Failing that, I turn them all off, and Donna dies.”
“You can’t hurt Donna anymore! Her immune system beat you to it. Check your bugs in our infirmary. Donna is brain dead. You’ve managed to destroy the one person that was willing to help someone as worthless as you! Enjoy your date with the Grim Reaper, with any luck his visit will be sooner rather than later.”
“Then I’ll just target someone else close to you; how about your son?”
“Nice try! If you could, you would have already done that. You’re bluffing now, George. We found the bug you used on Donna. It’s different from your others. I don’t think you can hurt anyone else. My team really enjoyed dissecting your ‘toys’. They’ve already made some impressive improvements and would delight in sharing their talents with you personally; especially the replacement for the tetrodotoxin. Tell me - is that a buzz I heard? VICi, end communication.”
Forrest sat there, carefully listening. He couldn’t hear anything. Was his hearing strong enough? The bugs were virtually silent, unless they were right next to your ear. Forrest was frantic - paranoid! His monitor displayed a summary of the bug operations. Of the one hundred and fifty-two bugs in the network, six were malfunctioning, including the prototype.
Forrest switched to the bug that was supposed to be on Sir Richard, nothing but static. He switched to the one that was supposed to be on Gary - static. The bug outside Sir Richard’s office showed an image of Richard sitting on the floor with his head in his hands, obviously suffering. Forrest smiled.
The two bugs in ICU and the one on Sam were still functional. He directed one of the bugs toward Donna. It showed her heartbeat was steady, but the EEG indicated no brain activity. Sir Richard hadn’t been lying. Donna was brain dead. Why are they keeping her alive? Wait a minute, there are two heartbeats there. “Donna’s pregnant!”
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Richard had waited as long as he was going to. “VICi, connect me with Sam Kaliea.”
“I’m here, Richard,” Sam hesitantly said.
“Sam, how is she? Has there been any change?”
“Have you talked to your father yet?”
“No, he’s still talking to Gary, and I’m getting bloody well tired of waiting, when I could be in there with my wife and baby. You avoided my question. Has there been any change?”
Sam lowered his gaze for a few seconds and looked back at the camera.
Richard narrowed his eyes. “Sam, if there’s something you’re not telling me.…”
“Richard, I’m not trying to keep anything from you,” Sam interrupted. “I’m just following orders. I can’t discuss the options with you until after you’ve spoken to your father. He was adamant about that. I’m sorry. VICi, end communication.”
“Sam, wait!” Richard was furious. “God damn it! I’m fucking tired of this shit! If it wasn’t for this stupid project….”
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“Gary, ask Ricky to come in.” Gary carefully peeled the duct tape from the door, leaving it attached to the doorframe. “VICi, unlock door panel,” Sir Richard said and the door slid open.
Gary waved his hand, urging Richard inside. “Richard, get in here, quick!”
Richard stood. “Well it’s about bloody time!” As the door slid shut behind him, he noticed the silver tape. Gary quickly re-stuck the tape, and put a fresh strip over the centre where the doors met.
“Dad…?”
Sir Richard tossed the spray bottle to Gary. “Not yet, Ricky! Close your eyes and keep your mouth shut. Don’t open them until I tell you.” He nodded to Gary.
Gary aimed the nozzle at Richard and started spraying him down, feet upwards. Richard blocked the bottle below his neck. “What the bloody hell has this got to do with Donna?”
“Ricky, don’t talk and keep your eyes shut!” Sir Richard commanded.
Richard groaned, and complied.
“Believe me Son; you don’t want this in your eyes, and especially not in your mouth.”
Gary finished spraying Richard and then sprayed around the edge of the door, again. Sir Richard switched on the UV lamp. “VICi, lights off.” Again the room was filled with a yellow-green glow. Sir Richard pointed to the top of Richard’s head. “There! In his hair!”
Gary snatched the bug with his tweezers, plunged it into the fish tank and added it to the tin.
Sir Richard smiled weakly. “I hope this doesn’t kill my fish.”
Richard touched his hair where Gary retrieved the bug, and shook his head, confused.
“There may be more. Help us look,” Gary said.
A thorough search revealed one more, green glowing bug on the door frame, near the top of the door where the doors fit together. “VICi, lights on.” Sir Richard motioned Richard to a chair. He fought to keep his voice steady, tears dimming his eyes. “Son, did you and Donna discuss anything about the baby – what her wishes were if something like this were to happen?”
Richard hesitated. “Yes, we discussed it. In fact, we had a row over it. She said if it came to a choice between her and the baby that the baby must come first. I didn’t agree.”
Sir Richard closed his eyes for a second and shook his head. “We think there’s a chance we can save her.”
“There is a chance!” Gary interrupted. “We can give her the virus. It’s designed to repair this kind of damage. The risk is it may not be able to recover her memory. She could wake up with a clean slate. She may even have to learn how to talk and walk again.”
“Aren’t we jumping to conclusions? Donna’s body is not exactly normal – remember? If we wait, maybe her EHG will kick in. Her gunshot wound healed in a few hours.”
“Richard… this is a little different from a gunshot wound,” Gary spoke up.
“There’s a slight chance, by keeping Donna’s body alive until she’s closer to term that we may be able to save the baby. We know it’s been done before. Ricky, this is your wife and your baby.”
“The thing is,” Gary interjected. “If we give Donna the virus, we don’t know how it will affect the baby. It’s not something we’ve considered. We could lose the baby, and even if Donna survived, she may not remember anything - even you.”
Richard nodded. “I’m well aware of the options. If I do nothing, then we might save the baby. If we give her the virus there’s a chance the baby will survive and Donna will recover; or, Donna could survive and the baby could die; or, the baby could survive, and Donna might not recover. Without the virus, only the baby might survive. With the virus….”
Sir Richard held up a hand. “Son Stop! You’re talking in circles, slow down. We have to make a decision while there’s still time.”
“No, Dad, I’m not talking in circles. Either way, there’s an even chance that one of them will survive but only by giving Donna the virus is there a chance that both will survive.” He paused for a few seconds and then spoke with surety. “Donna may hate me for this, but I can’t live without her. If there’s a chance… I have to take it!”
“Richard, you realise if Donna recovers… contact with her will mean that you… will…” Gary broke off.
Richard smiled slightly. “…Be infected with life? That’s not a hard choice for me if I can have my wife and baby with me.”
Sir Richard smiled. “In that case, we need to get rid of these damn bugs. We can’t do anything until then. We’ve got eight so far; who knows how many more there may be.”
Richard furrowed his brow. “Why can’t we just give her the virus now and…?”
Sir Richard shook his head. “It’s too risky while the bugs are still operational.”
“It won’t be necessary to destroy all of them,” Gary interrupted. “There’s no way these bugs can get a signal topside, on their own. We know how they got into the complex. It was that Asian guy. He must have released them into the air intake at the rockfall, and that has to be the same route the signal is taking back out.” He paused briefly and continued.
“What we have to do is target that route! By doing that, we’ll cut off the signal, both to and from the bugs. That’s the answer - we need to turn off the power to the ventilation tunnel. We then seal it at each end and wait for the bugs in the sealed section to run out of power. They can’t get energy from light, and they won’t be able to move to find alternative sources. Give it an hour, and the link topside should be broken.”
“How would we seal the ends?” Richard asked.
Sir Richard glanced at the door and grinned. “Plastic sheeting and tape - we have some in the storage areas. It’s been here since the cold war, but it should be OK.”
For a second they studied each other’s eyes, and then all headed towards the door at the same time. “We have to be careful of what we say until the bugs are neutralised,” Sir Richard reminded them.