Chapter 112: Desperate Measures

Past midnight, Rachel went to bed. She was jet-lagged from her return from Denmark and had soldiered on to help Rick with the investigation, but she had finally reached her limits. Working alone and checking every document had taken him much longer. He still wasn’t done by the time she woke up near lunchtime.

“You should get some rest,” she advised him, putting a slice of toast in his mouth while holding a mug of coffee in her other hand.

She frowned when the only answer she got was a simple ‘hm’. Not only that, but Rick didn’t even bother sparing her a glance. She was wearing a new black lace nightie and, being Rachel, it was more than just revealing. It was transparent.

Setting her mug down on the coffee table, she snatched the files from his hands, finally catching his attention, then dragged him by the hand back to her bedroom. Rick had the decency not to protest. He knew he needed a break to put some distance between himself and the investigation. If he got too deep into it, he would miss things that could prove crucial.

“Come on. If the Major calls, I’ll wake you up.”

“Thanks, Rach.”

One corner of her mouth turned up. “If you’re thankful, then rock my world once this is all over.”

He was too tired to even smile at her joke and simply let the sandman put him to sleep.

Going back to retrieve her coffee, she finished her breakfast in the kitchen. As she enjoyed the aroma, she mentally recapped what had happened. The information the BSAA had received about a black-market deal in Denmark had turned out to be a bust. Her and Barry’s target had been alerted to their arrival and disappeared. Their investigation had revealed that they had been found out not because of a leak from a possible mole in the BSAA, but because a staff member at Copenhagen’s international airport had been handsomely bribed. They had only discovered this thanks to the arrest of a potential buyer who had been trying to flee. They had, however, managed to get the seller’s name in the end.

‘Ricardo Irving… I’ll get you next time.’ She refilled her mug, her thoughts still on the elusive BOW dealer. ‘O’Brian is not going to be happy ab— Shit!’

Standing up, she left the kitchen for the living room, searching for her phone. Finding it proved quite the ordeal. The whole space was cluttered with files, documents, and straight-up Post-it notes scattered everywhere. It was the result of Rick’s work. She loved her best friend, she really did, but when he was investigating paper trails, he was the messiest guy she had ever met.

When she found her phone, she immediately called O’Brian to tell her she would be absent for a few days for personal reasons and promised to submit her report upon her return. To say she was shocked when the man told her she could take all the time she needed to help Rick would have been an understatement.

Relieved that she wasn’t in trouble, and a bit suspicious of O’Brian for knowing about Rick’s current assignment, she took a hot shower and dressed for the day, or rather, what remained of it. Afterwards, she picked up where Rick had left off, first reading his notes to familiarize herself with his progress, then continuing the investigation.

Time passed without her noticing. The sound of the shower, indicating that Rick was up, was the only thing that pulled her away from her unfruitful research. Deciding to listen to her grumbling stomach and heat up the previous night’s leftovers, she heard the doorbell ring.

Rick shouted from the bedroom. “I got it!”

Not moving an inch, Rachel waited for the microwave to finish heating the Chinese food. Soon enough, her partner came into the kitchen carrying cardboard boxes, and he wasn’t alone. Walker was right behind him.

“The deadline is tomorrow,” Teresa argued, but neither member of the pair believed that was the sole reason.

They knew she had stayed to help, but also because her career and freedom were on the line. They had a pretty good idea of what she had needed to do to get everything they required without alerting anyone.

Rick didn’t waste a moment and started pulling out dossiers. He handed one to Teresa and laid another on the table for Rachel to go through.

“What are we searching for, exactly? What’s your lead?”

“Both Agent Shen Mei and Jason Tyler were part of the same unit in 2000. She was the coordinator, and he was captain of the main squad.”

“Both were involved in the Penamstan op.” Rachel retrieved the last of the food from the microwave. “Furthermore, Shen Mei’s brother was a member of the second squad. Were you not aware?”

Teresa shook her head, the documents open in her hands. “No. I know as much as you do about the Mad Dogs’ operation in Penamstan.”

“Shen Mei’s brother died from the injuries he received while being transported by Tyler’s team. By the way, Tyler is the asshat I demolished on the first day of selection for the unit,” Rick continued, briefing them on the details.

The Major blinked, trying to remember. “I knew I’d met him somewhere before. I couldn’t place him.”

After serving each of her guests, Rachel sat down at the kitchen table and picked up the files Rick had left for her. “His career before joining the Mad Dogs doesn’t matter. What matters is what happened in Penamstan.”

“A T-virus outbreak, and the Mad Dogs evacuated while we cleaned up any zombies outside the bombing area,” Teresa recapped.

Rick revealed the details of the mission. “It’s more than that. According to Tyler’s and Shen Mei’s reports, the second squad’s helicopter was shot down by the rebels, and contact was lost. Tyler defied orders and cooked up a rescue operation. Shun Ji, Shen Mei’s brother, was the sole survivor. They could barely find shelter before they were attacked by a zombified population. They survived, escaped, and walked seventy miles back to the base, where the squad was evacuated. And this is where it gets interesting.”

“The commanding officer at the time was Secretary of Defense Wilson,” Rachel said, finishing her Szechuan pork. “He refused to rescue Squad Two, but not Squad One.”

“Wilson, Tyler, Shen Mei. All connected to the Penamstan operation in 2000 and now involved again. You think Wilson is behind everything?” Teresa realized. “That… would make sense. From what the lieutenant colonel said, Secretary Wilson had been quite vehement in taking an aggressive stance against China, even more so after it was discovered that the hacker had stolen files identifying that facility in Shanghai. He’s certainly high-ranking enough, and very close to President Graham, to know how to orchestrate and carry out the hacking and the outbreak at the White House. What would his motive be, though?”

““We don’t know.””

“Yet,” Rick added. “I think the answer is in those files. There’s a reason he ordered Alpha One to retreat and left Alpha Two for dead.”

“Especially when every field member except Tyler and one other was retired after receiving a hero’s welcome. Most of them ended up killing themselves.”

Teresa frowned. “Why? They were acclaimed as heroes. They had no reason to quit and take their own lives. Not when Tyler and Shen Mei didn’t. It can’t be PTSD, or at least not PTSD alone.”

“Then there’s the T-virus outbreak in Penamstan to consider.”

“You think Wilson…”

Rick cut Teresa off. “Was the one who gave it to the rebels? Yeah, but again, we’re without a motive.”

“It’s clear the rebels didn’t have the means to acquire the T-virus. China and the US did,” Rachel summarized. “It could also have been the work of a bioterrorist. Some tests with the T-virus, perhaps, but that’s unlikely. Zombies are poor products.”

“It is unlikely,” Teresa agreed. “Lickers, Hunters, and Tyrants are far more effective. It wouldn’t make sense. It would if any of those types had been sent in after the T-virus was released, since their purpose would be to kill the ten percent who resisted the infection, but that wasn’t the case.”

“So we have two T-virus outbreaks that started out of nowhere, China as the more likely culprit, and three people who worked together for years, are directly involved with both outbreaks, and are pointing toward China.”

“There are no coincidences. Just links we haven’t found.” Teresa, much like Rachel had the previous day, quoted their dead teammate, Chaser. “Let’s find the links we’re missing. Wilson is almost certainly the culprit at this point. We just need to make sure and find the missing connections.”

“And if we don’t?” Rick asked.

Teresa didn’t answer immediately. Her former subordinates were looking intently at her, waiting for her directives.

“…We’ll formulate a plan then. For now, let’s focus. The peace talks are in…” She glanced at the watch on her wrist. “Fifteen hours. We can’t waste a second.”

““Yes, ma’am.””

Rachel took the file on Wilson. It was quite extensive. She would have thought that a man in his position would have made some of the more unsavory things disappear from his service records. Or perhaps he already had, and he had simply done a lot of shit during his time in the military.

Rick took the files on the Mad Dogs. Much like Wilson’s, they contained minute details about the unit’s entire career. In his eyes, none of the soldiers were anything special. They had all followed roughly the same path in the army: distinguishing themselves on the battlefield or during training, being recruited into the Special Forces, and then deploying on the run-of-the-mill operations undertaken by the group. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

Teresa had a different type of file, one about logistics. It detailed the budget allocated to the unit and then to each squad, along with the equipment they had been given: guns, armor, uniforms, everything from simple tents to helicopters, not to mention computers, radios, and all the other technology. The quantities of food and ammunition were listed, too, along with the medical supplies. The latter caught her attention, and to make sure she wasn’t mistaken, she needed to compare the records.

“Wald, can I have the medical records of each member?”

Despite his curiosity being piqued, Rick silently rummaged through the dossiers, pulling out the requested documents and handing them all to Teresa. She quickly examined them, making comparison after comparison under Rick and Rachel’s impatient gazes.

“Found it.” She laid the files on the table to show them her findings, pointing with a finger. “Squad Two received regular injections of a compound named PG29 starting in early June 2000. From then on, their performance in the field went beyond what their records suggested they were capable of.”

“Drugs?” Rachel frowned.

“No… Modified T-virus,” Rick whispered in horror. Were it not for the lack of ambient noise, neither woman would have heard him.

“Wald?”

At the sound of his name, Rick was brought back to reality. Seeing the expectant looks they were giving him, he explained himself. “They’re not drugs, not quite. I think… it was a modified version of the T-virus. That would explain how the outbreak started in Penamstan. Squad Two goes down in a helicopter crash. Either they died and turned, or…”

“Or?” Rachel prompted when Rick failed to continue.

“Or the compound isn’t the virus itself, but a… Not an antiviral. It would suppress the virus… An… inhibitor? Something that delays or slows down the effects of the modified T-virus, or even the regular one, while boosting the physical abilities of the infected and allowing them to retain their minds. Maybe they were in too bad a shape to inject themselves, or they were trapped somewhere and didn’t have access to the compound to…”

“You’re talking about super soldiers,” Teresa interjected.

She understood the horror on his face then. It wasn’t a secret to her that Rick was afraid of being experimented on to reproduce what he was or what he could do. A soldier stronger and more resistant than anyone else. This was hitting far too close to home for him. More worrying was that Wilson, when Rick had been active in ’99, had already been high enough in the military chain of command that he might have heard of Rick. Hunt and his sister had been very careful not to put Rick’s name on any documents, sharing it orally only with President Braden. It was possible Wilson had come across the information and become interested in an army of übermensch.

It was a disaster because it meant the US government was using BOWs in warfare, even if the practice had not been authorized, not even unofficially. If that became known, it would be a disaster for the United States.

His tone was low but firm. “Yes.”

“So what? Wilson’s motive would be… dominating other nations with juiced-up soldiers?” Rachel asked, confused by the idea.

“Or money,” Rick replied. “There’s no way Wilson could have had the compound developed or the T-virus variant created on his own. A third party must have helped.”

Teresa saw the point he was making. “A pharmaceutical company. And they’re all about the money.”

“That’s… disappointingly banal,” Rachel said in a flat tone. “There are a lot of… holes in this, and let’s not forget we still don’t have concrete evidence. Not that it matters to us, but the president will want some.”

Rick frowned. “What holes?”

“Why did Wilson authorize the rescue of Alpha One?”

Teresa was the one to answer. “They were infected.”

“The fact that there was an outbreak in the city tells us Alpha Two had turned, with the exception of Shun Ji, since Alpha One recovered him. They must have fought not only a zombified population but also members of Alpha Two. Inexperienced against zombies, the odds are high that they got bitten. The only reason I can see for Wilson saving them is that they must have found Alpha Two’s inhibitors. To Wilson, it was an opportunity to gather more data about the modified T-virus and the compound. Think about it. If Alpha One hadn’t found any inhibitors, Wilson would have simply bombed everything, covering his tracks. They would have been useless to him otherwise,” Rick explained.

That wasn’t enough for Rachel. “But how would they know about the infection and the inhi… Shun Ji.” She realized it in a flash of insight. “He was still alive, and he died on the way back to their base. It’s possible he warned them before dying.”

“More than likely. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. And since they were infected, they were at Wilson’s mercy for more inhibitors if they didn’t want to turn.”

Rick followed up on Teresa’s words. “They eventually got tired of being slaves in everything but name and took their own lives.”

Teresa looked at the medical files in front of her. “All the members killed themselves with their service weapons. A shot to the head. With the only thing keeping the soldiers from turning under his control, Wilson could make an enormous amount of money and build his own private army, loyal to him out of necessity rather than genuine loyalty.”

“Oh, that guy is going down, no matter what. What does he think we soldiers are?” Rachel was absolutely furious.

“I agree. Once we pump him for everything he knows about the pharmaceutical company he’s working with, we’re putting a bullet in his head.”

Teresa wasn’t of the same mind. “It will be up to the president to decide Wilson’s fate. First things first, we need evidence, and we have less than six hours.”

After a beat of silence, Rick said the most outrageous thing he had ever said in his life, shocking both women to the core.

“I’m going to infiltrate the Secretary of Defense’s home.”

““…””

“Are you barking mad?! Don’t answer that!” Rachel didn’t just shout; she yelled. “Do you realize that, as Secretary of Defense, his whole house is probably as well guarded as the White House?”

“Do you have a better idea?” Rick challenged.

She didn’t, but Teresa did. “Wilson is following a tight schedule, especially with the peace talks tomorrow. For the past few months, his everyday life has been planned down to the minute, even more so than usual.”

“And? We get his schedule, and what?” Rachel didn’t see where the Major was going with this.

Rick was following Teresa’s reasoning. “We find out where he’s going and filter the locations. There’s no way he hasn’t checked on things with the peace talks coming up. If we find a suspicious location, we might find the evidence there.”

Rachel gave him a flat look. “I doubt that place would be titled ‘My evil plan to take control of the world and make lots of money’ on his schedule. How are you going to…”

“His government-issued car,” Teresa interjected. “They all have GPS and record every trip.”

“Okay. That’s better! That’s a plan. Now, where can we find the schedule and the GPS data?”

Teresa smiled a little, and Rachel had a foreboding feeling. “Wald, you’re not infiltrating the Secretary of Defense’s home. You’re infiltrating the White House.”

Rachel threw her arms in the air, giving up. She knew she wouldn’t like it.