He stilled. “Huh?”
She scrambled for a page toward the bottom. “Oh my God.”
His breath caught. “Explain.”
She reached for a pencil and began scribbling quicker than he could read. “They found something.” Her voice rose in pitch. “They have a formula for synthesizing vitamin B in the human body.”
He blinked. “A cure?”
She lifted her head, her eyes focusing. “No, not a cure. Not yet, anyway. But the formula includes simple compounds mixed with my blood—heated and mutated. Ingredients we may be able to find . . . and my weird blue blood from squid.”
His heart thundered. “Is it doable?”
She chuckled, joy in the sound. “I think so. I mean, if their math is correct, and once we see if any of this new lab equipment works, I may be able to create an injection that synthesizes vitamin B. It uses the actual Scorpius bacterium, which we can obviously easily get, mutates it with heat, mixes with my mutated blood, and creates a new form of the bacterium that interacts with our cells.”
“No more injections?” he breathed.
“No.” She blinked and looked back down at the papers. “The interaction, if it works, makes the body produce B like it would with antibodies and vaccines. Our kidneys and liver actually take over. We really found something at Myriad. It’s here. I can do this.”
“Good.” His tone of voice must’ve alerted her, because she leaned back and focused on him. “I want to contact Lake and Atherton now to set up a rendezvous. When Raze and I go to meet with them, if something goes wrong, and we don’t make it back, Tace is taking command.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“I know, but even infected, he’s the best I have right now, and I can’t leave Raze here.”
“Why not? You still don’t trust Raze?”
“No, I don’t.” Jax shook his head. “I like the guy, and I have to believe he’ll have my back, but I don’t know him, and he has his own agenda.” Part of the reason Jax was allowing Raze on the mission was to keep an eye on him. “I trust Tace, even with Scorpius haunting him. He’ll protect you if it comes to that. The bacteria changed me, too, and I’m still fighting for the right side. I think.”
Her gaze softened. “You are. I’m sure of it.”
“Good, because it’s time for me to go call your ex and arrange a meeting.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Surrender is never an option.
—Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony
Jax left a pale Lynne reading documents in her lab and hustled down to the closet where Ernie fiddled with dials.
“I want to call Lake and Atherton,” Jax said. It’d just stress Lynne out to listen, so he wanted to call out and make a plan while she kept busy, although he’d had to warn her out of fairness.
The older man was pale, and his right hand trembled.
“You okay?” Jax asked, shutting the door.
Ernie twisted another dial. “Yeah. Ran out of my heart medication about a month ago, and I’ve gotten the shakes.” Even his voice quivered.
A knock sounded on the door, and Byron poked his head in. “Are you calling out soon?”
“Yeah.” Ernie kept his gaze on the buttons. “The sun disappeared a week ago, and I haven’t been able to charge the batteries with the solar panels, Jax. If you want power, we’re gonna have to use one of the generators and gas.”
Jax scrubbed both hands down his face. “How long will it take?”
Byron straightened. “Not long at all.” He loped inside and went behind the desk, messed with a bunch of wires, and ignited the generator. The thing hummed like a quiet bird. He grinned. “I tweaked it yesterday.”
Jax nodded. The kid was impressive. “Get to it, Ernie. We want to cut off the generator as soon as possible.” Shit, he hated using gas like this. “You’ve got their frequency, right?”
“Yeah. High frequency and it will bounce off the ionosphere.” Ernie fiddled again. “This is Ernie Baysted, NS789 calling Greg Lake, UT980 near Las Vegas.”
Static echoed, and a voice came over. “This is President Atherton. I don’t know the call sign bullshit, but we’ve been waiting for you. Is Jax Mercury there?”
The hair on the back of Jax’s neck stood up, and fire rushed through his gut. He was about to speak with the man who’d harmed Lynne, if it really was Atherton. Jax dug deep for training and took the hand-held microphone from Ernie. “This is Jax Mercury, Mr. President. Are you ready to meet?”
“Yes. We’ll meet at Franco’s Casino along I-15 on the California-Nevada border at three this afternoon,” Atherton said.
“Affirmative. Fifteen hundred hours at Franco’s,” Jax said. He needed to get moving.
“How many will you bring with you?” Atherton asked.
“Just me,” Jax lied easily. That afternoon worked for him—the sooner the better. “Our forces are down and the gang wars have continued, so I can’t afford to bring any men.”
“Understood,” Atherton responded. “We have reports that Lynne Harmony, the woman known as Blue Heart, is heading toward California. Have you made contact with either Dr. Harmony or anybody who has had contact with her?”
“Negative,” Jax said, his heart thrumming. “Your lieutenant mentioned before that Harmony is infected with an even stronger version of Scorpius. Can you confirm?”
“Yes. The blue took over her heart, mutated, and created an even deadlier form of the bacteria. She’s gone crazy and is trying to take out the human race.” Atherton cleared his throat. “How many people are in your, ah, community?”
Jax leaned back. “We’ll discuss my people in person.”
Silence crackled. “I’m the president of the United States,” boomed over the line.
Jax lifted an eyebrow. “So you say. I’ll believe you in person.”
“Very well. At that time, Master Sergeant Mercury, I expect you to cooperate and bring your people into the fold.”
“Fair enough. See you at fifteen hundred hours. Mercury out.” He took great pleasure in hanging up on the president. “Hell.” He might have to kill the bastard. He glanced over at Byron. “What are you still doing here?”
The kid’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I have a compact ham radio for traveling—created it from a damaged radio and a bunch of old parts. I think I should go with you, just to call out, in case.”
Good damn idea.
Ernie shook his head, sending wispy gray hair across his shoulders. “I’ll go. You need to stay here with your girl.” He kept his gaze down, and his shoulders trembled.
Jax clapped him on the back. “Are you sure? You don’t look so good.”
Ernie nodded. “I’m sure. I don’t have a lot of time left. The kid stays here to protect his own.”
Fair enough. Jax stood. “Be ready in half an hour. I want to get there early and scope the place out.” The drive should take about four hours.
“If it’s really the government, do you think they have medicine and food?” Byron asked, his eyes wide behind the wire-rimmed glasses.
“I hope so,” Jax returned. “Find Raze for me, would you? Tell him we leave in thirty.”
“Yep.” The kid disappeared.
Jax loped out of the closet and jogged through the rooms to reach the lab, where Lynne was once again hunched over documents, her back to him. Blue glowed from beneath her thin T-shirt, and he had the oddest thought of wondering if the glow would go out if she passed. Would her heart still be blue? His shoulders went back. No matter what, he wouldn’t let Atherton hurt her. If he had to take the guy out that afternoon, he’d do so after determining the status of the military.
“Lynne?” Jax touched her shoulder.
She gasped and jerked around, eyes wide.
“It’s okay.” He kept his voice low, soothing. “You’re safe.”
She settled down, green eyes softening. “Sorry. I was lost in research.”
He leaned over and kissed her, going deep. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Okay now?”
“I’m good.” She reached up and ran her palm along his unshaven jaw. “How are you?”
He leaned into her touch. “I’m good. Raze and I are leaving shortly for the border to meet with Atherton.”