“That confirms it. They mass-produced the cure and shipped it to sites like this around the world—so they’d be ready to release it quickly.” He turned to the group. “Governments need to begin searching ports and shipping terminals for the warehouses like this one.”
Avery typed on the laptop. “That’s going to be a problem.”
Video feeds showed drone footage above the streets of major cities. Desmond recognized the Golden Gate Bridge in one feed. People were rioting, marching upon AT&T Park. Similar scenes played out in Chicago, New York, London, Moscow, and Shanghai.
Peyton crossed her arms. “It’s a global civil war.”
And the Citium’s winning, Desmond thought. If the people who had started the pandemic got control of world governments, what would they do next? They were capable of anything. But what was their end game?
To William, Desmond asked: “Why are they trying to take over world governments?”
“I’m not sure. All I have are theories. If they’re still pursuing the Looking Glass device proposed in 1983, they need a massive amount of power and a large data communication network—the Internet, for example. Controlling world governments would provide them with both. The chaos serves another purpose. It keeps governments from conducting a search effective enough to find the cure distribution sites. They might find a few, but not all of them, not quickly enough.”
“We need to help them. There has to be a list of the sites,” Desmond said. He turned to Avery. “Can you do a search?”
Avery was already typing furiously. “No, this laptop only has information on what’s happening at this facility. It’s standard Citium policy—compartmentalization.”
William walked across the room to a window that looked out onto the pier and the harbor beyond. “They wouldn’t be that sloppy. These people are very, very smart. And efficient.”
He pointed out the window to the harbor, at a docked container ship. “But if we can find the ship that delivered the cure here, and see where it’s been, we might be able to figure out where they manufactured it. And that location will likely have a list of all the destinations the cure was shipped to.”
He turned to Avery. “Is there any navigational data from ships that docked?”
She worked the laptop. “It looks like the nav data downloads automatically when the ships make contact—but warehouse staff delete the records after review.” She raised her eyebrows. “Hold on. They haven’t deleted the records from the most recent ship, the MV Ascension.” Her eyes scanned the screen. “It’s still docked here.”
Desmond felt a rush of hope. “Read the ports of call.”
“Hong Kong. Singapore. Port Klang. Shenzen. Ho Chi Minh City. Kaohsiung.” Avery looked up. “This doesn’t make sense. The ship’s always full when it makes port, but it never takes on containers.”
William stepped closer. “We’re looking for a recurring location. It will occur after every port.”
Avery worked the laptop. “There’s nothing. Just an entry for Speculum.”
“That’s it.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Desmond said.
“It’s a Latin word. It translates to looking glass. On the Beagle, it was our code word for the Isle.” William paused. “Yes, it makes sense.”
“What makes sense?” Peyton asked.
“I think they created the virus at Aralsk-7,” William said. He turned to Desmond. “You saw the subjects in the testing wing. But I don’t think they manufactured the cure there.”
“Why?”
“Simple logistics. Think about it. The virus is highly contagious. They wouldn’t need a large amount to spread it. Maybe a few hundred or thousand doses stragetically placed around the world. Aralsk-7 could easily manufacture and transport enough viral material to seed the outbreak. But manufacturing the cure, and shipping it around the world… that’s a task on a completely different scale. We’re talking about billions of doses. Sea freight is the only thing that makes sense. It’s the cheapest way to transport bulk goods, and it allows them to reach any port in the world within a short amount of time.” He nodded. “It’s the Isle. This is their manufacturing center, I’m sure of it. It might even be their HQ.”
“Wait,” Charlotte said. “Why did they make all the shipments over the years to SARA? No one is sick there.”
William shook his head. “I don’t know. I still don’t understand how you and SARA fit in. It’s almost like the shipments were unrelated to the pandemic. Maybe we obtained the wrong file at Aralsk-7. I’m sorry we involved you in this, Charlotte.”
“I’m not. If SARA is somehow connected to the Citium—if they used us somehow—I want to know why. And what they did to my people.”
“I don’t blame you.” William turned to the group. “Look, we need to move quickly. I believe we should assume that somewhere on the Isle is a list of the warehouse locations.”
“Okay,” Desmond said. “But you said this place would be very well guarded. So what are you thinking? Can we contact the US military somehow and get them to send in Special Forces to raid the island?”
“We’ll need to go with them.” William motioned to Avery. “At least, Avery and I will need to. I know the island layout, and she has familiarity with the computer systems. We’ll go in covertly; a head-on assault would be doomed.”
Desmond spoke quickly. “No way I’m sitting this one out.”
“That goes for me too,” Peyton said.
“No, Peyton. You’re too sick. I know you’ve been trying to hide it.”
She stared into his eyes. “I’m not a hundred percent, but I’m close enough. They killed a lot of my people, and they’re killing a lot more people I’ve dedicated my life to protecting.”
William focused on Peyton. “It’s simply too dangerous—”
“Dad, going into dangerous situations is part of my job. I’m all grown up now, and I make my own decisions.” She glanced back and forth between Desmond and her father. “I’m going.”
“And I’m going as well,” Charlotte said.