Their next destination was the administration building. It was at least four times as large as the barracks, and according to Sanjay, had a living area on the second floor where the bosses of Pishon Chem had resided. As they neared the building, Arjun examined the walls and saw this building had not been sprayed, either. When Project Eden pulled out, they had apparently been too busy to worry about dousing the facility. Either that or, in the chaos of leaving, the thought hadn’t occurred to the people in charge.
Arjun opened the door and saw the hallway lights were still on. He exchanged a look with Darshana and knew she was wondering the same thing. Was someone still there?
“We have to go inside,” he said.
“I know,” she replied.
Neither of them moved.
After a few seconds, Arjun said, “If you would like to check alone, you are more than welcome.”
She snorted a laugh, and the tension dropped a few notches.
“Let’s get this over with,” he said.
Together, they stepped across the threshold.
Sanjay had told them the ground floor was mostly offices and meeting rooms and storage closets. It was also the floor where Sanjay had found the flu vaccine. That was one of the things Arjun and Darshana were supposed to be on the lookout for. Sanjay hadn’t thought any would be left behind, but it was best to check.
Their main mission, though, was a little less defined.
“Look for anything that might be of interest,” Sanjay had told them over the sat phone after they reported the base was being evacuated.
“Like what?” Darshana had asked.
“If I knew, I would tell you. Information, equipment we can use here, medical supplies. Look around, see what you can see.”
Arjun and Darshana made a quick trip through the first and second floors and determined both were unoccupied.
When they discovered a set of stairs leading down to a basement, Darshana said, “I am not going down there.”
“Neither am I.”
They closed the door and moved a heavy desk in front of it in case someone was down below.
As they began a more meticulous search, it soon became apparent that what equipment Project Eden hadn’t taken with it had been destroyed. Monitors and telephones and security cameras and computers had been smashed throughout the facility. As for the medical supply room, the only things left there were empty shelves and trash on the ground.
Arjun was beginning to think the only thing he and Darshana would be leaving with was the knowledge Project Eden was indeed gone, but then they found the narrow staircase in the small room on the second floor, leading up to an unexpected third level. The stairs were not quite vertical but close enough that holding on to the railing was a necessity. At the top was a trapdoor. Darshana, having taken the lead, pushed it up a few inches so she could peek through the opening.
“No one,” she said, then shoved it the rest of the way open and climbed out.
Arjun poked his head through a moment later and looked around. At first glance, it appeared to be a single, doorless room, with a chest-high counter running along two walls, and metal racks along the others. Most surprising was that the equipment Arjun could see was still intact.
As soon as he climbed the rest of the way out, Darshana shut the trapdoor to give them more floor space.
“They did not destroy anything,” Arjun said.
“I know,” she said, as shocked as he was. “But why not?”
Arjun shrugged and turned in a circle, taking in the whole space.
The racks were full of different types of equipment, none of which he could identify. He was an accountant before all this happened, and while he could make his way around a computer, he was not an IT guy. On the counter were a couple of blank monitors, a keyboard, and a headset. Out of curiosity, he walked over and rubbed his finger across the touch pad. Both monitors popped to life, a box in the middle of one requesting a password.
The computers were still on.
Arjun pushed the chair to the side so he could get a better look. There was a thud on the floor as one of the legs hit something. He glanced down and saw a half-empty bottle of whiskey on its side, rolling back and forth. He picked it up so they wouldn’t step on it, and set it on the counter.
“Do you know a way around the password?” Darshana asked.
“No. Do you?”
She shook her head.
They left the computer alone and carefully examined the rest of the room. There weren’t any windows but there was a door on the back wall. Arjun opened it and took a look outside. It was the roof of the main building, with nothing more interesting that a few vents and a decrepit piece of old machinery.
“What are these for?” Darshana asked.
She was pointing at a group of cables just inside the doorway. While most other wires were on the floor, these ran up the wall and disappeared through the ceiling.
Curious, both Arjun and Darshana stepped outside. They had to move several feet away before they could see what was on top of the room. Two satellite dishes and a heavy-duty-looking antenna. They had seen the equipment from their observation post a few blocks away, but Arjun had paid them no attention at the time.
“This is a communications room,” Darshana whispered.
They stared at the dishes as the reality of what they’d found settled in.
“We need to go back for the satellite phone,” he said. “Sanjay needs to know about this.”
9
“Dad, wake up.”
Ash’s eyes flew open, his hand already searching for the gun he kept by his side when he was out in the field. But he wasn’t out in the field. And his gun was in the cabinet across the room. He was at Ward Mountain.
“I’m sorry,” Josie said, keeping her voice low. She hovered over him, dressed in a pair of sweats with her hair in a ponytail. “Crystal says she needs to talk to you.”
“What time is it?”
“About twenty ’til one.”
Great. Two hours of sleep. Good sleep, too, some of the best he’d had since before he’d been hurt.
He pulled back his covers and slowly swung his legs off the bed. The pain of his injuries was becoming more manageable, but was still a long way from disappearing.
“My shirt,” he said, nodding toward the chair.
Josie tossed him the T-shirt and he slipped it on. Before he could push himself to his feet, she was already handing him his pants, her head turned away so she wasn’t looking at him.
“Uh, thanks,” he said, and pulled them on.
The living space he’d been assigned with his kids consisted of two small studio apartments linked by a door. The bathrooms were located at the front of each room, creating a small hallway that kept the main door separated from the living space.
Crystal was waiting in the public corridor when he stepped outside.
“You’re up late,” he said.
“We’re a little short-handed,” she replied, looking tired.
Ash tried to pull the door closed behind him, but Josie had moved in the way.
“Why don’t you go back to sleep, honey?” he told her.
“I’m okay,” she said.
Realizing he wouldn’t be able to get rid of her, he looked back at Crystal. “What’s going on? Did Pax call in?”
“He did a couple hours ago, but didn’t have time to talk.”
“Everything all right?”
She hesitated. “He ran into a bit of a problem, but sounds like it’s all okay now. Not why I woke you up, though.”
“Okay. Why?”
“It’s our new contact in India. Sanjay?”
Ash had been briefed about the group outside Mumbai, so he nodded.