Instinct: A Chess Team Adventure - By Jeremy Robinson Page 0,139
in the V-shaped formation contained the Chess Team. Each wrapped in a thick wool blanket, they began to relax for the first time in days. If they hadn’t been so intent on telling their story, the droning chop of the helicopter rotors would have lulled them to sleep. But the story begged to be told. They recounted their experiences with the Neo Khmer, the VPLA, Weston, the Neanderthals, and their half-breed brood. Deep Blue listened silently, all hints of whether or not he believed the tale hidden behind his mask.
When their story concluded with the confrontation in the field, Deep Blue nodded. “Glad we arrived when we did.”
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Queen said, “what the hell took so long?”
“I was indisposed.”
The six people sitting around him, who had been dipped in shit and come out clean, looked at him with dubious eyes. He’d have to do better than that.
Deep Blue sat still for a moment, his thoughts impossible to perceive while his mystery face was hidden from them. He glanced into the cockpit, made sure the pilots weren’t looking, and turned back to the others. “I was infected . . . am infected with Brugada. And I am the reason you were sent on this mission.”
He reached back and pulled his mask up and over his head. A handsome face all of them recognized immediately smiled at them.
President Duncan.
“Holy—,” Rook said.
“I don’t believe it,” Knight whispered.
Sara was more stunned than the rest. “Mr. President,” she said, offering her hand. Out of the six, she was the only one to have met him before, virtually, as she briefed the quarantined White House via video conference.
He shook her hand. “Nice to finally meet you in person.” He turned to King. “I was going to tell you last week. At the barbeque.” He shrugged. “Something came up.”
“Can we get a rain check on that barbeque?” Queen asked.
Duncan smiled. “As far as I’m concerned, you all can have anything you want.”
King leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “A barbeque will do.”
Sara looked over at the Chess Team. She had started to feel like she might have the potential to be like them. And she’d fought her way through the jungle, been captured, beaten, and shot at. She’d bit a man to get the cure to Brugada. She’d fought with mankind’s ancient enemy gone feral, whether from genetic assimilation or hyper-evolution she’d never know. And had no desire to find out. She didn’t want a barbeque, she wanted a million dollars, a yacht, and full-time masseuse. But these five, all they wanted was a cold beer and some ribs. Their commitment to their country, to all of humanity, went beyond anything she could conceive. They’d saved the world and wanted nothing for it. Despite all the failings she saw in them when she first met them, she saw them for what they truly were: heroes.
Epilogue
Siletz Reservation—Oregon
KING SHOOK HIS head as he entered the small town of Siletz. After a six-hour flight to Portland and a two-and-a-half-hour drive in a cramped Chevy Aveo rental, he was really starting to look forward to the long-awaited barbeque at Camp David, scheduled for the following week. The team had been on leave since Vietnam, for six weeks, recovering from battle wounds and debriefing an ungodly number of military and government officials.
Sara and a team from the CDC quickly isolated the herpes virus that triggered the gene alteration responsible for shutting down Brugada. The resulting inoculation—BGS, referred to as the “Bugs” vaccine, which was truly gene therapy—was tested on ten White House staff volunteers whose hearts had already stopped and been kick-started by the implanted cardioverters. They were all eager for a potential cure. A quick echocardiogram showed success and the Bugs vaccine was administered to the rest of the quarantined White House—no blood swapping or rash scratching required. Inoculating the rest of the infected outside the White House had been a logistical nightmare. Many came forward, fueled by fear, and claimed to have the disease. Demanding immediate treatment. While some, never knowing they were infected, fell over dead. But in the end, BGS was mass produced and made a mandatory vaccine. It would take time to inoculate the entire country, but with the outbreak contained, there were no more reported cases. Furthermore, Duncan made sure samples of BGS were sent around the world to all governments and health organizations. Brugada, both new and old strains, would be made obsolete.