Silent Night - By Tom Barber Page 0,76

a light swivel. The screen flicked into life. No password required. He clicked on Firefox, then went to Browsing History.

It was empty.

‘Did he have an email account?’

She nodded and moved around the desk. ‘He used the company one. He wasn’t particularly good with computers.’

Leaning over him, she hit a few keys and the company logo came up beside a username and password box. She tapped the keys again and after hitting Enter the screen changed to Flood’s inbox. As she concentrated on the screen, her hair tumbled forward and Archer caught her perfume. He focused on the screen.

Empty.

‘Shit,’ Archer said. ‘He deleted everything.’

‘No. There is something. I realised it this morning. Everyone kind of hurried past it.’

‘What is it?’

‘In his hurry, Dad went to destroy everything. Old files, emails, notes, messages on his phone. He took all the information in his head with him. But in his hurry, he forgot the most important thing of all.’

She looked down at him.

‘Do you want to see it?’

‘See what?’

‘The virus.’

Archer looked at her for a moment, then rose and nodded. They walked around the desk and headed back outside into the corridor.

‘He forgot to destroy the last vial?’

‘He wasn’t thinking clearly. And it was locked away in the freezer. It must have slipped his mind.’

She led them down the corridor, then arrived at a keypad facing what had to be the main lab. The first door led into a small cubicle. There was an ultraviolet glow inside. Maddy saw him looking up at the lighting.

‘Helps show any traces of bacteria on our suits,’ Maddy said. ‘The shower and air-system take care of most of it, but we need to be sure.’

‘Do we need to suit up?’

She shook her head. ‘Don’t worry. I took the vial out this morning, but locked it in a Class III cabinet. No one can get to it other than me. It’s secure.’

She tapped in a quick six digit code and the glass door buzzed, sliding open.

Archer followed her inside. They were forced to stop as the first door closed, the two of them standing close together in the shower cubicle. Then the second one opened and they walked into the lab. The door slid shut behind them.

The laboratory was rectangular. There were white worktops lining the walls, all sorts of equipment placed incrementally along them. Although the main lights were turned off, the lab was illuminated by a faint glow from some LED lights and the UV lighting in the decontamination shower. Straight ahead against the far wall there was a rectangular shaped freezer with a glass door. It was big, about the size of two refrigerators stacked side by side. Archer saw racks of test tubes and beakers inside containing different coloured fluids.

And just to the left of the freezer, he saw what had to be the virus.

He walked forward slowly beside Maddy and looked into a thick containment cabinet. It was octagonal, glass panels separated by thick strips of metal. There were several holes with long black rubber gloves leading into the glass case to allow the doctors to work on the materials inside.

Towards the back of the airtight case was a rack with six slots.

Five of them were empty.

In the centre of the rack rested the last remaining vial.

‘Bleeker stole every one he could see,’ she said. ‘The only reason he missed this one was because I’d stored it in the freezer.’

Archer stared at the vial, like a moth drawn to a flame. It was about the size of a large shot glass. The liquid inside was muddy yellow, resting on the bottom of the glass like river silt giving off its own little caramel glow. It looked so inconsequential. However, Archer thought back to the store by Pier 17, standing amongst the fifty nine infected dead, blood and pieces of lung tissue around them.

Looks could be deceiving.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll come in and destroy it for once and for all.’

Archer nodded, but cocked his head. ‘What’s with the receiver?’

‘What receiver?’

He pointed. ‘Behind the vial. Look.’

She turned and looked closer. There was a little electrical bug clipped to the back of the cabinet. It was about the size of a small pencil sharpener.

She frowned. ‘That shouldn’t be there.’

Archer’s eyes widened.

He grabbed Maddy’s shoulder.

‘Step back,’ he said, sharply.

Confused by his change in tone, she moved away from the cabinet. Archer stared at the bug. It looked like a receiver. But for what? He examined the cabinet, then lowered his gaze to the cupboard under the worktop. He dropped