Lucas waited inside of the room, slouched behind the cheap motel desk and typing away at his computer. “Welcome back.”
Ruby rolled her eyes and sat on one of the two twin sized beds. The comforter scratched at her fingertips. She made wide, sweeping motions with her hands, mapping their path along the cheap blanket. “Our surprise guest has something to tell us.”
Jonah nodded, shut and locked the door, closed the blinds, then took a seat on the other bed. It sagged beneath his weight. “The TCA has the cure.”
Ruby scoffed. “Duh.”
“No, sorry, should have been more clear.” The heat kicked on, the radiator rattling behind them. “They’ve begun mass producing the cure for project Great Barrier.”
Lucas’s throat bobbed. “Shit.”
“Okay. But that’s a good thing, right? That’s exactly what we wanted them to do.” An odd disappointment settled in her, as if everything leading up to this point had been for nothing.
“They’re going to weaponize the bacteria.” Jonah held up a small, gray USB drive and stood.
Ruby’s mouth fell open. “What the fuck? Why?”
“It’s biological warfare. They’re going to cripple the economies of rival countries.” Lucas accepted the drive, shoving it into the computer.
“How would that work?” Ruby questioned.
File after file loaded on Lucas’s screen. He glanced through them as they popped up. “They release it as concentrated gas into public places. It’s colorless, odorless. It cripples their workforce, overloads their healthcare systems, creates an economic panic that only we, the US, can fix. We control the cure supply, we could sell it for a ridiculous price, draining the country's resources, or offer it selectively to allies.”
“That’s got to violate dozens of international laws.” Ruby seethed. “And wouldn’t the other countries retaliate? It could start a war. It could start a lot of wars.”
“For what? A natural outbreak?” Jonah shook his head. “If we delayed the release of the cure, the timeline would seem like just an independent discovery. There will be no proof it was intentional.”
“It’s going to destroy entire nations,” Lucas confirmed.
Ruby flopped onto her back, letting the news settle over her. “Shit.”
The radiator turned off, leaving the room silent.
“Unless.” She sat up and patted the duffel bag with a wicked grin.
Lucas nodded. “Unless.”
Jonah looked between the two. “Unless what?”
“Unless we weaponize the bacteria first.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
THE HUMIDITY INAustin clung to Ruby’s skin, thick and suffocating.
She adjusted the hem of her mini skirt, her shins brushing against the worn leather of her cowboy boots. Her dark hair sat on top of her head in little space buns—pink and purple glitter dropping onto the floor with her every step—courtesy of a woman running a hair booth.
The festival grounds stretched out before her in a kaleidoscope of neon lights, thrumming bass, and bodies moving in sync to the music. The scent of sweat, beer, barbecue, and weed coated—a concoction that filled her lungs with every breath. Phlogiston, swirls of blue and green, floated in every empty space, fueling her, letting her feast.
She could pretend to be another person in the crowd.
But a canister sat heavy in her hand.
She pulled the pin, knowing in every corner of festival grounds, other thermophiles, and Jonah, were doing the same.
A small pop, barely noticeable over the roar of the festival. The canister tumbled to the dirt, rolling beneath a tangle of moving bodies. Smoke billowed out, curling into the air, thick and colorless.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
