The System

“She cares deeply for the boy.”

“So it would appear.”

“Young love. It’s hard to decide if it’s wonderful or misguided. In this case, I told your daughter that Grant was unsafe from a practical standpoint.”

“That was my concern as well,” Scott admitted.

“What have you been able to discover? An anomaly?”

Scott shrugged. “There are markers that would indicate it could be genetic. But I’m ru

“Good. Here’s the deal. If Grant is a singular case…a mistake, then he can live.”

Turning his head, Scott looked at Huck. He blinked and bit the underside of his lip. “I’m sorry. What?” Scott asked. This edict defied everything he had been told; all of his experiments and tinkering were for nothing. “There’s no way to know if he’s a single case…just the fact that anyone carried an immunity to that virus is suspicious.”

Huck waved Scott’s reply away like it was odiferous. “Like a flip of a coin. If the resistance to the virus is genetic, I want him gone. Nobody should know that there could be people out there who have survived. It will only create dissention and a desire to go after them. But if he’s an exception…a mistake. A rarity. Then,” Huck crossed his arms over his chest, “we can pass off his inclusion like he is a miracle.”

“I can’t know for sure unless we can compare him to others like him…”

Huck waved this impediment away too. “You are the best, Scott. You will submit a full report and you will deal with it. And in the meantime…I promised your daughter that she could see him.”

Scott stayed still, but his left leg twitched. After a moment, he rubbed his forehead with his pointer finger. “Oh,” he muttered. “Well, then, Lucy must have had a compelling argument…I’m impressed. I’m sure she’ll be very grateful…”

“Her arguments were weak. Based on the assumption that someone deserves to live simply because they’ve been born. In the end, I told her it was up to you.” Huck rose and paced the length of the room, his hands behind his back, and Scott watched. “I figured,” he continued, “that you’d want to make that decision…since you appear to need to play God.”

“What?” Scott remained seated, but his eyes followed Huck’s pacing. “I don’t know what that means.”

Huck stopped and locked his eyes into Scott’s and Scott resisted the urge to look away first. “You know…deciding on your own to go against what we had outlined. You have some explaining to do, Mr. King.”

“I don’t know what—”

“I trusted you,” Huck seethed through a clenched jaw. “We had rules. You, who were asked to enforce the vaccinations…”

Scott’s heart began thumping in his chest and his leg picked up momentum. Huck leaned over the desk, and he pointed a shaky finger at Scott’s chest, his face a full blanket of accusation.

“Huck,” Scott started. “Do you have something you need to ask me specifically?” He asked the question, put it out there, although he knew where this was headed. He knew the minute he was summoned that this was not a friendly visit.

“You have created variables, Scott. Do you understand the ramifications of your actions? You have single-handedly jeopardized the rescue mission of your son—”

“Wait—”

“How can I send my men to go get Ethan if I don’t know what waits for them there? I asked you to create a secondary virus and I’ll need it. Now.”

“It’s not ready…and I’ll need Grant to complete my testing…”

“Then Ethan will stay where he is. He is lost to you.”

“Huck—” Scott felt clammy. He stood up, so he could face Huck eye-to-eye. The old man came out from around his desk and stood next to Scott, his nostrils flared in and out.

“You abused the position I gave to you…while those people begged for extra vaccines, begged to save one more person…you hid them away? You used my time and my money to create problems for me down the road? Do you have any idea how a

“It was my vaccine. My creation,” Scott stammered. “I created the extras on my own time…”

“If your family failed to meet the vaccination date by the vaccination time…that was your fault. Those were our rules. Your rules, even. You stood beside me and upheld the statute despite tears and panic with dozens of other families.”

“I was worried. I thought if I had them at my disposal, why shouldn’t I try to protect them in case…”

“You told them where we were. The first violation. You left behind our only commodity. The second violation.” Huck slammed his fist down upon the desk and Scott took a step back, and he looked down at the carpeted floor and stared at his own plain brown shoes. “How many vials did you leave behind?” Huck asked after taking a breath.

“Six,” Scott whispered.

“Lucy told me two of those went to a woman and her son. A young child.”

Scott knew what was coming next. He closed his eyes and held his breath.

“Decide their fate,” Huck said. “You created them. You tell me what I should do with them.”

“They are accidents. Those vaccines weren’t supposed to leave my family, Huck. I’m sorry.” Scott shook his head and took another tentative step backward.

“Decide!”

“Kill them,” Scott said. “That solves it…that fixes it. We kill them.” He said the order softer now. He closed his eyes and tried to push the image of the woman and her young son away. His vaccines had saved them and now his decision killed them. His stomach ached.

Huck stomped to the office door and opened it; then he called out, “Get me the General.” Then he slammed the door and walked back to Scott.

“I’m sorry,” Scott replied, wiping his brow. “I didn’t think beyond that…didn’t think that they would use the vaccines for others.”

“You didn’t assume they’d use it? To save friends? Or help others? To trade?” Huck asked, dripping with supercilious contempt. “Then I overestimated you. And you underestimated them.”

There was a knock on the door. Both men turned to look as the man Huck called the General waited to enter. Huck motioned for him and the tall man, with dark hair and a buzz-cut walked with brisk, clipped steps into the room. He was dressed in a specially designed uniform. It was notably similar to the guards, but more colorful, and a brass tag identified him as a high-ranking official of the Elektos military. He saluted Huck, but Huck did not return the old-world action.

The General had been a well-decorated Army general and a multi-war veteran in the former world. But he had traded that position for a job in the Elektos military and a chance to build a new world. The General’s intimate government affiliations were invaluable as they pla

Even Scott didn’t call him by his actual name, Phillip, but only as the General—which solidified the man’s mystique as Huck’s third-in-command behind Gordy. It was the General who helped Huck hide his building development and recruit cabinet members. He was intimidating and severe: as unapproachable as Scott was personable.

“Where are the planes?” Huck asked without formalities.

“At the runways. Fueled and ready. The System in Botswana isn’t expecting you for another week, sir,” the General said, he relaxed his shoulders a bit, but his face stayed rigid and focused on Huck, following the leader’s actions with his eyes.

“Rescue mission in Oregon,” Huck stated and if the General was surprised, he didn’t flinch. Huck walked back to his desk and stood behind it, resting his hands against the wood. “We’ve decided to go back for someone.”

“We could be ready to go within the day. Depending on the team. Urban or rural location?”

“Urban,” Huck answered.

“We have available helicopters outside Portland. Two at the Hillsboro airport…”