The Seraphim Sequence: The Fifth Column 2 by Nathan M Farrugia Page A

?’
    ‘A big splinter perhaps,’ she said. ‘But first, let’s get you walking backward.’
    ‘Hypothetical: would being really, really good at the moonwalk help in any way whatsoever?’ Jay said.

Chapter Ten
     
     
    Damien woke suddenly, his heart racing. He switched on the bunk light. His arms were glossy with sweat. It was the same dream again. He was in a bedroom, in a house—his house—and the Fifth Column had come for him. He was frozen, paralyzed where he lay. They walked into his bedroom, surrounding him. Jay was among them. He raised his pistol and shot Damien.
    Damien climbed out of his bunk. Jay was in the bunk above, snoring. Damien made his way to the head and splashed water on his face. He was completely awake now, so he shrugged on his overalls and decided to go for a walk.
    He found Benito alone in the infirmary, hunched over a Toughbook notebook.
    ‘What’s going on?’ he said.
    Benito jumped out of his chair. ‘Good God, man. Give me some warning before you do that … ninja operative sneaking stuff.’
    ‘Yeah, sorry.’ Damien folded his arms and leaned in the doorway. ‘Bored and I can’t sleep.’
    ‘One of those nights?’
    ‘Every night,’ Damien said. ‘Guess it’s insomnia or something.’ He changed the topic quickly. ‘Is … um … this might be a strange question, but is Sophia OK?’
    Benito seemed confused for a moment. ‘Well, all things considered, I think she’s doing quite well.’
    Damien noticed a half-full syringe on the hospital bed beside a white cell-phone-shaped device. Benito saw him staring.
    ‘That’s a point-of-care blood analysis system,’ he said. ‘I’m analyzing Sophia’s blood work. And there is one problem.’
    Damien didn’t like the sound of that. He moved further inside the infirmary. ‘Which is?’ he said.
    Benito shook his head, rubbed his eyes under his glasses. ‘That’s the thing,’ he said. ‘I don’t really know. I was actually hoping you could help me.’
    Damien stared at the Toughbook screen. ‘I’m not sure how I’d be able to help.’
    ‘Under the UN headquarters in New York, you injected Sophia with four syringes, correct?’ Benito said.
    Damien nodded. He and Jay had known what was inside the syringes Sophia had taken from Cecilia McLoughlin. One contained the Axolotl Chimera vector, one contained the anti-psychopath Chimera vector, and one contained the antidote to the engineered flu virus Cecilia had triggered inside Sophia.
    Jay had been able to recognize the Chimera vector colors because he’d injected them into Damien to save his life, and had also injected himself. But neither Damien nor Jay had known which of the remaining two syringes contained the flu antidote and which was something else entirely. So they’d injected Sophia with both.
    ‘The fourth one,’ Damien said. ‘I don’t know what it was.’
    ‘I guess no one knows,’ Benito said, ‘except Cecilia. And unfortunately Sophia killed her, so that rules that out. Without a sample of Sophia’s blood before the injection, I can’t run a comparison.’
    ‘Wouldn’t the Fifth Column have a sample somewhere?’ Damien said.
    ‘Yes. Desecheo Island.’
    Damien frowned. ‘Yeah, that’s kind of blown up now.’
    Benito sank back into his chair. ‘She’s been blacking out recently. I don’t know if it’s connected to that fourth syringe or whether it’s something else.’
    ‘How’s she been holding up since she released the Chimera vector?’ Damien asked.
    Benito shook his head. ‘Some days better than others. I don’t know how she does it. I couldn’t.’ He looked up at Damien. ‘You’re having second thoughts, aren’t you?’
    Damien felt a pang of guilt. He’d never doubted Sophia before, but now he was starting to. She wasn’t the Sophia from Desecheo Island with cunning and split-second instincts. She was the Sophia with post-traumatic stress disorder and a few too many regrets.
    He shrugged and forced a smile. ‘When am