Quaranteam: McCallister's Madness Ch. 05

During his entire conversation with Elle, he'd been looking out towards land, trying to get some idea of where he was, but they had been too far for him to make out any real details. He was guessing that it was likely Latvia they were headed for, although Lithuania was definitely still an option.

It was almost half-way into the remainder that Adam finally had an answer for Elle. "Alright," he said, cutting ten minutes of total silence, almost apropos of nothing. "If you keep us safe from the Americans, and give us decent accommodations - I understand we won't be trusted to roam freely for some time, but I would appreciate not feeling completely like prisoners - then I will turn my sizable intellect towards your goals, trying to help all the remaining men and women survive whatever strange twists and turns the mutations that the DuoHalo virus may lead us through. You can inform the Americans that you have me, or you may keep my presence entirely secret; that is a decision I will leave in your hands, as you will know far better than I would what would be best."

The blonde woman nodded. "Best perhaps not to let the Americans know that we have you, at least for the next few years. After that, we can revisit the subject, but I suspect if they knew we had you, they would be less welcoming of our help until we returned you to them, and we do not have time for them not to trust us."

Adam narrowed his gaze a little bit. "You don't have malice planned for my homeland, do you? Because if it turns out you have nefarious motives, we may have some serious renegotiating to do."

Elle waved a hand, as if even the suggestion was beneath her. "We're trying to help the Americans, Dr. McCallister. We're trying to help everyone. But when it comes to leaving dark legacies in the wake, we have far more experience with that than anyone else."

Two hours later, the ship began to slow and there was a heavy banging on the outside of the container. "That's us," Elle said. "Bee, go and gather Stevie. Take Dasha with you. The two of you should be able to carry her, but if you need to, take Jay with you."

"We'll take Jay," Bee said. "Stevie's a big girl."

It was clear that they weren't coming back, as most of Elle's people were working to sterilize their environment, destroying paper, packing all things, wiping down all the surfaces and making sure that when they were gone, nothing would remain to identify they had ever been there.

Adam was brought to the deck again, finding that evening had fallen and that the area was very dark. Once on the deck, Adam was brought to the edge of the boat, and for a moment, he almost wondered if he had been lied to, and if a bullet was about to enter the back of his skull. He wouldn't be able to argue with the merit of it, but the bullet never came. Instead, he was brought to a heavy ladder that scaled down the side of the freight ship.

"Climb down, Adam. There's going to be a boat at the bottom to ferry us to shore."

"What if I fall?"

"I would very much advise against it," Elle said.

Adam made a point to listen, and moved down the ladder with great caution, finally reaching a small speedboat at the bottom of the freight ship, keeping pace alongside of it. He transferred from one ship to the other, and was followed by Stevie, Dasha, a big burly fellow he assumed must be Jay, and finally Elle last. Once they were on the boat, Elle tapped the captain of the smaller vessel and the speedboat zipped off.

"We're not taking everyone with us?" Adam asked over the roar of the motor.

Elle shook her head. "The rest of my team still has work left to do, but you'll see them again within a few weeks, never you worry."

The speedboat cut through the dark waters quickly, heading straight towards land, although there weren't a lot of lights in the distance, and certainly nothing that would tell him where he was. As the boat approached shore, he noticed they were pulling up to a pier what looked like in the middle of nowhere, although there were a small number of SUVs waiting for them.

As soon as they pulled the boat up to the pier, Adam McCallister spotted the first face he'd recognized since he'd left the United States, a strong, powerful bulldog of a woman, dressed in a dark suit, her hands folded in front of her.

Elle stepped off the boat first, and offered a hand for the woman to shake, which she did. "Mission complete, ma'am. We weren't followed, so I think we're free and clear."

"Glad to hear it, Lovisa," the woman said as Adam got off the boat. She turned to look at him, and he could feel the weight of millions of souls on the woman's shoulders. "Doctor McCallister. You aren't going to try and fuck us over, are you?"

"No, Frau Merkel," Adam replied. "Elle... Lovisa, I suppose, was quite clear about dark legacies. Now I understand why. Your country has been living in the long, tall shadow of one monolithic mistake for most of a century, and I imagine you are not eager to recreate those mistakes."

"No, Doctor McCallister," Angela Merkel said to him. "We are not. The age of us being everyone's villains shall be laid behind us, as we help the world navigate and survive in this new echelon we find ourselves in. You will help us do that, help us help the world to survive. Welcome to Germany, Doctor McCallister. Now let us take our leave."

And there, about 10 kilometers west of Boltenhagen, the next phase of Doctor Adam McCallister's life began.