The First

Chapter 61

"She was lost and gone forever, dreadful sorrow Clementine," Ross sang under his breath, not sure why the song had gotten stuck in his head. He backed out of the driveway while fishing through the glove box for his spare phone.

"Gotcha. Call boss man."

After a couple of rings, he thought he might not get in touch with Mike. In the back of his mind, he knew he'd have to come up with a plan.

"FBI director's cell phone. How may I help you?"

The woman's voice startled him.

"Who is this? Why didn't the director pick up?"

Gunfire cracked in the background. "He's a bit busy. This is Janice."

Janice had been the director's secretary for many years. A buxom woman of about sixty years. She loved to wear her traditional African tribal gowns to work. Ross imagined her in a colorful Kanga with matching headdress.

"Janice, it's Agent Harris. Is he safe?"

"Sounds like they're fighting a war out there."

Ross shook his head. "Did they receive the present we sent over?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about but a couple of helicopters just dropped off two huge crates in front of the building here in Seattle."

Weapons? 

"Can you take him the phone?"

She whispered, "I'm hiding in a closet. They told me to stay put."

"Please, Janice. Try and get the phone to him. Take one step at a time. You see anyone without clothes on, duck and cover. Got it?"

Janice whimpered when she opened the closet door. The gunfire grew louder as she bustled down the hall.

"Dan," she said. "Where's Mike?"

Dan Burns happened to be the epitome of an FBI office geek. "Get back in the closet. Are you crazy?"

"I've got Agent Harris on the line. He needs to talk to Mike."

"Jesus. Okay. Give me the phone and get back to your hiding place." Static whispered in the background as the cell exchanged hands.

"Dan. Dan."

"Agent Harris?"

"Yeah. Where's Mike."

"We've got six or seven bogies out there. I think they're testing your new weapons on them."

Bullets cracked in the background. "Wait. They already reproduced the agent."

Dan didn't answer. Mike did.

"Harris. Where the hell are you?"

"Headed West. I'm looking for the Staten Trill."

"The what?"

"The first one. Savannah Staten. We need to find her. She may be key to ..."

"Great. Kill her and all the other bastards with her. This serum is working like Crackerjacks."

"What's the sitrep?" Ross swerved to miss a turned over bus. Torn up people dangled from the windows.

"Defcon four, son. President announced it this morning. Hordes of Trills are gathering the world over. Hundreds of thousands are marching on larger cities. Smaller groups took to the outskirts. They're tearing cities apart, killing every human. The President is calling it an extinction event. However, your doctor is brilliant. The serum works. We're having it put into tracer rounds with an armor-piercing tip. It's working out. I got one a little while ago. Keep up what you're doing. Gotta go."