Eden Rising Read Online Free PDF Page A

and the white-helmeted, blue-uniformed soldiers stationed at various points in the compound.
    The staging area Pishon Chem had used to distribute the spray tanks full of the virus had been clear of the former equipment and turned into two areas, each surrounded by double fences, separated by a gap large enough to drive a couple of trucks through side by side. Both areas contained a long building at the far end. While the zone on the left appeared empty, two people were standing outside the building in the zone on the right.
    “Those look like prisons to me,” Kusum said. “Are they locking people up?”
    Sanjay traced the fences with his eyes until he found the gates. He couldn’t tell from here if they were locked, but they were definitely closed. “I’m not sure what they are doing,” he said.
    He turned his attention to a group of men standing near the administration building. Unlike the others walking around outside the fenced areas, these men were not in uniform.
    Studying them, he was drawn to the way one of the men was standing. It seemed familiar. Unfortunately, he was too far away to get a fix on the man’s face so couldn’t make the connection.
    He scanned around, moving his gaze away from the compound to the street that ran just outside it.
    After a moment, he said to Kusum, “Stay here. I will be back.”
    “Where do you think you are going?”
    “I need to get a closer look.”
    “Then I am coming with you.”
    “No. You are staying here. If you are with me, it will be easier for us to be spotted.”
    “If you get into trouble, you may need my help,” she countered.
    “Kusum, I am not trying to argue with you. But I can make the trip faster and react quicker if I am alone. Please tell me you understand.”
    From her expression, he wasn’t sure if she did, but she said, “If you are not back in fifteen minutes, I will come look for you.”
    “Make it twenty.”
    “Fifteen.”
    He blew out an exasperated breath. “Fine. Fifteen. But it does not start until I leave this building.”
    When it was finally agreed, he gave her that kiss he’d wanted to give her earlier, and headed out the door.
    Back on the street, he threaded his way over to the rear of a structure directly across the road from the compound’s administration building. Instead of trying to find a way in, he climbed a drainpipe affixed to the outer wall, all the way to the roof.
    His new position was not as high as the apartment where he’d left Kusum, so he only had a partial view of the men he’d spotted. But he was close enough now that he could make out their faces.
    He had hoped his doubts would be unfounded, that he’d find this was indeed a UN operation. But instead, Sanjay’s fear turned out to be true.
    The man with the familiar stance was Mr. Dettling, one of the Pishon Chem managers Sanjay had worked with, and most decidedly not a member of the UN. Dettling’s wasn’t the only familiar face, either. Gathered with him were several other Pishon managers.
    When he’d seen enough, he climbed off the building and returned to Kusum.
    “Could you see anything?” she asked.
    “They are not the UN,” he told her.
    She stared at him for a moment. “Are you sure?”
    As concisely as possible, he described what he’d seen. “There is no question. They are the same people who had us distribute the flu.”
    “Why are they doing this, then? Why are they saying they are the UN?”
    “Whatever the reason, it can’t be good.”
    She glanced at the window. “The people inside those fences. Do you…do you think maybe they’re ones who came here for help?”
    He paused, then nodded. “I think very likely.”
    “What are they going to do to them?”
    “That, I do not know.”
    Kusum put a hand on her husband’s arm. “Sanjay. Are they going to kill them?”
    He said nothing.
    “If they are, we can’t let that happen,” she said.
    “No, we can’t.”

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    MONTANA
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