Chapter 15: Third Strain
Perspective: Gordon
"Play it again..." I said, staring at the video on the screen. The video started from the beginning as Iona tapped the spacebar on the computer. The screen showed the same scene as before: Grainy footage salvaged from the security cameras of the AFA virus lab, revealing a group of heavily armed and armored anthros storming the place, hitting the scientists with precise shots to avoid hitting the lab equipment.
"They don't have the same protection we do. No ear protection, less armor..." I mused. "Who are these guys?"
"We have a working theory...." Jess said from over my shoulder. I turned to glance at her. "It might be the Animal Kingdom."
My heart dropped into my stomach.
"The Animal Kingdom." I said. "So this virus is now in the hands of what essentially amounts to furry supremacists?"
"It's not an ideal situation by any means." Iona agreed. "The virus being in the hands of the AFA was one thing; they might've used it to kill off the global furry population completely, but this group..."
"If the Kingdom can reverse engineer the virus, they might be able to weaponize it against humanity," Jess said. "killing off humans instead of furries. They could kill billions. If they succeed, we're looking at more than a global outbreak, we're looking at the collapse of society. We're looking at the apocalypse."
The council members turned as the door opened, an avian soldier peering through--I recognized him as one of the scouts from the outer wall of the base and immediately feared another attack.
"Sorry to interrupt, councilors." he said. "We have a new problem. One of our outposts a few miles away was attacked, we've got a load of refugees coming in."
"At risk of sounding insensitive..." I said. "there wasn't anyone else to take them in? We're still hurting from our own attack and we're almost overcrowded as is."
"There were wounded, sir." the hawk anthro said. "We can get them medical attention and send them to another base."
I looked to the other council members and sighed.
"Let them stay for a bit." I said. "They've been through a lot, let them rest and recover fully."
The hawk nodded and left quickly.
"Back to the matter at hand..." Lana said as I leaned back in my chair. "I believe the best course of action is to warn the US military of the Animal Kingdom's intent to reverse engineer the virus. The military is no friend of ours, but this is a global threat."
"Agreed." I said. "We can't fight the AFA and the Kingdom, and if they manage to remake the virus it'll be a lot more dangerous than anything the AFA could do. For the moment, they take priority."
Lana turned to me.
"Talk to Eddie, see if he can get an estimate on how long it might take the Kingdom to reverse engineer this virus into something that could be used to hurt humanity." she said. I nodded.
——
I looked up at the screen, staring at the face of a balding red-haired man in his mid 40s.
“Either of you remember hearing about the gas attack on the Midwest Furfest con in 2014?” I asked.
“That was this guy?” Daniel asked, raising his eyebrows. I nodded.
“David Alkin.” I said.
“I thought the police had no suspects for the attack.” Eddie said. “How’d you solve a cold case that hasn’t seen the light of day in years?”
“We have more time on our hands than the cops do. And the superhuman senses don’t hurt.” I replied.
“I mean, we also do tend to bend the rules a bit. There may have been some minor breaking and entering to get all the proof we needed. But above all else, we have a passion for this particular case that the authorities didn’t. To them, it was just any other crime. To us, it was an attack on our people, and once we found even the slightest shred of evidence we had to follow it. I want to see this bastard go down.”
"And he will." Lana said. "The strike team is in position."
"Give them the go ahead." I said, nodding to her.
"Strike team, greenlight. Repeat: Greenlight. Operation is a go." Lana said into a radio.
"Affirmative." the voice of the team captain replied. "Moving in now."
Lana switched to the body cam footage of the team entering Alkin's home. The man scrambled out of his armchair at the sight of the operatives, moving for the assault rifle mounted on his wall, but the avian soldier near him hit him across the head with a wing, knocking him unconscious.
"Target is down." the captain reported. "Repeat: Target is down."
"Good work, Alpha Team." I said. "Plant the message and call it in, then get out of there."
"Message?" Eddie asked.
"We're leaving Alkin with a little gift." I said. "All the evidence we dug up to convict him of the Furfest attack and a warning to the US military explaining the Animal Kingdom's intent to reverse engineer a new virus."
Lana turned to Eddie.
"What did you say the possible timeframe was on them doing that again?"
"I didn't." Eddie said. "We have no idea what kind of tech they're working with, we've got no idea if they're working out of a garage or if they've got a nicer lab than we do. It could be years before their virus is a credible threat... or it could be months."
"That's not exactly comforting." I said. "... but I'll tell you what is: Bagging this bastard."
"Amen to that." Lana said, staring up at the screen which depicted the unconscious body of David Alkin strapped to a chair.
"We've called in a hostage situation." the captain said. "SWAT should be here any minute."
"Good." Lana said. "Now get out of there."
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