LOG ENTRY: 4

DATE: 26 December 2098

TIME: 5:30 AM

LOCATION: Gov Research Laboratory. (Location unknown.)

Dr. Ezra Mayur, Microbiologist & Epidemiologist. Expertise: Designer Pathogens.

I couldn't sleep last night. Again. It had nothing to do with the party going on up on the canteen level, or the noises of happy campers in the corridors, fumbling, shit-faced-drunk to their beds.

I couldn't sleep. Watergate, what he said, what he showed, and that at 06:00 hours, someone's going to knock on my door and say we're heading off. To where? Still no idea. The General was tight-lipped, and I haven't really left my room other than to stretch my leg and grab some food before it was all gone. I had no desire to partake in festivities with my captives. Some days I seem to forget... that I'm not here by choice. That these are not friendlies.

What's bizarre is—for folks who are ruthless gatekeepers of the future—last night, they actually attempted to decorate the canteen as festive as anyone can make a bland concrete bunker. There was even a soldier dressed as Santa, and not one of those cheap suits either that some in our neighbourhood used to wear, stained, tattered, and faded, offering crooked smiles and missing teeth for Christmas Photos. I remember both Shaki and I used to get scared of them... there's even a photo of us, me at twelve, her, a tiny wailing baby. She did not like the creepy man in the red suit. Honestly, neither did I.

However, the food was the highlight for me. I even went back up for seconds. The men, Millen especially, were inviting me to join them but I had other things on my mind, like, where are we going today? What does this Vault look like? But you know what, for the first time in my life, I saw a whole turkey. There were also several roast chickens, other meats, assorted veggies, and desserts that simply made you feel you were in heaven. I've never seen anything like it. In the middle of widespread famine? Where did they get all that food? Was Watergate lying? About the shortage?

But honestly, that wasn't it either. We're about to leave for a central HCL, for pathogens—the place I thought was a myth—where I'll be forced, under guard, to secure samples of the world's deadliest pathogens known to mankind. How can one sleep with that on their mind? Every time I closed my eyes, those screens flickered to life, those faces—

"Dr Mayur?" There was no courteous knock this time.

Ezra sat at her table, laptop in front of her, an empty bowl of cereal she'd forced down her throat beside it. She slammed the screen down just as the door swung open and he stood there. Rai.

"Captain?" Ezra stood, not rushing to hide the laptop from him.

"It's time." His gaze moved from the device to her as he stood ramrod straight. "I'll give you a minute to gather your things."

As they walked those subdued halls, his heavy boots synced with her thin sneakers, and Ezra trailed a few paces behind. The man wasn't exactly tall, but he was a fast walker, measured, and she needed to jog occasionally to keep up with him.

They walked several levels up. The air felt thicker and heavier here. December. Aussie December, the height of summer. Wonder why Watergate told me to pack for the cold. After what felt like a good-leg-day jaunt up several flights of stairs, they arrived at a large garage of sorts, at the end of which stood large, guarded double doors. Rai nodded at those men, hopped into the nearest open-top Jeep, waited for her to slide onto the passenger seat, lugging her army-issued duffle bag onto her lap, and drove them towards those very gates.

One soldier stepped forth with a device, some biometric scanner, and scanned Rai's badge and a retina before he nodded to a tower room to the side that she hadn't noticed, and the doors swung open on hydraulic hinges.

It was a shock to her system when the warm morning breeze hit her face as the Jeep sped towards a waiting cargo plane on the runway. All around them, as far as the eye could see, was classic Australian outback: wide, open sky, not a cloud in sight, flat land, low shrubbery stubborn enough to survive in the desert. No building other than a radar tower nearby. If she hadn't just emerged from the bunker, Ezra would have questioned why there was a radar tower and a runway in the middle of nowhere.

"Where are we?" she asked, her head on a swivel as she tried to spot landmarks she may recognise.

Rai remained silent.

Within minutes, they ushered her onto a large cargo plane. Eight men were already in the hold, seated and buckled, chuckling at some joke when she appeared. Rai entered after her, nodded at his team, and headed up to the cockpit, while one of those men, none she recognised, prompted her to take a seat anywhere.

She sat as far away from them as she could. The hold was closed, and the plane taxied, lining up to the runway. Ezra clutched her seat belt tightly. Was this a good time to tell them she was terrified? She'd never flown before, never even dreamt of it.

The engines roared, and the plane picked up speed. Ezra shut her eyes and tried to control her trembling hands. She did not want these men to think she was any less than them. Someone dropped onto the seat next to her, and she peeled her eyes open. "You?"

Rai eyed her hands on the seat belt but didn't comment. "We should talk." He watched his men, several seats away, resuming their chatter and hoots of laughter. He didn't even bother buckling up. None of the men did. "Watergate wants me to assemble a team now that you are ready for actual lab work. I thought, who better than your old pals?"

Ezra's heart leaped. Whether it was from the takeoff or his words, she wasn't sure. "I'm sorry. What?"

"Your old team. Dr Malik, Dr Jayden, Noor, Sidgel... In my eyes, Dr Archer was a man of excess. At one point, he had fifty scientists under him. But something tells me you're different. So, I need to know how big a team you're envisioning?"

Ezra stammered, lost for words. Envisioning? She wasn't envisioning anything. Especially dragging other innocent people into this web of horror. "I..."

"You have until the end of the flight to decide." Rai stood then as the plane reached its cruising altitude. He handed her a tablet she hadn't realised he was holding.

"Decide?"

"Candidates." He jutted his chin towards the tablet in her hands. "Bookmark the ones you want." With a brisk nod, he walked away, towards his men, and joined in on the card game they'd begun on the semi-empty cargo hold, except for the one loaded pallet secured to the floor.

She forced her attention back to the tablet at hand. Candidates. She eyed Rai again, seated on the floor in a circle, dealing out cards, like an average Joe. They all could be, if not for their black outfits and uniform buzz cuts. 'You have until the end of the flight to decide.'

"Captain Rai?" She tried to stand, forgetting she still had her belt on, and tumbled back into her seat. "How long is the flight?"

He threw her a hard glance, "Ten hours," before returning to the game.

Ten hours. Ten hours to decide other people's fate. "And what if I can't pick them?"

"If you wanted to have your say, this is your chance." He didn't even bother to look back.

Ezra had never hated a man as much as she did him at that moment. With a shaky breath and a reluctant heart, she tapped the screen, pouring over the files of many faces she recognised, one of whom was indeed her best friend, Tehreem.

#

Hours later, the men were asleep, taking up several seats. The cargo hold was quiet as could be. Ezra noted there were entering their ninth hour. Only an hour till to land. She unbuckled her belt and stood, trying to peer at the sleeping figures spread out over the hold, trying to spot Rai. She hadn't meant to doze off. Last she recalled, they'd been playing some singing game towards the front. Perhaps he's asleep there.

She gripped the wall as light turbulence shook the plane and moved ahead, trying to spot the man. "Captain Rai?" she whispered over a couple of figures who slept with their faces covered, only to have them grunt-shake their heads.

She approached a third figure, bundled up, head on a rolled-up sleeping back, his back to her. His girth was like Rai's. She moved towards him, whispering, "Captain Rai?"

A man cleared his throat behind her. Startled, she turned around to see him seated upright on a seat that was blocked by the pallet. His eyes were still closed as she approached. "What can I do for you, Dr Mayur?" he asked in a low voice before he fixed those dark and stormy eyes on her face.

"I have a request..." For once, Ezra felt uncomfortable. It wasn't a scrutinising look, but something else, something more. She eyed her best option forward. Sit and chat or stand and chat. In the end, she sat next to him. This way, she could ensure their conversation was fairly private. "I was hoping... look, I can handle this project on my own. I really don't think there's any need to bring anyone on board... It's unnecessary..."

She felt his eyes continue to linger on her, study her. "In the past two months, you've expressed several times, to me personally, and to others, that you are only 'one person', and as such, you can only do so much."

Ezra's heart sank. She had, hadn't she? How stupid! She tried to laugh it off, but it came off more like a cry. "Please. Don't do this. They are good people. They don't deserve this." When she looked up, he was still staring at her. "I... I'm sorry... I can't be the reason you force others onto this project... I can't put them at risk. Not like that."

"They are already at risk." His jaw clenched. He briefly scanned the sleeping men, then pulled Ezra closer, his grip on her arm so tight she was sure it'd bruise. When they were a hair's breadth away, he said in a hush she could barely hear, "This isn't the time to feel guilty, Ezra. You're in way over your head. You know this, and I've seen it. Take the help."

Ezra shook her head, pulling away from him. "No. I can do this. I can. I don't need help. Please, I beg you, don't destroy their lives like mine." She hadn't realised her voice had gotten louder, and the men stirred awake, watching the two of them curiously.

"Enough!" Rai stood to his full height then, his wide chest strong and unwavering, his gaze as hard as stone. "You're forgetting where you are, Doctor. I don't care if you like it or not. I simply gave you a chance to choose your team. Whether or not anyone comes on board is not up for debate. It's happening. You are getting a team because, as you said, several times—" his voice went sterner and sterner—"you're only one scientist and we are running out of time to contain this. If you can't decide who joins your team, then the decision will be made for you, and you can be certain it will include your dear little friend, Dr Malik."

He advanced on her then, almost pinning her to the seat with his gaze. "I think we're quite done here, Princess. Buckle up."

He walked away, instructing his men to prepare for landing.

#

The icy wind blew against the material boisterously. Ezra huddled in the small tent alone, shivering in the cold. The layers she wore were almost no match for the cold. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, a small wad of paper propped up on it, and she scribbled frantically, trying to fight the tears that pooled in her eyes.

December 26, 2098

Dad, I'm somewhere in Antarctica. We arrived at nightfall, so they made camp near the airstrip soon after we disembarked. I feel...

She scratched that word. Rai's harsh words still rang in her ears. Feel wasn't the word. It shook her to her core. She'd begun to think he was an ally. The laptop incident, him talking to her in a hush on the plane, but now she wasn't sure.

I can't do it... He wants me to choose the men and women I want to bring on board this shit... men and women I know. Tehreem... her team. Jayden and his team... basically, all the 'candidates' he showed me? They are all my old colleagues, Dad. How can I do this to them? How can I choose any of them...

A faint noise outside made her stop writing. She waited, quietly. Maybe an animal? Was there any left in the wild?

Snow crunched faintly again and the front of her tent zipped open. A figure slipped in as quietly as he could.

Terror seized her throat. She couldn't even scream.

When the man had closed up the tent once more, he turned, holding up a gloved finger to his lips. Shush.

"Captain?"

"Shhhh!" He held up his finger again and moved closer. As he did, he gestured others might hear them, pointing outside the tent and then at his ears.

"What are you doing here?" she croaked out, wiping the tears from her eyes.

He shuffled forward, almost touching her. He leaned in close, his hot breath caressing her cold cheek. Then his lips touched her ear, far too intimate. "I couldn't do this before. They are always watching... always listening, at the base..." He pulled away enough to pull something dark from his pocket. He grabbed her hand and placed it in her cold palm before leaning closer again. "It's a satellite phone. Untraceable. They don't know I have one. Make it quick."

Ezra blinked in shock and confusion.

"Talk to your family. This might be your only chance."

"Is this a trick?"

He smiled, a warm smile she had never seen before. It reached his eyes and made the corner crease, unlike everything else he wore. "Sorry about the plane. They were watching. The men." He looked at the phone in her hand. "I give it a couple of minutes before someone figures out where I'm... and if anyone asks, I made a move on you..." He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm sorry for everything."

With that, he quietly slipped out of her tent, giving her a sliver of happiness. Two minutes. Ezra dialled a number off by heart and listened to the ringtone on tenterhooks.

On the eighth ring, it clicked.

"Dad? It's me, Ezzie."

A/N: OMG, almost at 30k words now, and still 3 chapters to go! Who's excited?

I'm so keen to hear what you think of this chapter. It went in directions that even surprised me so.

What do you make of Rai now? I know there are some of you who didn't like him up until now.