“The Tanzanians. Think about it—you’ve got a raging outbreak to the north. Step one is to close your airspace, shoot anything flying in from Kenya. And the Kenyan coastal towns are no good either. They’re probably in the same shape as Mombasa, and I’m sure Conner is enlisting search parties there too. The American government has no presence or assets in Dani Beach that I’m aware of. There’s a CIA station in Dar es Salaam, and an embassy for that matter, but we’ll never reach them.”

“So we go inland,” Desmond said. “Nairobi?”

“Suicide,” Avery said. “If Mombasa looks like this, imagine Nairobi. And Conner will assume that’s our only move. I think…”

“What?”

“I think we’re trapped.”

“We’re not,” Peyton said. She had an idea. It was a gamble, but it just might pay off.

Desmond studied her.

“I know where we can go,” she said. “It’s inland, in Kenya. It has an airstrip, satphones, and a hospital. My guess is the outbreak is contained at this location. And McClain will never think to look for us there.”

After Peyton told them her plan, Avery studied the map.

“It’s at the helo’s max range. Fifty-fifty odds we have enough fuel to get there. If it’s a bust, we’re stranded for sure.”

“Flight time?” Desmond asked.

“It’s about three hundred and fifty miles away. Two hours, roughly.”

Peyton looked down at Hannah. She didn’t know if the young woman had two hours, but she felt like her plan was their only hope.

Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Desmond sat against the back wall of the helicopter, side by side with Peyton. They glanced at each other for a moment, then stared forward, riding in silence. Out the window, the last rays of sunlight were receding behind the mountains in the distance.

The helicopter rotor’s rhythmic drone was almost hypnotic, and before long, Desmond felt Peyton’s head fall on his shoulder. The woman was worn out. He tried not to move; he wanted her to get some rest.

For him, sleep was elusive. Questions ran through his mind. What he had learned on the Kentaro Maru had shocked him. If what Conner had said was true, he was partially responsible for starting the outbreak. He wondered if somewhere buried in his memories was the key to stopping it. Or if it was buried in the Labyrinth Reality app he had found in Berlin. Or both. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to remember his past.

The morning after the Halloween party, Desmond stopped by xTV’s accounting department. His investigative work had revealed that Peyton was a sophomore at Stanford, and that Andrea, an xTV intern who had graduated from Stanford in June, was a friend of hers.

Desmond found Andrea in her cubicle, staring at her computer screen, twirling a strand of sandy brown hair around her index finger.