Particle Z (Book 1) Read Free Page A

Force medic. Eric had done his time in Infantry alongside Mike.
    Mike parked the truck in his reserved space and took the service elevator up. It was always faster than going to the lobby and waiting for one of the public elevators. Slowing to a stop, the doors slid open on the thirtieth floor and Mike stepped out. He navigated the monochrome gray cubicle maze, arriving at his corner office which boasted a spectacular view of the bay. He never grew tired of that view no matter how many times he gazed upon it. Holding the title of Lead Engineer for the Public Works Department had its perks.
    Mike slid down into his chair and looked over a desk adorned with nothing more than a laptop, television remote, and phone. He then noticed something strange: the absence of sound floating into his office from his normally chatty and boisterous team. In fact, he hadn’t seen anyone in the cubicle farm. If nothing else, Eric would have been in his office with coffee minutes after his arrival, but he was suspiciously absent this morning. Worst of all, the morning’s coffee was also nowhere to be found.
    “Eric?” Mike called out in the general direction of his colleague’s office, but received no response.
    Mike was going to have to do a little recon to locate his missing team. Although close in proximity, Mike was shielded from his staff’s direct view by tall cubical walls that provided him as well as his team a small modicum of privacy. Mike was soon staring into Eric’s empty office. Where the hell is everyone, Mike thought, as he continued to hunt for his staff.
    Mike’s other team members, Reid and Ashley, like Eric, were also missing. It wasn’t like them not to be at their work stations; they were dedicated professionals, after all. Mike started to wonder if they were setting him up for some sort of prank. Ashley had always been the practical joker, although when it came to crunch time she was as serious and intense as they came. Reid was more of the quiet type, with a very dry sense of humor. He only added to the conversations when he felt he had something profound to say, but at other times he was just plain inappropriate.
    Mike navigated around the cubicles in search of the break room. He was at a loss as to where everyone was.
    “Eric … Ashley … Reid?” he called. Again, no response.
    With the break room was in sight, he finally spotted Ashley and Eric, facing away from him and intent on something. He was dying to know what had them so engrossed this early in the morning. More bad news, he was sure, if they had all felt the need to watch a news report during business hours. Noticing a flickering light, Mike thought, Yep , watching TV . As he got closer, he was able to confirm his suspicion: his friends were watching the local news.
    “Hello …?” Mike called out again.
    This time, Ashley and Eric turned when they heard Mike’s voice. Ashley looked nervous, her piercing blue eyes locking on his, and Eric looked confused. Reid was still staring at the TV when Mike walked in.
    “What’s so interesting that it caused you to leave your work stations?” Mike asked, more from curiosity’s sake than any other reason.
    “There seems to be a problem in the Gulf,” Ashley said quietly, avoiding eye contact.
    “Mike, I think the cruise ship Marlee is on is under some kind of lockdown,” Eric carefully stated.
    “Lockdown? What the hell do you mean? Why ... how would you lock down a cruise ship at sea,” Mike retorted, his stomach starting to perform nervous cartwheels.
    When no one answered him, he shifted his gaze to the news report to find an answer. Mike was able to make out a number of Coast Guard Long Ranger Interceptors, or LRIs, positioned around what was clearly a large white cruise ship. The banner running along the bottom of the television was reporting that the Sunset Rose was being intercepted due to suspicions the ship had been overrun with a life-threatening virus or bacteria of some kind. Mike’s