Romania. Star Fire's European branch.
In the lounge at the top of the Castle, a fire crackled in the hearth. Ryan was sunk deep into a wide leather couch, a cup of fresh tea in one hand, idly scrolling through expansion plans for the new Star Fire base on his tablet.
The communicator on the table buzzed.
Ryan hit speakerphone without looking. Ben Bertolucci's voice came through immediately, barely containing his excitement.
"Ryan, I've got something huge for you. Breaking news, hot off the press. The White House hasn't even fully processed it yet." Ben was talking fast, the clatter of him rifling through papers audible in the background. "Vice President Adam Benford is setting up a special agency that reports directly to the President. Codename: DSO."
"Go on." Ryan leaned back and took a sip of tea.
"It gets better. He's about to give a public speech at Ivy University. The topic is 'Reexamining the Raccoon City Incident.' My source is staking his life on it. Benford's planning to blow the lid off every backroom deal between the US government and Umbrella's top brass. Word is, Star Fire's dominance right now is what gave him the guts to finally play his hand."
Ryan spat out his tea.
Ivy University. The Raccoon City truth.
Those keywords ran through his head. It's ahead of schedule. Again.
"Ben, listen." Ryan set down his cup and cut him off. "Drop everything you're investigating. Ditch your press credentials. Grab your people and get out of Tall Oaks right now. Find a bunker with no underground ventilation system and hole up. Wait for Star Fire to move in. Do not stick your head out."
Ben hesitated. "Ryan, this is a Pulitzer-winning story..."
"You need to be alive to collect a prize. Someone's not going to let him talk. You want to go down with him?" Ryan's tone was flat, but left zero room for argument. "Do what I said. Stay inside, keep your head down, and wait for our people to pull you out."
He hung up without wasting a second and dialed Leon's direct line.
"Hey, what's the occasion? Checking up on me?" Leon picked up fast, his voice steady as ever, with the easy ribbing of an old friend.
"Are you at Ivy University? Running security for Benford's speech?"
"I'm here, but security's the Secret Service's job. I'm on leave. Came with Ashley." Leon sighed. "She insisted on hearing the truth about Raccoon City. Said she wanted to understand what we went through."
Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Leon, get Ashley out of there. Now. Stay off the main roads. Head for the highest-level safe house you can reach. The farther the better."
Leon didn't hesitate for even half a second, but his voice went tight. "Terrorist attack?"
"Worse. Simmons is desperate, and he's about to flip the table." Ryan settled back into the couch. "Keep Ashley safe. Go now."
"Copy." Leon didn't ask another question. The line went dead.
Ryan picked up his tablet and pulled up a news livestream of the speech at Ivy University.
Right on cue, Jill pushed through the door carrying two cups of hand-ground coffee. She set one beside Ryan, handed him a briefing, and glanced at the holographic screen.
On screen, Vice President Benford stood at the podium, full of confidence, leaning into the microphone. The audience below was a packed sea of students and camera flashes.
Then it happened.
A muffled gunshot. The livestream feed lurched violently, followed by the grating screech of ventilation ducts rupturing. A strange, pale blue mist erupted from beneath the stage and spread across the entire venue.
Screams exploded instantly. The camera hit the floor, and the lens caught a Secret Service agent in the front row who'd inhaled the mist. His pupils clouded over to a murky dark red. His body swelled and twisted like a balloon being inflated, veins bulging across his face, and he sank his teeth into a female reporter scrambling to escape beside him.
The signal cut out in a burst of harsh static.
"That's..." Jill's face went white.
"C-Virus." Ryan picked up the coffee Jill had brought, blew on it, a flicker of derision in his eyes. "Simmons made his move. To bury the truth, he's dragging an entire city down with him. Sloppy as hell."
"Tall Oaks is done. Ryan, what's the play?" Jill shifted straight into Star Fire's second-in-command.
"Deploy the nearest Shadow Force unit to Tall Oaks. Full gear, airdrop." Ryan set the coffee cup on the table and laid it out methodically. "Two priority targets. First, find Leon, Ashley, and Ben. Get our people out safe, no mistakes."
"Second, check on the Vice President. See if he's still breathing. If he got lucky and didn't mutate, make sure he gets out alive." Ryan let out a cold laugh. "Simmons wants to silence him? Then I'll keep him alive just to make Simmons choke on it."
Jill noted the orders quickly, then looked up. "What about the infected zone? Conditions there are going to deteriorate fast."
"Where are we on the C-Virus vaccine?"
"Bard and Annette finished final testing. It's ready for mass production anytime."
"Fire up every line. Full production, max capacity." Ryan tapped the table, a sharp edge in his eyes.
"Got it." Jill smiled knowingly, turned, and headed out to relay the orders.
Ryan stood, glanced at the snow falling outside the window, and dialed Ada's direct line.
"Ryan. Your timing is impeccable, as always." Ada's voice came through over the faint roar of an engine. She was clearly moving at speed.
"C-Virus outbreak in Tall Oaks. Simmons hit Benford's speech." Ryan got straight to the point. "Did that fake leave breadcrumbs there? Are you heading over right now?"
"Seems like you've got it all figured out. I was planning to check the crime scene myself." Ada's voice carried that lazy, dangerous edge.
"Don't bother. Tall Oaks is a swamp right now." Ryan walked over to the holographic globe. "Carla isn't there. I've already sent Shadow Force in to extract our people. All you'd get out of going is dirty boots."
"So what does the boss suggest instead?"
Ryan gave the globe a casual spin and locked his gaze on the faintly glowing Asian continent.
"Change targets. Carla's real ace isn't in America. Tall Oaks is a smokescreen." The corner of Ryan's mouth curved into a cold smile. "Come with me to Asia. We're going to tear her nest apart."
[This novel is now COMPLETE. Read the entire series right now on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]