The Gates of Winter - Mark Anthony [190]
By the time he stepped into the suite's main room, he found the others talking and drinking coffee.
Beltan, who sat on the sofa next to Deirdre, gave an approving nod. “Now that's the Travis we know.”
A powerful compulsion rose within Travis to go to the blond man and hold him tight. However, he was aware of Vani standing at the window, her gold eyes locked on him. He poured himself a cup of coffee, then sat in a chair next to Larsen. She was no longer shaking, and color had returned to her cheeks. The computer disk gleamed on the coffee table before her.
Travis sipped his coffee; it was hot and delicious. “So what did I miss?”
“Nothing much.” Anders leaned against the back of the sofa. “Just how all the signs point to the end of the world.”
“Oh,” he said, and took another sip.
They spoke until the small hours of the night, and more than one bleary-eyed bellhop was forced to bring a pot of coffee to their door. Travis listened, at once fascinated and horrified, as Dr. Larsen described in detail her research at Duratek: her work with Ellie and Beltan, and then later her assignment to synthesize the blood of the fairy.
After that, Beltan and Vani took turns explaining what had happened on Eldh since Travis left: how the Warriors of Vathris had begun to arrive at Calavere, and how Grace planned to march north with a small force to prepare Gravenfist Keep for their coming. Her bravery stunned Travis. It was strange to picture Grace as a warrior queen, yet he could.
Finally, Beltan answered the question burning on Travis's mind: How had Beltan and Vani followed him? Grace had figured it out, giving them the bandage she had taken from his arm, stained with his blood. It wasn't much, but it had been enough to activate the gate—a fact which frightened him. Was his blood, changed by the scarab of Orú, truly so powerful?
He could worry about that later. Right now he had to finish what he had come here for. Travis reached out and picked up the computer disk. “What exactly is on this thing, Dr. Larsen?”
“Proof,” she said.
Deirdre raised an eyebrow. “Proof of what?”
Slowly, Larsen reached out and took the disk from Travis. “Proof that Duratek is behind the drug Electria. Not just that they created it and are fully aware of its addictive powers, but that they're behind its illegal sale and distribution as well. It's how they've funded so many of their projects, the ones they don't want the auditors to know about. Projects like mine.”
Anders let out a low whistle. “I'd say that's enough to bring them down, and then some. They'll be banned across the globe.”
“They created Electria for fairies, to keep them alive here on Earth,” Deirdre said, twirling the silver ring on her left hand. “That it had euphoric and addictive effects on people was just a happy accident, wasn't it?”
Larsen nodded. “And one they were all too willing to exploit for profit.”
Anders pointed at the disk. “If you don't mind my asking, how did you get hold of that information?”
Larsen gave him an ironic smile. “Sometimes they forget that scientists are naturally curious. In their urgency to synthesize the blood of the being E-1, they gave us all the highest security authorization, so that we could quickly access any data we might need. I'm not exactly a hacker, but I'm pretty handy with a computer. I was able to snoop around and collect this information without them noticing.”
“But they'll know you have it now,” Vani said, crossing her arms. “They'll be searching for you.”
Larsen's smile faded. “Yes, they will.”
Anders cracked his knuckles. “So how do we keep them from getting the information back?”
“We let the genie out of the bottle,” Travis said, and the others stared at him. Couldn't they see it? It was so clear. “Right now the information is on that disk. We need to transfer it, to duplicate it.”
“You mean into copies?” Larsen said.
Travis stood up, pacing. “No,