THE 4400® WELCOME TO PROMISE CITY (29 page)

“You see, Dad,” Kyle said. Heavy circles under his eyes suggested that he hadn’t been sleeping well. He had
been ducking Tom’s calls for days. “I told you Jordan was clean.”

His son might have been inclined to give Collier the benefit of the doubt, but Tom was less convinced of the man’s innocence. “And this so-called Global Outreach Committee? That was part of your Foundation, wasn’t it?”

“Our organization has grown exponentially since the Great Leap Forward,” Collier stated with irritating self-assurance. “Alas, I’m afraid that rapid growth has outstripped my ability to stay on top of every new program and initiative. Grayson and Abigail were misguided devotees who grossly exceeded their authority. Clearly, more effective oversight is required. You have my word that this will be a top priority.”

Diana got in Jordan’s face. Barely controlled anger colored her voice. “That’s all you have to say, after what you did to my sister?”

NTAC had informed them that April Skouris was no longer employed by the federal government—and why. So far she had refused to answer Diana’s calls and emails. They weren’t even entirely sure where she was living these days.

Jordan was not surprised by Diana’s outburst. No doubt he had been anticipating such a response. “I make no apologies for that regrettable incident. Your sister forced my hand.” He turned his attention back to the holographic skyline. “And, just to be absolutely clear, I had nothing to do with that genocidal conspiracy you so effectively thwarted. I’d offer you both a medal if I thought you’d accept them. Forcing promicin is antithetical to everything I’ve always espoused.”

The truth or yet more plausible deniability? Unfortunately, there was no way to know for certain. Both Grayson and Rosita had refused to implicate Collier. April Skouris might have been able to pry the truth from them, but, for better or for worse, Collier had taken that option off the table.
And what if we did manage to pin this on Collier?
Tom mused unhappily.
That would just give Dennis the excuse he needs to declare war on Seattle.

It was a lose-lose situation.

“That’s right,” Diana said acidly. “You don’t believe in playing God, except when it suits your purposes.”

Tom admired his partner’s restraint.
If Collier pulled his vampire act on Meghan or Kyle, I’d probably take a swing at him. Guards or no guards.

“Believe me, Tom, Diana,” Collier asserted. “I would never unleash an airborne version of promicin on the world—except, perhaps, in retaliation for a military attack on Promise City.”

Was that a confession? Or a warning?

Tom couldn’t shake a sense that Collier was playing a very dangerous game.

At least I’m still promicin-negative,
he thought. A blood test had confirmed that the U-Pills had protected him from infection.
If that damn prophecy is right, Collier can’t win until I take the shot.

And that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

Later, after dropping Tom off at headquarters to brief Meghan on their inconclusive meeting with Collier, Diana took care of another loose end. She shoved open the door
to Kevin Burkhoff’s laboratory at The 4400 Center. There was still the matter of those stolen blood samples to be dealt with.

“Kevin? Dr. Burkhoff?”

To her surprise, she found the lab stripped bare. All of his equipment and files were missing, aside from a solitary laptop sitting open atop an acid-scarred counter. There was no sign of either Burkhoff or Tess.

What in the world?
She had called in advance to set up this appointment. Kevin should have been here. For a second, she feared that Collier had abducted Burkhoff again, just as he had several months ago, in hopes of stopping Kevin from perfecting his promicin-compatibility test. Shawn and Tess had rescued Kevin from Collier’s clutches then, but perhaps the master of Promise City had tried again?

But why leave that laptop behind?

Diana gave the computer a closer look. A screen saver featuring aerial views of the Space Needle occupied the monitor. A Post-it note was stuck to the keyboard. “
Play Me,
” it read in Kevin’s distinctly cramped handwriting. Stray sunflower seeds had infiltrated the keys.

Diana hit
ENTER
.

Streaming video replaced the Space Needle. Kevin Burkhoff appeared upon the screen. He looked tired and at the end of his rope. His voice issued from the speakers.

“Hello, Diana. I’m sorry I can’t be here to meet you as planned, but Tess and I are going away for good. There’s a war brewing and we don’t want any part of it. What happened at the prison was the last straw. Tess has already
suffered too much. I can’t let anything else happen to her.

“On this computer are all my notes on the compatibility test to date. You and Shawn are the only people I trust with my findings. Please thank him for all his hospitality. I wish we didn’t have to sneak away like this, but we couldn’t take the chance of you or Shawn or NTAC or Collier trying to stop us from leaving. The rest of you will have to work things out without us. We’re through. Goodbye and be well.”

Tess stuck her head into the frame. “Don’t try and find us.”

The video clip ended.

How about that,
Diana thought. Kevin and Tess had gone AWOL again. Granted, she couldn’t blame them for wanting to opt out of the never-ending conflicts surrounding the 4400 and Collier’s glorious crusade. Heck, Diana had once tried to do the same, running off to Spain with Maia and a shiny new fiancé, only to be sucked back to Seattle. The fiancé was history now. She wished Tess and Kevin luck.
Hope your escape lasts longer than mine.

She couldn’t help worrying about those missing blood samples, though. Was there another hidden lab out there, looking for yet another way to re-create Danny Farrell’s terrible gift?

Only the future knew—and they weren’t telling.

Like every other 4400 fan, I was disappointed by the TV show’s premature cancellation, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to continue the saga in this novel. I want to thank my editor, Margaret Clark, for enlisting me once more—and for waiting graciously for this book while I wrapped up another project. I also want to thank Paula Block at CBS for approving the book, and my agents, Russell Galen and Ann Behar, for handling the contractual details. In addition, I need to acknowledge the input of Dave Mack, whose upcoming novel,
Promises Broken,
will pick up where my book left off. Dave and Margaret and I worked closely together to make sure our stories meshed and that we shared a common vision of the future of Promise City.

Meanwhile, I remain impressed and encouraged by all the devoted 4400 fans who have written me, from all around the world, to express their enthusiasm for the series and its characters. I can only hope this book lives up to their expectations!

I also feel obliged to point out that the
real
Eastern State Penitentiary, unlike the version in this book, remains open to tourists and is definitely worth visiting if you’re in the Philadelphia area. For more info on this historic site, check out
www.easternstate.org
.

Fort Casey in Washington State is also a real place, and worth checking out. Bring a kite!

And “Wyngate Castle” is loosely based on the real-life Gillette Castle in East Haddam, Connecticut, which, thankfully, has yet to be attacked by superpowered terrorists.

Finally, I wouldn’t have been able to write this book without the support and encouragement of my girlfriend, Karen Palinko, and our four-legged family: Alex, Churchill, Henry, Sophie, and Lyla. They don’t need promicin to be extraordinary.

Greg Cox
’s previous 4400 novel,
The Vesuvius Prophecy,
was published a year ago. He has also written the official movie novelizations of
Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Death Defying Acts,
and all three
Underworld
movies, as well as books and stories based on such popular series as
Alias, Batman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Countdown, C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation, Fantastic Four, Farscape, 52, Infinite Crisis, Iron Man, Roswell, Spider-Man, Star Trek, Underworld, Xena, X-Men,
and
Zorro.
He lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania.

His official website is
www.gregcox-author.com
.