I did a bit of chatting with the other patrons after talking to Jeremy, and Ghost returned not long after the splashing of alcohol and singing ended. Best I could figure, there were less than a hundred people on Rockport, compared to the nearly one thousand on Redbank. No one had any idea how large this zone’s Adversity Management unit was. Seems they’d rarely interacted directly in the recent decades. Even some of the old timers here didn’t remember meeting anyone from there. They’d taken the island after the Markus incident, so they could employ a more rapid response in the event of another surprising encounter.

I should’ve guessed. All Markus had to do was win one battle against PanTech, and they came back with such an exaggerated response that it could never happen again. Of course, there were factors in play that I still didn’t know. It was still a possibility Lunaria was the zone commander, similar to how Connie had done things in Arc City. That would explain so much. I also had to consider how hard the virus had already hit Adversity Management. It would’ve gotten to them first, after all. For all I knew, the unit on that submarine was the last unit alive. Maybe they’d share the vaccine willingly. Maybe we’d stand a chance of defeating them in a direct conflict.

I’d barely made it out of my room before nearly being trampled by Isaiah.

“Taylor! You’ll never believe…” He bent over, catching his breath. “Redbank island claims to have been cured!”

“What? That’s… not possible. Or…” I paused, thinking everything over. It was hard for me to even wrap my mind around the logistics of such a situation. However, if I was right about Lunaria being the commander… “Can you take me there?”

“Of course. Father changed our fishing schedule for the day so we could do just that. It’s why I’m in such a rush. We’ll stop by the island later in the day, in case you need to go somewhere else.”

I followed him, and we moved quickly. I hated inconveniencing the two of them, but they’d become invaluable in my ability to move between these islands.

Jeremy would have to wait.

***

Once I arrived on Redbank, I ran toward the temple.

“Fly ahead, Ghost. Make sure I’m not running into something I shouldn’t.”

He flew away without comment.

No one was out. Not a single person tending to the fields, no one to greet the boats, nothing.

Ghost rejoined me at the temple steps.

“No signs of Adversity Management currently in the area,” he said.

“Check for any signs they’ve been here,” I said quietly, approaching the jubilant crowd gathered before me.

I recognized the faces of many of those I’d seen showing early signs, now up and walking around. Loved ones were embracing. Joy seeped from every individual.

“Where’s Lunaria?” I shouted, startling everyone.

“She’s… with the sick,” Remira said, only just now realizing I was standing there.

I continued to the rear of the temple, cautiously. I listened carefully, checked corners, considered possible areas for an ambush.

“I checked the temple grounds already,” Ghost said. “You are being paranoid again.”

“Don’t get tunnel vision, Ghost. This isn’t something that spontaneously happens. You don’t pray for a cure to this virus, and one magically appears. They’re involved somehow.”

“Obviously.”

I took a deep breath. Arguing with Ghost would be pointless. There was nothing to argue. Yes, I was being emotional. He knew just as well as I did this was the work of Adversity Management. The questions were why… and more importantly, how.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Lunaria,” I said, getting her attention as she leaned over a sick man.

She practically ran to me, clutching my hands in hers.

“Taylor! It’s a miracle from the stars. I’ve been praying, and they listened.”

I tried, with everything in me, to detect any signs of deceit. She was lying. She had to be. A commander well-trained in manipulation techniques could do so convincingly. Lunaria was much older than me. If this had been her focus as a commander, her skills would far surpass mine.

But what if… she wasn’t lying?

No. Nonsense. Impossible.

“Can you walk me through what happened?”

“Shortly after you departed, I had a vision. The stars spoke of rewarding our faith. We were all to gather and sleep on the temple grounds as a group. When we awoke, many of our sick were already doing better. We’ve had no new cases appear today, when there have been many every day and growing for weeks. More than thirty yesterday alone and today… none.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. In the end, what could I say? What should I say? If they’d found a way to vaccinate the vast majority of this zone’s population without them even knowing it, wouldn’t that be a positive outcome? Wouldn’t that be a good thing?

I steadied myself, and tried again. I had to be careful. If she really was the commander assigned to this zone, I had to tread carefully. I would only be safe from her so long as she didn’t realize I knew, and didn’t see me as a threat.

“So you were praying, and you heard a voice speak to you. It told you to gather everyone here last night. Everyone woke up this morning, and it seemed to confirm what the voice promised was true. That’s… miraculous.”

She gripped my hands even tighter, smiling. “I know it’s difficult for someone outside of our culture to believe. If I can confess… even I find it hard to believe. I can’t remember the stars ever intervening directly before. It makes the sacrifice…” She faltered for a moment, as though she was immediately questioning the sentence she hadn’t fully formed yet. “No. The past is the past. Thank you for coming here, Taylor. I can’t help but feel all of this had something to do with your arrival on our islands. My offer to give you a permanent residence here will always remain open.”

“Thank you,” I said. I shouldn’t say more.

I walked back to the gathered crowd, still massive, weaving through until I found Remira. I took her by the hand and pulled her away, so we could speak privately.

“What is it, Taylor?” she asked, eyeing my hand with a furrowed brow.

“May I examine you? In… secret? I’d like to confirm a few things.”

She looked around, as if waiting for someone’s permission. When no one gave it, she nodded sheepishly, leading me back to her home.

Finally, we were alone.

“First, I’d like to take a sample of your blood. It won’t hurt, I promise. Just a tiny prick, less than you’d get from a thorn.”

She nodded, offering me her hand. I pulled a small device from my shirt, taking a drop of blood from her fingertip.

It only took a moment before I was staring at proof. This was the vaccine. She’d been vaccinated. They all likely had. But when? How?

“Did anyone come to you, and do something similar to what I just did? Last night, I mean?”

“No. I just slept.”

“Was there anything unusual about your sleep?”

She rubbed her thumb. A nervous habit, perhaps. I didn’t like the fact I was making her uncomfortable, but I had no one else to ask.

“I normally sleep light, waking up throughout the night. Last night, I slept like a baby. Probably the best night of sleep I’ve ever had.”

“I’m sorry to ask this of you, but would you mind stripping off your clothes for me? I’d like to look for something related to the disease.”

“I… I don’t know. Is that necessary?” she asked, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Let me look at the visible places first,” I said. “Maybe it won’t be necessary.”

I stood, walking around her as she sat in a chair. I checked her arms, hands, neck, even behind her ears. This vaccine had to be injected. It didn’t require much of an injection, but one would be visible. Somewhere.

“Sorry, I didn’t see what I was looking for. Would you mind?”

Reluctantly, Remira stood and removed her clothes. I checked everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. If there was an injection site, it was essential that I find it. After a few minutes, I took a deep breath and sighed.

“Go ahead and get dressed. I’m sorry to have asked you to do that.”

“It’s okay… I hope it helped you understand that this was a miracle.”

I smiled, watching her continue to fidget with her thumb.

“Do you always rub your thumb when you’re nervous, Remira?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I think I must’ve gotten something under my nail yesterday when I was picking fruit.”

I grabbed her hand, taking hold of her thumb.

“Let me check for a splinter,” I lied. “I’ll remove it for you.”

“Thank you.”

I gently pried her thumbnail up slightly. A small streak of dried blood, so small it would be almost impossible to find, trailed beneath her nail bed.

“Looks like something just poked you,” I said. “Thankfully nothing is embedded. You should feel good as new within a day or two.”

They’d been vaccinated. Her comment about the sleep meant they were likely drugged by some kind of gas from a distance, then injections given in places that were easily hidden, like beneath a nail. Something that would be painful if the person was awake.

Now, only a few questions remained.

Big ones.