“Dead?” I ask.
“Yes. No heartbeat.” He points to a darkened icon of a heart in the back of the canister marked SC-1. “And a living baby would have to be encased in fluid.”
The fetus isn’t even as long as my pinky finger, and I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that it used to be alive, let alone human.
“Why does it look like that?”
“It’s malformed. Konrad experimented and failed.”
I wipe a tear from my eye, suddenly weepy. “This is our…” I spread my hands, not knowing what to call the unsuccessful combination of our genetic makeup.
He knows what I mean and nods.
“Why is he keeping it if it’s dead?”
Korwin frowns. “I’m not sure, but it can’t be good.”
I walk to the next canister labeled SC-2 and hit the same button Korwin did. “This one isn’t formed at all.”
“We should destroy them,” Korwin murmurs. “He’s using them. Somehow. Probably studying the cells and tissue.”
I shrug. “They’re already dead,” I say sadly.
Korwin’s hand flies to his ear. “Mmmhmm. Affirmative. We found them. A few more. Yes. Ten minutes to clean this up. Yes.”
“David?”
“They’ve finished their dance and people are starting to ask questions about us. We’d better hurry. David and Laura have made excuses for our absence but we need to be back in ten.”
“Where should we start?”
“You take those.” He points to the next row. As I follow his instructions, he rolls up the lid on the first unit and incinerates the tissue in front of him. “Disconnect the power source and fry anything inside.”
“Got it.” Canister by canister, I reduce the dead to ash and short out the cords that power the canisters. I don’t know what purpose the cords serve though, because the lights on the sides stay lit after I disconnect them.
“Looks like there’s a battery backup,” Korwin says in answer to my unasked question. “Just destroy the tissue. Dead is dead.”
I pick my way through the tangled mess of wires between the canisters to the third row while Korwin moves to the fourth. I’m exhausted. My wolf is too close for comfort, but I need her. It’s too gruesome a job to do on my own. As it is, even with her help I can hardly muster the will to move to the next canister.
“This one’s bigger,” Korwin murmurs from the fourth row. “Large as a coffin.” He places his hands on the glass.
“Hmm,” I say. I’m distracted with the grisly task in front of me. The stink of sizzling flesh fills the air. I make my way up the row, feeling faint. One more to go, and good thing; I could topple over at any moment. Maybe it’s the heat. I am stewing beneath the rubber mask and the heavy dress. The air feels thick as I near the last canister in the row, SC-13. Even my wolf dissolves, as if she’s too tired to go on. “Let’s get this over with, Korwin. I’m not feeling well.” I slap the button on the side, and the foggy glass clears.
Blink. Blink. Blink. The heart at the back of the canister beats on and off, on and off. This one is different. A balloon-like membrane of fluid, about the size of a grapefruit, is nestled in the red goo at the bottom of the canister. Abruptly, a ripple courses across the iridescent bubble. A bump presses into the membrane and retracts.
“It’s alive,” I say. My voice isn’t working properly. It cracks and scatters.
“What’s that?” Korwin asks.
“It’s… it’s…” My heart is pounding. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I speak? A hum travels from my fingers to my heart and my whole body thrums with connection. The closest thing I have to compare it to is the day I met Korwin. This is our baby. Ours. I stare between my hands at the tiny being under the glass and a rush of inexplicable joy fills me. I look up to try to tell Korwin what I’m seeing.
He’s oblivious to my reaction as he hunches over the large pod. Absently, he slaps the button on the side of the coffin-sized pod in row four. The foggy glass clears and Korwin jumps. He staggers into the table behind him, knocking over the third row of pods. I catch SC-13 before the cannister can hit the floor. I find my voice. “What’s wrong?”
Korwin turns and runs for me, wide eyed. “Go!” He points toward the door, shimmying past me.
I move to follow but SC-13 is still plugged in. I don’t know for sure how the pods work. They seem to have a battery backup, but does that power source feed the baby or just the pod itself? If I disconnect it, will the baby inside die?
“Korwin, what do I do?” I yell. He’s already at the door.
He shakes his head. “Fry it and let’s go. Now! Please!” He doesn’t know. He didn’t see what I saw.
The glass coffin whirs and clicks, and I turn from Korwin to see what’s happening. The lid lifts. Fog rolls over the sides and green light blinks from the depths of the canister.
“Come on!” Korwin yells.
With a twist and a tug, I disconnect the cord attached to SC-13 from the place it’s plugged into the floor. There’s more clicking from the coffin. I need to hurry. I spark and feed the cord my own power. Done. The tiny heart inside continues to beat as I back away from the coffin.
I almost drop SC-13 when a man’s head and shoulders break through the fog. I race toward Korwin, who is screaming and motioning for me to move faster. I look over my shoulder, and the man in the coffin turns his head to face me.
A scream pierces my lips as I recognize Dr. Emile Konrad. His skin is tinged yellow as are the whites of his gray eyes, but his thin, wicked smile and unruly hair are unmistakable.
I trip over a mass of cords in my haste to get away and am surprised when Korwin catches me. He drags me toward the door while I struggle to get my feet under me.
“What have you done?” echoes Dr. Konrad’s voice. “Who are you? Who sent you?”
I am suddenly thankful for the costume I’m wearing. Dr. Konrad doesn’t know who we are. As Korwin drags me through the door, I can’t resist turning back at the sound of slamming metal and shattering glass. Konrad is floating. He’s risen up out of the coffin and moves toward us, canisters of burnt remains flying into the walls as he approaches in a rage. His feet never touch the ground. He’s hovering. Flying.
I scream.
Korwin yanks me through the door and slams it closed as something shatters on the other side.
“He was floating,” I rattle as he pulls me toward the double doors to the lab. “And moving things with his mind!”
“I saw. We have to get out of here.” I sprint around the piles of medical equipment, doing my best to keep up with Korwin in my ill-fitting boots.
Konrad pounds against the locked door. Thump! Crash! Crack! The wood splinters and flies into the lab. The doctor walks out, his yellow tinge muting as he moves from dark to light. What has he done to himself? I can feel power coming off him like the stench of sulfur. With a simple twitch of his head he parts the medical equipment using nothing but his intention. What the—?
We’ve reached the double doors and I am thrust through into the hall. “Be ready,” Korwin says. He has the rifle in his hands and has it pointed at Dr. Konrad’s heart.
Dr. Konrad smiles. “Who are you? Party guests come to make out in the scary lab? Wooo. Have I scared you back to mummy and daddy?”
Korwin raises the rifle. “Ztop vhere you are or I’ll shoot,” he says in Rayle’s voice.
“Don’t be stupid, boy. Do I look like a bullet can hurt me?” He spreads his hands and rises above the mess, hovering in midair. A metal tray flies across the room and crashes against the wall near Korwin’s head. “If you shoot, I’ll stop the bullet with my mind. Telekinesis, if you’re wondering what it’s called.”
He floats forward, naked from the waist up, and is halfway to us by the time we back out the door.
“Give me the pod.” He holds out one hand. “It’s not a toy. You have no idea what you hold in your hands, young lady.”
“Vhat is it?” I ask in Anastasia’s voice.
“The future,” he snaps. “Top secret. I don’t want to kill you, but I will be forced to if you do not return to me the Green Republic property you hold in your arms.”
I look down at the canister. I’ve been powering it the entire time and the red heart beats within the foggy glass. On and off. On and off.
Dr. Konrad’s eyes narrow on my hands. With horror, I see what he sees. The blue glow. The beating heart.
“The doors,” I say to Korwin. As fast as I have ever moved, I slam the steel lab door beside me. Korwin fires the gun as Dr. Konrad speeds toward us, but as promised, he deflects the bullet. Still, it’s enough of a distraction that Korwin succeeds in closing and locking the other door. I shift the canister into one arm and snap the other at the elbow. Blue electricity consumes my hand and I throw everything I have into those doors, soldering the steel together.
Dr. Konrad slams into the metal. The melted steel cracks.
“It won’t hold!” I say. We run. I trail behind, trying my best to keep up in the dress and boots.
“Why did you bring that?” Korwin asks, staring at the pod.
The banging behind us is a constant reminder that Dr. Konrad hasn’t given up, and worse, he knows who I am. He saw my hands glow.
We pulse through the door to the stairwell but stop short of descending, pressing our backs into the wall at the sound of voices from below.
“Did you hear something?” an officer says. “From upstairs?”
“No. No one’s up there. It’s all locked up while they investigate Dr. Creepy.”
“Hey, maybe it’s the ghost of one of Dr. Creepy’s victims.”
“Shut up.”
“What do you think happened to Ryan?”
“Who knows? Idiot could hurt himself in a padded room.”
I meet Korwin’s eyes and hold up two fingers. He nods. I lead the way.
“Excuze me,” I say as we approach the men. My heart pounds but I force a smile, smoothing my dress. The two officers are young and inexperienced and I can tell we’ve taken them by surprise. “Ve are looking for de Ambassador’s Club.”
“You’re in the wrong building. It’s next door,” the man on the left says. He’s pale and narrow shouldered, with a face like a mouse. I wonder how he ended up working in security.
“Our mistake,” I say, moving toward the door.
“Wait a minute. What do you have there?” the other man says. He’s tall and dark and looks like he was made to be a soldier. He approaches the artificial womb in my arms.
I pop one hip and pucker my lips. “My purze, of courze. It’z de latest ztyle.”
He nods slowly but moves between us and the door, placing his hand on his gun. He’s not going to let us leave. I lament not using the element of surprise to my advantage.
“How did you get in here?” the mouse says.
“Ryan,” Korwin says in Rayle’s voice. “My zizter needed to uze zhe powder room and zhe other officer let uz een.”
The two men look at each other. I’m close to the big man. One pulse and I can knock him out just like Ryan. But without my wolf, I hesitate. Anxiety grips me behind my forced smile and latex mask.
I force myself a step closer, but before I can touch either of them, an explosion echoes through the stairwell from above. Korwin’s arm sweeps me against the wall as an unhinged door clangs onto the stair landing. Dr. Konrad’s disheveled yellow body appears from above. He’s covered his naked torso with a lab coat but one sleeve has been torn off and his shoulder is cut.
“Stop them!” Dr. Konrad commands the officers. “They are stealing important research.”
The mouse man draws his gun… on the doctor. “Dr. Konrad, we have strict orders that you are not to be in this building and experiments are strictly prohibited. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
The bigger guard nods and presses his finger to his ear to call for backup. He steps between us and Dr. Konrad, who is seething with rage. Korwin and I back toward the exit.
“Go play somewhere else,” Konrad says to the guard. With a flick of his hand the officer’s gun flies from his fingers into the wall. “The adults need to have a conversation.”
A dark spot appears on the big guard’s trousers as Dr. Konrad floats toward us, the tips of his toes barely skimming the edge of each stair. The guard shakes so hard his name tag clicks against the buttons of his green uniform.
The mouse takes a moment to register what’s happened and fires. Another wave of Dr. Konrad’s hand and the bullet curves and hits the wall. I use the distraction to feel for the door panel and try to pulse it open, but I can’t get a solid connection with SC-13’s pod in my arms. It doesn’t work.
Dr. Konrad raises both hands and twists the air in front of him. The mouse’s head whips to the side, neck snapping.
“Your scrambler,” Korwin says to the big guard, dropping his accent in the excitement.
Fumbling, the man finds the scrambler on his belt and fires. The probes hit Konrad squarely in the chest. He flinches, descending to his feet on the step and quivering as the volts pass through his body. He does not fall. Does not collapse.
Still it gives Korwin enough time to blow through the lock that wouldn’t budge for me. The door opens.
“I will hunt you down!” Dr. Konrad rages, fighting his twitching muscles.
“Code red. Level zero. Code red.” The big guard’s eyes are the size of saucers. He’s turned the device all the way up and holds it away from his body like he doesn’t know what to do.
Korwin presses the button behind his ear as we race out the door. “Abort! West corner.”
Green uniforms flood the garage behind us.
“Damn. Run!” Korwin yells.
I pump my legs, each step sending excruciating pain through my feet thanks to the ill-fitting boots. The awkward shape of SC-13’s pod clutched to my chest slows me down. Korwin breaks out ahead. We circle down the ramp to the west corner to see our driver waiting with the doors open. Korwin doubles back, scoops me around the waist, and hurls me inside. David’s hands hook beneath my shoulder blades, and I’m hauled across the seat as Korwin pushes in beside me and slams the door. Tires squeal. Shots echo around us. We flatten to the seat as the driver speeds toward the exit.
“Don’t stop,” Laura says to the driver from the passenger’s seat, then gestures to us to buckle up. I fumble for my seatbelt just as the driver plows through a barricade and I’m sent tumbling into David.
“I’m okay,” I say. Before long, things even out and we snap to the grid.
“Are they following us?” Korwin asks.
“Not anymore,” Laura says, typing something into the dash. “Our tracking VIN has just been scrambled.”
I scoot back into the seat beside Korwin, the pod still gripped tightly against my chest. Slowly, I set it on the seat between us, watching the red light blink behind the foggy glass. I keep the cord gripped in my hand, feeding it power.
“Why did you bring that?” Korwin asks.
“What is that thing, Lydia?” David peers at me through the corner of his eye.
Holding my breath, I tap the button on the side of SC-13 and wait for the foggy glass to clear. The heart light blinks and fades, blinks and fades. The fluid-filled membrane ripples with movement.
Korwin and David lean over the glass and look inside. Korwin shakes his head vigorously and claws at the mask on his face, ripping the latex off as if it’s smothering him. He pants and stares, Rayle’s image dangling from the side of his jaw. He shakes his head again.
“Lydia, tell me that is not what I think it is,” David says.
“I don’t know what you think it is, David, but this is the successful product of Konrad’s experiments on the genetic material we were sent to destroy. Korwin’s and mine. This is our baby.”