Dr. Oystein’s face crumples and his body sags. It’s like he’s folding in on himself. There’s a chair behind the table and he sinks into it, clutching the vial of Clements-13 to his chest, staring off into space.
I pick up the hollowed Bible and smile at the cover. “So much for the Good Book,” I smirk, then slam it down on the table.
“What a girl,” Rage whoops. He’s loving this. Rage is like Mr. Dowling, a relisher of chaos. It doesn’t matter that he’s allied himself with Owl Man and Dr. Oystein. He can still admire a tasty piece of trickery.
“A most unfortunate and unexpected twist,” Owl Man murmurs. “But one that is not as cruel a blow as you suspect. This is not the end for us, uncle. In fact, it now frees us to push ahead as we would have years ago if not for the bind which Albrecht had us in.”
Dr. Oystein stares at Owl Man blankly, as if he doesn’t understand the language.
“Do you want to pass the vial of Clements-13 to me?” Owl Man asks quietly. “I can take care of it for you.”
That seems like a strange request, but maybe he’s worried that the doc will lose his mind and accidentally open the vial and spill the zombie-destroying liquid in his distressed state.
Dr. Oystein looks at the vial, thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “No.”
Owl Man frowns. “Are you sure? I think this is the time to–”
“No!” Dr. Oystein shouts. He points a finger at Owl Man and starts to tear into him. But then he collects himself and smiles shakily. “No, Zachary. You are right. This is not the end. But we must be careful. As you said earlier, the last few steps can be the most treacherous. We should think this through before acting.”
The doc places the vial of Clements-13 on the table and stares at the red liquid, immersed in his thoughts. For a long time silence reigns. Finally he looks at us again and his expression clears.
“We could have targeted Albrecht years ago, but I was worried that if we killed him, we would never find where he had hidden his sample of Schlesinger-10. Without it, we face a long, hard, hand-to-hand war with the human survivors, and I doubt we will ever fully wipe them from the face of the planet.
“Now that Albrecht has lost his key prize, there’s nothing to stop us hunting my brother, storming his den, finishing him off and taking control of the babies. It would be a harsh battle, with many casualties on both sides, but I’m sure we would be triumphant. That’s what Zachary meant when he said that we’re free to push ahead.
“But the vial of Schlesinger-10 is even more important to us than the babies. We need it to ensure victory over the living. Without it, we cannot shield the babies from their interference, and I fear that history will repeat itself, and the babies will grow up to mimic the destructive ways of their human forebears.
“I think we still have a chance to recover the vial. The babies see Albrecht as their father. I’m not convinced that the one you call Holy Moly will obey your wishes. It will probably return the sample of Schlesinger-10 to Albrecht. If it does, and we hit his base swiftly, we might be able to catch him before he can hide it again.”
Owl Man is staring at Dr. Oystein oddly, head cocked. He looks like he wants to ask a question, but the doc waves a hand at him and he says nothing.
“If Holy Moly has hidden the vial as you requested, an attack might compel it to change its mind. If we threaten Albrecht, the baby might return the vial to its father. If my brother got his hands on it again, and escaped, our stalemate would be resumed. Maybe we should do nothing, keep our eyes open, let the dust settle and try to set a trap for the baby farther down the line. If we could capture it and convince it to reveal the location of the vial…”
Dr. Oystein thinks about this in silence for a long time. Finally he stands.
“We will gamble and take the offensive. If we find Albrecht with the Schlesinger-10 in his possession, we’ll kill him and take it. If the baby has hidden it, we’ll eliminate Albrecht and deal with the infant afterwards—perhaps B can persuade it to give us the vial. In the worst-case scenario, if Albrecht has regained his prize and stashed it in a secret hiding place, or stands poised, ready to open it, we’ll retreat and hope that another opportunity to retrieve the liquid presents itself.”
Dr. Oystein starts to put the Clements-13 back into the Bible. Then he stops and studies it uncertainly. He looks at Rage and me. “But what to do with this? I could leave it here, where it has sat safely all this time, but Rage and B know about it now. If our paths diverge, one of them might return and steal it, and use it to destroy all of the living dead.”
The doc chuckles ruefully. “I should not have shown my hand before making sure that you had the vial of Schlesinger-10. I thought this was the final act. I behaved like one of those silly Bond villains, revealing too much when the battle had yet to be decided.”
The doc thinks about it some more, then sticks the vial of zombie-eradicating liquid in one of his pockets. “I’ll keep it with me,” he says. “It will be as safe on my person as it will be anywhere. It might even prove useful. If we fall foul of Albrecht’s army, and he pins us down, I can use it to force him to let us go.”
Dr. Oystein flashes a smile at me. “Perhaps I did not act so rashly. In retrospect, I think I was prompted to reveal my hidden sample of Clements-13. God knew what you had done with your vial, Becky, and He gently nudged me to bring mine out into the light, knowing that I might have need of it soon.”
“Sure,” I say sarcastically. “It was all God’s doing. Only a lunatic would think any differently.”
The doc doesn’t rise to the bait. Instead he starts for the door, telling Owl Man to follow, ticking off on his fingers the things that they need to do. He’s all business now, fully focused on the battle to come, confident of victory, a twisted angel on a demonic mission.