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Inside the helicopter, Carpenter answered his cellphone.
“Lucian is critically injured,” he said. “He did? Good. In transit now.”
Fifteen minutes passed before they landed at the hospital helipad. Paramedics stepped aboard the FBI chopper and carried Lucian to a gurney aboard a medical chopper.
“What are you doing?” Kat asked, wiping her eyes.
“Hopefully saving his life.”
“But where are you taking him?” she asked.
“You’re going too. Get aboard. We have a bit of a trip to make.”
“What about everyone at New Horizons? Aren’t you going to stay behind and investigate?”
Carpenter smiled. “Kat, I’ve left everything in good hands. Top agents are there and more are on the way. I’m sticking by you and Lucian through all this. Okay?”
“At least let me know where we’re going.”
Carpenter hugged her tightly. He whispered in her ear. “Just stay beside him. Hold his hand. Let him know you’re here. Don’t worry about anything else.”
The helicopter lifted and paramedics inserted an I.V. drip line into the back of Lucian’s hand. One stripped open Lucian’s shirt to examine his wounds. Instead, they found the two bullets had been pushed out, the holes were gone, and the bleeding had stopped.
Lucian was pale. His breathing remained shallow. She had never seen him look so vulnerable. She never believed he would be. Now, all her fear of loss settled upon her and attempted to paralyze her.
Kat wrung her hands. She took in deep breaths too quickly and began to hyperventilate.
“Easy, Kat,” Carpenter said. “Calm down.”
Kat took deeper gulps of air. Her eyes revealed her fear. She shook with hard sobs.
“She’s having a panic attack,” Carpenter said.
A paramedic tried to put an oxygen cup over her nose and mouth, but she knocked it away. She looked like a caged, frightened animal.
“Kat, it’s okay,” Carpenter said in a soothing tone.
Another paramedic grabbed a syringe and injected it into her thigh.
“What are you doing?” Carpenter asked.
“A sedative to help calm her.”
Kat frowned, but Carpenter sat down beside her and draped his arm across her shoulders. Her eyes grew heavy. Her head bobbed side to side. A few seconds later, she collapsed against his chest. He kissed her forehead softly and gave her a firm side hug.
He looked at Lucian. The paramedics continued with the life support apparatus.
Carpenter whispered, “Sorry I thought the worst of you. Had I known the truth, we probably could have been great friends. You need to live so I can properly apologize to you.”
He took out his cellphone and dialed a number. He did have a few favors he could call in and hopefully make some things right. Provided Lucian lived.
***
Asleep, Joe sat in a waiting room chair. The cloth-covered alien skull was tucked between his side and the chair. The nurse gently shook his shoulder.
He opened his eyes and smiled.
“Lucas is awake. You can go in and see him,” she said.
Joe grabbed the skull and stood. He hurried through the door. Lucas lay on the hospital bed. His face was gray. Dark circles shadowed his eyes.
“Glad that you’re awake,” Joe said. “You had me worried.”
Lucas forced a smile. “I’m awake, but I hurt all over.”
“That’s understandable considering how badly we rolled down that hillside in the SUV.”
Lucas noticed Joe holding the cloth-wrapped object. “Is that it?”
Joe nodded. “Yes.”
“Mind if I hold it?”
Joe glanced toward the door to make certain no one else was in the room and that the door had closed. Carefully, he unwrapped the skull and placed it into Lucas’ hands.
“I’ll be,” Lucas said. “Definitely not from this world.”
“No, bro, it’s not.”
“Wonder why it was out in the desert?”
“No idea, but I need a favor,” Joe said.
“Anything.”
Joe told Lucas about the sweat lodge vision and that he needed to talk to Helmsby.
“I’ve not talked to Helmsby in a long while,” Lucas said. “The only person that I know who might have his number is Daniel, but I don’t know what happened to my phone.”
Joe reached into his back pocket. “Here. I took it while you were unconscious and recharged your battery.”
Lucas took the phone. Squinting, he dialed “1.”
***
“Hello?” Daniel said.
“Hey, Dan.”
“Lucas? You okay? You don’t sound too good.”
“Recovering, but I’ll be fine.”
“From what?” Daniel asked.
“A long story but I’ll tell you when I see you.”
“What’s up?”
“You heard from Helmsby recently?”
Daniel laughed. “Everyone keeps asking me that. It’s not like I’ve ever kept track of him.”
“Well, have you heard from him?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Joe has something that he needs to give to him.”
“What?”
“I really shouldn’t say over the phone since you never know who might be eavesdropping but it’s important.”
“Helmsby called me earlier, but he refused to tell me where he was.”
“I wonder why?”
“After all he’s been through he’s always acting insecure and paranoid. But I do have the number of someone who knows where he is. Got a pen? Write this down.”
***
At first Bennie couldn’t believe what Joe had told him over the phone. He thought someone was pulling a hoax. But if Joe actually had what he said he possessed, Bennie didn’t want anyone outside the FBI getting their hands on it. Helmsby seemed like the logical choice to analyze the alien skull, but Bennie wasn’t certain how Joe had come to that conclusion.
Bennie contacted the FBI agency nearest Joe and put in a request to have Joe and Lucas flown to Helmsby’s laboratory in Kentucky.
***
An agent named Perry Milton walked along the hallways with Sheba to inspect the rooms. Her heart raced. She desperately wanted to find Gloria. Each door they opened led to either a medical tech lab or an empty observation room with an examination table.
“We’ve checked almost every room,” Perry said.
“She has to be here somewhere. I know she is.”
“We’ll keep looking.”
Perry opened the next door and found a woman sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a boy on her lap.
“Who are you?” he asked, placing his hand atop his holstered gun.
“Jen,” she said nervously. “This is my son, John.”
“Why are you here?”
She explained how Blake had killed her husband, Doug. When she returned home, Dr. Shelby and Blake had taken her and her son at gunpoint.
“Come with us,” Perry said.
“No,” she replied. “Blake is out there. He’ll kill us.”
“We have agents scouring the place. You’re safe with me,” he said.
Jen slid off the side of the table and cradled John against her chest even though he was half her size and weight.
Perry placed his hand on the doorknob and turned.
“Wait,” Sheba said.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Someone’s out there.”
Perry frowned. “How can you tell? I don’t hear anything.”
“Trust me,” she said, smiling.
Jen’s eyes widened. “It’s him, isn’t it? It’s Blake.”
“I think so.” Sheba looked into Perry’s eyes. “Allow me.”
Perry stepped aside. Sheba opened the door and slipped out, shutting the door behind her.
Blake frowned when she glanced his direction.
“What are you doing in there?” he asked, placing his hand on his gun.
Sheba smiled playfully and tugged down at her skirt. “Looking for you.”
“Me?” he asked surprised. “Why?”
“Well, look at you,” she said. “All those times panting over me and asking me out, and now you’re all nervous because I’m looking for you?”
“I’m not nervous.”
“You certainly don’t seem as interested in me as before.”
“Oh, it’s not that. I . . I just didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I can leave if I’m bothering you.”
She turned to walk away.
“No,” Blake said. “You’ve really changed your mind? You want to go out with me?”
“I’m considering it. If you ask me properly.”
Blake relaxed his hand on the gun. “But I remember you quite enthusiastically said that you’d rather have maggots dancing in your brain than even sit at the same table with me.”
“I get poetic like that from time to time.”
He ran a hand through his hair while looking her over. “What happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“You have blood on your jacket.”
Sheba ignored the question and walked to the other side of the hallway opposite the door where Perry, Jen, and John were. She pressed her back against the wall and lifted her skirt to just beneath her panties.
“What are you waiting for?” she asked. “You gonna come closer or run?”
A lustful smile crept across his face. He took two steps toward her when the door behind him creaked open. Before he could turn, Perry stuck the gun against the small of Blake’s back.
Blake reached for his gun but Sheba snatched it. She rammed it into his gut and smiled.
“I still prefer the maggots,” she said. “I truly couldn’t stomach doing anything with you.”
Perry cuffed Blake. Another agent entered the hallway. Perry motioned him to take Blake away. He insisted that Jen take her son and go with the agent as well.
***
On the next floor the hallway was dark. Doors were spaced six feet apart on both sides of the hallway. Each door had a square window centered four feet above the floor. He peered through the first one on the left side of the hall. A young man sat on a narrow cot. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands like he was in deep thought or had lost all hope.
A small sink and toilet were also in the room.
“Damn,” Perry said. “These are prison cells.”
Sheba stepped on tiptoe and peered through. “Gloria must be on this floor.”
She hurried from door to door and about midway down the hallway, she said, “Here she is!”
Before Perry reached her, Sheba had kicked the door in.
“How the hell did you do that?” he asked, examining the door’s latch. “The door’s made of steel.”
She shrugged.
Gloria lay on her bed with her blanket pulled to her chin. Her eyes were closed. Her chest rose and fell.
“Gloria?” Sheba said softly.
Gloria slowly opened her eyes and looked at her.
“It’s me. Sheba.”
Gloria rose and slid into a seated position beneath the blanket.
“Alpha said that you were dead,” Gloria said.
“No. He lied.”
“Then why haven’t you come to see me? Why did you let him lock me in here?”
“I’ve been trying to see you,” Sheba said. “Alpha wouldn’t let me. He kept promising that I’d get to see you. And he ordered me to do things or else he’d kill you.”
“How did you find me?”
Sheba told Gloria in short detail how Alpha was killed and that the FBI had come to rescue them.
Sheba edged closer, but Gloria’s eyes examined her with skepticism.
“It’s okay,” Sheba said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“But, you turned into a wolf-like creature. I saw you.”
Perry frowned. “What?”
Sheba sat on the edge of the bed. Gloria pulled the blanket tightly beneath her neck.
“I saw you,” Gloria said. “You aren’t human. You can’t be.”
“I’m different, Gloria, but I’m not going to hurt you. You never need to be afraid of me. I promise. You’re my best friend.”
Sheba extended her hand to Gloria. Gloria timidly took it.
Sheba smiled. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
Standing, Sheba helped Gloria to her feet, and then she hugged her close.
“I’ve missed you,” Sheba said.
“I missed you, too.”
***
By the time the helicopter landed at the CID in Louisville, Kentucky—a few hours later—Kat had awakened. Kat held Lucian’s hand, but he was too weak to keep his eyes open. He dozed in and out.
Two security guards met the paramedics and took Lucian and the gurney off the helicopter.
“Bring him to Dr. Helmsby’s laboratory,” one guard said. “Follow us.”
***
Helmsby smiled at Kat and Carpenter in the hallway, but his smile was soon replaced with concern when he saw Lucian’s gray complexion.
“He’s worse than I had imagined,” Helmsby said.
Carpenter frowned and shook his head. Kat wiped her eyes.
“But let’s see what we can do for him,” Helmsby said.
The paramedics stopped the gurney in the laboratory and glanced at Helmsby.
“The next room, please,” Helmsby said. “There’s an examination table I’ve had moved in there so we can evaluate him.”
He glanced at Kat. “I’ll do whatever I can for him, Kat.”
“Do you perform miracles?” she asked.
“Sometimes.”
She cocked a brow.
Helmsby smiled. “Morton. Just think of him. If he’s not a miracle of sorts, I’m at a total loss.”
Kat offered a slight smile. “That’s true.”
Helmsby clapped his hands together with a loud smack. “Let’s get started.”
After the paramedics placed Lucian on the examination table, they took the gurney and left.
“What can we do?” Kat asked.
“First, you need to undress him down to his underwear. I have some things I need to gather before examining him.”
Kat nodded. Looking across the room, she gasped.
An incubation chamber stood against the far wall.
“You’re not going to put him in there, are you?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have many options.”
“But why?”
“I will explain, but for now—” Helmsby took a syringe from his pocket. He thumped it and pushed out the air bubbles. He injected Lucian.
“What is that?” Kat asked.
“Something to boost his energy. Nothing more.”
Lucian opened his eyes.
“Why must he be placed in that chamber?” Kat asked.
“Kat, his body is shutting down. If I don’t temporarily suspend him, he’ll die. While there may be a chance that I can reverse his genetic flaws, there isn’t any way I can reverse death.”
Helmsby walked to the chamber and punched in commands for the computer.
Kat stared at Lucian. He gave her a weak smile.