Lightning (17 page)

At the moment, coming into the Mountain seemed like the stupidest plan in the world. But it was too late for regrets now. With Treva occupied with a dying uncle, it was up to Selah to think of a way out.

For a moment, Selah forgot the peril and reveled in the technology. They left the maze of corridors she thought were typical of the Mountain and moved onto streets with buildings and trees and people traveling about. Her senses swayed but were not fooled by the holographic sky and sunshine that stretched across the massive inside roof of the Mountain. The air smelled funny, not clean as outside but heavy with something chemical masked by a floral scent—maybe several flowers mixed together. She wondered if Treva noticed the smell after being outside for several months.

As they crossed the street, she noticed it seemed to go on forever before curving to the right about a mile down the road and disappearing around a bend. A living replica of an ancient destroyed city. They were ushered into a multistory
building. At home, Dominion's buildings were one or two stories at most because there were a lot of empty acres for expansion. These cities seemed to run out of open acres before they ran out of buildings to put on them.

They traveled up to a floor that needed the guard's handprint for access. Every time he used a bio-access panel, Selah felt sicker and more trapped. Even if she thought of something to do, she didn't know how to get out, and she hadn't been able to get a signal from Treva. Were they being held, or could they leave after she saw her uncle?

They stepped into a softly lit hospital room. A flash streaked across Selah's vision. She blinked rapidly a few times, knowing it happened in her head because no one else reacted to the bright flash.

On the med-bed unit lay Charles Ganston, motionless and barely breathing. A mask and tube extending from the headboard were secured over his mouth and nose. The rhythmic breathing pump signaled the rise and fall of his chest.

Hooked to machines by numerous sensors placed on bare areas of his chest and arms, he appeared pale and small—nothing like the robust man Selah had met a few months ago. She wanted to cry, but Treva would need her as a strong support. Charles's skin had developed the translucent quality of death. Selah slid her arm across Treva's back as the girl leaned in and cried softly on her shoulder. No words . . . too much pain.

The outer door slid open and Bethany Everling, now wearing rubber-soled shoes and the white slacks and long jacket of a scientist, entered the large room. Selah wondered how
a person could do the evil things this woman was known for, yet appear calm and benevolent. Her loose blonde hair was now tied back in a severe bun, matching her demeanor.

“I suppose I should offer you some reasonable explanation after you've cooperated so fully in bringing yourselves into my specific domain without creating a scene and requiring me to deal with Politico fallout like the last time.” Bethany, arms crossed and feet firmly planted, stood next to the guard who'd followed her in.

Selah and Treva turned to face her. Cleon moved to Treva's side. Bethany knew they had been part of the original Lander escape. Selah worked to appear calm as her mind screamed about the stupidity of coming into this Mountain
again
. Still, finding out more about her parents overrode her caution.

“Since I don't understand what you're talking about, I want to know what's being done for Uncle Charles? What does the doctor have to say?” Treva imitated Bethany by crossing her arms over her chest and staring back. Selah hid her look of surprise by running a hand over her face. She'd never seen this stern side of Treva before.

“The irony is probably lost on you, my child, but this is the same room that I myself lay dying in several months ago,” Bethany sneered. Selah felt Bethany's scorn and hostility slam into her like a rolled boulder, and she gasped. It was more than a sensation from reading her body-speak. She registered a physical effect from this woman's hostility.

“I'm glad you survived, and hopefully my uncle will too.” Treva's lip curled up ever so slightly.

“Do you want to know
why
I was in that bed?” Hands behind her back, Bethany began to pace. “I was poisoned in some last-ditch effort to stop my husband's—” She stopped and wheeled to face them. Her mouth puckered tight as though ready to spit. Selah's stomach clenched. The woman's rage enveloped her in its cloud.

Cleon's realization of what was coming next changed his expression to horror. Selah felt bubbles of anxiety creeping up her chest. Bethany shouldn't be the one to tell Treva about the rabbits.

“I hope they caught the person responsible. That's a terrible thing to do to another person.” Treva shook her head.

Selah watched Cleon's countenance shrinking. Her heart cried for her brother. He'd be a broken man when his part came to light.

Bethany smiled. “Yes, I caught him.” She spun on her heels and faced the bed. “Meet the man who poisoned me—Charles Ganston.” She glared at Treva.

Selah's knees trembled. A bead of sweat ran down her back between her shoulder blades, making her shiver. This couldn't get much worse, and the subject hadn't even got around to her yet.

Treva shook her head back and forth. “No, I don't believe you. You're just angry because of . . . well, you're just angry.”

Selah held her breath.
Don't give anything away.
She stood rooted. She knew the truth of this story and couldn't fake surprise. Treva would know she had kept it from her. No one was going to like this ending. But why the diversion? What did Bethany have planned? Selah wished she had asked more
about this woman. She didn't know her enemy at all, and that could be a fatal mistake. Lesson learned.

“No, there's more. Seems your new boyfriend here, Cleon Chavez, is the market man for the contraband rabbits used by your uncle to poison me.”

Treva turned to face Cleon. “Tell me she's lying, that you didn't have any part of this. Because you would have told me before now, right?” she demanded. “Tell me she's making this up just to cover up trying to kill my uncle.”

Cleon shrank down to the chair beside the bed. His head went into his hands. “I was only my brother's helper a couple of times.”

“Oh, certainly that makes it all right then!” Treva threw up her hands and turned on Selah.

She couldn't lie to her friend. It betrayed every trust they had. Words stuck in Selah's throat as her tongue turned to sand.

“No, don't say you knew this and didn't tell me either,” Treva yelled at Selah, who shrunk back.

What was there to say? She had only tried to protect their relationship by not telling, and now it looked like that would be what destroyed it.

Selah shook her head. “I'm so sorry. It's not like it sounds. You have to hear the whole story.” Her eyes darted to Bethany and back to Treva. “But not now. When we get home.”

Bethany glared at her. Selah could easily read her body-speak. The woman knew the rabbits hadn't poisoned her. She was using it as an excuse.

“You seem to have misunderstood, young lady. Or should
I call you Selah? You're not leaving here.” Bethany returned to stand by the guard.

Selah stiffened. There was no longer a need for pretense. “So you know who we are. That and a bunch of bio-coin will buy you a quart of cooking oil. A lot of people know we're in here, and they'll come looking for us. They know her uncle is in here. What are you planning on doing with us?”

Bethany smirked. “All I'll have to say is that he died. I'm going to make that true very soon. But you're not too bright for a novarium, young lady. If anyone, including your father, knew you were coming into this Mountain, he would have literally moved the Mountain to keep that from happening. You came here on your own.”

Selah remained unresponsive, arms trembling. The bread and apples she'd eaten that morning churned in her stomach. How could Bethany possibly know this much about her? “I ask again. What do you want with us?”

“I don't want anything with
them
. It's you I've been trying to get my hands on, and here you walk into my Mountain as nice as you please. My great-grandmother used to say, ‘Good things come to those who wait.' I think I believe her now.” Bethany unfolded her arms and walked over to stand in front of Selah.

At the moment Selah would have preferred talking to Bethany rather than face the ire Treva was projecting. But she had to face her friend sooner or later. She took a breath and turned away from Bethany to Treva. “Please give us a chance to explain.”

The hurt on Treva's face dug into Selah's heart. Treva
looked to Cleon, who hadn't lifted his head. “I don't want to hear it from either of you. To think you would kill a man, over what? You didn't know anything about him at the time that would justify such evil.” Her face reddened the more she talked.

Cleon stood and touched her arms. He opened his mouth and a squeak came out. He cleared his throat. “I just knew we delivered the rabbits to that man. I didn't know what he intended to do with them.”

Treva's eyes bulged and she pushed him away. “But you thought the rabbits were poisoned and still sold them to someone who wanted them.”

Cleon collapsed back to the chair.

“But Treva, you said yourself, the rabbits weren't really poisoned,” Selah said. If they weren't poisoned after all, then Cleon hadn't hurt Bethany.

“Not poisoned, but a genetic malformation. When introduced to an immune system as weak as ours after 150 years in this Mountain, it caused cancer like I had. It also caused the heart muscle degradation that killed my husband's father,” Bethany said.

Selah tried to touch Treva's shoulder but she pulled away. “You are not the people I thought you were. I think I need some time to myself.”

“What are you talking about? You're going to let one thing ruin our friendship and your engagement to my brother?” Selah looked to Cleon. “Say something!” He wouldn't lift his head. She looked at Treva, pleading. “Where are you going? You're going to leave us here?”

“After what you did—”

“I didn't do anything. Cleon came with Raza, but he didn't do anything either.”

Treva's contempt felt like an ax to her chest. “Yes you did. You kept it from me.”

Selah recoiled. She had broken their friendship. She wanted to cry, but she wouldn't give Bethany the satisfaction.

“Treva will be escorted back to her quarters, where she will stay under section arrest to greet the many family friends and Politicos who will want to give their condolences about the passing of her uncle when he dies.” Bethany motioned to the guard, who opened the door and admitted another pair of guards with weapons.

“And what if I don't cooperate?” Treva's chin came up in defiance. Selah relaxed a little. That sounded more like the Treva she knew.

“Your uncle will die faster, and I can dispose of you sooner.” Bethany narrowed her eyes.

Selah held out a hand. “Treva—”

“I'm not ready to talk to you two yet.” Treva's look morphed to stone. No emotion. Flat features. Dark eyes. She turned on her heels and left the room, followed closely by the two new guards.

S
elah clenched her hands to contain her fear, but her nails dug into her palms. Bethany had successfully turned Treva against them, and now their chances of getting out of the Mountain dwindled by the minute. Sorry would come later. Right now survival depended on a better focus. How to buy time with this woman, to be able to think? Maybe seeing what Bethany wanted would help Selah understand what to do next.

There were too many things in her head. Another flash. She winced and shook it away.

“I know, I shake my head too. That girl is not like us. She doesn't understand what's at stake here,” Bethany said. Selah sensed curiosity coming from her.

“What do you think you're going to gain by having me here?” Selah figured as long as she kept her talking, the woman's interest might ward off disagreeable surprises.

Bethany looked from Selah to Cleon to Charles Ganston's shell. “I know he's not going to wake up. But . . .” Bethany shrugged her shoulders. “I did, so just in case he can hear me, let's move this discussion to a more private setting.” She motioned to the guards, who hustled Selah and Cleon from the room.

Selah and Cleon tried to walk together, but a guard stepped between, pushing them apart. At one point they were back in the city street, and Selah could sense Cleon had the urge to run. She'd thought about it herself. But they'd still be trapped in the Mountain, and the chance of getting a pulse rifle shot in the back was almost a hundred percent. She gave him the
no
look when he glanced up. He scowled but didn't bolt.

After passing through enough corridors to make her dizzy and up a ramp, they stopped at a double-wide plascine wall. The guard hand-palmed a door. It swished open and he pushed Selah and Cleon in and closed it. Selah scrambled to find a way to open the door. The controls were either remote or only on the outside. Her hopes sank, but she refused to admit it was over. Could she connect with Treva mentally? She pulled Cleon down beside her on the long bench and began to concentrate. Nothing. She squeezed Cleon's arm so tight he yelped. She released her grasp but went back to concentrating.

The far door slid into its wall. Bethany strolled in. “Don't bother trying to do that mind communications stuff. These
rooms are shielded to that frequency of your brain. Glade taught me that.”

“What do you want from me?” Selah tried to keep control of the discussion, especially now that Cleon was a broken man. The last time he'd been this despondent was at Raza's death.

“Direct. I like that. I want your blood, and if you give it to me, then I won't prosecute your brother. He actually did me a favor,” Bethany said without blinking an eye.

If she sacrificed herself, it could save Cleon. But could she trust Bethany to keep her word? The only thing she knew of this woman and her husband was their search for immortality.

“Why do you want my blood?” Selah knew the answer, but she hoped to buy time to find an escape route or maybe a way to reach Mojica. Hopefully she was still around.

“There is an ancient document about novarium. It says—”

“Where would you find an ancient document about Landers? I don't think that's possible. You must be lying. What do you take me for, a child?”

Bethany smirked. “I probably know more about you than you do. Did you know the ancient books say the novarium will bring new life?”

Selah faltered. She hadn't heard that. But then again, up to this point, Glade had controlled everything she learned about novarium. Should she pretend she knew that tidbit and gamble the woman wasn't making it up to trick her, or admit she didn't know?
Answer a question with a
question.
“What makes you think a statement like that is really true?”

“Because I'm a gambler, and I'll take the odds that your
blood will change me and correct this Mountain's genetic problem forever.”

Selah tried a bluff of her own. “And what if I don't want to give you my blood? One thing I do know is Landers can mentally keep you from getting their blood.”

Bethany hesitated. “I'm sure Glade informed you of the drugs we used on him to gain his compliance.”

“Don't even try them on me. Novarium are immune to your original drug concoction, and you've never had any novarium for testing a new formula.”

Bethany didn't know that was an outright falsehood. She didn't seem as well versed in novarium as she'd let on, which made Selah all the more relieved. This vile woman didn't have the advantage.

“Then you will doom this whole society and your brother to death,” Bethany said.

Selah's heart rate ticked up. “I didn't think you'd let me or my brother go anyhow. But why would you kill all these people because of me? This is your community.”

Bethany's facade dissolved. There was no more benevolence. Selah sensed the woman's madness, and it brought a cold shiver and another flash. This woman's emotions were raw and savage, and they threatened to overwhelm her.

“Thought you might try to say no, so I've already begun the inoculations.” She looked down at the ComTex on her arm. “In four hours the cycle will be complete, and if you don't give me your blood, the people will die.”

“
I
will die if I do that.”

“No, we'll take it slowly over the course of a couple of
weeks. Your body will replace what I take. You, as novarium, have an exceptional bio-compensation system.”

“You still haven't told me why you need my blood. I know you're trying to gain immortality, and my father said it doesn't work that way.”

Bethany nodded. “Ah, Glade. I'd say send my regards, but you won't be seeing him again. We're very close to achieving the Third Protocol on our own. You will give us the needed boost to overcome the cellular degradation.”

Selah stopped. Bethany knew about the Third Protocol. How? Maybe less cooperation would get her answers just out of spite. “I'm not giving you anything. These are your people. The responsibility for their deaths is on you.”

“I'm sure Cleon would not agree with you if it were his life on the line.”

“Leave me out of it!” Cleon yelled. “You've already ruined my life, so a death sentence would end the pain. Go on, do it. Selah, don't you dare give her your blood to save me, or I'll kill my own self.” Cleon heaved several large breaths and pounded on the wall with a fist. She saw a tear in the corner of his eye before he turned away.

“I guess you heard my brother. He's willing to be a sacrifice. You've got nothing.” Selah gagged on the words. They were going to die.

“I was hoping
not
to need to do this, but I really hate being pushed.” Bethany keyed her ComTex. “Show him in.”

Selah glanced between the door in front of her and the one behind her. Had she caused danger to Treva just to show she could stand up to Bethany? Her heart pounded and her
mouth went dry. She didn't want to think. She clutched Cleon's hand.

The door Bethany had entered swished open.

A dark-clad figure with a week's worth of beard growth and shaggy hair entered. Selah stared for a moment, then gasped. She let go of Cleon's hand.

“Father!” Selah ran to Varro Chavez and threw her arms around his neck. Other than the beard and longish hair, he looked normal. Her heart soared. It would be all right now. “I'm so relieved to see you. Where are Mother and Dane? How did you know I'd be here?”

Selah felt a slight hesitation in his grip. She pulled back to look in his face.

“I'm happy you're safe. We've been worried since you left,” Varro said, averting his eyes. He lightly patted Selah's back.

Cleon watched from about ten feet away. Selah motioned him over. He shook his head.

“Chavez, tell her why she needs to cooperate with me.” Bethany grinned.

Selah glanced from her stepfather to Bethany. That was the first honest grin the woman had given all morning. Selah wondered why she seemed familiar with Father.

“Selah, my daughter, I need you to cooperate with Dr. Beverly,” he said. His lips twitched, and his body-speak indicated he was tightened in knots. Selah jerked away. It was unsettling to feel her stepfather's unmasked emotions when his outward appearance showed the opposite.

“Father, I can't work with that woman, but I'm sorry I left. We didn't think you'd understand. Where are Mother
and Dane? I've missed them so much.” The words rolled out in disorganized thoughts and fragmented sentences, but she had so much to say. This could still be fixed. She knew surely he'd understand if she explained and said she was sorry.

“Your mother and Dane are taken care of for now. You need to cooperate,” Varro said, his voice changing slightly in pitch.

Selah tried to smile. It felt wrong. She reached out to Cleon. “Come here. Say hello.”

Cleon shook his head, moving closer to the other doorway blocked by a guard. “I'm not going near him. I know that look. He's not telling the truth. Something's wrong. He knows.”

Selah winced. She tipped her head to the side. “Father, what did you mean about Mother and Dane being taken care of
for
now
?”

Varro reached out to take her arm. “You need to do the small favor the Mountain needs and it will be over quickly.”

She slowly pushed away his hand. “It's not a small favor! You have no idea what this woman is capable of doing. She just threatened to kill this whole community if I don't cooperate.”

Selah searched his eyes for some recognition. They were the same as always, only now she was listening to his body-speak and not his words. He remained as calm as he'd been the day on the beach when Raza killed the Lander. The realization hit her hard and she staggered. She didn't know this man.

Varro seemed to be counting unseen numbers, then turned to Bethany. “You started the inoculations already? That's cutting it close. We need time to prep her.”

“Wait! No one's prepping me for anything.”

“This thing is going to make me a wealthy man and help me pay one very large debt. Now, you wouldn't deny me that, would you? It's such a minor thing for you, and besides, you owe me for that dowry. Your body will recover from the blood loss.” Varro ran his hand through blond hair that came almost to his shoulders. Why hadn't Mother cut that raggedness off?

“Father, please tell me this is a joke. I've got a lot to tell you, and I know you'll be proud of me when you see how it worked out.” She had no doubt this wasn't a joke, but she needed every extra second to think. Stupid questions took up time.

“Of course I'm proud, but this is no joke. There's no time to get the Protocol matchup verified,” Varro said without emotion.

Selah's mind screeched to a halt so fast she would later remember that she was on autopilot from the moment Varro Chavez said the word
Protocol
.

She turned to Cleon and started to back away. Her father—no, her stepfather—was hiding something. His emotions came through strong and simple. Deception. “Where are Mother and Dane?”

Varro moved forward and grabbed her arm. “Listen, Selah, we don't have a lot of time. We can discuss this—”

“No!” Selah screamed, holding up a palm and wrenching her arm free from the attack as her training had taught her to do. The force from her palm sent Varro reeling backward into Bethany.

The door next to Selah slid open. A guard rushed in and
they collided. As the guard started to fall, he thrust out his weapon. Selah snatched it. The unexpected weight pulled her down on top of him. She struggled to stand and keep possession.

Cleon bolted out the door as Bethany and Varro lunged forward.

Selah squeezed the trigger. Energy pulses burst from the barrel, forcing the weapon to jerk back and forth, peppering the walls and floor with smoldering burnt streaks.

Varro, Bethany, and the guard ducked for cover.