The River (26 page)

"Not me! Who do we think we are―God?"

"This technology," Lawrence said softly. "It's powerful. The serum and the bots combined have the possibility of reconstructing every cell, almost from scratch. If someone was to examine Hans' cells right now, they'd see the cells of a perfectly healthy, young man."

"A psychotic man!" Jake said bitterly.

"Doing everything within his power to stay young, to stave off death. And what's worse, people in power all over the world will be able to bid on a taste of youth. Paughter will sell the serum to the highest bidder. Imagine if some of the world's most violent men had been given the serum years ago, like Stalin or Hitler."

"Paughter and VanBuren are no better."

Lawrence fixed his gaze on him. "Whoever holds the key to life…holds the world in the palm of his hands."

"Then their hands had better be clean," Jake said crisply.

Lawrence stood, then walked to the door.

"It's a responsibility of the highest order, Jake. Not to be taken lightly…or misused."

He stepped through the doorway, closing the door behind him.

Jake massaged his aching head as Lawrence's words came back to haunt him.

Whoever holds the key to life…holds the world in the palm of his hands.

The serum was the key to life, but was 2005 ready for it?

Jake didn't think so.

He gazed around the room.

His eyes rested on the doctor's laptop―the only computer in the lab that wasn't connected to the Centre's mainframe. Eyeing the door, he reached for it. Scrolling through the numerous folders, he found one labeled
NB
and brought it up on the monitor. A variety of subfolders on nanotechnology appeared. He searched them until he found one titled
AQP
. He clicked on it.

A dozen files materialized, but only one made him bite his lip.

The one marked…
Kerrigan
.

He opened it.

There it was! Right in front of him. Years of sweat and blood, his
own
research. It was all on Hawthorne's laptop. The solution to the AQP-5 problem and much more.

Reading through it, he discovered where his theory had taken a slight detour. He snatched a memory stick from a plastic storage box and inserted it. His finger hesitated over the
save
key, but he took a breath and hit it. Once the files were saved, he pocketed the stick.

He'd deal with his guilt later.

With a backward glance, he continued scrolling through the files.

There were word processing programs he had never heard of, articles on biotechnology and nanotechnology, a nanobot synthesizer, a science journal, a games folder and more.

Curious, he opened the games folder and let out a loud chuckle.

2031 hadn't evolved much when it came to basic computer games. There was still the common list of FreeCell, Hearts, Pinball, Solitaire, Spades…and then a list of variations of each.

The door creaked and Lawrence poked his head inside.

"We're taking a tour around the other areas of the lab, Jake, if you want to come along. There's a new specimen I have to prepare. It's not pleasant work, but―"

He stopped abruptly, moving closer to the open laptop.

"Sorry," Jake said, red-faced. "I hope you don't mind."

"This isn't the time for games."

"I thought it might help me get my mind off Francesca and Del. It's hell waiting for Gary to find a way out of here."

Lawrence's eyes met his. "You know, Del and I used to play computer games all the time. It's one of my favorite memories."

"Which games?"

"Baldur's Gate, Quake…Unreal Tournament."

"Del likes shooter games?"

"Yeah, and she's damned good at it too. When we played, she'd hide somewhere with a sniper rifle and the next thing I knew…'
head shot'!
She'd cream me every time."

Jake grinned, struck by an image of Del hovering over the keyboard, hunting down her father. He could almost hear her gleeful shout as she wasted her father's computer-generated character.

"I would have thought she'd be more into the friendly games, like poker or some adventure game."

Lawrence chuckled. "Not my Del. However, she was partial to a couple of card games―hearts in particular. Usually Arnold and her mother played with us. I used to tease Del because she never changed her strategy."

"In what way?"

"She was too predictable. She always led with hearts. I used to tease her about that all the time."

Jake cocked his head, recalling something. "Del told me that when Arnold Schroeder visited her on campus, he said something to her. Something about hearts."

"She always leads with her heart," Lawrence nodded. "I told Arnold that if he ever reached Del before me, to say that to her. That way she'd know who sent him. I always knew that she may not recognize him…or me, if the bots self-destructed. But I was sure she'd understand the heart reference."

Jake's eyes widened. "The hearts on the cave wall! But that means…"

"I've crossed back once. I was accompanied by Blackwell and some of his men. We broke into Bio-Tec to recover my computer data and my laptop. Before we left the Centre, I stole a phosphorescent wax pencil and when Blackwell and his men weren't looking, I scribbled the hearts on the wall."

"We wouldn't have found the cave without them, Lawrence."

Lawrence was silent for a moment.

Then he gave Jake a questioning look.

"How'd you know to turn off the lights?"

"Hawk."

"Wise man."

Jake nodded.

A wise dead man―unless we find a way out.

Twenty-one

H
ans bumped into Vance, literally.

The man who resembled a kid was waiting for him outside the Director's office. With arms and ankles crossed, he leaned against the wall near the door, a sly smile on his face.

"I take it the Director wasn't pleased. I heard they found a vial of serum in your fridge."

Hans' eyes narrowed. "I knew you'd eventually stab me in the back. Maybe I have a slight…problem. With the serum and with my urges. But you―"

"I
what?
Did my job, informed the Director of your gross misconduct?" Vance grabbed his arm. "Jesus Christ, Hans! You killed one of them. We needed her."

"It was an accident!"

Vance was really starting to piss him off. Who the hell did he think he was? If it hadn't been for Hans' investment in the very beginning there would be no Centre, no Project Ankh…no serum.

"We can use the others, Vance."

The kid gave him an incredulous look. "You know how limited our supplies are? It'll take weeks before a new batch is ready."

"We have a new addition," Hans said with a shrug. "I've already notified the lab. What about you? Are you going to cut back? It must have taken a few doses to get you looking like that."

"You think I want to look like a fricking kid? I don't think so. But at least
my
reversal was approved."

Hans flicked a resentful look at the Director's door. "Yeah, I noticed that you two have become quite buddy-buddy since you returned. Just remember one thing, Vance."

"What's that?"

"The Director may control the Centre and you may control Project Ankh, but
I
control the investors. Without me, the Centre for Enlightened Living would self-destruct."

Pivoting on one heel, Hans strode down the hallway, praying fervently that Vance hadn't seen the slight shaking of his hand. If he had played his cards right, the man would lay off him for a while. He needed some time to think. With Vance back and in the Director's good graces, he'd be ignored―again.

I can't have that. Not after everything I've done.

He needed a fix.

With a sinful smile, he hurried to his office. Once inside, he locked the door, opened the freezer section of the small fridge and pulled out the ice bin. Digging beneath the cubes, he groaned with relief, lifting out two full vials of Ankh serum.

Thank God, Blackwell hadn't discovered his secret stash.

With a backward glance, he hid one of the vials beneath the ice cubes and closed the freezer door. Admiring the other vial, he was seized by a terrible yearning, a voice that said
'Do it!'

Soon, he was lying on the couch, watching an eternity of liquid life flow into his veins. Life was so very painful, agonizing.

He bit back a scream, clamping his teeth on a strip of rubber.

Before he floated away in a bittersweet fog of stinging pain, he had one last thought.

I'll go see Hawthorne's daughter―before Vance does.

Del was shocked when Justin Blackwell entered her room half an hour after the alarm shut off. He pulled out a gun but kept it lowered at his side. They both knew it was there.

"Follow me, please."

She let out a nervous laugh. "Where are we going?"

"To see your friends."

Her head jerked. "Why?"

The man shrugged. "The Director hoped you would reciprocate, maybe help us convince your father to give us some information."

"You mean find out where he hid the so-called missing file," she said dryly. "Don't you get it? There
is
no file!"

Blackwell's eyes fastened on hers. "If you're smart, you'll cooperate with them."

"You mean VanBuren?"

She scowled, thinking of the man's pale face and leering eyes.

"Why would I cooperate with the devil?"

"Because it's the only way you'll get to live. All of you."

He flicked the gun toward the door.

Del followed Blackwell down a hallway. They turned a corner and walked past the elevator, heading for a set of doors. Blackwell slipped an ankh key into a security panel and the doors opened.

The first person she saw was Jake.

He strode toward her, pulling her into his arms.

"The lab is bugged. Careful what you say."

She let her lips graze over his before hugging Hawk, Gary and TJ.

Relieved to finally be in the same room with all of them, she grinned. "I hope you all haven't driven my dad crazy."

She gave her father a peck on the cheek.

"They've been great company," he said.

She threw a backward glance in the direction of the armed man.

"Blackwell," her father said gruffly. "Why is my daughter here?"

Blackwell's eyes met hers. "The Director wanted you all in a safe place."

"You mean, in a safe prison," she snickered.

She caught her father's eye, then closed her mouth.

Frustrated, she gazed at Jake.

He was drinking her in and she blushed self-consciously. Her mouth opened to say something and a thought hit her. Everyone knew that he had spent the night with her. TJ, Hawk, Gary…

Even my father.

Mortified, she looked at Blackwell. "So, I'm staying here, then?"

"You have tonight. After that…"

Blackwell eyed her father, then shrugged.

After he was gone, Jake spun on one heel and faced Lawrence.

"What's that mean?
After that.
"

"It means that after tonight you're all dead." Lawrence dropped his voice. "Unless I give them the file."

Del shook her head. "You can't do that, Dad. As soon as they have the file, they'll kill us all anyway."

Gary tapped his mouth with a finger. "I may have a solution. But I'll need another hour."

Del watched him make a beeline for the computer.

"What's he going to do?"

"Get us out of here," TJ whispered.

"For now, it's business as usual," her father said. "If you look like you're being useful, they won't lock you up somewhere else. Like Francesca."

"How is she?" Del asked. "Does anyone know?"

Jake gave her a hard look. "She's―"

"She's alive," her father interjected. "Just like the rest of us. We'll get Gary to find out what room she's in."

Del bit her bottom lip.

Something was going on. She could see it in their faces. But for some reason, she didn't push it. Sometimes it was better to be left in the dark.

"I have a specimen to process," her father said quietly. "You can stay here and run samples, or come with me. Maybe it's time you had a tour of the lab of the future."

Leaving Gary behind at the computer, she followed her father, Jake, TJ and Hawk through the sliding doors that led to the Specimen Lab.

"What's this?" she asked as they entered a small white-walled hallway.

"It's a UV microbial disinfection chamber," her father explained. "It kills bacteria, germs…micro-organisms. We have to keep the environment sterile."

A gentle hiss of air escaped as the doors closed tightly behind them, and Del couldn't help but roll her eyes after a computer-generated sexless voice instructed them to relax.

"Relax?" she muttered. "Who the hell are they kidding?

TJ shifted restlessly when a red light began to flash on the opposite door. "Gives me the creeps, dawg."

Her father gave them all an uneasy look. "Don't worry, it's safe. But I have to warn you―you won't like what's inside."

Del shivered at the tone of his voice.

Maybe she should've stayed behind with Gary.

"Be prepared," her father mumbled as the flashing light turned a steady green. "It's quite dark at first, until your eyes adjust."

Stepping through the doorway into the dimly lit Specimen Lab, she blinked and shook her head. As the warehouse-sized room came into focus, her chin dropped and she felt the blood drain from her face.

"Holy shit!"

"There's nothing holy about this place," her father said bitterly.

The Specimen Lab was long and narrow, stretching before them like a highway to nowhere. It was divided into four lanes, each monitored by a main computer station staffed by two uniformed technicians.

Above them, the high ceiling was spotted with electric-blue recessed lights. In the shadows, dozens of small glass boxes were suspended by chains. Approximately two feet wide by three feet tall, the boxes contained an opaque, milky liquid. An assortment of hoses and tubing were attached to the sides, trailing down to the bulky monitors below.