Thunder (19 page)

Stemple hung his head. “Everling wants them all dead.”

“No! You wouldn't. They're not lab animals. These are human beings.” Treva's bottom lip started to tremble.

“I admit I had no problem holding them for the experiments because I thought we were using them to cure cancer. But not this. Some lunatic proposition of living forever. And now he's going after children. I've changed my mind.”

“What do you mean,
children
?”

“He's destroying the Landers because he's going after their children in some insane quest to find immortality. I think it's more his wife Bethany's idea than his, but he's going along with it. I have to figure out how to get the Landers out of here before Everling catches on.” Stemple could feel the stress tightening his neck.

Treva wiped at her eyes with the back of her hands.

The outer door opened and Everling stepped in.

Treva looked at the younger, fresher version of the doctor, now possessing a full head of hair. Her mouth dropped open.

Everling motioned to Stemple with a look of dissatisfaction. “I need you in my lab. Bethany wants the latest projections on dismantling.”

Stemple nodded.

“Now!” Everling barked. He turned and exited. The opening slid closed.

Treva turned to Stemple with her mouth still hanging open. “I'm sorry I doubted you. I'd give my eyeteeth to study that research.”

“That's part of the problem. He didn't do extensive research or testing. He experimented on himself and his wife. I have no idea what the consequences will be. Already I'm seeing personality changes.”

Treva shook her head. “Stupid actions have consequences.”

Stemple started for the opening. “Speaking of that, please, no more surprises.”

T
reva darted back into the unit and over to Glade. “What did you just do to him?”

“I protected you.” Glade rose from his chair and walked to the wall.

“I can take care of myself.”

Glade paced. “I feel like I owe you more than I could ever repay. I'm feeling normal again. I can communicate with others—so much pain, so much anger. It's like sound waves that ebb and flow. I can't concentrate. Thoughts jumble together. Emotions make no sense.”

Treva nodded. “Your system is still flushing years of chemical depressants.”

Glade stopped. He pressed his palms to the wall. “Something feels strange. Different. Someone else. I've never felt an impression like this before. My aura is bouncing back. A reflection.” Glade cocked his head to the side. His eyes widened. “It couldn't be. How?”

“Glade, is it pain? You look pale. Do you need another shot?” She turned to retrieve an injection. Her secret project. A nootropic to stimulate Glade's nerve growth and oxygen supply. He'd been on Everling's suppressants the longest and likely suffered the most damage.

His eyes sparkled with moisture. “My daughter! My daughter is near.”

Treva stopped short. “How could that happen? Is she a prisoner? Does Everling have anything to do with this?” Her face paled. Had Everling retrieved the child that fast?

“No, Everling has nothing to do with this. That much I know. She's coming closer.” Glade slammed his fist into the wall.

Treva jumped. His face didn't register pain. Was he becoming psychotic? Maybe Everling was right about his drug cocktail. Too late now. This wasn't working like she'd expected. Glade cooperated but Landers below were becoming unmanageable and rowdy. This could push up Everling's dismantle plans.

“Where is she? Can you integrate her into your thoughts?”

Glade's agitation heightened. He shook his head. “I've lost it. I can't find the thought. Others are pressing in around it. More voices from below. They won't listen to be calm. They want out.”

“I gave them the last course of shots this morning. They need to rest. Let the detox complete.”

Glade held his head. “I need a direct line of sight to affect them.”

“How do I do it from here?” Treva headed back to the console and laid the syringe gently in the drawer tray.

“Get a halo-comm open to that level. I can channel on the wave and calm them.”

Treva scrambled to dial the prison level. What was her reason for calling?
Think
fast.

A sentry answered the comm. “Level Three Confinement, Saylor speaking.”

Treva put on her best smile. “Saylor, this is Treva Gilani in Lab Section Ten. I'm looking for data sheets that seem to have been misplaced in the transfer with the last Lander body.”

“What Lander body?”

Treva pulled back. How could he forget the body that had come up just a few days ago?

“Three days ago—the dead one. Are you working double shifts down there?”

The tech's face lit up. “Oh, now I know what you mean. We don't call them Landers.”

That was odd. Treva wondered what they called them down there.

A high-pitched vibration now drifted through the connection and hummed in her ears. Treva shook her head, turning to look at Glade. He was deep in concentration. She hoped he'd hurry. The sound was hurting her head.

The sentry put his hand to his ear. “What is that humming?”

Treva steeled herself to the sound. “I'm not sure what you're talking about. I don't hear anything.”

The sentry winced. She feared he'd break the connection.

“Can you please check on those sheets? This is really important.” She looked beyond the screen at Glade. He finally slumped to his chair and nodded.

The sentry returned to the screen looking apologetic. “I'm sorry but I don't see any extra material here that did not make the transfer with the clo—er, body.”

“Thanks then, maybe they just got misplaced.” Treva broke the link. She opened and closed her mouth to get the vibration out of her ears.

“Did you get through?”

Glade nodded. “I forgot, it's been so long. Their senses are sharpening and it's frightening them. I don't know how long I can keep control of them.”

Everling leaned back in his chair, watching Bethany work on new sample batches. She was a vision that brought tears to his eyes. Her graying hair had reverted to its blonde luster, and her worry lines had filled in. They had always bothered her—well, no more. The cancer had disappeared and the beautiful, radiant woman of his younger years had reappeared. All they needed were a few tweaks to stop the process continuation.

His mind kept wandering. It was hard to think.

“Did you hear what I said to you?” Bethany asked. Her pale green eyes flashed.

Everling shook off his thoughts. “I'm sorry, my love. What did you say?”

Bethany looked agitated. “The patrol we send to Dominion is reporting in. They met with your contact but the girl is not there. Her mother says she must have run away. She was slated to get married and didn't want to.”

Everling shot straight up in his chair. “How could they
lose a young girl? And why has it taken two days to get me this answer?”

Bethany shook her head. “It's your fault. I told you before we needed a better communication grid outside of the Mountain.”

“No! It's a waste of valuable resources to build a system out there,” Everling said. He started to get irate. Why waste money when they'd never go out there to get any use out of it?

“Well, in a case like this, it would have been handy. We've lost a whole day trying to track her. That's not going to be very effective with AirStreams.” Bethany slapped her halo-pad on the counter and turned away from Everling.

“I will not put resources into anything that could be used by those peasants out there.”

Bethany turned back and slammed a fist on the counter. “Suit yourself. Since the JetTrans can't travel that far, we sent AirStreams, and they were required to return within twenty miles of the Mountain before we could communicate with them.”

He knew she was right but didn't want to admit it. In her youth, her father had been head of Mountain security. Her destiny had been the next security head, but being a child of the Elite put her with other Elite offspring. He'd met her and fallen in love, and she followed him into research. But she could still run a security operation with her eyes closed, and her forward thinking on communication systems was something he needed to take seriously. When this present situation had ended.

Bethany stared at him, waiting for an answer. “We're losing days.”

“She has a bio-signature. Tell them to start from where she lived and scan until they find her.” He began an agitated tapping on the surface of his desk. “Rank incompetence. There are not many roads down there. She'd have stayed on one of them. Set up a security grid with AirStreams. They can interface at twenty-mile intervals. Send a dozen if you have to. Sweep from there to here. And get a JetTrans grid set up outside the Mountain perimeter to check as far south as they can travel.”

“What about south of Dominion?” Bethany asked.

Everling shook his head. “Conditions are more dangerous farther south, so if she's going anywhere, she's coming this way. Find her.”

Selah leaned back against a pile of wooden crates as the wagon bumped along the well-traveled road. She tried not to think about home, or Dane, or Father, but Mother's voice kept coming to her, quickening her heart. She'd never been away from Mother. She desperately missed her and her counsel on how to do things right. She needed to talk about a boy, and about kissing, and about what to do next. Funny, they'd never talked much of this rite of passage. She'd expected “the talk” before her upcoming marriage, but before now there was no use for it.

Bodhi sat facing her on the other side of the wagon bed, his blond curls bouncing in the breeze, falling across his closed eyes. It annoyed her that he seemed to sleep so much, oblivious to their dangers or her ruined life. She wanted to be mad, but Mother had taught her and the boys about personal
responsibility for their actions. She always said transferring the blame to someone else never taught the intended lesson. How could she be mad at Bodhi when she hadn't known about her change either?

If she'd known the consequences would she still have tried to capture him? She truthfully couldn't say she'd have played it safe. By nature she tended to be daring—one of the reasons her mother had said she'd be fine on this journey. She didn't want to accept it, but she had to admit, she'd worked beyond the fear and embraced the adventure. She made herself a promise—she would see Mother again. The thought gave her courage.

As if on cue, Bodhi opened his eyes and smiled. The air around him seemed to glow with the radiation from those lips. She worked to restrain her thudding heartbeat.
Even breaths.
This was not the time, and besides, sometimes he acted arrogant and she didn't like it.

“I'm sorry,” Bodhi said softly. His eyes looked so caring.

Selah balked but her heart melted. Why did he always seem to answer what she was thinking? “What have you done to be sorry about this time?”

He stammered, lowered his eyes, then raised his head with a sheepish look. “I feel I'm the reason for your pain.”

Selah glanced down. “As of this minute, I'm letting go of that. I'm trying to learn to focus on what I'll gain, not what I've lost.” She pursed her lips. “You have no idea how many years I fretted about being adopted because my father—uh, stepfather—never seemed to care for me, only to have this happen.”

“Did you find any solace in your mother's letters?”

Selah shrugged. “Yes and no. I'm not brave enough yet. I can only let so much sink in at one time.” There were personal pages Mother had written for such a time as this, and those made her cry. She only read small sections at a time.

“But we're getting closer to where your father is. I got that definite impression before of Glade Rishon, and I can feel a group of them, you know. It's like they've gone through some kind of awakening. It's all jumbled thoughts and impressions. You could feel them too—just concentrate.”

Selah sat up straight. “Really? I could feel them too?” Her heart quickened for a better reason now. Her father. Her real father. Thinking of touching his thoughts for the first time made her prickle with excitement. But she just sensed empty space.

She shook her head. “I can't. I don't hear anything.”

“It's not like an actual sound. It's more of an impression. Try. Clear your mind.”

Selah went quiet for about three seconds. “I don't feel anything.”

Bodhi smiled. “You're too noisy. Be quiet and listen. It's a still, small voice far away.”

Selah huffed, closed her eyes, and crossed her arms. The wagon came to a jarring stop. Her eyes flew open. “What's the matter?”