“Rat?”
The computer was off. The beautiful lavender hollow in the pillow was empty and cold. He rushed to the bathroom. “Rat?”
Jeff whirled, scanning the room. The laundry drawer was open a crack, just like it should be. Maybe he had done the signal wrong. Maybe Rat was hiding in there. He dropped to his knees and pulled the drawer out. “Rat? Hey, Rat, come on. This is no time for games!”
He poked the clothes, gently at first, then more urgently—started tossing them out, panic rising. A horrible possibility crossed his mind: The investigator had come early, while he was away, and had taken Rat!
As he reached deeper, his knee shifted and something crunched painfully under it: a bit of plaster from Rat’s cast. Jeff yanked open the drawer in the night table. Sure enough, the spyvest was gone. Nobody had taken Rat away. She went all by herself!
He jumped onto the bed and stumbled across the mattress to the headboard. Above it, close to the ceiling, was the vent Rat used to spy on Jeff from. There were little toeprints in the soot and a long smear where Rat’s tail had dragged against the wall.
Oh, no! She’d gone to steal the laser!
Jeff flung himself off the bed, staggering headlong toward the door. Rat didn’t understand. Not only might she damage LB, but there were no rat-sized welder’s goggles in her spyvest. If she got that lid up, she’d blind herself!
At the door, Jeff froze. He might not be fast enough. He might already be too late!
Call Bett.
But that meant exposing Rat.
Did he have any other choice? He couldn’t let Rat blind herself. He couldn’t let her damage LB. Especially not now, when he knew the laser didn’t matter one bit.
He reached for the intercom on the wall next to the door. He punched buttons.…
“Hello, Photonics lab, LB speaking.”
“LB! You’re alive!”
“LB appreciates your conclusion, Jeff. The question preoccupies Bett. There is much debate about—”
“No. I mean you’re okay. Nothing’s happened to you.”
“Correction. Nothing was happening. Bett is napping. LB was bored. But now LB has a visitor. The visitor is a modified—”
“Rat’s there? Right now?”
“Do you know this rat? We are getting acquainted. She is not as friendly as you.”
I bet!
“LB is concerned. She is trying to see the laser. She has no goggles.”
“Stop her!” What was he saying? How could LB do that?
“LB cannot comply directly. I could wake Bett—”
“Wait! Can Rat hear me?”
“LB can put you on speakerphone.”
“Yes! Hurry!” A click, then Jeff could hear the quiet hum of LB’s processors along with the harsh scrape of metal against metal. “Rat, stop! It’ll blind you!”
A clatter. Scrabble of paws. Then keys clicking. LB said, “Cousin Rat says: Ignorant boy. Rat’s eyes are special. They are protected. Go away. Do not interfere.”
It was so weird to hear Rat’s words spoken in LB’s voice! And why was LB calling Rat cousin? And how were Rat’s eyes protected? Did they have a nictitating membrane, like lizards? Jeff shuddered at the unwelcome idea.
“Rat, listen. Your plan can’t work. I figured it out. There isn’t just one investigator, there’s all of the scientists at Rodengenics to worry about. Killing one won’t do anything except prove that you’re here.”
For the longest time, Jeff heard nothing but the hum of LB’s processors. Then click-click-click. LB passed along Rat’s answer: “Rat does not care. Rat will kill them. Rat will kill them all.”
Jeff didn’t know what to do.
“Cousin Rat,” LB said, “are you really going to take LB’s laser source? That will destroy LB. You won’t do that, will you, Cousin Rat?”
The keys clicked and LB spoke Rat’s words, “Yes! You are wicked. You must be destroyed.”
What was going on? Wicked was Rat’s word for Nanny, for the food machines, for the scientists. Why was she calling LB that? No time to find out. Jeff could hear the scrape of metal again. “LB! Call Bett. Wake her. Now!”
Almost as soon as the words were out, a feeling of dread hit: sharp toes, sharp teeth. With her leg healed, Rat could really use them. Would she hurt Bett?
The speakerphone picked up the sound of a door opening and Bett’s groggy voice calling, “LB, what’s going on? I thought I heard voices.”
Jeff hissed into the intercom, “LB, where’s Rat?”
“Cousin Rat is gone. She did not even promise to come back. You promised, but you have not come. LB has waited ten hours, five—”
Promises. That’s what Jeff needed now and quick! “LB, stop! Can Bett hear us?”
“No. LB is talking only to Jeff.”
“Did Bett see Rat?”
“No. Bett is rubbing the crusty remains of ocular secretions from her eyes. She is a little confused.”
“What’s going on, LB?” Bett’s voice came again, stronger, closer, edged with concern. “Why are so many of your processors active?”
Jeff said, “Then don’t tell her anything about Rat’s visit, okay?”
“You do not want LB to share this interesting new information with Bett?”
“Yeah, that’s right. It’s a secret.”
“LB has never had a secret before.” The buzz from the laser source intensified.
“What’s the matter, LB?” Bett sounded alarmed. She must be right at the console now, because Jeff heard switches being switched and keys tapping. “Why don’t you answer me? And what’s this? Why is this intercom line open?”
“LB cannot answer. LB has a secret.”
“What?” Bett asked, sharp and stunned.
Jeff groaned. “LB!”
“LB detects disapproval. LB has revealed no information.”
“You’re supposed to keep the secret secret, too.”
There was a huge surge of power.
“Who’s on this line?” Bett’s voice shouted out at Jeff. “Answer me! What have you done to LB?”
Abruptly, Jeff broke the connection.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
BETRAYED
“LB! Call Bett. Wake her. Now!”
The boy’s words spat out of the speaker as harshly as a scientist’s commands. What was he doing? Telling on Rat? Protecting this wicked machine?
The door to the living quarters slid open. The scientist called out, “LB, what’s going on? I thought I heard voices.”
Run!
Lightning reflexes slid the screwdriver into its sleeve and vanished Rat into the air vent. Heedless of the weaker leg, four paws slapped the metal ductwork. Whap-whap-whap-whap.
Rat ran fast. She ran far. The newly healed leg began to throb. Slow down. Nothing could follow her into these vents. They belonged to Rat alone as long as Nanny was dead. Or until the investigator arrived.
She tucked the hurting leg up beside her ribs and slowed to the three-legged walk. Click-click-click.
Where was she going so fast anyway? Back to the boy?
Wicked boy! Taking sides against Rat!
Rat eyed the fat pipe that led across the central air shaft. She sat on her haunches. Why was she with this boy anyway, now that the leg was healed? Maybe she did not need the boy anymore. She had her spyvest. She could steal new batteries for the flashlight. No jetpack, but so what? She would never go to the Zero-G room again. Never play pointless tag games again. From now on, everything would be serious.
Except—
The boy was the way back to Earth.
Rat ground her teeth together slowly. She still needed the boy. She must go back. But things would be different. From now on, the boy would obey Rat, even if that meant using some of the scientists’ methods of punishment on him.
There he was, sitting on the floor by the door, his head drooping between drawn-up knees. The room was even messier than usual. All his dirty clothes were out of the laundry drawer. Rat squeezed th
rough the grate, letting it clank shut loudly behind her as she dropped onto the bed.
The boy’s head came up. “You’re back!”
The boy sniffled. He swiped a forearm across his nose. His eyes were red. His cheeks glistened with smeared tears. He had been crying.
Good. The boy should be feeling bad.
Rat leaped from the bed to the front of the laundry drawer. She clung to the top edge with her hind legs. That put her close to eye level with the boy. “Very bad boy. Why interfere? Rat almost got laser.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” The boy shifted onto his knees, suddenly energized. “Your plan’s no good. And taking the laser would …” He paused, and a confused look passed over his face. “It would kill LB.”
“Wicked machine. It knows,” Rat signed. “Needed destroying. Now tells.”
“No. LB won’t tell. LB promised to keep your visit a secret.”
This news astonished Rat. “Why?”
“Because I asked LB to, that’s why. We’re friends.”
“Rat is first friend.”
“Well, you’re not acting like one, sneaking off without telling me. Now everything’s messed up.”
“Listen to Rat.” Rat’s tail smacked the drawer front with a loud whiplash. “Rat is leader.”
“Is that what you think?” The boy sat back on his heels. “I thought we were friends.”
“If friends, why save machine? Without laser, investigator will catch Rat.”
“You’re so stubborn! Don’t you see? The scientists will just keep coming, and not to catch you, either. Not if you kill someone.”
“Let them come. Kill them all.”
“That’s stupid,” the boy said. “It would be like war. There’s only you and me on our side, and LB, but he’s only three and stuck in a box. How many scientists are there, huh?”
There were a lot of scientists.
“You are right,” Rat signed. It made her grumpy to admit her mistake. It made her see how many different ways she had been wrong recently. Maybe she was wrong about the machine, too. Maybe it was not trying to trick Rat about the mother.
“Yeah, well, whoopee,” the boy said, uncrossing his arms. “Now we don’t have any plan. I almost had one, but it depended on stale trails. That was important, but now you’ve made new ones and they lead right here!”
Is that what the boy had been crying about? “Rat can fix that.”
“Really? How?”
“Fire foam.”
“What do you mean?”
With a twitch of her tail, Rat sprang from the edge of the laundry drawer over to the desk. She typed, WHEN RAT CHEWED THE WIRE IN THE CAFETERIA, THERE WAS A BIG SHOCK AND BIG SPARKS. FIRE FOAM SPRAYED ALL OVER RAT. IT STANK. SNIFFERS COULD NOT SMELL RAT. WLTH FIRE FOAM, RAT CAN ERASE THE NEW TRAILS. THE INVESTIGATOR WILL NOT FIND THEM.
“Oh, wow! This is great. Now we have a chance.”
WHAT IS YOUR PLAN? Rat looked over her shoulder at the boy.
“Ah … ah … I don’t have it yet. I need inspiration.”
WHAT’S THAT?
The boy thought a moment, then said, “A flash of insight—like you had about the fire foam. I’ve only got hints. I need something else to make it all come together.”
INSPIRATION IS MYSTERY. Rat typed. TAKES TIME.
“I know.”
They were running out of that. Already they had wasted half the day on the wrong plan. More than half. They needed a new plan soon! But that was the boy’s job: to find inspiration. What Rat needed was time alone with the computer.
“Get lunch,” Rat signed.
“Lunch?” The boy looked puzzled. “I guess it’s past time, isn’t it?”
“Go slow. Think. Rat must study.”
The boy hesitated at the door. “You won’t … go anywhere, will you?”
“No,” Rat signed. It was clear to Rat now: She and the boy must work together as a team. “Stay here. Study. Promise.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EUREKA!
Jeff didn’t mind Rat sending him away again. He could use some alone time, too, to try to come up with a new plan.
The cafeteria was empty. Jeff went to one of the food dispensers on the wall, punched in his account, then chose a ham sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup for himself. His hand hovered over the deli meats selector. Heck, why not? Rat needed some strong cheering up. He pressed “liverwurst.” With a slide and a meaty thud, the plastic tube dropped onto the tray.
He put the liverwurst in his pocket, then carried his food to a table, reminding himself to have Rat erase the purchase record in this food dispenser.
Jeff chewed a bite of sandwich thoughtfully.
Mom often said, “Science lurches forward on eureka moments.” Her favorite example was how the ring-like chemical structure of benzene came to Friedrich August von Kekule in a dream where he saw whirling snakes, one eating its own tail.
Jeff desperately needed a eureka moment like that.
Mom also said, “The road to the brink of insight is paved with hard work, constant focus, and by asking the right questions.”
Jeff slurped the last of his soup.
Scritch-rip, scritch-rip.
He took the long way around Ring 9 back to his room and came at last to his door, but still missing was the flash, the spark, the lightning—that eureka moment. How had Rat put it? Oh, yeah, inspiration is mystery.
Tap-tap-tap,
tap-a-tap-a-tap-tap.
When Jeff entered, Rat showed no sign of hearing him, even when he rustled the plastic on the liverwurst package. She was completely focused on a text box on the computer screen. A bigger window behind the text box showed some kind of picture, a blur of pinks and whites and grays from where Jeff stood. Within the text box, the pages flickered strobe-fast to the steady beat of Rat’s tail on the page-down key. Her head dropped and rose as she scanned the words.
I wish I could speed-read like that! Jeff thought, moving closer, curious to know what held Rat’s attention so completely.
The text box blocked a lot of the picture, but he saw two baby rats along with the tail and hind leg of a third. They weren’t much bigger than his little finger. The framework of the mechanical feeding station dwarfed them. A scrap of white hide covered the tiny rubber nipples.
Cute or ugly? Jeff wasn’t sure. He felt a little of both reactions.
Now he was close enough to read the label: Rodengenics file #37A456-RR4b, Sibs feeding.
“Rat! Is one of those guys you?” Squinting, he examined the babies. How to tell? They were all pink, all hairless.
Rat never paused. Probably she can’t tell, either!
She read through to the end of the file. Jeff couldn’t catch a word at Rat’s pace. The search window query index read: Modified Organism Registry Definitions & Techniques of Generation. What was she up to?
The final page came up, and Rat closed the text window, revealing the complete picture to Jeff: Ten little babies inside a box. Jeff stared at it. The box wasn’t an ordinary cage. It was a special kind—a habitat module—and it was the answer to their problem.
“That’s it! Rat! You found the answer!”
Rat turned slowly from the keys. Her ears drooped. Her eyes looked dull and distant. Listlessly, she signed, “There is no mother.”
Jeff did a double take.
“You mean … you didn’t know?”
Rat shook her head, then slumped against the keyboard, deflated.
Jeff looked hard at the picture, trying to see it through Rat’s eyes. Baby eyes, blind eyes. Only smell and touch and the taste of warm milk were of use to the babies.
To have all that mean “mother,” then learn the truth?
A shock. Big one. Like discovering you were adopted. No, not that. Because you still had a real live mother somewhere.
This was more like in a sci-fi horror movie when the hero learns that he is really a bug-eyed monster, or an android … or Nanny!
“How horrible.” Jeff settle
d into the chair. The disgusting picture loomed behind Rat’s slumped body. “You don’t want that on anymore, do you?”
Rat shook her head. Jeff reached over her and shut off the computer. Bringing his hand back, he almost stroked her, but some instinct stopped him. How do you fix a feeling like that?
“Why did you look this up now?”
Rat signed. It took Jeff a moment to puzzle out the unfamiliar sequence of symbols.
“Oh … cousins.” The weird exchange between LB and Rat began to make sense. “LB showed you this?”
Rat nodded. “Machine said both made by scientists. Thought lie. Thought trick. Truth. They mixed Rat, like bread.”
Oh, boy! No wonder LB got called wicked. Rat knew enough to call herself a modified, but obviously the scientists had never told her what that meant. She must hate them even more now.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
Jeff bolted from the chair. Rat didn’t react. That alarmed him even more than the pounding on the door.
“Jeff! Let me in! Now!”
Dad!
“Come on, Rat,” Jeff whispered harshly. “Move! Hide!”
But she didn’t.
He picked her up, extraordinarily aware of the soft silkiness of her belly as he cradled her in his palm. She draped limply across it, a dead weight. He slipped her into the back of the laundry drawer, then scooped up an armful of clothes and tossed them in on top of her.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
A BETTER PLAN
The clothes settled around Rat, smothering her with the boy’s scent. He was hiding her from danger. Like a mother. Lucky boy. He had a mother and a father, even if the father was yelling at him now. What about?
Rat caught the word, “… laser …”
That laser again! It had caused more trouble than Nanny! Thrasing and wiggling, Rat got her ears free of the pile of T-shirts.
“How’d you find out about that?” boy said.
“Just a minute ago. Dr. Wagg called me. She said she found scratch marks around the lock. She thought you might be responsible. Really, Jeff, a laser! What were you and that rat going to do with it? And no dodging, I know you’re together.”
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