Perfection

by Larissa Emerald

  Her arms relaxed, dropping to her sides. He tugged her against him, melding her mouth with his. She tensed, a moment of resistance and hesitation, then leaned into him, meeting the thrust of his tongue.

  When the kiss ended, she rested her forehead against his. “Do you think we can truly keep a relationship hidden?”

  York nodded. “We have to.” He turned and slid the omelet onto a plate.

  “Grab me a fork,” she said.

  They sat across from each other and shared the breakfast. The subject of last night was clearly closed, but he felt her resolve weaken, and that was enough for the time being.

  “We need to figure out our next move with the virus,” he said, setting the dishes aside and pouring them each another cup of coffee.

  “I have an idea,” she said. “It’s not exactly legal, but it shouldn’t be deadly, either. If we can’t get Seville to play nice, then we need to ‘borrow’ the genetic program and information.”

  Obviously, their definitions of deadly differed. He saw plenty of things that could go wrong with her plan. At the top of the list, Seville could claim foul play and have her arrested for trespassing. He ran his thumb along his stubbly jawline in thought. “I wonder if we could get a court injunction requiring them to share their information on the virus.”

  “That depends. Are any of the children’s parents judges?”

  “We should check.”

  “We also need a HERO computer for this level of genetic analysis. We need the original samples from Isabelle and the data to match with one of the supercomputers.”

  “I get it. I’m just not sure how to force them to comply.” He looked into her lovely eyes. “What’s your suggestion?”

  She sighed. “I don’t really have one.”

  “The police have jurisdiction during a crisis. If it’s a matter of public safety, they could demand to be admitted to any private home or business,” he reminded her. “At this point, I think we should exercise that right. We ask first, of course, but if they don’t give us what we need, then we take it.”

  She gave a reluctant nod. He was surprised at how he’d misjudged her at their initial meeting. He would never have imagined she’d cooperate with him. Then again, he supposed sex and his growing feelings towards her could be clouding his judgment.

  “Are you knowledgeable enough to gain access?” he asked.

  “Yes, I think so. Especially on the unit I’ve worked on every day for years.”

  “Okay. We’ll speak with Captain Avery and come up with a plan.” He leaned over and brushed his lips over hers.

  She returned his kiss and then settled back in her chair. “Remember, we can’t let anyone know about this.” She waved a hand to indicate them.

  “I know.”

  “It can’t last.”

  He nodded. “I know. But we both need some company right now.”

  She gave a small chuckle. “This is more than company.”

  “People have casual sex all the time.”

  “But not GEIs and Coders.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I’ve never kept count. There’s no way to do that.”

  She rose. “And I don’t want to. Come on, let’s get to work.”

  * * *

  By 8:00 a.m., they were at the precinct. And so was just about everyone else, ready to charge ahead. York cloistered Kindra in his office with Captain Avery. He presented the plan Kindra had suggested to pressure Seville with fines and unwanted attention in order to force them to do the right thing and help her find a cure for the children. He couldn’t understand what was behind their resistance.

  “We’ll give Seville a chance to comply first,” Avery said. “I’ll have our legal team draw up the necessary documents.”

  “It doesn’t have to be fancy, just effective,” York said. “Every minute’s delay is another minute a child could be contracting this disease. And we already don’t have any more cryo pods to work with. As it is, we’re putting two children per unit.”

  “Sir, be prepared. The Committee is not going to accept an order easily, even from a judge,” Kindra said. “They will do everything they can to avoid more negative publicity.”

  Avery nodded. “If they don’t oblige, then it’s on to plan B.”

  When they were done laying out the plan, York walked Kindra back to her makeshift lab. “I’m going to meet up with Cal and see if there’s anything I can do there. And maybe work on Vi’s case.”

  “Will you check in on Brianna for me?” she asked.

  “Of course.” There was no touch or special look between them. There couldn’t be. Despite the way she made his pulse race like crazy, he knew last night had not been wise. He’d allowed his heart to rule his head.

  But the best things in life were worth the risk, were worth letting go for and soaring into the unknown.

  * * *

  York passed his mother on his way into the cryo center. She was doing what she did best: protesting. At least she was here instead of at Seville or the courthouse.

  “Are they giving equal treatment to the Coder children?” she asked right away.

  “Yes, Mom. It’s hard to favor one kid over another when they’re both two years old.”

  He left her to her signs, intending to spend the remainder of the day in the cryo center with his brother. He and Cal hadn’t hung out in the same room in ages. At least not for more than an hour or so. Cal the Adventurer couldn’t be tied down that long. As a boy, he had been good-natured, resourceful, and curious. Cal and Vi’s relationship had been on-again-off-again for years.

  York entered the cryo chamber. The open space and high ceilings caused his footfalls to echo eerily. He wanted to get Cal’s take on Kindra’s plan so they’d be ready to roll once they got the all clear. He forgot about strategizing when he discovered Cal sitting beside a cryo unit reading to the child sleeping within.

  He silently approached and waited, not wanting to interrupt. As he watched and listened, a lump formed in his throat. He swallowed. At the end of the story, Cal looked up.

  “I’ll have to let Mom know that all that money spent on tutors paid off,” York teased.

  Cal grumbled something under his breath. He stood and moved to the next unit, selecting a different story. York shuffled over. “Great idea. Do you have another?” He held his hand out for a book. Cal gave him one from the top of the stack. “Thanks.”

  York went into the adjacent room where Brianna’s unit was kept. He began with her.

  Sitting and reading weren’t what he’d had in mind when he’d come to Foster Cryo, but he was amazed at how much good it did his heart. They kept it up for an hour, and when Cal headed for the break room, York followed. He bought a drink from the machine, waving his thumbprint over the dot reader to pay. “Want one?”

  “Please,” Cal replied.

  He set the bottle on the table and plopped into a chair opposite Cal. He opened his drink. “Captain Avery is going to push Seville for cooperation in finding a cure for this. They’re not going to be allowed to drag their feet. As soon as we get the word, Kindra and I are going in and retrieving everything we need for her to continue her work. Maybe having someone on their tail might put a fire under them.” York made eye contact with his brother. “I’d like for you to come with us to watch our backs.”

  Cal nodded. “Sure thing.”

  “What’s happening at Seville may not seem like a big deal, but there’s still a killer out there.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  After York made his rounds at the cryo center, he returned to the precinct to pick Kindra up. “Dinner?” he asked as she slipped into the transporter.

  “It’s been a long day. I don’t want you to go through the trouble of cooking again. Let’s pick something up on the way to your place.”

  “Anything, in particular, you’d like to eat? Shrimp?”

  With an emphatic head shake, she said, “Seafood isn’t my favorite.”

  “I thought that was impossible. Who
doesn’t like seafood? Think of a yummy dish of Shrimp Scampi with loads of hot, garlic butter with every bite.”

  She shook her head again. “Uh-uh.”

  “Okay, that’s proof of a major flaw in this genetic engineering stuff.” He waggled his brows.

  She would have laughed at his antics had he not struck a nerve. His attempt to put her at ease fell flat and, instead, had the opposite effect. His words reminded her of the differences between them and the fact they’d had an illegal union.

  What had she been thinking? Even if it had felt so right.

  She tipped back her head and closed her eyes. Tension twisted along her back and neck. “We were at a standstill today. No news from Seville. No children added to cryo. No breakthrough. No cure.”

  “Tomorrow will be better.”

  Pressure and disappointment blended to make her irritable. “No, it won’t. Not until this is over and Brianna is home.”

  “How about burgers?” he asked.

  “That’s fine.” She really didn’t care as long as he dropped the sticky topic.

  As the transporter slowed, she peeked from beneath her eyelashes and glanced about. They went to a drive-thru, one that had a nostalgic look to it that made her think he probably frequented the place. When he asked, she gave him her selections, then closed her eyes. The next she knew, they were in his garage. She must have dozed off.

  He unpacked the food and she went through the motions of eating. He didn’t prod her into talking. He let her be with her thoughts and she was thankful. The food didn’t taste nearly as good as what he’d fixed last evening. Oh, fooltar. She shouldn’t even be thinking about last night.

  “Would you take me to see Brianna tomorrow?” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I just want to be close to her for a little while.”

  “Of course. We can do that.”

  “Thanks. If you don’t mind, I’d like to turn in early.”

  “Actually…” He paused, searching her eyes. “That’s a good idea. We need the rest. Dealing with the emotional side of this is draining.”

  She nodded and tried to ignore the longing she saw in his eyes. “Good night.”

  * * *

  Kindra went upstairs alone. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and headed for the media room. As he passed the game room, he couldn’t help glancing inside, even though he told himself not to. As expected, the ping-pong table where they’d made love—no, had sex—caught his eye. After all, it was why he’d looked: to savor the memory.

  He took a long drag of his beer and moved on. He sank into a recliner and thumbed through a list of old movies on the screen embedded in the coffee table. He selected Terminator 4: Salvation. No pretty women, no sex scenes, only a ton of action. Nothing to remind him of Kindra or how good it felt to share an interlude with her last night. He’d watched the film over and over since he was a kid, so it didn’t matter if he fell asleep in the middle of it. That’s what he was counting on.

  The credits scrolled up, and the opening scene showed a futuristic 2126 world that was nothing like the world he lived in. He snickered at that as he always did.

  The next thing he knew, there was buzzing in his ear. He glanced around until he realized the incessant buzzing wasn’t a bee but his communicator. He looked down at the projected message. It was 4:00 a.m. and the alert was from the cryogenic facility. More infected children had arrived.

  Ah, fuck.

  He rose and padded to Kindra’s room. Her door was wide open. To some people that might have seemed strange, but he always slept with the door open. He wasn’t sure if the habit came from listening for his son at night or because he had a thing about being able to get out of the house. He shrugged off the thought; it didn’t matter. He took a single step into the room. Kindra slept on her back with her arms thrown over her head, knees bent up with one leg crossed over the other. It was a most unusual position for a most unusual woman. There was nothing sexy about it, but she was extremely appealing nonetheless, reminding him of how self-assured and confident she was.

  He rapped his knuckles against the wall. Kindra rolled to her side, blinked her eyes open, and propped herself up onto her elbow.

  “I received an emergency notice,” he told her, his voice cracking. “More children are filing in.”

  She flopped back on the bed. “Ah, fooltar.”

  “Exactly. Be ready to leave in ten minutes.”

  She sat up. “I’ll be out in five.”

  * * *

  The team gathered around York and Kindra, looking to them for answers.

  “We have nowhere to put them.” Kindra voiced the state of their situation with a catch in her voice.

  York, Cal, Kindra, and the Foster Cryo staff stared at one another helplessly. “We have twenty Coders, twenty-three GEIs, and no units,” Cal explained. “We’ve sent requests for help all over the country.”

  Kindra palmed the back of her neck. “Any hope of additional cryo units?”

  “No,” the lead tech said. “I think people are holding onto their assets in case this strikes their town.”

  They had to do something or the children would die. “Think,” York muttered to himself.

  Kindra pressed fingers over her knuckles. “The disease is slowed by lowering a person’s core temperature. That’s part of why cryo works. So is there another way to do that?”

  York blurted out ideas as they came. “Bathtubs of ice? Meat lockers or food prep freezers? Wait, what about an ice rink?” All eyes turned to him. “It’s a shitty idea, I know, but at this point, it’s the best I’ve got.”

  He had to be kidding. She couldn’t imagine it working. The only hope the children really had was if a cure was found.

  “It’s better than what we have now,” Cal said.

  “We can take them to the indoor ice rink on Daley,” York said. “It may not do the trick, but we won’t know if we don’t try. At least it’s something instead of simply watching them die.” He turned to Kindra. “What do you think we’ll need?”

  She dug out her spot comm and dictated a list. “Plastic, ice, sedatives, and nursing staff to monitor the kids.”

  “Nurses? They’re obsolete,” Cal stated.

  “Give some people hand computers and train them real fast,” York instructed. “Kindra knows what she’s talking about. I trust her. If she says they are needed, they are needed.”

  Kindra groaned. “This is beyond crazy.”

  York nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. “But it just may work.”

  “Anyone have any other ideas?” one cryo tech asked.

  A long silence followed.

  “Okay, then,” York said. “I’ll have Captain Avery commandeer the facility and assign staff to gather the things on Dr. B-Zaika’s list. Cal, you direct the patients to the rink. Kindra, you can help me get the necessary medications.” He started moving toward the door. “Seville just ran out of time. Once we get these kids stabilized, I’m going to be knocking their door down.”

  Outside, as he and Kindra made their way to his air-car, he paused to call his mother. He explained the situation. “We could use your help, Mom. Can you put together a team of EMTs and nurses? Coders will understand what needs to be done better than GEIs, I think.”

  Kindra stiffened as he spoke. She hadn’t considered there might be an area where Coders were superior to GEI, but he was right. Her people were too far removed from the situation to effectively deal with it.

  York ended the call with a tired sigh. “For once, she didn’t give me any flak.”

  “That’s a good idea,” she said. “It hasn’t been that long since some Coders were still battling illnesses.”

  “I can vaguely remember that. In my great-grandfather’s day, there had been a few things our immunities couldn’t handle. It made me even more thankful for the genetic improvements humanity has made since then.”

  His gaze slid to where Cal and some officers met with the gathering of parents and children. “We are
fighting for something precious today.”

  At that moment, she knew she loved him. Her heart ached at the futility of it. She shook her head.

  These were both GEI and Coder children. And they had to save them all.

  * * *

  The way York solved one problem after another amazed her. Once they confirmed a child had the virus, he or she went into the system. He’d set up a triage area in the rink’s lobby where the children received sedatives to put them to sleep. Unlike the kids in the cryo units, these children would get outdated medical care. They would even need drip IVs. That wasn’t established until they were asleep in their own little plastic oxygenated cocoon of ice. The ice rink beneath them would keep the makeshift freezer bags chilled longer.

  Another difference was these parents weren’t entirely on board with the procedure. Kindra wasn’t sure what would happen to the children with their poor-man’s cryogenic units, but she had no doubt what would happen if they did nothing: they would die, just like Isabelle. She took a deep breath. It was her job to explain the process to the uneasy parents and help them make the best choice. If they were infected and chose not to participate in the experimental cryo project, then they were quarantined in an adjacent section of the building, with a parent required to remain with the child.

  The process ran like a fine-tuned robotic production. The child stayed with the parents until the micro-dot initiated a deep sleep. Then one of the staff members carried the patient into the ice rink, where the child was packed in ice inside a plastic sack. IVs would administer medication continuously, and they were given oxygen via portable tanks.

  They had begun at four in the afternoon, and the process lasted long into the night when the final child was tucked in. Kindra sighed long and hard. It had been an emotionally draining day. And then there were the six children whose parents rejected the procedure. Her eyes misted. She gave them two days, max. She could only hope the parents would change their minds in time.

  * * *

  The lobby of the ice rink was quiet and blessedly empty. But they couldn’t stay. York motioned for Kindra and Cal to follow him. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?” Kindra asked.