by Gwenda Bond
“Fortune? Is that what we’re calling abductions and experimenting on other human beings these days?” I asked. I was ignoring her claim of being ancient… for now, anyway.
The Contessa smiled. “I see it now, why you are the center of their obsession. You’re a fiery one to be so young.”
Ugh. I hated being patronized.
She spoke to Reya then. “Were you abducted? Or were you given shelter and a home?”
“We weren’t abducted,” Reya said. “We had nowhere else to go.” When the Contessa’s eyebrows raised, she added, “We’re happy to be here.”
“You see, there are always people who need a home, who will do anything for one,” the Contessa said.
“You’re a monster,” I said.
Reya gasped.
I went on anyway. “You’re the Echidna to someone’s Typhon. Steve Jenkins, right?”
“Everyone has a monster inside them, Lois,” the woman said, unconcerned that I was dropping Jenkins’s name. “Don’t you know that?”
“Is that a trick question? Because no, not everyone has a monster inside them. I don’t.”
And neither did my friends.
The Contessa’s eyes narrowed. They were hard.
“Stop playing with our recruit,” a man’s voice said, and the infamous Steve Jenkins himself rounded the corner and joined us. He had an expensive haircut, and a more expensive suit, sedately tailored. He was shiny and soulless, just like the inside of this building. “Bring her in here.”
Showtime.
First, I had something else to say to the Contessa. “If I were you, I’d choose my investments more carefully. I have no reason to like you, but I also wouldn’t have had any reason to want to ruin you—too bad you chose the wrong partners. I guess you live and learn.”
The Contessa laughed. “Good luck.” I wasn’t sure whether the words were for me or for Jenkins.
“I said bring her in here,” Jenkins said, and vanished back around the corner.
Reya towed me in the direction Jenkins had gone. I turned my head to see the rest of the silver squad and the Contessa herself following us.
I thought about what James and I had learned about Jenkins, and tried to figure out what to say that might rattle him.
We emerged into a large open warehouse-style space, with training equipment toward the front—futuristic versions of a treadmill and the kind of obstacle course the military used in basic training—and a well-lit lab toward the back. All this made Donovan’s last shady lab space look like a kid’s garage.
“Impressed?” the Contessa murmured.
Don’t show them fear. “Not the word I’d use.”
“Children, you can go,” Jenkins said with a dismissive flick of his wrist.
So he was playing the father figure to them, not Donovan. That made more sense. They’d probably never heard Donovan’s name until I used it. Assuming he was here somewhere… which I did. That other voice had sounded too familiar not to be him.
Reya released me. Quietly, she said, “Don’t fight them. We don’t want to hurt you.” And then the four of them, with their various silvered elements, left.
So there was no hope of convincing them to help me.
“Come on,” Jenkins prompted. “I didn’t expect you to be shy. You like infiltrating labs, don’t you? I expected you’d come running back with Todd as soon as you saw the contents of the folder and had a chance to ditch your friends. You almost held out too long. But I suppose that’s all right, since everything is working out just as we wanted.”
The Contessa walked toward him, her heels clicking on the floor, and I knew I didn’t have any choice but to approach him too. The stupid folder had been a trap. I hadn’t fallen for that one.
“So, which do you think I am,” I said, “a problem or an opportunity?”
Jenkins smiled, but it was humorless. “It never occurred to me to think about you at all, until Moxie suggested it. He made me see that you’re both. A problem and an opportunity. Just like Donovan.”
Boss Moxie. Of course.
No wonder he’d been so eager to give me tidbits when I went to visit him.
I realized with a sinking feeling that the bad guys weren’t the only overconfident ones here. I was also guilty. Moxie had suggested whatever this was to Jenkins, and he’d known Donovan would jump at any new funding partner for his research. He’d have known about the Contessa’s past connection to Jenkins. He’d united my enemies, deftly engineering all this out of the venomousness of his heart to punish me.
Only someone who’d been around as long as Moxie could wait so patiently for revenge and manage it without getting his own hands any dirtier.
Jenkins shook his head in mock dismay and continued, “Poor Dr. Donovan, a genius left out in the cold by you, with no one to help guide his work.”
“I was hoping he’d freeze,” I said, drawing a frown from Jenkins. He wanted me to be afraid. I was, but I still refused to give him the satisfaction of showing it.
Like we’d summoned the Donovan devil by speaking of him, he appeared, striding purposefully around a partition that looked transparent from our side but hid what was beyond it. He was in his bubble of contained psychopathy, as usual, gliding toward us as if he was separate from his surroundings.
“You got an upgrade,” I said coolly, gesturing to indicate the warehouse space.
After a long moment, he replied. “And apparently you’re getting one too, girl.” His gruff voice sent a chill through me. “Though I wish I’d been consulted before you were chosen.”
Jenkins groaned. “Get over it already. She’s exactly who we need.”
I am not. But why did Jenkins think I was? “Where is Alex?” I couldn’t even think about escaping this subterranean lair until I located him.
“Right this way,” Donovan said.
I frowned as he led me, the Contessa and Jenkins trailing, around the partition.
“Lois, why did you come?” Alex asked from his perch on a stool beside a gleaming steel countertop. He gave me a big grin. “These people are up to some intriguing work.”
My pulse spiked, my heart drumming.
I came to rescue you.
But did he need rescuing?
CHAPTER 26
I put myself between Alex and Donovan, despite my doubts. What if I’d been wrong to place any trust in Alex?
Jenkins wore a predatory smile; the Contessa had what I was beginning to consider her trademark haughty air. And Donovan, well, he was gazing at Alex with something remarkably similar to approval.
Think, Lois. Stall, Lois. Have faith, Lois.
“I’d begun to doubt you’d ever get her here,” the Contessa said.
My heart picked up its staccato rhythm.
“Though this has been entertaining,” she went on, “you could have given Dr. Donovan some notice. He doesn’t deal well with surprises.”
“Of course I do,” Donovan said. “I’m a man of science. Adaptability is almost as important as vision.”
This was a business partnership between three of the worst personalities ever. At least I prayed it was only three.
“I knew she’d come eventually,” Jenkins said. “I was never worried about that. She’s too cocky not to.”
So the Contessa’s comment about getting me here hadn’t been directed to Alex after all. Whew. But why were they speaking so freely in front of him? If I acted surprised, that might make things worse for me.
“You should talk, disgraced ex-CEO dirtbag,” I said. “What about you, Dabney Donovan? Ready to go visit your creation in prison yet? I thought you promised me I’d never see you again.”
Donovan’s expression transformed into an irritated frown. “It wasn’t my choice,” he said, casting a deeper grimace at Jenkins. But then he looked me over and said, “However
, you’re as good a subject as any. Healthy, of the right age.”
Subject. And Jenkins had used the word recruit earlier. What were they playing at? Why would they want me as part of their experiment? I still didn’t understand the point. This was way too elaborate to be just about revenge for anyone involved.
“Wait a second, doc,” Alex said, and stood up. “What does any of this have to do with Lois?”
“Allow me to explain.” Jenkins gave Alex an indulgent smile and held up a hand to keep Donovan quiet. “We’ve always planned five members of our beta Typhon team. She’s so curious and likes using her brain so much—I kept putting Donovan off about a fifth subject until we got her here. He thinks he can not only give her enhanced hearing, fusing his new alloy to one of her ears, but strengthen her neural connections to make her smarter. You’d love being smarter, wouldn’t you, Lois?”
“I will never work for you,” I said in horror. “No matter what you do to my brain.”
Alex put a hand on my arm. “You could use me instead—my dad would hate it, and I also have a good brain. The best brain. Probably better than hers. Sorry, Lois.”
I glared at him.
“We need Lane,” Jenkins said, almost regretfully.
“Your time will come, young man,” the Contessa said. “I see a bright future for you.”
I couldn’t resist asking any longer. I trained my eyes on Alex. “You’re not with them, are you?”
A sharp intake of breath was his response. “Of course not.”
He sounded offended. I’d made the situation worse. But still… “Then why are they talking to you? Being friendly?”
“The boy has an excellent mind,” Donovan said. “He managed to defeat our locking mechanism on the door, the strongest in the building.”
Alex shrugged.
Donovan approached me with a long, thick syringe. “But why do you need me?” I asked them, moving away from him—only to find my back against a countertop.
“Not you, so much as your father,” Jenkins said. “I’m not ready to get out of the arms race yet. This is our ticket back in.”
And with that sentence, everything clicked into place.
Yes, this had been about me, but not because of me. It was about my dad. The military’s research funds. I thought of the obstacle course I’d seen on the way back to the lab.
They were going to make me part of their “beta Typhon team” because Jenkins thought it would force Dad to welcome them back into lucrative business with open arms. He thought Dad wouldn’t be able to say no, not if his daughter’s safety was at stake. They probably thought Dad would see what they did to me as an upgrade too. I’d become a military asset, along with Reya, Jamie, Sunny, and Todd.
“Ah,” the Contessa said, “now she gets it.”
Problem was, they didn’t know Dad like I did. “You really think General Lane, who has commanded men in wars, is going to be extorted by you? Because of me?” I asked.
“Your dad’s a general?” Alex said.
I shot him a quelling look.
“You’d be surprised what fathers will do for their daughters—especially when they see it’s in all our best interest,” Jenkins said. “Once you’re part of our team, it’s the only way he’ll have access to you. And we’re quite confident his colleagues will want access to all five of you, and the next generation, and the next. Think how useful you’ll be on a battlefield, or in covert operations. We were trying to lure you here, but we’ve also been… advertising the possibilities by sending the team out and about. Your delay gave us time for that. So thank you, Lois Lane.” The level of smug he directed at me was nauseating. Then he said, “Dr. Donovan, it’s time. Let’s get this done.”
Alex tried to shield me, but Jenkins wrestled him aside with ease while Donovan advanced.
“It’ll only hurt for a moment,” Donovan said, taking my arm. “Alas.”
“Hey,” Alex protested. “Don’t do that!”
I swept my leg out to take Donovan down, but he got the needle in my arm anyway. And then everything went very, very dark.
*
I woke up and immediately started fighting. Or I tried to. My arms and legs were pinned down.
No, strapped down.
I strained my head up and saw that I was in a smaller laboratory. Here were Donovan’s missing file cabinets, lining the wall directly ahead. To my left, there were a few dark computer terminals, and the makings of what looked like an impromptu surgical theater. Which, I realized, I was in the middle of.
I looked to my right. A file lay open on a steel surface beside me, and Dr. Donovan sat next to it. He was preparing some shiny… instruments. Sharp ones too.
“Oh no,” I said, trying to shrink away, only to be prevented by the straps.
He glanced over.
“You’re awake,” he said. “That’s unfortunate.” But he shrugged and carried on with polishing one of the pointier tools in his selection. “Would you like to know what I have planned for you?”
“Not really. I got the gist.” They wanted to get in my head—literally. They were going to give me extra-strong hearing and also make me the brainiest member of Team Typhon. I considered searching for any humanity Donovan might possess, so I could appeal to it, but going for his self-interest seemed safer. “If you let me go I bet I can convince my dad to help you—maybe he could even get your clone back…”
“I can always make another one,” he said, whistling that serial killer whistle. He stopped after another moment. “Do you want to know why, after some reflection, I now consider you a good subject?”
“Because you’re a crazy mad scientist.”
Donovan said, “Seems that’s your type—your little friend has promise. I’m going to have to figure out how to get rid of his memories of being here. But from what he tells me, his father probably won’t notice he’s missing for a few days. I have time to play around.”
With Alex’s brain, he meant. So that was why they had talked in front of him. It didn’t matter. They’d just erase any information they didn’t want him to have. “What is wrong with you?” I asked.
Donovan scribbled a note in the folder and closed it. “I’m not the one who believes my opinions carry more weight than those of a genius,” he said. “I was put here to do great work, and I plan to. There’s always been someone in my way. First the do-gooders at Cadmus. Then you. But Jenkins tells me no one is more encouraging of experimental research than the military. And so you have become the perfect test subject in an instant. Finally, I have the prospect of support from people who will not block, but clear, the path for progress.”
“I’d hardly call wrecking my brain progress. And he’s wrong.”
He shook his head. “Wreck, no. Not that you can understand, but I’m doing you a favor. When your neural networks reach their full potential, you’ll understand. Your intellect will be too great not to. Jenkins and I believe you’ll naturally assume your place as head of the team. We can learn so much from the five of you before we produce the next generation…” He stopped and rose. “We may as well get on with it. I’ll be back. Jenkins wants to witness the procedure.”
He pressed a card against the door, and it clicked open. He left.
The door closed. I immediately strained against the arm and wrist bands.
“Be calm. Methodical,” I murmured to myself. And whatever you do, don’t look too closely at those things he was polishing. Definitely don’t think about what’s going to happen if you can’t get free.
Wait.
The bindings holding me were straps. That meant they fastened—which in turn meant they could also be loosened. I worked at the one above my right hand first, pulling against it as hard as I could.
I had to get out of here.
I wasn’t getting improved, not for anything.
I wriggl
ed, straining my wrist against the strap, twisting my hand—
My right fingers slipped through the binding. Quickly, I unbuckled the left, sat up, and leaned over to undo the ones at my ankles.
A groan sounded from somewhere behind me.
“Hello?” I asked. “Who’s here?”
I finished freeing my feet and was able to get off the gurney.
Behind mine was another gurney, with another person strapped to it.
Alex.
They must have been planning to keep him here until Donovan’s mind wipe could take place. From what I knew of Donovan, if he failed, he’d probably just try to make a clone of Alex.
The world did not need two of him.
“Don’t enjoy this too much,” I told myself, and crossed to the gurney. Where I gave Alex a hard slap on the right side of his face.
His eyes blinked and watered with the sting. “Ouch,” he said.
“Wake up,” I said. “Hurry.”
I knew from Donovan using his card to get out that the door had an electromagnetic lock. Good thing I’d been reading up on different varieties of locks and how to open them. The magnetic kind of doors were fairly easy… if you had the right counter technique for them.
And so I had a decent idea about how to get us out of here before the good doctor came back. Alex might even be able to help.
He groaned again.
I undid the straps on his arms and legs. “We don’t have much time. Stop moaning and wake up.”
“Don’t hit me again,” Alex said. Then, “This has been such an exciting day. Are you always doing things like this?”
I almost laughed. “You mean almost getting conscripted into some weird experiment army as a business case for my dad? No. We need to get out of this room. There’s a couple of options—if we can trigger a fire alarm, the electromagnetic door should open automatically. Safety precaution.” I looked around, but I didn’t see any sensors or fire alarms handy. Of course. “Can you use any of these computers to hack into the system and do that, or kill the power to the building?”
“You are a sharp one,” he said, slightly dazed.