Alp took the tickets and thanked him. Grasping Mel's elbow, she led him to a long row of wooden seats. "How are you doing?" she asked as he sat heavily in one of them.
"Still pretty weak, but I think the buzzsaw is a little quieter, or I may just be getting used to it." Mel smiled weakly at her. "Get us on this bus, and I'll be fine. I just need to rest a little." He slouched in his seat and closed his eyes.
The P.A. system crackled on and announced the arrival of their bus. "This is going too easy," Alp said. "Maybe they're going to wait and grab us when we try to board."
"Don't know why they'd do that unless they're as vindictive as Sarrah was. It might just be that our luck is changing. It'd be about time." Mel opened his eyes and winked at his sister.
"We'll wait until the last call for boarding. We don't want to get trapped on the bus. Be ready to get us out there quickly when I say so." He closed his eyes again and sighed heavily.
Twenty minutes went by with Mel dozing in his chair as Alp stood watch. As they heard the last call announced over the loud speakers, Mel's eyes fluttered open. "That's us. Let's go. And, keep your eyes posted."
They started for the door that led to the line of buses outside. As Alp pushed the door open, the smell of exhaust assaulted her nose. "God, I hate that smell." Mel muttered between tight, pale lips. "This is not the way I had planned on leaving West Virginia."
They walked to the bus marked "Danville" and handed the driver their tickets. "Is he all right?" the driver asked, as he scratched his potbelly with the edge of the tickets. "Sure. He was just sleeping in there, and he's slow to wake up," Alp replied. "He'll probably sleep the whole way there."
"I hope he's okay. I don't need no trouble on my bus. If he starts to barf on the bus, there are bags in the seat in front of you. Don't let him make a mess."
"I told you; he's fine. We won't be any trouble," Alp retorted with an edge to her voice." Are we ready to leave yet? The schedule said 10:45 and it's almost 11:00 already."
"Cool your jets, honey. We'll be off when we're off. Buses don't need to run on schedule like planes. We're a bit more casual about it."
"Strange. The uncle I'm going to visit is vice president of this bus line. I've never heard him say anything like that. He'll be interested to know your views on it."
The bus driver glowered at her but held his tongue. "Okay, okay. All aboard. We're going to get Miss Priss here to her uncle on time."
Within moments, the bus backed out of its slot. As it pulled onto Main Street, it had to swerve farther out than normal to avoid the deputy sheriff's patrol car as it pulled up in front of the bus station.
Carl waited for the bus to go by before stepping out of the car and strolling into the station. He walked around for a while looking for any suspicious kids without their parents, but the only people left in the station were a few winos taking refuge from the night chill. After a few minutes, he walked over to the ticket counter.
"Evening, Jake. Don't suppose you've seen any kids in here in the last few hours? Somewhere around eight to ten years old. They would have been by themselves."
"Why, as a matter of fact I have. Probably about half an hour ago, maybe forty-five minutes."
"You have?" Carl felt his stomach knot and his mouth suddenly felt like he'd spent the day in the desert. "Where in blazes are they now?"
"I think they just left on the bus to Danville. Why? Anything wrong?" Jake spat at and missed the spittoon. "Dang."
"Ah, no. Nothing's wrong. Just listen to me, Jake. If the sheriff comes by, I've been here all evening; you got it? I got here about 9:30. It's important. Do ya hear?"
"Yeah, I hear," came a stern voice from behind Carl.
Carl turned around to the familiar face of the sheriff and two strangers standing behind him. "Who won the poker game, Carl?"
"You can't possibly get away with keeping us hostages here!" Denise turned abruptly on Dr. Chickowski, as they neared the room that was to become their prison. "No one will believe this lame excuse about an epidemic."
'The few people that need to know about it accept it just fine. You see, ladies, I'm a respected scientist. People listen to what I say, and they trust me. So, if I say that the area has been closed temporarily to the public, few people even think to ask why. No, I'm afraid you're wrong. The story will work just fine for as long as I need it. By the time anyone figures out any differently, I will have made other arrangements."
The guard opened the door and stepped aside to let the two women by. Chickowski entered behind them and shut the door before continuing. "Now, you can do one of two things. You can cooperate with me fully, in which case you may see your children again, or you can persist with this useless resistance in which case your children will be only fond memories."
"You can't keep us from our children," Bridgette said.
"You're a pitiful slime of a human being," Denise spat out, her eyes burning with hate. "What are you going to do?"
"Actually, the details are not important. Let's keep it simple. I've outgrown Bio-Vita. It's getting too crowded and too public here. The research that I intend needs to be done outside the public's eye. So I'm about to open my own research facility so that I may continue my research as it should be conducted, without all this unnecessary meddling. I'm relocating the Kindred elsewhere. The question is whether you'll get to come along to take care of the little tikes."
"You're utterly mad. That's kidnapping. You can't possibly expect..." Bridgette stopped in mid-sentence as she realized the truth.
"Mad am I? Mad as Einstein was, I am. Buried within the Kindred is humanity's destiny -- the seeds of a new birth, a new generation, a quantum leap in the evolutionary ladder of mankind. Here, its full potential will never be tapped, not as long as we pussyfoot around. It's time for a real scientist to take control."
Chickowski started to leave, and then turned around at the door. "Think about it. You can be a part of it. I'm going to need a couple of nursemaids to look over the nursery for a few more years. You'd be perfect for it if you agree to cooperate."
"And, if we don't?" Denise asked.
Chickowski smiled. "If you don't, your two daughters will be the first ones to go under the knife instead of the last. And, if it makes any difference, Flip will be right behind them. So think it over. I'll expect your honest answer by morning. Sleep well ladies." Chickowski slammed the door behind him.
As he strolled down the hall, he realized he had just made the biggest decision of his life. He'd thrown the gauntlet. There'd be no turning back now. He only hoped Brown would back him up. He felt sure he would. After all, Brown had been suggesting for months that he should leave and do his research elsewhere. Why not take him up on it? He'd take the Kindred; Flip too if he could.
Let's just see how powerful our Mr. Brown really is. Chickowski refused to listen to the nagging doubts that crept in the background of his thoughts. It would all work out. He'd get them out of the country, and he'd become world famous, as he'd always imagined. The only thing that would be different would be the country that honored him.
Big Shot
"What are you thinking about?" Alp asked as she noticed Mel's eyes open as he stared out the bus window.
"I'm thinking that was too easy," he answered, turning towards her. Alp noticed it took a couple of seconds for his eyes to focus. The buzz saw must still be busy, she thought.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I was thinking the same thing. Do you think it's a trap?"
"I don't know. Can't quite figure out how, but one thing is for sure. We aren't home free -- not yet. This bus is too predictable."
"What do you mean?" Alp asked, suddenly worried.
"It's too easy for the cops to find out which one we got on, and where it's going. Hell, they could be waiting for us anywhere along the way. We still need to keep on our toes. But, at least for now, I think we're safe. I don't see any reason they'd stop the bus before we get to Danville. That gives us a couple of hours to rest and plan our s
trategy."
"And, when we hit Danville?" Alp asked.
"By Danville, we better have something up our sleeve that they aren't expecting — and before you ask, no, I don't have any idea what that'll be." Mel closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Wake me in an hour. I'll have an answer by then — I hope."
"Why the fuck didn't you fire that sorry good-for-nothing deputy?" Chunk yelled at the sheriff, his red face only inches away from the sheriff's startled mug.
The sheriff turned his face to one side to avoid the whiff of Chunk's bad breath but said nothing for several seconds. Finally, he turned back and fixed his eyes on Chunk's eyes.
"Let's get one thing straight here, Mr. Big-Shot-Federal-Agent. In this here town of Marlington, I'm the sheriff. I decide whom to hire and fire. No one else makes those decisions, especially not some big-city-flatfoot that doesn't know what it's like around here. The truth of the matter is there aren't many folks in these parts interested in pinning on a badge, not for the pigeon feed the City Council pays. Carl ain't the best deputy in the world, I'll grant you that, but he sure ain't the worst I've seen either. So, you can keep your damned opinions to yourself.
"Besides, ain't no big loss," the sheriff continued. "We know where your kids are. I'll just call down to Danville and have a welcoming party waiting on them. If you like, I can get you down to Danville by another route that should get you there twenty minutes before the bus."
Chunk still looked like he was about to explode, so Lionel stepped in between the two of them. Smiling at the sheriff, he said: "That'll be just fine. You get us down there and be sure someone is down at the depot waiting on the bus, and we'll get out of your hair." He turned to Chunk.
"We'll get them in Danville, Chunk. What's the problem?"
"Nothing, I guess," Chunk replied as he fought to control his temper. He started back to the patrol car. He stopped a few feet away from the sheriff.
"Be sure to warn them in Danville not to take any action unless absolutely necessary. These kids are more dangerous than you know. In Danville, they could be even worse."
As they started back to the car, Lionel asked, "What did you mean by that last comment?"
"I don't know for a fact, but I'm afraid whatever powers these two have may only get stronger the closer they get to the rest of the pack. If that's true, we may not have many options left open to us in Danville. I'm calling in a special team from Richmond. They should be able to helicopter into Danville before the bus gets there."
"You really think that's necessary?" Lionel asked.
"Damn right I do. Have you forgotten what they did to their mother? These two kids are walking time bombs, of the megaton variety."
Chickowski sat in his office staring at the phone. He had never called Brown from the lab. It had always seemed too dangerous. But now with the decision to defect made, it didn't seem to matter. He picked up the phone and punched in the now familiar number.
After a few moments, he heard the ring at the other end. To Chickowski's surprise, it was Brown himself that answered.
"You've got to get me out," Chickowski blurted out before he realized what he was saying.
"What's up, Doctor?" Brown asked in a calm voice that managed to infuriate Chickowski.
Chickowski related what had happened with the experiment, finishing with the return of Denise and Bridgette. "It's too hot here. I can't continue the experiment like this. You've got to get me out -- with the Kindred."
There was a long pause at the other end of the line. "Hold for just a moment." The line went silent. After a couple of minutes, Brown came back on the line.
"Okay. We'll have you out of there within the next six hours," Brown replied. "Be very clear of one thing, Doctor. We must have all the Kindred brought out with you. Do you understand?"
Chickowski smiled. "No problem. I'll have them ready."
Bridgette stretched out on one of the single beds, while Denise paced the narrow walkway at the foot of the beds. They continued this way for twenty minutes without talking. Finally, Bridgette opened her eyes and turned on her side to get a better view of Denise.
"Do you think he's serious?" Bridgette asked.
"Oh, I've no doubt Chickowski is serious. If there is any way possible, he'll take the children out of here, and if he does, we'll never see them again," Denise replied as she continued to pace.
"What are we going to do?"
"I don't have an answer to that one." Bridgette stopped in front of the third story window and looked out over the empty parking lot.
"Well, Lionel and Chunk should be back any time. Surely, they'll put a stop to this."
Denise sat on the corner of the bed. "I thought of that but the way I see it is, one --we don't know when they'll be back. There's just no telling. I suspect that if it's later than tomorrow morning, they'll come back to a research project without any subjects.
"Two, even if they do come back, there's nothing to say Chickowski won't be able to pull the wool over their eyes long enough to get the children out of here. He evidently has everyone else believing his silly story."
Denise groaned and turned her face to the wall. "You're not helping my spirits any."
"I know, mine either." Denise started pacing again.
After a few more minutes, she fell on the other bed and was asleep within minutes.
Alp tapped Mel lightly on the shoulder. "I think we're coming into Danville. You'd better wake up."
Mel rubbed his eyes and turned to look at her. "Thanks. How long did I sleep?"
Alp didn't answer immediately, but instead stared at the soft blue hue radiating from her brother's eyes. In the darkened bus, Mel's eyes reminded her of two tiny spotlights flashing across the sky, marking the location of some special sale.
"You slept a couple of hours, at least. How do you feel?"
"Great — really, a hundred percent better. I'll be fine. In fact, the buzzsaw is gone."
"Mel, you're eyes are glowing, least, I think they are. A very soft blue."
"Is it obvious?" Mel asked tightness in his voice. The two spotlights blinked out.
"Well, probably not that noticeable to anyone else, particularly if we were out in the light, but here? Yeah, I would say it's fairly obvious."
Mel reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses left over from their day of skiing. "I'll have to wear these, and you'll probably have to help me off the bus. We don't want any cries of "aliens" or anything as we come into Danville."
Mel turned to the window and stared at the passing vehicles.
"Won't be long now," he said softly. "The number of buildings is increasing, and traffic is picking up."
He paused again and then said, "The power is coming back, Alp. It's stronger than ever. If those morons try to stop me this time, I'll blow them to kingdom come."
Alp grabbed his shoulder and made him turn in her direction. "No, Mel! No more killing. You've got to promise me that."
"Don't be so damned soft," Mel snapped back. Alp let go of his shoulder, alarmed by the tone of his voice. "These turkeys better not mess with me; that's all I'm saying."
After another long pause, he continued. "Ok, I'll keep my deal with you that I made before. If they leave us alone, let us pass and get to our sisters, I'll promise not to harm so much as one little hair. But if they get in our way, I'll stop at nothing to get through them. Is that clear?"
Alp only nodded. Something is wrong, she thought. It isn't supposed to be like this. She simply couldn't let anyone else be hurt because she wanted to be with her sisters. But how was she to stop Mel?
Mel lifted his glasses slightly and looked at Alp. "Relax. Let's have some fun on this trip."
Alp tried to match his smile, but she wondered if it was just her imagination or were the blue spotlights already brighter?
Chunk looked up from the notepad he was scribbling on and smiled for the first time in days. "Cheer up, Lionel. We're going to get the sneaky little bastards."
&nb
sp; "Yeah, I've no doubt of that, Chunk. What I'm wondering is if they'll be alive when we're done. A team of six S.W.A.T. sharpshooters seems a little extreme just to capture two runaway kids."
"Two runaways that fried their dear mother before they left home. I would say that level of surveillance is completely appropriate.
"Now, let's get to our station. The bus should be here any minute. We're supposed to meet someone by the name of Mitch. He's the detective the locals have assigned to the case. I pray to God he's not as dumb as the sheriff was."
They're getting closer. Tabitha thought to her sisters.
Flip knew she was right. He felt the strengthening of the distant force as well. What he couldn't explain was why he was so worried by the approach of his other two children.
When will they be here?
I want to see them.
What are they like?
The Kindred shot the questions out like a volley of gunfire. Tabitha loved to talk about the two approaching relatives since it placed her at the center of everyone's attention.
She waited patiently until the questions stopped before replying. I don't know exactly when they'll be here, but it won't be long. As to what they're like; they're like us, least in most ways. Except the boy, he's...different.
What do you mean different? Heather asked.
Flip caught himself wondering the same thing.
He's stronger. His gifts are better developed.
How do you know that? Kristin challenged.
I just do, that's how. I couldn't feel him for a while after my hallucinations. I thought, at first, it was because I'd been injured, but now, I think it was both of us. But he's stronger now. I've never felt the bond this tightly before.
Kindle Series 3-Book Bundle: A Genetic Engineering Science Fiction Thriller Series Page 22