Jonas! Jack! Even if Jack hadn’t been dying, he wouldn’t have been able to hear me on a boat out in the middle of the ocean—but I had to try.
Dr. Mendez strapped my head down on the table. I wanted to slip inside her head and control her actions, but I decided to let her run her tests for now. At this point they were just taking pictures of my brain. I’d give them what they wanted, pretend to be helpless, and wait for my opportunity.
The fMRI machine was loud, and the vibrations practically caused a migraine. But I didn’t fight them; I remained perfectly still. While the machine did its scan, I concentrated my focus on the straps across my ankles and wrists. I started with my wrists, slowly using my mind to undo the straps. I was surprised at how easily I loosened both straps; I had apparently gotten better and better at using telekinesis to move inanimate objects.
Since my legs stuck out of the machine, and I couldn’t be sure that no one was watching, I left my ankle straps alone. And although I could slip my hands free, I left them loosely inside the straps.
Thirty minutes later, my body was brought back out of the cylinder. All three doctors were still in the room and staring at the images of my brain on the monitors.
“It’ll take time to analyze these images,” Sandra said.
“Are we going to keep her sedated forever while we finally get the answers we need?” Dr. DeWeese asked. He sat on the edge of a table, keeping most of his weight on his non-injured leg.
I could answer that question for him: absolutely not.
“If we have to.” Sandra turned to Dr. Mendez. “How many more tests do we need?”
Dr. Mendez had admitted that my brain needed to be fully functioning in order to do the fMRI, yet they looked at me now like they thought I was a vegetable. I wanted to prove them wrong, but it was three against one, and since Sandra had injected herself with the mind-altering DNA matter, she’d been able to reject a clone’s attempt to control her actions. Besides which, she was now protected from me by the Omega Directive. “We may already have all that we need. I got a lot done while she slept. I only needed her fully awake and functioning for the fMRI. I’d love to study her brain activity while she’s in the process of healing another human, but otherwise I think we’re all set.”
It was almost fun to watch them decide what to do next—speaking as if I couldn’t possibly comprehend the lengths they were going to extract information from me.
“Agreed. Sedate her,” Dr. DeWeese said. “I don’t need to constantly worry that she’s getting inside my head while we convince the Nature Conservancy that we’re a legitimate research lab.”
Dr. Mendez pulled a syringe out of her pocket. My heart rate skyrocketed again, as noted by the annoying monitor beside me. I was just preparing to pull my hands free and stop her when there was a knock at the door. They all turned, and I took the opportunity to concentrate on loosening the strap across my hips and the ankle straps.
A security guard entered. “Dr. Whitmeyer, a boat is approaching. No one is answering our calls. What would you like us to do?”
“Could it be representatives from the Nature Conservancy or from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife?”
“I don’t know, ma’am. I would think the feds would announce themselves.”
“Well, take a dinghy out to the boat and see who’s on board. Take several officers with you, but keep your weapons hidden unless necessary. Then report back to me immediately.”
When Sandra and Dr. DeWeese turned back to me, I had successfully loosened all of the straps, but they didn’t notice, and I remained perfectly still. I quickly slipped inside Dr. Mendez’s head. Dr. Mendez, please stick that needle into your own neck and sedate yourself.
She did as I commanded, then collapsed to the floor.
Sandra rolled her eyes and pulled her smartphone out of her pocket. “Sarah, you don’t want to play this game with us.”
Dr. DeWeese backed up. He held his hands out, as if to tell me he wasn’t armed, though I could see a Glock holstered at his hip.
I sat up and pushed off the hospital bed. “Oh, I assure you, this is no game.” I would find a way to watch this woman suffer slowly.
“We still haven’t healed Jack. You need us.”
At this point, I was pretty sure that Sandra had no power to heal Jack. It was up to Jonas and me to do that. “You promised if I turned myself over, you’d reverse whatever it was you did to him.”
She cocked her head and clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “And you believed me. That’s so sweet.”
I slipped inside her head. Sandra, please get the gun from Dr. DeWeese and point it at your head.
“Your mind tricks don’t work on me, Sarah. Remember?”
It was worth a try.
Dr. DeWeese had retreated and was now sitting at Dr. Mendez’s computer, scrolling through images of my brain. Sandra began pushing buttons on her phone. “John? Do we have what we need?”
“I’m analyzing it now. The images look clear.”
“I’m going to need you to analyze faster.”
“I think I’m done. I’m uploading the information to you now.”
Sandra smiled at me. “You and I both know that you were never going to become a part of my team. Such a shame, but you’ve become a liability to me.” Her shoulders lifted and lowered in a lazy shrug.
She was going to terminate me. “Dr. Mendez said you didn’t have everything.” My panicked voice betrayed me.
“Dr. Mendez has a flair for the dramatics. Between the information we got from you at The Farm, and the information we’ve compiled here overnight, we no longer need you. Or any of the originals, for that matter.”
Dr. DeWeese, I want you to stand and point your gun at Sandra.
He immediately did as I instructed.
Sandra laughed. “You can’t make him hurt me.”
“Oh no? Are you sure about that?” Dr. DeWeese, I want you to shoot Sandra in the shoulder. We’d find out if I could harm Sandra. I’d managed to break through other limitations on my abilities. And with each power I worked on, often with the help of Jonas, I became stronger.
Dr. DeWeese’s hand shook. Droplets of sweat formed along his forehead and across his nose. But he did not shoot.
Sandra’s smile grew. “As I was saying… Well, this has been fun, but now that I have the information I needed—”
“You think murdering us will solve all your problems?” I had been so naïve to ever think that Sandra wouldn’t do away with all of us. Jack. Georgia. Me. The others would be next.
“Murder? I’m not planning on killing you.” She laughed. “Now that I have the map of your brain, I can undo everything your father did to you when you were just a young child. You haven’t wanted these healing abilities anyway, right? For the most part, you refuse to use them. And without your supernatural powers, you’re not a threat. So don’t worry: I’ll probably let you live. You’re still an intelligent person. You’re me, for crying out loud. And with the proper tracker, you’ll be another Maya. She’s proven to be quite useful.”
I reached out a hand to balance myself on the edge of the hospital bed as I took in that possibility. Could I part with my medical abilities? She was right, I hadn’t wanted them. It seemed wrong that we could do things that had been meant for a higher power. But there was no way I would let Sandra control me like she did Maya.
“Now, let’s see how your tracker is working before we wipe your brain clean.” Sandra began typing something on her phone, while I considered the future this woman held in the palm of her hands. I was one stupid phone app away from being the normal teen I had always wished to be, back when I first discovered I was different.
If Sandra stole my healing abilities, maybe the rest of my mind powers would go, too. If I could escape from this place and remove the tracker, I’d finally be free to live a normal life, away from all of this mess that came with being a living science experiment. No one would ever want to get inside my head or kill me, becau
se I would no longer have the special powers they coveted.
And I had the money to do whatever I wanted. I could help people—with or without the supernatural healing abilities.
My mind shifted to memories of the little boy in the emergency room at the University of Kentucky Hospital. He had lost so much blood, and I had been able to do a simple procedure to help him. It wasn’t a life-threatening injury, but my abilities had helped him and his father.
And Jonas and Jack were both convinced that without the threat of the IIA and Sandra, we’d find our powers to be useful—life-changing, even. That, without the darkness, we’d bask in the light. We’d find beauty in something created by evil. With my money, we could turn Wellington into a school of future medical geniuses.
But what about Jack? What if he was gone from my life forever? Could I do anything without him? I swallowed hard as I stared down the cliff into despair.
I had risked everything by leaving Jack and coming to Palmyra. I could have healed him all along, and hadn’t realized it. This was all my own fault for not accepting the reality of my destiny sooner. I wouldn’t let the chance I took be for nothing. I wouldn’t let Jack’s sacrifice be in vain.
Now, I seemed to have enough knowledge and money to control my own destiny, and I could help others find theirs. I would find a way to make Jack proud of me.
I would fight back. If I could change a life—heal someone of a horrible disease or injury—I would do it. These supernatural abilities were a gift. They may have come from corrupt intentions, but I would find a way to use them for good.
I would not let Sandra take away any part of me. I was not hers to control or manipulate.
A strange sensation erupted at the back of my neck. My tracker had come to life. Sarah, I would like for you to put Dr. Mendez on the bed there. It’s bad manners to leave her on the dirty floor.
The orders came through loud and clear. I knew it was a test. Yet I immediately realized that I didn’t feel the least bit compelled to do as Sandra had ordered. My mind was stronger than anything she could manufacture.
Still, I couldn’t let Sandra know that she didn’t control me. Not yet. So I proceeded to do as Sandra directed. I lifted the good doctor from the floor, struggling with her since she was at least twenty pounds heavier than me.
“Help her, John,” Sandra ordered. “Show Sarah that we can be a team if she cooperates.”
Dr. DeWeese limped over. Keeping his injured leg straight, he bent at the waist and grabbed Dr. Mendez’s feet while I slid my hands under her armpits. Together we lifted her to the bed. “You really are her pawn,” I said with disgust.
Dr. DeWeese looked up, and the corners of his lips lifted in an evil grin. “You might think that.” He stepped to Sandra and yanked the phone from her hands.
“John, what the hell are you doing?”
“I’m tired of you playing around with these clones. It’s time to end this. The original clones have been nothing but pains in our asses. Do you really think that Jonas hasn’t been helping her since she arrived on Palmyra?”
“I found no proof of that.” Sandra actually sounded panicked. “Believe me, I searched. Besides, if he was helping her, she wouldn’t be standing here.”
She had a point.
“Now hand me the phone,” she demanded with an outstretched hand.
Thank goodness Jonas had been smart enough to keep his eyes closed in the server room. Where the hell was he?
“Hand me the phone, John. What are you going to do, kill them all?” Sandra asked. She suddenly lunged at Dr. DeWeese, grabbing at the phone, but he easily held it out of her reach. To my surprise, she actually looked concerned.
“Like you murdered my father?” I added, my eyes fixed on Dr. DeWeese.
His grin grew. “Yes. Exactly like that. Except no fiery car bomb this time.”
I clenched my fingers into fists, and mentally prepared to take John DeWeese out at the knees. But another knock at the door stopped me.
Two men in scrubs entered. “We have problems.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“The island is surrounded. Military, it would seem. Navy. Ten ships in various locations off shore.”
My mouth hung open as two IIA agents, disguised as lab techs, explained the situation to Jack’s father and Sandra. There had to be some mistake. The military was not supposed to get involved.
“What do they want?” Sandra asked.
“They’re not saying, but if it’s the U.S. military, there are enough of them that they could take this entire island off the map if they wanted to.”
While Sandra discussed the situation with the two agents, Dr. DeWeese continued to type on Sandra’s phone. Was he killing the original clones? Removing my medical abilities? I had to do something. I wasn’t ready to part with my medical powers. Not when it wasn’t my choice. And I certainly wasn’t going to let him hurt more of my friends.
Stop typing, Dr. DeWeese, I commanded, and he complied. I slipped into his brain and began diverting some of the blood flow from his frontal lobe, hopefully disrupting his problem-solving ability. Two could play at this frontal lobe game, and apparently the Omega Directive didn’t prevent me from harming him.
I searched through his brain until I found the nerves connecting the prefrontal cortex with the thalamus, then used my mind to clamp down on the nerves, partially severing the connection and thereby inflicting a near lobotomy on Dr. DeWeese. Put the phone away.
He slid the phone in his pocket, and I directed my attention back to the conversation before me, looking for any hint that someone other than the military had come to help. I knew that if it came down to it, the military would take out this island if they even suspected that the clones being created or the trackers produced here were designed as weapons.
Sandra was still talking with the agents, oblivious to what had been going on between me and Dr. DeWeese. “You’re IIA,” she snapped, lifting her hands in frustration. “Surely there’s something you can do!”
The man who appeared to be the spokesperson of the two took a deep breath. “Dr. Whitmeyer, our orders are to not get caught covering up what’s going on at this facility. As far as we’re concerned, the IIA has nothing to do with what’s happening here.”
“Well, isn’t that just perfect. And what about the other boat approaching the island?”
“They were just members of your staff.” The man’s brows knitted together. He was confused about something. “They said they didn’t hear us when we radioed them.”
Strange, I thought.
“My staff? Who?”
Both men shrugged.
“Any sign of members of the Nature Conservancy?”
“None.”
“I want to know if those boats get any closer or if you see anything strange from them. And I want men watching each and every boat. Something moves, I expect to hear about it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The men left.
Only one thing comforted me in that exchange. I was pretty sure that if the military had intentions of coming on this island or of destroying the labs here, they would have done so already. Act first, take names later.
Sandra turned to face me again. “You did this. They’re here because of you.”
I smiled. “It doesn’t matter what you do now. We’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There’s no escape.”
“Hand me the phone.” She held out a hand to Dr. DeWeese, who just stared at her. His face had paled, and his eyes were unfocused and glazed over. Sandra didn’t appear to realize that I was the reason for his silence—that thanks to me, his brain was barely functioning.
“What’s wrong with you?” She pulled the phone from Dr. DeWeese’s pocket, dialed a number, then raised it to her ear. “Seal up the main incubator lab. No one gets in.” She hung up, typed something else, then turned again to me.
“Now, my dear Sarah, it’s time for you to say goodbye to your supernatural gifts forever. Control is mine. You will be my puppet.
”
As she punched buttons on her phone, I took in a breath and prepared to tackle her. The Omega Directive had stopped me before, but maybe—maybe if I used every ounce of my mind power, I could overcome the Omega Directive and take her out. I had to try.
I lowered my shoulder and leaned forward. Just as I made the decision to launch myself at her, a loud boom broke through the quiet. The ground shook. Small vials on a nearby shelf clinked together like chimes.
Both Sandra and I turned our heads in the direction of the only window in the room. She darted to it and raised the blinds, giving us full view of a fiery explosion on the south side of the building.
I took in another breath as I waited for something more to happen. Was it the military? Were they obliterating Palmyra? Was I going to die right here, right now, along with everyone else on the island?
Sandra spun around and shoved me hard. I fell backward against the bed. A growl erupted from somewhere deep inside her chest, and she returned to punching buttons on her phone. After several seconds, she raised her head and just stared at me.
Was that it? Had she just wiped my DNA and my mind of all its special abilities?
I slipped inside Dr. DeWeese’s brain. I could still see the damage I had inflicted. Would I be able to see his brain if I no longer had abilities? No. Whatever Sandra had just done, my mind, and my abilities, were still my own.
Just to be sure, I proceeded to change how the blood was flowing in Dr. DeWeese’s brain. Not enough to do any damage, just to give him a slight headache—while maintaining the lobotomy already in place.
Dr. DeWeese touched a gentle hand to his head, and his brow remained crinkled in confusion.
Sandra looked from me to Dr. DeWeese and back. “What’s happening?”
Suddenly a familiar presence slipped in and around my head like silk, and I welcomed it like I never had before.
Jack!
The door to the exam room burst open, and Jack, Jonas, and Briana bolted inside. Jonas marched straight up to Sandra and stopped in front of her. “Take one for the team, mommy dearest.”
Jonas raised his rifle, and as the butt of the gun made contact with Sandra’s face, she gasped, and her eyes bulged in a look of shock and disbelief I’d never seen.
Mindsurge (Mindspeak Book 3) Page 28