by Phil Tucker
"Cloud. It won't work."
"Won't work? Why won't it work?" How surreal, she thought, that they were here talking as if nothing had happened between them. As if he hadn't betrayed her and left her to die. "I'm not the person they think I am."
"What do you mean?" She knew Cloud hated to appear as if he hadn't covered all the angles. She watched him scrambled to process this. "I mean, of course you're not who they think you are, no celebrity is--"
"No. What I mean is that I'm not a hero. I'm not this rebel leader. I didn't do any of this to start a movement. I've read some of the stuff people are saying. They make it sound like I'm a mixture of Neo from The Matrix and Luke Skywalker. That's not me. I'm not this ... this huge hero. As soon as they start talking to me, they'll see that. They'll realize I'm just a girl, a regular person, and the whole thing will collapse."
"That's not true--"
"Look. I counted. I've posted like five items since I arrived in Miami. That's it. Five items, and they think they know who I am. This Selah they've built up is their creation, not mine. I'm not her. It won't work."
Cloud opened his mouth and closed it. Frowned. Took a sip of his coffee and set it aside. "I don't agree. I think you are what they think. You killed Sawiskera, you killed Arachne, right? You've survived when anybody else would have died. That's a fact. You are a hero, Selah. You are what they think you are."
"Oh, am I? You didn't seem to think so when you ran out on me back in LA." It came out before Selah realized she had said it, slipped out like a knife from a sheath. She froze. He froze. Her heart began to pound, and she almost reflexively closed right out of the 360 view, of the window altogether. Instead, she stared at him, suddenly terrified.
"I..." He paused. "That's not fair."
Selah felt tears prick her eyes again, and her vision of his room began to waver. She reached up and lifted the Goggles, and immediately was back in the hotel room alone. Wiped angrily at her eyes and lowered the Goggles once more. Cloud was right there. His very calmness was infuriating. She didn't want a rational conversation, she suddenly realized. Buried pain and anger and remorse came boiling up within her with a power she couldn't control, and she realized she had to kill the connection, kill it before she said something she would regret forever.
"No," she said. "Maybe it's not. But it's still true." She felt cold, almost numb. "I'm going to go. Goodbye, Cloud." She reached up with her FingerTips and closed the connection. His room vanished, the window closed, and she stood alone in her Garden once more, trembling.
She pulled off the Goggles and walked to the window, hugging herself. Her whole body was shaking and she felt her anger and pain sluice away and leave her numb instead. What had just happened? She stared down at the parking lot. Replayed his words, her own. She was still shaking. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the glass. Calm down. Breath. Breath. She didn't think. Shied away from it all. Cloud. His face. His rumpled hair, the wounded remorse that had burned in his eyes at the last. Closed it all down, and shut the door. Fought for breath, and then straightened, wiping her eyes and cheeks.
All right. Think. What do I need to do? She was not going to do a publicity tour. Maybe he was right, maybe it was the best approach, but she couldn't. Couldn't face an endless line of enthusiastic fans who wanted to tour her past and emotions like avid tourists, pointing and poking. But they needed a platform. Somebody who could get the word out. A thought slid into place effortlessly--Fernanda, the CNN reporter.
Without thinking it through further, she slipped the Goggles back on, turned the CNN window into a door, and stepped into the news room. Strode around its curved wall to a new screen where Fernanda awaited to deliver her latest story. There was a small 'Connect with this reporter' icon at the bottom right of her screen. Selah hesitated, then pressed it. A small window popped into existence in the air, offering options to type, record her voice, or do a full visual recording. She hesitated again and opted for text.
A small floating keyboard appeared. She bit the tip of her tongue, thinking, and then typed out, We rode a van together through a wall and my friend had his head in the clouds. I would like to talk. Send me a private number to contact you. Hesitated, and then pressed send. There. She stepped back, suddenly pleased. That would work. Fernanda would be perfect. She had been there at Arachne's Observatory, she knew what had gone down, owed her life to Selah's urging she escape. She would be perfect to talk to.
Quickly, she left the newsroom, returned to her Garden, and logged out. Pulled off the Goggles, earbuds, and FingerTips and set them aside. Looked out the window once more. Screw a publicity tour. She'd go right to the source.
Chapter 22
Dominique made it home that night just before the hotel locked the doors and windows, slipping inside with a bottle of champagne as the sun set luridly in the vast Ohio sky behind her, four paper cups held aloft. "Guess what? We're going to celebrate!"
Chico, McKnight, and Selah looked up from the game of poker they were playing. There was a moment of silence, and then McKnight shook her head. "No way."
"You did it?" Chico rose to his feet. Selah stared, eyes wide, as Dominique strode forward.
"No. I mean, yes. Maybe? Who fucking knows? But I've finally crossed the biggest hurdle. To make the antibodies, I have to inject the vampire virus into a fermenter filled with army worm cells, right? There they were supposed to enter the cells, where they would convert them into mini-factories so that they would churn out the right proteins."
Chico nodded and Dominique set down the bottle and swept her hair back into a ponytail. "So it wasn't working. First off, the vampire pathogen wasn't really a virus to begin with. Second, it didn't seem to give a shit about army worms. So everything ground to a stop. So what I finally did today was insert Selah's genetic material harvested from her blood stem cells into the worm cells. It was a long shot, because I didn't even know if the pathogen would recognize the human element through the worm cell wall, but it took!"
Selah blinked. "So that's it? We're there?"
Dominique tore of the lead casing off the champagne cork and began to work free the wires. McKnight took the bottle from her hands, and expertly pulled the casing off. Dominique grinned. "The cells have been churning out proteins all day. I managed to collect enough to place a vial in the centrifuge, which is spinning right now. By tomorrow morning, we should have isolated the protein from all the cell debris, DNA and pathogens, giving us our first dose of what could potentially be the vaccine."
McKnight thumbed the cork out of the bottle's neck and it popped out explosively, ricocheting off the ceiling and disappearing behind one of the beds. Chico rounded the table and swept Dominique up into a huge hug, and Selah quickly separated the paper cups so that McKnight could pour.
"Now," said Dominique, holding up her hands, "this is a huge step, but we're not there. It's like trying to make carrot cake with sweet potatoes. It may end up looking the same, but who knows if it will taste right? These proteins, they're from Selah's genetic material. We have no idea how Selah does what she does. These pathogens were harvested almost six years ago during the first Vampire war from Gen 1 vampires. We don't know how they'll affect the Gen 2 vampires. We don't know yet what the effect of injecting this cocktail into a human being will be. We need to run tests. We need to have trials." She pressed the base of her palms to her temple. "But, holy shit, I did it."
Everybody let out a cheer and McKnight lifted Dominique clear off the ground, wrapping her arms around her waist and spinning her around as Chico handed out the cups. They lifted them up and Selah looked at Dominique. "This one's to you. For your integrity, for your desire to do what's right, for your natural genius, and changing the fate of mankind. To Dominique!" They all toasted, and drank deep.
They spent the next hour talking, speculating, and it was decided that Chico would simply crash in their bedroom that night so that he could take part of the festivities. The bottle was quickly consumed, and general lamentations we
re made as to the unavailability of a second or third.
Chico was at Selah's Omni, searching for a channel that would play Etta James for Selah's edification when the bolts in the door clicked open. Everybody froze and stared at each other, and then as one turned to look at the door.
"What just happened?" asked Dominique.
"That's not right," said McKnight, shaking her head. She walked over to the bedside table and took up her Beretta.
Selah rose to her feet. The door remained closed, innocuous and bland, but suddenly the night beyond seemed to press on it, and she almost expected the door to bulge inwards. "The security is controlled from the front office. Somebody must have unlocked our door."
Chico set the Omni. "A glitch, you think? Should we call down and check?"
"No," said McKnight. She moved up to the door and listened carefully, then looked at the others. "The window didn't unlock. Someone specifically unlocked the door. We need to move. Now."
"What?" Dominique shook her head. "You mean leave? Now?"
"Now!" McKnight's voice was the hisscrack of a whip and everybody was shocked into movement. "No! We don't have time for stuff. Just get behind me. When I open this door, we're running for the car. If the car is guarded, we're heading for the highway. Get over here! Hurry!"
Everybody stepped in behind her, Chico taking the rear. McKnight put her hand on the door handle. "We're breaking to the left. Run, don't look back, and stay behind me. Ready? Go!" She yanked the door open and bolted outside. The open-air hallway was lit by wall lamps, though the pool below and the small garden that surrounded it were dark. Selah ran out next, and despite McKnight's injunctions she glanced to their right. Two figures in black paramilitary gear were running toward them. Her throat closed up tight and she sprinted as fast as she could after McKnight's retreating form. Dominique pounded right after her and they barreled down the hall to where McKnight had stopped and turned.
Chico let out a yell of anger. Selah ran past McKnight, who waved her on, and down the stairwell. A gunshot rang out just behind them, and a cry of pain. Dominique was right behind her, barefoot, and they both spilled out into the pool area. Another two figures emerged from the hotel office, dressed in similar black paramilitary gear, and at the sight of the women, they broke into a run.
"Come on!" yelled Selah, grabbing Dominique's hand and hauling her out of her shock. They sprinted over the cement deck and down the narrow path between the garden's plants, bursting out through the little white gate into the parking lot.
Another gunshot, a flat, vicious crack, and Selah fought the desire to look back, to find McKnight and Chico. Gritting her teeth, fingers clamped around Dominique's wrist, she cut to the right and sprinted toward the Subaru. The cars reflected puddles of refulgent orange light from the parking lot lampposts and the Subaru was a dozen cars down.
"Do you have the keys?" Selah turned to look back at Dominique, and saw that the two following figures had halved the distance, were right on their heels. There was no way they could get into the car before they were grabbed. Panic clutched her around the throat. How had they found them? A third figure was loping their way from the other side of the parking lot, almost bent over double, and not in the paramilitary gear. Instead ,it wore a white shirt and jeans. A stab of terror, then a flourishing of hope. Selah dug deep and put on extra speed, running flat out at the third figure. The sound of pounding footsteps were right behind them and she pulled the surprised Dominique past their Subaru. Almost there, almost there. At the last second, she ducked to their left between two cars, Dominique nearly slamming into the further one, stumbling then coming on after.
Yells of anger and several gunshots erupted right behind them. "What's happening?" yelled Dominique as they rounded the hood of the first car and Selah began to run back to the Subaru.
"Blood thrall!" Selah ran back to the Subaru and crouched down behind it. "The keys. You got them?"
"No. I thought you did!"
Another couple of gunshots rang out, and then the Subaru's headlights flashed and the doors unlocked. Selah and Dominique scuttled to the doors just as a man in black came sliding over the hood of the car, right at them. Selah yanked open the driver's door and slammed it into him, knocking him back as he launched himself at her, but he had the presence of mind to grab the top of the door and steady himself. She slid into the driver's seat and then hauled with all her strength on the handle, trying to break it free from his grip. She failed.
Cursing, heaving, she stared up in panic at the man. He was a dark silhouette against the night sky, the padded plates of his armor gleaming like the carapace of a beetle. He was bigger, he was stronger, and once he managed to set his feet, he began to yank the door open to get at her.
Dominique was in the backseat, scrabbling around for something to use as a weapon when a fifth gunshot split the night and the man holding the door stumbled away and fell. The back door was pulled open and McKnight fell in, tossing Selah the keys as she did so. Selah fumbled them, nearly dropped them under the seat, yanked the door closed, and slid them into the ignition and started the car.
"Where's Chico?"
"Drive!"
"Where is he?" "They got him. Go dammit!"
Selah didn't even bother with reversing. She slammed on the gas and the Subaru bucked up over the curb, crushing its way through the low bushes then out over the broad sidewalk onto the road. Jouncing and jumping, they plowed out, Selah simultaneously accelerating and turning the wheel.
"You're hurt," said Dominique, "You're shot."
The rear windshield exploded into a shattered web, and a stuttering slurry of rapid gunfire from a machine gun of some sort raked the night, but failed to connect.
"Go," said McKnight, voice like a clenched fist. "They're trying to shoot out the tires."
Selah needed no urging. The Subaru wasn't designed for terrific acceleration though, and it seemed as if the asphalt had turned into molasses. A car pulled out from the parking lot behind them, headlights strafing the night. "How did they find us?"
"I've no idea," said McKnight. She was leaning back stiffly against the car seat, hand pressed to her side. "Where are you driving to?"
"I don't know. Where should I go?"
"We need a secure place. They'll track us through the traffic cams. We need to ditch the car."
"What? Then where?"
"The lab!" said Dominique.
"The lab?"
"Left! Take this left!"
Selah turned the wheel, tapping the brakes so that they almost slid out into a broader avenue. All the lanes were deserted and all the traffic lights blinked orange. She stepped on the gas again.
Dominique was thinking out loud. "The lab's got great security. I can get us in, but they won't know the passcodes. It will slow them down."
"But we'll be trapped," said McKnight. She hissed and lowered her face.
"It's our only choice," said Dominique. "You're too hurt to move. We can't stay in the car. We need to go to ground and it's the only option."
Selah looked in her rearview mirror, saw only spider-webbed glass, and glanced at the side mirror instead. A car had pulled out behind them, coming on fast. She had the acceleration pedal right down to the floor, but the Subaru was taking its sweet time to get over sixty. She kept glancing from the road before them to the mirror. The other car was gaining fast.
"We're not going to make it," said Selah. "They're faster than we are. We need a closer destination."
"There is no other destination!" Dominique was trying to press something against McKnight's side, but the other woman refused to take her hands off the wound. "Go faster!"
The other car came up behind them and Selah put all her weight futilely on the pedal. The other car swung wide into the other lane and crept up right next to them. Selah stared out her window in panic, prepared to ram the Subaru right into them, but froze. The passenger had a machine gun aimed at her through his open window and the driver was looking over his shoulder barki
ng out an order and pointing at the side of the road. But that wasn't what grabbed Selah's attention. That was nothing. Incredulously, she stared at the figure crouched on top of the car, riding it was ease and confidence, the tips of his fingers wrapped around the front edge of the roof. He turned and looked at Selah, and in his black eyes, she saw the hungry void yearn for her.
Theo.
The driver was completely unaware of his passenger. He yelled again, made another chopping motion with his hand, but then Theo crouched down even lower and dug his fingers through the front of the windshield and began to peel the roof of the car right off like the lid of a sardine can.
Panic. The driver sawed his car away and into another lane, lost speed, fell back. They heard the explosion of gunfire, and in the rearview mirror, Selah watched as the car swerved back and forth and then completely fishtailed out and nearly flipped over. In moments, it had fallen too far back from view to make out details, and then was swallowed up by the night.
"What..." Dominique paused, swallowed. "What was that?"
"Theo. He's here." Selah shifted her weight in the seat, focused on the road. They were exploding through intersections at eighty miles an hour.
"Theo? How did he find us?"
"I don't know. Maybe he's connected to me. Maybe he can sense me somehow. I don't know. He's had over a week to catch up with us. Now he's here."
"Thank God," said McKnight. Her voice was disturbingly weak. "We'd be done for."
"Why did he do that? Save us? I thought he wanted you dead."
"Yeah. He does. But he wants to be the one to kill me." Selah felt a chill run down her back, and shrugged. "How much farther to the lab?"
"Three more lights. You might want to start slowing down."
Selah looked in the side mirror and saw headlights far behind them, but clearly driving after them. "Somebody's on track behind us," she said.
"Vampire," said McKnight.