Corruption

by Jessica Shirvington

  I dredged up a smile. ‘Thought you were sleeping.’

  He shook his head. ‘Just waiting for you. Are you okay?’ he asked, looking me over.

  ‘You’re the one who was shot.’

  His eyes bore into me in the way only his could and my body reacted – even now, even with everything that had gone so terribly wrong, I still responded with relief and joy at being close to him.

  ‘You know what I mean,’ he said.

  ‘Better now,’ I answered, quickly clenching my jaw to stop it quivering. The truth was, I was not okay. All I could hear was my father’s voice telling me about consequences as I watched all those people die.

  Suddenly his hand was pushing the loose hair back from my face. ‘Hey,’ he croaked. ‘I thought we agreed no lies?’

  My heart ached. ‘I killed all those people,’ I whispered, my body shaking with the confession.

  Quentin looked down. ‘Fighting back doesn’t make us the villains, Mags. We tried. And yeah, we failed. But that can’t be an excuse to give up. We just have to find another way.’

  I met his eyes and saw that just as much pain and memory was haunting him. ‘How can you think that?’

  He shrugged and forced a smile. ‘You taught me.’

  I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and took a deep breath. How could he still believe in me after all I had done?

  ‘What time is it?’ he asked, taking in his surroundings. The walls of the room were white and he was lying in a steel cot with plain white sheets. I perched on the edge of his bed because there was nothing else in the room except a trolley with some medical supplies and a glass of water.

  ‘Nearly 1 a.m.,’ I said, offering him the glass.

  He pushed himself up and took a grateful sip.

  ‘How is it?’ I gestured to his shoulder.

  He shrugged, then winced a little. ‘It’s just a flesh wound. Unimpressive, I’m afraid.’

  I reached forwards, letting my finger slide down the scar on his forehead that had always fascinated me. ‘Another scar for the collection,’ I said.

  He smiled. ‘I was fourteen when I got that one. Sebastian took me rock climbing. He was messing around and his foot slipped. I caught him before he fell. My head hit the rocks and he was so heavy I was sure my shoulder was going to pop out of its socket, but I held on. I honestly thought we were done for, but somehow we grappled our way to safety. I remember my father yelling at Sebastian at the hospital for putting me in danger like that.’ He smiled at the memory. ‘But my mother pulled me aside that night. She told me that wounds could be worn like a badge if received during acts of honour.’ His smile faded. ‘I should probably find a new hobby. We both should.’

  I nodded.

  ‘Gus?’ he asked.

  ‘He’s here.’

  ‘Liam?’

  I swallowed. ‘Here too. He was their insider.’

  Quentin nodded. ‘I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. So, did they save us or capture us?’

  I looked around. We were seemingly alone, and yet, I knew they would be monitoring us somehow. ‘Saved us, I think,’ I said.

  ‘What about Alex? I heard the soldiers talking when they brought me in. It was his sister in there. He must want us dead.’ He grimaced, shifting again.

  ‘He definitely hates me. But he’s not in charge.’

  This got Quentin’s attention. ‘Who is?’

  I swallowed, focusing on his eyes for strength. And love. Then I took a deep breath, let it out and said, ‘Your mother.’

  ‘My … my mother?’ he checked.

  I nodded and spoke quickly. ‘I wasn’t supposed to tell you. I promised I wouldn’t. But I promised you first.’

  The doors crashed open.

  Quentin and I looked from the doors to one another.

  Time slowed down as Quentin’s hands interlocked with mine. Men were rushing into the room, weapons drawn. All the while Quentin stared at me and simply said, ‘No more lies.’

  I half smiled. ‘No more lies.’

  And then they were on me, pulling me away from him and dragging me out of the room. I let them. There was no point fighting them, but I kept my eyes on Quentin and my heart bloomed, knowing I’d made the right decision.

  He deserved the truth.

  ‘Mother!’ I heard him yell as they dragged me down the hall.

  ‘You’re some piece of work, you know that?’ a voice snapped at me, waking me up.

  I’d been locked in a room and left for what I’d known would be a while. It hadn’t taken me long to give in to my weariness and lay down to rest. I’d been relieved to discover the room had a small en suite, considering I’d woken up more than once needing to be sick. I hadn’t been able to fight the tiredness, but my nightmares had certainly been able to fight me.

  I sat up, still fully dressed in bloodstained clothes, blinking awake my sluggish eyes – one of which was basically swollen shut from last night’s fight – and checked my M-Band. It was mid-morning. I’d slept on and off for almost eight hours.

  ‘I’m sorry, Alex,’ I said, my voice hoarse as I took in his rigid form just inside the door. He had a few bruises and scratch marks on his face from when I’d attacked him and his eyes were red-rimmed as if he’d been crying, but right now they were filled only with fire. Good for him.

  ‘If you’ve snuck in to kill me, now is probably a good time. I really don’t have the energy to kick your ass.’

  He threw a bottle of water at me, not blinking when it hit me in the stomach. ‘That’s all you have to say! You don’t even care, do you? You killed my sister!’ His voice ran at me like daggers.

  I got to work on opening the bottle, concentrating on that instead of my guilt. Alex didn’t need to see me wallowing in self-pity, even if he thought he did. Finally I looked up. ‘Yes. I did. But so did you. We are all responsible and if there was a way to go back, I would. But I can’t.’

  ‘Are you trying to tell me that if you knew she was there, it would’ve stopped you going in?’

  I shook my head, sitting up. We both knew it would’ve only encouraged us to go after Kelsey. Gus would never have left her in there. ‘But maybe we would’ve tried something different,’ I argued. ‘Especially if we’d known we weren’t alone out there. Maybe if we’d known the truth about the Pre-Evo’s, we would’ve come to you – oh, but wait,’ I deadpanned. ‘We did.’

  Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘I wish I’d handled that meeting so differently,’ he said, the fight draining from him. He probably wished he’d just put a bullet in my head that night. He sighed. ‘Maybe if I had, things would be different.’

  I stood up, noting how everything ached. ‘You’ll always look at me and see the person who took your sister away and that’s okay. I deserve that. But Grace was right when she said you need to shift the main blame where it belongs. M-Corp has to be stopped. Clearly I suck at any and all attempts I’ve made, but look at this place,’ I said, flapping my hands around. ‘You actually have the firepower and manpower to take them on. If anyone can stop them, it’s you guys. What I don’t get is why the hell you are all sitting around here.’

  ‘It’s not that simple,’ he gritted out.

  I shook my head, leaning over to jam my feet into my boots. ‘It is. And every day you delay, someone else’s sister or brother pays the price!’

  Alex ran a hand through his hair, looking between me and the door as if he was considering something. Then he took a few steps closer and locked eyes with me. ‘There’s an antidote,’ he said softly.

  And that’s when all hell broke loose.

  The lights shut off.

  Shouts sounded from out in the hall, people were being ordered to cover the entry points.

  One voice, however, boomed above all others. ‘You will bring her out here to us, or we’ll set these off all day long. You can’t begin to imagine how many of these things we have, or how many places we’ve hidden them!’

  With that, another wave of sounds followe
d: feet scampering, guns being cocked, whispers and straight-out orders being shouted. It was mayhem.

  ‘I may not be able to see you, but I can feel you smiling,’ Alex said, close by.

  I broke into a short laugh. I couldn’t believe they’d gone so far. It was strangely … uplifting. ‘I think you should do what Quentin says,’ I suggested.

  ‘Jesus, you two have some kind of twisted puppy love going on,’ Alex mumbled, taking hold of my upper arm.

  ‘Something like that,’ I said, now completely failing to withhold my smile.

  ‘Tech bombs?’ he queried.

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘He’s going to keep setting them off, isn’t he?’

  ‘Yep,’ I said.

  ‘How many do they have?’

  None. I knew that in order to create the current level of pandemonium, Gus would have set off the only two he had.

  ‘Enough,’ I replied honestly, because Alex was already leading me into the hall.

  Seemingly unfazed by the lack of light, Alex navigated us through the maze of corridors. ‘Watch your step,’ he warned as we began descending the spiral staircase.

  As we neared the bottom, the generator must’ve kicked in and emergency lights powered up, casting the main room in a dim red glow, reminding me of those final moments in the underground prison. I ignored the chill running down my spine.

  In the centre of the room, Quentin and Gus sat at the head of a large table with about forty armed personnel, all looking incredibly pissed, surrounding them. Gus and Quentin looked surprisingly relaxed.

  Quentin saw me first, and suddenly he was moving, pushing through the troops as if they were holding nothing but toy guns as he kept his eyes fixed on mine.

  ‘Hey,’ I barely managed before he had me in his arms, my feet off the floor and his lips on mine.

  His hand slid to the side of my face, cupping my cheek, and he kissed me like he never had before. Like he’d let go completely. And as his lips pressed deliciously against mine and mine softened against his in return, I felt it. The walls that had come up between us, the layers of mistrust that I had created, the ones I thought we could never break through, all came tumbling down.

  Before I realised it, my legs were around his waist and the kiss deepened to something that was so much more than physical. It was our connection, a true love that would never be broken no matter how much it was tested. He was my everything. And, in that moment, I knew I was his.

  Finally I dredged up the willpower to break the kiss and drop my forehead to his. ‘We have an audience,’ I said, lightening my hold on his bandaged arm.

  ‘I don’t care,’ he said. ‘I don’t care.’

  ‘Did you see her?’ I whispered.

  He nodded. ‘I can’t believe it and yet, I can, you know?’

  I returned his nod. ‘Do you trust them?’

  He took a deep breath and kissed me lightly on the mouth, then cheek, then ear, where he whispered, ‘I trust they fight for a cause. That they are who they say they are. But for the rest, I trust us.’

  Gently he put me on my feet and we turned to see the entire room watching us. No one looked impressed. And a lot of weapons were pointed in our direction.

  ‘Probably a good call,’ I murmured back, making Quentin grin.

  He took my hand and squeezed. ‘We’ll pick this up again later,’ he promised, then looked over at Gus and said, ‘Thanks, man.’

  Gus shrugged. ‘They shouldn’t have taken her away like that,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘Especially when they obviously need us,’ he added, eyebrows raised. There were a lot of angry faces surrounding us, but no one took him up on the challenge.

  ‘I assume you’re all done with the theatrics?’ came Eliza Mercer’s voice. I looked over, noticing her for the first time, standing to the side with her arms crossed. She was dressed in a pencil skirt and silk blouse with pearls draped around her neck. She was Mrs Mercer.

  Quentin put his shoulders back. ‘You’re one to talk when it turns out your entire life has been about jumping from one stage to the next,’ he scoffed, pointing at the theatre.

  Eliza flinched.

  Quentin didn’t give her a chance to respond. ‘You’ve made your decisions and if you expect me to ever try to understand them, then you had better start by respecting the hell out of mine. And that all starts with one simple rule: you, and anyone here, doesn’t dare separate me from my family.’

  ‘And by family?’ she asked, her face giving nothing away, reminding me of the Eliza Mercer I had first met.

  Quentin squeezed my hand. ‘I mean, Maggie.’ He glanced at me briefly. ‘And Gus.’

  ‘Really?’ I whispered.

  He considered for a moment then gave a resolute nod. ‘Every family needs a Gus.’

  ‘Even though he likes to blow things up?’

  Quentin shrugged. ‘It has its uses.’

  Gus snorted, but didn’t argue.

  ‘I guess I deserve that,’ Eliza said.

  ‘No, Mom. I deserve it.’

  After a beat, she nodded and looked at the troops. ‘Lower your weapons. You have my word, Quentin, you and your … family will not be separated again.’ It was as though each word tasted like acid in her mouth. ‘Gus, could you please deactivate the rest of the tech bombs so my team can get back to work?’

  Gus smiled. ‘Power will come back on in about two minutes.’

  ‘And the others?’ she snapped.

  ‘What others?’

  I gotta give it to Gus, he delivered the line with a perfect poker face.

  Eliza turned back to Quentin and me. ‘There are no others.’ It wasn’t a question. When we said nothing, she surprised me by smiling. ‘All right,’ she addressed the room. ‘Can we all get on with business now?’

  I took that as my cue and stepped forwards. ‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘Why don’t we start with you explaining to us what the hell the antidote is?’

  I heard Alex groan behind me and took a second to glance over my shoulder and see him shaking his head. I gave him a tight-lipped smile. ‘Sorry.’

  I’d figured, what the hell. He couldn’t hate me any more than he already did.

  It took over an hour to get everything back online, even with Gus helping them out. At first, they’d told him not to touch anything, but after listening to him rant on about how he could have their systems up and running a lot faster if they just gave him a computer – well, eventually Eliza held a gun to his head and gave him one. Gus was right.

  I’d used the time to shower and change, grateful to finally be rid of the underground blood and dirt. And now we sat at the central table. Gus, Quentin and me on one side; Eliza, Alex, Grace, a guy called Michael and another guy with a thick Australian accent – whose name I’d already forgotten – on the other. Despite the long-winded introductions, all I caught was that Michael was some kind of big-deal scientist, and the Australian did something involving weather or aviation, or both.

  My eyes kept drifting back to the scientist. I recognised him from somewhere.

  ‘Maggie, did your father ever discuss his experiments with you?’ Eliza asked.

  I bristled at the question, fighting my instinct to always defend my father. I sat back in my chair and took a breath. ‘He started by discovering ways to temporarily increase pheromone ratings. He picked people who rated consistently below average and used them as his test subjects. I only saw one experiment where things went … the other way.’

  Quentin took my hand and I let him.

  ‘In the experiments where the test subjects showed improved ratings, did you ever stay around to gauge how long this change lasted for?’ Michael asked.

  I studied the man, with his overgrown white hair and few days’ growth. He was in his late sixties at least, maybe older.

  ‘Maggie,’ Alex said, bringing me back to the conversation.

  ‘A couple of times,’ I answered, still looking at Michael. It was right on the verge of coming to me. ‘The change only
lasted about an hour. Once a little longer, but not much.’

  They all nodded as if they’d expected this answer.

  ‘I know you,’ I said to Michael. And when he smiled, that was the last piece I needed. He was older and covered in more hair, but there was no mistaking it. ‘Dr Peterson, right?’

  Michael nodded. ‘I didn’t think you would remember me. You were quite young when your father and I worked together.’

  Looking at him, I couldn’t deny the ache in my heart. It was almost as if I were looking at the man that my father could have been. If it had been my father who got that big promotion instead of Michael, maybe our lives would’ve been very different.

  I mustered a small smile. ‘I remember you. You used to bring cookies.’

  He laughed lightly. ‘I did. My wife fancies herself quite the baker.’ He quickly sobered. ‘I … Your father was my colleague, but also my friend. I never believed he could be capable of so much … I’m very sorry for the position you now find yourself in.’

  I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. ‘Thank you.’

  He gave a short nod and cleared his throat, looking back down at his papers. ‘What we’re telling you is highly sensitive and classified. We have a plan in motion, but until that plan has played out, we can’t risk having people on the outside with any knowledge of it. So if you don’t want to hear it, now is the time to say. And if you do, prepare to settle in, because no one leaves these walls until we’re done and, apart from what goes through Eliza, there’s no communication coming in or going out.’

  Quentin and Gus looked at me. Great. My call.

  I was through with doing things my father’s way – based on statistics, on science and verified facts. ‘Chance favours the bold,’ I mumbled. ‘Give it to us.’

  Eliza nodded, taking the lead. ‘The drug your father first started to develop was in fact the antidote to the drug he later discovered. Originally he toyed with changing ratings, both in positive and negative directions, but the effect only lasted for a limited time, like the negative disruption you used on Quentin.’

  ‘Did you know all along about that?’ Quentin interrupted.