by Darrell Pitt
Chapter Thirty-Five
I follow Anna down the ladder. The corridor below is old. Almost ancient. It curves around in a wide bend. The ground underfoot is rough. It feels like we’ve walked miles. Every six feet there is another feeble light set into the ceiling. Anna turns into another corridor. A feeble light shines at the end.
“This tunnel was originally built during the civil war. It was used to store ammunition and supplies. Later The Agency constructed its base over it. Very few people even within The Agency know of these tunnels.”
“I don’t care about your tunnels,” I say. “What is going on? What does The Agency intend to do?”
“It’s not what they intend to do.” Anna draws to a halt. “It’s what they’ve already done.
“Doctor Richards was the lead scientist involved in the Alpha Project. He was able to convince many of the others that what they were doing was wrong. They transported you out of here despite knowing it would probably cost them their lives.” Anna unlocks an ancient door and pushes it wide open. “But he was not able to get everyone out.”
My heart is pounding as I enter the room. It’s barely six feet by eight feet. It contains a kid, maybe thirteen years old with thin black hair, sitting on a bunk located close to the floor. He is wearing a t-shirt and shorts. His shoes are too large for him. On his arms are needle marks, but they are so faint they’re almost invisible. Hanging from the ceiling is a single light bulb suspended from a chain. There is a small sink and toilet. At the other end of the chamber is a second door similar to the first. Iron bars in the grate look out onto blackness.
At first I think the paint on the walls is peeling, but then I realize the dark, tight patches are writing. Words. Formula. Languages. Lines and lines of information cover every inch of the cell.
The kid looks up without seeing me. It’s like he’s looking through me. My throat is dry. I think if I try to make a sound it will come out as a whisper. My legs are shaking so hard I can hardly stand.
I lean against one of the walls for support.
How could this be allowed to happen?
“This is Ferdy,” Anna says.
“Mr. Jones said they tried to make the procedure work with adults. He didn’t say –”
“There were other children before you,” Anna nods. “Many of them. Some of them were sent away to other facilities. Most did not survive the process. Ferdy is the last one of the previous batch who –”
“Batch?” I can hear my voice rising. “You make him sound like an experiment.”
Tears fill the doctor’s eyes. She wrings her hands together. “We did not know it would be like this. I swear it. We thought we would be experimenting with animals. It was only after we started that I realized we were using human subjects.”
“You should have refused –”
“Refused?” Anna looks at me in disbelief. “It’s impossible to refuse Twelve. Other aliens who work within The Agency are not like him. But as far as Twelve is concerned, you are either with him or against him. He rules with an iron fist. Most of the scientists who work within The Agency do not suspect the breadth of its experiments.”
I turn to the figure sitting on the bed. “Ferdy. Are you all right?”
He remains silent.
“Ferdy?” I try again. “Can you hear me?”
“The area of a triangle.” He stops. “The area is calculated my multiplying half the base times the height.”
I’m not sure what to make of this. “Okay.” I continue. “My name is Axel. I’m here to help you. We’re going to leave this place. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
He looks through me again. “The highest mountain is on Mars. It is Olympus Mons and rises to a height of 69,459 feet.” He stops. “And yes Ferdy understands you.”
I nod in relief. “I am a friend.”
“The most abundant element in the universe is hydrogen,” he tells me.
“He has a photographic memory,” Anna explains.
“Has he always been like this?”
She shakes her head. “No. He was a perfectly healthy little boy when he arrived. It was only after the experiments that he changed as did all the others. They changed or they perished.”
“Are these experiments still being carried out?”
“Not now. Doctor Richards destroyed all the research before he ran away with you and the others. Twelve has been trying to get me to reproduce Richard’s work, but it’s impossible.”Anna’s face looks so yellow in the pale light she appears unwell. “I swear I didn’t know it would be like this –”
“Sacrifices must always be made for the greater good,” a voice says from behind us.
We spin around. Twelve has a gun pointed directly at Anna.
He pulls the trigger.
