by Jane Hinchey
“Now show me the dome and the city,” I ordered. “I want all the info you've got on how to get out of the city.”
“You can't leave the dome,” the doctor protested.
“I bet you I can.”
There was one thing I'd figured out during all of this: If Earth wasn't habitable, I would never have been returned to it in the first place. The Acarnania wouldn't have wasted their time travelling this far, so Earth had to have something going for it. It just suited those living in the domes to keep their people living in fear, living with the lie that they couldn't survive outside.
“I don't know where to access that information,” the doctor said.
“Bullshit. You're holding out on me, doc.”
Grabbing hold of the doc’s dishevelled hair, I picked up a scalpel from the instrument tray and slid it beneath her once pristine bun, cutting through the strands of hair like a hot knife through butter. I couldn't suppress a giggle, for now, sitting in my palm, was an oddly-shaped ball of hair with strands sticking out where I'd cut if off, not unlike a porcupine.
The doctor squealed and clasped her hands to her head.
“Oops. You're going to want to visit a hairdresser, I think. That didn't turn out so well.” The doctor’s hair was now about an inch long on top of her head, sticking out like she’d been electrocuted. She looked ridiculous. “Want to try again, or shall I find something else to cut off?”
Without another word, the doctor returned to the keyboard and began frantically typing. Watching her from the corner of my eye, I pulled the tie from the bundle of hair in my hand and scooped my own unruly mop of red curls into a high ponytail. It felt good to put some order to it.
“Here. This is all I know of.” The doctor sat back, lips trembling, her eyes filling with tears.
I glanced at the screen. Perfect. Blueprints of the city and dome. “See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, this next bit? Well, it's going to sting a bit.”
“What?”
I pulled her out of her seat and over to the gurney, slamming her arm down on the metal surface. With one smooth swipe of the scalpel, her hand separated from her wrist, fingers still twitching, blood squirting. She stared at the stump for a moment, uncomprehending, then let out a blood-curdling scream.
“Jesus, don't get blood on me! I just got cleaned up.” I stepped out of the arterial spray’s reach and tossed her a handful of bandages from the tray. “Here, wrap it up.”
The doctor pulled her arm, minus its hand, to her chest. Blood still pumped out in squirts, covering her.
“You're going to want to attend to that or you'll bleed out,” I insisted.
Leaving the severed hand on the gurney, I rummaged around the instrument trolley, looking for the bags they were going to use to store my organs. Bingo! Pulling out the bag labelled “Liver”, I carefully picked up the doctor’s severed hand by the finger and dropped it into the bag. I folded over the top to seal it. The bag glowed.
“Are these self-cooling bags?” I asked, holding it up so the doctor would see. “Clever. I like it. After all, why refrigerate a whole room when you only need to refrigerate a few body parts? Good to see we got smarter over the years.”
The Doctor slumped to the floor, still clutching her bleeding arm, but the spurts were slowing and she'd done nothing to stem the bleeding. Her face was white. She was clearly in shock.
I sighed. “Really? With all your medical training, nothing’s kicking in? No sense of survival? No will to live?” I ripped a shirt off one of the fallen medics and tossed it at the doctor. “Wrap your fucking hand up. NOW!”
That seemed to work. Dazed, the doctor tugged the fabric around and around the end of her arm. I tossed her a belt, too.
“Make yourself a tourniquet. Or don't.” I shrugged. “I don't really care. I'm giving you a better chance than you gave me. But this is it. Save yourself or die. I'm done with you.”
With a few minutes left before the lockdown on the room was lifted, I memorised what I could of the city map and the dome blueprints.
A beep at the door indicated my time was up. I glanced back at the doctor once as I moved to the door. She was still alive. Barely.
I held up the refrigerated bag to the panel, grinning when the chip activated the door.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
No one was waiting for me outside. No one had come to investigate the lockdown. There was no one in sight. Which was perfect.
Once the door closed behind me, I held the bag up again and the panel opened. Repeating the process the doctor had performed earlier, I set the contamination period to twenty-four hours. It was a gamble, but if someone were to check, they'd know by the doctor’s chip that she wasn't inside, and I doubted the rest of the staff were deemed important.
I took a second to get my bearings, then turned left, heading down the corridor to the lift at the end. As I approached, the lift doors opened and a man and a woman stepped out. They didn't notice me, didn't even look my way. The doors slid closed behind them, and I held the bag up to the panel, this time selecting the floor below. I was pretty sure that was where Alrik and Daniel were being held.
Providing they hadn't started any dastardly experiments on them yet. My luck held. I found Alrik and Daniel in neighbouring cells.
“Sierra! How did you escape?” Daniel asked.
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” Alrik spoke over him.
“Time for that later, boys.” I held the bag up against the panel, and with a muted beep, Daniel’s cell door whispered open. “Right now, we need to hustle. I tried to buy us some time, but there’s no guarantee that will work.” I opened Alrik’s cell and allowed myself a second of relief as he wrapped me in a tight hug.
“Where are we going?” Daniel asked.
“Gotta get supplies first.” I led them down the darkened hall, pausing at the corner to make sure the coast was clear. “Then we’re out of here. And by out of here, I mean out of the dome.”
Daniel grabbed my arm. “Are you crazy? We can’t leave the dome. We’ll die.”
I looked at his hand on my arm, then up into his eyes. “We’re sure as hell going to die if we stay here, Daniel. Come on. We can’t stand around arguing.”
Daniel sighed and walked faster to match my stride. “How are we going to get out?”
I held up the bag. “With this?”
“What’s that?”
“A hand that once belonged to Doctor Keya Francis,” I said triumphantly. “Her chipped hand, to be precise.”
“Holy. Shit. You cut off her hand?” Daniel cried.
“Not before she cut open my stomach. And before you freak out,” I levelled a look at Alrik, who’d opened his mouth to speak, “I’m fine. Healed.” I paused where two corridors intersected and closed my eyes. “Now shush for a minute and let me think. I tried to memorise a map of this place.”
“What are you searching for?” Alrik asked.
“The armoury. We need weapons. And food, and water, and clothes, but I'm not sure we'll find those here.”
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on visualising the map of the building. It was like I'd downloaded the map into my brain, the same as when I was on Alrik's ship. All I had to do was think about where I wanted to be and the map appeared. Ah, the armoury was on the ground floor. Interesting choice; personally, I thought they'd made a mistake having it so easily accessible on the ground floor. It made it vulnerable to attack. But maybe they never thought they'd ever be attacked. Arrogant humans.
We crept through the facility without restriction or notice. Surprisingly, the place wasn't heavily staffed. Either that, or everyone was tucked away in their respective operating theatres, doing dastardly deeds. The armoury wasn't even guarded, which struck me as odd and foolish.
The heavy steel doors slid open with a wave of the bag. I glanced around, checking for cameras, finding none.
“I can't believe this place is so unprotected,” I said.
“It's a medical facility. You wo
uldn't expect an armoury to be here,” Daniel replied.
“I guess so.” I shrugged. “Okay, Daniel, see if you can find a bag or something to put the weapons in.”
Eyeing off the wall of weapons in front of me, I began to pull down pistols, a massive rifle, and what looked like a missile launcher.
Daniel stared at me as I hefted the missile launcher. “Really? You think you're going to need that?”
“Might need to bust through some walls. Perfect for it.”
Daniel dragged a duffel bag into the middle of the room, and we began loading the weapons and ammunition into it. Alrik strapped two pistols to his hips, a grin turning up the corners of his mouth. I knew he'd been beating himself up over not only getting captured, but also being without his weapons.
“Any Kevlar vests around here?” I asked.
“Kevlar went out in the year twenty-thirty,” Daniel said. “They introduced a new fabric. Lighter but more durable.”
“Okay, any of that here? These clothes aren't going to last me. They’re fine while we're in this building, but once we're out, I'm going to need a change.”
Poking around, I hit pay dirt in the last cupboard I opened. Hanging inside were trousers and jackets of varying sizes. I chose two pairs of pants and two jackets for myself, then stepped aside to let Daniel select his own. Alrik declined; the fabric of his own clothing was superior to the Kevlar look-a-like suits.
“Right,” I said. “Almost done. Just need food and water, and then we have to hit the road.”
“There’s probably a cafeteria here,” Daniel said. “Might be risky, though. There are probably people there.”
“We'll take a look.”
Closing my eyes, I focused on finding the cafeteria. We were in luck; it, too, was on the ground floor, in the wing opposite the armoury. Even with Alrik and Daniel hauling bags full of weapons, people paid us no attention. Striding ahead of them, white coat flapping around my legs, I had everyone fooled that I belonged there. As we walked, my mind was plotting, crafting strategies to get us what we needed and out of there safely.
When we reached the cafeteria, I told them my plan.
“Okay, Daniel, you'll need to go in first,” I instructed. “I can't use a severed hand in a bag to pay for stuff. You'll need to use your chip. I doubt many people know you were brought in as a prisoner, so you could say you were here interviewing a witness or something and have been called out to the field.” I snapped my fingers. “Tell them about the anomaly in the dome that triggered the search for us, if that helps, and that you need to grab refreshments for your team before heading back out there. Grab as much food and water as you can. But only volunteer that information if anyone asks. Otherwise, don't speak to anyone.”
“You've turned into a super cop,” Daniel grumbled.
“It's the new and improved me. I'll tell you about it later, but for now, move.” I gently pushed him through the doors. Before the door swung shut again, I saw several people glance up when Daniel entered, but they just as quickly returned their attention to their food.
Minutes later, he was back, his arms laden with bottled water and food bars. Dumping them into the duffel bag with the guns, we set off again, this time to the lower levels where the vehicles were parked.
“My car won't be here,” Daniel reminded me.
“No, but the doctor’s is.”
Sure enough, as we passed each car, I held the bag up, and at last a large, white SUV beeped in recognition of the chip.
Piling in, Daniel behind the control panel, I took the passenger seat. Alrik slid into the seat behind me. I held the bag up to the panel and the car started with a purr.
“That's so creepy,” Daniel muttered, guiding the car out of the underground parking bay and up to street level. A boom gate blocked the exit. I handed Daniel the bag. He looked at me with distaste on his face, but he took it anyway, holding it up to the panel. The gate lifted.
“Why don't I just use my own chip?” he asked.
“Because I want them to think the doctor has left the facility,” I explained. “It's her vehicle, and if they check the logs, it needs to be her chip that let us out. For all intents and purposes, it looks like you left the facility with her, and that's feasible, given you're an inspector of Readmeadows police.”
“Where to?”
“Your apartment.”
“My apartment? That's the first place they'll search!”
“But they're not looking for us yet. We have a couple of things we need to get from there, then we're on the road again.”
Alrik had been silent throughout the whole escape. I craned my neck to look at him. “All okay back there?”
“Affirmative. You have everything under control. I’m here when you need me.”
I smiled, loving that he wasn't trying to override me or belittle my plans. He trusted me, and it felt good. Really good.
Within minutes, we were at Daniel’s apartment building. Sweat beaded Daniel’s forehead as we rushed to the lift, his eyes darting left and right, as if searching for invisible enemies. He jumped when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. I laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him.
“Don't give us away, brother. Be calm.”
He took a deep, shuddering breath, but nodded.
Inside the apartment, both men looked to me for instructions.
“Daniel, grab some extra clothes and bedding, but only enough that you can carry,” I ordered, then turned to Alrik. “I’m going to see what’s in the kitchen in terms of food and drink. Can you grab our backpacks?”
The men scattered. I was crossing the living room when the photo of mum and Emily grabbed my attention. Stopping, I removed the photo from its frame.
“That's what you really came back for, isn't it?” Alrik spoke into my ear.
Leaning back against him, I studied the photo. “Of course. It's all I have left of her. I can't believe I'll never see her again.” As strong as I'd been throughout this whole ideal, a wave of emotion rolled through me now, threatening to bring me to my knees, the grief cutting like a knife.
Alrik pressed a kiss to the top of my head and held me in silence.
Daniel emerged from the bedroom, now clad in black jeans, sturdy boots, and a black t-shirt with a jacket thrown over the top. “Okay. I'm ready,” he said.
“That reminds me, I should change. Here, you take this.” I handed the photo to Daniel. “Keep it safe.”
In the bathroom, I stripped out of the doctor’s clothes and into the Kevlar-like suit I’d shoved into my lab coat pocket when we left the car. It fit like a glove, clinging to my curves. The lining was soft, almost like a fleecy down. I zipped the jacket up to my collarbone, bent to pull on the knee-high combat boots. Looking at myself in the mirror, I smiled. Badass, indeed.
I rummaged around in the pocket of the lab coat before dumping all of the doctor’s clothes in the bin. “One last thing,” I said, holding up a scalpel as I rejoined the men in the living room.
“Er. What's that for?” Daniel asked, worried.
Alrik said nothing, but his eyes were devouring me in the skin-tight suit.
“You, brother.” I gestured him over. “Come into the kitchen. We need to get rid of your chip. Alrik, I might need some help.”
“You're not cutting my hand off, are you?”
“Don't be silly. I'm just going to cut the chip out. It's going to hurt, though. I’m sorry.” I smiled, holding up a sterile package in my other hand. “But I did bring a dressing.”
“Oh, well, that's okay, then,” Daniel muttered sarcastically.
Placing Daniel’s hand, palm up, on the kitchen bench, I instructed Alrik to hold his wrist in place. With swift, sure strokes, I made a small incision in the centre of his palm. He hissed in a breath, but remained still. Glancing at him apologetically, I dug the tip of the scalpel into his flesh and searched for the chip.
“Found it.” I eased the blade underneath the chip, coaxing it to the surface. “It's tiny, i
sn't it?”
The microchip was the size of a grain of rice. I'd expected something square and flat. I marvelled that this tiny little thing could hold so much power.
“Should we destroy it?” Daniel asked.
“No,” I said. “We'll leave it here. Better they think you're at home. It'll raise alarm bells if you suddenly go offline.”
I dressed his hand, cleaned the spilled blood off the countertop, and dropped the chip into the top drawer of the kitchen bench.
“Let's go.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Back in the car, I directed Daniel to drive away from the city, in the direction opposite our old home and Redmeadows Forest. We'd driven about ten kilometres, approaching the hills, when I asked him to turn off onto a dirt road. Without hesitation, Daniel did as instructed. The track wound through thickets of trees and over bluffs until it petered out in front of an outcropping of rock.
“What now?” Alrik inquired from the backseat.
“We walk.”
“I can't help but notice you're still carrying the doctor’s hand,” Daniel pointed out. “They could be tracking us.”
“You're right. But we still need the good doctor to help us out.”
Slinging our bags over our shoulders, we split the load of guns, food, clothing, and bedding between us. It took us over an hour of hiking through the rocky hillside before we came to a halt in front of an overgrown outcropping.
“This is it,” I announced.
“This is what?” Daniel looked around, bewildered. “There's nothing here but rocks and salt bush.”
“There's a door behind the bushes,” I said. “Like a bunker door. It leads to tunnels that’ll take us under the dome, to the outside.”
“Are you sure about this? About leaving the dome, I mean? Can you guarantee we're not going to die?”
“I can't guarantee it. What I can guarantee is that we can’t stay in here. We will be hunted and found, and then? More experiments, or simply death. I'd prefer to face my death on my own terms, wouldn't you?” I crossed my arms and looked at him pointedly.
