by Karen Carr
I’m trapped. I have to channel my mother. I’m a good doctor.
“Yes,” I say.
I smooth out my lab coat, to make myself look more impressive and to give myself time to think.
“I’m helping out Regulator Krish with some menial tasks, you know. Washing test tubes. Shaving monkeys.”
The brown-haired woman frowns. I am not channeling my mother. I’m channeling a sixteen year old pretending to be a scientist.
“Those poor monkeys,” the woman says.
I did it. I didn’t blow my cover. This gives me confidence. I get her to talk more about the experiments in the pavilion.
She tells me the monkeys have genetically modified DNA either to stop them from reproducing or to shorten their life span. The scientists changed their DNA to damage their organs so that they die faster. Regulator Krish wants to end immortality.
“He dissects those poor little things,” the scientist says. “He says it’s the only way to see how their organs are degenerating. I don’t know why he doesn’t use the virtual surgery pod. I guess he likes to work with his hands. That poor boy. Every morning he’s stuck in the virtual pod. What if Krish ever tries to turn his scalpel on him?”
My hands go numb. Virtual surgeries. The boy in the lab. Burke disappears every morning. Nurse Smith knows him well.
“The boy with blond hair?” I ask.
“You’ve seen him too?” she gulps. “Can you believe Krish wants to harvest his organs? I overheard him talking about it. There is something very special about that boy. My guess is that it has something to do with dying. Do you know?”
I shake my head. I can’t talk. I want to get out. I want to get to Burke. My legs are numb.
“I have to go now,” I say.
I back out of the lab and scurry down the stairs as fast as my bruised ribs will let me go. I ditch the lab coat in the garbage just as my classmates are exiting the glass-walled lab. I open the door to the nearby bathroom and pretend to be coming out of it as Professor Hammerschmidt spots me.
“A little sick, are you Aria?” he asks.
I nod and wipe my mouth. “More than a little,” I say.
After the tour of the lab, Professor Hammerschmidt sets us free. I want to get as far away from the Mothers Aide Research Pavilion as possible. I want to tell everything I heard to Vanessa and Mateo.
I yank Mateo and Vanessa along by the elbows to get away from the rest of the class and out of the science building.
“Stop pinching me,” Vanessa says. “I can’t go that fast.”
We pass a bunch of pearl and sapphire uniformed joggers as we approach the center of campus and keep going.
“Slow down,” Mateo says. “Vanessa can’t keep up.”
“We need to be out of ear shot,” I say.
Vanessa collapses on a bench in the center of campus and holds her side.
“Have you forgotten we’re injured,” she says between short breaths.
“I have,” I say. This is so important that I forgot all about my ribs.
“What’s wrong with you?” Mateo asks. “You’re acting like you saw a ghost. Was it all those monkeys?”
“There are too many people here,” I say. The campus is teeming with kids going to and from class.
“I can’t go on anymore,” Vanessa says. “I can’t breathe.”
“You better tell us now,” Mateo says. “Nobody’s going to listen to a bunch of first weeks gossiping on a bench.”
“Fine,” I say.
I sit down next to Vanessa and pull Mateo down next to me. I tell them everything that happened, from me sneaking into the lab to what the scientist said about Burke.
“We have to find Burke,” I say. “I think his life is in danger.”
“I have stealth next,” Vanessa says. “I can tell him then.”
“No, don’t,” I say. I look around to make sure no one can hear us. “Not in front of your classmates.”
Vanessa rolls her eyes.
“Aria, I’m the only one in the class,” she says. “I’ll tell him when I see him. We only have a few more minutes before class starts. I should get going. It will take me forever to walk over to the stream.”
Mateo helps Vanessa up.
“I’ll walk you over,” Mateo says, “The Hunter cancelled fire so I have some free time.”
We walk the rest of the way across campus, slower this time. Grace meets at the lake, so we drop Vanessa off first. We stand in front of the stream that leads to the thicket where Burke is supposed to be waiting.
“Thanks you guys.” Vanessa says. “I’ll can make it the rest of the way on my own.”
“I’ll go with you,” I say. “I can tell Burke in person.”
Vanessa hesitates, looking across the stream. I get the feeling she doesn’t want me to intrude on her private lesson with Burke.
“He’s not here yet,” Vanessa says.
I put my hands on my hips. “How do you know? I thought you were supposed to meet past the trees. Not even I can see that far into the woods.” I wonder how stealth Vanessa really is.
“We have a signal,” Vanessa says. She points to the tree stump. “If he’s in the woods, he leaves me a bottle of water on that stump. No water. No Burke.”
“Oh,” I say. “I thought you were magic.”
“I am magic,” Vanessa says. She reaches in my jacket pocket and pulls out a small bread knife.
“That’s not mine,” I say.
“I know,” Vanessa says. “I put it there. Magic tricks are a part of stealth.” She grins. “You can add it to your sharp object collection.”
“It’s not very sharp.” I slip the knife back in my pocket and hug Vanessa. She smells like medicine mixed with hot chocolate.
“Stay safe,” I whisper.
“You too,” Vanessa says.
Mateo and I watch Vanessa cross over the stream and disappear into the woods.
“She’s my best friend,” Mateo says as we wait. “I can’t let anyone hurt her again.”
“We won’t,” I say. “We’ll protect her together. I have an idea, Mateo. Come with me. I’m going to get you in grace.”
“Seriously?” Mateo asks.
“Seriously,” I say. “If we learn how to be graceful together, we have a better chance of protecting Vanessa.”
Mateo puts his arm on my shoulder as we walk toward grace.
“I’ve been dying to see those light action bazookas they use in the games. Have you shot one yet?”
“You mean those handheld fireball cannons?” I ask.
Mateo laughs.
“Whatever you want to call them, Aria. Are we going to practice for the games today?”
I shrug my shoulders.
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
Mateo and I walk down the path to grace talking about the games. He’s so excited about firing the cannons and telling Shah that he may be in the games that I can’t get a word in edgewise. For a moment, I feel as if I’m back in high school crossing the field with a new friend. Thinking of being back in school with Vanessa and Mateo makes me smile. Kill School will be over in a few short weeks. I can’t wait.
Vladimir is down by the lake. He’s wearing a heavy parka and a fuzzy hat that makes him look like a walrus—not that I have ever seen a walrus in real life. Priyanka, Mal, and some of the other kids surround Vladimir. When Vladimir sees us, he shakes the others away.
Vladimir greets Mateo and me with open arms. He seems happy to see Mateo, grabs his elbow, and shakes his hand.
“Are we going to have a visitor today?” Vladimir asks.
“I was hoping a more permanent member of our team,” I say.
Vladimir furrows his brow.
“I’ve heard you are a good shot,” Vladimir says to Mateo. “But the Hunter would never let me take you from her.”
Mateo looks down at his feet.
“Tell you what,” Vladimir says. “You come join us today and I’ll speak to the Hunter about train
ing you on the fireball launchers. That’s what you want, right?”
Mateo nods. “Yes, sir. That would be awesome.”
“So we have a deal.” Vladimir extends his hand. “You can play in the games.”
“Fireball launchers,” I say looking at Mateo. “Is that what they are really called?”
“Sure,” Vladimir says. “Maybe we win.” Vladimir shakes Mateo’s hand. “But, today we are going to practice skating.”
Vladimir turns to the rest of the class.
“All of you follow me.”
Vladimir takes us over to a small cabin by the lake and instructs us to go inside to get skates in our size. When I come out with a pair that may fit, Vladimir pulls me aside.
“You think you can skate with that rib?” he asks.
“No,” I say.
Vladimir looks disappointed.
“Well then, you sit down,” he says.
“I mean I’ve never skated before,” I say. “I want to try.”
“Oh, good job,” Vladimir says. “I was worried about your constitution.”
“My constitution is fine,” I say.
Vladimir rolls out a rubber mat five feet wide and thirty feet long across the lake. He instructs the beginners to walk down the rubber mat to get used to our skates. Beginners include Mateo, Tane, Priyanka, and myself.
After we practice balancing on the rubber mat, Vladimir instructs us to step out on the ice, slowly with our arms outstretched like a bird.
So far, I am able to keep my balance without twisting much. It doesn’t feel natural at first, but then my movements become more fluid.
Vladimir skates around us.
“Don’t stiffen your body,” he says. “Bend your knees slightly.”
I try to follow Vladimir’s advice and end up face down on the ice. If the ice weren’t so cold, my ribs would have hated me.
Vladimir helps me up.
“Clench your fist when you fall. You don’t want to lose a finger.”
I take the rest of the class more cautiously and only fall a few more times. By the time class is over, I am optimistic about my chances of learning how to skate.
“You did good,” Vladimir says to me. “Burke was right about you. You’ll have fun on our adventure.” He winks at me.
My mouth drops open. Vladimir and Burke were talking about me?
Mateo catches my arm.
“Come on,” Mateo says. “Let’s go to lunch. I’m starving.”
Not only am I hungry, I want to find out what Vanessa and Burke discussed during stealth. I hope she told him enough for Burke to watch his back around Regulator Krish.
When Mateo, Priyanka, and I enter the dining hall, Vanessa waves us over to a far table by the windows. It’s become our regular table, but she’s the only one of our cabin mates sitting there.
Mateo, Priyanka, and I walk past Demi and Shaw who are sitting with the rest of the quads. We stop to chat with them briefly. Next, we stop by Aisha and Priyanka sits with her and a bunch of unfamiliar kids.
Mateo and I move on after we reassure everyone I am all right and answer questions about Erwin. Yes, he is still in the infirmary. No, he is not dead. Yet.
Finally, Mateo and I arrive at Vanessa’s table and sit down.
Before I can ask Vanessa how stealth went, she blurts out, “He wasn’t there.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“He never showed up,” Vanessa says. “He was sick or something. I don’t know. When I went looking for him, I was sent to another stealth teacher. She didn’t get me at all. It was awful.”
“It will be more awful for Burke if we don’t find him,” I say.
Just then, the Hunter walks into the dining hall with Burke. They are deep in conversation and barely notice anyone else as they walk through the crowd of students getting lunch.
I have to get Burke’s attention.
“Mateo, throw something at him. I’ll miss if I do it.”
Mateo picks up his spoon, puts a chicken ball in it, aims, and shoots Burke in the neck. Bullseye. Burke rubs his neck but doesn’t stop talking to the Hunter. The Hunter however, looks directly at Mateo. She guides Burke over to our table.
“Nice shot,” the Hunter says to Mateo. “Unfortunately you should know better than to use your talents for something as disrespectful as a food fight.”
“I wasn’t trying to start anything,” Mateo says.
Burke glances at us with barely a hint of recognition, as if something important has distracted him. His face looks ashen. I wonder if Nurse Smith and Regulator Krish were conducting medical experiments on him this morning.
After the Hunter leaves, Burke sits in the empty seat next to me and runs his finger through his hair.
“How are the birds?” I ask.
Burke takes one of my chicken balls and chews on it, ignoring my question.
“I missed you in stealth,” Vanessa says.
Burke chews on the chicken. A coat of light red stubble covers his chin and jaw. I watch everyone at our table, waiting for a moment to talk to Burke.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The kids nearest to us finish their lunch and get ready to leave. They are taking their time, dropping silverware and throwing gross napkins at one another. I wish they would hurry up. When they are gone, if I whisper low enough, I can tell Burke about Krish’s lab.
“Did you practice?” Burke asks Vanessa without acknowledging that he was gone.
“Of course I did,” Vanessa says. “I made a whole batch of bland and I even tried the extra spicy too.”
“You’re cooking now?” I ask as I watch the other kids walk away.
Vanessa turns to me. “It’s our code. Bland is not lethal. Extra spicy is.”
“It’s Vanessa’s code,” Burke says.
Vanessa’s code. Water bottles left as secret messages. Burke and Vanessa are close. I’m a little jealous.
I move closer to Burke and tell him everything I discovered in the lab. I make sure I have his attention when I tell him Krish wants to harvest his organs. I breathe a sigh of relief when I am done. I hope that now, Burke will be safe.
Burke shakes his head with a look of concern. For me. Like I am crazy.
“Aria, they’re not going to do that. Kidnap me? Cut open my body and take out my spleen? Seriously? You’ve been listening to gossip.”
I sit back in my chair, defeated.
“Is any of it true?” I ask Burke.
Burke looks from me to Vanessa and then to Mateo.
“You are right about one thing, Aria.” He pauses and looks out the window. “Krish wants my blood.” He turns to me with a blank stare. “I don’t know how else to tell you. I am dying, Aria.”
I choke on my chicken sandwich and then spit out the rest of it in a napkin. Vanessa and Mateo lean in closer, as puzzled by what Burke just said as I am.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
Burke tilts his head and furrows his brow.
“Why Aria, did I make you sick?” He smiles and slowly shakes his head as if he doesn’t believe his own words. “You guessed I was different, didn’t you?”
I suck in a quick breath and cover my mouth. Mateo and Vanessa stare at me, as if they are prompting me to speak.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Tell me what you mean, Burke. No riddles. Out with it. I want to know.”
“We all do,” Vanessa says.
Vanessa grabs Burke’s fingers. I put my hand on top of hers; Mateo puts his on top of mine.
“We all care about you,” I say. “You can’t just tell us you are dying and that Krish wants your blood out in the middle of the dining hall while we’re eating our lunch. You’re supposed to take care of us, not make us loose our appetites.”
“What she said,” Vanessa says. “Tell us what’s wrong with you.”
Burke seems surprised that we all care about him. He pulls his hand out from under ours.
“Alright Aria, calm down
. You, too, Vanessa. Mateo.” He leans in closer to us. “I shouldn’t say anything, but Aria, you are being impossible.” He takes a deep breath. “My blood.”
“What about your blood?” I ask.
“Let me finish,” Burke says. “My DNA. I don’t have the genetic mutation. I am dying like people did thousands of years ago, just like our ancestors did.”
I can’t think of anything to say. I’ve never heard of anyone without the genetic mutation that allows us to live forever. I never expected Burke to be different in so many ways.
“I may live a hundred, maybe two hundred years. Krish wants to monitor me. He doesn’t want to kill me.” He glances at the three of us. “Now please never mention this again. I wouldn’t have told any of you if you hadn’t been in my business. Forget about it, Aria. All of you. Forget about it.”
“Forget about you dying?” I can’t imagine loosing Burke. I feel like I just found him.
Burke pats my hand as if I’m an old woman that needs consolidation.
“You’ll probably die before me,” he says. “Someone may kill you.”
We all finish lunch in more somber moods. Burke tries to cheer us up, but it doesn’t work. What Burke has said about his DNA is both a miracle and a tragedy. I don’t want to think about him dying. But, his DNA. If it’s true. We don’t have to live forever. Maybe this token killing program can end. Maybe we can all die in peace.
My next class is Slice. Jack grabs me on the way out of the dining hall and we walk over to class together. He’s chatting about all sorts of things, taking about the games, about his siblings, how much he likes King Shah.
“King Shah?” I laugh.
“Finally, I got you out of your mood,” Jack says. “You’ve been walking along like I’m a fly buzzing in your ear. An annoying pest.”
“You’re not a pest,” I say. I lean into him warmly. “I’m just distracted by stuff.”
“We all are,” Jack says. “What a crazy place. Kill School. Speaking of killing, slice meets in the gym today.”
I’ve missed a few slice classes and I’m ready to catch up. I didn’t bring my switchblade, my pocketknife, or my pine needle, but I do have my new bread knife. I’m ready to learn how to slice.
