“How’s the air up there?” he asks with an arrogant laugh.
“Just fine until you started blowing so much hot air around,” I answer when reaching the bottom of the ladder.
Balum almost jumps when hearing me answer. He frantically fumbles with his control panel again. After pressing some more buttons, he again looks back at me. Nothing happens. He must have expected something to already have happened.
“What’s the matter, Balum, having trouble with your controls? I understand. Such complex machinery can be vexing for a mind as simple as yours,” I say while cautiously moving past him on my way to the Grinder.
Whatever he was up to, it apparently did not work. From the Grinder, I see him yelling in his helmet. He must have turned his communicator to a private channel since I cannot hear him. Judging by his words and reaction, I think Balum was trying to activate something in my bio-suit. It is a good thing I have been switching them. After he finishes packing the damaged segment into the Grinder, Balum joins me in the cabin.
“What I meant to say was since we’re so far into the detail, their concern no longer matters. Your punishment is almost over. After that, everyone can forget the matter. I didn’t mean to sound insulting,” he explains meekly.
“It’s not even close to complete. I have another detail to do after this one. But I appreciate the explanation,” I tell him.
Though I do not believe a word he says, playing along for now is the better option. One of the Controllers informs us the next Solar Panel we need to work on is nearby, so I drive the Grinder in the given direction. Once there, we unload the tools to repeat the same process. This time I decide to keep Balum behind me while going up the ladder and close below me going down. This way he cannot cause me to fall without being in danger of being taken down with me.
We climb the ladder, and for once, Balum stays silent. The quiet is a nice change, but his uncharacteristic behavior makes me worry at the same time. He avoids eye contact with me as we remove another segment. This time when he finishes setting up the wires to accept the replacement segment, he forgets to retract the working arms before he lowers the tool. I move to the side to give him enough room to set the tool down, while continuing to hold the loose segment in place. As I do, my left sleeve is pulled. My eyes dart toward the tugging sensation in time to see his tool has clamped onto the sleeve of my bio-suit, with its cutting function beginning to engage.
In a panic, I drop the segment. It crashes to the platform, striking Balum and I while ripping my arm free of the tool. We are both knocked off of our feet. If it were not for the safety strap, Balum would have gone over the edge.
Before I have a chance to assess my bio-suit for damage, red lights flash inside my helmet and a warning alarm sounds. The words appear in front of me on a display projected onto my visor: Warning, bio-suit breach. Left arm compartment compromised.
My entire body tingles with disbelief. How did I not see this coming? I reach for my control panel and activate the tourniquet function to seal my arm off from the inner suit. The pain from the tourniquet collapsing around my upper arm nearly causes me to crumble back to the floor.
If I get back into the decontamination chamber in time, there is a slim chance to save my arm from amputation. That is, unless the tool has cut through the skin or if I hesitated to long to activate it. The lack of blood flow already numbs my entire arm, making it impossible for me to feel if the tool broke my skin. I look for a laceration but although the bio-suit is compromised, the thick insulating layer is intact enough to hide my underlying skin. Everything feels surreal with the blinking lights in my helmet and numbness of my arm making the extremity feel like it is no longer a part of me.
I force myself to stop analyzing my situation. None of this will matter unless I get back into the decontamination chamber immediately. Even if the compartmentalizing function was successful, the official Securus protocol gives a specific time limit to allow reentry after a breach. If I take too long to get inside the decontamination chamber, the infectious risk becomes too high, and my reentry will be denied.
I get up and streak to the stairs. Turning around to get onto the ladder leaves me face to face with Balum, who now stares at me with a savage anger in his eyes. Without a word, he lunges at me. I unhook my safety strap and glide down the stairs as fast as possible, barely in time to avoid his grasp.
I moving as fast as my limbs will allow, but even that is too slow. Needed to increase my speed, I lean toward the left and grip the rail tightly with my good hand while placing both feet on the outside edges of the ladder. The change of position leaves me falling in a controlled slide down the ladder. The metal ladder burns into the soles of my shoes on the way down. I hope grinding against the metal does not tear all the way through my shoes and compromise another compartment.
Just before reaching the bottom, I tense my grips to slow my motion down to a safe speed. Still, the force of my landing is harsh enough to collapse me to the ground. Through the blaring warning signs on my inner visor, I see Balum coming down the ladder after me. I get up and sprint to the Grinder without looking back.
The warning in my helmet has not changed. That means the descent did not cause another breach. Once inside my Grinder, I speed off toward the exit hatch. In my panic, I could only hear the alert from the bio-suit and have been oblivious to the Controllers screaming through my communicator.
“Kagen, what happened? We need you in the decontamination chamber now!” the frantic voice repeats over and over.
“I’m on my way,” I finally answer when the voice penetrates my concentration. The glare of the alarms obscures my vision, making it even harder than normal to drive the Grinder.
“You have sixty seconds before the lockout protocol is engaged,” Aamon says calmly into the communicator.
The hill covering the bunker lies directly in front of me. There is not enough time. I slam the accelerator to the floor. The Grinder’s engines release a high pitched squeal as the machine taps into its maximum power output while climbing the back side of the hill. If I am to make it in time, my only option is to go over the bunker instead of around it. I veer off to the left side of the hill, hoping the drop will be lower there than directly over the top.
The squeal of the engines reaches an even higher pitch as the wheels pass the edge of the cliff. I am airborne. My stomach becomes weightless. My flight through the air feels like it goes on for an eternity before gravity finally takes hold, pulling my Grinder crashing into the ground, nose first. The machine lurches forward, threatening to flip over before falling backwards, coming to a rest. The sudden stop slams my head into the control panel. My vision explodes with a brief flash of an intense white light. The pain does not matter because my Grinder has landed right side up, exactly where I was aiming.
The pain and lightheadedness slow my movement while disconnecting my safety restraints. I fall out of the Grinder. A black shroud now shields my vision as Aamon counts down the remaining time in my ear.
“Ten, nine, eight…,” he says with a detached, rhythmic cadence.
My hand grabs on to the edge of the exit hatch.
“Six, five, four…”
I pull the hatch open and fall inside just as Aamon finishes his countdown. Somehow, I manage to twist in mid-air, landing squarely on my back. Surprisingly, at this moment I feel no pain. Only a euphoric tingling swims through my body. I made it back and somehow am still alive. Like everything else, this does not last long. The pain soon creeps through me. I crawl into the decontamination chamber and activate it, unable to lift myself from the floor. This is the first time I have ever been relieved to see the fog of the chamber engulf me.
My consciousness threatens to slip away. I need to make sure everyone knows what really happened in case I pass out. I set my communicator to broadcast on all channels. “Balum tried to kill me!”
When the fog recedes, I again try to get up, but am forced back down by a team of Leadership personnel. Among them I see Tr
ent. He has a vaccination gun in his hand. Great, I escape The Agent only to be delivered to another monster, I think to myself. Knowing what the gun contains, I lash out at the men, fighting to free myself from their grips. My efforts prove futile. I cannot escape them or Trent’s injection.
“This is an antiviral medication. It’s of limited use against The Agent, but it’s better than nothing,” Trent yells as he injects the poison into my arm.
It is too late to fight now. With the injection, my fate has been sealed. I stop resisting. My head falls to the side. By the wall I see the same metallic case Trent used to carry the new virus to his other victims. Maybe I will be as lucky as Delvin. As the Leadership team detaches my bio-suit and moves me to the isolation room, I think of everyone I will be leaving behind. Maybe they can do what I could not. Maybe they will be able to set things right. My biggest fear is they might follow me to the same fate. I cling to my last shred of hope as the darkness completely envelopes my sight, stealing my consciousness.
*
A faint sound pierces through the rigid silence. A mechanical chirp rings louder and louder, echoing within my growing consciousness. It comes slow and steady. The sound is familiar, but I cannot place it. The rhythmic chirp continues. Slowly, I realize its source. The sound comes from a monitor announcing my heartbeat. I normally do not leave the function on because the incessant chirping can be irritating, but now it is one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. This means I am alive. When everything turned dark, I did not expect to ever wake up again. With my mind beginning to clear, more questions come. How long I was unconscious? Where am I now?
I open my eyes, but only see the blur of a single bright light overhead. The glare of the light hurts my eyes, adding to the intense throbbing that flows through my head and body. I attempt to get up, but my movements are restricted by the straps holding me against the gurney. Slowly, my vision clears. I recognize my surroundings as one of the isolation rooms. I could not have been out for a long time otherwise they would have transferred me to the infirmary by now. I struggle against my aching body and the bonds holding me in place. The chirping monitor increases as my pulse hastens from the agitation. Struggling is of no use. These straps are designed for this very purpose. I am at the mercy of my captor.
In the end, getting away would not even matter since Trent already injected me with his new virus. It is only a matter of time before I succumb to the disease. Or did my body fight the virus off, and I am awakening from the delirium as Delvin did? Does my body ache from the crash in the Grinder and my fall into Securus, or is my pain the result of a prolonged fight with the virus?
I scan the room, searching for some clue or answer. The only thing visible, other than the blinding light above me, is the blank steel walls. When straining to look behind me, I catch a glimpse of a window in the fringes of my peripheral vision. I angle my head for a better look, but cannot move far enough. My movements are too restricted to see anything.
“It’s about time you woke up.” A soothing voice calls from a speaker perched near the light. It takes me a few seconds to recognize its source. The voice belongs to Rana.
“Rana, what’s going on and why am I tied down?” I call out to the speaker.
“That’s more for our protection than yours. When you first got back in, you were attacking everyone around you. Trent’s nose will never look the same,” she says, not able to mask her amusement even through the speaker.
“How long have I been in here?” I ask.
“It’s only been a few hours. That’s long enough to get your blood tests back. You managed to escape The Agent,” she says cheerfully. “Give me a second, I’ll have someone come in and release your restraints.”
“Tell them to hurry, these things are driving me crazy,” I shout back. “By the way, why are you here and not Trent? Not that I mind.”
“When I heard what was going on, I insisted on being involved with your care. Plus, Trent did not take the pain of his deformed nose well. After I set the fracture, he took a handful of painkillers before going to his quarters,” Rana explains. “We can talk more when we get you out of there.”
The door opens and footsteps approach. Rana’s helper silently loosens the restraints. Then without explanation, the helper stops. I get an uneasy feeling that this could be one of Aamon’s men getting ready to attack. I brace myself for whatever pain is coming. Instead, I feel a soft hand against my cheek as the helper leans over and looks into my eyes.
“I’m not sure if I should keep you here as punishment for not telling me everything right away,” Talia says with her mischievous smile.
I smile back while looking into her caring eyes. With the bright light above, she looks as though she is glowing. She is an angel coming to set me free. Before I am completely lost in the grace of her beauty, a realization grabs my attention. Mr. Vaden would also have to be aware of everything that happened by now.
“How did you convince your father to let you in here?” I ask.
“I didn’t ask him, I told him I was coming,” Talia answers as she releases the last of the restraints.
When my arm is free I hold it up, inspecting it for damage. The whole thing remains partially numb, but there are no lacerations from the incident. More importantly, my arm has not been amputated. As I sit up the room spins, making me sick to my stomach.
“You have a concussion, but there’s no skull fracture or intracranial bleeding,” Rana reassures me as she joins us in the room. “All of your blood tests came out negative as well. So, other than a slew of sprains and muscular injures, you’re doing quite well.”
“How am I okay? I saw Trent inject me with the vaccination gun. I should be infected by now,” I ask Rana.
“He injected you with the gun I placed into his case. It contained a small amount of saline, so all he did was improve your hydration some,” she answers.
Neither Talia nor Rana are smiling. They are both troubled by something they are keeping from me. It is fitting for me to be in this situation when I have been on the other side of this encounter so often recently. The frustration makes me realize I have been torturing Arluin like this for too long. I remind myself to tell him the entire truth the next time I see him.
“What are you two not telling me?” I ask suspiciously.
“That’ll have to wait,” Talia answers firmly.
“Since your tests were negative, you’re no longer confined to the isolation room. I’ve informed Leadership that we’ll be transferring you down to the infirmary for a few more tests,” Rana says.
That is good news. In the infirmary my surroundings will be familiar and the people I trust will be nearby. I grab the edge of the gurney to get up, but Rana stops me. She insists I be wheeled down to the infirmary for my safety. Either she has a concern she has not yet mentioned, or this is part of her ruse to get me out of the isolation room. Regardless of the reason, I know better than to fight her.
When we arrive to the infirmary, I am wheeled into Rana’s exam room instead of mine or the intensive care unit. Her choice confuses me because this room is less equipped for additional testing than the others are. They leave me alone and walk back to the intensive care unit to get the equipment Rana needs. After a brief span alone, the door jolts open. Unfortunately, neither Rana nor Talia walks in.
Chapter 26
“Kesia, what’re you doing here?” I ask. She is definitely not a person I want to see right now.
“I heard you were injured, and wanted to see how you were doing. You look a lot better than I expected,” she says enthusiastically.
I have no more patience for her deceit. Not with everything that has happened in these past few days. I do not even attempt to come up with an excuse to get her to leave because she is too persistent to be dismissed so easily. Instead, I decide on a far less subtle tactic.
“Hey, something interesting happened,” I say as she looks on, anxiously awaiting my next words. “I ran into you father the other day. No
t quite what I was expecting, you know, given that he’s a little different than you described him.”
She looks at me with surprise and horror in her eyes. “I can explain,” she pleads, hoping to salvage her lie.
“Don’t bother. I’m growing weary of Aamon’s little games. Tell him I know you’re working for him and that he should be man enough to do his own dirty work,” I say, not hiding my contempt for the both of them.
Kesia relaxes and an arrogant smile creeps into the corner of her lip. She no longer looks like the eager but insecure helper I have become used to. Now she looks a lot like Aamon; calculating, pompous, and self-serving.
“Well, I was tired of pretending to be your admiring understudy anyway,” she says. “Now I can move on to better things.”
“As long as your moving takes you out of this room, that’s fine with me,” I say dismissively.
She rolls her eyes and walks away. Even if Aamon knows I have uncovered this part of his ruse, he does not have any clue to the extent of my discoveries. But at least this rids me of one annoyance. Now I can wait in peace for Rana and Talia to return to tell me what is bothering them. Not long after Kesia leaves, the door to the exam room opens again. This time Talia and Rana come in.
“Why are we in this room instead of one of the others?” I ask when the door is closed.
“Because we need to talk,” Talia answers.
“And we know it’s safe, otherwise Trent would’ve known about vaccination gun switch, and you wouldn’t be here in the first place,” Rana adds.
“You finished analyzing the contents in the other guns. I was right, wasn’t I? He thought he was infecting me with that virus,” I say to Talia.
“Yes and no. He was trying to kill you, but not with the new virus. One of the vaccination guns did have the virus inside, but the other didn’t. Trent thought he was injecting you with The Agent,” Talia answers with her voice falling to a whisper.
The Death Detail (The Securus Trilogy Book 1) Page 24
