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Before she could let herself think about what she was about to do, she jumped from the bed and snatched the scalpel from the tray nearby.
THIRTY-ONE
Dr. Navang’s face paled, and he backed away.
The nurse held her hands out and approached Renna. “Just get back into bed, dear. It’s the drugs making you do this,” she said soothingly.
Renna shook her head. “Nope. This is all me.” She stalked toward the doctor. He stumbled backward as she approached, his long legs looking oddly like a spider’s as he tripped and scuttled away from her. When his back hit the wall, Renna pressed the blade of the scalpel to his neck.
“Tell me what’s going to happen.”
“I don’t know.” Navang’s voice wavered, and he glanced at the nurse.
“No. Look at me.” She yanked his chin so he was forced to meet her furious gaze. “What is going to happen?”
A trickle of sweat ran down Navang’s cheek. “The drug we gave you has destroyed your antibodies and replaced them with Myka’s. It’s also begun to break down the neural connections between your implant and your nervous system. Once the process is complete, the technology will begin to fuse with you. It will grow and connect in ways we can’t even imagine.”
“Right. I got that. Then what?” The scalpel trembled in her hand, and she gripped it tighter, trying to steady it.
Navang shook his head. “I don’t think you understand. The drug we injected you with is destroying your immune system. If the process isn’t kept in check, your implant will take over your entire body. Or it will fail completely. Either way, you’ll die.”
Renna lowered her hand and blinked at him. Each breath she took felt like it was on fire. “How do I stop it? Reverse it?” she demanded. “There has to be a way to fix this!”
“We can keep your immune system working and the implant from being rejected, but you’ll need a steady dose of the drug I developed. Once you’ve stabilized, any disruption in the protocol could cause the implant to fail or your organs to shut down.”
Renna’s voice trembled as she brought the edge back up to his neck. “You mean I have to take those drugs for the rest of my life now?”
He swallowed, the scalpel nicking his Adam’s apple as it bobbed. A small bead of blood welled to the surface of his pasty skin. “Possibly. Or the implant could stabilize. It’s hard to say since it was already installed in you when we started the process. Your body may already have accepted it. We had a sixty-five percent acceptance rate in most of our subjects.”
“How would I know if my implant is failing?”
His eyes lit up. “You’d know. There would be tremors and headaches. You might feel like you’re coming down with the flu or catching a cold. And then your muscles would go stiff. Eventually you’d lose your sight before your brain shut down. It depends on your body. It’s a fascinating process.”
“Fuck you.”
She drew her arm back and punched him, throwing her entire weight into the swing. His head crashed back into the wall with a thunk. Blood streamed from his nose and splashed down the front of his white jacket. With one last whimper, he slid to the floor.
The nurse gasped and turned to flee the room.
“Not so fast.” Renna gestured with the scalpel. “You’re going to help me or this man is dead.”
The nurse stopped just feet from the door.
“Pick up the restraints,” Renna ordered.
The nurse glared at her, but moved to the bed and removed the restraints.
“Now bind his hands. Hurry up.” Renna brandished her weapon again when the woman looked like she was going to protest. Her muscles were turning to rubber, and the headache Navang had warned her about already throbbed behind her eyes. She needed to get out of here.
The nurse obeyed, but Navang didn’t put up a struggle. He whimpered as the tears mixed with the blood on his face.
“Hook the restraints to the metal bar,” Renna said. “Then get the other ones from the foot of the bed.” She leaned against the counter and tried to look bored while she inspected the rest of the machines.
Where was Viktis? Had they captured him, too?
When the nurse had tied herself to another bar across the room, Renna crouched in front of Navang. “I need answers, Doc. Or you’re not going to like what happens.”
He shook his head, blood splattering onto the white front of his lab coat. “You wouldn’t. You don’t have it in you.”
“You should know enough about me to know I’m telling the truth. You’ve hurt my friends, and you’ve f**ked up my life. I don’t have much left to lose.” A quiet life on Paradisio Prime was certainly out of the picture now. Her stomach churned as she thought about Finn.
Her hand shook, and she let the scalpel slide down his cheek, just deep enough to scratch. “Did you know I grew up in the Izan Tenements on Old-Earth?”
His eyes widened, and he shook his head.
“I see you’ve heard of them. Then you’ll realize I have no problem gutting you like a frakking fish. Now tell me where my partner is. The Ileth who was with me?”
“He—he was being prepped for implantation down the hall. We haven’t tested on aliens before. MYTH wanted to stick with humans until the process was perfected.” The man’s gaze darted toward the door as if help were just beyond.
Renna’s heart constricted, but she forced herself to stay calm. To not shove the scalpel through his damn eye. “Tell me who’s behind all of this. The people in MYTH that I know would never agree to this kind of thing.”
The doctor shook his head. “I never saw more than a holovid. The person called himself Pallas, but I know that wasn’t his real name.”
“How high up does this go? Tell me.” She bent down to get in his face, making sure the scalpel never left his field of vision.
“I…I don’t know. I got the impression he was fairly important, but he didn’t have unlimited resources for this project and he was adamant we keep it secret from the other MYTH agencies. He didn’t want them to know what was going on.”
“A splinter cell?”
The doctor nodded. “That was my guess. I usually worked through one of his men—a Major Larson.”
Her chest tightened. Larson was part of this? Who else was involved? If what Navang said was true, she couldn’t trust anyone at MYTH with Myka. He was still at risk. Even if Navang was out of the way, Larson and his boss could start up the experiments again if they had the boy.
