Page 47

“I’m not going to beat around the bush. We don’t have time for that, so I’ll get straight to the point. I need to know how to open the doors to Calico.”

Spinning around, he clears his throat and scans the room. “Hang on … ah, here it is.” He crosses the room, coming to a stop in front of a liquor cabinet, from where he removes a decanter and pours amber fluid into a glass. “Anyone else need a drink?” Tipping it back, he doesn’t let a drop go to waste before filling the glass again. “Sorry, I just …. I thought I heard you say you wanted to break into Calico.”

“I did.”

Again, he tips back the drink, this time squinting as though the taste of it is more bitter than the last one. “Wren, I … give you a lot of credit for being intelligent. Hell, half the girls here can’t read. But I have to tell you, that is the dumbest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Perhaps.” A quick glance over my shoulder shows Six standing in the corner, and I try not to look smug. “But it’s a necessity.”

“Lets just start with the logistics first. If I knew how to get inside, the conditions in that place would probably be dangerously toxic. I mean, the gasses given off by some of the tanks in the lab have probably displaced most of the oxygen in there at this point.” He pours another glass, tipping it back a third time, and I watch the bob of his throat when he swallows. “Then let’s just take that factor out all together. You have shit under pressure, just waiting to explode. One bullet. One accidental bump, and kaboom! The whole fucking place goes up in flames. But we won’t even think about that yet. Because the biggest fucking issue is the mutations. Monsters the likes of which you’ve never seen before. Who haven’t eaten in weeks. Sure, the carcasses have provided nourishment, but by now, they’re probably nothing but bones, licked clean.” He rubs a hand down his face and shakes his head. “So, I’ll ask you … have you lost your fucking mind?”

“I’m pregnant, Gregor. By an Alpha. My odds of surviving are--”

“Zero,” he interrupts. “There have been no survivors, as I understand.”

“Then, you can appreciate my urgency.”

“For what? What, in God’s name, is worth venturing into the bowels of hell?”

“The cure. It’s believed to be somewhere in the underground lab.”

“Believed to be. Did you hear yourself just now? You don’t even know if it actually exists, and yet, you’re willing to risk all of your lives for a theory?”

I can’t even answer his question, because logic would have me agreeing with him. It’s only my promise to Six that has me shaking my head. “It’s not right that it remains locked away while so many suffer.”

“You don’t even know if it’s still intact.”

“It’s still intact.” The foreign voice comes from behind, and I turn to see another man who looks of equal age to Gregor, given the grays and wrinkles.

“Allow me to introduce a good friend of mine. Jed Kaiser. Lead researcher. Eavesdropper. Art connoisseur. Asshole.”

“You forgot lover.”

Gregor’s eye flinches at the word, one I suspect he’s had to keep under wraps, for fear of castigation. In a world where women are scarce, homosexuality is surprisingly unheard of--on this side of the wall, anyway, but that’s mostly due to the punishments two men would suffer if they were ever found out. I’ve heard of stonings in Szolen, though thankfully I’ve never witnessed them myself.

“You’re a doctor for Calico?” After Papa, I try not to regard all the doctors with the same contempt, particularly ones so bold as to break the rules.

“Was. I led the research in the early days, when the underground lab was thriving. Calico is no place for a curious mind.”

“They kicked you out?”

“I quit! Wasn’t interested in their methods, so I retreated from the science and picked up pottery instead.” He tips his head with an arrogant sort of smile. “I am quite the potter.”

“Jed, my friends here are trying to break into Calico and retrieve those samples. Perhaps you can tell them how crazy an idea that is,” Gregor says, keeping his gaze on me.

“Very. In fact, I’d have to wonder about the state of mind of anyone willing to face the perils of going inside.” He steps around Gregor, who wears a smug grin, and places his hand on the man’s shoulder. “And yet, I’m intrigued. Whatever would possess you to do it?”

Rolling his shoulders, Gregor groans and brushes Jed’s hand away. “Perhaps you missed the part in your eavesdropping where she said she was pregnant by an Alpha?”

“Ah. That is a tragedy. And I suppose just cause to do something stupid. What else have you got to lose?”

“Is there any way of saving her life without doing something stupid?” At the sound of Six’s voice, I don’t bother to turn around. I already know the mockery is boiling his blood, by the tone of his voice.

“You must be the father.” Voice laced with amusement, Jed smiles back at him.

“I am.”

“If you’re inquiring whether aborting the baby will save her, or not, you can rest easy knowing it will not. Right now her body is scrambling to fight off the Alpha gene you’ve introduced into her virgin blood. By that, I obviously mean non-immune. Her body isn’t equipped for the proteins given off by that gene. Even if you eliminate the fetus, the particles remain in her bloodstream.”