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We entered a small room that held little more than a desk and a chair. The tall, dusky-skinned woman who’d been standing near the desk swung around as we entered, affording me a brief glimpse of male features before the comm unit went dark. The face wasn’t one I recognized, and relief shot through me. I’d half expected it to be Rath Winter. That it wasn’t hopefully meant they didn’t suspect Sharran to be anything more than another test subject; Winter would hardly lead me into the heart of his organization accompanied only by two unarmed men if in any way he suspected otherwise.
The woman gave me a wide, friendly smile. I guess it was supposed to put me at ease, but it did the opposite.
“Sharran, so glad you made it here.” She stuck out her hand. “Janice Harvey. I’ll be your coordinator until you’re fully settled in.”
I somewhat reluctantly shook her hand. Her grip was firm, but not overly so. “No one’s actually told me what the new job entails. I was just escorted up here.”
“Ah yes, sorry about that, but there’s been a few problems and we’ve had to employ strict security conditions for the immediate future. No one goes anywhere without an escort.”
“So that’s what I’m going to be doing? Escorting and guarding people.”
“Of course.” She flashed a smile that seemed totally genuine but had the hairs along the back of my neck rising. “Now, if you’ll just come this way?”
She’s as fake as the guise you’re wearing, Cat commented as I followed the woman. Are you sure you don’t want us to cause a little mayhem?
Not yet. We’ll save it for later.
You may be unconscious later, Bear pointed out.
In which case, I’ll need you to keep me safe while I recover from whatever drug they give me.
Presuming I could recover, of course. After that incident in the tenth-floor foyer, it was entirely possible I’d be affected as badly as everyone else.
The next room held the purification chamber and a comfortable-looking chair. The woman stopped and looked past me. “Gentlemen, please wait outside. Sharran, can you strip? You can place your clothes in the small chute behind you. We’ll get them sanitized and then return them to you.”
Or not, as was more likely the case, given what they were doing to everyone they brought up here. I undressed, then tossed the tunic into the chute. The air in the room was cool, and goose bumps prickled my skin. I rubbed my arms lightly as the woman activated the chamber.
“Right.” The fake smile flashed again as a soft hissing began inside the chamber. “Just step inside so we can clear your flesh of any contaminants—”
“I did have a shower before I came to work today.” I knew it didn’t matter in highly sensitive areas such as labs, but Sharran might not have.
Janice gave me a condescending sort of smile. “Yes, dear, but we have to be totally sure you didn’t pick anything up between your house and here. Even the smallest amount of contaminant in a sterile lab could ruin billions of dollars of research.”
I planned to do a whole lot more than simply ruin their research, but I could hardly say that. I lowered my head slightly so that my hair hid my expression and walked into the chamber. Once the doors at either end had closed, jets of warm, slightly antiseptic-smelling steam hit my flesh. I drew in a clean breath of air, then held it as the slightly noxious gas reached face level. The jets continued to stream air on and around my body; then fans kicked in and the gas—and presumably any contaminants—was sucked out again. The door directly in front of me opened, so I stepped out and released the breath I’d been holding.
Janice flashed me another of those insincere smiles. “Now, if you’ll just sit on the chair, I can give you the injection and you can be on your way.”
I sat as requested and half smiled when I realized the cushion was heated. Nothing like a final piece of comfort for those you were intending to dissect.
As Janice moved across to the sterilizer, I said, Cat, can you tell me the name of the drug she’s about to use?
Cat followed the woman and after a moment said, It says Oxy45.
Which was a synthetic opioid drug similar to morphine, but a thousand times stronger. In its purest form, as little as one drop could kill someone in a matter of minutes, but Oxy45 was mixed with several other drugs that countered the worst of its effects, rendering people unconscious within minutes without causing severe respiratory depression.
It was also an older drug, which meant there was a good chance that I’d either be immune to it or, at the very least, be able to erase it from my system.
I held out my arm and watched as Janice brought up a vein, then injected me. It felt like ice. I frowned and instantly began the process that would drop me into the healing state, but kept enough awareness to be able to move for at least a few more minutes.
“Right,” she said, withdrawing the needle and spraying a sealer over the entry point. “That might initially feel a bit weird, but it won’t last. Just sit there for a few minutes so we can be sure there’s no side effects.”
She glanced at her watch as she moved back to the sterilizer. The ice continued to slide through my veins, but there didn’t seem to be any immediate effect. I certainly wasn’t slipping into unconsciousness, although that didn’t mean the drug wouldn’t affect me. It might just mean it was going to take a bit longer. Cat, Bear, I’m going to close my eyes and chase the drug from my system. I’ll need you to be my eyes. Bring me back if anything untoward happens.
Like the threat of dissection? Bear asked, amused.
Definitely wake me before that. I love you both, but I’m not ready to join you in the afterlife just yet.
Good, Cat said. Because it’d be boring if you were one of us.
