Chapter 12 - THE LAB UNDER HALCYON
Graham raised both hands.
“Where are the boys?”
“Safe.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Marcus stepped closer.
Age had changed him.
More silver.
Deeper lines.
But the eyes were the same.
Brilliant.
Certain.
Dangerous.
“You always thought disbelief was intelligence,” Marcus said.
“And you always thought intelligence was permission.”
Marcus smiled sadly.
“We made quite a team.”
“You experimented on babies.”
“We tried to end human suffering.”
“You changed consent forms.”
“We moved faster than regulators.”
“Anna called that a crime.”
“Anna became emotional.”
Graham laughed.
“Her child disappeared in your program.”
Marcus’s smile vanished.
“Subject E-01 died.”
“You mean her daughter.”
Marcus looked away.
That told Graham everything.
“She didn’t die, did she?”
Marcus said nothing.
Graham stepped closer.
“What happened to Anna’s first baby?”
A long silence.
Then Marcus whispered, “She survived for eleven days.”
Graham felt rage climb his throat.
“And you never told Anna.”
“We needed data.”
Graham swung the cane.
It hit Marcus across the face.
Guards grabbed Graham.
Marcus stumbled backward, blood on his lip.
For a second he looked shocked.
Then angry.
Then ashamed.
“Get him downstairs.”
They dragged Graham through secured doors.
Below Halcyon was another world.
No windows.
White walls.
Locked rooms.
Machines humming.
A place built to look clean enough to hide dirty things.
They threw Graham into a laboratory.
Danny and Eli were there behind glass.
Danny slammed his fists against it.
“Graham!”
Eli hugged him.
Graham looked around.
Claire stood at the opposite end beside a hospital bed.
She had been captured too.
On the bed lay Sophia Vale.
Seventeen.
Thin.
Bald from treatment.
Awake.
Her eyes were tired but sharp.
She looked at Marcus.
“Dad.”
Marcus rushed to her.
“You shouldn’t be awake.”
“What are you doing?”
“Saving you.”
Sophia looked through the glass at Danny and Eli.
“Who are they?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Claire did.
“Family.”
Sophia looked at Graham.
Then at her father.
“Where’s the baby?”
Marcus stiffened.
Sophia understood.
“No.”
“Sophie—”
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
Marcus grabbed her hand.
“You’re dying.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“I have watched you throw up every morning for ten months. I watched you forget your own birthday after radiation. I watched you stop making plans because nobody wanted to say the word terminal.”
Sophia began crying.
“So you’re going to kill a baby?”
Marcus’s voice cracked.
“My baby too.”
“That makes it worse!”
Silence.
Graham watched Marcus crumble for half a second.
Then the scientist returned.
“We don’t know that Rose will die.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Yes, you do.”
Marcus turned.
“You read Anna’s files?”
“I read yours.”
His face changed.
Claire had hit something.
“What did you find?” Graham asked.
Claire looked at Marcus.
“The survival estimates.”
Danny stopped pounding the glass.
Claire continued.
“If Rose takes Sophia’s cancer, there is a ninety-two percent probability Rose dies within six hours.”
Sophia stared at her father.
“Is that true?”
Marcus couldn’t look at her.
“Dad.”
Nothing.
Sophia pulled her hand away.
“You knew.”
Marcus whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Sophia slapped him.
Weakly.
But hard enough.
Marcus closed his eyes.
An alarm suddenly sounded.
Cal’s voice came through Graham’s hidden earpiece.
“West wing compromised. I found the control room.”
Graham smiled.
Marcus noticed.
“What?”
The lights flickered.
The glass door holding Danny and Eli unlocked.
Danny grabbed Eli.
“Run!”
Guards moved.
Graham drove his cane into one guard’s knee.
Claire threw a steel tray at another.
Chaos exploded.
Danny reached Graham.
“Where’s Rose?”
“Safe.”
Then Marcus pulled a gun.
Everyone froze.
He pointed it at Graham.
“No more.”
Sophia whispered, “Dad.”
Marcus’s hand shook.
“I’m not losing her.”
Graham stared at him.
“You already did.”
Marcus turned toward Sophia.
She was looking at him like a stranger.
Then a guard rushed in carrying Rose.
Maya screamed from the hallway behind him.
Danny’s face went white.
“No!”
Marcus looked at the baby.
Everything else disappeared from his face.
Hope.
Madness.
Love.
Terror.
May you like
He lowered the gun.
“Bring her to Sophia.”
