Page 73 of Healing Creek
When they told Feeona she was staying locked up, Feeona responded with a laugh. “Oh goody, a bed all to myself.”
There was an answering snort from one of the other rooms.
When Grace stepped out of the room, she looked at the small opening in the other doors. Creek’s brown eyes looked back at her. That look gave her strength. He was alive and well. She turned to the guard nearest to her and indicated the Arena Dogs with a jerk of her head. “What are you going to do with them?”
“After the doc gets a fresh round of blood and tissue samples, they’re going back to Roma for the breeding program.”
Her stomach clenched. She was not letting that happen. No way. Creek was hers. But she said nothing. Just walked up the stairs and left her love locked behind that door. She would make sure he didn’t stay there for long.
The guards led them to the lab where a gray-haired woman in a lab coat waited. She looked more like a grandmother than an evil scientist, but the guards had beaten her sister on this woman’s order.
“Good morning. I hope you were able to get some rest. We have a busy day ahead.” She rubbed her hands together in anticipation.
Jennifer crossed her arms and faced off with the scientist. “Bianca, you have to accept that this research isn’t going anywhere.”
“I doubt you’d be willing to give up so easily if you were working on your own.” Smith’s tone remained calm and even cheerful. “Now, Grace, let’s start with you.” She patted a stool to indicate Grace should sit.
All four guards remained in the room and Grace had no doubt they would physically restrain her if she didn’t cooperate. “Sure. Why not?” She walked over to the stool and slid onto the seat.
An auto-syringe was laid out on the adjacent table, ready to take a sample of Grace’s blood. There was even a small cup of juice there for after. How thoughtful.
Smith reached for the syringe. “Push your sleeve up.”
Grace did as she was told and put out her arm. It was a painless process she’d been through thousands of times, but always with one of her family members performing it. As her blood filled the small collection tube, she looked around the lab. It was clean and organized with all the latest equipment. Her gaze landed on a terminal across the room. A familiar shape lay on the counter between a thermal cycler and a centrifuge—Bug. She kept her glance quick and sweeping. She didn’t want to call attention to Feeona’s miniature remote access drone, and she needed to verify one thing before they set their plan into motion. She allowed her glance to linger over a corner of the lab with a workstation set up for DNA extraction, with a hood and supply cabinet right where Jennifer said they would be. There was no lock on the cabinet.
“There we go.” Smith capped off the last collection tube and pressed a sealer pad over the tiny dot of blood on Grace’s arm. “I can’t wait to get a look at this.” Smith indicated the blood.
Grace pulled down her sleeve. “This place is just perfect for the work that needs to be done.”
Smith laughed. “It isn’t much for comforts, but it is as well-equipped as my lab back home. Frankly, I’m looking forward to getting back there.”
A chime sounded and the terminal screen across the room lit up.
Smith’s attention was drawn to the terminal, and she headed over to read the incoming message Feeona had faked, informing her there was a secure message coming in on the com unit.
Grace eyed her sister, who had started to shake. Her back to the guards, she silentlymouthedyou can do this.
Smith made a humph of surprise and headed for the door to her office. She looked into the retina scan and the door slid open. It was a stupid security measure, but the point had just been to get her out of the room. As the door slid shut behind her, Grace got up and brushed past her sister, heading for the supply cabinet. Jennifer grabbed the blood samples from the counter where Smith had left them and screamed. She charged the guards who were conveniently clumped at the door.
The glass vials smashed on the floor and her sister screamed hysterically at the guards. Grace flung open the cabinet and searched for the phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol and denaturing detergents. Every good genetics lab had a supply for separating DNA from proteins and other cellular components. Her sister was still screaming across the room, but footsteps sounded close behind her. She grabbed a handful of the small containers and turned.
One of the guards stood in front of her. Damn, in her plan they were all distracted by her sister. She lifted her right hand as if to show him her treasure and when he looked…she took a swing at him with her left. She connected with his nose to the satisfying sound of a crunch and followed it up with a kick to the groin. He doubled over and clutched at it, likely more from shock than the pain.
The next thing Grace did was one of her harder tricks. Especially with her medi-bots not at full strength. She stopped breathing. The medi-bots made her lungs more efficient, and she could hold her breath longer than the average person.
Grace threw the glass containers at the ground. Lovely, breakable glass—still used in laboratories for volatile compounds. The guard started coughing immediately. He was trying to talk but couldn’t get the words out. She imagined he was trying to say something likewhat are these noxious fumes. He was too busy choking to stop her from grabbing the rest of the box of containers and taking it with her as she moved to the guards holding her fighting sister. The commotion had drawn the attention of the guards still downstairs as well as Dr. Smith. They were all rushing to the same spot where Jennifer screamed and Grace’s blood dirtied the floor as the guards stepped in it.
When she reached them, she threw the rest of the containers onto the floor at the guards’ feet. Smith started shouting orders. They all had guns but none of them saw Grace or her sister as enough of a threat to shoot them. And none of them saw Bug buzz over their heads and down into the basement.
They were all coughing and blinking watery eyes. Grace’s eyes were starting to sting now, too. She could stop breathing but she hadn’t thought to protect her eyes. One man grabbed her arm. That was okay. She’d done her part. The rest was up to Feeona. How long would it take her to hack at least one of the locks downstairs? Would the guards in the dormitory building hear the commotion and if they did, how long would it take them to respond.
Jennifer’s screaming stopped as she could no longer get enough breath through her burning throat. A roar sounded from the basement stairs and the Arena Dogs were suddenly there. Grace blinked back tears, trying to see without success.
She heard grunts and breaking bones. The grip on her arm dropped away. She backpedaled to get further from the dense cloud of fumes. She turned to move more quickly and bashed into a work bench. She wiped away her tears and got her bearings. The guard who’d had a hold of her was hanging limply from Creek’s grip. He dropped the man as he caught her gaze. God, she loved him.
Several of the other Arena Dogs made short work of the guards. Mercury had one over his head and threw him down the stairs. Carn had another guard on the ground, pounding him into unconsciousness. Jupiter watched the door to the hallway. Bianca Smith was on the floor coughing and gasping. Saturn helped Jennifer move away from the heaviest concentration of fumes.
Grace’s vision began to dim around the edges. She flashed Creek a quick smile then dashed over to the vent hood. She slapped a palm against the emergency-red button. Air whooshed past her as the exhaust fan sucked the noxious fumes from the room. She waited for the air to clear then took in a fresh breath.
