Page 34 of Feral Mates
Holy fuck.
What if he already knew I was snooping? No, that wasn’t possible.
Don’t go crazy, Sav. Think this through. Act normal.
He finally turned again, heading into the building.
A sense of relief flooded through me, my muscles relaxing, but I knew this was going to be dangerous.
What choice did I have? If any lifeforms had come through the portal opening, they needed to be studied.
And possibly controlled.
That much I’d discovered in my tests.
My apprehension continued, but both the work and the ongoing questions were far too important to chicken out.
I hugged my bag against me, keeping my head down as I headed into the facility, my breath catching as soon as I headed into the lobby. Since the day I’d interviewed for my position, there’d been security measures in place, metal detectors and advanced imaging technology used, but this morning, there were two additional security guards carefully watching the comings and goings of both guests and employees.
After taking a deep breath, I headed through the devices, managing to plaster a smile on my face even though my hands were shaking.
Fortunately, there were no signs of Dr. Blackwell lurking in the shadows. Cleared, I headed to the third floor, almost pressing the button for the fourth. A risky move, but one I was willing to take.
At some point.
I had to get my ducks in a row first.
I headed into the lab, tossing my things in my locker. From what I could tell, everything was business as usual.
Yet I felt a different vibe, an electric energy that hadn’t been so evident on Friday night. Everything had felt different three days before. So much had changed. Even though I was nervous, I remained excited. The possibilities of such an incredible discovery were endless.
I headed to my station, immediately logging onto the system. If Dr. Blackwell followed his usual schedule, he’d walk the floor, asking us at random questions about the scope of our work. We all played a different part. It was our team effort that had helped advance the anticipated schedule of the project.
Once I’d pulled up my files, my attention was drawn to the clear glass viewing panel. According to my computer, the laser was working, yet there was no indication of any life force or quantum strands. But it would appear my configuration had worked given the last test I’d performed had completed after I’d left for the night. The realization brought on another breathtaking moment. And dozens more questions.
My usual email providing weekend testing results wasn’t in my inbox. That was odd. There were usually tests continually run and providing updates, which every scientist in the building was privy to. Monday morning emails were a constant.
It was possible the portal had been shut down over the weekend, but the laser system was always on, taking random tests. To see it in a dormant state certainly didn’t seem like a coincidence.
Why would Dr. Blackwell do that when our tests weren’t completed and every scrap of information could give us more evidence for our theories?
Besides, there were grants involved, millions on the line. He needed to show results. I might not be an economics whiz, but I knew how the grant system worked. There were timelines and goals, inspections and required reports. Plus, his reputation was on the line.
One of the reasons I’d come to work for him was based on his theory of a parallel universe. He’d taught a course at the university and I’d embraced his brilliance.
Even if he was an odd cat.
With my fingers flying, I activated another screen and was finally able to see the system had indeed been active all weekend long. Very active. As in multiple tests had been taken that weren’t the typical perfunctory ones. Someone had been at the laboratory over the weekend.
Excited, I maneuvered to the results page, eager to see if what I’d experienced on Friday had continued.
A quick flash of red covered the screen.
“What the fuck?”
I’d been locked out of the results page. That had never happened before.
“What’s wrong, sunshine? Didn’t enjoy your weekend?”
