Page 96 of Auctioned to the Convicts
Sersie drove his hand through his hair. “Getting clean the second time was much harder than I expected, mostly because I didn’t want to get clean. Vaughn pushed me. Ren too. I’d been working on solving the lichen problem in the mines. When zurlite dust strikes the lichen, the lichen ignite and release a deadly gas. Narkos has lost a lot of miners over the years. It’s been an ongoing issue, but that’s how I got to know Ren.
I had been trying to remove the lichen, to neutralize it, even trying to filter the zurlite from the air near the lichen. The entire time working on the lichen issue, I was clean. I had a purpose, a worthwhile one. Protecting the miners. But when Dresden ordered me to resume researching and creating new drugs, I couldn’t handle the thought of what they’d do with whatever I’d create.”
Sersie handed Hannah her pants and turned as he adjusted his clothing. He didn’t want to see her face, fearing what he’d see there.
Maybe with this attraction of theirs out of their system, she’d go back to Vaughn and Ky’Li and never give him that look, the one that said she was interested in him. He could be content in the unit without touching her. At least he hoped.
A hand slipped into his. “Show me your lab, Sersie. I want to see where you spend your time when you’re not at home, making me feel special.
Her words surprised him, but he led her into the lab. His research assistant Drew had left hours ago to collect rukhi samples on the northern face of the mountain. He wouldn’t return until tomorrow, earliest.
Having Hannah in his lab felt surreal. Rissa had never shown an interest in his work, other than coaxing him into using Flight. There’d been no holding hands or kissing outdoors, or mad, passionate sex on his desk. Sersie smiled.
“I can see why this place excites you,” Hannah said, running her fingertips along the cool, metal countertop. She carefully avoided bumping the fractional distillation apparatus that was useless until he received the shipment of inlet tubes.
“My passion is with botany. Chemistry is more like a hobby, but it’s useful here. Too useful.”
She caressed his cheek with the back of two fingers. “You getting lost in your memories again, Sersie?”
“Come again?”
“You get caught in your past. Rissa can’t hurt you anymore.”
He hated talking about his past because practically nothing had changed since that ill-fated week of sex and drugs with Rissa. The Company still controlled what he did. Dresden had been pushing harder and harder lately, demanding Sersie finish developing Salvation.
“That drug,” Hannah began. “The unnamed one you mentioned a few days ago. NS—”
“NK171,” he corrected, as he pointed to the next set of doors. He opened the door to the testing room where they were finishing up the experiments on the mice. The next step was humans, except Sersie couldn’t let it come to that.
Hannah walked along the rows of empty mice cages and stopped when she reached the table of vials. Four rows of ten vials each, all with different concentrations of NK171.
“Is this the drug?” she asked.
He picked up a vial of the light red powder and shook it. “Solid form. Before we add a sweetener and water to feed it to the mice. We’re testing different amounts. NK171 drives the mice to do some weird shit. Not sure what effect it will have on people, but it won’t be good.”
“I don’t understand why you’d create such a dangerous drug.”
“Lift isn’t as effective on Flight and Crash when the dealers cut the drugs and add to others. We’re looking for the next rescue drug, the next Lift essentially. Except one that will be broader in effectiveness. In fact, The Company has already given it the name Salvation.
“Dresden’s been pushing me to develop the next rescue drug, one that will counteract NK171. I can’t do any testing without mice.” He indicated the empty cages.
“What happened to the mice?”
“They escaped.”
“On their own? Oh! You’re stalling. Why?”
“The Company plans to test Salvation on humans.”
“Okay, but isn’t that normal practice, to make sure an antidote works?”
“They’re going to give NK171 to humans so they can test Salvation.”
Hannah’s expression fell, rightfully so. “NK171 is too dangerous, Hannah. Even at the lowest concentrations, the mice were cannibalizing one another, chewing off their own limbs. Others had cardiac distress. Others. . . their insides dissolved.”
“I know Salvation’s important, but I can’t use NK171 on humans just so they can test Salvation. What if Salvation doesn’t work on humans or doesn’t work fast enough? I’ll be responsible for those test subjects going crazy and dying horrible deaths, for nothing.”
Hannah put her hand on his chest. “How long can you stall without Dresden becoming suspicious?”
