Author:
Catherder
Disclaimer:
Dark Angel is owned by Charles Eglee, James Cameron, and Fox. I claim no rights
to these characters, alas, although I like to play with them.
Summary
: Continuation of "Encounter." Renfro
grabs Logan for experimentation and Lydecker has to deal with the consequences.
Spoilers/Timeframe: Between Pollo Loco and Hit a Sistah Back
Rated:
PG for language
A/N:
This is in response to the reviewers who asked me to continue the story. Great
thanks to a fan for reviewing and making excellent suggestions. Reviews are
appreciated.
Logan wheeled himself down the hallway, following Lydecker to the lab. He noted that Lydecker had not offered to push his chair or help him in any way. As they proceeded down the long, sterile hallway, Logan noted the numbers on the doors and the heavy locks on some of them. While the hallway was brightly lit, it still felt cavelike to him and he wondered whether this part of the building was underground. He hadn't noticed any gradual downward slope, but he nevertheless felt like he was descending.
They
reached the lab where Lydecker had been supervising his experiments. It too was
brightly lit, and full of cages. There was an overwhelming, acrid odor of
animals and chemicals. Squeals, yips, and yelps filled the air. Lydecker
introduced Logan to a lab tech who would escort him around and explain the
various stages of the experiment. While Lydecker entered data onto a computer
screen at his desk, Logan rolled down the aisles of cages, asking questions
about the animals in them.
He
stopped at a large cage full of small dogs, all of which dragged their hind
legs painfully. The lab tech explained that the animals had had their spinal
cords severed to induce paralysis. Logan shivered. Been there, done that, he
thought, a lump rising in his throat. They would be injected with the nanocells
the next day and carefully observed, the lab tech said cheerfully.
A
few cages down the aisle, Logan saw more dogs stumbling around in their cage, their hind legs wobbly and
barely able to support them. These animals had been treated for a month and
were beginning to recover, he was told.
"How
many animals were in this batch originally?" he asked, noting that there were
seven dogs in the cage.
"Let's
see … Hmm. Twenty–five."
"Uh,
what happened to the rest?"
"They,
ah, they died, sir."
"I
see. Thank you. And the dogs in this cage?" Logan rolled over to another large
cage. The animals in questions were romping and playing with one another.
"They've
been treated for three months, sir," The lab tech replied enthusiastically.
"They're almost completely cured."
"Thanks.
You've been very helpful." Logan wheeled himself back to Lydecker's desk.
Lydecker was staring intently at the computer screen. Logan moved behind the
desk to look at the screen. There was an image of a body on it; Lydecker was
turning the image around, studying it from various angles.
"Is
that me?" Logan asked.
"Yes.
From an MRI taken this morning." He enlarged part of the image and pointed to a
dark spot. "What's this?"
Logan
peered at the screen. "What am I looking at?"
"Right
here. Next to your spinal column." Lydecker swiveled the computer monitor so
Logan could see it more clearly, then pointed with the end of his pen to a tiny
spot near the juncture of three arteries.
"Oh,
probably a bullet fragment. They couldn't get them all during the first
surgery. I had another operation a couple of months ago to remove more of them.
I guess Sam – my neurosurgeon – still wasn't able to get them all."
"Hmm.
That's going to complicate matters," Lydecker said ominously.
"How
so?"
"Well,
we've only worked with clean wounds. Surgically severed nerves, nothing to
complicate the healing process. Frankly, I don't know what would happen with a
bullet fragment in the mix. That's one of the reasons I want more animal
trials. What we've done so far is very limited. We need to add complications."
"So,
I take it that you won't try it on
me?" Logan asked, almost disappointed.
"Renfro,
in a heartbeat. You, no." Lydecker replied. "Too many 'what-ifs'. If you died
in the process of a straightforward experiment, that would be one thing, but to
subject you to too many unknowns would be unethical." He leaned back in his
chair. "Now I get to think about what I tell She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. She's
going to be mightily pissed off."
"I
can imagine."
"Oh,
no you can't. She went to all the trouble of kidnapping you, and now I can't
use you as a subject even if I wanted to. That'll really tick her off. Next, I
have to figure out what to do with you."
"Get
me out of here?" Logan suggested hopefully.
"Yeah.
Somehow. Well, let's get you back to your room before Renfro becomes
suspicious. I'm sure the only way she'd want to see you in this lab is strapped
to a gurney with tubes in your arms, not taking the Grand Tour."
Yeah,
well. I guess you're right. This place is beginning to creep me out anyway."
Lydecker
shut off his computer and accompanied Logan back to his room. At the door, he
said softly, "I'll be back later. We'll come up with a plan to get you safely
out of here and beyond Renfro's reach. In the meantime, just play it cool and
you don't know anything."
"That
shouldn't be a problem." Logan smiled for the first time since he'd been
abducted. "I don't know much, in any case."
Lydecker
said good-bye and turned to walk back to the lab. Logan leaned back in the
wheelchair, closed his eyes, and sighed deeply. His thoughts were tangled. On
one level, he had been tempted to try Lydecker's experiment; it sounded like a
simple, elegant solution to his problems. On the other hand, he understood
Lydecker's reluctance to use him as a lab rat. There was no evidence yet that
the nanotechnology would work on people. He thought it odd, from what he'd
heard about Lydecker, that the man would hesitate to try an experiment on
anyone, but given his previous military record, maybe something of the
character traits that had made him such a highly respected, decorated soldier
still remained in him.
"Damn!"
Logan said aloud, just as the orderly came in with another tray of food. The
man jumped, almost dropping the tray.
"Sorry,"
Logan apologized. "I was just thinking about something."
"Here's
your dinner."
"Thanks.
Just leave the tray." The orderly placed it on the bedside table and left.
Logan
wheeled over to the table and took the tray. He ate the food, thinking that he
should keep up his strength for whatever the hell these people had in mind for
him, unless of course, they were drugging him, in which case, maybe he shouldn't
eat anything. He wondered what Lydecker would come up with and if they
could pull it off.
He
finished eating and looked around for a radio or television, anything to occupy
the hours while others made the decisions that would impact his life. Finding
nothing, he thought maybe he'd take a spin down the hall to find something or
some one to help him relieve the boredom. But he held that thought when he saw
Elizabeth Renfro walk toward him.
"Good
evening, Mr. Cale. We meet again.
Remember me?" she said cheerfully. "How are you feeling this evening?"
"Fine.
When can I leave?"
"Not
quite yet. We're still reviewing your test results. Let me introduce myself.
I'm Dr. Renfro."
"Well,
Dr. Renfro, if you're in charge here, please let me know what's going on. Where
am I? What tests have you run? What are you testing for? Have you contacted Dr.
Carr?"
"One
thing at a time, Mr. Cale," she said sweetly, sitting down on the metal chair
and crossing her legs. Her skirt was very short and she hiked it up a bit.
"You're at a private medical facility…"
"Yes,
I know that," said Logan,
exasperated. "Everybody's told me that. But what
'private medical facility?' And where?"
"That
doesn't matter. You're our guest and we'll take care of you."
"Sorry,
but it does matter, at least to me.
There are bars on the windows. That implies certain things."
"We're a private nursing home and research facility, out in the country," she said by way of explanation.
Right, Logan thought. "And the tests?"
"Some
one found you passed out at Fremont market and dialed 911. Our ambulance was in
the area, so it responded. Since it was obvious that you suffer from a
neurological condition, we started there with our tests."
Logan
closed his eyes. I'm a freaking paraplegic, he thought. What is this
'neurological condition' crap? She's trying to set me up for a course of
'treatment' – Lydecker's experiment.
He
opened his eyes and stared at her. "And have you found anything?" he asked
disingenuously.
"A
possible … anomaly that may be causing some of your problems," she lied with a
perfectly straight face, a face with a faint smile on it.
Logan
returned her smile, thinking anomaly, my ass. Sam has made sure I know all the
facts about my 'problems.' Other than the pluripotents from Max's blood, which
might still be around, there have been no anomalies.
"And
you can treat that here?" Aquamarine eyes met black eyes. Neither pair blinked.
"I
think so. We've been doing research on spinal cord injuries here and we've got
a good track record in treating them." She uncrossed and re-crossed her legs,
inviting Logan's admiration. It was not forthcoming.
"Have
you consulted with Dr. Sam Carr, my neurosurgeon?"
"We've
tried to contact him, but haven't been able to reach him. We'll keep trying."
"I
won't agree to any treatment until I've talked to him." Logan stated.
Renfro
stood up and took a few steps toward him. She took his hand in a gesture of
sincerity; her nails dug into his flesh painfully. "I really must insist. If we
don't treat you, it will only get worse. You wouldn't want that to happen,
would you?"
It
sounded like a threat to him. "No, I wouldn't." Logan wheeled away from her,
breaking her grip. She didn't take it well. Her eyes flashed, an eerie ebony
glow of anger.
"Very
well. I'll be back with consent forms. Then some one will come and fill you in
on the treatment options. You've made a wise choice, Mr. Cale." The cold smile
was back.
"No
doubt," Logan said, trying to plot his next move.
Renfro
turned on her heel and walked out of his room.
