Happy New Year all! Are you still breathing after that last chapter? Sorry about making you wait so long, but it's what a good writer does! I hope you all had a good Christmas.
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Owen braked the car, cutting himself and Dr. Wu with their seatbelts. "What're you talking about?"
"She's not in her room!" Claire's voice heightened with fear. "Her bed... Owen, it's empty!"
Owen tried to complete a thought, but everything suddenly felt hollow. "She has to be there, Claire. It's a hospital-"
"Mrs. Grady," a voice consoled from the background.
"You have to search for my daughter!" was Claire's frantic response. "Find Dr. Lewis!"
"What's wrong now?" Dr. Wu exasperated beside Owen. Owen leaned his forehead on the steering wheel, hearing Claire freak out to the nurse. The air was thin as he pulled in a breath; it hurt. And he couldn't get enough... Owen pushed open his door and got out. Claire's demands went on and a nurse tried calming her. The evening sun hit him with its heat, doing nothing for the pressure building in his chest. Dr. Wu followed him out, but Owen only heard his complaining through a long, echoing tunnel. Maisie's gone... what does that mean? WHAT is happening!?
"It's a hospital." Owen told himself, his back to the car. "Nobody vanishes from a hospital."
Why was his voice so raspy? His mind jumped ahead then, realizing that the hospital staff would be calling the police. And the police would ask questions. He and Claire had set a story up for Maisie; that her adoption was only a few weeks from being finalized. People could believe what they wanted about her parents; they were more likely to believe a half truth then a whole lie. That story would be pointless, especially if they put an Amber Alert out. Owen sucked in a breath to steady himself. "Claire, you need to get out of there."
"What?" Claire came back, voice hot and no less fearful. "Owen, I can't-"
"She's missing. We know why." Owen told her, forcing his teeth not to gnash. "Zia's meeting you there..." He looked up the road; they were still following the CA-88. "Wait for her, then make your way down to us."
"What good is that going to do?" Claire demanded.
"Just trust me on this!" Owen begged. He hung up because he knew he was seconds from breaking. Owen pressed his palm into his eyes, their dull pain intensifying with the stress squeezing his lungs. Who took Maisie? Why had Russians taken him, and why frame him? What was the point in drawing unnecessary attention to themselves?
"Mr. Grady." Dr. Wu persisted, wanting answers. Owen wanted them too. The lack of details was driving him insane! How was he going to fix everything when he didn't know anything? Owen's back slid down the car while his insides shook in the accumulation of emotion. He watched frantic colors of starbursts behind his eyes; wild and beyond his control. The growing theme of his life, it seemed. Owen prided himself on being realistic of his limitations, knowing what he could and couldn't control. It was the epicenter of many of his and Claire's arguments. But guarding his family, protecting Maisie... he wasn't letting that get away from him!
"Is it too much to ask what happened?"
In one swift motion Owen shot up and slammed the scientist over the trunk of the car. His fists warmed at the fear hitting the man's face. What did this guy know about fear?
"Mills ever talk about Lockwood's daughter?" Owen asked, shaking Wu by the collar. Dr. Wu showed confusion, but realization finally played over his face. "His... dead daughter?"
"Death's not what is used to be." Owen gave him another jolt. "You hid under that house for three years. Mills never told you about Maisie?"
Her name came out easily. Owen was done playing it safe. Dr. Wu picked up on that, swallowing hard. "H-How do you know that name?"
"So you know about it." Owen confirmed, his grip tightening.
"Of course I knew! You think Mills would trust that knowledge with any other-"
"Oh spare me!" Owen rolled him over so he fell face-first on the pavement. "Who else did Mills tell?"
Dr. Wu sat up, holding his side. "It took Mills two years to tell me; only when it was important that I know. For her future."
Some future. Owen stared at him, between disbelief and speculation. "He tells you and that's it?"
"I was preoccupied with the makeup of the Indoraptor." Dr. Wu stated. "Maisie was our next project, once we certified the hybrid's DNA as pure." His look wavered. "Though it seems her code is far from perfect."
Owen backed up, away from the temptation of smashing Wu's face in. "Claire and I took her in after Lockwood's death. She was getting a fever checked and now she's gone! Who else knew?"
"No one." Dr. Wu insisted, up and dusting himself off. "No one was meant to know. Mr. Mills had a time and place for her reveal, but it wasn't to be for several years. When we were sure..."
Owen's stomach dropped again. "She'd survive?"
Dr. Wu looked to the horizon, blinding them from across the highway. Owen tried to get a read on his face, but it remained cryptic as always. Owen closed his eyes again, took another breath. He worked the bandage on his hand, thinking, putting his mind back on track. Maisie and Claire needed him at his best; he needed him at his best. Owen stared his feet, the next step becoming clear. "You're going to tell me where those embryos are."
Dr. Wu sighed with a pinch to his nose. "Why would I do that?"
"Because if we hope to get through this, we need a bargaining chip." Owen straightened. Dr. Wu shook his head. "I'm not allowing you to gamble with the future of science."
Owen threw his arm madly at the California ranges. "You lost that gamble a long time ago, doc."
"And we'll modify it to be better next time." Dr. Wu insisted, hands on his hips. "As we've always done."
"All in the name of progress, right?"
"As usual you all think too small." Dr. Wu judged, chin back in its pretentious pose. Owen shook his head. "You can progress into your grave or jail- I don't care. I'm progressing northeast."
"And leaving me here?" Dr. Wu started as Owen leaned into the car. He stared at his gun; such an easy thing to use... but not until he had to. Owen moved it aside and situated himself behind the wheel. He glanced back at Dr. Wu. "In or out. I'll need those embryos either way. Who knows what'll happen if I move them by myself."
Dr. Wu looked back down the road; like a rescue might appear. It didn't. He trudged to the passenger side and got in. Owen started the car, saying nothing. But praying. Hard. Please... God, please. Make something good come out of this.
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Franklin had escaped an erupting volcano, subdued a geneticist... so why did checking Terry's computer still leave him in a bundle of nerves? Maybe because he hadn't done it yet. Franklin was still processing files at his desk, trying to find a good spot to excuse himself. If Terry was the traitor- and not Owen- then he had to have evidence of it somewhere in his files. Franklin looked down at the petty thumb drive, his ticket into the leader's tent. He'd claim it was a new information upload for Sergeant Terry. It was just before one-o-clock and no one from head ops had eaten yet. They'd be too busy and hungry to care if he sat down and instead downloaded information.
Great plan! Too bad he couldn't convince himself that it would work. Franklin dredged a hand from his curly hair and pushed his glasses up. I didn't consider breaking any laws when I was anti-social.
Franklin straightened, just as the ping of a new video sounded from his screen. Like the gun signaling him from the starting gate. Franklin got up and with stiff strides, tried shaking the jelly out of his legs. They carried him out of his tent, across the harsh and hot California ground, to the flap of the head ops tent. He sucked in a breath and continued inside. Everyone was at their stations, and none looked up. Franklin didn't seek eye contact as he headed for the computer he knew Sergeant Terry had been using. He worked the thumb drive through his fingers, hesitated, then sat at the desk. Slip it in, download, slip it out...
"Excuse me?"
Franklin started, heart slamming against his ribs. "It's nothing! Just an update!"
A hand spun him around to face Lt. Colonel Placer. He looked from Franklin to the computer screen. "Kind of pointless considering Sergeant Terry is away."
"For... when he gets back." Franklin offered. "I'm just doing my job. Trying to put an end to all this."
Placer eased off, his face going pensive. "Aren't we all."
"Right." Franklin turned back to the computer, praying that he didn't notice his shaking shoulders.
"I'm meeting Terry with the rest of his unit later tonight." Placer's eyes remained on Franklin's back. "I'll let him know."
"Great." Franklin kept his fingers at a steady pace over the keys. Those eyes were still there; he couldn't keep this up much longer!
"That Grady character," Placer stepped around so he could eye Franklin's face. "You and him are friends."
Franklin swallowed.
"He try to get in touch with you?"
"No." Franklin answered- more like hiccuped. "Work colleagues; nothing major."
He listened to Placer's footsteps fade out. Then finally released his breath and opened the thumb drive. An agonizing twelve seconds later and Sergeant Terry's files were downloaded. Franklin ordered his hand to stop shaking, unplugging the drive. He knew it'd be best to wipe his activity from the hard drive, but that would require an extra sixty seconds. And Placer was still eyeing him from the table. Franklin made sure to nod and smile as he left the tent.
"Put your phone on vibrate already." his 'desk mate' mentioned back at their tent, barely glancing up from her screen. Their stream of videos had been gradually slower in the last day; oh, to just kick back and be lost in the glowing green spiral of IP addresses and URL links! But Franklin wasn't done yet. He needed to get out of here, meet up with the others. The last text from Zia put her an hour out of Carson City.
Call me! Shouted the last four texts from Zia. Franklin frowned, shouldering his pack. "Lunch break."
Again, not a glance from his desk mate. Thank goodness! Franklin held off until he was back outside and beyond the tents. Don't look anywhere or at anybody! Don't draw attention to yourself... How did Owen make it look so easy? Reaching his car, Franklin dialed Zia. "You already at Carson City?"
"Scrap Carson City!" Zia exclaimed, breaths coming short and fast. "I'm almost there, but only to pick up Claire."
"Huh?"
"Owen's got Dr. Wu with him and Maisie's missing." Zia blurted. "Just get behind a wheel and start driving."
Franklin tried to keep these new bits of information from frying his brain. "Maisie... she's in the hospital. How does a kid-"
"Yeah, question of the hour." Zia huffed. "Somebody else must know. It's the only thing that makes sense."
Because everything having to do with this makes perfect sense. Franklin resisted adding fuel to Zia's sarcasm. "How? I wiped those cameras and Claire said Lockwood's records only mention her as his granddaughter. There's even a birth certificate-"
"I don't know." Zia said. "But Claire will come unglued if we don't offer her a plan. Even if it's one word; driving. I'll call you back when I can tell you more."
Franklin started to ask questions, but she hung up. He let the phone fall on the seat, beside his laptop. He stared at the windshield of his car a second. Government sorting, traitors and turncoats, and now missing children. He wasn't equipped to deal with any of this! Course, he could sit here and tell himself that, or he could try and have some inkling of what was going on to. It might ease Claire's minds when he saw her. Franklin backed out, plugging in the thumb drive. The information could load while he headed out. He needed back ups of the back ups for something like this. His peripheral watched the data stream grow as the laptop read the information off the drive. He was only a few miles outside the perimeter when he spotted familiar coding. Several strips of them.
Videos. Franklin realized. The kind he had been filtering through all week. There were close to twenty, dating back six days or so. Franklin turned onto the highway, heading south from the base. His curiosity got him to click on the top link. He was met with the grainy and half-lit footage of a home security camera. Franklin considered his options, then braked, pressing play.
He watched the video; his pulse went up and he clicked on the two following it. Both made him catch him breath. Well... this complicated things.
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She was thirsty. Maisie opened her eyes, which didn't hurt as they had before. And what was that bumping?
"Maisie?"
Maisie lifted her head from the stiff hospital pillow. "Water, Claire?"
She froze when she saw that the blonde woman beside her wasn't Claire. Through high cheekbones and bangs, she smiled gingerly. "How are you feeling? I gave you medicine to ward off the fever."
"Where's Claire?" Maisie asked, looking around so's to register her surroundings. Metal cabinets and floors, and a sink next to the gurney she was on. The back of an ambulance... how... "W-Who are you?"
"I'm a friend." the woman said, placing her hand on Maisie's arm. The hand was cold. "I'm sorry if you're scared-"
"Where's Claire!" Maisie sat up, oddly feeling more strength then she had all day. She tried to keep her panic down as she only spotted a man driving up front.
"Listen." the woman placed her other hand on Maisie's other arm. "You got sick and we didn't have a choice. We're headed somewhere where we can... discuss your unique situation."
Maisie tried to hold tears back and get a grip on her situation. If she wasn't with Claire anymore, then someone had taken her. So, this woman had to know that she was a clone. Maisie jutted her chin out, pushing the woman's hands off. "You stole me!"
The woman eased off with a sigh. "I don't expect you to understand yet, but it'll be alright. I took care of the hard part, but there's still a lot of studying to do."
The hard part? Maisie was confused. Her head throbbed and there was heat...
"You have it under control back there?" The man driving spoke. He had an accent, but wasn't British. The woman ignored him, touching Maisie's arm again. That was where the heat was coming from. Maisie looked down to find her forearm bandaged, a few faint spots of blood poking through the gauze. Maisie's voice shook. "What'd you do?"
"I took the necessary samples." The woman was explaining, her voice soft, yet tight with excitement. "Once we reach-"
Maisie shot her free arm out, knocking the woman in the chin. "I'm not a science experiment!"
The man exclaimed something. The woman's eyes flashed determinedly at Maisie. "Please understand how important-"
"Where's Claire?" Maisie returned to her original question; the only one she cared about. The woman rejected that, shaking her head. "Maisie, you have many things to offer the world. But only if you're looked after in the proper way."
"I'm fine."
"You're sick." the woman gestured to Maisie's flushed cheeks. "That's a risk the Gradys should have been aware of. But it's not their concern now."
She turned away, pushing a bag over. "I have some clothes for you, and more medicine. You'll take it in an hour. By then, we should be there."
Maisie gazed around, helplessness setting in. "Where?"
"Where we need to be." the woman assured her.
Maisie lowered her head, just to make it stop swimming. She watched the ceiling and clutched the sheets in her fists. Her bandage itched, then burned against her skin and she held her arm up. The necessary samples?
Maisie ignored the pull of the surgical tape and lifted the corner of the gauze. The skin was pink... followed by red, raw muscle! Her skin was gone, cut away! Maisie's face paled and she slapped the tape back on. She laid back, fighting the bile climbing her throat. Claire, Owen. Find me soon.