Chapter 10
There was something liberating about walking around in her stateroom in her underwear. She was five stories up, it would take binoculars to see her. And, well… there was no point in putting clothes on.
Mara smiled, sipping the latte she had retrieved from a machine she found down the hall. She sorted through notes and papers, organizing and re-organizing. She felt inadequate and useless on the days she wasn't needed. She didn't know her way around London, and if they needed her, she had to be on site.
She plopped The Once and Future King onto her bed, flipping to a random dog-eared page. She smiled, remembering Khan's face when she asked to borrow it—he seemed amused, but not condescending. Like he knew exactly what she was doing.
The first was fairly short, and his underlining it made perfect sense.
"In war, our elders may give the orders...but it is the young who have to fight."
Mara sighed, sipping her latte and moving on. The second was a long passage, one that had been underlined in pencil.
"You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."
The words "baser minds" had been underlined several times, and Mara got a chill. She shook it off, moving on to a new dog-ear.
"Now, in their love, which was stronger, there were the seeds of hatred and fear and confusion growing at the same time: for love can exist with hatred, each preying on the other, and this is what gives it its greatest fury."
The nature of this one both astounded and confused her, for, at its depth, was love. Love was something she thought he knew, or wanted to know very little of.
She flipped pages.
"There is one fairly good reason for fighting—and that is, if the other man starts it. You see, wars are a great wickedness, perhaps the greatest wickedness of a wicked species."
The words "wicked species" were again darkened, and Mara shivered, closing the book. It seemed all of the passages Khan liked so much were very… dark.
So, when the phone on her nightstand began ringing, she practically leapt over the bed to answer it.
"Dr. McGivers, its Audrey, with the front desk," came that oh-so-familiar voice. "Director Pierce has requested your presence on F-Level."
"Of course, Audrey, thank you."
F-Level? Those were the labs. They hadn't been down to the labs since… their very first day. Mara dressed quickly, her curiosity mingling with worry.
Once in the elevator, she found herself slamming her fist on the buttons and mumbling anxiously for the elevator to go faster. She jumped when Pierce was standing directly on the other side of the elevator doors as they opened.
"My apologies for startling you," he said, his face looking strangely stoic. "Please join the other physicians over here."
He directed her into a familiar room—the suspension pods had been removed, so it took her a moment to recognize it as the very same room Khan and the others had been awakened in.
All 73 of them were present, and they stood in ranked lines—seven rows of ten, with Khan and two others standing in front. Mara had an extreme hunch that they had done that on their own.
"Dr., I've already spoken with the other physicians" Pierce said as he escorted her. There was a heavy atmosphere in the room—no one was speaking, and little eye contact was being made between the physicians and The 73.
"We are performing an important test today," Pierce continued, his voice low. "I would ask you to keep an open mind, and do not object."
"Why would I… of course, sir, not a word," she said, catching herself.
"Thank you," he said, stepping away and returning to his flock of technicians. Mara was constantly impressed by the number of new technicians she seemed to meet on a daily basis. It was as if they were coming out of the woodwork.
"The test we will be performing today is critical to understanding your systems," Pierce said, addressing The 73 directly. They stood at-ease, their feet shoulder-width apart, and their hands behind their backs. By his expression, Pierce did not expect this, but was extremely proud.
Mara had the distinct impression that they were not doing it to honor him.
"However, the test itself is rather difficult," Pierce said, obviously finding the correct words coming harder and harder.
"I suppose I shall just tell you," Pierce said, taking off his glasses and polishing them with his sweater-vest. "We will be testing your pain threshold."
There was an audible mumble from the physicians.
"Is that ethical?"
"Forget ethical, is it legal?"
"If they were human it wouldn't be."
"Good lawyer could argue they're not."
Several of The 73 broke their at-ease stance to stare directly at Pierce. Khan, of course, did not move.
"I will only require it of one of you," Pierce continued. "But as it guarantees to be very… unpleasant, I did not want to force it on any of you. I wanted you to have the opportunity to volunteer."
Yeah, you wanted them to volunteer so you wouldn't have to force them, Mara thought irritably to herself.
Within seconds, the man to Khan's left stepped forward, adopting an at-attention stance.
"I will vol…"
"Lorran, don't speak," Khan interrupted forcefully, and the man stepped back immediately.
Don't. Don't you dare…
"Obviously," Khan said in a deadpan, abandoning the military stance altogether as he stepped forward and pivoted to face Pierce. He stood a mere foot from him as he spoke. "It is I that should volunteer."
I don't think I could be less shocked.
"Sir," the young man named Lorran began to protest. "I believe I am the best suited to undergo…"
"And indeed you may be," Khan said, turning to Lorran. He rested a hand on his shoulder, and Mara felt a sudden awe at the obvious emotional bond between the two. Khan had not displayed anything remotely close to that with anyone. Perhaps that was why Lorran was standing with Khan, apart from the rest…
"But this should be my task," Khan said, dropping his hand and turning back to Pierce.
"It is decided, then," Pierce said simply, returning his glasses to his nose and turning to his technicians. Several of The 72 muttered amongst themselves for a moment, most of them looking awestruck at Khan's sacrifice. They continued mumbling only until Khan raised a hand to silence them.
As he stepped forward, the rest of them knelt or sat on the floor, calmly awaiting the result. Khan spoke quietly with Pierce, and Mara strained, but couldn't hear.
After a moment of discussion, Khan was assisted onto a gurney provided by the technicians.
"We will only be electronically stimulating the pain sensors in the brain, there will be no actual damage," Pierce said as he attached cords, syringes and sensors to Khan's neck, spine, and arm.
Some of The 72 looked uncomfortable—like they didn't want to be there. They were twitchy, and some outright looked away.
This is bad, Mara thought. Having the others witness it… it will only solidify their loyalty to him and their abhorrence of Rowen.
For some reason, however, Mara decided not to speak. If the scientists at Rowen wanted The 72 to witness it, then they would have to deal with the consequences.
"If at any time you feel overwhelmed, you simply need to say so," Pierce said, placing his hand on Khan's shoulder.
Khan looked at Pierce's hand like he was prepared to bite it off. Then he straightened, smiled, and took a single deep breath.
"Alright, shall we begin?" Pierce said, nodding to one of his technicians.
Khan jumped as the technician, Jacob, as his name badge read, pressed a small black button on a handheld device connecting all the wires. Mara felt a twist in her stomach, a rising nausea at what she was witnessing. Essentially, it was torture.
Pierce was fiercely taking notes, and every few seconds he would nod to Jacob, who would turn a dial on his handheld device.
For the first minute or so, Khan's discomfort was nonexistent. Then he began breathing heavier, his hands forming fists. As Jacob continued turning the dial, Khan began panting harder, and his hands began to tremble.
Mara tore her eyes away for a moment to peer at The 72. Some looked extremely uncomfortable, others simply weren't watching. Lorran was kneeling calmly, but his face betrayed him. His lips were stretched thin, his eyebrows low and dangerous. And the glare was sent only at Pierce.
Mara's attention was called back as Jacob turned the dial again. This time, Khan's entire body jerked, and a small cry escaped his lips. He immediately looked angry at himself, but it was hidden behind the grimace.
"That's enough," Lorran demanded, standing.
"Silence, Lorran, I can take it," Khan growled through gritted teeth. Lorran quieted, but did not kneel. In fact, he looked ready to leap into battle.
Pierce watched Lorran for a moment before nodding to Jacob, who again turned the dial.
Khan jumped again, this time bringing his fist to his lips and biting down hard on his own flesh to keep from screaming.
Mara died to jump in, to stop them. Everything about this was wrong. But she had been specifically told not to. Pierce had known she would react this way, and had specifically warned her against it. She decided to hold her tongue, hoping Khan knew his own limits.
As Jacob turned the dial one more time, Khan yelped, lurching to the side and falling from the gurney. He knelt on the floor, bracing himself against the gurney as his entire body shook.
Lorran and Pierce spoke at the same time.
"That's enough!" Lorran yelled, taking a step forward.
"Turn it off," Pierce said calmly.
"No!" Khan shouted, one hand flying out toward Lorran. "Lorran, you stand down, I won't tell you again!"
Lorran stepped back, his head lowering like a chastised puppy. He knelt with the others, keeping his eyes downcast.
Khan turned back to face Pierce, his body shaking. "You created me for this. Keep going."
Pierce was both shocked and impressed, but he nodded at Jacob.
Khan made it two more dial turns before he screamed.
Mara lunged forward, ripping the device from Jacob's hand and wrenching the dial to zero. Pierce and Jacob were so shocked by her sudden and violent movement that neither could do anything to stop her.
"That's enough, for Christ's sake!" Mara cried, slamming the device to the ground.
"He knows how much he can han…" Pierce began to argue.
"No he doesn't!" Mara shrieked. "You show me a man who knows his own limits and I'll show you a liar."
She turned, kneeling in front of Khan's violently trembling form. She placed a hand gently beneath his chin, forcing him to look up at her.
She could read everything in his expression. He was angry that she had stopped him—he had desperately wanted to prove exactly how much better he was. But he was also incredibly grateful. The pain in his eyes was excruciatingly clear.
As Mara stood and turned again to face Pierce, she briefly made eye contact with Lorran. He inclined an almost undetectable nod, and Mara had never felt the gratitude she felt from Lorran's gaze.
"I'm sorry, Director," she said. "But as his physician, I felt a duty to step in."
Pierce sighed, rubbing a temple as he nodded.
"Did you get what you needed?" she asked monotonously.
"Yes," Pierce said, looking at his notes and a computer printout that Jacob handed him. "If it didn't kill us, what we just did would have sent the best of us into a permanent and irreversible coma," Pierce said, motioning to himself and the technicians.
Mara nodded, unimpressed. She was actually disgusted. She spun on her heel, holding out a hand to Khan, who took it. He still shook as he pulled himself to his feet, and once there, he seemed extremely weak—like he might collapse at any moment.
"Well, then," Mara said. "Since you're finished here, I am going to see Khan to his room for a medical exam. I fear he actually needs it this time."
"Yes, that's… that's fine, Doctor," Pierce said, a bit taken aback by Mara's boisterousness.
With that, she grabbed Khan's wrist, and marched him away from the torture technicians as fast as she could.