Chapter 19

''So why'd they send you in here?'' Russ wondered. ''Aren't you needed back at the hospital?''

''Right now I'm needed right here,'' Mark answered. ''Why do you think I'm here?''

''Well hopefully to fill me in on what happened to me today, since no one else has a decent answer.''

''And what do you think happened today?''

Russ would've shrugged if he hadn't still been in full shackles - so instead he just shook his head. ''They tell me I tried to kill Jaime. You of all people should understand how ridiculous that is; you know I still cringe some mornings when I have to put my weapon in my suit pocket.''

''I was there today, Russ,'' Mark told him. ''I saw you pinned to the floor and the Security guard with two weapons - his own...and yours.''

''That's impossible! If it were true, don't you think I'd remember it?''

''Not necessarily. If memory serves me, there was another instance where you lost blocks of time and -''

''And that's over with!'' Russ insisted. ''Hansen knocked me in the head and you were the one who pronounced me cured!''

''Doesn't mean it couldn't happen again - or maybe acting cured was a strong enough...suggestion...in your head that you were able to fool everyone, including yourself.''

''Dear God...no...''

''The concussive compound doesn't seem to be any use,'' Michael explained, ''since I've already had it. And I cannot try it again right now, as I can't risk still being out of it for Jaime's surgery.''

''Will you still be able to operate?'' Oscar wondered.

''I...think so.'' As if for emphatic punctuation, another headache stabbed through his brain and Michael's hands flew to his temples...

''Have you seen Rudy?'' Oscar queried, his focus singularly on what needed to be done (in spite of Michael's obvious distress).

''Very briefly.''

''Do you think he's up to operating on Steve? I need him turned up as soon as possible.''

Michael shook his head, as much to try and rid himself of the pain as it was to answer Oscar's question. ''There's no way; not yet.''

''Then...can you do it?''

''I don't think he'll want to leave Jaime right now, even for that,'' Michael told him. ''And I highly doubt he'll put himself in my hands...''

''He'll do it,'' Oscar promised.

Oscar was right; when presented as an executive-OSI order, it was an 'offer' Steve couldn't refuse. Besides, Steve reasoned to himself, I'd be better able to defend Jaime and Becca, if it came down to that. It was a surreal experience, though, having Michael as his doctor (even temporarily). Steve didn't trust him further than he could see him!

''I'll stay awake,'' he announced.

''Alright.'' Michael knew that Rudy did it either way (awake or under anesthetic...and he also knew the reason for Steve's request. He wasn't surprised. When they got down to Rudy's lab, he got out the needed instruments while Steve hopped up on the treatment table to wait. Michael's back was to Steve when he had to fight off the strongest headache yet - and the rage and urges that went along with it. When he finally turned around to begin tending to his patient, he was as ready as he was going to get.

There was no need for small talk between the two men as their truce was an uneasy one. Michael concentrated on getting it done right. It was a relatively simple procedure, but one he'd never performed. Steve eyed him closely, in truth more familiar with what was happening than his newly-recruited bionic surgeon. And whether it was because of the effects of mind control that everyone suddenly seemed to be talking about or whether Michael was just evil, Steve simply didn't trust him.

He was at least partially right about that...

Anja checked her device to ensure it was functioning (and transmitting) properly. It was far more sophisticated than the primitive devices her older brother had fashioned. After all, he'd gotten the idea from what she'd been working on for years before he joined her in the Soviet Union. While he had always been a displaced American (and thus inferior in her eyes), Anja considered herself a full Soviet national. She had long since renounced her American citizenship.

If her second subject was unable to terminate the Austin woman for another two days, he was already programmed to do the same to her second intended victim: Austin himself. He was the only one who'd ever met her face-to-face...and while he likely didn't remember their encounter, Anja certainly did. Maybe it was thoughts of the woman he hadn't even been with at the time, or maybe just his misguided sense of morals (ha!) but he'd rejected her advances in favor of keeping his secrets to himself. Her other two intended victims would be the easiest and the hardest to terminate...but in the meantime, the OSI would be in chaos, starting with the facility that had rejected her for her internship in favor of their Golden Boy...ironically the same person whose hands would now send them all hurtling straight into hell!