Part 81 (2/2)

”And how do you figure in all this?”

”I told you. I'm going to be the James Boswell of stem cell technology.

I'm going to report on this miracle from the inside. But now, Ally, if the Beta procedure is going to succeed you have to be the one to make it happen.”

She looked at him, still stunned by the wildness in his eyes.

And she had a feeling like her heart was being wrenched out.

”You're working with them, aren't you?” She was fuming with anger. She no longer knew who could be trusted. He'd taken leave of his senses. Or had his senses been taken from him? Which was it?

”I'm thinking about you. And hopefully about us. You're being offered something you'd be a fool to turn down. That's all I have to say.” He took her hand and helped her back into the wheelchair. Then he whispered, ”Let's get out of here.”

He quickly opened the door and rolled her out into the empty hall. When he closed the door behind them, he whispered again. ”Didn't you see the surveillance camera and microphone in there? There's one in the room where they had me locked up. They just put them in.”

”To watch Kristen?”

”And me. I heard Bartlett and Van de Vliet talking. If any of this Beta screw-up with her gets out of this building, Bartlett's conglomerate is toast.” He bent over near to her and continued whispering. ”Listen, we don't have much time. They've got your procedure scheduled for later on tonight. I'm still somewhat of a zombie from something they gave me, but maybe I can help get you out of here. Let me tell you what I've found out so far. Van de Vliet gave you a low-dosage version of the Beta procedure, in hopes he could harvest telomerase antibodies and use them on Bartlett. But there was only a trace. He did inject those into Bartlett, but he doesn't think it's enough to have any effect. So now Bartlett is demanding he give you a ma.s.sive dose of telomerase. Van de Vliet is freaked about the risks, but Bartlett thinks it's his only chance to head off having what happened to Kristen happen to him too.

However, what Bartlett doesn't know is that Van de Vliet has just finished a new computer simulation and he thinks he's finally figured out how to do a successful Beta procedure. For him, that's the Holy Grail.”

”How do you know all this?”

”I heard him talking to his a.s.sistant Debra. I was supposed to be sedated. The reason he wants to perform it on you is because he now has so much data on you, as a result of the first procedure. He thinks he's got a real shot at redemption. Ally, if he's calculated wrong, you could end up like Kristen.”

”What about you?” she asked. ”You should get out too.”

”I should, but ... Look, I've been trying to get in here for a long time. Now I'm finally in. You could say I'm under duress, but I'm here and this is where it's happening. If I get out alive, I have a h.e.l.l of a story.”

Is he thinking clearly? she wondered. He seems to be drifting in and out of a mental cloud. What is wrong with him?

”Stone, there's an emergency door on the first level of the bas.e.m.e.nt.

If we can get up there, we might be able to escape. And while we're doing it, you might want to seriously reconsider staying in this place.

We've both seen Kristen. What makes you think they're planning on either of us ever living to tell that tale?”

”I'm having some trouble thinking just now.” He was helping her out of the wheelchair. ”But I do know you've got to disappear. Whatever plans they have for me remain to be seen, but I know exactly what's in store for you. So come on and try to walk. We can't use the elevator, but there's a fire door at the other end of the hall, which leads up to the lab floor.”

It's probably alarmed, she thought. Then what do we do?

Walking was easier than she'd expected. The strength was rapidly coming back in her legs. But more than that, there was no sense of tightness in her chest as she might have expected. She was always aware of traces of stenosis, but now she felt nothing. Maybe there were miracles.

The hallway was dimly lit, and she wondered, Is a surveillance camera tracking our every move?

”s.h.i.+t,” Stone announced when they reached the fire door, ”it's alarmed.”

That's exactly what I was afraid of, she thought.

<script>