Part 28 (1/2)

”Wait.” I stepped in front of her. Held her shoulders. ”I think turning it off will let her die.”

”She-” Lilly started shaking her head, almost like she wanted to keep the idea from sticking in her mind. ”But, we can't, we need to-”

”Lilly. Look at her.”

I did. Lilly didn't for a moment, then finally did, too. ”Is that what you want?” she whispered.

Anna nodded at us, slight movements of her head against the tubes. More tears, but also something like relief in her eyes.

”Oh, G.o.d,” Lilly sobbed. She backed away. ”I can't.”

I took Lilly by the shoulders and turned her to Anna. I knew what I had to do, and I hated it. ”You stay with her.”

Lilly was frozen, like this had broken her. But then she nodded. She reached into the tent and put one hand behind Anna's head. With the other, she rubbed a thumb on Anna's cheek, wiping away the tears. ”It's going to be okay,” she said, her voice getting thick. ”You hear me? It will all be okay in just a minute....”

I stepped over to the wall. Took hold of the plug. The attachment was tight. I held my breath and tore it free.

The machines around Anna went dark. Humming cycled down to silence. Anna's breathing stopped.

”I love you,” I heard Lilly whisper.

I thought about going back to her, to hold her, or something, but thought I'd leave her last moment with Anna for her. Besides, I didn't want to see that again.

I took a deep breath. Let it out slow. Now I knew what Paul, Eden, even Dr. Maria had been capable of. This This was what she'd been apologizing for up on the ledge. was what she'd been apologizing for up on the ledge.

I looked around this dim subterranean lab, the evil doppelganger of the Atlantean room. This, right here, beneath the cheery camp, the TrueSky, the SafeSun lamps, the entire dome, this was the heart of EdenWest, a chamber of blood and suffering. And now of death. In this place, they'd been searching for what was inside me. I ran my hand over my chest, imagined the ribs being sawed open, fibers tearing as the covers were spread apart, cold air on my bare organs.... He would do that, if he thought he needed to. He would do it without hesitation.

Yet even knowing that, it was still almost impossible to really imagine someone cutting open a girl and stuffing her insides with tubes, like she was nothing more than a piece of equipment.

I walked, dazed, over to the next tented table. I could see the outline of a body. I looked through the clear plastic window. He was a younger boy I didn't know. Probably one of the missing kids that the CITs had mentioned. This was where they'd all really gone. To be pried open and dissected, studied, understood. Lilly and Evan had talked about scientists growing ears on the backs of mice, of clones. None of that had ended. It had just gone underground, followed the money. Everyone knew EdenCorp had tons of money.

The next table held little Colleen, her insides on display. Her eyes were open. Wide, innocent. She looked at me. A soft moan from her tubed mouth. I could barely look at her, remembering her little pained voice the other day in the infirmary. Inside, I felt things closing up, locks going on chambers of feeling.

Let's just put these away for a while, said the technicians solemnly.

Then I stepped to the wall and pulled her plug.

Went around the edge of the room, from one tented table to the next.

Pulled all the plugs.

Humming slowing down to silence. Little lights going dark. Tortured lives ending.

When I was done, I slumped against the wall, c.o.c.keyed because of the pack on my shoulder. I felt heavy, too heavy. Slid down, and finally acknowledged the feeling in my gut. Threw up on the floor. A splat of liquid. Closed my eyes. Needed there to be nothing for a while....

But another sound began. A voice through a speaker. Coming from behind me. From Dr. Maria's backpack.

I pulled the pack off my shoulder, knelt, and dug into it. Under the medical kit, there was an extra s.h.i.+rt, flashlight, some soymeal protein bars, and a subnet phone.

”Is, um, anyone hearing this?” On the little phone screen was Aaron. ”Oh, hey, it's the gill boy, I mean, Owen. Maria gave you the phone, I take it.”

”Yeah,” I said. ”Dr. Maria said you were a friend.”

Aaron nodded. He looked past me. ”Oh, looks like you've been down to the chamber of horrors.” I didn't know if that was supposed to be humorous or what. If it was, then Aaron had a sick sense of humor, and right then, I couldn't find a response.

Aaron glanced over his own shoulder. ”Listen, we need to get you out of here,” he said quietly, ”as soon as yesterday. There's a maintenance hatch due south of the boys' cabins. Number six. How soon do you think you can get there?”

I tried to measure the distance in my head. ”Half an hour?” I guessed.

”Okay, good. I can tell Robard and the Nomads to send a team to meet you there. And I can disable that door, provided you don't get caught before then. But, near as I can tell, Paul is back down in the temple, so you should have some time.”

”Okay,” I said. ”We-well, Dr. Maria is-”

”I know, kid, I saw it happen live on the cameras. Just get to that south maintenance door, number six, okay? I'm opening it in thirty minutes and it can't be open long.”

”Okay.”

The screen went blank. I stared at it. Yes, leaving now. No special flying craft, no skull... no ending up on one of these exam tables.

There was a zipping sound. Lilly was closing the plastic window above Anna. She moved back to the middle of the room, to Evan, the closest CIT. I watched her check his pulse and nod. ”Still there,” she said. ”I checked them when I first came down.”

”Good,” I said. ”Hey...” I slung the backpack onto my shoulder. ”Aaron says he can open a door for us, but we have to get there in thirty minutes. Which means, now.”

”Okay,” said Lilly. ”Just help me get them down, and we'll go.”

I looked at the bodies, felt the clock ticking. We had to move. ”Listen, Lilly, Paul's not going to do what he did to Anna, to these guys. Now that he knows about the skull and us-”

Lilly spun at me. ”They're my family family, Owen!” She was screaming suddenly, just screaming at me. Her face twisted. A furious animal. ”You still have one. I don't!”

”We're going to end up like that that”-I pointed to Anna-”if we don't get out of here!” I couldn't help yelling back. I could almost feel the knives slicing my chest open, looking for the Atlantean inside.

”Then go go!” She turned and started unstrapping Evan. ”I'd rather die than lose them, too.”

Her words echoed around in my head. Lose them, too. Lose them, too. She'd already lost one family. She'd already lost one family.

I looked again at the CITs and then I realized I was wrong: Paul might not cut them open, might not need to, but now that they'd been down here, seen all this, was he really going to let them go back to lifeguarding? I felt pretty sure that once you ended up in this room, the only way you were getting out was the way Anna just had. ”I'm sorry,” I said. ”You're right. It's just, the time-”

”Then start helping.”

I did. Lilly pulled a needle carefully from Evan's elbow. We unbuckled straps, and he crumpled into our arms. ”Evan, wake up,” Lilly whispered in his ear.

”Nnnn,” he moaned. We dragged his hulking body over to the wall and propped him there.

We did the same with Aliah and Marco. By the time we were done, they were coming to.

”Man.” Marco was coming out of it the fastest. He rubbed the back of his head. ”Security Forces busted in while we were visiting Evan in the infirmary. All I remember after that is something white.... What was was that?” that?”