She crawled another twenty feet until she finally put her hand down onto…nothing. A portion of the floor a good two feet across had fallen away. Her light revealed that the fissure dropped down a few feet to an air duct that had been torn open. She wondered if the first oborot she had encountered had escaped this way, or if it had been released for a purpose.
She didn’t love the idea of climbing into an air duct, but if an oborot could pass through without getting stuck or bringing the vent crashing down, so could she. It was crucial, however, that she did not wind up in the middle of their holding pen or whatever place it was they called home. Holding her finger on the trigger of her Mark 23, she slithered head first down into the vent. Up ahead, the way was lit by the glow of light shining through vents in the bottom of the duct. Careful to make no noise, she crept up to the first vent and peered through.
A slender man in a lab coat leaned in close to a computer monitor, blocking her view of the screen. He was muttering something. She strained to hear what he was saying, and made out the words, “Where is she?”
“You still haven’t located her?” A deep voice called from somewhere out of sight. She gritted her teeth, recognizing the voice of the man who had taunted her while trying to kill her with his sicko rides.
“No, but there are plenty of places she could hide. I’ll keep watching.”
“Let me know when she resurfaces. I want to take her out before she makes it out of the city.”
The man at the computer turned around to face the speaker, giving her a clear view of his face. He was young, perhaps in his late twenties, clean-cut—the stereotypical laboratory squint. Only his eyes, sparkling with a dark, twisted zeal, marred his otherwise benign appearance. “She’s already taken out our entire security detail. Watch yourself.”
Queen grinned. That was a helpful bit of information.
“She won’t find me so easy to deal with.” The voice was so smug and self-assured that Queen had to fight the sudden urge to kick the vent loose, drop down into the middle of the room, and take him on right then and there. Play it smart. They don’t know you’re here, so use that to your advantage.
She heard footsteps as the second man walked away, and the young squint turned back to his computer. Satisfied she wouldn’t hear anything else of value here, at least not right away, she moved farther down the shaft.
The next vent overlooked a hallway. She couldn’t see far enough in either direction to discern if it would be a safe place to exit, so she kept moving. Finally she came to a vent above a small storage room. The walls were lined with shelves packed with a variety of chemicals and laboratory supplies. She quickly took hold of the vent cover with both hands and tested it. It was held in place by clips that slid free with the scantest scrape of metal on metal, though in the silence it sounded to Queen like a car crash. Setting the vent aside, she dropped nimbly into the room…
…just as the door opened.
A balding man with graying temples walked in. He was staring down at a clipboard and did not see her until she thrust her gun in his face and pressed her free hand over his mouth. He gave a muffled whimper and let the clipboard clatter to the floor. Behind his thick glasses, his eyes, wide with fright, gave him the look of a startled owl.
“Do you speak English?” she whispered. The man nodded. “If you answer my questions and don’t try to call for help, I’ll let you live. You do anything at all I don’t like, you die slowly and painfully. Got it?”
The man nodded and Queen uncovered his mouth, but kept the gun trained on him.
“Is this place safe for us to talk?” she whispered.
“Perhaps,” he replied in a soft voice. “Our directors are in their offices and seldom have reason to come this way. And security…” He shrugged. “I have not seen them in the last hour or so. They all seem to be outside.”
“Don’t worry about security. Tell me, is this place run by Manifold Genetics?”
The man blanched at the name. “Yes, but how did you know?”
“That doesn’t matter. Fill me in on what’s going on here.” Her trigger finger itched. She wanted to get busy cleaning house, but it was important to learn as much as she could about what Manifold was up to and what, exactly, they’d managed to accomplish. “Are you making these oborots, or werewolves, or whatever they are?”
The man swallowed hard. “We should go to my office. If someone should pass by this place and hear my voice, they might investigate and there is nowhere for you to hide. They are accustomed to hearing me talk to myself or to the subjects when I am working in my office. It will be safer there.”
“Is it far?” Queen wondered if he was up to something, but she saw no deceit in his eyes. In any case, she couldn’t stay here forever. Sooner or later, she’d have to risk it.
“Not far. You can put on one of the lab coats.” He indicated a stack of neatly folded white coats. “It will be less noticeable than what you have on. My colleague is about your size and her hair is only a little darker. As long as no one gets a good look at you, they will probably take you for her at a glance.”