And there on the floor beside her was Esther. The soldier he had given the most important assignment in the history of metas: to take care of his daughter. She lay motionless as well.
It took the old man a moment to wrap his head around what he was seeing. His feet wouldn’t move from that tiled spot. He stood there shocked long enough for the heavy vase to slip from his arms and smash to the floor.
People who had been on the first floor talked in whispers about the screaming they heard from the hospital’s mysterious basement. Some of the metas were sure it was the ghost of Mrs. Williams. Others believed they were torturing disobedient metas down there. And still others wondered aloud about what monsters the doctors in that hospital had created in an experiment gone wrong.
Well, truth be told, parts of each of those ideas was right. A monster was created in the basement that very day, and it was absolutely haunted by the deceased Mrs. Williams. All of this did happen because of experiments gone wrong, very wrong.
And the typed note found tucked in the front breast pocket of the impeccably uniformed meta, Esther, contained words that cut what sanity the grieving father may have maintained into slivers of glass.
Sir,
I could not stand seeing June suffer anymore. Watching her wasting away year after year waiting for you to save her was agonizing.
Keeping June locked away in the basement of your life was selfish and undisciplined.
I feel peace knowing I have been a true friend and protector to June and as such came to realize it was up to me to free her from your prison of shame.
Now, even you can move on and focus on your brilliant scientific work here at the Facility.
Esther
M402
46 U-Turns in the Sky
“So that’s the plan.” Creed said, finally. He had returned from the pilot’s cockpit even as the plane was still angling the about-face to tell the others the good news.
The brothers sat quietly for a moment before Alik spoke. “Well, this was one heck of a way to prove your good intentions.” He allowed himself a half smile of appreciation.
“Thank you for doing this, Creed.” Evan rubbed the emotion out of his eyes wishing desperately to change the subject.
Creed’s face blushed as he mumbled, “It’s the least I could do for her.” He was looking affectionately toward Meg.
Clearing his throat first, Evan asked, “Alik, tell me exactly what mom said.”
“She said, ‘Maze was sniffing around on the trail where Creed told us he found Meg when she collapsed. He found something, Alik. Maze found the dart that poisoned Meg. Theo, Paulie and I are trying to decode the poison so we can make an antidote.’ Then when I asked her how soon she could have the antidote ready she said, ‘Well, that’s hard to say. I could really use Evan’s help with this. He’s faster at equations than any of us.’ ”
Evan continued to stare at his brother deep in thought.
“Wow, how did you do that?” Creed said looking over at Alik with his head tilted a bit to the side like a curious puppy dog.
“Do what?” Alik said absently. He was walking toward his sister and adjusting the straps holding the gurney safely to the cabin wall.
“That sounded like exactly what Dr. Winter would have said—word for word!”
“It was.” Evan stood and started pacing the aisle. He was much more worried about the implications of creating an antidote based on an unknown toxin and not having time to test it for accuracy or safety before his sister needed it.
“Wow, that’s a cool trick.”
“It’s not a ‘trick.’ It’s his gift. He’s got an eidetic memory.” Evan was only partially engaged in this conversation. His mind was whirling around thoughts of curing his sister.
“What’s an ‘eidetic memory?’”
“I can remember everything I see, hear or read, perfectly,” Alik answered for himself in a distracted monotone.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“How far back?”
Alik shrugged. He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable talking about himself so much.
“Can you remember your parents? I mean, your biological ones?” Creed asked.
“Listen, Creed. We can talk about that some other time. Right now, I need to go check on the pilots. I might know of a way to ration our fuel.” He rubbed his hands on his jeans before standing and wedging past his brother who was still pacing the aisle.
“Let me guess, he’s read a few books on how to fly a plane,” Creed mused to no one in particular as he watched the meta close the cockpit door behind him.
“Undoubtedly.” Evan murmured.