The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... - Chapter 56: Chapter 56
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By the end of Em's first day in captivity, she knew her situation was far worse than expected.
When Audrey had been subjected to the battery of testing inflicted by the Loyal researchers, there had at least been an element of humanity to the ordeal. She was given a modicum of privacy, for starters, and handled only when a procedure called for it. Sure, the procedures themselves weren't pleasant, but at least she was treated like a patient.
Em, by comparison, was being treated like the prisoner she was.
There was no paper curtain to draw around her when the nurses stripped her of her clothes and forced her into a standard hospital gown. Teeth gritted and head held high, Em did what she could to maintain her dignity throughout the indelicate physical examination that followed. She considered sinking her teeth into every hand or arm that passed too close to her face, but always thought better of it in the end.
She was given no warning when they shaved her head. Eyes locked resolutely on a scuff mark on the floor left by someone's shoe, Em didn't make a sound. Not that they would have heard a stray sigh or whimper over the angry buzz of the electric razor. She watched, unblinking as clumps of her beautiful silver hair fluttered downward and carpeted the floor, eventually obscuring the scuff mark completely. A fistful was collected as a sample for testing while the rest was swept up and thrown out like trash.
Hands bound at all times, Em was handled with unnecessary roughness. Rarely was she asked to stand or follow—instead, she was shoved or yanked or jostled into position. She knew her pain threshold was being tested, but that didn't make the injections or incisions made without localized anesthetic any easier to bear.
At some point, through the rising haze of fresh drugs that had been introduced to her system, Em found herself wondering if anyone in the team of researchers working on her even knew her name. They only ever referred to her as "Starborn". It was dehumanizing, but then again, perhaps that was the point.
"I have a name, you know," she slurred at the trio monitoring her vitals and taking notes on the effects of the chemical they'd injected into her bloodstream.
The researchers blinked at one another but said nothing.
Em grunted. She could feel her insides reeling.
"I'll bet you people are smart," she said. "It's a shame you've decided to dedicate those big brains of yours to this shit."
And then, as if to punctuate her disgust, Em vomited right onto the closest researcher's impossibly pristine scrubs.
Without windows and nothing but the same endlessly buzzing fluorescents overhead, it was difficult to tell how much time had passed in the lab. Still, when Em found herself hoisted back onto her hospital bed—she was already too weak from the day's abuse to drag herself into it on her own—strapped down and left alone, she assumed the day must be over. Even shady researchers with ambiguous morals had to get their beauty sleep.
Though the room swam slightly whenever Em blinked, her mind was just clear enough for her to understand the gravity of her situation.
The plan had been to lay low for as long as possible, but she was quickly realizing that timeline might be much shorter than anticipated. Em closed her eyes against the dull throb of a budding headache and sighed.
The first opportunity I see, I'm out of here, she thought.
And whatever that opportunity looked like, she'd have to take it. At the rate things were going, she might not survive long enough to get a second chance.
"You would not believe the things I can smell in this room."
"I am begging you not to enlighten us."
"I mean it. This room has seen some shit."
"Ugh, Lety!" Unnerved, May jumped up from where she had been sitting on the edge of a dingy looking double bed. "Why are you like this?"
"It's the nose," Lety explained, shrugging. "Canine."
"That's not—you know what? Nevermind."
The two of them, along with Jeremy and Dom, were crowded into a room they'd rented at a motel down the highway from the diner. They needed a private place to get each other up to speed, without the awkwardness of trying to pore over the maps and diagrams in the back of Lety's SUV. Despite whatever unthinkable things Lety could smell there, the motel room would have to do.
Dom was tending to a sad-looking potted fern that adorned a wobbly table in the corner.
"Why even have it if they're not going to commit to a regular watering schedule?" he said, dismayed.
May groaned and dragged a hand back through her hair.
"Okay, huddle up, kids," Jeremy said with a clap of his hands. He unrolled the diagrams and laid them flat over the bed, pulling Priva's map and the blueprints for the Sovereign University research labs to the top of the pile. "What's the plan?"
Lety leaned over the blueprint, turning it to get a better sense of the orientation. "The abridged version involves some bees and a distraction."
"It doesn't have to be bees," Dom piped up from his corner. He tucked the potted fern into the crook of his arm and wandered over to the makeshift war table. "I said we can use ants too. They'd be slower, but quieter."
Jeremy looked to May as if she were the only bastion of sanity left in the room. "I can't tell if they're being serious. Are they serious?"
"Yes," she sighed. "But I swear it's not as crazy as it sounds. Look here." May tapped a schematic marker on the eastern wall of the medical building. "We have the blueprints, so we know our way around. But we don't know where in the lab Em is being held. So, Dom's going to use his ability to communicate with wildlife to get some bees—"
"Or ants."
"Or ants to enter through the ventilation system here. They'll descend to the sub-basement where the labs are, figure out where Em is being kept, and then report back."
For a moment, Jeremy looked like he wanted to balk. His mouth opened then closed.
"Can you really do that?" he asked Dom.
Dom pointed to the floor, where Fargus was plucking at carpet fibers. "Why do you think I can understand what that gangster is saying?"
As if on cue, Fargus squawked.
"He says the floor is disgusting."
May shuddered. Jeremy tapped his chin. "Okay, well in that case this might actually work."
"Really?" May was relieved to hear this. When they had concocted the plan, she, Dom, and Lety had felt like they were grasping at straws. The fact that Jeremy, who knew the Loyals and the labs better than the rest of them, thought their bees-or-maybe-ant-spies idea could be viable was a pleasant surprise.
"It's not a perfect plan, but it's not like they're going to expect militarized insects to be stealing their secrets either." Jeremy looked around the group. "What's next?"
"Then I, as my beastly alter-ego, provide a chaotic distraction while Tiny and Dom bust in and grab Em," Lety said, smiling smugly. "Bitches won't know what hit them."
At this, Jeremy didn't look as enthused. "Okay, that part might need a bit of finessing. How were you planning to get out?"
May's heart sank. "Get out?"
"Well, yeah. You might be able to surprise them enough to storm the castle but these aren't stupid people—they'll be ready for you on the way out."
Fretting over the blueprint, May traced the ventilation shafts with her finger. "Maybe we could access the vents and—"
"Em's not going to be in any shape to crawl through vents, trust me," Jeremy cut in, shaking his head. "Besides, you might be the only one who can fit through them in the first place."
May threw up her hands in frustration. "Then what do you suggest?"
Jeremy crossed his arms and exhaled slowly. He didn't look combative: he seemed thoughtful. He studied the blueprint some more, then tugged the map closer. While he stewed in his thoughts, the others waited, breathless. Fargus fluttered up onto the bed and strutted carelessly over the diagrams. May was about to shoo him off, when the raven tilted his head over the map and let out a series of curious kaws.
"He says..." Dom paused and looked down at the map. "We should cut through the University's conservation lands."
"Smart." Jeremy snapped his fingers. "Super smart idea, birdface."
Fargus ruffled his feathers, as though he wasn't quite sure whether to take the praise or be offended by the term birdface.
"I don't understand," May said, leaning in to see what the others did. "What are the conservation lands and why should we be cutting through them?"
"The conservation lands are this big swatch of undeveloped land here." Jeremy traced the section of land that separated Sovereign University's campus from the rest of the world. The school itself rested deep in a wooded valley, not unlike a hidden kingdom. "It's land the University owns and uses partially for conservation studies and partially to keep the city from encroaching on their hoity toity mystique."
May eyed the not-insignificant stretch of forest warily. "But why would we go through there?"
"I guess it makes sense," Lety reasoned. "Look—the medical sciences building backs right onto the woods on the edge of campus. That's how Dom and I were able to spy on them before. And it's not like the woods were guarded or anything."
"Right," Jeremy said. "But I guarantee you there will be closed circuit cameras all over the road in and throughout campus. If we try to drive in, we'll be on their radar in a hot second."
"Okay, so we hike in," May relented. "But we still haven't figured out how we're getting out of the lab, short of me blowing the place up." She raised her cannon-strapped arm to make her point.
"The cannon is a nice touch, but it won't be enough." Jeremy ran a hand through his already mussed-up hair. "We need back-up. As much as we can get."
When Audrey had been subjected to the battery of testing inflicted by the Loyal researchers, there had at least been an element of humanity to the ordeal. She was given a modicum of privacy, for starters, and handled only when a procedure called for it. Sure, the procedures themselves weren't pleasant, but at least she was treated like a patient.
Em, by comparison, was being treated like the prisoner she was.
There was no paper curtain to draw around her when the nurses stripped her of her clothes and forced her into a standard hospital gown. Teeth gritted and head held high, Em did what she could to maintain her dignity throughout the indelicate physical examination that followed. She considered sinking her teeth into every hand or arm that passed too close to her face, but always thought better of it in the end.
She was given no warning when they shaved her head. Eyes locked resolutely on a scuff mark on the floor left by someone's shoe, Em didn't make a sound. Not that they would have heard a stray sigh or whimper over the angry buzz of the electric razor. She watched, unblinking as clumps of her beautiful silver hair fluttered downward and carpeted the floor, eventually obscuring the scuff mark completely. A fistful was collected as a sample for testing while the rest was swept up and thrown out like trash.
Hands bound at all times, Em was handled with unnecessary roughness. Rarely was she asked to stand or follow—instead, she was shoved or yanked or jostled into position. She knew her pain threshold was being tested, but that didn't make the injections or incisions made without localized anesthetic any easier to bear.
At some point, through the rising haze of fresh drugs that had been introduced to her system, Em found herself wondering if anyone in the team of researchers working on her even knew her name. They only ever referred to her as "Starborn". It was dehumanizing, but then again, perhaps that was the point.
"I have a name, you know," she slurred at the trio monitoring her vitals and taking notes on the effects of the chemical they'd injected into her bloodstream.
The researchers blinked at one another but said nothing.
Em grunted. She could feel her insides reeling.
"I'll bet you people are smart," she said. "It's a shame you've decided to dedicate those big brains of yours to this shit."
And then, as if to punctuate her disgust, Em vomited right onto the closest researcher's impossibly pristine scrubs.
Without windows and nothing but the same endlessly buzzing fluorescents overhead, it was difficult to tell how much time had passed in the lab. Still, when Em found herself hoisted back onto her hospital bed—she was already too weak from the day's abuse to drag herself into it on her own—strapped down and left alone, she assumed the day must be over. Even shady researchers with ambiguous morals had to get their beauty sleep.
Though the room swam slightly whenever Em blinked, her mind was just clear enough for her to understand the gravity of her situation.
The plan had been to lay low for as long as possible, but she was quickly realizing that timeline might be much shorter than anticipated. Em closed her eyes against the dull throb of a budding headache and sighed.
The first opportunity I see, I'm out of here, she thought.
And whatever that opportunity looked like, she'd have to take it. At the rate things were going, she might not survive long enough to get a second chance.
"You would not believe the things I can smell in this room."
"I am begging you not to enlighten us."
"I mean it. This room has seen some shit."
"Ugh, Lety!" Unnerved, May jumped up from where she had been sitting on the edge of a dingy looking double bed. "Why are you like this?"
"It's the nose," Lety explained, shrugging. "Canine."
"That's not—you know what? Nevermind."
The two of them, along with Jeremy and Dom, were crowded into a room they'd rented at a motel down the highway from the diner. They needed a private place to get each other up to speed, without the awkwardness of trying to pore over the maps and diagrams in the back of Lety's SUV. Despite whatever unthinkable things Lety could smell there, the motel room would have to do.
Dom was tending to a sad-looking potted fern that adorned a wobbly table in the corner.
"Why even have it if they're not going to commit to a regular watering schedule?" he said, dismayed.
May groaned and dragged a hand back through her hair.
"Okay, huddle up, kids," Jeremy said with a clap of his hands. He unrolled the diagrams and laid them flat over the bed, pulling Priva's map and the blueprints for the Sovereign University research labs to the top of the pile. "What's the plan?"
Lety leaned over the blueprint, turning it to get a better sense of the orientation. "The abridged version involves some bees and a distraction."
"It doesn't have to be bees," Dom piped up from his corner. He tucked the potted fern into the crook of his arm and wandered over to the makeshift war table. "I said we can use ants too. They'd be slower, but quieter."
Jeremy looked to May as if she were the only bastion of sanity left in the room. "I can't tell if they're being serious. Are they serious?"
"Yes," she sighed. "But I swear it's not as crazy as it sounds. Look here." May tapped a schematic marker on the eastern wall of the medical building. "We have the blueprints, so we know our way around. But we don't know where in the lab Em is being held. So, Dom's going to use his ability to communicate with wildlife to get some bees—"
"Or ants."
"Or ants to enter through the ventilation system here. They'll descend to the sub-basement where the labs are, figure out where Em is being kept, and then report back."
For a moment, Jeremy looked like he wanted to balk. His mouth opened then closed.
"Can you really do that?" he asked Dom.
Dom pointed to the floor, where Fargus was plucking at carpet fibers. "Why do you think I can understand what that gangster is saying?"
As if on cue, Fargus squawked.
"He says the floor is disgusting."
May shuddered. Jeremy tapped his chin. "Okay, well in that case this might actually work."
"Really?" May was relieved to hear this. When they had concocted the plan, she, Dom, and Lety had felt like they were grasping at straws. The fact that Jeremy, who knew the Loyals and the labs better than the rest of them, thought their bees-or-maybe-ant-spies idea could be viable was a pleasant surprise.
"It's not a perfect plan, but it's not like they're going to expect militarized insects to be stealing their secrets either." Jeremy looked around the group. "What's next?"
"Then I, as my beastly alter-ego, provide a chaotic distraction while Tiny and Dom bust in and grab Em," Lety said, smiling smugly. "Bitches won't know what hit them."
At this, Jeremy didn't look as enthused. "Okay, that part might need a bit of finessing. How were you planning to get out?"
May's heart sank. "Get out?"
"Well, yeah. You might be able to surprise them enough to storm the castle but these aren't stupid people—they'll be ready for you on the way out."
Fretting over the blueprint, May traced the ventilation shafts with her finger. "Maybe we could access the vents and—"
"Em's not going to be in any shape to crawl through vents, trust me," Jeremy cut in, shaking his head. "Besides, you might be the only one who can fit through them in the first place."
May threw up her hands in frustration. "Then what do you suggest?"
Jeremy crossed his arms and exhaled slowly. He didn't look combative: he seemed thoughtful. He studied the blueprint some more, then tugged the map closer. While he stewed in his thoughts, the others waited, breathless. Fargus fluttered up onto the bed and strutted carelessly over the diagrams. May was about to shoo him off, when the raven tilted his head over the map and let out a series of curious kaws.
"He says..." Dom paused and looked down at the map. "We should cut through the University's conservation lands."
"Smart." Jeremy snapped his fingers. "Super smart idea, birdface."
Fargus ruffled his feathers, as though he wasn't quite sure whether to take the praise or be offended by the term birdface.
"I don't understand," May said, leaning in to see what the others did. "What are the conservation lands and why should we be cutting through them?"
"The conservation lands are this big swatch of undeveloped land here." Jeremy traced the section of land that separated Sovereign University's campus from the rest of the world. The school itself rested deep in a wooded valley, not unlike a hidden kingdom. "It's land the University owns and uses partially for conservation studies and partially to keep the city from encroaching on their hoity toity mystique."
May eyed the not-insignificant stretch of forest warily. "But why would we go through there?"
"I guess it makes sense," Lety reasoned. "Look—the medical sciences building backs right onto the woods on the edge of campus. That's how Dom and I were able to spy on them before. And it's not like the woods were guarded or anything."
"Right," Jeremy said. "But I guarantee you there will be closed circuit cameras all over the road in and throughout campus. If we try to drive in, we'll be on their radar in a hot second."
"Okay, so we hike in," May relented. "But we still haven't figured out how we're getting out of the lab, short of me blowing the place up." She raised her cannon-strapped arm to make her point.
"The cannon is a nice touch, but it won't be enough." Jeremy ran a hand through his already mussed-up hair. "We need back-up. As much as we can get."
End of The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... Chapter 56. Continue reading Chapter 57 or return to The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... book page.