Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
I hit record on the microscope’s video function, then slowly combine the factor with the signalosomes. Once I’m confident the solution is ready, I change the slide and refocus.
With a deep breath and a silent prayer, I add the test materials to the vampire cells.
I stare through the lens, goose bumps rising along my skin as I watch the interaction. The spiky vampire cells don’t react to the protein.
“Come on. Come onnnnn,” I mutter under my breath.
I wait.
Nothing.
“Maybe—” Gretchen’s voice cuts off as the spikes on the vampire cells lengthen, almost defensively. Then, in a matter of a heartbeat, the proteins invade the spiky cells, the slide going hazy and pink as the hemoglobin escapes the failing cell structure and disintegrates. The slides crack, the blood turning to ash and leaving a black smudge behind.
I stare, my mouth hanging open.
“We did it.” Gretchen’s voice trembles. “This is it. Oh my god.”
I back away from the eyepiece and peer at the shattered slide. Nothing is left, only carbon, a bit of ash. We don’t know the proper concentration or any of the variables to make it fully viable right away, but it works.
“I think …” Her shaking voice trails off. “I think maybe we should erase the data from the system.”
My elation turns cold as I realize she’s right. Shit, if they’re watching our computers, they may already know what we’ve done. Then again, if they had scientists working at our level and watching us, they would’ve already figured out what we were doing when I started my experiments to destroy the samples. “Gretchen?”
“Yeah?”
“Delete it all. Make sure it’s gone.”
“On it,” she replies.
I scrape the shattered glass into my palm and dump it into the biohazard bin. Then I return to the cold storage and mix a vial of the factor and the signalosomes. I bring it with me, staring at it as I leave the HCL.
It takes another century for me to strip out of the protective gear. Once I’m back in the open lab, Gretchen is at her computer, her fingers flying across the keys. The vial is in my shirt pocket, cool against my hot skin. I should’ve left it in the HCL, maybe marked it in some way. But I want to keep it close. A talisman, a necklace of garlic.
“We good?” I ask Gretchen.
“As good as we can be. I’ve cleaned the data from every computer still hooked up to the system,” she whispers.
My head is swimming as I sit beside her. I don’t have a plan of how to use this discovery, but just knowing there’s a way to kill them other than sunlight. Fucking hell. I need to tell Juno. There has to be some avenue to get the information to her.
“Done with this?” Gene asks as he shuffles up and points to the paper plate on my desk, only scraps of toast left.
“Yeah,” I say absently.
He swipes it into a waste bin and heads off to tidy Aang’s desk while he’s not looking. His limp isn’t noticeable at all anymore. He’s recovered so well despite his age.
An idea surfaces. “Hey, Gene?”
“Yep?” He tries to neaten the haphazard stacks of paper and journals.
“I was just wondering, um, where’d you get the jam from? That was on the toast.”
“Up the street. You know I’ve been raiding the White House kitchens for months.”
“Yep. Do you ever see Juno?”
He pauses, his eyes finding mine. “No. I don’t suppose she visits the kitchen much. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay.” I shouldn’t put him in danger anyway. It’s selfish of me to even think it. I’ll have to come up with some other way to pass the information. Even so, I write down the sequence, the proteins and the factor on a scrap of paper.
He goes back to tidying, and I sit down at my desk, my eyes unfocused, my mind running in circles. After a short while, Gretchen comes over and whispers, “I double-checked. All erased. Gone.”
“Good.” I slip her the paper. “This is it. Keep it somewhere safe.”
“Got it.” She tucks it under her leg.
“What have you two been up to?” Evie strolls up, her reading glasses making her eyes look huge.
“Nothing, Wise Old Owl.” Gretchen hurries back to her desk.
“Not suspicious at all.” Evie says quietly as she looks between the two of us a few times, but she’s smart enough to stop asking questions. “What’s for lunch?” She turns her attention to Gene.
“Dr. Clark?”
I jump at the loud voice and find Major Barker standing just inside the lab doors. “Hey,” I say lamely.
“A word, please.”
“Okay.” I exchange uneasy glances with Gretchen and Evie.
“You want me to come with in case he tries something?” Evie asks.
“I’m not going to try anything.” He narrows his eyes. “You have my word.”
“I don’t know, Georgia.” Evie crosses her arms.
“I have no orders to take you,” he says.