body.”
Endo lifted a sheet up over Maigo’s body, covering her torso and head. He turned to Elliot again. “You can take her. I’ll remain here.”
The way he spoke those last three words churned up old fears. There was a threat in his tone, but it wasn’t directed toward her. It’s the doctors, she realized. I’m okay, but the doctors...
She decided that it didn’t matter what happened to the doctors. Elliot let out a sigh and smiled. “Thank you, Endo.”
He gave a nod and stepped back to the door, opening it for her. She unlocked the gurney’s wheels and turned the mobile bed toward the door. As she passed by Endo, he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Thank you, Dr. Elliot. The General is a good friend. To both of us.”
Before she could reply, he stepped back inside the room and let the door close.
Endo’s transformation from silent killer to kind ally felt so strange, but she wasn’t about to debate it with the man. She rolled the gurney down the long white hall, took the elevator down two flights to the basement and then headed for the morgue, where she would later oversee a post-mortem dissection to learn what she could about Maigo’s altered physiology. She wasn’t sure she could figure out exactly what the foreign DNA had done to Maigo , but if she was now in the General’s good graces, he might well tell her.
She stopped the gurney next to a large refrigeration unit where the body would be kept until the rest of the BioLance staff returned.
But who knew how long that would be?
Elliot decided she couldn’t wait to learn more. Although she wasn’t qualified to perform a post-mortem examination, she had five more Maigo embryos ready to go. She could have another adolescent and still-living subject to examine by the time Gordon woke up. Feeling invigorated, she pushed the corpse quickly inside the refrigeration unit. As the gurney passed through the open door, the sheet covering Maigo’s body caught on the door’s lock and slid away, exposing the body.
With an annoyed groan, Elliot turned toward the falling sheet. She caught just a glimpse of Maigo’s body as she turned, but it was enough. With a shout, she jumped back and slammed into a wall of chilled supplies. A bottle, filled with some kind of horrible smelling chemical fell to the floor and shattered. But Elliot barely noticed. Her eyes were locked on Maigo’s chest.
The I -shaped wound was now covered in a dark crust that resembled the skin on the girl’s feet and tail.
“What the hell?” she whispered and leaned down for a closer look. She touched the hard growth with her finger, but had forgotten she was still wearing gloves. She stood up and removed the gloves one by one. She placed them on the shelf from where the bottle had fallen and turned back to the body.
In the split second it took to discard the gloves, everything changed.
Maigo’s eyes were open.
Elliot’s muscles locked with fear and a scream built in her throat, but it never got the chance to escape. The last thing Dr. Kendra Elliot saw was Maigo’s now six-foot-long tail rising up from beneath the sheets.
13
I sit up with a gasp, clutching my chest and rolling my eyes around in confusion. The strange scent of earth and a glowing ceiling make the transition from dream to wakefulness a surreal experience, because the dream seemed more real than what I’m seeing. When my eyes finally land on Collins’s worried face, I remember where I am.
“You okay, chief?” Collins asks.
I groan and push myself up against the earthen wall behind me. “Nothing like waking up from a dream about being eaten by a bear and finding yourself inside a giant glowing stomach.” I look up at my hastily built shelter. It survived the night, and the storm, keeping us concealed and dry. With the morning sun on it, the wool blanket shimmers.
I smack my lips and clear my throat. I hate mornings. So little about them is good, but this morning is worse than usual.
Endo lifted a sheet up over Maigo’s body, covering her torso and head. He turned to Elliot again. “You can take her. I’ll remain here.”
The way he spoke those last three words churned up old fears. There was a threat in his tone, but it wasn’t directed toward her. It’s the doctors, she realized. I’m okay, but the doctors...
She decided that it didn’t matter what happened to the doctors. Elliot let out a sigh and smiled. “Thank you, Endo.”
He gave a nod and stepped back to the door, opening it for her. She unlocked the gurney’s wheels and turned the mobile bed toward the door. As she passed by Endo, he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Thank you, Dr. Elliot. The General is a good friend. To both of us.”
Before she could reply, he stepped back inside the room and let the door close.
Endo’s transformation from silent killer to kind ally felt so strange, but she wasn’t about to debate it with the man. She rolled the gurney down the long white hall, took the elevator down two flights to the basement and then headed for the morgue, where she would later oversee a post-mortem dissection to learn what she could about Maigo’s altered physiology. She wasn’t sure she could figure out exactly what the foreign DNA had done to Maigo , but if she was now in the General’s good graces, he might well tell her.
She stopped the gurney next to a large refrigeration unit where the body would be kept until the rest of the BioLance staff returned.
But who knew how long that would be?
Elliot decided she couldn’t wait to learn more. Although she wasn’t qualified to perform a post-mortem examination, she had five more Maigo embryos ready to go. She could have another adolescent and still-living subject to examine by the time Gordon woke up. Feeling invigorated, she pushed the corpse quickly inside the refrigeration unit. As the gurney passed through the open door, the sheet covering Maigo’s body caught on the door’s lock and slid away, exposing the body.
With an annoyed groan, Elliot turned toward the falling sheet. She caught just a glimpse of Maigo’s body as she turned, but it was enough. With a shout, she jumped back and slammed into a wall of chilled supplies. A bottle, filled with some kind of horrible smelling chemical fell to the floor and shattered. But Elliot barely noticed. Her eyes were locked on Maigo’s chest.
The I -shaped wound was now covered in a dark crust that resembled the skin on the girl’s feet and tail.
“What the hell?” she whispered and leaned down for a closer look. She touched the hard growth with her finger, but had forgotten she was still wearing gloves. She stood up and removed the gloves one by one. She placed them on the shelf from where the bottle had fallen and turned back to the body.
In the split second it took to discard the gloves, everything changed.
Maigo’s eyes were open.
Elliot’s muscles locked with fear and a scream built in her throat, but it never got the chance to escape. The last thing Dr. Kendra Elliot saw was Maigo’s now six-foot-long tail rising up from beneath the sheets.
13
I sit up with a gasp, clutching my chest and rolling my eyes around in confusion. The strange scent of earth and a glowing ceiling make the transition from dream to wakefulness a surreal experience, because the dream seemed more real than what I’m seeing. When my eyes finally land on Collins’s worried face, I remember where I am.
“You okay, chief?” Collins asks.
I groan and push myself up against the earthen wall behind me. “Nothing like waking up from a dream about being eaten by a bear and finding yourself inside a giant glowing stomach.” I look up at my hastily built shelter. It survived the night, and the storm, keeping us concealed and dry. With the morning sun on it, the wool blanket shimmers.
I smack my lips and clear my throat. I hate mornings. So little about them is good, but this morning is worse than usual.
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