Killswitch (19 page)

“Wow. Way to boost your patient's confidence,” Chase said with a laugh. “Hey, I'm feeling no pain. Go ahead and fix it.”

Before he had a chance to second guess granting permission, the doctor tightened his grip and returned the snapped shinbone to its original position.

“Don't be afraid,” Chase screamed. “Don't be afraid,” he said softer. He arched his neck and took a breath. Mel wriggled her fingers in his crushing grip. He let her go.

She smiled over him. “I've heard stranger things come out of your mouth.”

“It's not strange, Mel. It's the Bible. I think.”

“Yeah, it sounds like the Bible. Just doesn't sound like
you
.”

Dr. John wrapped a fairly modern splint in plexi-guaze. “Break wasn't too bad. Now we'll take a look at that laser wound.”

Cold antiseptic drizzled down Chase's arm. Four stitches took care of closing the hole. The needle and thread routine was not as painful as putting the puzzle pieces back together in his leg.

“Mel?” Chase closed his eyes.

“Yeah, boss?”

“You know all about…” He had trouble getting the words out. But he had to know. “About Artificial Intelligence. Right?”

“Boss, I can't put the exoself back. Not without taking you to a government-run lab filled with government-built cyber-genetic equipment.”

“Mel, sweetheart?”

“Yes?”

“It's OK. But could you stop calling me boss? I think we're way…” He opened his eyes and melted into hers. “
Way
past that. I love you, Melody.”

She hesitated as if she couldn't believe it.

He nodded. “I mean it.”

She bent near and kissed him. “And I love you, Chase. No matter what. Promise me we'll never be apart again.”

“I promise,” he said. Then his eyes fell shut.

30

Chase awoke early the next morning. He'd eaten some stale bread in the hearse. Now his stomach growled for something more substantial. At least his human parts could still communicate. The first hint of sunlight peeked through tattered curtains. This branch of the underground, blessed with light and access to the outside world, might tempt Switchblade to stay. Now that he'd given up on winning Mel's heart, living three stories under would be even less appealing to the big guy.

Chase glanced around. The small room was all his. Well, it was only a curtain that divided him from the rest of the makeshift clinic. His bed was next to a nightstand that had a metal bowl and a small towel on it. Just like in the dreams.

He dipped his fingers into the cool water. “What are you trying to tell me?”

This scene from a dream meant nothing. Coincidence. That's all. Not a reassuring message that God was still with him.

Only that's what it felt like.

Mel parted the split in the room-dividing curtain, a smile on her face and a tray in her hands. “You must be starving.”

Chase sat up and let her put the tray on his lap. “Let me guess. Bread and an orange. Maybe a chunk of…What is that meat product you people eat?”

She laughed. “I wish I could tell you. I didn't find any of it this morning, but it's obvious we get our rations from the same place.” She picked up the orange and peeled it for Chase. “I know it must be hard for you to get used to.” She stuck her hand in the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a small bag. “Here's a little something extra.”

He opened the plastic. The aroma of peanut butter brought a smile. “PBJ? Now that's classy. Could be from one of the best restaurants on the Synvue Complex.”

“Well, I wouldn't know. I never ate at those celebrity joints. Somebody like me couldn't get her foot in the door.”

He took a bite. Grape jelly mixed with the nutty cream, reminding him of his childhood, and not the obnoxious establishments where he'd spent so many evenings with Kerstin.

“I wish I'd known you when we were kids,” he said.

“When you were a kid, I was a baby.”

“When we were a little older then. I'd have been seventeen when you were ten. We could have been friends.”

Mel tilted her head. “If you'd been hanging around when I was ten, my daddy would have threatened you with great bodily harm.”

“Where is your father now?”

“In Heaven.”

“Oh. There's so much about you I don't know. What about the rest of your family?”

“My mother and brothers are in Detroit.”

“Underground?” Chase bit off another chunk of his sandwich.

“As far as I know.”

“Haven't you been in touch with their group since we got everybody connected?”

“The system is operating well, but not every group has the capability. Detroit is a ghost town. The church there, like so many others, needs to be brought up to speed. They need computers and programmers.”

Chase attempted to spark the exoself. “I almost forgot.”

“Forgot what?” Mel asked.

“That I can't do anything about it. I wish I'd known before I lost…Maybe I could have done something.” Chase wiped his hands on the towel from the nightstand and then rubbed his eyes.

“The larger branches are all connected, Chase. The smaller ones will get there. We've got everything we need to help them come online. Well, like I said, they need computers and programmers. I'm not sure what to do about that.” She lowered her gaze.

“You're worried. I'm sorry—I wish I could help. I'm worthless the way I am now.”

She looked him in the eyes. “I don't want to hear you say that again.”

“It's true.”

Her brow crossed and she got up to leave. “I have a lot to do to get ready to leave.”

“I didn't mean anything by that, Mel. Thank you for the breakfast.”

She faced the curtain. “You think we don't need you now? You think
I
don't need you? You need to decide what you're gonna do with the rest of your life now that you're so worthless. As for me, in a couple of hours I'm headed back to Blue Sky Field. Doctor says you can travel. I hope you're coming with us.” She flipped the curtain aside and left him.

“Mel. Wait.” But she kept going. “Of course I'm coming with you.” He'd done it again. She was mad and making plans that might or might not include him. “Chase Sterling…Charles Redding…You're both stupid.”

The doctor returned with a cheerful bedside grin and proceeded to check Chase's wounds. “How are you feeling?”

“Surprisingly good. At least, physically.”

The man's expression muddled as he lifted Chase's leg. He held it under the knee with one hand as he raised and lowered it with the other. “Any pain?”

“Not at all. You did a great job setting the break. So why do you look concerned?”

After coming around the bed the doctor pulled the bandage off Chase's shoulder. Chase glanced down to see what caused even more consternation to cross Dr. John's face.

“Looks better,” Chase said.

“You heal remarkably fast. I wonder if…”

“If it's because I'm transhuman?”

“Well. Yeah. I'll remove the stitches before you leave. You don't need them.”

“A couple of days ago, I took a punch. The bruise was gone in a few hours. The pain, too.”

“Who punched you?”

Chase smiled. “That's not the point. When it happened, I wondered the same thing you're wondering now.”

“You mean this is something new?”

“After my initial transformation, I was kept in a coma for the several weeks while my body healed. This is definitely something new.”

“But you lost your strength, right? And your vision and hearing have returned to that of a normal human being. So what's with the rapid regeneration?”

“Doc, don't ask me to explain. But it's a relief to know something is still there. It's beyond relief.” Chase twisted in the bed and put his feet on the floor. “It's hope.”

“You think you'll be restored. Is that it?”

“Before I escaped from the Helgen Institute, the scientists shut the exoself down, along with the other programs that were used for augmentation. Then my doctor rebooted me, so to speak. These past couple of days, I've been thinking I'd lost it all, but maybe I haven't. I mean, they activated a killswitch and I shut down. But my designer organs are still functioning.”

“And something is causing you to heal faster than humanly possible,” Dr. John said.

“I can get it back. I just need to reboot.”

“How do you do that? And what's to stop them from shutting you down again?”

“As usual, I have no idea.” Chase stood, walked without so much as a limp, and slid the frayed curtain to one side of the window. Sunlight filled the room. Past the dead town, brown hills rolled in the distance. The green was gone for now. The sky was still bluer than blue. “But I'm going to figure it out.”

31

Dr. John left as befuddled as any retired doctor would be who'd just treated his first transhuman patient. Chase pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt that had been left on a chair. A jacket hung there too, and he tossed it over his injured shoulder that no longer bore the sting of being zapped with a laser gun. What would Amos think of him being healed like this? Chase hadn't mentioned that the leader of the neighboring branch of the underground was in dire need of a doctor. The person running this branch might object to Chase taking off with the only access these people had to medical treatment.

Didn't matter. The doctor might have to start making house calls.

Maybe it'd be a good idea to talk to the leader first. Dr. John would have to get permission anyway. Chase passed four empty beds—everybody must be healthy today—and a cabinet with medical supplies and pill bottles locked behind grungy glass.

The hallway outside the clinic was filled with smiling faces. Everybody watched him. Had they been standing there waiting for him to come out? He stopped in front of a man who had a VPad strapped to his belt and a clip board in his hands.

“You look like a man in charge,” Chase said. “Can you direct me to your overseer? I'd like to thank him.”

“Her,” the young man said. “She's in the room nearest the entrance.” The guy smiled. “Used to be the principal's office.”

“Thanks,” Chase said. He pointed to the left. “This way?”

The man nodded and Chase continued down the hall. He stopped to look back. “What's your name?”

“Harper.”

“Thank you, Harper.” He walked another hundred feet before he found the lobby of the old school building. A door to his right had an old placard fastened to it. PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE

Chase knocked. The door opened to a middle-aged woman. Her blue eyes were kind, but her expression was stern.

“Mr. Sterling. I'm sorry I haven't come to introduce myself.” She stepped to one side.

“Not a problem. I know you're busy.” The roomy office contained a wall of computers, and even a work station capable of pulling up a holograph. Nothing like Blue Sky Field, but more than enough to ensure communication with other branches of the underground.

“I understand you're well enough to travel. More than recovered from your recent injuries, I hear. So I assume you'll be leaving this morning.”

“Yes. That's why I wanted to see you.” He sat in a wooden chair, and the woman took her seat behind a desk that looked as if it'd been there a long time. “I'm sorry, I don't know your name.”

“Haley,” she said. “What is it that you need from me, Mr. Sterling?”

“Call me Chase. You know, if I still had the exoself, I could tell you the name of this place. I know there are two other main branches in this area besides Blue Sky Field. All three showed up in my systems before I arrived in Quebec. The other two were called Mist Covered Hill and Storm on the River. Which is this?”

“The latter, although we're not on a river, but a large lake.”

“This was a mining town,” Chase said. “Why are you up top in this old schoolhouse and not underground in the abandoned mines?”

“If you were still functioning properly, would you know about the instability of old mines?” She sounded irritated.

“But you don't even try to hide yourselves.”

“No need. It's perfect, really. The only people living in this area don't object to us being here. In fact, they're glad. What we have, we share. Everyone in Gagnon is out of the system. We feed them. And our doctor sees to their care. They wouldn't dream of turning us in.” She leaned forward. “Now, Mr. Sterling, tell me what it is that you want.”

Chase cleared his throat. “Do you know Amos, the leader at Blue Sky Field?”

“Never met him, but these past few days we've been communicating. I sent word that you were here with us.”

“He's dying.”

The woman sat back and folded her arms. “Our doctor is not going with you. If it's medical attention you want, you'll have to bring Amos here.”

“I don't know if he'll go for that.” Chase moved closer to a window. He couldn't get enough of the sun. “I'm wondering why we don't just move the whole operation. How did the international headquarters end up underground when you've got an ideal location right here in the open?”

“Think about it. Satellite images show a couple hundred people surviving with little. Then all of a sudden the population doubles, and facial recognition shows one of the new residents happens to be the world's most wanted man.” She tapped her fingers on the desk. “I don't think so.”

“Has Melody got the satellite redirected for now? She used to need
me
for that kind of manipulation.”

“I don't know what she did, but she said it was only good until noon today. All of you need to go. And you're not taking my doctor. He stays put.”

“Yeah.” Chase walked to the door. “Thank you for speaking with me.”