Revealing Eden (8 page)

Her father leaned over Bramford. “This will knock you out,” he said, making an adjustment.

Immediately, Bramford’s eyes glazed over. His last words were to Shen. “Stay close.”

Here was Eden’s chance. Making herself small, she escaped towards the exit. And yet, she hesitated by the door, perplexed by an inexplicable urge to talk Bramford out of his foolish decision. But what did she care when the man detested her?

She hurried into the security area, surprised to find it unmanned. Then she noticed the overhead surveillance cameras blinking. She looked both ways. No one was watching. She took a deep breath and tiptoed behind the security desk just as a series of Holo-Images began to disappear, one by one.

There, could that be? The last images showed her dance hall tormentors, Giant and Squeaky, walking through the main tunnel that connected REA to the Combs. That view also disappeared, leaving Eden in a panic.

They were coming for her, she realized.
You can’t escape, Pearly
. They would be there any minute. She had to get to Jamal.

She flew down the hallway, retracing the path she’d only just taken from the upper level. Her high heels clattered up several levels of stairs until she reached security. Breathless,
she stepped towards his office, when she heard deep, angry voices. Good Earth, she was too late.

“Jamal!” she cried, pushing open the door.

Four men turned as she entered, their faces full of surprise. Eden stared back at them, wondering why these men, the lab guards, wore the FFP uniform. Even Jamal had on the despicable clothes, the beret at a jaunty angle on his head. Braided epaulets, which signified a high-ranking officer, decorated his shoulders—the same shoulders upon which she’d often laid her head.

She heard a muffled sound and saw two male Pearls, bound and gagged, lying on the floor.
The test subjects
. Above them, the control button for the firewall glowed bright red. It was the only thing in the room that seemed real to her.

“Jamal? What’s going on?” Eden demanded, still hoping for a reasonable explanation.

His eyes gleamed with excitement. In fact, she’d never seen him look so happy. “You’re just in time, pet,” he said.

“For what?”

“Showtime!”

As if on cue, Giant and Squeaky entered the room. Their faces lit up at the sight of her.

“Hello, Pearly,” Giant said.

“My fumbling friends are glad you made it,” Jamal said, not looking happy at all now. “Bramford almost ruined our plan by showing up at the dance.”

Jamal’s friends?
He hadn’t asked Bramford to bring her back to the lab? He never intended to be her mate? For the love of Earth, he’d never seen the Real Eden, either. No one did.

Eden’s mind spun, her body felt wooden. She was going to be violently sick. She needed oxy, a lot of it.

“I have to go now,” she said, turning to leave.

Jamal grabbed her arm. “Not so fast. We’re just getting started. You’re my personal insurance policy.”

“What? I’m not helping you.”

“Even if it means convincing the doctor to play along? You wouldn’t want him to get hurt, would you?”

Was this really her Life-Band lover talking?

“Who are you?” Eden said.

“I am the People,” Jamal replied matter-of-factly. “The Federation of Free People is taking back what greed-suckers like Bramford owe us. With your father’s technology we’ll be in control of everything.”

“For Earth’s sake, this isn’t political. It’s about science.”

“Everything is political. The population is controlled by doped oxy and emotionally driven campaigns so the super rich like Bramford can skim cream off the top. Same old story.”

Eden couldn’t really argue with that. But who was to say a new regime wouldn’t also abuse their power?

“Please, Jamal. My father will insist that Bramford use his technology in ethical ways.”

“Don’t be so naïve, Little Bunny,” he said, and she wondered how just last night the pathetic nickname had pleased her. “You see how the boss treats him. Same as he treats you and everyone else—like objects not people. And don’t pretend you don’t agree because I know you do.”

That really stung. How often had she confided in Jamal? Dear Earth, she’d given confidential data to an FFP officer!
From the very beginning, he had used her.
Time for Jamal to make a righteous move
.

“Bramford is a master manipulator,” he continued. “Believe me, even this last-minute decision to be the test subject is calculated. He fears a takeover—which is exactly what he’s going to get. So he’s hedging his bets. If the experiment works, he won’t ever get The Heat. If you can outlive the rest, you’ve got an unbeatable edge. Once he’s in the catbird seat, so to speak, he’ll destroy the lab and kill your father. But I’m going to stop him.”

He shook his head and laughed. “It’s a lucky break. We get the tech, an evolved subject and Bramford, all in one.”

A cold chill gripped Eden’s heart. If the FFP gained control, it would be the end for Pearls. And maybe what Jamal had said about Bramford was true. Either way, she and her father were doomed to servitude or death, probably both.

Jamal ran his hand down her cheek. “Naturally, we have an important place for the doctor in our organization. You’d be surprised how easy I can make things for you.”

Eden spat out her words. “I’d rather get The Heat than be your mate.”

“Be serious, pet. Ashina’s going to be my mate.”

Jamal and that bitch were in cahoots? Eden felt humiliated as she imagined them laughing at her behind her back. And doing things that true mates did. What a fool she’d been.

“I hate you, Jamal,” she said hotly.

He simply shrugged. “You’re still coming with me.”

E
DEN STOOD in Jamal’s office among the FFP soldiers, wondering how her dreams had died so suddenly. Because they had never been real, she realized. She only had imagined a better future. In six months, when she turned eighteen, still unmated, she’d be cut off and left outside to die.

She stared with new eyes at Jamal, her ex-boyfriend, struck by how ugly he truly was. His arrogant posturing and the strident tone with which he addressed his team of conspirators sickened her. He was no better than Bramford—even worse. Why hadn’t she seen it before? She faced the sad truth with a heavy sigh. Her desperate need for Jamal’s help had blinded her to his real nature.

But no more, Eden told herself. There was a sort of freedom in being doomed. If she had nothing to lose why not make things a little harder for her traitorous lover?

She glanced around the room, her keen mind puzzling together a plan. Her gaze rested on the firewall control. If she raised the shield, the fire outside would engulf the upper level and snake down into the lab. Maybe she and her father could escape in the chaos. Then again, they might be burned to death. What other options did she have?

Here goes
. Eden took a deep breath and lunged for the
firewall button with a wild yell. Immediately, the warning siren rang out, followed by the loud rumbling of the retracting shield.

A stunned silence fell over the soldiers. Then Jamal yelled. “Get her!”

Eden tried to duck but once again found herself caught in Giant’s powerful grip. He smiled lasciviously at her.

“You know, you’re a pain in the ass, Eden.” Jamal said. “Most Pearls would give anything to be on my team. What’s wrong with you?”

She wondered the same thing.

“Guess I’m old-fashioned,” she said. “I still think honesty is a virtue.”

“Yeah, you’ve got heart, I’ll give you that. You’ve got one more chance to cooperate. For old times’ sake.”

“You’re going to do whatever you want, anyway.”

“True,” he said, and she watched the lips she once had longed to kiss curl into a cruel smile.

He turned his attention to his band of men. “Remember, take Dr. Newman and Bramford alive. Laser anyone who gets in the way.” His eyes cut over to Eden. “And I mean anyone.”

Father, she thought helplessly. She had to get to him.

As the firewall rose, it exposed the security window to the raging firestorm. Through a smoky haze, she saw the inferno racing towards them. The soldiers lined up in formation, ready to leave, when a loud explosion rocked the building. The roof ripped open, as if peeled back by an unseen hand. The men fell like dominos, pulling Eden down with them. She covered her head as shards of broken glass rained down from the shattered window. Dense, toxic smoke billowed in, and
her lungs screamed for air. Then the lights quit, plunging the room into darkness.

Her heart pounded as she scrambled to her feet. She heard the men shuffling, yelling orders. A flashlight beam raced across the walls, sweeping over Jamal, lying pinned under a fallen beam.

“Get Eden,” he mumbled.

She bolted from the room. Blue pinpoint emergency lights in the floor led her down the dark hallway. She picked her way past a maze of fallen debris and stepped into the chaotic, smoke-filled lab. Crackling flames licked through a hole in the ceiling. The loud screams and frantic movements reminded her of the Moon Dance. But this was no party.

“Father!” Eden cried, the din drowning out her voice.

She ran forward against the rush of terrified workers who knocked her onto the slippery floor. Wet, gooey flame retardant foam shot from ports in the wall. Eden wiped off the mess from her face and arms. Too late, she watched her dark coating peel away in streaks. But she couldn’t think about that now.

She felt like a loose electron bouncing from atom to atom as she crawled through the melee. When the crush passed by, she grabbed onto a workstation to pull to her feet. In the flickering light, she saw her father standing alone in the operating theater. He seemed dazed, and she guessed he had finally noticed the world around him.

A painful cry filled the air. Her father jerked towards the test bed. It seemed Bramford was in trouble. Blessed Earth, the extreme heat must have contaminated the experiment. Her fault, all of it.

Eden heard the soldiers’ footsteps echo down the hall. Desperate, she scanned the lab for a weapon. But she was just one little Pearl against armed FFP soldiers. What could she do?

She flashed on the day the lab had opened. Hadn’t Father given her a secret code?

—My work must never fall into the wrong hands. Use this, Daught, when no other alternative exists
.

That would be now, right? Still, why did she have to be the one to decide? But if she didn’t
they
would win.

She activated the memorable code.
Go bluebell
.

—Just remember your mother’s pretty eyes. They were the color of bluebells
.

The system responded with a standard question:
Are you sure you want to terminate Resources for Environmental Adaptation?

Eden groaned. Every backup of her father’s work would be destroyed. Just then the soldiers burst into the lab. She had no choice but to proceed.
Sorry, Father
.

A loud, insistent female voice announced the end.
“Warning! REA will self-destruct in five minutes. Please proceed to the nearest exit.”

Hand over fist, Eden grabbed hold of objects as she made her way towards the operating theater. She almost had reached the stairway when Jamal caught her, a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his head.

“No more games, Eden,” he said.

He dragged her below the operating theater while the soldiers’ heavy boots pounded up the stairs. They fanned out along the rim of the stage and stood ready. Her father leaned
over the operating bed, his back to the soldiers, once more oblivious. Beside him, Bramford’s chilling cries cut through the sounds of falling timbers and snapping flames.

Eden calculated their survival odds: one crazy, old scientist and his gullible daughter against, count ’em—seven armed soldiers, including Jamal. Bramford was useless. Their one hope was Shen who, to her amazement, remained by his employer’s side.

As her father might have said, the current trajectory would no doubt result in a re-organization in favor of the more dominant genes. In other words, Jamal, and therefore the FFP, would win and kill all the Pearls, starting with her.