The Meridian Gamble (59 page)

The General smiles, softly, and his
words sound sincere. But I can’t help but to be skeptical, somehow.

“I don’t know. It all sounds too
easy.”

“Believe what I say. I’ve made many
mistakes in the way I’ve treated you, Meridian. But sometimes, people can
change over time, especially when you live as long as we do. I’ve had many
lifetimes and many children in my various existences, but you are the greatest
regret that I have. And I’m glad that you’re back now, that I have a chance to
make amends.”

And I want to believe him, even
after all that’s happened between us, but it’s so hard.

“Well, you certainly seem
different.”

“I hope so,” he says, with a smile.
“And as far as rejoining us goes, it’s all a moot point. Because you
effectively became one of us again the second we rescued you from the vampire
tanks.”

That shuts me up for a moment. The
General takes out one of the chairs and turns it around, sitting down with his
arms resting over the back. And, I’m just a bit unnerved that he’s closer to
me.

“Okay, so I’m back with the
Luminos. But I’m wondering, what is it that you want from me now?”

“Well, for one, we’re interested in
understanding your perspective. Yours is a unique experience among us. You’re
the only one of the Luminos who has returned so few times. And definitely one
of the few who has become a vampire.”

And I think to Adam, and look away.
Because I’m sure he’s notorious among the Luminos, too.

“Do you know why it is that you’ve
only come back once or twice?”

“No, I’m not sure. And everyone
keeps asking me that. But I have a suspicion that it’s because of Adam. That
I’m meant to try to save him, somehow.”

“Ah, yes. Adam,” he says, nodding
his head, knowingly. “The other one who was lost to us.”

“So I’m the only one? None of the
other Luminos have come back only two or three times?”

“We have new souls upon occasion
who join our cause. But they tend to return one life after another. Not like
you, where great time has passed between incarnations. But I have a theory
about you, Saga …”

He shakes his head, catching
himself.

“I’m sorry, Meridian. You’ll have
to forgive me. I still see you as Saga in my mind,” he says. “But my theory is
that I think that you’re going to be the key to our winning this battle.”

“And why do you say that?”

“Call it a gut instinct,” he says,
with a smile.

And his words give me a chill.
Great, another one who thinks I’m the key to winning their war. Hearing it so
many times almost makes me think that it’s true.

“Come on, why don’t I show you some
more of our facility and what we’re doing here? Are you interested, or do you
feel like you need more of a rest?”

The General speaks to me in a
cheerful way, and again, I’m struck by the change in his demeanor.

“I’m here. I might as well see it
all," I say.

“Wonderful.”

I get into the wheelchair again
with Evelyn’s help, and she pushes me out into the hallway, as the General
leads us along.

We walk through the floor of the
underground facility, and it’s expansive. It reminds me of the vampire dungeon,
to a degree, only brighter. There’s lots of windows, behind which men and women
in white coats work with scientific gadgets, microscopes and computers, maybe
centrifuges.

We stop in front of one of the
windows, and Evelyn helps me to stand up, so I can see inside. There are some
scientists beyond the glass who wear biohazard suits covering every inch of
their body, allowing them to breathe filtered air. Two of them are reaching
inside a glass case, which affords them further protection as they handle a
specimen through another set of protective gloves. It’s a test tube, filled
with a crimson fluid.

I catch a glimpse of a monitor that
one of them inspects, to study the sample. And what’s on the screen looks like
a cell, from plasma.

“Is that … blood?”

“Yes,” the General says, with a
self-satisfied grin. “We’re attempting to replicate the poison that runs
through the vampires’ veins.”

“But … why?”

“So we can win the war,” he says,
proudly. “Come on, let me show you something else. It’s just over here.”

And Evelyn tries to help me back
into the chair, but I stop her.

“I think I can walk,” I say. And
she relents.

We go to another window a short
distance away, and I’m happy that my legs seem to be working, though I have to
lean against the wall for support.

What I see here is confusing at
first. This room isn’t like the others, it’s empty inside, except for a chair
that sits in the middle of the space. After a moment, a door opens, and I’m
surprised to see two scientists leading a chimpanzee into the room. It’s an
adorable creature, and they sit it down on the chair. It’s almost sweet, the
way the small ape obeys their commands, and gently allows the flunkies in the
white lab coats to strap down its arms and legs. And the scientists feed it
little treats that seem to make the beast happy.

But looking at the poor creature, I
have a sinking feeling that something horrible is about to happen.

The scientists leave the room, as
the chimp patiently waits, and within moments, the scene becomes even more
bizarre; the men in white coats lead a cow into the room. They leave it in the
corner, and one of the men sets down a bucket with some food to placate the
animal. And the cow begins to chew. They leave once again, and return with a
hypodermic gun that they use to make an injection into the chimpanzee’s
shoulder. And for the first time it seems upset, surprised by the sudden shot
it receives. And the chimp begins flinching back and forth in the chair.

The scientists quickly leave the
room, taking a few rapid steps that approach a run. And the adorable ape begins
to convulse.

The cow’s head jerks up from the
feed bucket, and it begins backing into the corner in a panic, but its actions
are useless. The chimp’s face contorts in pain, and its mouth becomes a gaping
hole that forms the shape of a scream, which is all the more ghoulish, because
nothing can be heard from behind the thick glass.

And fangs pop out of the chimp’s
mouth.

It effortlessly breaks its binds,
and in a second, it’s on the poor cow, dragging it to the ground. The ape
clamps its mouth onto the animal’s neck and begins draining it, furiously.
Within moments, the cow stops struggling, and falls over in a heap. And the
chimp smiles a twisted grin, seeming proud of itself.

Its belly is full from the rich
bounty it’s just drank.

I gasp in horror. And the beast
hears me.

I assume it’s one-way glass with a
mirror on the other side, but the chimp looks my way with bloodshot eyes,
seeming to stare right at me. It lunges at the window, throwing itself at me as
though it’s gone insane. And its fists finally make a noise I can hear, as they
beat against the glass with dull thuds. I back away, terrified it might break,
but somehow the pane holds up to the forceful blows.

The chimp seems to calm for a few
moments, perhaps realizing it can’t get through, and the General taps his
finger in front of its face. What had been an adorable visage moments ago has
become something horrible, and it hisses angrily, baring its sharpened fangs.
It scratches at the glass.

I didn’t think it could get any
worse, but the skin on the chimp’s face begins to ripple, and I realize that it
hasn’t stopped pounding its fists out of frustration. It's weakening. Something
has gone terribly wrong with the experiment the Luminos have made.

They haven’t perfected it. They
haven’t gotten it right. The Luminos haven’t properly synthesized the vampire
blood.

The chimp’s face bloats, and looks
like it’s going to explode. But finally, the poor creature collapses and
seemingly dies.

I want to run and hide, but within
this hostile place, I don’t know where to go. I can’t believe that the General
would show me such a disgusting sight without warning. And as bad as it is,
it’s like watching a car crash, and I can’t stop myself from looking through
the glass once more.

The failed vampire ape lays prone
on the floor, its flesh desiccated and shriveling, as a black sludge flows from
its mouth. Before I can stare at it for too long, figures enter the room
wearing orange containment suits with tanks on their backs. They spray a
greenish foam on the carcasses, and I finally turn away, when I realize the
bodies inside are beginning to dissolve before my eyes. The room is being
sterilized.

Colonel Anderson stares at me,
trying to gauge my reaction.

“As you can see, the process isn’t
quite perfected.”

“Why are you doing this?” I ask,
horrified.

“Because we need a sample of their
blood,” he says. “In all the time we’ve fought them, we’ve never been able to
capture one of them. We’ve never been able to obtain more than a few drops of
vampire blood. They’re very strong, very fast and powerful. Our only weapon
against them has been our perseverance. But if we could replicate their blood,
we could finally turn the tide of this battle, and win the war forever. We
could potentially come up with a vaccine that could cure them.”

“Or kill them.”

“Yes. That would work, too.”

“So how are you synthesizing this
blood? Is it a molecule you’re creating?

“No. We’ve recently come upon the
technology to clone blood cells. But our problem is that we cannot get a clean
sample. We managed to take down a younger vampire once. And before he could …
destroy himself, we were able to remove a few drops. But that was a long time
ago.”

“And after he died, you couldn’t
get more off of the body?”

“No. They tend to … disintegrate
after the vampires expire. The blood immediately becomes unusable, though we
have kept the remains, which we’ve studied, to give us some insight into their
structure. But it’s mostly just dust.”

A terrible feeling comes over me.
Whatever they’re doing here, whatever the Luminos have planned, it feels like a
mistake. Bad enough that the vampires are unnatural creatures, but the fact
that they’re toying with their blood seems far worse. And I’m overcome with the
notion that what they are doing will lead to disaster.

“Come on,
let’s talk more upstairs.”

We take the elevator back up, and
the General brings me to the cafeteria again. It’s fairly empty, save for the
Luminos cook. He goes to him, and the two whisper together. After a few
moments, the cook comes from a back room. He hands the General a tray, and my
father from a past era walks over to our table, offering several slices of
cake.

“Now do you feel like dessert?”

“Definitely,” I say. And he sets a
piece in front of me. I dig into it, trying to restrain myself as much as
possible, and the treat is delicious. I say a silent thanks that the frosting
isn’t whipped cream. I hate whipped cream frosting on cake, it seems unnatural
to me. If I’m going to have cake, I want the full effect; rich, buttery
frosting. And I’m grateful for this small comfort, after all the horrors I’ve
recently endured.

I’m amazed, because it’s probably
the best cake I’ve ever had, but I shouldn’t be surprised. Of course, the
Luminos chef would create something special after lifetimes of experience.

Evelyn takes a few small bites of
her dessert, but the General doesn’t touch his. Instead, he stares at me
seriously from across the table.

“Meridian, I know I’ve asked you to
do some difficult things in the past. And I’ve treated you poorly. But I’m
afraid I’m going to have to ask of you one more thing that you might not like.”

I’m annoyed. He would have to hit
me with this while I’m enjoying the best piece of cake in the world. It’s
almost cruel.

“We need a sample of the vampire
blood. Do you think you could help us to get it?”

“How?”

“Lure one of them to a place where
we could capture them? Or perhaps you know of a younger one we’re unaware of
who’s out there in the wild, away from the protection of their tower?”

“No, I don’t know of any younger
ones. They seem to keep them sequestered away when they first change them. And
then they put some sort of collar around them, to explode if they get
captured.”

“Yes, we’re aware of that one,” he
says, slowly.

“My encounters with them only
lasted for a few days, I never got to see much of their operation,” I say.

“And there isn’t one of the older
ones you could draw out in the open?”

Lina would do it, I think to
myself. But I would never trick her in that way. I won’t even mention seeing
his former daughter, because I’m too afraid the General might try to extract
revenge on her. If he wants to know if I’ve seen her, he’ll have to figure it
out on his own.

“Adam. But I won’t do that to him.”

“There is another option,” he says.
“But I’m not sure I can ask you to do it.”

“And what is this wonderful second
option you’re going to offer me?”

“Do the vampires want to transform
you?”

My heart skips a beat for a moment.
It’s a question I never thought he would ask.

“Yes, they do,” I say, hesitantly.
“But it’s filled with problems. It’s a big no-no for them to change one of the
Luminos. The other vampires would put me to death, immediately.”

“But are they willing to do it
anyway?”

“Adam might. But it will mean a
lifetime on the run for us both.”

“But, tell me something. Do you
want this?” the General says. “I’m aware that you have feelings for him. Do you
want to join him in his eternal life?”

“I …”

I’m taken aback for a moment. I’m
not sure what he’s getting at, but the thought crosses my mind once again. What
if I could be with Adam forever? If the opportunity arose, would I take it?