were still open. She was now looking at her.
âIs something wrong?â Jennifer asked finally.
Sid looked up surprised, as if heâd forgotten that she was there.
âYouâre not happy with the readings?â she asked, too worried to refrain from asking.
âWell, we should be getting images of what sheâs thinkingâ¦or of a memoryâ¦anything. But instead, weâre getting a black screen. It has to be a malfunction of the computers.â
âItâs not a malfunction of the computers,â Desmond Beruti said again. âThatâs what sheâs showing us.â
âA black wall?â Nat asked.
âPerhaps night?â Jennifer recalled the circumstances of her accident. âCould it be darkness? Could this be a memory image?â
âMaybe,â Desmond said. âSheâs definitely somewhere else right now.â
13
Nuclear Fusion Test Facility
I t wasnât her imagination. Heâd moved. Heâd taken hold of her wrist.
âDr. Lee,â Marion said softly, crouching down beside her advisor. She shone the light on the hand that sheâd seen move. It lay motionless. She directed the beam toward the manâs head. There was blood everywhere she looked. A raw wound to the side of his skull was visible. Beyond that, she had no idea how many times the older man was shot or where. She didnât know what she could do to help him.
âPleaseâ¦Dr. Lee,â she whispered again. She put her fingers on his wrist, hoping to feel the pulse. She couldnât find anything. She touched his neck, searching for any sign of life. The blood was sticky on her hand. Whatever sheâd thought her aversion was to the sight of blood, it didnât matter right now. She couldnât move away if there was any chance he was alive.
Marion could barely feel it, but there was a weak pulse. She shone the light on the manâs face again. His lips were moving.
âDr. Lee. Please tell me what to do.â
He was lying facedown, his face turned to the side. She didnât know if she should try to move him.
âSaâ¦saâ¦â
Marion crouched low to the ground, bringing her ear closer to his mouth. She pushed her hair behind her ear. Her hand came away with fresh blood.
âPleaseâ¦say it againâ¦what do you want me to do?â
âSampâ¦sampâ¦.â
âSampâ¦?â she repeated. âSamples? The test samples.â She remembered the nine containers in the test chambers.
âLâ¦leakâ¦poâ¦powerâ¦off. Leakâ¦â
âThe power,â she said aloud, realizing what he was telling her. With the power turned off, the samples would leak. Without power, the cooling cycles would be disrupted. No controlled atmosphere for the tests. The sequencing had already started. A number of the tests might already be in catastrophic stages if the containers had failed. Or if not, itâd be simply a matter of time before they did. Marion flipped open her phone and looked at the time.
âIs there any way I can stop the tests?â she asked.
ââ¦Cemeâ¦cemenâ¦â
âCementation,â she said aloud.
She knew what he was telling her. There was no ventilation in the test chambers. The containers would eventually generate and release hydrogen. When that happened, a flammable mixture of hydrogen and oxygen would form. The result was a fire or a possible explosion. With the lab hundreds of feet underground, whoever was left down here would be dead.
The facilityâs power had shut down at approximately the same time that the tests had started. She could calculate the time and figure out the worst-case scenarios of when the first leaks could take place.
The scientist was saying cementation . It was a way of sealing the containers so no gases could escape. She started to shake her head and then stopped, as the pain rocketed through her skull.
âThereâs no
âIs something wrong?â Jennifer asked finally.
Sid looked up surprised, as if heâd forgotten that she was there.
âYouâre not happy with the readings?â she asked, too worried to refrain from asking.
âWell, we should be getting images of what sheâs thinkingâ¦or of a memoryâ¦anything. But instead, weâre getting a black screen. It has to be a malfunction of the computers.â
âItâs not a malfunction of the computers,â Desmond Beruti said again. âThatâs what sheâs showing us.â
âA black wall?â Nat asked.
âPerhaps night?â Jennifer recalled the circumstances of her accident. âCould it be darkness? Could this be a memory image?â
âMaybe,â Desmond said. âSheâs definitely somewhere else right now.â
13
Nuclear Fusion Test Facility
I t wasnât her imagination. Heâd moved. Heâd taken hold of her wrist.
âDr. Lee,â Marion said softly, crouching down beside her advisor. She shone the light on the hand that sheâd seen move. It lay motionless. She directed the beam toward the manâs head. There was blood everywhere she looked. A raw wound to the side of his skull was visible. Beyond that, she had no idea how many times the older man was shot or where. She didnât know what she could do to help him.
âPleaseâ¦Dr. Lee,â she whispered again. She put her fingers on his wrist, hoping to feel the pulse. She couldnât find anything. She touched his neck, searching for any sign of life. The blood was sticky on her hand. Whatever sheâd thought her aversion was to the sight of blood, it didnât matter right now. She couldnât move away if there was any chance he was alive.
Marion could barely feel it, but there was a weak pulse. She shone the light on the manâs face again. His lips were moving.
âDr. Lee. Please tell me what to do.â
He was lying facedown, his face turned to the side. She didnât know if she should try to move him.
âSaâ¦saâ¦â
Marion crouched low to the ground, bringing her ear closer to his mouth. She pushed her hair behind her ear. Her hand came away with fresh blood.
âPleaseâ¦say it againâ¦what do you want me to do?â
âSampâ¦sampâ¦.â
âSampâ¦?â she repeated. âSamples? The test samples.â She remembered the nine containers in the test chambers.
âLâ¦leakâ¦poâ¦powerâ¦off. Leakâ¦â
âThe power,â she said aloud, realizing what he was telling her. With the power turned off, the samples would leak. Without power, the cooling cycles would be disrupted. No controlled atmosphere for the tests. The sequencing had already started. A number of the tests might already be in catastrophic stages if the containers had failed. Or if not, itâd be simply a matter of time before they did. Marion flipped open her phone and looked at the time.
âIs there any way I can stop the tests?â she asked.
ââ¦Cemeâ¦cemenâ¦â
âCementation,â she said aloud.
She knew what he was telling her. There was no ventilation in the test chambers. The containers would eventually generate and release hydrogen. When that happened, a flammable mixture of hydrogen and oxygen would form. The result was a fire or a possible explosion. With the lab hundreds of feet underground, whoever was left down here would be dead.
The facilityâs power had shut down at approximately the same time that the tests had started. She could calculate the time and figure out the worst-case scenarios of when the first leaks could take place.
The scientist was saying cementation . It was a way of sealing the containers so no gases could escape. She started to shake her head and then stopped, as the pain rocketed through her skull.
âThereâs no
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