interrogation is to get information out of the other person, not to tell them more.
“You mentioned specimens,” Jack continues. “Were these specimens people?”
Dr. Florence hesitates, and I see Jack start to move again. “Yes,” Florence says. “They were people. People who suffered brain seizures. We were trying to find a treatment for them, but also to learn more about the way the brain works. We learn more about the way the body works when there is something going wrong, you know.”
“Tell us about what you did,” I say. “How did these people become ‘specimens’?”
“We called them our experiments,” Hammond says. “We were trying experimental treatments. Things we thought might help. Hammond wanted to test new drugs on them. When the solar event happened though, something changed in them. They were able to absorb the sun’s energy and use it in ways that were just… incredible. Ordinarily, we had them come in for a day at a time for testing, but then Hammond wanted to round them up. Keep them there by force.”
“Why did he want to do that?” I ask.
“He said something about wanting to test these ‘new ones’ against the ‘ones from the future’. No one knew what he was talking about, but by then, with everything that happened… most of us didn’t dare to do anything other than what we were told.”
“So ho S e="Calibriw did you survive unscathed?” Jack asked.
“The lab is built to withstand just about anything,” Dr. Florence explained. “It was designed with the possibility of dangerous tests from the start.”
“Or as a shelter,” I suggest.
“He had us add the new materials to it as we came up with them,” Dr. Florence added.
“So,” Jack says, “if you were working so closely with Hammond, why were his people after you?”
“Because after our test subjects changed, I didn’t want to do the things to them that he demanded. I signed up to try to help people, not to lock them away and test them to destruction. The man’s insane. Inhuman.”
“Maybe he isn’t human,” Jack mutters. I find myself thinking of the way Hammond was before the apocalypse, and I think I agree with him.
“What exactly did he want you to do?” I ask.
“He provided a serum that he said would neutralize the more dangerous aspects of the test subjects, returning them to normal, but it was clear from my preliminary tests that the dosages he stipulated would kill them. Yet he insisted that they should be given the full doses.”
“He wanted to kill them?” I say.
“Why would he do that?” Jack demands. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Dr. Florence shrugs. “He said that he didn’t want their ‘condition’ to spread. He said that they were dangerous. Yet he didn’t even consider other options.”
“What kind of other options?” I ask.
“These people are still human,” Dr. Florence says. “Still thinking, feeling beings. Yes, their condition makes them angry and powerful, but surely that just means that we have to find a way to manage it? We don’t kill people when they can’t control their actions. It isn’t right.”
I nod and happen to look out at the horizon, where ahead, the desert is starting to open out. Something catches my eye.
“Jack? Come on up here.”
Jack nods. “I’ll be right there. Dr. Florence, if what you say is true, you m Ss tman">ight be exactly what we’re looking for. You’d better hope you aren’t
“You mentioned specimens,” Jack continues. “Were these specimens people?”
Dr. Florence hesitates, and I see Jack start to move again. “Yes,” Florence says. “They were people. People who suffered brain seizures. We were trying to find a treatment for them, but also to learn more about the way the brain works. We learn more about the way the body works when there is something going wrong, you know.”
“Tell us about what you did,” I say. “How did these people become ‘specimens’?”
“We called them our experiments,” Hammond says. “We were trying experimental treatments. Things we thought might help. Hammond wanted to test new drugs on them. When the solar event happened though, something changed in them. They were able to absorb the sun’s energy and use it in ways that were just… incredible. Ordinarily, we had them come in for a day at a time for testing, but then Hammond wanted to round them up. Keep them there by force.”
“Why did he want to do that?” I ask.
“He said something about wanting to test these ‘new ones’ against the ‘ones from the future’. No one knew what he was talking about, but by then, with everything that happened… most of us didn’t dare to do anything other than what we were told.”
“So ho S e="Calibriw did you survive unscathed?” Jack asked.
“The lab is built to withstand just about anything,” Dr. Florence explained. “It was designed with the possibility of dangerous tests from the start.”
“Or as a shelter,” I suggest.
“He had us add the new materials to it as we came up with them,” Dr. Florence added.
“So,” Jack says, “if you were working so closely with Hammond, why were his people after you?”
“Because after our test subjects changed, I didn’t want to do the things to them that he demanded. I signed up to try to help people, not to lock them away and test them to destruction. The man’s insane. Inhuman.”
“Maybe he isn’t human,” Jack mutters. I find myself thinking of the way Hammond was before the apocalypse, and I think I agree with him.
“What exactly did he want you to do?” I ask.
“He provided a serum that he said would neutralize the more dangerous aspects of the test subjects, returning them to normal, but it was clear from my preliminary tests that the dosages he stipulated would kill them. Yet he insisted that they should be given the full doses.”
“He wanted to kill them?” I say.
“Why would he do that?” Jack demands. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Dr. Florence shrugs. “He said that he didn’t want their ‘condition’ to spread. He said that they were dangerous. Yet he didn’t even consider other options.”
“What kind of other options?” I ask.
“These people are still human,” Dr. Florence says. “Still thinking, feeling beings. Yes, their condition makes them angry and powerful, but surely that just means that we have to find a way to manage it? We don’t kill people when they can’t control their actions. It isn’t right.”
I nod and happen to look out at the horizon, where ahead, the desert is starting to open out. Something catches my eye.
“Jack? Come on up here.”
Jack nods. “I’ll be right there. Dr. Florence, if what you say is true, you m Ss tman">ight be exactly what we’re looking for. You’d better hope you aren’t
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