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Authors: Susan Kelley
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scattered
and broken.
Molly walked over to a metal press
bar, bent at the middle. “What could do this?”
“ Someone strong.” Mak
couldn’t have bent the metal, but some of his fellow Recon Marines
had such strength. The spacious room offered no clues. They
traipsed down the next set of stairs but Mak bade them stay in the
stairwell until he called them. The lights came up and for a moment
Mak closed his eyes, glad the others weren’t with him. Cells, not
quite cages, lined every wall. The bars were as thick as Mak’s
wrists and solid walls separated the side of each pen. “You can
come in.”
Box led them in, doing his job as
guard. The doctors murmured quiet curses that matched Mak’s
thoughts. At least no bodies filled these cells. Mak took a slow
tour of the room. Tables like in a conference room sat at one end
of the middle space. Perhaps the subjects had eaten their meals or
had lessons of some sort. Taller tables like in a doctor’s
examining room crowded the center but at least they weren’t
operating tables.
“ They gave them beds and
bathroom facilities this time,” Dr. Loren mumbled.
“ Are we done here?” Mak
asked the doctors.
“ Everything appears to
have been sterilized before they abandoned it.” Molly gave him that
sad look again, though Mak wasn’t sure he interpreted it correctly.
Why would this room where men were treated like animals affect
her?
The next floor held what they were
looking for. Three operating rooms, computer work stations and
every type of medical equipment imaginable. The doctors went to
work, searching cabinets, drawers and even crawling under desks.
They found nothing.
“ I guess we should move
down to the next floor.” Molly joined Mak where he waited by the
door to the stairway.
“ The bottom floors should
hold nothing but the power station, water purification and waste
facilities.”
“ We still need to
look.”
Mak knew she was right, but a cold
dread had joined the unease nagging at him. “I’ll go and call you
if I find something that needs your attention.”
The look in Molly’s narrowed eyes
matched the general’s. And reminded Mak he shouldn’t be thinking of
her as Molly. “You might not recognize what I think is
important.”
Damn. She was right. “Just you and me.
Corporal Box, keep everyone on this floor until I
return.”
Mak led her down the stairs, twice the
number of steps as the upper floors, while the stench of garbage
grew stronger. And another smell, the one he’d dreaded, now overlay
the garbage odor. Death. Molly probably couldn’t smell it. The
scent was old and covered with the tang of acid. When he turned on
the lights, a cavernous room opened before them. Metal vats forty
feet in diameter were interspersed with pipes of varying width that
would carry power and water to the upper floors and return waste to
this level.
“ There must be something
in those waste vats,” Molly said with a hint of
discouragement.
Mak tapped the radio on his collar.
“Bring them all down, corporal.”
Molly sighed. “This could take a
while.”
Mak went to the first vat, tapping on
it with his knuckles. It bonged of dark emptiness. The next one
sounded as empty. But the third one emanated the death stench.
“This one.”
The others came in the door, clearly
hesitant. Mak saw relief on their faces as they observed the empty
room. It wouldn’t last long once they opened the vat.
Mak identified three more vats that
held the odor of decomposition. Once Pender and Box opened the
emergency doors on the bottoms of the containers, Molly and her
comrades found splotches of dried blood and a few soiled cloths.
One held some empty medicine bottles that went in the doctors’ bags
for later study. He ordered Box to stay with them while he and
Pender checked the lowest level. The quiet hum of crystallized iron
power generators greeted them. Nothing seemed suspicious or out of
order so they returned to the upper room.
The doctors had made
and broken.
Molly walked over to a metal press
bar, bent at the middle. “What could do this?”
“ Someone strong.” Mak
couldn’t have bent the metal, but some of his fellow Recon Marines
had such strength. The spacious room offered no clues. They
traipsed down the next set of stairs but Mak bade them stay in the
stairwell until he called them. The lights came up and for a moment
Mak closed his eyes, glad the others weren’t with him. Cells, not
quite cages, lined every wall. The bars were as thick as Mak’s
wrists and solid walls separated the side of each pen. “You can
come in.”
Box led them in, doing his job as
guard. The doctors murmured quiet curses that matched Mak’s
thoughts. At least no bodies filled these cells. Mak took a slow
tour of the room. Tables like in a conference room sat at one end
of the middle space. Perhaps the subjects had eaten their meals or
had lessons of some sort. Taller tables like in a doctor’s
examining room crowded the center but at least they weren’t
operating tables.
“ They gave them beds and
bathroom facilities this time,” Dr. Loren mumbled.
“ Are we done here?” Mak
asked the doctors.
“ Everything appears to
have been sterilized before they abandoned it.” Molly gave him that
sad look again, though Mak wasn’t sure he interpreted it correctly.
Why would this room where men were treated like animals affect
her?
The next floor held what they were
looking for. Three operating rooms, computer work stations and
every type of medical equipment imaginable. The doctors went to
work, searching cabinets, drawers and even crawling under desks.
They found nothing.
“ I guess we should move
down to the next floor.” Molly joined Mak where he waited by the
door to the stairway.
“ The bottom floors should
hold nothing but the power station, water purification and waste
facilities.”
“ We still need to
look.”
Mak knew she was right, but a cold
dread had joined the unease nagging at him. “I’ll go and call you
if I find something that needs your attention.”
The look in Molly’s narrowed eyes
matched the general’s. And reminded Mak he shouldn’t be thinking of
her as Molly. “You might not recognize what I think is
important.”
Damn. She was right. “Just you and me.
Corporal Box, keep everyone on this floor until I
return.”
Mak led her down the stairs, twice the
number of steps as the upper floors, while the stench of garbage
grew stronger. And another smell, the one he’d dreaded, now overlay
the garbage odor. Death. Molly probably couldn’t smell it. The
scent was old and covered with the tang of acid. When he turned on
the lights, a cavernous room opened before them. Metal vats forty
feet in diameter were interspersed with pipes of varying width that
would carry power and water to the upper floors and return waste to
this level.
“ There must be something
in those waste vats,” Molly said with a hint of
discouragement.
Mak tapped the radio on his collar.
“Bring them all down, corporal.”
Molly sighed. “This could take a
while.”
Mak went to the first vat, tapping on
it with his knuckles. It bonged of dark emptiness. The next one
sounded as empty. But the third one emanated the death stench.
“This one.”
The others came in the door, clearly
hesitant. Mak saw relief on their faces as they observed the empty
room. It wouldn’t last long once they opened the vat.
Mak identified three more vats that
held the odor of decomposition. Once Pender and Box opened the
emergency doors on the bottoms of the containers, Molly and her
comrades found splotches of dried blood and a few soiled cloths.
One held some empty medicine bottles that went in the doctors’ bags
for later study. He ordered Box to stay with them while he and
Pender checked the lowest level. The quiet hum of crystallized iron
power generators greeted them. Nothing seemed suspicious or out of
order so they returned to the upper room.
The doctors had made
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