and stem-cells that she needed in case Brian was injured, but they also had vials marked for Science Lab 1, where the DNA splicing too place. The insides of her veins quivered. They were not going to use her son’s DNA to make others with his same abilities. She would not let them. Brian was unique and he would stay unique. The Compound would rue the day they broke their promise to her. They would gain nothing from him.
She stashed all the vials, Brian’s emergency fluids and the chloroform in a refrigerated carrying case and then placed that in a vinyl bag which she then kept under her desk where her toes could keep track of it at any moment. All night long she watched the cameras in the nursery to get an idea of how often the nursery workers moved. Then she waited like a bird with an empty nest as the hours and minutes of the day slipped by. She didn’t care that she hadn’t slept. The excitement of what she was about to do filled her with adrenaline.
As both suns set and the world turned dark Allia’s heart beat faster. She claimed fatigue and left work after dinnertime with her bag clinging tightly to her shoulder. Once she was alone in her room she transferred the vials into a bigger bag, added several changes of clothes along with the few keepsakes she’d kept from her family, like the digital video log of the past 50 Christmases and family reunions her mom would always ask if she still had and would probably replace if she said she didn’t. It might be fun to show them to Brian one day when he asked about their family. In addition she packed every item of value that she could possible use to barter with and stuffed them all in the bag. A rather large amount of space remained, but she would need to pack some things for Brian too. When the staff brought her dinner she took what food she thought Brian would like and stored it in the refrigerated bag next to the vials.
After finding a suitable hand towel from her bathroom, she placed it on her dresser with the chloroform and then she waited. All of her packing and prep had given her an hour to watch slip by. She sat for five minutes and then jumped up to check her closet. Most of her clothes she could do without, but when her hand touched her tan overcoat she knew she would have to take it. Who knew what kind of weather they would be going into? It was too bulky to fit in her bag, so she slipped it on and then returned to sitting on her bed.
By 11:20 she convinced herself that she needed to make the speeder ready. She grabbed all her stuff and tiptoed out into the hall. With her handheld connected to the Compound surveillance, something her position as a trainer had given her since they had to know the condition of their candidates at all times, she checked the cameras of each hall before walking in it.
Once in the speeder bay she found the same speeder she had used before and put the bag inside it. Then she checked the GPS locator and disabled it. Secretly she was proud that she still remembered where they were located. A glance at the clock on her handheld showed that it was 11:32. It was close enough, especially if she counted how long it would take her to sneak into the nursery area.
Carefully she exited the bay and crept up five levels to the nursery floor. The hall was dark with blue floor lights every three feet. Allia soaked the hand towel with the chloroform, wrinkling her nose and holding her breath against the sweet scent. It was definitely strong enough.
The room Brian slept in was the fifth door on the left and the room where the nursery worker’s kept a nightly vigil was the first on the right, a room that lit up the hall with the glare from several computer monitors. Allia paused outside the door frame and tried to breathe. She would just slip in as if she belonged, ask the worker when the relief was coming and then inch close enough to throw the towel over the person’s mouth and nose. Her hands shook and she tightened them into fists. With every fiber in her being she wanted to be somewhere else. Horrible images of a violent struggle, of chairs knocking over and monitors smashing on the floor, of the police dragging her away while Brian clung to a nurse filled her mouth with fear and clouded her eyes so that she could see nothing and only hear the rapid pounding of her heart.
With three quick gasps she gathered her courage, closed her eyes and stepped into the doorway.
No one screamed.
No chair creaked.
No one even said, “What are you doing here?”
Her eyes flew open. When the spots cleared from her eyes she saw that there was a nurse sitting in the chair in front of the monitors, but her head was arched back on the chair and her mouth open in the silent pause of a snore. The nurse breathed out a sound like elephants stampeding. Allia paused only a moment before she gently held the chloroform to the nurse’s mouth and nose. There was no struggle but after a few moments the snoring quieted into a relaxed, deep sleep.
A thrill shot through Allia’s fingers traveling around her whole body. She’d done it. With a spring in her step like she hadn’t felt in years she walked down the hall and opened the door to her son’s room. There he was sleeping peacefully in his bed, his dark hair tangled about his face. The light from the hall didn’t make him stir. His soft breathing was like the sound of angels singing and she wanted to watch him like this forever.
But time would not let her. The sooner she left the bigger head start she would have. So she crept up to Brian and placed the hand towel over his nose and mouth. A pain shot through her chest as she did it. How could she do this to her son? Her stomach twisted and then turned inside out when Brian whimpered through the muffled fabric. She quickly pulled it away and Brian was still breathing, still sleeping. Convincing herself that it worked she scooped him up into her arms and rushed out of the room.
He was heavier than he looked and his body was long and wiry so his legs flopped at her knees. She managed to balance both him and her handheld to check the halls. Only once did she have to stop and lean him against the wall for a brief break. As she entered the speeder bay her hand slipped and Brian’s arm sagged onto her handheld. The extra weight made it too heavy and the handheld slipped from her fingers and skittered across the floor. The noise shattered the silence of the speeder bay and Allia’s breath stopped.
She rushed to the speeder practically dumped Brian in the passenger seat and scooped up the handheld slipping it into her pocket on her way to the driver’s side. Then she was in her seat and starting the engines. The bay doors were already opened and she punched the gas making the speeder jerk up into the night sky. She glanced down at Brian and realized she hadn’t grabbed any clothes for him. She wanted to curse. How had she forgotten that? But there was no going back now.
The clock on the dashboard read 11:52. Just eight minutes to get to the loading bay. Her blood pumped as fast as the gas pumped to the duel engines and she threw everything she could into the speed. The skyline of Highton rose before her one second and she was weaving through the giant buildings the next. Each one seemed dark and forbidding as if warning this plan would never work and she should turn back while she had the chance.
She spotted the loading bay of the eighth hanger and even though dropping speeders onto streets that weren’t designated safe for speeders was illegal, she did it anyway drifting to a stop right in front of the main door. A man by a side door glared at her and gave her a rude gesture, but she had five minutes left. She leaped out of the driver’s door and hurried over to the passenger side. Grabbing the bag first, she hoisted it onto her shoulder before she gently scooped Brian up and clutched him to her chest. With her feet going as fast as she could she rushed through the main doors.
Unlike the Compound the loading dock was full of men and machinery moving everywhere. Loud shouts and rumbles clogged the air and yet Brian stayed fast asleep. She double checked for her handheld, but it was still in her pocket. With it she would be able to transfer all her funds wherever they needed her to. Recognizing the path to the ship from her last visit, she speed walked across the open area to get away from all the busyness.
A man with a large box on his shoulder blocked her way and she had to wait until he passed before she could continue. In the loading bay everything looked different. There were no crates or chickens
or cows. Not even a hint that they had existed on the concrete floor. Everything was gone and the room felt much bigger and a tad more ominous somehow. It could have been the magnitude of the ship itself or the fact that it had dim flames hissing and popping every so often.
“You’re right on time,” a voice said behind her.
Allia turned to find Captain Harrell standing at her shoulder. He wasn’t looking at her, but stared up at his ship.
“Did you bring the money?”
She nodded and switched Brian to her left arm to reach into her pocket with her right. There had been no talk of the amount so she wasn’t sure if she would have anything left when the transaction was done.
“Not here.” Captain Harrell glanced behind him.
“When will the ship leave? Tonight?” she asked.
“This way,” the Captain said walking across the large bay toward the office doors. “We wouldn’t want your friends at the Compound seeing us.”
Instantly her eyes flew up to the corners of the ceiling, but she couldn’t find the cameras. Not that the visible absence of them meant anything. She had gone ten steps before she realized what the Captain had said.