Control Group 5

Chapter 7

"And you think a scientist is going to be awake and willing out answer our questions at four in the morning?"

"No. But he works in a lab on the campus about an hour away. Apparently he left the world of big-corp for the world of research. Plus, I think a little time to check things out before going in might be called for."

Jordan locked the front door behind us. "Well, at least we have time for coffee. I'm gonna need it."

The campus was small and old. The buildings were all done in red brick and had nice green walking paths between them. People were just beginning to arrive as Dimitri and I finished our second cups of coffee and our walk around.

"Well, I don't see any sign of Bio-Loom, do you?"

Dimitri glanced over his shoulder, and I didn't blame him. There might not be any sign of the Corporation, but I felt like we were being watched.

"Nothing. Wait. There. I think that might be our scientist." I nodded in the direction I was staring.

Thanks to Dimitri's smartphone, we'd been able to find a picture of Dr. Stanwick online. And the man walking toward the front entrance of the building matched the picture of the balding man with square black glasses.

"Then it's time to go," Dimitri said.

I drank the last sip of my sugary, creamy coffee, tossed the empty cup in the trash and discreetly followed the doctor into the building. He didn't look back as we followed him down the stairwell to the basement. He jumped when we announced ourselves. His keys, halfway into the lock when I spoke, fell to the floor with a clang.

"Yes, I'm Edward Stanwick. Can I help you with something?" He bent over to pick up the keys. He turned his back to us and unlocked his lab door. He was thinner than I thought he would be, and there was a standoffishness about him.

"I think you know my brother. Or knew him. He's dead now. Jordan. I think he might have come to ask you some questions about Bio-Loom." Edward's face visibly paled.

"You'd better come in," he said. We followed him into a room buzzing with steel boxes, refrigerators, maybe? He locked the door behind us.

"He's dead?"

I nodded. I hadn't thought it was possible for the doctor to pale any further, yet he did.

Suddenly, he burst into life. Scrambling through his lab and over to his computer. He powered it on and then moved over to his filing cabinets, pulling out papers and thrusting them at me. "This is what I gave your brother. Now please, you must go."

I glanced down. The papers looked like some kind of financial statement of Bio-Loom. Nothing I'd call a smoking gun. Not without looking at them anyway. "But-"

"No. You must go. They'll be coming for me. They must know where he got the information. Damn him. I told him it was dangerous. I told him not to get involved. To leave it alone. Leave them alone. He has no idea where they're from."

"Where they're from?" Dimitri echoed.

"I've said too much." The doctor looked sick. He gripped my shoulders, pinching as he turned me from the room. "Go. Go. They must be watching. Go!"

So we went. We didn't run, but we walked as quickly as we could: heads down, my arms clutching the papers tightly. We went directly to the car and drove out of the city. We stopped on a lonely, graveled back road. Deserted. We pulled to the side. My heart was still pounding.

"Do you think they followed us? Tracked us?" I looked over my shoulder at the expanse of flat farming ground. There was nothing in sight other than shorn crops and some stunted trees.

Dimitri grimaced. "I don't see them, but that could mean anything with the Corporation. They have the invisible car, remember."

I bit my lip and turned to the papers. "I can't make any sense of these." I handed the white sheets to Dimitri. He began scanning them.

"This is odd," he said a long ten minutes later.

"What?"

"This is a corporate tax statement. But it says here that they are exempt from taxes due to Treaty Ixon 9."

"Ixon 9? I've never heard of it. What do you think, that they're spies or something?"

Dimitri shrugged. "I couldn't say. But whatever they are, the government is supporting them."

"Jordan must have learnt more. They wouldn't have killed him just for that. I mean, why not just erase his memory?"

"Maybe they tried."

"Huh?"

"It's possible that this tech, whatever it is, doesn't work on everyone. There were a couple of times that the tech worked differently for someone in my group. Same thing happen to you?"

I nodded. "The lifeform sensor. I can sense more about people that others can. Like how old they are, whether they're male or female."

Dimitri nodded. "And maybe they couldn't erase Jordan's memory. Or maybe his death was an accident."

A wrench gripped and twisted my insides. "You know, somewhere along the way, I stopped thinking that was a possibility. Why go so far to cover it up? Why bribe me? I'm just so confused. It's like they don't care about us. We're just guinea pigs. Not even human to them!"

Dimitri wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled my head to my chest. He smelled good: musky and earthy and strong. I let him hold me for a moment. Then pulled away slightly, looking up. He glanced down and in a quarter-heartbeat our lips were pressing together. His were slightly scratchy. His breath minty. He was warm. And he made me feel so alive.

A second later it was over.

"We have to get you home," he said.

I nodded and slid back into my seat. Doing up the belt buckle. He reached over and grasped my hand. I entwined my fingers with his. At my house, he handed me a rectangular object that looked liked a battered cellphone wrapped in electrical tape. "This is the jammer. It doesn't need to be turned on or anything. It works all the time. Hide it under your mattress so there's no chance of them discovering it."

I held it in my hands. Breathing deeply.

"You'll be fine. Call me first thing. Code word: Raspberry Jam."

I smiled. "And then you'll take me for breakfast." I climbed out of the car a block from my house. Dimitri was hesitant to drive me to the front door in case they were already watching for me.

The evening was long and torturous. Mom was downstairs yelling at the television. Dad called her from jail, which made her screams turn to sobs. She stumbled up the stairs once to ask me to go get her another mickey of vodka. I told her I wasn't old enough and she swore at me and handed me the twenty anyway. "You can keep the change if you get it. You know how it works, wait outside and someone will get it for you."

I knew that was true and I wanted to get out of the house anyway. I was sick of waiting. It only took a half hour before a young guy, twenty-five or so, bought me what I needed because he thought I was cute. Once I got back home, I plugged in my headphones and tried to zone out to some Nightwish.

At ten o'clock, I took the headphones out of my ears and closed my eyes. At some point I fell asleep. I woke at three. A creak on the floor told me someone was in my room. I waited.