Specimen(64)

“McCall does have a point,” Mills says. “He may be compromised.”

“I realize that,” Riley replies, “but we don’t know for sure. If we wipe him out now, we’ll lose whatever information he may have learned while he was captured. He’s obviously been in contact with Errol Spat, maybe even Hudson.”

“Agreed. Keep his memories intact for the time being. We need to learn everything he knows before we take action.”

Riley places her hand on my wrist, checking the IV the nurse inserted. I turn my hand over and try to reach for her. She looks into my eyes as she places her hand on my cheek.

“Relax now,” she says softly. “I’m going to put you under and get you stable. I’ll get you healed up, and then we can talk, okay?”

I press my face against her palm. It’s all the movement I can muster. My nose tingles with a strange scent coming from the mask around my face. My body feels heavy. Riley’s face above me blurs, and I am plunged into darkness.

*****

Riley says I’ve been out for three days. I don’t remember waking up or dreaming at all during that time. I do remember what happened to me, though, and I still remember who I am and how I got here.

In fact, I remember everything. I remember my childhood and my family. I know every detail of the farm where I grew up and later tended the land. I recall my father’s voice as he regaled me with stories while we tilled the fields. I remember him telling me I was the only son in the family and the oldest child, and that position held meaning.

I don’t want to forget.

Riley has been fussing over me since I woke up. I’ve been injected so many times, I half expect my arms to start spouting like a fountain. My head is clear now, and Riley says the levels of the drugs in my system are nearly back to normal. I honestly don’t know what I think about that, but at least I feel strong again.

I know Riley has a thousand questions for me, but she hasn’t asked anything yet. I wonder if she can read through the information in my implants and learn it all without me ever opening my mouth. I wonder if she already has.

“Do you think you can get up?” she asks.

“Pretty sure.” I sit up slowly, glad the dizziness and nausea seem to be gone. I swing my legs to the side of the bed and stand. I can tell my muscles are a little weak because my legs are shaky, but I don’t feel like I’m going to fall.

“You need a haircut.” Riley reaches up and runs her hand through my hair and then over my face. “A shave, too. Do you want to get in the shower? I’ll be right there with you.”

“Yeah, okay.” I remember Isaac’s comment about how bad I smelled and chuckle to myself.

I stand in the stream of water with my head tilted up and my eyes closed, welcoming the warmth. After I rinse and dry myself, Riley looks me over.

“The scars on your legs—what are those from?”

“Nails, I think.” I reach down and rub the spot on my left thigh. “I couldn’t really see what they were using.”

Riley bites down on her lip, and I reach out to touch her cheek.

“I’m okay now,” I tell her.

“I can’t believe they did that to you. We have a debriefing with everyone in an hour to go over what happened to you, but I’m not sure I want to hear it.”

“What am I supposed to say?”

“They want to know what happened. Dr. McCall is convinced they got to you somehow, bypassed all the security in your implants to turn you into some kind of spy for the Carson Alliance.”

Riley pauses and glances at the mirror. When she meets my eyes again, her stare is intense.

“There are still guards posted outside the door,” she says, “and probably a dozen more in the room behind the mirror, monitoring you. The techs say there’s no way to break through the implant’s safeguards, but it may take some convincing.”

I blink as I take in her expression. She’s warning me. She wants to make sure I know someone is listening to us right now, and I need to be careful about what I say. I’ve not mentioned my name or anything else about me since she first found me. She has no idea how much I know, and she’s warning me not to tell her now.

“They didn’t get into the implants,” I say. “At least, not in that way. I think they were trying, but Spat couldn’t make it work.”

“He was there? You saw him?”

“He was.”

Riley rubs her temple and thinks for a moment before she glances at the clock on the wall.

“It’s almost time,” she says. “Let me check one more thing.”

She takes me by the hand and leads me over to the cabinet by the sink and shower. She crouches and starts to shuffle through the clothing in the bottom, motioning me to crouch with her.