Unforgotten(98)

I scoff, “I don’t believe you.”

The door creaks open, interrupting our argument. The man identified as Trestin pokes his head inside. “Is everything okay?” he asks, his curious eyes darting from me to Maxxer.

I’m still plagued by the unyielding sensation that I know him.

That I’ve met him before.

“We’ve been tracking the news of the outbreak in the nav deck,” he informs Maxxer. “It’s turning into quite the media circus. It shouldn’t be long now.”

He turns and offers me a friendly wink.

Media circus.

I know that phrase. I’ve heard it before. When I was leaving the hospital in 2013. When everyone thought I’d survived a plane crash.

The first time I heard it said was by the man who was trying to locate my family. Mr. Rayunas was his name. He said he worked for Social Services. He’s the one who placed me with the Carlson family.

I study the man who just came into the room and I feel my stomach tighten.

No.

It can’t be.

Mr. Rayunas was much rounder. Older. His hair was thinning. He had wrinkles around his eyes. An extra layer of skin under his chin.

This man is young and slender with a full head of thick brown hair.

But the eyes. And the voice. And the smile. They’re the same.

How though? How is that possible? Why would an older, heavier version of this man be in 2013 with me?

“Thanks, Trestin,” Maxxer replies with a tight smile. “I’ll deal with that later.”

He nods and ducks out again.

Something is going on here. Maxxer is hiding something. A lot of things.

I narrow my gaze at her. “Why did you lie to me about Trestin?”

Her eyebrows rise. “I didn’t.

Another lie.

“He works with you.”

She nods. “He’s a crucial part of the alliance I’ve formed to bring down the Providence.”

“Why did he also work for Social Services in 2013?”

Maxxer freezes. I see the panic on her face. Apparently I wasn’t supposed to remember that. Or I wasn’t supposed to piece it together. Either way, she’s caught. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Like I said, he has one of those faces.”

“Oh, STOP!” I cry. “I’m not stupid. I remember him. He called himself Mr. Rayunas. He placed me with Cody’s family. I want to know why!”

Maxxer’s eyes close just for a moment, seemingly in surrender. She pulls a chair out from under the bar and places it across from me. Then she lowers herself into the seat.

“The first thing you need to understand,” she begins tentatively, “is that the Providence is bad news. Very bad news.”

“Answer my question,” I seethe.

She raises her hand in the air. “I will. But you have to know my motivations. You have to understand why I did what I did. I’ve learned a lot about this organization. I’ve been transessing all around the world, through hundreds of time periods gathering data on them. They are insufferable. Pure evil.”

She motions out the window at the endless sea. “There’s an outbreak going on right now, in July of 2032.”

“The white fever,” I say, remembering the news footage I saw in the subway.

“Yes. It’s a virus that if left unchecked could destroy the entire population.” She pauses and takes a breath. “They released that virus.”

I try not to let my astonishment show. I don’t want Maxxer to know that I’m in any way sympathetic to her.

“But of course, they won’t let the human race perish. That’s not part of the plan. In two weeks they will release the vaccine for it. A vaccine they’ve been holding on to for months.”

“But the news footage I saw said the Centers for Disease Control was working on a vaccine,” I counter.

“Sure, the CDC was working on it. But the Providence already has it. They created it at the same time they created the virus. They wanted people to think the situation was dire. They wanted it to get to a point where panic started to spread. That way, when the vaccine was released, people would be lined up around the block to get their hands on it. And they will. I’ve seen it.”

I shrug. “So what?”

“So,” Maxxer says gravely, “the problem is, it’s not just a vaccine. It contains untraceable technology that will forever alter the genetic makeup of everyone who is injected with it.”

Despite myself, I lean forward, rapt.

“This genetic modification will make people more susceptible to other, less-extreme ailments. Allergies, flu, common cold, headaches. It will remove the body’s natural ability to fight off regular, everyday illnesses and make people completely dependent on drugs. Drugs manufactured by companies owned solely by members of the Providence.”