Evolution (14 page)

My stomach clenches at the mention of Karum prison. They did perform procedures on me there, operations and tortures that made me sick. They even took my eggs without my permission. Now I know why—so they could genetically engineer my offspring to make them even stronger mods, if they'd had more time to build their army.

“But you won't treat me like you did in Karum,” I say carefully.

“When you were in Karum, you'd broken our laws,” Commander Charlie says in a voice as smooth as silk. “You were being punished for your crimes, as everyone who rebels must be, no matter how important they are to the Mod Project. But if you help us now, we'll pardon you for past misdeeds, including any false moves you made while you were on the Surface. This is your only chance to ally with us, Clementine. I can assure you none of the procedures will be painful.”

I hesitate, searching Charlie's face for a sign he's lying to me again. But his face is unreadable.

“If we have your cooperation, we can begin your tests immediately,” Commander Regina says. “There isn't time to waste.”

I run my teeth over my bottom lip. “What will happen if I don't agree to help you?”

Charlie's jaw twitches, and Regina's lips purse ever so slightly. They weren't expecting any more argument from me, it seems. But Regina answers in an even voice, “There are other Mod subjects we can go to, but it will take longer. And your genes would provide the best opportunity for helping us develop a strong resistance serum for our troops. We can't afford to send them to the Surface without the strongest serum possible, seeing how many soldiers in Colonel Parker's squadron have already been crippled. In other words, we need you to agree to help us if you want us to follow through with the war plan you proposed. Otherwise, we'll return to our previous plan. We'll put Operation Stryker in motion and sacrifice all the child workers in the Surface city.”

The only way the Developers will abandon Operation Stryker is if I agree to give them what they want.

My heart is beating at a faster pace than normal, but I feel calmed by this new information. Finally, I understand: The Developers have kept me alive because I'm their best hope for defeating the Mardenites. That day I ruined their plans and used their bomb to destroy the acid generator on the moon, Charlie was so angry with me, he would've killed me. But now the army is coming and there isn't time to find anyone else. The Developers need me.

I can do this. I can ally with the Developers, just for a little while. Just until they've helped me take out the bigger enemy—Marden's army. Then I will turn against them and make sure none of them are able to control Kiel's government ever again.

I take a deep breath. The Developers need my help, then they need to earn it.

“I want to help you,” I say. “But you must understand, it's hard for me to trust everything you're telling me when you've lied to me about a hundred times before. And even if I help you, it won't ensure the survival of everyone I care about. Whether or not my blood is enough to make everyone resistant to the poison gas, you said yourself the Mardenites have lots of other weapons. They still greatly outnumber our war fleet. There's no certainty this serum will help us defeat them. So if you want my cooperation, I need you to promise me a few things in return for my help.”

“We can consider your requests,” Regina says, an edge of impatience to her voice. “What is it you want from us?”

Who do I care about saving?

“First,” I say, “I want you to grant pardon to all the Alliance prisoners for their past misdeeds and release them from their cells. I'm guessing many of them are your stronger Mods. They were once your best soldiers, pilots, and analysts. You'll need their help to defeat Marden's army, as we need yours. Make a temporary truce with them until the war is over.”

I pause to let the Developers talk among themselves. I don't expect them to agree to this, but maybe they'll give me something. And starting with this request will make the rest seem smaller.

Finally, Commander Charlie turns back to me. “Those who cooperate with us in any assistance we require for the war effort will be granted pardon once the war is over. But we will decide when to release them from custody.”

“It's a matter of Core security,” Commander Marshall says. “I'm sure you understand.”

“Fine,” I say, trying to sound less agreeable than I really am. That's much better than I expected them to give me. “Second, Logan. If you won't release him from custody, you have to let me see him anytime I want. I want to talk to him before I go through with the tests, to make sure he's alive and healthy. You can't harm him anymore, in any way. Nor will you transport him anywhere without notifying me, under any conditions.”

“So long as you cooperate, you can visit the boy and he won't be harmed,” Regina says, waving her hand as if that request is nothing substantial.

There's amusement in Charlie's eyes. It makes me angry. He should not be amused by any of this; he needs to understand I will not cooperate if any of these requests are broken.

“Third,” I say, raising my voice, “you'll agree to rescue Beechy, Sandy, and the others who were captured by the Mardenites at the earliest opportunity.”

“Once it's possible to rescue them without endangering the safety of our citizens, of course we will,” Charlie says. “Do you really think I would abandon my daughter to the aliens?”

“Anything else?” Regina asks.

My mind's racing. This might be my only opportunity to get what I want. What have I forgotten? I need to ensure I'll have some future influence over what happens in the war. And I want to learn as much about the enemy invading Kiel as possible—not from the half-baked lies of the Developers, but from the old war records. The primary and secondary sources.

“I want a seat in all your strategy meetings. I want to know what's happening in the war, every step of the way. I want access to your records concerning the last war. And I want clearance to speak with the Mardenite you have in captivity here in the Core. Alone.”

“Your terms are acceptable,” Charlie says with a smile. He pushes his chair back and stands up, and the rest of the Developers follow suit. “We have an agreement.”

I get to my feet as they move around to my side of the table. Regina is at the front of the group and offers her hand. I shake it. Her skin is warm through her glove.

“We'll have a guard take you for a quick visit to your friend in his cell,” she says, dropping her hand. “And we'll inform the doctor in charge of the Mod Project you've agreed to help us, so we can begin your tests right away and get started on developing a resistance serum. You Mods are the best hope we have of winning the war.”

When she smiles at me again, showing her perfect white teeth, I smile back. But staring into her cold gray eyes, an itch of worry crawls across my spine. I hope I've made the right decision.

Regina turns and heads for the door, her high heels tapping on the linoleum. The other Developers approach me one by one and shake my hand.

When Commander Charlie reaches me, he gives me a demure smile. “I'm pleased to finally have you working on our side, Clementine,” he says.

“I'm pleased to work with you too,” I say.

He grips my hand so tightly, it feels like he might crush my fingers. I bite hard on the inside of my cheek, trying not to let him know I'm in pain.

Finally, he lets go. But instead of walking away from me, he holds out his arm for me to take. Another challenge; he knows how much I hate being near him, let alone touching him. I smile and slip my arm through his. My heart's beating fast.

As we walk out of the room, I notice there's an odd, pungent aroma wafting off his clothes, some sort of perfume that reminds me of the bleach smell in the quarantine facility in Crust, where the worthless—people without the strongest modifications—are taken to die. I wonder if he put it on just for me once he heard I was returning from the Surface mission.

I know what he's trying to tell me with this demonstration: No matter what I think, he is still in control of me. He and the other Developers might have agreed to my conditions for helping them, but when it comes down to it, once I've cooperated with their tests and operations, they won't need me anymore. I will be disposable, easily cast aside.

So I need to prolong the tests as long as possible.

 

15

A guard escorts me to Cell Block A, where they've locked up Logan. I have only twenty minutes to see him. Then I have to go to the health ward to begin the Mod tests.

I look inside the other cells as we walk past them, wondering if I'll find other Alliance prisoners here. I still don't know how many were captured in Crust and the other sectors after the Developers received the list of names from Beechy and Skylar. Probably something I should've asked about, although the Developers might've tried to pry more names out of me.

But if they've captured others, they aren't in Cell Block A. All the cells are empty except the very last one, Logan's cell. I clench my sweaty hands at my sides and the guard unlocks the door with his thumbprint.

The last time I visited Logan in this cell, yesterday morning, I was still trapped by the control serum. I tried to make him see the real me was there underneath, fighting to be heard, but he didn't understand. All he saw was the girl with a smile plastered on her face who was about to go to the Surface and help Sam destroy the Alliance compound. The soldier who'd willingly taken Charlie's serum and agreed to fight for him.

But it was all for Logan. I never would've taken the serum if he hadn't been captured in Crust, injected with a bomb that could've killed him. Every choice I made was to protect him. Yet I couldn't even protect him from myself.

Logan's voice drifts through the door, sounding husky. Tired and wounded. “What do you want?”

“You have a visitor,” the guard says.

“If it's the commander, you can tell him to go to—” Logan stops talking as soon as I step into view. He must've been hobbling across the cell on his crutches, but now he's frozen.

I can't get any words out of my mouth; I'm so relieved to see him. His hair is messy from lying on it and there are specks of stubble covering his jaw. My Logan, the boy who has defended me since we were young, who was strong enough to let me go knowing I might not come back to him.

Logan's eyes are wide, full of cautious hope. “Clementine?”

“You have twenty minutes,” the guard says. The door slides shut behind me.

Five steps and I reach and fling my arms around Logan. He greets me with as much enthusiasm, dropping his crutches and pulling me tightly against his chest. There's a flash of pain through my ribs, but I ignore it. I won't let anything ruin this moment.

“You're not dead.” Logan kisses my hair, my forehead, my cheeks. Everywhere he can reach. “They told me the Mardenites attacked and they hadn't been able to make contact with anyone on your mission. I didn't think you'd make it back.”

My eyes are watering, but I don't care. I was so scared I wouldn't see him again, or I'd come back and Charlie would follow through with his threat to execute him.

“I'll always come back,” I say. “I'm not saying good-bye yet.”

Logan touches my cheek, his stormy gray eyes searching my expression for something. “Is it really you?”

He means: Is it the real you? Or am I still trapped inside myself, screaming to get out?

I take his hand from my cheek and slide our fingers together. “I'm here. I'm real. No one's controlling me.” I stand on my tiptoes and plant a kiss on his lips to prove it.

Logan kisses me back harder, wrapping his arms around me again. I pull him closer. I want all of him, the heat of his body against mine, his legs tangled up with my own. But we're in a cell with a security camera, not alone. And the slight hitch in Logan's breath reminds me he's hurt.

I pull away and pick up his crutches from the floor. As I hand them to him, I look closer at the cast on his leg, tight slips of gauze around his left thigh. I shot him a few inches above his knee.

“Are you okay?” I ask as he adjusts the crutches under his arms. “What happened after I left?”

A shadow touches Logan's face for the slightest moment at the memory of what happened in the flight port. Then it vanishes, replaced by warmth as he smiles at me. Forgiving me in a single gesture. “I'm okay. I was in the health ward until a couple hours ago. They sewed up the skin. Said it'll take a few weeks to heal.”

He turns away from me and hobbles over to the bed. I can see the strain in his neck as he sits down; even that slight movement causes him pain. Logan already had a limp in his left leg that made it harder for him to fight like the rest of us, and now I've given him another injury to slow him down.

“I'm so sorry, Logan,” I say softly. “I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. I tried to stop my hands, but I couldn't … I wasn't strong enough to fight the serum.”

“I know,” Logan says, reaching for my hand. He pulls me over to the bed. “I don't blame you one bit. I just wish I could've stopped you from taking the serum in the first place.”

“You couldn't have stopped me.” I sit down next to him. “Charlie was going to kill you if I didn't.”

Logan opens his mouth to say something, then stops, frowning. “Wait. You're not subdued anymore. Why is he letting you visit me?”

I hesitate. Part of me doesn't want to tell him about the conversation I had with the Developers, because I know it will make him worry. But I need to be honest with him. I kept him in the dark about what I was going through before, and it only put walls between us.

I meet Logan's eyes and tell him straight: “I've made a deal with the Developers. I'm going to help them fight the Mardenites, in exchange for my freedom and a few other conditions.”