There Once Were Stars (24 page)

Waldorf’s stare doesn’t leave me as Mr. Richards walks outside.

“You remind me so much of her.” He tilts his head as he examines me. “Your face, your hair, it’s really amazing how genetics work. I’ve always admired that science.”

A shudder runs down my back, leaving an icky feeling in its trail. I clear my throat. “I’m not here to talk science.”

“Oh?” Waldorf says. “I thought you were. Isn’t that what they all want? Kaitlin’s proof the virus is being used? But not you. No, you want answers—answers about your parents and that expedition nine years ago. That’s why I refused to talk to any of them. Only you. Only your intentions are pure.”

Waldorf’s glassy eyes stare at me. He seems off from his usual eccentricity. “I think their intention to rid the dome of the virus is pure.” I try to convince him.

“See, I told you we’d talk science. Yes, the virus is here. There’s an entire floor of it up here in the Microbiology Division. Guess where? Just past this office. Beyond this room are the freezers and labs for this entire floor.”

“Is it true you test it on people?”

“Not me, personally. But yes, I oversee the program.”

“How? Why?” I can’t keep up with the questions pouring into my head.

“How else can we test its potential and prepare for the worst?”

“That doesn’t make any sense—they are innocent people.”

“We’ve been developing a vaccine,” Waldorf says. “In case there’s ever another outbreak. We’ve been working on it day and night for many decades. There aren’t animals to run tests on, like the old days. They’re needed for food and sustenance. But people—well they’re always in abundance, aren’t they? One thing the dome doesn’t need is more people.”

“It’s murder,” I stammer. “Why would we need to keep testing the virus, after all these years? All the people who were infected were killed in the Cleansing Wars.”

“Here’s an interesting fact.” Waldorf walks around me in his office. “One they don’t teach you at the Learning Institute. Did you know that immunity is not an inheritable trait? That’s what spurred your mother into action.”

“My mother? What did she know about any of this?”

“She was a brilliant geneticist, before the Expedition program. We had many talks, your mother and I. Many, many talks late into the night. We were nothing more than friends, though I did love her deeply. I would have done anything for her, had she loved me back in the same way, but she did not. She loved your father, fool that he was. He wasn’t much of a scientist. Not like her.”

“You told her about the testing, didn’t you?”

He nods. “I wanted her to see its importance, and bring her with me over to Microbiology. We would both be invaluable to the program with our experience working in Genetics. That was the only reason I followed her to the Expedition program, so that she could see it wasn’t safe outside—too many variables. Too much risk.”

“If you cared so much about her, then why did you betray her?”

“Betray her?” Waldorf looks surprised. “I never would have. At least not on purpose. It was an accident—a misunderstanding. On that last expedition, she told me her plans to bring down the Director. She had her proof, there in the meadow, and tried to make me understand. But I couldn’t let her carry out her plans to destroy the dome. It was too dangerous; the virus would get outside—it would spread. We would have to go through the Cleansing Wars all over again. She insisted. There was no way I could persuade her without help.”

“They were killed because of you!” I jump out of my chair. “Stop playing around with words. What did you call me here for?”

“Forgiveness,” Waldorf looks away. “I’ve lived with my guilt all this time, but the moment you stepped through those lab doors, I knew it was my chance for redemption. You were the missing link. Everything she did was to protect you.”

“How was I in danger?”

“You are not immune,” he explains. “Both she and your father were, but not you. She couldn’t stand the idea of you being taken for testing one day.”

“What do you mean, not immune? How would you know?”

“Over time, generations have bred the immunity gene out. You can’t test a vaccine on the immune; you need people who can be infected, first. Luckily, we have a dome with many people like you, ready to be plucked from the streets. Everyone’s immunity is tested when they enter the Learning Institute. There’s a log of all of you, kept in the Director’s office.”

Waldorf slumps to the side as he reaches for a bottle of whiskey on his desk. It’s the same one I fell prey to at Jak’s initiation party.

“Where did you get that bottle?”

“The Director sent it up for me.” Waldorf waves the bottle in the air. “He’s coming to see me at the end of the day for a celebratory drink.”

“What are you celebrating?” I ask cautiously.

“The end of the rebellion,” Waldorf says. “He’s going to finish off what he started a decade ago.”

I move toward the door. I’m not sure what information Roe was hoping to get from Waldorf, but it’s too late. I need to notify everyone. We need to get out of the dome and save ourselves.

“Wait!” Waldorf stands. “I have something for you.” He grabs a box from under his desk, and pushes it toward me. “Here’s the immunity serum. I finished it after your mother’s death. It was the least I could do for her. You need to take it. All of you do. Then get it to Evan’s dome and have it replicated.”

“Why are you giving me this, if you’re going to rat us out to the Director?” I ask.

“I said he’s coming to see me shortly.” Waldorf turns away. “But I don’t plan on being able to give him any information. He used this drink on me once before, nine years ago. I couldn’t help myself when I heard the words come out of my mouth, revealing your mother’s plans.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” I say, shocked, as the words leave my mouth.

“I went back.” He stares at the ceiling, though I know he’s lost in his memories. “I was on the rescue mission they sent. They said there was no communication from the team, but I knew better. I knew the moment the Director stole that information from me, that I’d never see my friends again. It was terrible—the horror. We found them torn to pieces—attacked by the test subjects your mother sought to protect. The infected lie dead as well, killed by the hands of the Order members who brought them.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” My chin trembles as the words come out disconnected.

“What could I do?” he asks. “Look what happened to your mother when she took a stand. I wasn’t half as brave as her. I went to the meadow and took her files, then hid them all this time until I found someone as brave as her who could stand up to the Director again. I worked very hard at destroying the virus from within the Microbiology labs over the years. But it is impossible—we don’t have the capability to do it here. The immunity program must be stopped and the virus has to be locked away, forever.”

Waldorf hands me a microchip. “My work is all on here. Pass this on to other scientists in Evan’s dome. Perhaps they can finish what I could not.”

I hesitate before taking the microchip from Waldorf. He looks sad and pathetic, yet I still cannot forgive him. I snatch it from his grasp. “Because of your cowardice and weakness, my parents are dead.” My words make him wince, and I continue, wanting him to hurt more. “All the rest is just you trying for absolution. I do not forgive you. Maybe you can find some way to do it yourself.”

Waldorf holds up a vial. “The guilt has killed me on the inside. I can’t live with it any longer. This is my only salvation.” He tosses the vial back, drinking every last drop, then throws it against the wall. “Now, get out of here and lock that door. Get out of here and don’t ever come back.”

I run blindly from the room, clutching the box in my arms. The vial Waldorf drank from does not match the one holding the immunity serum.

“What’s wrong?” Mr. Richards asks.

“Lock the door! Waldorf infected himself.”

We leave the office secure, and I go straight down to Roe’s office. Her mouth drops as I burst in—I probably look like I’m crazy. I throw the box onto her desk and stand there, unsure where to start.

“What happened?” She stares at the box.

I look out her office door, and see Mr. Richards warning his wife and the others.

“Waldorf’s gone.”

“What! We had a deal. He gave us his ID card. That coward!”

“He was there,” I explain. “He confessed to everything. But it really wasn’t his fault; the Director used this truth serum and drugged Waldorf to get the information out of him. They’ve got the virus up there, Roe. And it’s not dormant. Waldorf confirmed it’s unsecured in the freezers behind his office.”

“Okay,” Roe says, “I don’t understand. Where is Waldorf now?”

“He infected himself, right in front of me; he drank the virus. The Director’s coming to visit him. I think Waldorf hopes to kill him.”

“Damn it!” Roe bangs a fist on her desk. “Damn Waldorf. Now we can’t access those freezers. We can’t destroy the virus, and now the Director will find him, forcing our hand. We need to find a way to get our message out to people, and destroy the Axis.”

“He says this is the immunity serum,” I push the box toward her. “Everyone needs to take it.”

“How can we trust him, after all he’s done?”

“He was filled with remorse,” I say, but I see her point. “He said it was for his own absolution.”

Roe shakes her head. “I don’t know, Nat. What if it’s the virus? I can’t risk my team. We’ll just have to hope no one gets infected during this upheaval.”

“Roe, there isn’t any time for this. I reach in the box and pull out a vial, slipping it into an injection needle from the box. I have no idea what I’m doing, but there isn’t time to worry about it. I’m the weakest link in this crew, now that my mother’s proof has been found. I lift the needle and plunge it into my arm.

“No!” Roe cries out.

The vaccine burns as it enters my body. I watch the vial as a cloud of my blood mixes with the serum. Blood that is not immune to the virus. In seconds the vial drains into my body, and I pull the needle out, dropping it on Roe’s desk.

She watches me, with her hands held in the air between us, as she backs herself to the door. “I’m fine, Roe. Look at me.”

“I’m just making sure,” she says. “Cardinal! Bring me one of the scanners.”

I turn to look out the doorway and see the others, standing frozen, watching us. Cardinal rushes toward Roe, and hands her an infection scanner. Roe turns it on, pointing it toward me. The lights run up and down my body, but nothing beeps. I’m not infected.

I breathe out a sigh of relief. It’s over. “See.” I hold up my hands in peace.

“Maybe more time needs to pass. I’ll try again in twenty minutes.”

“There isn’t time, Roe.” I look to Mr. Richards, pleading.

“She’s right,” he says. “Once the Director sees Waldorf, it will only be a matter of time before he comes down here to investigate the rest of the team.

I turn and pull more vials from the box. Something pokes out from the bottom. I tug on the corner, and out comes a photo.

My heart drops. It’s a photo of the infected. But it’s not the same photo you see in history class. It’s a photo showing
Dome 1618
painted on the wall behind the infected. I hand the photo to Roe and empty the rest of the box. The bottom is lined with over twenty photos. It’s my mother’s proof.

“I’m going to give the rest of the lab a choice to take the serum, or not,” Roe explains. “Then I will go get Sophie, Leta, and Mrs. Watson, and explain our predicament. It looks like it’s time to put our plan in action. Thanks for being the guinea pig.”

We walk back into the lab. “Where’s Evan?” I look around.

“I guess he hasn’t come back from cooling down yet.”

“I’ll find him.” I run out of the lab to the elevators and go down to Floor 17 to Evan’s room. His room is empty. It looks messed up a bit. Was he really that mad? I run down to my room, to check if he stopped in while I was gone to visit Waldorf, but only Tassie is in there.

“Have you seen Evan?”

“Sure did,” Tassie rolls her eyes. “Man, was he in quite a state. He came down here looking for you, grumbling how nothing was working out, and I thought he was talking about you two so I told him to do something about it. He snapped at me and asked if all girls were so opinionated. Then he stormed out and said he would get the job done himself. I tell you, that was a mood and a half.”

“Where was he going?”

“No idea,” Tassie says. “Downstairs somewhere, was all I could make out.”

Prickly goosebumps break out all over my skin and the room starts to spin. I can’t believe it. He’s going to look for the proof we already have. I need to stop him. I turn and run out of the room.

I bang on the buttons in the elevator, panicking that I won’t get to Evan in time. What will happen if he goes to B3? I need to stop him.

Finally the elevator whirs into action, descending to Floor 2. The doors slide open, revealing an empty hallway. There’s no sign of Evan.

The Director’s door opens, and I jump into the room next to me. It’s a filing room filled with rows of shelving. I peek outside and see the Director leave his office with Jak. They turn down a side hallway and disappear. I am about to leave the filing room when Samson’s wife, Catherine, speaks up from behind me.

“Natalia?” Her brows furrow as she shakes her head. “What are you doing in here?”

“Oh, I was getting some things for Roe.” I make up an excuse.

“What does Roe need from the Director’s files?” Catherine asks me, walking to the doorway and peering into the hallway behind me. Her voice lowers to a whisper. “Do you know how much trouble you could get into if you were caught down here?”

“Let me go, Catherine.” I change my tone, holding my hands in the air. “I haven’t taken anything. Pretend you never saw me.”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about.” She rolls her eyes as she peers out the doorway again. “What are you doing down here? Samson and I haven’t been able to make the last few meetings. Are things ready to start moving along?”

I’m not sure whether or not to believe her, but I need Catherine to get out of my way and let me go look for Evan. Maybe she can even be of some help.