Voice (2 page)

Jemma flashed back to the papers she’d read in the comfort of Senator Pratt’s living room, with Jack by her side.
Initial infiltration of nanocreations was done by an overeager employee of Tricorp BioD
. It was Josh? Somehow, it made a perverted sort of sense: his eagerness to prove himself, Dr. Harris’s monitoring of him, his level of pride when she’d done well, his level of offense that she’d escaped. But if he’d been the one to trigger the Event, if he’d risked the lives of the entire world and was still able to seem so untroubled about it, Jemma had made an even worse mistake than she’d thought. She shouldn’t have come back.

Josh, the man who’d risked the world for his ego, crossed one leg over the other. “It’ll be worth it, though. You’ll see. We’ve already learned so much more than what we knew. It would’ve taken us decades to learn this much without the Event. Dr. Harris would’ve fired me if they’d let him, he’s all but told me that, but I bet he’d have retired before they even saw a hint of the connection we saw from you and Jack last week.” He uncrossed his legs and sat forward. “And you went and escaped, and then you split up. And because you escaped, and because you’re planning something, we really can’t risk putting you back in the same facility, so we’re going to have to find a way to replicate that connection without having the two of you together. And since I’m the one who gets results, you and I are going to be spending plenty of time together, and trying lots of new things.” He smiled again, and Jemma risked a look at the guard, who’d returned to staring at a point over her head. He didn’t react to either her movement or Josh’s words.

“Let’s start. We’ve only got a few more hours before I need to hand you over to Dr. Harris.”

CHAPTER TWO:

Limitless

After lunch, Jemma followed the guard back to the lab, unsurprised to see Dr. Harris waiting for her.

“Have a seat, Jemma,” he typed before gesturing at the chair, waiting for her to comply before he sat as well. He continued looking at something on his clipboard rather than at Jemma, and she waited in her seat.

She waited, wishing she could enjoy the silence.

She waited, wishing she had some way to ask about Jack, about Marcia and Kendall, about whether they were okay.

She waited, wondering what was going to happen next.

By the door, the guard shifted, standing to one side of the door frame rather than blocking the door itself. Jemma looked down at her arm, at the angry purple and red colors already covering the insertion point on the tracker. It felt like a deep bruise, not quite as bad as when she’d had her wisdom teeth removed and accidentally let the medication wear off, but it was close. Trying to lift her arm sent pain shooting through it, so she left it resting along her leg. She flinched when she looked up to see Dr. Harris watching her, a frown pulling at his expression.

He reached out, his touch professionally gentle, rotating her arm so he could see what she was looking at. She heard his muted intake of breath, and he ran fingers just above the surface of her skin, not quite touching it, as if measuring the length of the most swollen section. He set her arm back down, positioning it as closely as he could to how she’d had it, and began typing.

“Was that Joshua’s doing?” he asked. Jemma nodded, her eyes flickering toward the door. If Dr. Harris didn’t already know, that meant Josh really was getting the additional leeway he’d bragged about. She hoped it wasn’t meant to be a secret after the fact; if so, he should have given her a set of scrubs with longer sleeves.

If so, she hoped he didn’t take it out on her that Dr. Harris now knew.

“I see.” Dr. Harris ran a finger along the edge of the thick clipboard, his eyes pointed toward Jemma but unfocused. “Pain medication would interfere with this afternoon’s tests, so I assume he didn’t give you any?” He focused on her long enough to watch her shake her head, then scowled again. “I know he wasn’t issued an anesthetic, either.” She watched as he took a breath, his expression changing from irate to his more typical detached look, and he turned his attention back to his clipboard. “I’ll be sure to discuss mistreatment of subjects with him. We can’t misuse limited resources.”

A limited resource. That’s what she was to Dr. Harris, at least when something wasn’t shaking him out of his protective beliefs: a resource, a piece of equipment, a
thing
.

The door opened, and she saw Josh, medical tray in hand.

Josh, at least, recognized she was alive, but Jemma was pretty sure that made his treatment worse, not better. She swallowed down questions about Josh’s involvement in this afternoon session, fighting the urge to rub her arm, knowing it would only cause her pain.

“You’re late,” typed Dr. Harris while Josh set down the tray. “Hook Jemma up to the monitor.”

Jemma knew they could communicate without letting her hear. Maybe Dr. Harris did feel some genuine remorse for her treatment, despite the neutral expression, since he was allowing her to overhear him scolding Josh and giving him orders. Josh walked behind Dr. Harris to get to Jemma, smirking at her and rolling his eyes as if looking for commiseration. She stared in return, sitting stiff and still while he hooked her up to the monitor, trailing his fingers along her neck when he was done.

“Go ahead and inject her with the trial solution, Joshua.” Dr. Harris looked resolutely at his clipboard while Josh picked up a mercifully normal sized needle, almost painlessly injecting it into Jemma’s good arm. Dr. Harris continued typing while Josh disposed of the needle. “We expect this to take several minutes to take effect. It will likely cause some significant mental discomfort, potentially even pain, but pain medication will dull the effects and nullify the test. We’ve made sure that the likelihood of permanent damage is minimal. In the meantime, I want you to tell me if the pain goes beyond an eight out of ten.”

It wasn’t
likely
to cause permanent damage. And anything up to an eight out of ten was acceptable? Jemma closed her eyes. These were things she’d known she was getting into.

“I was watching you earlier.” The speaker was different, the sound coming from Josh’s keypad rather than Dr. Harris’s clipboard. “This morning, I mean. You found out a lot while you were gone, didn’t you?” She opened her eyes and looked between the two men, not sure how to respond. The glee in Josh’s eyes as he looked at the monitor seemed to indicate she didn’t really need to. “You already know that we caused the Event, and I suspect you even have an idea as to how.” He nodded at the monitor, then turned to Dr. Harris, grinning when the man nodded in what looked like permission. “While we were working on getting a functional cure, we had a few mishaps, a few that didn’t quite work out the way we wanted them to. What you were just injected with was one of those.” Jemma felt her head starting to crawl, to seemingly expand. “It actually had the opposite effect. Instead of reversing what we did, it made it stronger. Once it kicks in all the way, your abilities should be enhanced even further than they have been. Then we get to see what you can do with that.”

“Hopefully, nothing from the morning session interferes.” Dr. Harris looked at Josh.

“Come on, Dr. Harris. I asked permission first.”

“Yes, but I happen to know you didn’t wait for an answer or approval.”

“It’s not like she said anything to stop me.” Josh looked over at Jemma and winked.

“That’s enough, Joshua. If you cannot conduct yourself appropriately, you can leave. Now.”

Josh’s jaw dropped. “But Dr. Harris—”

“No. You may have found more freedom, but I’m still officially your superior. You may observe from outside, but you will leave for the duration of this test.”

Josh stared, as if trying to will Dr. Harris to change his mind, then abruptly closed his mouth and left. Jemma felt a rush of gratitude that was quickly overwhelmed by what felt like another expansion in her mind, this one accompanied by a wave of pain. She rested her head in the hand of her good arm, trying to focus on her breathing. With each breath, though, it felt as if her mind grew larger. She grew dizzy with it, with how big it seemed, even though she knew it hadn’t actually changed.

“Okay, Jemma,” she heard Dr. Harris type, but something else had just snapped into focus.

She could feel Jack’s connection.

“Jack?” Jemma pushed past the stabbing pain, letting it fade into a throb, focusing on the fact that she was in contact with Jack, that his name had echoed.

“Are you here?” She released a breath as his voice went through her mind. He was okay, or at least okay enough to be Talking to her.

“I’m here in the lab near home.”

“Ah. I’m still here in Virginia. They gave me something. Jemma, they’re monitoring…”

The monitors. How had she forgotten? She lifted her head, finding Dr. Harris watching the monitor, scribbling on his clipboard. At the window, Josh stared intently, arms crossed. Jemma shook her head, trying to clear it. Her mind felt so much bigger, wider, but at the same time, the dizziness, the throbbing, occasional shooting pain, all made it difficult to pay attention, to remember whether she should be Talking to Jack while monitored. She looked toward Dr. Harris, hoping he would repeat whatever instruction she’d missed, refusing to let go of her connection with Jack in the meantime.

She shouldn’t have let go of him in the first place.

After several minutes, Dr. Harris looked back at Jemma. “You’re showing the same patterns you did when telepathically communicating with Mr. Himmel. Were you able to make contact with somebody else in the building?” Somebody else in the building. They hadn’t even thought she might be able to get past the barrier entirely, to reach outside of the building altogether. They had no clue she was Talking to Jack. If they did, would they keep her from Talking to him further?

That would feel like being separated from Jack all over again.

They knew she was Talking to somebody, though, and Dr. Harris was waiting for an answer. She nodded; if they thought she was Talking to somebody in the building, they could still study her connection, but they were unlikely to try to stop it. Dr. Harris was quiet for a moment, studying his clipboard. He would have to either give her a way to communicate with him or continue narrowing it down to yes or no questions.

“Are you communicating with somebody you’ve communicated with before?” Dr. Harris typed. She nodded again, being as truthful and cooperative as she felt she could.

Tap tap tap
. They both looked toward Josh’s rapping on the window. He smirked as he pointed them back toward the monitor.

Jemma’s heart sank. Dr. Harris studied it for just a few seconds before turning back to Jemma. “You’re communicating with somebody outside of the building.”

If they were going to find out anyway, and it was something she’d let herself be recaptured for them to study, she may as well Talk to Jack while she was able. “They caught it. They haven’t stopped it, yet, or reversed whatever they gave me. Us. If they
can
reverse it.”

“They gave me the shot a couple hours ago. It feels like it might be fading.” She felt the connection intensify, as if he were pushing more of his attention into it. She did the same, and she could almost see him smile. “Are you okay?”

She hurt. She was frustrated. She’d solidly concluded that she’d made a horrible choice in letting the two of them be separated. Jack wouldn’t be able to change any of that, though, any more than she could. “I’m okay. What about you?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, too. This is definitely wearing off, though. It’s taking more effort to Talk. And if these are the types of headaches you’ve been dealing with, Jemma, I’m even more impressed you’ve been able to function.” He sent a caress, and she swallowed.

“They won’t go easy on you, knowing you can do this, too.”

“No,” he sent, “but this was part of coming back, right? Letting them study us and our telepathy?” Jemma felt the connection fade, then strengthen. “I don’t think I can hold it for much longer.”

“They might do this more than once.” Jemma wasn’t sure whether she was hopeful or apprehensive.

“They might,” Jack agreed. “I’m fading. I think I might pass out if I hold on any longer. Jemma—”

The connection cut out.

The pain spiked, and Jemma fought a silent moan and a wave of nausea. Dr. Harris looked at her, then at the monitor, and back again.

“We’ll continue this tomorrow, when you’ve not already undergone trauma.” He looked toward the observation window at Josh, who rolled his eyes again. After a moment, he looked back down at his clipboard. “You’ll return to your room for the remainder of the day.”

***

Jemma could still feel the effects of the drug as she lay on the cot in her cell. She stared up at her ceiling. She’d only been able to Talk with Jack while he was also under the effects of the drug, but what about the others, the ones who were still here? They were so much closer. Maybe she’d be able to Talk to them.

Ignoring the pain in her head was getting easier already. She’d badly sprained her wrist once, years ago, and even though the pain was severe, it hadn’t taken her long to figure out that she could almost ignore it if she focused hard enough on something else. It surged as she reached for Kendall—of anyone else in the facility, she’d Talked to Kendall the most—and she pushed back, focusing on Ken, on what she knew of her. She couldn’t quite feel a tangible connection, but she tried sending her name anyway.