Against Gravity

"Gerard," Buddy greeted him. Gerard Sabak was one of the owners of the launch facility, and a Ward Seventeen Labrat himself.

"We have a lot to talk about," Sabak began. He was a large, hearty man, the sides of his neck distended and scarred with rogue nanite growth. His accent sounded Austrian or German, via California.

"Mr Gallmon, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, turning now to Kendrick. "Buddy radioed ahead that you'd need medical attention. Are you able to-?"

"Even if your medical staff could do something about this, I really don't think there'd be time before… you know." Kendrick angled his gaze upward to the ceiling. "I think we need to talk about some other things first."

Sabak studied him uncertainly. "Are you… in pain? Or-?"

"I know this may sound ridiculous but it's really not as bad as it looks."

Buddy spoke up. "Gerry, this isn't the result of rogue bio-augmentation. It's a lot more like the kind of condition you pick up near the Maze – like the Los Muertos people I told you about."

Sabak sighed. "I guess I'll just have to take your word for it. Let's have something to eat in my office and discuss things there." He turned to Kendrick and studied him with a worried expression. "To be honest, Mr Gallmon, if we took you into one of the mess rooms I think we'd have a staff riot on our hands."

Sabak took a seat behind a mahogany desk in his office. Fresh food and coffee arrived moments later, and the aroma made Kendrick feel giddy. He wolfed down a steak and salad while listening to the other two and nodding at appropriate intervals. By the time he'd finished, fatigue was tugging at his senses again. He felt as though he could sleep for a thousand years.

Buddy had been telling Sabak about their trip to the Maze. "Look" – Sabak turned now to Kendrick – "what you undertook is… remarkable. But I don't understand why you did it. What did you expect to find down there in the Maze?"

Buddy glanced at him as if he was ready to speak in his stead. But Kendrick wanted to explain for himself.

"I've been looking for proof that will link Draeger, absolutely and incontrovertibly, to the Labrat experiments."

"And you found such proof? Down there?"

Kendrick rubbed at his face. "Not exactly. I… what I found down there tells me that the proof exists on the Archimedes. I don't really want to go into the details now, but I needed to go to the Maze in order to learn where to look for that information once I get up there."

Sabak shot Buddy a look that bordered on the incredulous. "What makes you think that any such information would even be up there?"

"Look, neither Max Draeger nor anyone else can access, not even remotely, any records of his activities, physical or otherwise, that still exist on the Archimedes, and I have information that suggests they do still exist. If I can find real evidence against him it would finally bring him down. Completely."

"So you're going to track down this stuff, then join us when we go with the Bright?"

"I'm not sure about that part, no."

Sabak's expression became stony. "I know about you. I remember all the work you did during the Trials. All the shit you dug up. I was impressed. There are one or two people think you're a hero for that. You were in Ward Seventeen, though, so haven't you been seeing the same things as the rest of us?"

"I did see something," Kendrick admitted. "But not necessarily the same thing that the rest of you apparently experienced. Not enough to convince me personally of what you and the rest of them believe."

"I guess not," Sabak replied after an uncomfortable pause. "Otherwise you'd know already."

He leant forward, his voice lowering as if inviting Kendrick into a conspiracy. "Are you aware that there are only just over a hundred of us left from Ward Seventeen?"

Kendrick went numb with shock. "A hundred?" He felt his skin flush. "I didn't realize-"

"There were considerably more who escaped the Maze, yes. But it's been a while since then. The ones who didn't survive – well, not many of them died through anything you'd call natural causes. Whether or not you feel we're right in this venture, just remember, Kendrick, there's nowhere else now for any of them to go-"

Caroline's eyes glittered, and for one terrible moment Kendrick thought that she might turn and look at him. Instead she stared, unseeing, at the ceiling of the containment unit. Her clothes had been replaced by a blue paper smock that reminded him with a chill of the clothes they had been forced to wear in the Maze. A woman stood at a respectful distance behind him, lips pursed in the centre of a round face. A tag on her jacket identified her as Doctor Maria Numark.

Something had distorted Caroline's skull. The bone around her right ear appeared to be puffed out, thick, rigid lines contorting the flesh there. Her lips were parted slightly, as if she had been about to speak before she died.

Nothing. Kendrick could feel nothing. It was as if his emotions had been sucked out of him, leaving only a shell of semi-organic augmentation that had mistaken itself for a human being.

"I'd like to see her, for real." He turned to Doctor Numark. "Let me in there."

Maria Numark shook her head and gestured at the elaborate precautions set up around where Caroline lay on the other side of the glass. Kendrick wondered if eyebrows had been raised among the non-Labrat crew when Sabak and his colleagues had installed a secure biological containment room. "I'm afraid that's impossible."

Kendrick licked his lips. "When?" he asked. "I mean, when did she…" He gestured towards Caroline.

"Just before you arrived on board. We did everything we could." He could see where some of the augments had broken through her flesh, vague shapes that pushed up her paper smock here and there. He looked away, sickened, then stepped back.

"We'll need to arrange for a funeral service," he mumbled.

The doctor glanced at a wall clock. "To be honest, I'm not sure there's time for that, Mr Gallmon. I'm sorry."

"She looked as though she was getting better the last time I saw her."

Doctor Numark nodded sympathetically. "According to the literature, that's often the case. Outward appearances, however, when it comes to this kind of thing, can be extremely deceptive." She stepped forward. "Perhaps… I could leave you alone out here for a few minutes, if you wish."

Kendrick pressed his forehead against the glass, feeling numbing waves of exhaustion wash over him. Did he imagine those faint flecks of light where her hands touched the metal pallet on which she lay? As if something metallic extended downwards, from her fingertips. Something threadlike.

He heard Maria Numark step up behind him, gently placing fingers on his arm. He began to turn and almost lost his balance. He reached out and caught himself on the edge of a table.

"You need some rest now," the doctor told him, her voice firm. "You'll do yourself an injury if you don't get some sleep."

"No-"

"Rest."

Kendrick dreamed.

He opened his eyes. He was back on the Archimedes.

A great silver cloud filled the air far above his head. Moments later it broke up into a rippling mist of winged shapes that spiralled down towards him.

The last thing he remembered was Buddy helping him to a spare cabin after being called to the surgery by Doctor Numark. Buddy had looked ashen-faced, having only just found out himself about Caroline's death. If Buddy had said anything of consequence to him, he didn't remember it.