Emmy Laybourne (2 page)

No, Cha had to be there, according to her.

James forced himself not to think of that photo pinned to Cha's workstation. Wife. Twin sons. Toddlers with round faces and bashful smiles.

Cha, dressed in his suit, looking more like an astronaut than a person, led the marines in.

The four test subjects entered. They wore white medical scrubs. Short-sleeved. As Massey had requested.

Their hands were handcuffed but it wasn't necessary for the demonstration.

Why were they cuffed? Why? Not because they were dangerous criminals who might escape at any moment - it was to trick the brass into thinking that the armed guard was there in case they tried to escape.

The armed guard, of course, was there to kill them in case the experiment spiraled out of control.

But Dr. Massey didn't want to scare the brass into thinking that MORS was unsafe to even test, because she wanted them to fund it.

James felt anger rising in his chest. This would be the last time he would play the scene in his mind, he promised himself. Tomorrow he'd call the hypnotist from the commercial. His wife could scoff all she wanted. She hadn't been there.

Against Cha in his suit and the guard in his suit, the marines looked very unprotected. Meek, even.

Well, not Gruin, the type O. He looked like Thor. A shaved-head Thor with SEMPER FI emblazoned on one arm.

Each subject wore their blood type in black paint stenciled on the chest of their medical scrubs. This was to aid the viewers in recognizing the effects of the compound.

The AB looked scared. The A looked scared. The B looked bemused.

B had short, reddish-brown hair. That color like an Irish setter. And freckles. Freckles on a full-grown man always made James feel sad, somehow. Like didn't that guy know his childhood was over?

Dr. Cha turned and gave a thumbs up to the safety attendant in the containment annex. The attendant sealed and locked the door.

As the test subjects were brought in, General Montez stood up. He said that he recognized one of the test subjects. It was Private Michael Ceglowski (type B blood).

"That's Ceglowski," said the general. "I know that soldier."

"General Montez?" asked Dr. Savic.

"He served under me in Iraq. He was a member of an escort and we were ambushed. We saw some action together. Is that him? That can't be him!"

"Yes, sir," I confirmed. "The subject is Private Ceglowski."

"This can't be right. He's serving a life term in the stockade? That can't be right."

Dr. Massey turned to James with a hard glint in her eyes and a nod, willing him to do something. James pulled up B's file on the tablet.

"He was involved with the Marshad incident, sir. Serving a life term with no parole."

"Ceglowski?!" Montez looked dazed. He turned to his aide. "Darington, did we know about this?"

"No, sir."

"I would have testified, for Christ's sake. That man is no criminal. I don't believe he was involved with Marshad. Not for one moment."

Ceglowski certainly didn't look like a spy. He looked like he should be running bases on a baseball field or planting corn or waving a firecracker or eating apple pie.

James recognized the strained smile on Massey's face. It meant she wanted to murder someone. But this was a glitch no one could have anticipated, James thought to himself. No one could have imagined that one of the generals would know one of the convicts.

"What can be done about this?" Colonel Davidson turned to Savic and Massey.

"If I may, General Montez," Dr. Massey said smoothly, "Private Ceglowski has type B blood. As you may remember from the presentation, of all the test subjects, he will suffer the least in this experiment."

That was true. For the moment, anyway.

"Is that right?" Montez asked, scanning the cheat sheet James had prepared. "Yes. I see. It's . . . fine. It just took me by surprise, to see someone who I know . . ."

"Of course," Colonel Davidson tutted.

Dr. Savic turned to Massey and nodded. "Dr. Massey, please proceed."

Montez sat down and looked through the glass, but his eyes were glazed over. James, Massey, all of them could see he was somewhere on a dusky back street, ducking sniper fire with Ceglowski at his side.

Ceglowski was very much living in the present, though.

He was standing at attention before a mirrored wall. He was under bright lights - every pore and follicle exposed - but the air was cool and crisp.

The subjects were asked to recline on the upright testing beds. Their handcuffs were removed by the guard. Dr. Cha then strapped them down. Each subject was bound with a strap across each foot and each hand, and a strap over the torso.

Then Dr. Massey addressed the test subjects over the intercom.

"Gentlemen, I want to thank you for your participation in this experiment today. Please rest assured that you will experience the effects of the compound for a very short amount of time. On behalf of the scientific community here at USAMRIID, I offer you my deepest thanks for your brave participation."

James had to hand it to her - Massey was brilliant. These weren't just empty theatrics - she was positioning herself as the spokesperson for the entire lab. Savic had better watch his back.

Dr. Cha then checked the function of his protective suit. The guard did the same. They each gave the thumbs up, indicating that their suits were airtight and functioning properly.

"Cut the air," Massey directed James.

I pressed the button on my tablet that controlled the air circulation within the sealed test chamber. (For the sake of clarity - this is a sealed air system for the test room only. The button I pressed stopped the air movement inside the test chamber - there was never the chance that the MORS could get out through the venting system to the rest of the lab.)

Cha gave another thumbs up, indicating that the air circulation within the room had ceased.

On a small lab table set directly in front of the viewing glass was the release mechanism. A small metal clamp and a robotic arm held the two ends of a minute glass ampule. Inside the ampule was .005 ml of the MORS compound.

At the back of the lab was a tablet set to display the time, down to the millisecond.

James had handled it, in the lab. Between his gloved fingers, he had held the ampule to a light. He had thought he could see it. A gray residue.

Point oh-oh-five milliliters of MORS looked like a tiny smudge.

It could contaminate everyone in the lab, if it was released into the air. If he, say, dropped it in the hallway, they'd all be suffering its effects within minutes.

Dr. Massey directed me to release the compound and I triggered the mechanism from my tablet.

They were listening over the intercom system. And with a tiny whirr, the robotic arm moved down and the glass ampule snapped.

The clock began running.

For a moment, nothing.

Then O's head snapped back as he inhaled. A slow, mean smile spread on his face while A, two beds over, started coughing.

Blisters sprang up on A's skin. He started to whimper as welts sprang up over his face and arms. It looked like he was developing heat rash, or hives, but in fast motion.

Four seconds and already A was in trouble. James glanced at Dr. Massey. She looked enthralled, her eyes flitting from one subject to another.

The brass was equally enthralled, but Dr. Savic was looking at the floor, rubbing his jaw.

O roared. His veins were throbbing in his neck. He thrust himself forward, straining against the bonds.

The effects took place instantaneously. The O test subject began to buck and try to free himself from his bonds. The A test subject began to blister up. Subjects B and AB, however, showed no signs.

And that was the problem.

Of course B would show no signs. But AB, well, Massey had hoped to see some outward demonstration of his inward distress.

AB should be feeling intense paranoia and be suffering hallucinations. Instead he seemed frozen in fear - not unlike how he had looked before the demonstration had begun.

Seven seconds now and O was rocking the bed back and forth, driven to a furious despair - bloodlust was coursing through him and he was unable to kill anyone.

A was blistering too quickly. He wasn't going to last thirty seconds. No way. The blisters were popping now, tiny dots of blood appearing all over his body and him screaming.

"Dr. Massey?" James asked. "Now?"

"Hey!" Ceglowski yelled. "That's enough! You're killing him!"

Savic's head shot up and he stepped towards the glass.

"Massey - " Savic warned.

"Wait for it," Massey said, holding her hand out. She was focused on AB. Waiting for him to break.

At approx. 9 seconds into the presentation, I asked Dr. Massey for permission to press the kill switch and end the demonstration by releasing the gel.

A was starting to writhe and beg.

O had snapped a leg restraint.

"Dr. Massey!" Dr. Savic repeated.

"Wait!" Massey said, raptly focused on AB.

AB finally screamed - a high-pitched scream utterly shot through with terror and hysteria and pure madness.

"Now!" she shouted and James pressed the button.

But the gel didn't trigger.

At approx. 11 seconds, Private Victor Gruin (the type O subject) burst free from his restraining bonds. I repeatedly pressed the trigger for the gel. The mechanism had failed.

"It's not working!" James shouted, pressing the button again and again. Savic grabbed the tablet from him and pressed the button himself.

A was slippery with blood now, thrashing wildly against his bonds.

"Get us out of here!" Ceglowski shouted.

Everyone in the audience chamber was standing, watching through the glass.

With a roar, O snapped the chest bond and kicked the testing bed back away from him.

Shots were fired by the guard approximately 13 seconds into the demonstration, in an attempt to kill Private Gruin. The shots were unsuccessful.

O was on the guard in two steps. With a cry of joy, O began to beat the guard to death with his own rifle.

"Somebody do something!" Montez shouted in the observation chamber.

"Cha!" Massey shouted over the intercom. "Can you trigger the gel from in the room?"

Cha was cowering in the corner.

O had finished with the guard and turned toward Cha.

Blood type A was hemorrhaging freely now, more pulp than man, but still screaming. A horrible, wet cry.

"Hey!" Ceglowski yelled from his bed, seeing O headed towards Cha. "Hey you son of a bitch! Gruin! Over here!"

Eighteen seconds.

Private Ceglowski called Private Gruin to him, trying to distract him from Dr. Cha.

But O had Cha in his arms and crushed his rib cage with his bare hands, throwing the young doctor down on the floor like an old doll.

In the viewing room, Montez shouted to his aide. "That's it! Give me your gun!"

"You can't shoot through the glass!" James warned. The bullet would bounce back - it would ricochet.

"I know that," Montez spat. He pushed through them all to the door. "I'll kill him myself."

"Wait!" Dr. Savic begged.

The clock read thirty-two seconds.

General Montez took the firearm from his aide and exited the viewing room. There was a guard in front of the entrance to the testing room, however I assume General Montez ordered him to stand aside. Montez must have also ordered the safety attendant to admit him through the isolation chamber and into the testing room. The door sealed and locked behind Montez, according to protocol.

Then Montez was in the test room, the gun extending naturally, like it was a part of his arm.

His first shot was not for O, but for A, who was bubbling now, his blood boiling like lava as it ran down the black testing bed.

His second shot caught O in the back. His third went through the neck, and by then O had turned and crossed the space between Ceglowski and Montez in one giant stride and had his hands around Montez's throat.

Four and five went into O's belly. Only then, with four bullet holes in him, did he die. He slid over to the side with a heavy, sludging sound.

For a moment, the only sound James heard was AB, who was reciting the Lord's Prayer under his breath at top speed.

"He shot them," Massey said, as if stating it for the record. "He shot them!"

Then Ceglowski said, "General Montez?!"

After shooting Private Sands (type A) and Private Gruin, General Montez began to show signs of exposure (approx. 45 seconds into demonstration).

Montez had sunk to the floor, covered with Gruin's blood.

"A general who shoots his own men, Ceglowski. Don't you see, this is all I am? In the end, I'm just a killer. This uniform - " He started scratching at his lapels. "These medals!" He started removing the medals.

"They are for killing. For killing. What was it for, what we went through? It was so I could kill more and more men. One by one. By the dozens, hundreds, thousands? What does it matter? I'm a killer. And so are they!"

He turned and pointed into the viewing room.

"Blood type AB," Dr. Massey said, fascinated. "Paranoid delusions. There they are."

"Killers, killers, killers. Murderers, all of us. Cannibals. Flesh eaters. And we did it to you, Ceglowski. A good boy like you and now we killed you."

General Montez brought the gun up.

"General, don't!" Ceglowski cried.

But Montez brought the gun up to his own face and placed the barrel in between his teeth and blew the back of his head off.

"Dear God," said Dr. Savic. Tears were coursing down his face.

Then, the godforsaken gel showered down.

One minute, thirty-two seconds.

Whatever jam, whatever glitch there had been had resolved itself and now the gel fell, trapping MORS to the floor where it lay quietly along with the bodies of General Montez, the guard, the O, and Dr. Cha.

The gel turned into foam and bubbled up over the type A, whose bloody corpse was still bound to the tilted test bed, and the AB, who was quietly and steadily muttering, raving, and maybe even laughing.