Hybrid Zone Recognition (11 page)

I raised my eyebrow at her, “Shouldn’t you know?”

“Humor me,” she said sarcastically.

“I was thinking this must be a really bad situation. Ya’ll seem to be actually working at getting me to stay.”

“It has the potential to be world changing. Bad? I don’t know. Probably for some if not most. Maybe for everyone. It’s not a predictable scenario. Let’s go meet Dr. Hollins and see if you can make it all go away.”

I was not encouraged by her uncertain answer, but we walked through the door anyway.

Ah, science décor. It looked like a nod to contemporary design. It wasn’t. At least, I didn’t think so, and really, I didn’t care. Just so long as it could be cleaned easily, I was good.

Most labs looked pretty much the same, lots of stainless and glass. This one was no different, except for the currently unoccupied really large line of cells I’d just passed.

“Are those for humans?” I asked, shocked at the possibility.

She nodded. “Willing and ready. Don’t worry, you get used to it.”

I didn’t know if I wanted to. Human experimentation was taboo. Up till now, I’d only been analyzing the results of such experimentation. I wondered if that would change and how I’d feel about it. Swell. One more thing to possibly feel guilty about.

I wasn’t the only one feeling guilty. That was the tenth time she’d adjusted her jacket since we’d entered through those stainless doors.

“Something on your mind?” I asked her.

She stopped walking and let her hands fall to her sides. “I feel I should warn you about Dr. Hollins.”

Uh oh. Whenever someone warned you about someone else, it was never good.

“He’s a little brusque.”

“You mean rude,” I interpreted.

She focused her eyes intently on me. “He’s very engaged at the moment, as he should be, and he’s easily upset.”

“A pain in the butt who’s easily irritated, got it,” I translated.

Once again, I was met with her steely stare. “Not a diplomatic bone in your body, is there?” she stated dryly.

I raised my eyebrows innocently. Facts were facts, and these were hers, not mine.

She pulled a card out of her pocket and held it out to me. “If you run into trouble, just contact me.”

I took the card from her and looked it over. It had only her first name and a number, short and sweet.

“Come on,” she sighed.

She was too easy to upset right now. I wished I knew the source of her true concern, but obviously, if she trusted me to know, she would have already told me. We weren’t even on a first name basis much less friends. I could work on that.

“Do you have a preference for what I call you? Olivia, Needham, Agent Needham?”

She looked at me ruefully. “I might regret this, but did I have a nick name before?”

I didn’t hesitate with my answer. “Originally Non Flight Attendant Lady soon replaced by Food Lady.”

“Figures,” she mumbled. “You can call me Olivia or Agent Needham, if you prefer. Whatever you feel comfortable with.”

I nodded. “Olivia it is, and please, call me Macy.”

After rounding yet another corner, we stopped in front of another set of double doors, only they were wooden this time. The name plate said Dr. Heathrow Hollins. Catchy.

Her knock on Dr. Hollins door was immediately followed by, “Come in.”

Once again, I noticed that she didn’t open the door until given permission to. Awfully polite she was.

“Dr. Hollins, this is Dr. Greer,” Olivia said, introducing me. “We’ve had a bit of a schedule change, but I’m sure you’ll have no problem accommodating Dr. Greer.”

Well, well. She’d whipped out her steel again. Wrapped in a seemingly innocent statement, she managed to hide both a command and a threat. Man, she was good.

I lacked the finesse or subtlety to pull off such a thing. By the look on his face as he regarded her, he’d picked up on it too and didn’t care for it.

He made no move to greet either of us and, rather stupidly I thought, sat there looking me over. I didn’t think he seemed appropriately impressed with my superheroness.

He was cute in a boyish kind of way. His hair was unkempt, and he had stubble that looked to be a few days old. In general, he looked tired. Great, now I was starting to feel sorry for him. Until he stood up with a sneer on his face and extended his hand.

“Greer,” he said through clenched teeth.

I was surprised any sound could escape. I couldn’t resist. I took his hand and mimicking him, I gritted out, “Hollins.”

It was harder than I thought to say that without moving my jaws, and it certainly wasn’t what I was saying in my head. But I refrained from using foul language whenever possible.

His eyes narrowed at my obvious mockery, and his hand tightened around mine.

I smiled at his display, and he let go of my hand. I wiped it on my pants while I continued to stare at him. I intensely disliked this man.

Olivia cleared her throat, signaling her disapproval and putting an end to our show. She needed to get some throat lozenges.

“Well, I’ll just leave you to it then,” she said, not trying to hide the hastiness of her retreat.

Before the door had fully closed, Hollins had retaken his seat and was viewing something on his computer. I took the seat in front of his desk, which he did not offer or acknowledge. He seriously wasn’t going to sit here and try to ignore me? I’d had enough of that with the Clones.

I was about to enlighten him regarding his rudeness when his phone rang. He took the call, looking me straight in the eyes the whole time. If he was going for intimidation, he failed. I returned his glare but added a smile just to annoy him.

I wasn’t normally so antagonistic. I didn’t know if all the waiting had finally gotten to me or if it was him, but I felt like fighting. Being confronted with his attitude only increased that feeling.

Whoever he was talking to was loud, and the sour look on his face indicated he didn’t like what he was hearing. He said a lot of “Yes, Sirs” and “No, Sirs”, and then he puffed up like he was going to say more and just held it. One “Understood, Sir” later, and he hung up the phone and glared at it as if it had betrayed him.

He lifted his eyes to mine. “I understand you have an all access pass.”

I flashed him a grin. “That’s what they tell me.”

He yanked open a drawer and pulled out a flash drive. “Follow me,” he barked as he stood and left the office.

He walked really fast, and I quickened my pace to match his. He stopped at the end of the hallway and opened a door that led to another nondescript office.

“This will be your office,” he said, waving me in.

I stepped inside, but turned to face him when he remained in the doorway.

Indicating the flash drive, he said, “This has everything that we know about the current situation.” He held it out to me. “I have a meeting to get to. I should be back in an hour or so. We’ll talk then.” With no further explanation, he executed quite a nice pivot and left, slamming the door behind him.

I stared at the door still rattling from the collision with the frame. My phrasing of Hollins’ personality was way more accurate than Olivia’s.

Cataloging the room didn’t take long. There was a desk with a computer and a phone. The usual shelves and file cabinets were present, and a coat rack with a lone lab coat stood in the corner.

My thoughts turned to the phone. I wondered if this one would let me dial out. I sat down at the desk and picked up the phone. Crossing my fingers, I dialed Miranda’s cell.

As was her custom, she picked up on the third ring. “Macy Greer, about time you called!” she exclaimed. “Where are you?”

She was way too chipper for this early in the morning. Something was up. “Where’s the sour Miranda I know and love?” I falsely demanded. “And how did you know it was me?”

“Who else would call me this early in the morning?” she accused.

Right. She was referring to my propensity to not respect the dourness of the rising sun which, as she frequently informed me, led to her propensity for despising mornings in general.

“Only madmen,” I suggested. “Where and how are you?”

“Home and I’m fine. Just twiddling my thumbs till you get back.”

I heard what sounded like a muffled man’s voice in the background. Surely not. “Twiddling your thumbs, huh? So you weren’t just putting your hand over your company’s mouth in an effort to prevent me from hearing him?” I was met with silence. “Miranda?”

“You are too dang smart for your own good, you know that?” she scolded.

“And noisy too. I’m the complete package. So, do I get the whole story?”

“Only cliff notes for you.”

I chuckled. She was fine. “Let me guess,” I offered, “the couch has a starring role in this episode.”

“Naturally. I couldn’t let him sleep on my couch. You know how uncomfortable it is.”

Unfortunately, I did. It was one of those modern numbers that wasn’t even comfy for watching television. I think the afore mentioned situation was exactly why she kept the awful thing.

“The horrendousness of your couch is complete justification for your actions,” I mockingly agreed.

“Exactly. It was the only hospitable thing I could have done, seeing as he drove me all the way home.”

I wasn’t sure hospitality ought to be the first thing on your mind when dealing with a kidnapper, no matter how southern you were. Considering she wasn’t from the South at all, hospitality was a weak argument at best.

“You do know you’re not from the South?” I asked.

“Be that as it may,” she reasoned, “there was no call to be rude.”

“Sure, it’s not like you were kidnapped.”

“You were kidnapped,” she corrected, “I was chauffeured.”

I grumbled my disagreement. That was quite a distinction she was making.

“So, how are you? Where are you?” she asked more earnestly.

I glanced around the office. For the umpteenth time since this whole thing started, I had no clue where I was.

“I don’t know where I am. Apparently, I’ve been hijacked to head off a still unknown dire situation. The lead scientist, a Dr. Heathrow Hollins, seems like a real piece of work. He just handed me a flash drive, claiming it had everything I needed and left me in this office. I don’t even know what’s going on yet or why they want me.”

Which brought to mind something Director Garrison had said about proximity to their hybrids. “Miranda, just how hospitable were you with your…
chauffeur
?”

“I know he looks good in blue satin.”

What? When I didn’t respond, she explained.

“My new sheets are blue satin.”

Against my better judgment, I asked for clarification. “As in blue satin and only blue satin?”

“And coffee colored skin.”

Alrighty then. As hospitable as you could be and too much info.

“Why?” she asked.

“Maybe nothing, I hope.” I let the telephone cord I’d been coiling around my finger bounce back. “Is your companion still in the room?”

“In the shower. Again, why?” she asked more firmly.

“Without him knowing, can you look for anything you can find on a Director Garrison and a quasi-government agency responsible for hybrid development?”

“You mean other than HCF?”

“I’m not sure. Could be an extension of or not related at all.”

“Ok, will do. How do I get in touch with you?”

“I don’t know.” I checked the phone and desk for a number, but couldn’t find anything. “I’ll just contact you when I can.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

I could hear the worry creeping back into her voice. “I’m fine for the time being,” I assured her. “I need to get started on my reading, so I’ll call you soon.”

“Okay. Go get’em or save’em. You know what I mean. Talk to you soon.”

“Miranda, be careful.”

“Back at ya.”

I placed the phone back in its receiver. Hearing Miranda’s voice and knowing she was okay, soothed away a little of the anxiety I’d been feeling. I hoped finding out what was going on would take away the rest.

I started up the computer and plugged in the flash drive, only to discover that the computer was password protected. I stared at the screen in disbelief. I bet that prick Hollins knew this would happen.

Growing angrier by the second, I determined that I was not going to sit here and do nothing until he came back. I removed the flash drive and put it in my pocket. Grabbing the lab coat, I slipped it on and headed for the door.

Right before my hand reached the door knob, I had a brief moment of panic when I considered that the door could be locked. I did not relish the idea of escaping through an air vent. To my relief, it wasn’t locked, and I swung the door open wide.

Peering out, I didn’t see or hear anyone in the hallway. I stepped out and pulled the door shut behind me. With my hands in the pockets of the borrowed lab coat, I headed out in search of a computer I could actually use, possibly to never be seen again. Crazy Macy had a certain ring to it, didn’t it?

I thought I might be stopped once I left the office, but I just walked down the halls like I belonged there and no one bothered me.

My search led me past several highly occupied computer labs, but not seeking to draw attention to myself, I kept looking. I didn’t even bother to try and remember the way back to the office. If I was as important to them as they were saying, they’d find me soon enough.

I finally found a suitable lab that had only two other occupants. It was quite large and would allow me to use the end opposite the two already there. Quietly, I entered and seated myself at a bench in the back of the room. The two scientists, who were furiously working on their own projects, never even lifted their heads at my arrival. Nor did they notice my two moves down the bench before I found a computer that didn’t require a password.

As I waited for the file to load, I thought about Hollins again. He had disliked me from the first moment we met. Was he upset because they brought someone else in or because I was a female? Or was it just me in particular?

He had to know I wouldn’t be able to get on the computer and therefore not be able to read the file. Other than preventing me from gaining access to the situation, what would that accomplish? Was he intentionally trying to keep me off the case, and if so, why?

The file directory appeared on my screen, and simply the titles of the files sent chills through me. The first few read, Physical Aspects of Hybridization Achieved through Nanobot Infusion and Temporal Effects of Nanobot Morphism.

Nanobots and Temporal Effects? Ooh, this was going to be good, like juicy ribeye steak good. I pushed the sleeves of the lab coat up and eagerly began to read.