The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past (32 page)

“
Absolutely not. See
these?” Binny peeked into Grater’s mind, she saw an image of the
rocks she’d thrown. “I’ve fallen for this girl’s tricks one too
many times.”

“
She’s just a kid, sir.”
Barrios interjected.

“
I don’t care who she is!
We are going to find her, and we are going to bring her to Dr.
Trace. Ignore that alarm!”

At least they won’t go after Penny and
Zach just yet, Binny thought to herself. Her own fate was another
matter entirely. If there was only a way for her to get over that
barricade before the guards could catch her.

§

“
We’ve really gotta hurry
now. You do the searching. You’re way faster than I am.” Penny was
almost yelling so Zach could hear her over the sound of the wailing
alarm.

Zach didn’t need any encouragement,
and started going through every drawer of every file cabinet,
frantically trying to match the symbols in his head with the
symbols on the hanging folders.

The worst part of it was that Zach
wasn’t entirely sure what he would find even if he did manage to
locate the records. Binny was convinced that the records would
reveal the true nature of the drug that Huitre had administered.
Armed with that documentation, they would threaten to expose Luce
Laboratories and walk out the front door. Zach wasn’t so sure, but
he kept searching anyway.

The symbol hung in his mind, burning
bright. Lots and lots of little squares arranged seemingly randomly
in a grid. Some black, some white. Zach could picture it clearly,
but he didn’t know what it meant. Luckily, he didn’t have to. All
he had to do was find a match. And then, suddenly, there it was, at
the very back of the tenth drawer he had scanned. The small symbol
on the top of the folder matched the one in his head. He grabbed
the folder out of the drawer, almost ripping it in the process.
Despite its generous size, it contained only one sheet of
paper.

Zach scanned the page. And then
scanned it again. Shaking his head he started saying “No, no, no.”
He reread the page one more time.

“
What? What’s wrong?”
Penny was genuinely frightened by Zach’s reaction to what he’d
read.

“
It’s not going to work. I
don’t think Binny’s plan is going to work. We have to go find her.
Right now!”

24

This was clearly the absolute worst
idea that had popped into Binny’s mind. But since it was the only
idea that had popped into her mind, it was also the best. The
approaching sounds of the guards’ footsteps sealed the deal. She
was out of time, so it was this or nothing.

In some ways this would be easier than
the Hippy Jump she’d yet to complete successfully on her skateboard
back at home. All she had to do was land on the floor past the
barricade without cracking her head open. But there were some new
wrinkles as well. She would be trying to keep her balance atop a
serving cart. Unlike her skateboard the cart was not exactly
steerable. And to top it off, the jump would be several feet higher
than anything she’d ever tried on the sidewalk.

It was too late to worry about that
now. Binny crawled out from under the table cloth and slowly
wheeled the cart down the ramp to a flat section about 30 feet from
the barricade. She did her best to remain undetected by staying
directly underneath the guards as she moved, and desperately
willing the wheels of the cart not to squeak.

Binny perched the cart right at the
edge of the flat area just before it started its downward slope.
She placed her hands on the cart’s sides and kicked off. Even Binny
was surprised when the cart started to slowly roll on a trajectory
towards the barricade as she’d envisioned. Binny lay flat on her
stomach on the cart as it continued to roll.

“
Sir, I think I found
her!” Binny looked up and to her left and saw four faces peering
over the edge of the railing above. It was too late to worry about
the guards. If Binny didn’t get on her feet, she’d crash headfirst
into the barricade. She barely heard Grater scream, “Get
her!!!”

The incline wasn’t terribly steep but
the cart picked up speed at a surprisingly rapid pace. Binny had
less time than she’d imagined. She pulled her feet under her,
gripping the sides of the cart, and managed to get herself into a
crouch.

Binny knew she would have to stand up
at some point soon if she had a prayer of making it over the wall
of benches and chairs. Suddenly this seemed a lot less like riding
her skateboard than she’d imagined in her head. Binny was barely
aware of the four men running towards her. She was however acutely
aware that she would either escape or they would scrape her broken
bloody body off of the floor. She wasn’t entirely sure
which.

Binny willed herself to let go of the
sides of the cart and slowly rose as the cart sped down the ramp.
Everything was moving so quickly, she leaned forward into the
descent, and was ready to jump. The wall was approaching so fast.
She had to time it just right. In a couple of seconds she would be
there.

At the very last moment before
contact, Binny bent her knees slightly and launched herself over
the wall. For a crazy magical fraction of a second Binny was
flying. But as quickly as it came the sensation receded and Binny
was falling. One thought flashed in her mind – it was going to be
an ugly landing.

While countless attempts at skateboard
tricks hadn’t quite taught her how to complete a successful Hippy
Jump, she had attained one skill and could do it flawlessly over
and over again. Binny knew how to fall.

Binny instinctively bent her knees and
stretched her torso backwards so she wouldn’t land flat on her
face. And then as if by some miracle, the soles of Binny’s sneakers
hit the floor first. The momentum of her fall carried her forward,
but she shot out her hands to avoid smacking the floor with her
face. She was stretched out on all fours, her right ankle felt
wobbly, and her palms were burning, but she had come to a complete
stop.

The cart had not made the trip over
the wall with her. It had smashed violently into the barricade. The
guards’ wall had survived the projectile, but Binny’s makeshift
skateboard had bounced backwards and made a very loud crashing
noise as it clattered across the marble floor.

Binny couldn’t help but laugh. Her
nervous system was flooded with adrenaline. It had given her the
courage to try the jump. And now that she had survived, that same
adrenaline was overwhelming her with nervous energy. She felt
positively giddy.

“
Get her. Get her” Binny
heard Grater yell.

“
The benches are in the
way, sir.” One of the guards complained.

“
I know that, you idiot.
Get them out of the way!” Grater was beside himself with
anger.

The guards’ frantic clawing at the
wall behind her was all the incentive Binny needed to collect
herself, get up off the ground, and run as fast as she could. As
she ran through the front doors and shot outside, the cool night
air helped Binny focus. She had to find Penny and Zach. She’d given
them as much time as she could. She hoped it was enough.

§

“
There she is! There she
is!” Penny was smacking Zach’s arm to get his attention.

Zach and Penny had made it as far as
the visitors’ entrance to the Epaphus building in their search for
Binny. The three ran to each other.

“
Are you ok? I heard the
alarm.” Binny was still trying to catch her breath.

“
We’re fine. Are you ok?”
Zach’s face was set resignedly.

“
I’m fine. What’s wrong?
What did you find?” Binny had a worried expression.

“
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
This is all there was.” Zach produced the single document that had
been in the file they had found and handed it to his
sister.

Binny started reading. “I don’t
understand. What does this mean? This makes no sense.”

“
I know.”

“
This was the only thing
in the file?” Binny was incredulous.

“
It looked like the folder
had contained more documents at one point. But all that was left
was this one sheet.” Zach explained.

“
Can someone please tell
me what is going on?” Penny demanded. “What does it
say?”

Binny pushed the sheet toward
Penny.

As Penny scanned the
document Binny explained: “It’s a participant list. It lists all
the patients that were part of the study. There’s only
one
name – Julie
Jordan.”

“
I’m so sorry, Binny.
There really were no other documents there. We still have no idea
what they were really doing with the trial.” Zach kept apologizing,
feeling like he’d failed to get Binny the evidence she needed that
Luce Laboratories was up to no good.

Penny suggested, “Isn’t this evidence
enough that they’re up to something? Let’s show THIS to your
parents.”

“
It’s proof that something
scary is going on. But we can’t show it to my parents. My mom
would…” Binny’s voice trailed off.”

“
Your mom would what?”
Penny wondered.

Zach watched intently.

Binny took a deep breath. “Before,
when we got out of the van, Mom’s eyes were puffy and I was worried
about her, and I looked.” Binny’s words were coming out hesitantly,
in bits and pieces. “Inside.” Binny looked embarrassed to admit
what she’d done.

“
Inside her mind?” Zach
offered quietly.

“
Yeah. I wasn’t sure what
it was at first, but she kept remembering when she’d gotten the
drug, and then fast forwarding to images she was imagining of the
two of us and Cassie in hospital beds looking very sick. I think,”
Binny paused. “I think she’s feeling incredibly guilty. That this
is all her fault. We can’t show her that she was the only one
targeted by Luce Laboratories. I think that would just push her
over the edge.”

Zach and Penny stood there, facing
Binny, deflated and not quite sure what to do next. The alarm from
the records room continued to wail in the background. The dark of
the summer night had descended around them completely.

Penny mused, to no one in particular.
“This seems impossible. How do you convince the people who work
here to let you go, without revealing your powers, and without
freaking out your parents?”

With a start, Binny turned to Zach,
“Zach, the dumbass detector!”

“
Uh, what?” Zach looked up
at his sister in confusion.

“
Remember?” Binny spoke
excitedly. “You told me at dinner. Remind me EXACTLY how you were
so sure it was working. What did you call it when you tested it on
people who weren’t dumbasses?”

“
A control group?” Zach
asked wondering what Binny was thinking?

Binny smiled triumphantly, “That’s
it!”

§

“
Do I have to deal with
everything myself?” Dr. Trace pushed through the door into the
Epaphus lobby waiting area. Before the Jordans and Dr. Huitre could
respond, Binny, Penny, and Zach ran through the front doors of the
building.

“
Mom! Dad!”

“
Kids!” Julie ran to her
children landing on her knees giving them hugs. “Where’s
Cassie?”

Dr. Trace had been hasty in her exit
of the exam room and had a stowaway. The door behind Dr. Trace
opened slightly and out popped Cassie’s cheeky face framed by her
dirty blonde bouncing curls. “I’m right here.” Cassie answered as
if she’d been waiting for her cue to walk on stage.

“
It’s you?!” Dr. Trace
sputtered at Binny, Zach, and Penny.

Dr. Trace’s question was interrupted
by the bustle of four security guards led by a lobster-red-faced
Gore Grater bursting into the waiting area from the nearby
stairwell.

“
You!” Grater pointed at
Binny. Zach and Penny stepped in front of her.

“
WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS
CRAZY PLACE?” Jay yelled at the top of his lungs.

Julie stood up, a puzzled expression
on her face, and walked towards Dr. Trace with her index finger out
“Have you had some previous contact with my children?”