Contagious

Where are they?”

Perry locked onto their jet-black eyes. Nothing.

And then he heard a voice. Not the triangles, something new.

Something cold.

I think you should leave the Jewell family alone.

A little girl’s voice. Clear, human, but in his head.

You’re scared, aren’t you? You should be scared.

“You’re scared, too,” Perry said. “I can feel it.”

Dew nudged Perry’s shoulder. “What are they saying, kid?”

Kill that man.

“Nothing,” Perry said. “They’re not saying anything.”

I can make you do it. I’m in charge. People have to do what I say.

An intense rage swept through Perry. Oh, G.o.d, there it was, that heated l.u.s.t to hurt. The hatchlings couldn’t stir that up in him anymore, but this girl could, and far more powerfully than he’d ever felt before.

Only this time he felt it for Dew Phillips.

Kill him.

Kill him.

“I gotta get out of here,” Perry said. “I can’t be in here.”

“Kid, come on,” Dew said. “Don’t chicken out now. We have to find the Jewells, or at least see if the triangle-whatever will negotiate or something.”

What’s the matter, scaredy-cat? Are you afraid?

Perry shook his head. “No. I got to go. Margaret, whatever you’re going to do, you need to do it quick. They’re going to hatch soon.”

“How do you know?” Margaret asked.

“They’re using complete sentences,” Perry said. “Pauses, like they’re talking with punctuation. They didn’t do that with me until near the end.

You’ve got a day, maybe half a day before they hatch.”

Kill him.

Margaret looked at Bernadette, then back to Perry. “You’re sure about that?”

“Perry, talk to them,” Dew said.

I feel your fear. I’m going to get you...

Perry put his hands to his ears, a subconscious effort to block out the voices. His gloved hands..h.i.t his helmeted head before he remembered he couldn’t actually hear the voices with his ears at all.

“Leave me alone!”

“Okay, kid,” Dew said. “Just take it easy.”

“Don’t worry, Perry,” Margaret said. “We’re going to operate on her right now. We’ll get rid of them.”

Perry had to turn his whole body so he could look at Margaret. She seemed so small, a tiny face swimming inside that big helmet, like a guppy in a fishbowl. Was she really that naive?

“You know what?” Perry said. “I never thanked you for saving my life.”

He turned and opened the airlock door. The light changed from green to red.

Margaret stared at the red/green light above the airlock door for a few seconds, irrationally worried it wouldn’t change from red back to green, that she wouldn’t be able to open the door again and that Bernadette might tear free from the trolley at any moment. When it finally turned back to green, Margaret realized she’d been holding her breath.

“Margo, you okay?” Clarence asked.

“Fine,” she said.

“Man,” Clarence said. “That guy is soooo messed up.”

“Yes, he is,” Margaret said. “It’s got to be hard to see triangles again. So disturbing to see them for anyone... I can’t imagine what’s it’s like for Perry. Despite that, aside from what he just had to endure, I think he’s making progress. It was nice of him to finally thank me for saving him.”

“That’s not what he said. He said he never thanked you. I don’t think he wanted to live.”

She started to correct Clarence but stopped herself. Maybe he was right. Perry Dawsey’s life wasn’t exactly a bed of roses.

“It doesn’t matter, because I did save him.” She jerked her thumb toward Bernadette. “And I’m going to save her, too. Now, please help me prep this woman for surgery. If Perry’s right, we don’t have much time.”

“We need to go back to the control room first,” Clarence said. “We need to talk to Murray.”

“Why the h.e.l.l do we need to talk to Murray? We need to get moving, hon. Every second counts.”

“Please, Margaret,” Clarence said. “This is already complicated enough.

We have to make sure the president is informed. Doctor Dan needs to suit up, anyway. He can prep the patient while we tell Murray what’s going on. Okay?”

She didn’t have time for this. But then again, keeping the wheels greased was part of the program. Gutierrez wanted to pretend he was in control? She could play that game, but only for so long.

“I’ll talk to him,” she said. “But you’ve got fifteen minutes, hon. Then I’m operating no matter what. We’re going to need all hands for this. We might have to work as two separate teams simultaneously, Dan and Marcus on the heart, Gitsh and I on the hip.”

“Sure,” Clarence said quietly. “I’ll get everyone ready. You get back to the control room, okay?”

Margaret nodded. She squeezed his gloved hand, then opened the airlock door and walked out.

“Perry, wait up.” Dew tried to run after him, but the biohazard suit combined with his aching hip and popping knees made that practically impossible.

Perry kept walking. Even though he had a limp of his own, his long strides quickly carried him into the darkness of the Jewell family’s expansive property.

Dew stopped and put his hand on his hips. He was too old for this c.r.a.p.

“Perry! Come on.”

Perry stopped and turned.

“Stay there for a second,” Dew said. “Better yet, come back here.”

Perry glared at Dew, then walked, big steps bringing him back just as fast as they’d taken him away.

“What was that all about?” Dew asked. “Those things are behind gla.s.s, and they haven’t even hatched yet. I know they’re freaky, but come on, you have to be stronger than that.”