After [A Journey of the Twins Novel] (38 page)

Just as they disappeared from view, the floating sentry ball appeared through a door to the right. Drizzle stepped out from behind another set of boxes and moved toward the door to the left, away from the men. The ball turned its camera on the cat and the whirring sound became faster. Before the robotic arm could be extended, Drizzle had the door open and was gone. The floating sentry flew after him. Both disappeared from sight when the door slid shut.

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

"That cat has survived both Shyanne's tortures and mine; he can make it through anything."

Joseph smiled at the thought. He turned his attention to the three doors in the room. “Which door was it Shyanne was supposed to be behind?” The smile left at the mention of the woman's name.

"This one over here,” Drayco said. He moved toward the door to their right.

The pair positioned themselves on either side and listened. Drayco had Joseph's boot knife in his hand and looked at the indent on the wall. He glanced at the fair-haired man and nodded his head as he put the tip in and pressed. The door slid neatly into the wall, exposing the room beyond. Joseph again stood with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

Equipment filled every wall except where the doors were. Other pieces stood scattered about the room, their lights blinking like those on a Christmas tree. Two TV monitors hung near a hospital bed, their screens blank. The bed underneath was empty. Another one a few paces away had someone on it. The monitors above showed the occupants heart rate, breathing pattern, oxygen levels, blood pressure and various other things Drayco did not recognize. Joseph saw the woman lying on the bed and ran to her side.

"Shyanne, can you hear me?” Joseph's hands hovered above her body, afraid to touch her because of her condition. After much hesitation, he decided a safe place to grab was her hand.

Her eyes were taped shut and a tube disappeared into her mouth and down her throat. Her chest rose and fell in a smooth pattern with each hiss of the machine. Needles were inserted into her arms and bags of fluid, some yellow, some clear, dripped through thin tubing to provide her with nutrition and hydration.

Drayco made his way across the room and handed Joseph his knife. Looking at the monitors, then at his sister, he remembered how his father had looked when the paramedics took him away; squeezing a bag attached to the tube in his mouth, and knew the hissing apparatus next to her was helping Shyanne breathe. He reached out, grabbed his sister's restrained arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. Shyanne gave no indication she knew he was there.

Joseph reached over to pull the tube out of the unconscious woman's throat. Drayco caught his arm. He looked up, his eyes filled with agony at having to see his beloved like this.

"We need to help her. I can't bear to see her like this.” Joseph's voice broke.

"If we pull that tube out now, we could kill her. It's helping her to breathe."

"Correct."

The two men spun around and saw a black robed figure standing a short distance away, one covered arm raised in their direction. Before either could react, a crackling noise sounded and a bolt of light shot out. It hit Joseph in the chest. He flew backwards, smashed into the machines behind him, and crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Drayco threw himself sideways. He rolled behind a piece of equipment and crouched there waiting.

What did he use to knock Joseph out with?

His thoughts raced. Whatever it was, it sounded electrical. How was it powered? If it was a battery pack, how long would it last before it ran out?

"You are an interesting young man. I've been watching you. Your knowledge of technology is impressive.” The voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but it carried across the room as if it was a shout.

Drayco glanced quickly around the equipment. The robed figure had not moved, and the arm remained upraised. A faint humming sound emitted from within the fabric. He glanced at Joseph and was glad to see the man's chest rise and fall. He was still alive. A trickle of blood ran down the side of his face. Otherwise, he appeared unharmed.

The dark man darted another look around the machinery and was surprised to watch the strange robed person almost seem to float across the room in his direction. In a crouched position, he ran behind the freestanding equipment to the unoccupied bed. Using his right arm as a support, he threw himself to the other side just as the crackling noise sounded.

He was in mid-swing when he felt the hair on his right arm rise. Even though the shot missed, the arm became numb when the bolt of light grazed past it. It buckled out from under him, causing him to hit the floor at an awkward angle. He lay there, trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him by the fall.

"You are a mystery that I'd love to solve, but I don't have the time right now. I have to return to my work, and you're preventing that from happening."

Drayco took several deep breaths before speaking. “What does that have to do with the woman?"

"Ahh ... so you can speak when spoken to, you do have manners after all."

The dark twin struggled to a sitting position behind the bed, its solid base hiding him from view. He held his useless arm against his body. “You didn't answer the question."

"I need her to fulfill my research. That's all you need to know. What I'm curious about is why she is so important to you?"

"She's his sister."

The answer came from across the room. Ruben entered through the door from the generator room. He walked over to stand next to the Boss.

"So ... that explains much ... the fast healing wounds ... the reversal of aging. It appears the mystery about you has been solved. Now I can kill you without losing any sleep over it, especially since I have your sister."

Drayco looked around, but could not see a way out. He had inadvertently trapped himself in a part of the room without an exit. Joseph's sword was still in its sheath strapped to his back. If he could somehow get to it, he could use it to break free. His sword arm was not working, but he could use the left. He was glad now for all the years of practice he had had to endure.

Somehow I have to get to Joseph, grab his sword, avoid Ruben and the Boss's weapons, draw them away from both Shyanne and Joseph
and
do it with a bum arm ... this ought to be fun.

He would have to leave his companions for his plan to work. Much as he hated doing so, it had to be done if they were going to make it out of there.

A noise brought him back to the scene at hand. Drayco glanced over the bed and saw Ruben making his way around the equipment toward him from the left, sword in hand. He saw the Boss coming toward him from the right. An idea developed as he watched the others move. He ducked down and tucked his useless right arm inside his shirt to keep it from flopping all over. He did not need it in the way.

He waited only a breath before jumping over the bed between the two oncoming people. The Boss turned his upraised arm toward the fleeing man and the crackling intensified. A light shot out just as Ruben faced toward Drayco on the opposite side. The dark man dropped to the floor and the light went past him, hitting the big man square in the chest. The look of shock on Ruben's face as he went down would have been priceless if Drayco had not been so busy trying to recover from the close proximity of the beam. His vision was fuzzy and his head hurt.

He looked toward the Boss and saw the other arm reach up to adjust whatever it was in his hand. He was unable to make out what the object was due to the fuzziness, but he heard something click. The Boss began to raise the unknown weapon again.

"You have delayed me far too long, and I've grown tired of this. I must finish my work before it's too late. This weapon is now set to kill. I promise you, it will be quick and painless.” The Boss straightened the robed arm.

Drayco heard the crackling grow louder, more intense. Just as he thought he was dead, the door behind him slid open. A blur of tawny fur shot into the room. Both people had been so focused on each other that they had failed to notice the whirring sound as it neared.

The floating sentry shot into the room on the heels of the big cat, its robotic arm extended, the deadly light firing from its tip. Drizzle ran past Drayco and toward the robed figure. At the last possible second, the cat veered away to avoid running into him. The Boss was so startled by the animal's actions that his shot went wide and hit the floating ball, which in turn, caused its shot to go wild and slice him across the mid-section.

The floating ball fell to the floor with a thud, its power drained and the camera lifeless, the laser silenced forever.

The Boss dropped to his knees, holding his abdomen with both arms. A large pool of blood spread out around the robes. Drayco struggled to his feet. He staggered toward the wounded enemy. As he neared, the Boss's head went up and the hood turned in his direction. He tried to raise an arm, to point the weapon in his grasp at Drayco, but was unable. He was losing blood fast, and his strength was going with it.

"Why? Why did you do this?” Drayco asked.

"I wanted the secrets the girl carried in her genes, the secret to long life. I could have been young and beautiful again. I could have lived forever.” A blood filled cough escaped from the darkness of the hood, splattering red moisture across the front of the robe. “I didn't have much time. The machines used to keep me alive were failing. Now I will never find what I was looking for."

The hood fell back to reveal an ancient woman. Wrinkles riddled with tiny blue veins covered her pale, bony face. Her hair was thin and wispy and the color was as white as a snow-covered mountaintop. Drayco could not tell for sure how old she was, but knew from her appearance and the way that she spoke, it was a considerable number. She leaned her head forward, hiding her face in her bloody, gloved hands. Drayco could hear crying. He almost felt sorry for this retched, old woman. Then he remembered all the people who had died because of her.

"What did you do to my sister?"

The Boss remained silent, her head down. Drayco almost thought she had died until a ragged gasp escaped from the thin, pale lips. She lowered her hands to her lap and said, “She has been drugged. Stop the fluids running into her and you will stop the medicine."

"How long will it take to wear off?"

"I only wanted to live forever ... is that so bad? Now look at what's happened. Why ... why did this have to happen? I didn't do anything wrong.” The old woman ranted to herself, the dark man standing next to her forgotten.

Drayco knelt down in front of the Boss and grabbed her shoulder with his good hand. He shook the old woman lightly to try to rouse her from her rambling.

"How long? How long will it take?"

"I only wanted to live forever...” The old woman looked up at Drayco, but did not see him. She was in a place far away. As the dark twin watched, her eyes glazed over and her head fell back. She was dead.

"How do I help my sister? How do I get the tube out of her throat? How?” Drayco yelled as he shook the body harder and harder even though he knew it would not help.

He threw the Boss aside and stumbled over to Shyanne. Grabbing her hand, he bowed his head and took several deep, raspy breaths to prevent himself from losing control. He looked up at her sleeping face. Tears ran down his cheeks for the first time since they had been kids.

She's so beautiful. I have to find a way to help her. I have to.

After getting his emotions under control and wiping the tears off his face, he went to check on Joseph. He remained unconscious. The head wound had stopped bleeding. Since he was not in any distress, Drayco went to check on Ruben. He glared at the big man and thought about ridding the world of the slimy being, but the idea of drinking anything from this man made his stomach curl with disgust.

Drizzle had watched the entire scene between the dark twin and the Boss while it unfolded. When Drayco shook the dead woman, then tossed her aside to make his way to Shyanne, he had followed.

Drayco reached up with his good hand and rolled the clamps for the IV tubes shut. With Drizzle's help, he disconnected them from his sister's arms. He looked at the machine beside her, but had no idea how to take the breathing tube out. The Boss had given him no information or clues. He knew that if he pulled it out without taking the proper precautions, he could do more damage than good. He had never felt so helpless.

His vision was still blurry. It was getting better, though, and his head hurt less. He looked up at the monitors. The green line against the dark background flowed steady across the screen, showing Shyanne's heartbeat. In frustration, he glanced around the room and saw a desktop computer tucked in a corner, almost hidden by some equipment.

"Maybe that will have the information I need. Drizzle, stay with Shyanne.” The cat nodded his head.

Drayco moved to the corner, pulled the chair out, and sat down. The computer was on. Unfortunately, the mouse was meant for a right-handed person. At present, his right hand was useless. It tingled, but he still had no control over it. He moved the mouse to the other side of the keyboard and operated it as best he could with his left hand.

Watching the monitor come to life, he muttered to himself, “This brings back memories."

He saw several icons on the left side of screen. He recognized the medical one and double clicked on it. The screen changed to reveal information about medicine and medical equipment. He scanned through it and found all the information he could on the extubation of people from a ventilator. He read everything thoroughly to make sure he would do the job right. He was about to return to Shyanne when he saw a symbol he recognized. It was the one put on trucks a long time ago when they hauled hazardous material.

He was curious as to what it contained so he clicked on it. The file opened without a password, allowing him to read the entire contents. He felt his body grow cold the further he read. When he was finished, he paused. Now he understood what had happened and how the virus had escaped. He also thought he understood what the Boss was after and how she had survived all these years.