Strangelets (26 page)

Top of the food chain, like us
, Anat thought.

“Some of my people studied your books to find out more about the animals. But most of them disappeared in the first
few years. The cynogs require a lot of food. By the time they realized we might be here permanently, it was too late to start farming them.”

“That was stupid.”

Yosh met her eyes in the rearview mirror. “It was. I agree.”

Anat’s eyes flicked toward the creature outside her window. It turned its head a fraction of an inch; yellow snake-eyes bored into her own. She repressed a shudder. “Where am I driving us, anyway?”

“Back to the facility.”

“The facility?” Anat said, surprised. “Why there?”

“You’ll see. No more questions.”

Sophie was exhausted. It
felt like she’d been running for hours, although it had probably only been thirty minutes or so. Every time she fell against a tree, trying to catch her breath, another thrinax appeared and she was forced to dash headlong through the woods again.

She’d lost sight of the others, although occasionally a high-pitched scream tore through the trees. It was hard to tell if it was a cry of terror, or one of
them
. Her feet throbbed, blisters rising where the ill-fitting shoes chafed her heels. She was hot and sweaty and thirsty. What little strength she’d regained over the past few days had entirely dissipated.

Declan
, she thought.
Please be okay
.

When Bruder had suddenly appeared, she’d frozen. Declan spurred her into motion, yelling in her ear, “You heard the man—run! I’ll draw them away.”

Then he raced past Bruder, sprinting
toward
those things.

And like a coward, she’d done exactly what he’d told her to do. She’d run the other way.

She couldn’t stop picturing him on the ground with a
group of those creatures hunched over him, tearing at his flesh with their long, nasty claws … She wiped away tears with the back of her hand and tried to get her bearings. The sun was still low over the trees, it was probably late morning.

Sophie had a terrible sense of direction to start with. She had no idea how far she was from the underground cave and doubted she’d be able to find it again.

Movement in the bushes behind her. Fighting panic, Sophie scrambled to a rotted fallen tree and crawled underneath, wedging herself in the gap between it and the ground. Rough bark scraped her cheek, and she could feel her T-shirt and jeans absorbing dampness from the mud below. She wasn’t completely concealed, but maybe they wouldn’t spot her.

Leaves crunched on the far side of the clearing. Sophie peeked out. Two thrinaxes had emerged from the woods. One was bent nearly double by the weight of something slung over its shoulder. Their heads turned from side to side, scanning the clearing. Sophie held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut, praying they wouldn’t see her. Seconds later, the sound of retreating footsteps. Sophie opened her eyes: they were moving past; she hadn’t been discovered. She’d remain hidden until they were definitely gone, then try to figure out where she was.

The thrinax in the lead shifted right, and she caught a glimpse of what it was carrying: Declan. His arms dangled lifelessly, and blood stained the back of his hands. He looked dead.

Sophie gasped involuntarily.

It wasn’t a loud noise, but the forest was so silent she might as well have screamed. The creatures stopped and turned back toward her. Their eyes flickered as they approached. One bent low and reached long talons under the log, latching on to her
leg. She kicked and clawed at the ground as it dragged her out, tearing up clumps of dirt as she fought to get free.

The thrinax was too strong. Sophie cried out as it gave her leg a sharp tug; she slid into the sunlight. As it bent low over her, a claw raked open a narrow seam along the length of her arm. The last thing Sophie saw before losing consciousness was a horrible mouth gaping open to reveal dangling tentacles and rows of teeth.

Declan blinked a few
times—the room seemed awfully bright. His tongue felt too big for his mouth, too, and he was terribly thirsty. Clearly he’d had too much to drink last night. His head throbbed. This was worse than a hangover; he must have gotten into a fight, as well …

“He’s waking up,” someone said. “Declan? How do you feel?”

“Like shite,” he said truthfully. Sophie and Anat swam into focus; they were bent over him, looking concerned. He groaned. The memory of where he was flooded back; and
when
it was.

“Are you hurt?” Sophie asked anxiously.

“I don’t know. Am I? I feel wrecked.” He tried to take a physical inventory, but everything felt sore.

“Minor cuts on your hands,” Sophie said. “Maybe a blow to your head. Do you remember what day it is?”

“Never figured that out, did we?”

“Nope.” Sophie sounded relieved. “But you remember that, so you’re probably fine.”

“I’m a long way from fine,” he grumbled. “Since apparently we’re still trapped in this bloody nightmare.” He managed to raise himself up on one elbow. “Where are we now?”

“Back at the Collider.” Anat stood over Sophie’s shoulder. She didn’t look pleased to see him, but then she never looked pleased about anything. He, on the other hand, had to admit that he was pretty feckin’ happy she was alive.

“Hallo, Anat. Did you have as much fun as we did out in the great unknown?”

She made a disparaging noise. “No fun. You?”

“Could’ve been better.” He eased up to sitting, wincing as the movement caused his head to throb with pain. “So we’re at the facility again? How the hell did we all get here?”

“They carried us,” Sophie said grimly. “Be glad you were unconscious for most of it.”

Now that she mentioned it, Declan remembered bouncing along as the ground below moved swiftly past, his nostrils full of the stench of matted fur. “Carried us? Why?”

“Yosh was born here.” Anat’s face was smeared with dirt and her hair was tangled, but other than that she appeared none the worse for wear. “She’s with them.”

“What do you mean, with them? Christ, I really must’ve hit my head,” he muttered. “Neither of you is making any sense at all.”

Sophie glanced at Anat, then said, “I guess that Yosh grew up here, after the cataclysm thing that Bruder described. She’s not really from Japan.”

“Not
our
Japan,” Anat added.

“Right, many worlds and all that.” Declan rubbed his forehead with one hand. What he’d give for an aspirin right about now. “So you’re saying she knew what was going on all along.”

“Right. And she can control those thrinax things. You were right, about her stopping them when she screamed. They’re kind of like pets, right?” Sophie looked to Anat for confirmation.

“Pets,” Anat spat. “Nasty killer pets that eat people.”

“Right,” Sophie said faintly. “Anyway, they dumped us in here.”

“Where’s Nico and his dad? Did they get away?” he asked, taking in the rest of the room. It was a small space, just a few meters wide, empty save for a table pushed up against the wall. Some sort of utility closet, maybe?

“No, they were captured, too,” Sophie admitted. “But, they separated us when we got here. Anat arrived about an hour ago.”

“Huh.” He ducked his head between his knees, mainly because if he didn’t, he’d either start vomiting or pass out. “So what happens to us now, then?”

“They’ll probably kill us,” Anat said matter-of-factly. “The cynogs will eat us.”

“Cynogs?”

“That’s what Yosh calls the thrinaxes,” Sophie explained.

“That’s just grand.” Declan rubbed his eyes. “Don’t suppose I could trouble one of you to knock me out again? This is all a bit much.”

“We’re getting out,” Anat said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Oh, yeah? And how will we be doing that?”

“You broke out of your room, right?” Sophie said. “Do you think you can get us out of here?”

Declan fought off a wave of wooziness.
Right. Time to get it together
. “No vents?”

“Not in this room. We already checked.”

Declan lifted his head and squinted at the door. The thought of standing up was overwhelming. But the two girls were staring expectantly at him. Sophie’s enormous green eyes were filled with anxiety and fear.

“Let’s have a look.” His first attempt to get to his feet failed miserably—he swayed and dropped immediately back to his knees.

“Let me help,” Sophie said, rushing forward.

“Suppose you do owe me a bit of carrying around, eh?” he said weakly.

She smiled as she helped him up. By leaning heavily on her shoulder, he managed to get to his feet. She walked him to the door. His legs felt funny, they kept trying to step across each other. “Must’ve taken a pretty solid knock,” he remarked as the room spun.

“You have a big lump on your head,” Anat announced. “Probably a concussion.”

“Lovely.”

He planted both hands against the door and leaned over, examining the bolt. It was almost identical to the one in the room he’d first woken up in, which was a stroke of luck.

“Can you pick it?” Sophie asked anxiously.

“Sure.” Declan fumbled in his pocket for his kit. His fingers felt clumsy too, and he hoped he hadn’t spoken too soon. The last lock had taken hours, and he’d been in top form then. He kind of doubted they had that much time on their hands. Still, he declared, “Won’t take a minute.” He dropped to one knee and took a deep breath. Digging through his kit, he removed the two picks he’d used last time. One was slightly bent, but hopefully that wouldn’t matter. He felt Sophie and Anat hovering at his shoulder.

“Bit tough with an audience,” he grumbled.

“Sorry,” Sophie said. “We’ll just wait over here.”

They stepped toward the back of the room and started talking in low murmurs. On the plus side, the two of them were finally getting along. He tuned them out, focusing solely on the lock.

Time slipped away as he concentrated. Even the throbbing in his head dissipated as he fell into the familiar zone. His field of vision narrowed to the bolt and the picks. He pressed his ear to the door, listening for the sound of tumblers shifting, jimmying the picks slightly in one direction, then another. After each failed attempt he started over, silently praying that the picks wouldn’t snap off in the lock. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the tumblers responded and he heard an audible
click
.

“You did it!” Sophie exclaimed, rushing forward to wrap her arms around him.

“Always knew God gave me this gift for a reason,” Declan said, swiping a hand across his forehead as he sank back on his heels. He felt shaky, exhausted. “Not exactly eager to see what’s there, though.”

“I wish they hadn’t taken Nico,” Sophie said. “He might know more about this place.”

“Well, they did,” Anat stated bluntly. “And we have no weapons. Be quiet and stay behind me.” She stepped past him and grabbed the door handle. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Declan muttered. He leaned on Sophie as they followed Anat out of the room, trying to muffle his footsteps.

They found themselves in what looked like an employee break room: a dusty vending machine against the far wall, assorted tables and chairs.

“No dinosaurs yet,” he said in a low voice. “That’s encouraging.”

Anat shushed him with a frown. They eased across the room to the opposite door. She pressed her ear against it, then pulled it open. Declan peered over her shoulder down a long, narrow hallway similar to the one they’d first used to leave the building. Bare concrete floors and walls were cast in an eerie red light by shoulder-height emergency bulbs. There were metal doors off either side of it, all unmarked. Anat moved forward stealthily, silent as a cat. He and Sophie tried to match her furtiveness, but in spite of their efforts footsteps echoed and reverberated.

Suddenly, he heard voices approaching.

“Someone’s coming!” Sophie hissed.

Anat jerked her head toward a door on the right. She opened it a crack and peeped around it, then flung it wide and darted inside. He and Sophie barely managed to follow before it closed behind them. Pitch blackness. Vertigo. He stumbled and nearly fell, but Sophie caught his arm, bracing him. Together they leaned against the wall, breathing hard.

The sound of people entering the hallway they’d just come from.

“If you don’t do it, we’ll kill your son.”

“Is that Yosh?” Sophie whispered in his ear.

It was hard to tell; the voice sounded familiar, but different. Not that Yosh had been much of a talker to begin with, so he couldn’t say either way. “Maybe.”

“Shh!” Anat hissed.

“If I activate the Collider, there’s a chance we all die. Besides, there’s no guarantee it will even start. The power demands alone are well beyond what’s available.”

That voice he
did
recognize—Bruder. So they wanted him
to start the machine again. Funny that they all seemed to have the same idea.

Yet even when faced with monsters, Bruder still refused to give in. Declan couldn’t help but be impressed. The bastard had a set of stones on him, he’d give him that. If their circumstances were reversed, Declan would be doing pretty much anything they asked.