Until Time Stands Still (19 page)

She spent most of her days reading books and magazines and talking to the baby. Her belly was growing bigger and bigger by the day, and she got excited every time she felt the baby move, which seemed to happen constantly. She would sing to the baby some of the lullaby’s she remembered, and told the baby about Mykel. She would read to the baby out loud, the same way she had done with Mykel. Or sing along with some of the music she was allowed to have.

She requested several baby and parenting books. At first they refused to give them to her. When she pointed out that most parents in her time read books to prepare for the birth and learn about childcare, they finally relented, but the initial refusal was odd. Why wouldn’t they want her reading books on how to take care of her child? Wouldn’t they want her to take good care of the baby they were so concerned about? The nurse got mad at her for pointing this out too. It was then that she realized there was so much more going on. Call it women’s intuition or mother’s instinct, but she got the distinct impression that the nurse didn’t care about her at all. All she cared about was the health of the baby. Not her. Isabelle knew that once the baby was born, she was expendable.

She did not want that nurse anywhere near her and refused to speak to her after that day. She totally ignored the woman and would not submit to her daily monitoring. She just glared at her. One time, she even hit the woman when she grabbed her arm too hard and tried to force her to sit down for the blood pressure test. Beyond irritated, Isabelle hit her, and busted the woman’s nose. She screamed and began kicking her, until the guards came in and removed the nurse. She cursed viciously at all of them, and for two days they left her alone. Someone brought her meals but did not enter the room. They were simply slid through the small hatch on the locked door. The next time a nurse entered the room, it wasn’t the mean one, but another woman. She smiled and behaved much more kindly to her. Not that it eased her mind any.

            Today she was anxious because the doctor was going to examine her again and this time, do an ultrasound to find out the sex of her baby. She wanted to know. She was hoping for a boy because she had seen first-hand how women were treated in the future, and she didn’t want that for her child if she was a girl. The thought made her blood run cold. She paced the floor, absentmindedly rubbing her stomach to sooth the baby, who kicked viciously while she paced. It was as if her baby was just as anxious.

            “It’s okay little one.” She whispered. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. Daddy won’t either.” She promised. She sat in the chair in the corner and rocked, rubbing her growing stomach, waiting for the doctor to come.

            When the doctor came in, he was scribbling something on a clipboard as he came through the door. Isabelle watched him as he slid his keycard through a scanner against the wall and the glass panel slid sideways.

            “How are you feeling today Isabelle?” He asked kindly.

            “Fine, Doctor Fitzer.”

            “Good. Good.” He said smiling. “Shall we go take some pictures of the baby?” He helped her to stand up, which she found mildly irritating. She wasn’t that pregnant yet. She could still stand up and walk just fine, but she let him lead her out of her glass cage and down the hallway. There were no other doors, and no color on the walls. It was all grey cement, like an underground bunker. At least now she knew why there were no windows.

            “Where am I anyway?” She asked the doctor.

            “Why, you’re still on the base, Ma’am. Just a separate space.” He led her to a small room that was set up like an exam space. He led her to the raised exam table and helped her to lay down.

            He asked her some basic questions and felt around her belly, pushing this way and that. He measured her stomach and listened to the baby’s heartbeat and hers.

            “Ok, all that looks good.” He said. “You’re blood pressure is perfect. Let’s get a look at that baby now, shall we?”

            He helped her to lay back and raised her shirt. He flipped a switch on the ultrasound machine and squirted the cold gel on her tummy. He began to move the wand over her raised bump. It kind of tickled.

            “There we go.” He said, he pointed to the screen. “There’s the baby’s spine, and head.” He clicked a button on the machine and the image froze. He moved the wand again. “Wow…Would you like to know the sex?” He asked.

            “Yes please.” She said, looking up at the monitor.

            “Well, it looks as if you are having twins, Miss Carter. A boy for sure.” He said. He moved the wand a bit to the left, and found the second baby. “Here’s your son. He’s giving us a pretty good full frontal view at the moment. The first baby is laying with his or her back to us, so we can’t see the genital region. If your twins are identical, it’s another boy, but if they aren’t identical, then it could be a girl.”

            “Oh.” She gasped. Her heart lurched as she watched the screen. Her babies were in there, and they were in danger. “I wish Mykel could see this.” She whispered. “He would be so happy to know he’s having a son. And twins. He should know. Can you tell him?” She asked, as tears began to fall.

            “Of course I can Ma’am.” He said, “And we can try another ultrasound in a few weeks to see if we can get a good view of the sex of your other baby.” He said excitedly. She stared at the doctor suspiciously, but chose not to speak. She focused instead on her babies and asked him for pictures.

            They took her back to her glass box. Her lunch was waiting there for her. She ate without really tasting, lost in thoughts of Mykel, and willing him to find her. She drifted off to sleep thinking of his arms around her, holding her, and his babies. More than anything, she just wanted to see him one more time.

******************

            “We got it.” Will said, clicking a few more buttons on the Generals computer.

            “You’re in?” Mykel asked, coming up behind him.

            “Yep. I’m searching his files for Isabelle’s name, or yours, and any mention of underground facilities or blueprints.”

            “How long will that take?” Mykel asked.

            “I’m not sure.” He said. “It depends on what we find.”

            Mykel sighed and went back to stand lookout at the door. The house was silent. He was amazed that they had gotten in again undetected. It was obvious the General had not suspected anything out of the ordinary happened the night before. They had been lucky. He was just hoping their luck held until he could find Isabelle and get her to safety. He had been clinging to that one last thread of hope to keep him breathing. So many times, late at night, he had put his sidearm to his head and almost swallowed a bullet. The one thought that stopped him was her being alive, waiting for him to come find her. Again. This time, he was never going to let her out of his sight, and she wasn’t going anywhere without him ever again.

            “Found it.” Will said suddenly. He put a memory stick in the machine and copied the files.

            “Where is she?” Mykel demanded, a little too loudly.

            “Hush.” Will hissed. “Let’s just get the files and get out of here, then we can formulate a plan and get your girl back. Be cool man.”

            Mykel grinned for the first time in weeks.

“Mykel, do you want to lead this mission?” Graham said. “She’s your woman, after all.” The group gathered at his house to share information and discover where Isabelle was hiding. “We’ll follow your lead.” The others looked at him in surprise. Graham never offered such a thing. Ever. He was a born leader and they would all follow him into hell if he asked.

“I’d rather not.” Mykel said. “I’m going to be focused on Isabelle…I don’t want to have to worry about everyone else too. Thanks for that though.”

“You sure man?” Bryant asked. “I’d follow you just as much as Graham, you know. Besides, it’s not very often one of us gets a chance to boss the Boss man.”

“I’m sure. This will go better if we keep the group dynamic how it’s always been. We can’t fuck this one up.” He shrugged. “Besides, we won’t be here much longer anyway.”

“I’m just looking forward to all the good eats.” Bryant said, smacking his lips. They all laughed.

“The ration packs are really nasty.” Johnny agreed.

“Okay, here’s how it will go. I’ll take point. Mykel, you’re going to go with Johnny to find Isabelle. She may need a medic since she’s pregnant, just in case.”

“Bryant, I want you laying down cover as we make our way out. I don’t care if you have to blow the whole place, so long as we have a clear path out. Got it?”

“Ooohh goody!” He said, rubbing his hands with glee. His eyes lit up and he grinned. “Like the Fourth of July, Top!”

“Only if you have too, you little pyro freak.” Graham laughed.

“Graham…I have an idea.” Will said, clicking a few buttons on the computer.

            “Before we leave, I’m going to need at least twenty minutes in the Portal room computer system.”

            “What for?” Graham asked.

            “Well, since they can track us with the Nanites…I need to erase all traces of us from the mainframe. Someone needs to go into the medical lab and destroy all our blood samples, and burn any paper files, so they can’t re-input our genetic profiles. Then, I can imbed a virus that activates as soon as we jump through…and eats away at our electronic files as soon as the portal closes behind us.”

            “You can do that?” Mykel asked.

            “In theory.” Will shrugged. “If I can get enough time.”

            “We’ll make sure you get it. Your job is to gain us that room and make sure we can’t be tracked.” Graham said. “I’ll handle the blood samples. Then we hit the sublevel. Questions?”

            “What about our women? Where will they be?” Bryant asked.

            “We can take them through while Graham is doing his thing.” Johnny suggested.

            “No. We don’t want to alarm anyone by activating the portal twice. We all go together at the same time. We can have them waiting with Will, ready to go as soon as we get Isabelle.” Graham said. “If this goes sideways, Will, you’ll need to get the women out first.”

            “No matter what happens to us.” Mykel said. “Get Isabelle safe. Whatever it takes.”

            “Okay boys, let’s keep this quiet as long as possible. Let’s move out.” Graham said.

They had their gear spread across Mykel’s kitchen table and all over the floor. Handguns, knives, explosives, sniper rifles, swords, gps, night vision, medical supplies, food, water, all disappeared within minutes, carefully packed away in pouches, pockets and bags. Armour and weapons secured, the team split up each going their separate directions.

Johnny and Mykel made their way to the unsecured storeroom that, according to the top secret blueprints on the Generals computer, was the old entrance to the sublevel. They found the locked manhole cover buried under a pile of boxes that looked like they hadn’t been touched in the last fifty years or more.