| Dad whipped around so fast that he fell off the desk. I managed to catch his upper half, but it was quite uncomfortable. Aunt Sam leaned over the desk to see him. An amused yet concerned smile appeared. � Fox, are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?� � . . . I�m . . . okay.� He looked back at me and I nodded encouragingly. � She was in the laboratories in Fort Lyon.� He stood and automatically brushed at his prison uniform to get off any invisible specks of dust. � Well I know you�re not another fake. None of them were ever able to surprise me into an undignified position like you always manage to.� They embraced and started to catch up, so I decided to take a look at the test results. No sooner had I stood to retrieve the folder than pain lanced through my entire body. I gasped and clutched at my stomach as I lurched to the side in an attempt to miss the desk. I didn�t quite make it out of the way and my chin slammed down onto the fake wood with a thunk. From there I dropped to the floor and welcomed the darkness. Eagle Slave Camp Eagle, Colorado Sunday, September 23, 2001 7:33 P.M. � She�s what?!� hissed Dad�s voice. � It�s not her fault, Fox. The aliens did it. To her and Emily.� � And is Emily having this problem?� � No. I did a test of the blood of both of them to look for any similarities or differences.� � And you found . . .?� � Let�s wake her up first so I don�t have to explain it more than I have to.� I opened my eyes and laid there in silence for a minute, then sat up. Dad steadied me with a hand on my back and I was grateful for the support. I was getting these dizzy spells from the things more often and I tilted listlessly in no particular direction until Dad tugged me against him and held me still. � You okay, Princess?� I nodded weakly. � . . . Yeah.� Aunt Sam pulled the folder down from the desk and opened it, pointing out everything important and clearly explaining it. � They implanted the embryo and then gave you anti-rejection drugs. Emily�s system has accepted the drug, but because she�s a full hybrid I�d say the drug was just a precaution. You on the other hand, are fighting the drugs and the embryo. Both are fighting back, so this little war is being waged in your body. The embryo is really just like a regular human child--the perfect parasite. The drugs are damaging your system because you�re fighting and that�s what I believe is causing your seizures and blackouts.� � Will it kill me?� � . . . Eventually, yes.� � What should I do?� � I wish I could tell you. I�d like to tell you to stop fighting, but your body is acting on its own. It�s actually behaving like a giant white blood cell and is trying to fight it all off at once. But even if it took it one at a time I think it would still be too much for you.� I digested that, then went for a more understandable explanation. � Can you give me a layman�s terms description?� � Basically your body is trying to have an abortion but the drugs won�t let it. So it�s fighting the drugs at the same time it�s trying to abort the embryo, which is taxing it beyond safe levels.� � My body�s killing itself to kill the embryo?� � Exactly.� Oh shit. Eagle Slave Camp Eagle, Colorado Tuesday, September 25, 2001 3:12 A.M. Dad hadn�t wanted to do it, but I�d reminded him that the others were more important than me. And finally he�d agreed. So now I watched him slink along the dark side of a building. As the guards switched, there were four minutes where it was completely clear. He, Skinner, and a few others pulled the unlocked gate open, slipped out, and closed it behind them. They were long gone by the time the guards came back and the dogs discovered the scent of escaped humans. The alarms went off and I played my part, ordering the dogs to follow the scent. But they were just regular Earth dogs and from the direction the dogs were running, Dad and the others had gone right to the nearby Colorado river and hopped in, effectively foiling any who tried to follow them. I changed the guard pattern so that the new guards had to come outside and relieve the old just to keep up appearances and to divert attention and any accusations from myself. By Wednesday, my occasional pains had become chronic. They would stab at me sharply, then dull to a light throb and after a few hours would well up again and cause me neverending torture. Aunt Sam and Emily tried to comfort me, once I�d been very discreetly moved back into the hospital, but nothing could be done. Emily was especially upset because she felt nothing while I was dying of pain. � Don�t be stupid. I�m not a full hybrid. That�s why this is happening. Stop acting like Dad.� � What does he do?� she sniffled. � He wallows in self-loathing and the thought that he could�ve done something even when there was nobody who could do anything.� I winced as pain bounced around my insides, then let out a cry as it intensified. The door suddenly burst open and several strange doctors came in. Aunt Sam and Emily were forced out and the door was locked to keep them in the hall. One of the doctors pulled a body bag from a cabinet and put it on the floor. As more pain stabbed at me and I began to notice that I was passing out, two doctors lifted me off the bed and set me gently in the bag, zipping it up over me. Eagle Slave Camp Eagle, Colorado Wednesday, September 26, 2001 11:22 A.M. They watched as the black body bag was carried from the room by two guards. Samantha peeked in, but Echo wasn�t there. She looked to Emily, tears building in her eyes. � She�s . . . dead . . .� Emily started to cry and Samantha hugged her. � Look at it this way, Em. She isn�t hurting anymore.� They followed the body bag to the train and watched the guards place it inside, then realized that the new camp commander had arrived a few hours ago and there would be no need for them. In an attempt to keep from being split up, they slipped away. The guards gave chase and one, when told not to kill them, swung his rifle against Emily�s stomach. The hybrid thought she felt something explode, but was too concentrated on escape to care. Samantha and Emily dodged in and out of the brush, finally getting to the river and following it down to Gypsum. <--Division 6 Division 8--> |