“Oh, this is going to be fun. Bye now.”
With a girlish wave, she left him. He started straining at his bonds again but even though one of them seemed to have loosened slightly, it wasn’t enough to free him. The transporter clanked through a series of tunnels before emerging onto the surface. They were nowhere near the entrance to the lab but, as he had theorized, a small supply train was waiting. The transporter trundled up on the bed of one of the cars, and a minute later, the train began to move—carrying him over the desert and away from Serena.
Serena tested her bonds again, but it was no use. Her thoughts chased each other in frantic circles. Where had Louisa gone, and what was she doing with John? Did she really have him?
“Was she telling the truth? About John?”
Dr. Renfrey started to ignore her, but then he sighed and nodded. “Yes. She used one of the paralytic darts.”
Serena winced but she felt a spark of hope. The darts wore off relatively quickly. Perhaps he would be able to get away. No. If he did get free, he would come back for her. The knowledge settled over her with absolute certainty. What a fool she had been. He loved her. He would never desert her. Just as she would never desert him.
“I love him,” she whispered, as the truth rushed over her. God, she was a fool.
“What’s that?” the doctor asked.
“Nothing.” Nothing that he needed to know anyway.
“I don’t think it was nothing.” His hands stilled as he looked over at her. “You know, I had a girl once, but I was so busy with my work that I let her slip away.”
“What do you think she would think of what you’re doing now?”
His mouth twisted. “Not a lot. She had a very kind heart.”
She didn’t say anything else, content to let him think about what he’d said as she tried to come up with a plan, any plan. She was so lost in her desperate attempt to find a solution that it wasn’t until she heard the low murmur of voices that she realized that they were no longer alone. The handful of scientists that remained had all gathered in the lab. Great. There was going to be an audience for her unwanted transformation.
But then Dr. Renfrey began talking.
“We have waited long enough,” he announced to the other scientists. “It’s time we cured ourselves.”
“But what if it doesn’t work?” a small, bespectacled man asked.
“We know it works. It’s only fear that has been keeping us back. Louisa is leaving, and she won’t return. I doubt she’ll even continue to fund the lab. This is our last chance.”
There was a babble of voices, but eventually, every one of them nodded.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked when Dr. Renfrey came over to collect more supplies.
“Because it’s the truth.” His eyes were infinitely weary. “She won’t continue to support the lab. And I know I don’t have much time left. I might as well at least try and fight.”
“Will you have time before she returns?”
He gave her an unexpectedly impish grin. “Oh yes. It only takes a few minutes to prepare.”
“You lied to her.”
“If she’d ever bothered to read one of my reports, she would have known that.” He hesitated. “I’m not going to give you the transfusion, but I can’t guarantee that she won’t attempt it.”
“You could let me go.”
“Not yet. If this doesn’t work and she returns…” He shuddered. “I’m sorry, my dear, but you’re too valuable as a bargaining chip.”
“And if it works?”
“Then I will let you go,” he promised.
She wasn’t entirely sure she believed him but at least it was a chance. She watched as he returned to his fellow scientists and took a small sample from each one. Then he added a drop of green crystalline substance into each neatly labeled vial.
“You know this is going to hurt, gentlemen,” he said finally. “But we will come out the other side—better, stronger, faster. We will prevail.”
There were murmurs of assent, then each scientist lay down on a lab table. Dr. Renfrey moved from one to the other, injecting the contents of the appropriate vial, before finally injecting himself. He looked at Serena as he did so, and she did her best to smile at him. For his sake—and her own—she hoped it worked.
A few seconds later, the screaming started.
Chapter Eighteen
With each mile the train traveled, separating him from Serena, John’s urgency increased, but he forced himself to work methodically at his chains. Far too much distance had been covered by the time he worked himself free but he didn’t have time for regrets. He climbed along the row of cars until he reached the engine and seized control from the autopilot. Reversing the course of the train, he recklessly increased the speed until all of the instruments were in the red zone.
The night had passed while he was confined and now the pale Martian sunrise illuminated the surrounding landscape as it flew by outside the open window. The surrounding mountains were silhouetted against the sky in an awe-inspiring display but all his concentration was focused on squeezing more speed from the engine. Steam poured from the engine compartment and he could hear an ominous clanking, but he didn’t care.
He had to get back to Serena. He only prayed he wasn’t too late.
Serena didn’t know how long the screaming lasted, but it seemed like hours as she huddled against her table and tried to pretend she was anywhere else. When it finally died down, she was almost afraid to look, but the men rising from the lab tables didn’t look any different as they climbed down. Several wandered over to their computers while others milled around uncertainly.
And then Dr. Renfrey appeared in front of her. Superficially, he looked the same but his eyes… His eyes were no longer sane.
“I promised,” he muttered as he
