“And I don’t think she was given anything like that.”
“Not to mention they took out the other two scientists. How did they know?”
“Paul could have just been a simple case of being followed. It’s one of the reasons that we chose to get out of the lab as fast as we could, right?”
“I know,” he said.
“But Marge?”
“Exactly. I just … It’s niggling in the back of my mind.”
“Mine too,” he said. “I just wish there were a way to figure out if Eva had been given something.”
“Do you have a magnet around?” he asked.
“No, I don’t. Do you?” They both shook their heads.
At that, she opened her eyes and stared up at them. “What would a magnet tell you?”
“Possibly nothing,” he said. “Just wondering if a piece of metal were embedded in your skin, and, if you, … if we’re being tracked.”
“God, that would be too much.” She stopped to think and said, “When I first woke up there, at the Chinese lab, I had pain at the back to my neck,” she said, reaching up under her hair.
He immediately tilted her head forward and took a look. Found an ever-so-slight lump on the side. “Do you know how long it bothered you?”
“No, more like just an irritant, like a bite.”
He looked over at Jerricho. “You need to take a look at this.” He sat her up and said, “Let Jerricho look.”
Jerricho walked over, and Diesel quickly hopped up and took over the piloting of the boat. Jerricho returned a moment later and nodded. “I’d take it out. If for no other reason that the military couldn’t find it on the ship, which means it’s new tech. Likely a prototype. So, if we have it, we can analyze it and combat it, before they start widespread use.”
“Great,” he said. He walked back over, sat down, almost falling down at the uneven waves.
She looked at him worriedly, having heard their conversation.
“We have to be sure,” he said.
She swallowed hard and then nodded.
“See? That’s what I mean,” he said. “You’ve got grit, and you know what needs to be done, and you’ll let me do it.”
“Do I have a choice?” she said, her tone dry.
“No,” he said, “you really don’t.” He pulled a pocketknife from his boot.
She looked at it and sighed. “It’d be nice if you could at least sterilize it.”
He dipped it into the ocean. “If nothing else, it’s saltwater, and I know it’ll sting, but it won’t sting badly because I’ll make a very surface-level cut.”
“Fine,” she said. She leaned forward, until she was right over him, her head lying on his thigh. “Go for it,” she muttered.
He took one look, gently stretched out the skin, taut over the top of the small lump, and, with a clean slice, cut through it. She gasped, and he said, “I’ve already sliced.”
“Good,” she said. “Can you get it out?”
“Just stay still for a moment,” he said. And, using the tip of the knife, he dug ever-so-slightly and finally pulled out what looked like a tiny little ball, like a shot pellet. He looked at it, frowned, and then put it underneath her face, so that she saw it.
“What is that?” she asked.
“I’m afraid it might have been tracking,” he said. “It’s definitely something man-made, and I presume you didn’t put it in there.”
“No,” she said. She reached up a hand, and he pulled her hand down.
“Just leave it. It needs to heal now. We don’t want your dirty fingers on it.”
She wrinkled up her face. “Well, a bandage would be nice.”
“Not happening,” he said, “at least not until we get to the ship.”
She nodded, and he watched as a little drop of blood slowly worked its way down her neck. She reached up and wiped it clear.
He said, “When we get to the ship, we’ll get it washed up properly.”
“Fine,” she said, but she was still staring at the object in his hand. “It’s so tiny. Looks like pus from a pimple.” She shook her head. “Do you think they did that when I first arrived?”
“You tell me. How long ago was it that you noticed it?”
“I think right away,” she said. “I just didn’t think about it afterward.”
“There was no need to,” he said. “For all I know, there’s a poison in it, and they can activate it and kill you before you actually get too far. But there’s no metal in it. I’m not sure what it’s made of. It was buried in your hairline and didn’t show up on any of the devices you were checked with. Even the navy’s top-of-the-line techno gear.”
She swallowed hard, as she stared at him. “That’s a little disconcerting too.”
“Terrorists, bioterrorists, all of this is terrifying,” he murmured, slowly wrapping up the tiny item in a tissue before stuffing it into his pocket. “That’s why we’re trying to rescue you.”
She nodded. “Well, I’m glad you found it, even if it’s a day late.”
“The farther away we are,” he said, “the less chance that they could have used it for anything.”
“Well, I guess that’s a little more reassuring,” she said. She settled back down and reached up, scrubbed her face, and asked, “How much longer?”
“About an hour,” Diesel said. “Do you want to try to sleep again?”
She shook her head and then winced. “No,” she said. “Finding that just reminds me of what they did to me when I wasn’t awake.”
“Of which you don’t know that they did anything other than this,” he said in a firm voice.
She shot him a look.
He shook his head. “I’m serious. Don’t go worrying about a bigger issue than we can deal with right now.”
“I guess,” she said quietly. “It’s still disconcerting.”
“Very,” he murmured. “Just relax.”
She smiled. “If only it were that easy.”
“I know, right? It’s like telling somebody who’s injured to just stop the pain. And, of course, it’s not something anybody can do,” he said. “I get that, but the bottom line is, you’re safe
