Claire wasn’t interested in Fielding’sdecline into academic depression, however. “He never said anythingelse?”
“Just that it had something to do withsurveillance, I think.” Darcy shrugged as they entered thecafeteria building, which was similar to a shopping mall foodcourt, with several different choices of foods. There was a grillwith burgers and chicken; a bistro with soups, sandwiches, and thelike; a bakery with fresh bagels, donuts, and pastries for earlymorning arrivers; a new sushi bar that had opened just the weekbefore; and even a Starbucks. Claire and Darcy went by rote to thebistro’s salad bar, picking up trays, plates, and utensils.
“Surveillance?” Surveillance inmilitary-speak often translated to spying, and with the projectbeing funded by this INSCOM that made sense, but even so, how wouldthat result in a lab full of caged beings? Claire scooped up asmall amount of baby spinach onto her plate with a wrinkled nose.It was repugnance that gnawed at her stomach now, not hunger, atthe thought that a botched experiment – whatever it might be – hadled to the incarceration of human beings.
“Yes,” Darcy nodded. “Why do you want toknow?”
Shaking her head, Claire halfheartedlytossed on some mushrooms and a little vinaigrette. “I’m reallyfreaked out, Darcy.”
“That much is abundantly clear,” Darcyquipped. “The question is why?”
They paid for their meals at the registerand went to their usual table near the windows. In the distance,Claire could see the mountains of the coastal ranges in WashingtonState. Even in May they were covered in snow. Clean and purecompared to the unethical practices she’d just uncovered.
Glancing around, Claire answered in lowtones, “I was in Dr. Fielding’s lab today and saw some … animalsthere.”
“What were you doing over there?” was thefirst thing Darcy wanted to know.
“I was getting coffee this morning,” Claireexplained, gesturing toward the Starbucks numbly. “I was talkingwith Marcia – do you know Marcia? – anyway, she got a call from herson’s school saying that he was running a fever, and asking her tocome pick him up. She had a stack of files with her and asked me todrop them off in Dr. Fielding’s office so she could leave rightaway.”
“She shouldn’t have done that,” Darcypointed out, only to receive Claire’s arch look that mutely stated,“no kidding” in response. “Fine. No lecture. What kind of animalsare we talking here? Lab mice?” Darcy speared a green pepper beforepopping it in her mouth but Claire only nudged her salad around herplate.
“Bigger,” she mumbled. “What could hepossibly be doing that he would need … specimens?”
“Specimens?” Darcy asked with more focusedcuriosity. “More than mice?”
Claire snorted softly and glumly nodded herhead.
“Bunnies?”
Darcy’s voice had taken on an edge of hopethat Claire knew was little more than denial rearing its head. Itwas nothing compared to the misery that had been eating at Claire.She’d never considered herself an ardent humanitarian before. Shecried for the troubles in other countries, the poor, the hungry,but thought America had enough troubles of its own to focus on. Shegave to St. Jude’s and to the Wounded Warriors Project, volunteeredher time at the local animal shelter, and did what she could to bethe change she wanted to see in the world, but had always inwardlyacknowledged that the influence of one person was negligible inchanging the fate of many – animals or human.
For the first time, shewanted to truly save someone – someone specific. Sheneeded to do it. Thiswent beyond wrongful imprisonment. Those men! Claire couldn’t evencontemplate how they had come to be there, but neither one of themprobably had a clue as to what had happened to them.
“Not just bunnies, Darcy.” Claire nudged hersalad around with her fork again before pushing the plate away.“There are men in that lab. Two of them.”
“Men?” Darcy squeaked,then lowered her voice to a whisper. “Like, human men?”
“Are there any other kind?But not just like the guy next door. One is an Indian. A NativeAmerican. You should see him.” Claire paused. “Darcy, there’s noway he’s from… here.”
“Here, as in Washington?”
“No, here, as in now,” Claire said, voicing thetruth that was becoming clear to her, no matter how preposterous itsounded. “He’s from a different time. He has to be. No one, not themost brilliant costume designer in the world, could come up withsomething like that.”
“That’s ridiculous, Claire,” Darcy protested beforedigging back into her salad. “You’re talking about time travel? Itisn’t possible.”
“Really?” Claire scoffed. “Would atime machine really be the most unbelievable thing that came out ofthis place? Your projects are right up there withStar Trek, aren’t they?Why not something out of Dr.Who?”
Darcy’s team was developing the nextgeneration of orbital weaponry – weapons effective in the vacuum ofouter space, should the world ever come to that. Naturally, thatdivision’s work was all supposed to be limited to theoreticaldevelopment, as the United Nations had banned the militarizationand weaponization of outer space long ago.
“Come on, Claire!”
“Come on, Darcy!” Claire shot back, her heartpounding desperately against her chest. “He has them locked up incages, the Indian and the other one …” Claire drifted off picturingthe larger man, the one whose emotional stare had affected her so.“I think he’s Scottish or something. It’s hard to tell. He’s allbloody and mangy looking. But even if he is a medieval savage, hedoesn’t deserve being locked up like that. He has them in cages,Darcy! Wallowing in their own filth! This is bigger than the ACLUor PETA here. We need to do something!”
Wide-eyed, Darcy shook her head in denial.“We? No, no, no. Claire, I need this job. I can’t afford to dosomething stupid.”
“Stupid?” Claire asked incredulously. “It’snot stupid to save a life.”
“Oh, Claire,” the other woman moaned. “Youknow the kind of security they have in there. There’s just noway.”
“I know.” And she did. Hadn’t she thoughtthe same, back in Dr. Fielding’s lab? But what else could she do?Just stand aside and let the men rot in those cells? “There must besomething, some authority we could report it to.”
“Really?” Darcy scoffed at that. “If
