Ascension

Gillian die.

'I heard they're keeping her in the quarantine ward.'

'Just for a few days. Hendel thought it would be safer until he's had a chance to sort this all out.'

There was another long silence, broken when Jiro said, 'She's probably scared. I'd like to go see her.'

This was the other side of Jiro: the compassionate young man who was worried about the feelings of a twelve-year-old girl rather than his research. Kahlee rolled over and kissed him on his bare chest.

'She'd like that. You can go tomorrow. I'll make sure you have clearance.'

When Kahlee woke the next morning her head was pounding from the aftereffects of the wine. Jiro was gone, and she was shocked to see from her bedside clock that she had overslept by a full hour.

You know you re getting old when half a bottle of wine makes you sleep through your alarm, she thought as she slowly rolled out of bed and stood up.

It was then she noticed a note on the table, held in place by the empty bottle of wine. Pressing her hands against her throbbing temples, she staggered over to read it.

Gone to see Gillian. Turned off your alarm. Figured you could use the sleep.

J.

She crumpled up the note and dropped it into the recycling bin as she made her way to the bathroom.

By the time she was showered and changed, the last of her hangover was gone. She wanted to speak to Gillian again and see if she remembered anything else, but first she needed to check on Hendel. Glancing at her watch, she knew she'd find him in his office.

'How you doing, kiddo?' Jiro asked, poking his head into Gillian's hospital room.

She was wearing a hospital gown and sitting up in her bed, staring straight ahead at an empty wall. But when she heard his voice, she turned toward the door and smiled.

Early on, when he'd first started treating her, Jiro had worried she'd get a bad vibe off him. Her condition made her more perceptive than other children, and he was afraid she might sense the ulterior motive behind his interest in her. As it turned out, however, Gillian's reaction was just the opposite — she genuinely seemed to like him.

Jiro had developed his own personal theory to explain her reaction. He was fascinated by the research Cerberus was conducting in the field of human bio-tics; he couldn't wait to see what results their latest serums would have on Gillian. As a result, he was always upbeat when he came to check her numbers. He suspected she was feeding off this energy and excitement, making her more responsive to him than most of the other techs.

'Nice place you got here,' he said, coming over to stand by the side of her bed.

'I want to go back to my own room,' she answered in her familiar monotone.

He studied her carefully as she spoke, looking for signs she was somehow different now. No visible changes in alertness, he noted silently.

'You can't go back to your own room quite yet,' he told her out loud. 'Everybody's still trying to figure out what happened to you in the cafeteria.' Including me.

When Grayson had given him the vial of unfamiliar fluid last week, he'd had a feeling something major was going to happen. He couldn't explain it, but somehow he'd known they'd made a breakthrough. Something they wanted to test on Gillian right away. But he hadn't expected anything this soon… or this big.

There was no doubt in his mind that the girl's remarkable display was linked to the mysterious Cerberus elixir. Unfortunately, the incredible success of the treatment had thrown a wrench into the experiment. He was supposed to give Gillian another dose of medication today, but he couldn't give it to her here. Too many people, and too many security cameras.

'I hate this room,' Gillian informed him.

'Would you like to go for a walk?' he suggested, seizing on the opportunity to get her out of the quarantine wing and somewhere more private. 'We could go to the atrium.'

She pondered the offer for a good five seconds, then nodded once, definitively.

'You get dressed,' he told her. 'I'll tell the nurse where we're going.'

Leaving the room, he made his way over to the admissions desk. He recognized the nurse on duty from seeing her around the facility, but he didn't know her name. However, that hadn't stopped him from flirting with her when he'd first arrived and signed in.

'Leaving so soon?' she asked, smiling brightly. She was small, with dark skin and a round, pretty face.

'I'm going to take Gillian down to the atrium. A little break from that room will be good for her.'

She frowned slightly, wrinkling her nose. 'I don't think we're supposed to let her leave,' she said, apologetically.

'I promise to bring her back when I'm done,' he joked, flashing his most charming grin.

The frown fell away, but she still looked uncertain. 'Hendel might not like that.'

'Hendel's as bad as an overprotective mother,' he told her with an easy laugh. 'Besides, I'll have her back before anyone even knows we're gone.'

'I don't want to get in trouble.' She was wavering, but she wasn't quite there yet.

He reached over the admissions desk and set a reassuring hand on her arm. 'Don't worry, Hendel and I are good friends. I'll protect you from him,' he said with a sly wink.

After a moment's hesitation, she relented and handed him the patient register. 'Just don't be too long,' she warned as he signed Gillian out.

Handing the register back, he gave the nurse one last smile, then turned to see Gillian standing silently at the threshold of her room, watching them intently.

'Time to go,' he told her, and she obediently moved forward and fell into step beside him.

***

Kahlee wasn't surprised to find the door to Hen-del's office closed when she got there. She could only imagine all the things he'd had to deal with over the past twenty-four hours.

'Door — open,' she heard him call out in response to her knock.

When he saw her standing there he motioned for her to come in before saying, 'Door — close.'

Hendel's office was a mess, but that in itself wasn't unusual. He didn't like paperwork, and it tended to pile up quickly. He always had stacks of printed reports piled on his desk, with a few more piles stacked on the floor beside it, waiting for his review. The tops of the tall metal cabinets along the back wall were covered with all manner of forms, requests, and waivers needing signatures or waiting to be filed in the proper folder.

The security chief was seated behind his desk, staring intently at his computer screen. She crossed the room and took one of the two chairs across from his. He reached out and flipped off the monitor as she sat down, let out a long, weary sigh, then leaned back in his chair.

He'd changed his soaked, food-stained clothes since she'd seen him yesterday outside Gillian's hospital room, but it looked like he hadn't taken the time to shower. She could still see tiny bits of bread caught in his hair and clinging to the short, reddish brown whiskers of his beard. There was a day's growth of stubble on his cheeks, and his eyes were bloodshot and baggy.

'Were you working all night?' she asked him.

'Damage control,' he answered. 'Some anonymous jackoff on staff already leaked the story. I've got calls coming in from media, school administrators, government officials, and angry parents. The parents are the worst.'

'They're just worried about their kids.'

'Yeah, I know.' He nodded. 'But if I find out who leaked the story I'll make damn sure their ass gets fired.' He sat forward in his chair, thumping his hand hard on the desk to punctuate his words.

'Did you get in touch with Grayson yet?'

Hendel shook his head disapprovingly. 'I left a message, but he didn't call back.'

'Maybe he's not available.'

'An emergency contact number's no damn good if you're not there during an emergency,' he snapped back at her, then immediately apologized. 'Sorry. I've got a lot of things on my mind.'

'Anything you want to talk about?'