“Is that why you want to switch sides?”
“I never wanted any of this. I sure as heck didn’t want to kill anybody.”
I knew she was lying, but I wanted to ask her more questions. I was sure she would sprinkle in some truth with the lies to try to keep herself breathing. She was smart. I was damn sure of that. “The Grays… the ones that attacked us here were a lot different than we’ve seen. Why?”
“Grays? Oh… Byeongsa.”
Again, she looked nervous. “There are some who were as designed. Many others, for whatever reason, were not.”
“How did you round these up?”
“We used the sound devices. Those who came, we knew, could be used. The ones who didn’t, well—”
“You got these from Barrow?”
“No. Fairbanks.”
“So, the Grays there are mostly like the ones you brought?”
“No. Most of the Grays, as you call them, are not very smart. It took us a long time to round these up in Fairbanks.”
“Who controls Fairbanks?”
She hesitated. “Your army still controls Fort Wainwright and some of the city.”
“So, you’re losing the fight up there? But you somehow manage to put together enough resources to hunt down a single person, who happens to be in the middle of nowhere, and hurting no one?” I shook my head before finishing, “Your story is garbage.”
She brushed a stubborn strand of red hair out of her eyes as she said, “Whether it was stupid or not, I didn’t make that call. People above me did.” She sighed angrily.
I really think she initially thought that her words could sway me, make me change my mind about her. She was failing, and she knew it. “The people above me and those who still believe, place a very high value on loyalty. In my culture, if you break that oath, you risk death.”
“Just for the record, I believe very little of what you’re saying.”
I heard Duane rustling behind me. He had been reticent until that moment.
“In fact, I don’t even know why in the hell I’m even still talking to you.” I took a step towards her.
“My job was security. I know things not very many people in the Order know.”
“Okay. And?”
“Every one of us has tracking devices embedded in our skin.”
“Show me,” I said.
She held her right palm out. “I always put them in the palm or the inner-thigh, depending on how fleshy the palm was.”
She flinched ever so little as I moved in to have a look. “You can feel it if you press lightly on the skin.”
I did. She seemed to be telling the truth about that, anyway. “So, you can track anyone in the Order,” I said, moving back a few paces from her.
Her blue eyes grew large. “I can only track people in my small group, which was about twenty-five people. I have no means of tracking anyone outside of that group.”
I had had enough. She was lying. I knew it from the very moment she told me she had tracked the cell phone. Avery had known from very early on that the phone could be tracked. He also knew from Kelley and then later confirmed in the code that the phone had a self-destruct feature that could be either initiated by remote or locally. He was able to disable the tracking module due in part because it needed the GPS to function. The self-destruct worked differently. It was so embedded in the source code, that if he tried to remove it, the phone would be bricked because of the code that would have to be removed.
I pulled the other folding chair over to where I had been standing and had a seat. My leg was throbbing, and there was a pool of blood on the floor. I would need stitches to be sure. I needed a bath, too – a long one. I smelled literally like death.
“You’re lying.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The tracking was turned off on that phone.”
“Impossible.”
“You don’t know, Avery. He did that very early on,” I said, running my finger along the edge of the butcher knife.
She eyed the blade and then me. She closed her eyes and recomposed herself. She was about to say something when I stopped her. “You don’t have to hide the hate you feel towards me. We’re square.”
“I don’t hate anyone.”
I ignored her. “So, if you can’t track the phone, how did you find us?”
She thought so long, I wasn’t sure she was going to answer. “You.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Your gout—”
“What the fuck about it?”
“It got really bad, right?”
When I didn’t answer, she continued.
“It was lanced by one of our people. He slipped it in while he was doing the procedure.”
“Doctor Kimmik?”
She nodded.
Taken aback, I asked, “Why?”
“Why you were tagged to be tracked?”
“No shit. Yes, that’s what I’m asking.”
“I was… I—“
“So you’re in Fairbanks, and none of you fuckers know anything, but somehow you find out I have a tracking device in my skin. How? Why?”
A single bead of sweat ran down her face. “I was told after the Order came down that you had left Barrow, and that you might have been responsible for killing the leader. That meant you probably had a phone, and we couldn’t allow that.”
Nevermind, she was changing her story. I had to know why I was being tracked. “But fucking, why?”
“I just know that you were making a name for yourself in Barrow. So much so that it made its way all the way to Fairbanks. The implant was probably initially put in because of your seclusion at the Patch. I obviously do not know specifics.”
How in the hell did she know it was called the Patch, I wondered. “Where is it?”
“I can help you. I can take it out.”
My left foot had been lanced, so I knew it had to be that one. I unlaced my boot, pulled both pairs of socks off, and presented her with my already bloody foot.
“I will need to touch your foot.”
I nodded for her to move to the floor. She did. She ran her thumb across my foot until her hand stopped. “It’s here.”
I wondered why my foot had itched something terrible after that procedure. I just thought it was the remnants of the gout flare-up. I pulled my pistol before handing her the knife. “Take it out.”
“It will hurt.”
“Everything hurts. Do it.”
She positioned the knife as if she were using it like a pencil. She thumbed my foot one more time before moving in close for the cut. I gritted my teeth as the knife cut into my skin. She produced a very tiny metallic capsule. I took it and the knife, and bashed it with the butt of my pistol, before placing the gun back in my waistband, again favoring the knife.
No one spoke as I laced back up my shoe. My leg hurt so bad, I barely felt the pain in my foot. To be fair, I hadn’t tried to walk on it yet. I stood, checked my footing with the bad foot. Yeah, it hurt like hell. I had other things on my mind, though.
“If you were what you say you are, why would you lie? Why not just tell me that in the beginning?”
“I didn’t think—”
“You aren’t who you pretend to be. I don’t know your game, but this ain’t it.”
Her eyes flicked towards Duane, before settling back on me. “There is a scientist in Fairbanks. She’s very uncomfortable about what she’s helped create. That, and she realizes she’s being blamed for the massive failure that has been the Grays. You help her escape, and she’ll help you make this right.”
I laughed. “You’re a liar. You’ll tell me anything to stay alive.”
Duane stepped forward. “We have to take this seriously.”
I turned towards Duane. “If she was who she is pretending to be, she would’ve knocked me over to get to my stinky-ass foot and take that out. She lying.”