"You want her to perform some sort of miracle?"
"I want her to fix her mistake!" Shelley shouted. A vein throbbed in her temple. She shook her head, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, let it out in a hiss. "I'm sorry, I lost control. That was wrong of me. But this is . . . emotional. I have days left, if that. She can do it. She's done enough to hold it off before, and now that she's stronger I think she can erase it completely. There are plenty of examples of psychic healing, from Jesus Christ himself right on down the line. Why not Sarah? I want her to kill each and every diseased cell, hunt them down and destroy them. She can do that much for me."
"And if that's not possible?"
Shelley didn't answer, just looked at her as if she'd sprouted a second head. Jess knew then, if she hadn't before: Dr. Jean Shelley had lost her mind.
She chose her next words carefully. "What about Wasserman?"
"Evan was a cog in the wheel," Shelley said. "He helped us do the work, consulted with me on medical opinions, but he never even knew I was behind Helix, behind the grant money that kept the facility afloat. When this whole place comes crashing down, he'll take the fall in public for it. I know you think I'm cruel. He had feelings for me, yes, and I manipulated that. But you can't know what it's like. You don't know what you'd do, until you're in my shoes."
"He's dead," Jess said. "I saw Sarah kill him."
"And I will be too, if we can't get her to help." Shelley nodded at someone. Two men stepped forward, into her line of sight. Heavy and large through the shoulders. The muscle. What are they going to do, threaten to break my legs? But they only unhooked the straps from her wrists and ankles and then helped her to a sitting position. Gee watched with arms folded across his chest.
She looked around. They were in a huge, empty room. The walls and ceiling were covered with some sort of black material, and there were no windows. The only light came from the open door at their backs. With such little light the room seemed to expand, to stretch into infinity.
"You want to know where you are," Gee said. "Sensory deprivation tanks can expand the mind exponentially. Studies have shown that psi is enhanced when external stimuli are limited. We tested her in here. You think that random number generator trick was cool? You should have seen some of the things she showed us. But we've been able to keep pretty tight controls on her, limiting her with drugs. As she's grown, her abilities have expanded. It would be amazing to see what she's capable of now."
"If you'll think things through, you'll see that this is the only way," Shelley said. "By helping us you're helping Sarah. You're keeping her alive too. Because if she doesn't learn how to control this gift that she has, she won't survive it. Reach out to her and bring her back. Isn't that what you've wanted to do all along?"
"We all win," Gee said. "Just like I told you." He stepped closer to her. "I want to see Sarah do well, just like you. I think she's one of the most incredible miracles ever to walk this earth. We can all learn from her."
Damn it. Think. Her mind felt sluggish from the drugs they had given her. Her hands and feet tingled and she shook them lightly, as if freeing them from sleep. She looked around the little group. They were all watching her, waiting for her to make a move.
"I guess I don't have a choice."
Shelley smiled. A range of emotions washed across her features, softening them in the gentle light from the open door. "Good girl. I knew you'd understand. I always knew it, from the first moment I saw you." She stepped up to the gurney and put her hand on Jess's shoulder, then leaned in more closely as if revealing a secret. Her face burned with a feverish intensity. Jess resisted the urge to shrug away her touch. "I know I've handled this badly, in many ways. I know you feel betrayed. But try to see things from the right perspective. I've spent the last few years trying to help Sarah, keep her from harming herself. Evan took things a bit too far at the end, but he's gone now. There are a lot of people who want a piece of her, but I can make them go away. I can keep her hidden."
"I have your word on that?"
"Of course. Now, she's safe, in an adjoining room. She's sedated, enough to keep her contained, but we can bring her out of it anytime. What I need for you to do is go in there and talk to her, tell her what you want. I'll leave the details up to you."
***
Sarah fought her way up through the layers of cloud and fog, clawed her way through with renewed determination until she felt the final gossamer wing slip and part and she opened her eyes. For a very long moment, she did not understand where she was, or what had happened; only that her shoulder hurt terribly under the bandage, and her head felt as if it had been emptied and then filled back up with shards of glass.
I want to go home, she thought, for no reason at all.
You don't even know where home is.
Around this little room were angles and corners of no particular significance; she did not recognize anything. There was equipment nearby, enough that it brought to mind the Room, and then she knew where she was and her little heart broke.
No. I won't do it again.
Memories flooded her mind. The door ripping off its hinges, the two men being flung aside, the doctor being lifted off his feet and choking with blood, and she liked it, yes, she did, she had felt the power flowing out of her in a long, smooth wave and it felt good.
She moaned softly. She could control it better now, but somehow that made things even worse.
You are committing a mortal sin, one that cannot be undone.
She had killed him.
He deserved it.
That small voice in her mind was cruel and cut deep. But the thought of it thrilled her all the same, the idea of the ultimate revenge against so many injustices that had been heaped upon her for so long. She could do it to any of them. She could crush them like a bug beneath her heel, make them bleed or burn or slowly suffocate.. . .
No!
The sound of the door brought her back. She shivered at the sudden cold, at the puff of her breath and the realization that she had almost let it go again. It was so strong now, she had to clamp down so hard that it hurt. This thing inside her was like a coiled snake waiting to strike.
For a moment she caught a glimpse of the Room through the door, beyond the familiar figure that filled the space.
Jess Chambers closed the door behind her. Sarah leapt up and off the little bed and flung herself into Jess's arms, ignoring the stabbing pain in her shoulder and the blood oozing through the bandage, sobbing, burying her little face against her chest.
"There, now," Jess said. She held her and stroked Sarah's hair. "Hush. It's all right. We're going to get through this, you hear me? We're going to make our way through."
"They're watching," Sarah said. Her voice was muffled against Jess's shirt, and she pulled away and swiped at her eyes and nose.
"I know it. There's a camera mounted near the ceiling. Don't worry about that. Is your arm okay?"
"It hurts."
"I bet it does. You did well down there, kiddo. You didn't have a choice, with what happened. You know that, don't you?
"I. .."
"You kept us both from getting killed. Dr. Wasserman wasn't going to listen to us, there was nothing you could do to change what happened."
"I want to get out of here."
"We can work on that. It's almost time now. You know what they want you to do?"
Sarah nodded, sniffled. "Dr. Shelley, she's sick. She's going to die. And I don't care."
"I don't blame you. But could you help her, if you wanted?"
"I don't know."