Continuance (27 page)

Frowning, Jason stepped into the
chamber. He touched the door control, hearing it slide shut behind him with a
hiss. Grieves and Neal were still around somewhere, but the shielding inside
the chamber would foil any eavesdropping.

As he strode across the walkway to
the imaging platform, he heard a low hum from the ceiling, and his nose caught
a faint whiff of ozone. Chariot’s emitters were cooling down.

Someone’s had it
powered on, recently
.
Odd. Fairchild’s team was the only one doing science with the array, and the
operations schedule for this morning said nothing about maintenance or
calibrations. Irritated with himself, he shook his head.
Who cares about the
stupid equipment? Probably just something they forgot to log.
He was just
putting off what promised to be an uncomfortable conversation
.

On the other side of the walkway,
he took a seat on the platform beside Stuart. Jason said nothing, content to
let the silence settle in. Stuart seemed to feel the same. When the hum of the
emitter array quieted a minute later, Jason spoke.

“You didn’t turn me in. I owe you
for that.”

Jason had spent the first part of
his meeting with Agent Grieves sure the spiders had found him out. Or if they
hadn’t, that it was only a matter of time before Stuart filled them in – under
duress or otherwise. Then, when he’d found out they’d Arkived Ivory, he’d
almost done the job himself, losing his temper and very nearly his life. Only
when he’d walked out of the room without force restraints had he allowed
himself to believe otherwise. Somehow, Stuart hadn’t been forced to expose him.
Or worse yet, chosen to.

“I actually thought about it,”
Stuart said. “Probably should have. But I guess you’re lucky these guys have
their heads up their asses, right? Stupid spiders. They were so sure
I
was
the one working them over, they never really asked about you. There’s a certain
irony there, don’t you think?” He shook his head. “You were last thing on my
mind anyway.”

Ivory.
Jason pictured
her laughing along with Stuart, teasing him about his eating habits with that
sly smile she had. Or holding her arms over her head as they sped down that tunnel
in the M3. The way she called him speediac. At least now he knew why she’d come
on to him at the apartment.

“I couldn’t believe it when I
heard,” Jason said. “I’m sorry.”

“Did you know?” Stuart’s meaning
was clear. Had Jason known Ivory was continued? Had he kept it a secret?

“No,” Jason said.

Stuart sniffed. “So I guess you second
timers aren’t all part of some vast underground conspiracy after all. I thought
the two of you must have been in on this together. Wouldn’t make sense, though,
I guess. Otherwise, why would she have needed me?”

He sighed and pushed himself up
to a sitting position. Hanging his head, he closed his eyes, massaging his
temples in slow circles as he spoke. “I still can’t believe she was lying to me
the whole time. She just wanted to use me to get at Arkive. Kind of a kick in
the balls, now that I think about it.”

“Yeah. I can imagine it would be.
All of it. But that wasn’t the only thing she wanted, Stuart.”

“Oh really? Who else’s life did
she want to try to ruin?”

“She cared about you. Trust me.”

Stuart’s hands froze. His eyes
snapped open, blue daggers aimed in Jason’s direction. “
Trust
you? Did
you really just say that? I mean, Ivory was one hell of a liar, but you? You
could give lessons to the devil himself. I never had a clue. Definitely gotta
hand it to you.”

He laughed then, a strained and
bitter wheeze. “What are you anyway? Like a hundred? One twenty? How’d you
manage to put up with it all that time? It must have felt like hanging out at
the kiddy pool every day. ‘Aww, look at Stuart. He’s reading big boy books,
going to a big boy school, dreaming of a big boy job. They grow up so fast,
don’t they?’”

“It’s not like that.” Twice now,
Stuart had been lied to by people close to him – people who also happened to be
continued. The guy was entitled to some bitterness. And some explanations.

“We haven’t had a chance to talk
since last night,” Jason said. “You should know I’m not just some old guy joyriding
in a young body. You’re a neuro major. You know as well as anyone the mind is a
part
of the body – at a cellular level. If the body’s young, so is the
mind. So am I.” Jason pointed a finger at his brow. “I may have more
experience, more memories than you, but on the spectrum between young and old,
I’m a hell of a lot closer to your end than Dr. Fairchild’s.”

If Stuart was swayed by the
insight, he didn’t show it. He gave Jason the appraising look of a man
examining leftovers, trying to decide if they’d spoiled. “I guess I should be engrossed
in all this theory, but it’s hard to be fascinated when Ivory’s as good as
dead, I’m under suspicion by the feds, and you’re a black market commodity.”

“Then let me put it to you this
way. I’m still the same guy you knew yesterday. I’m just trying to help you
understand where I’m coming from. Where Ivory was coming from.”

“It doesn’t matter where she was
coming from!” Stuart shouted. Jason shrank back, surprised by the anger in his
voice. “It only matters where she ended up. Gone.” Stuart’s hand flicked toward
Jason, and something flew through the air, hitting him in the chest. He looked
down to see the plastic square of a lab badge in his lap, the word “VISITOR”
printed in bold letters across the face. “Guess I won’t be needing that
anymore, right?”

Jason looked at Stuart, confused.
“For Ivory? I thought Fairchild said she wouldn’t issue one.”

“She didn’t.”

Shocked, Jason understood. They
were alone in the chamber, but he lowered his voice anyway. “You
stole
this? For her?”

“Is that so hard to believe? She
manipulated almost as well as you lie. But you know what? It’s fine. I got
along before she showed up, and I don’t need her. I don’t need either of you.”

“Listen,” Jason said. “Why don’t
we talk this over later? We can have a Guinness at the apartment.” He searched Stuart’s
eyes for some spark of the friendship he didn’t want to lose.

“I wish it could be that easy.”
Stuart shook his head. “I’m moving out. Today. I didn’t turn you in to the
spiders, but that doesn’t mean I’m okay with…everything. There’s a reason I
wanted to talk to you before I leave, Jason.”    The imaging chamber seemed
unnaturally quiet as he sat there, seeming so search for his next words.

“I’ve seen the way you and Chaela
have been lately. Is she…like you?”

“A retread?” Jason spat the word
Stuart had avoided. “No.” He thought it better not to mention how he knew that.
Admitting he’d been doing exactly what Stuart had just been falsely accused of
– stealing bio-data – would only make things worse between them.

Stuart’s mouth tightened.
“
Then
you need to tell her that you
are.
Since you don’t seem to be using her
to get at something you want, I assume there must be something genuine there.
Tell her the truth.”

Hearing the words from Stuart,
Jason found he did want to tell her. Her, more than anyone.
No.
Ivory
and Stuart were one thing. They’d found out on their own. But he couldn’t
willingly put Chaela in danger.

“It’s not that simple, Stuart. I
can’t just come out and tell her.”

“Why not?” With a frustrated
glare for Jason, Stuart rose. “When they catch you, do you really want the news
coming from the same spider who just bagged your ass? You want Neal to be the
one to tell her the person she thought she knew – and cared about – isn’t who
he said he was? That he’s been lying to her about everything? Trust
me.
You
don’t.” Stuart retreated a few steps to the walkway out before turning again. “Level
with her, Jason. Or I will.”

The door closed with a hiss
behind him, leaving Jason sealed inside, alone.

Eventually, Jason
gathered the will to rise from his seat on the imaging platform. He’d known the
talk with Stuart would be tough, but he hadn’t expected to feel like he’d just
been dragged around the track by his own car. Maybe he could patch things up
with Stuart later, after he’d had a chance to cool down. But the words about Chaela
kept echoing in his mind.

Level with her.
Or I will.

No. Just look
how well Stuart handled it. How much more would she despise me if she found
out?

As he left the
imaging chamber, the impulse to get away, fight or flight, returned. And no
matter how much he might want to get even with the DIA for what they’d done to Ivory,
flight was definitely the better option. He needed to lower his profile,
separate himself from associations that might turn into liabilities. The catch was,
that meant he’d have to delay his exit from the lab a little longer. Once
again, he changed course from the elevators, this time toward Dr. Fairchild’s
office.

“Come in,
Jason,” came the reply after his quick knock. Despite hearing it through the
door, Dr. Fairchild’s voice still managed to carry the clear, silvery tone he’d
come to recognize. She sat behind the semi-circle of her desk, one hand to her
ear. She quickly beckoned with the other as Jason noted the red icon of an
old-fashioned telephone handset displayed on her photoscreen.

“Properly done,
I’d estimate about a week,” Dr. Fairchild replied to whomever was on the other
end of the voice call.

Jason took a
seat in one of the chairs opposite the desk, waiting for her to finish. The
virtual window spanning the wall behind her still showed the Novella courtyard
up on the ground level. The fountain plaza teemed with traffic as pedestrians
flowed through and around, making their way between late-morning classes.

“Yes. No, I
understand completely, Dr. Bentley. Yes. Goodbye.” The phone icon disappeared
as Dr. Fairchild disconnected the call. For the first time he could recall, she
looked closer to her age today. Not much. Just a trace of weariness around her
eyes.

“Well,” she
said. We’ve had quite a morning, haven’t we? I assumed you might be coming by.”

“I noticed,”
Jason said. “Impressive, since even
I
didn’t know I’d be stopping by
until a minute ago. Should I also assume you know the reason I came?”

“If you like. I
imagine there were times this morning you felt like today could be your last.
For quite a while, at least.”

“The thought
crossed my mind, yeah. It’s still hard to believe they were after Stuart, not
me.”

“But you
wouldn’t have even had to worry about the possibility if you weren’t connected
to the lab. And so that connection has to go. Am I right?”

For someone
whose life depended on lies and deception, Jason realized that to some people,
he was as transparent as the virtual window behind her.

He nodded. “I
hope you won’t try to talk me out of it this time.”

“As much as I’d
like to, no, I won’t.”

“Good.” Jason
told himself not to be disappointed at her lack of resistance. “I’m glad you
understand.” So that was it then. Dr. Fairchild always seemed so prescient with
everything else, he realized he’d been half-hoping for an argument, for her to
surprise him with some plan.
“Don’t be silly, Jason. I’ve taken all this
into account.”
Or something.

“Actually, your resignation
won’t be necessary,” she said. “That call was the science dean. He’s just
informed me the university will be discontinuing the Chariot project.”

Jason realized
he was gaping. “They’re shutting down the lab? Why?”

“Agent Neal
never liked the idea of sharing Arkive, and this whole issue with Stuart has
given him the pretext he needed to convince the DIA to pull out. And without
Arkive to calibrate the equipment, the university deems our chances of
achieving a successful live neuromap too low to justify the costs. As of next
week, lab operations will cease. We’ll use the time between now and then to
wrap things up.”

For the first
time since he’d been continued – no, since long before that – the idea that he
might not succeed in finding Michelle edged its way into his thoughts. In the
back of his mind, he’d always known it was a possibility, but refused to give
the notion any quarter. He’d always believed he could find her – that it would
just be a matter of effort, ingenuity and a lot of patience.

But now, with the
last of his options slipping away, he felt that belief fading along with them. His
search was the one thing that had grounded him. Being able to focus on that
goal helped him overcome his fear of blending into a new and altered world, of
finding himself irrelevant, of being discovered and Arkived again. Along the
way he’d relived missed opportunities, forged new friendships – found life
again.

Would he have
been able to without that search for Michelle driving him to set aside his
fears? The thought disturbed him more than he’d expected. But Dr. Fairchild
seemed to be taking things in stride.

“You don’t seem
very upset,” Jason said. “I can understand letting Chariot go, but what about
your work for Chrysalis?”