Kill School: Slice (23 page)

Burke is
a no-show in the morning, so Vanessa, Mateo, and I walk over to biology. My
bruised ribs make my movement very slow, but I manage to walk across campus on
my own. By the stares and consolatory comments, everyone has heard what
happened to us yesterday. 

Mateo, Vanessa, and I enter the biology classroom and sit
at our station. Jack and Matthew come over to check on us and to tell us that
Demi is already plotting revenge. Apparently, she’s good at that. Professor
Hammerschmidt ignores us as he works on his terminal. With no sign of the
cadaver, I hope we are not going to do any more dissections today.

Professor Hammerschmidt stands and clears his throat to get
our attention. His eyes hover on Vanessa and then me before resting on Erwin’s
empty stool. He lets out a sigh as if he feels sorry for Erwin and not us. I
sit on my hand to avoid clenching my fists.

“Would anyone like to guess what we are going to do today?”
Professor Hammerschmidt asks.

“Dissect Erwin,” Jack shouts. Matthew laughs.

Professor Hammerschmidt’s eyes narrow as he makes his way
over to Jack and Matthew’s station. He pulls Jack’s earlobe.

“Maybe we should slice this off,” Professor Hammerschmidt
says. “Would you find that amusing?”

Jack rubs his ear as Professor Hammerschmidt makes his way to
the door of the classroom. Instead of closing it, he asks us to stand.

“Today we are going on a field trip,” Professor
Hammerschmidt says. “Up to the Mothers Aide Research Pavilion. Of course, most
of it is off limits, but I have arranged for us to be special guests of
Regulator Krish. Some of you may not know Regulator Krish is an esteemed
research scientist, himself.”

 Professor Hammerschmidt beams with pride as we line up in
front of the door. Vanessa, Mateo, and I pack in closely with Jack and Matthew
as we follow Professor Hammerschmidt down the hall.

To reach the research pavilion, we have to go outside, to
the rear of the science building. Professor Hammerschmidt takes us to the tower
opposite the one where Burke and I did our sneaking. We enter the building and
walk through an arch with the words Mothers Aide Research Pavilion above it.

The building smells sterile and moldy at the same time. I
can tell it’s ancient by the layers of peeling paint and the worn-out floor. We
pass the spiral staircase that must lead up the tower and enter a glass-walled
lab on the ground floor.

A woman in a lab coat hunches over a microscope. Several
dozen monkeys sit quietly in cages against the wall. One monkey is strapped to
a chair so that he can’t move. A metal clamp encircles the monkey’s head and
her scalp is red and hairless. Everything in here makes me want to leave
immediately.

“Katsumi, we are here,” Professor Hammerschmidt says.

Katsumi turns around and pretends to be surprised to see
us. She gives us a well-rehearsed speech about how the monkeys are helping us
with science. This is a bust. I won’t find any more information here.

While Katsumi continues to talk, I step back toward the
door. I want to do a bit of poking around to try to discover Regulator Krish’s
lab. I step quietly out the door before anyone notices I am gone.

Luckily, I am only wearing the white shirt and not the
turquoise vest of my uniform. The pants, however, have a long turquoise stripe
on each side. I hope that I can keep everyone looking up at my face. Maybe the
bruises will distract them.

I take several tentative steps toward the stairwell. Trying
to be stealth with a bruised rib is near impossible. I make it up two flights
of stairs and have to lean against the wall to catch my breath. Someone has
written
Barstow Sucks
under a cracked light.

I decide to stop climbing stairs and explore the hall of
offices and labs on this floor. Walking down the quiet hall with my bruised
face and messy hair makes me realize how out of place I am. This place, with
its polished floors and sterile white paint, oozes scientist. When I see a lab
coat hanging on a hook in an empty lab, I slip inside the door.

I grab the coat and put it on just as someone else enters
the lab.

Crap.

I turn around to greet the brunette scientist I encountered
on my stealth excursion with Burke. Double crap.

“Hey,” she says. “You’re the woman in the bathroom. What
happened to your face?”

The woman extends her fingers as if she’s going to touch my
bruise. I back away and swat her hand automatically. She frowns.

“Never mind,” she says. “Facial regenerations can be a bit
rough sometimes. We’ve all been through it. Are you doing research over here
now?”

I’m trapped. I have to channel my mother. I’m a good
doctor.

“Yes,” I say.

I smooth out my lab coat, to make myself look more
impressive and to give myself time to think.

“I’m helping out Regulator Krish with some menial tasks,
you know. Washing test tubes. Shaving monkeys.”

The brown-haired woman frowns. I am not channeling my
mother. I’m channeling a sixteen year old pretending to be a scientist.

“Those poor monkeys,” the woman says.

I did it. I didn’t blow my cover. This gives me confidence.
I get her to talk more about the experiments in the pavilion.

She tells me the monkeys have genetically modified DNA
either to stop them from reproducing or to shorten their life span. The
scientists changed their DNA to damage their organs so that they die faster.
Regulator Krish wants to end immortality. 

“He dissects those poor little things,” the scientist says.
“He says it’s the only way to see how their organs are degenerating. I don’t
know why he doesn’t use the virtual surgery pod. I guess he likes to work with
his hands. That poor boy. Every morning he’s stuck in the virtual pod. What if Krish
ever tries to turn his scalpel on him?”

My hands go numb. Virtual surgeries. The boy in the lab.
Burke disappears every morning. Nurse Smith knows him well.

“The boy with blond hair?” I ask.

“You’ve seen him too?” she gulps. “Can you believe Krish
wants to harvest his organs? I overheard him talking about it. There is
something very special about that boy. My guess is that it has something to do
with dying. Do you know?”

I shake my head. I can’t talk. I want to get out. I want to
get to Burke. My legs are numb.

“I have to go now,” I say.

I back out of the lab and scurry down the stairs as fast as
my bruised ribs will let me go. I ditch the lab coat in the garbage just as my
classmates are exiting the glass-walled lab. I open the door to the nearby
bathroom and pretend to be coming out of it as Professor Hammerschmidt spots
me.

“A little sick, are you Aria?” he asks.

I nod and wipe my mouth. “More than a little,” I say.

After
the tour of the lab, Professor Hammerschmidt sets us free. I want to get as far
away from the Mothers Aide Research Pavilion as possible. I want to tell
everything I heard to Vanessa and Mateo.

I yank Mateo and Vanessa along by the elbows to get away
from the rest of the class and out of the science building.

“Stop pinching me,” Vanessa says. “I can’t go that fast.”

We pass a bunch of pearl and sapphire uniformed joggers as
we approach the center of campus and keep going.

“Slow down,” Mateo says. “Vanessa can’t keep up.”

“We need to be out of ear shot,” I say.

Vanessa collapses on a bench in the center of campus and
holds her side.

“Have you forgotten we’re injured,” she says between short
breaths.

“I have,” I say. This is so important that I forgot all
about my ribs.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mateo asks. “You’re acting like
you saw a ghost. Was it all those monkeys?”

“There are too many people here,” I say. The campus is
teeming with kids going to and from class.

“I can’t go on anymore,” Vanessa says. “I can’t breathe.”

“You better tell us now,” Mateo says. “Nobody’s going to
listen to a bunch of first weeks gossiping on a bench.”

“Fine,” I say.

I sit down next to Vanessa and pull Mateo down next to me.
I tell them everything that happened, from me sneaking into the lab to what the
scientist said about Burke.

“We have to find Burke,” I say. “I think his life is in
danger.”

“I have stealth next,” Vanessa says. “I can tell him then.”

“No, don’t,” I say. I look around to make sure no one can
hear us. “Not in front of your classmates.”

Vanessa rolls her eyes.

“Aria, I’m the only one in the class,” she says. “I’ll tell
him when I see him. We only have a few more minutes before class starts. I
should get going. It will take me forever to walk over to the stream.”

Mateo helps Vanessa up.

“I’ll walk you over,” Mateo says, “The Hunter cancelled
fire so I have some free time.”

We walk the rest of the way across campus, slower this
time. Grace meets at the lake, so we drop Vanessa off first. We stand in front
of the stream that leads to the thicket where Burke is supposed to be waiting.

“Thanks you guys.” Vanessa says. “I’ll can make it the rest
of the way on my own.”

“I’ll go with you,” I say. “I can tell Burke in person.”

Vanessa hesitates, looking across the stream. I get the
feeling she doesn’t want me to intrude on her private lesson with Burke.

“He’s not here yet,” Vanessa says.

I put my hands on my hips. “How do you know? I thought you
were supposed to meet past the trees. Not even I can see that far into the
woods.” I wonder how stealth Vanessa really is.

“We have a signal,” Vanessa says. She points to the tree
stump. “If he’s in the woods, he leaves me a bottle of water on that stump. No
water. No Burke.”

“Oh,” I say. “I thought you were magic.”

“I am magic,” Vanessa says. She reaches in my jacket pocket
and pulls out a small bread knife.

“That’s not mine,” I say.

“I know,” Vanessa says. “I put it there. Magic tricks are a
part of stealth.” She grins. “You can add it to your sharp object collection.”

 “It’s not very sharp.” I slip the knife back in my pocket
and hug Vanessa. She smells like medicine mixed with hot chocolate.

“Stay safe,” I whisper.

“You too,” Vanessa says.

Mateo and I watch Vanessa cross over the stream and
disappear into the woods.

“She’s my best friend,” Mateo says as we wait. “I can’t let
anyone hurt her again.”

“We won’t,” I say. “We’ll protect her together. I have an
idea, Mateo. Come with me. I’m going to get you in grace.”

“Seriously?” Mateo asks.

“Seriously,” I say. “If we learn how to be graceful
together, we have a better chance of protecting Vanessa.”

Mateo puts his arm on my shoulder as we walk toward grace.

 “I’ve been dying to see those light action bazookas they
use in the games. Have you shot one yet?”

“You mean those handheld fireball cannons?” I ask.

Mateo laughs.

“Whatever you want to call them, Aria. Are we going to
practice for the games today?”

I shrug my shoulders.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Mateo and I walk down the path to grace talking about the
games. He’s so excited about firing the cannons and telling Shah that he may be
in the games that I can’t get a word in edgewise. For a moment, I feel as if
I’m back in high school crossing the field with a new friend. Thinking of being
back in school with Vanessa and Mateo makes me smile. Kill School will be over
in a few short weeks. I can’t wait.

Vladimir
is down by the lake. He’s wearing a heavy parka and a fuzzy hat that makes him
look like a walrus—not that I have ever seen a walrus in real life. Priyanka,
Mal, and some of the other kids surround Vladimir. When Vladimir sees us, he
shakes the others away.

Vladimir greets Mateo and me with open arms. He seems happy
to see Mateo, grabs his elbow, and shakes his hand.

“Are we going to have a visitor today?” Vladimir asks.

“I was hoping a more permanent member of our team,” I say.

Vladimir furrows his brow.

“I’ve heard you are a good shot,” Vladimir says to Mateo.
“But the Hunter would never let me take you from her.”

Mateo looks down at his feet.

“Tell you what,” Vladimir says. “You come join us today and
I’ll speak to the Hunter about training you on the fireball launchers. That’s
what you want, right?”

Mateo nods. “Yes, sir. That would be awesome.”

“So we have a deal.” Vladimir extends his hand. “You can
play in the games.”