The Seven (10 page)

"You exaggerate," said John. "It's not a battalion. It's maybe a fifth of a battalion, maybe less."

"It's enough," said Holly. "It's probably more than enough."

Andy couldn't believe what he was feeling. If he was undergoing even a fraction of the pain that Posey was undergoing, he could understand why she screamed. Under his skin, his muscles were expanding, rolling, churning like wild animals. His biceps rippled and the skin of his arms stretched like the bicep was going to rip through it. He was sweating and the sweat was oily and gave off a thick, foul odor that made him gag when he accidentally breathed in through his nose.

His jeans tore open at the calf and the thigh. His shirt bulged and stretched until it ripped along the seams. The copper button that fastened his jeans at the waist popped off and ricocheted off one of the walls. The neckband of his shirt became so tight that it threatened to strangle him. He reached up and tried to slip a finger beneath it, but his fingers had swelled so much that they were almost useless. He tensed his neck; rolling waves of pain shot through his body and the neckband tore open. Andy could feel tears rolling down the corners of his eyes and he shook with sobs that he stubbornly refused to vocalize.

Dr. Cormair crawled over to Andy's side. He reached into his pocket and produced a jet-spray hypo. "This is a sedative. It will not put you to sleep. You have too much mass and muscle for this to affect you like it once did. It should ease your pain, though. It might also make it difficult for you to move." Andy felt the cold metal of the hypo touch his neck and a slight pulse as the fluids were released into his system. In moments, the pain in his body lessened to a bearable level, but Cormair had been correct. He was unable to move. His arms and legs became dead weight.

A gruff male voice shouted through the pneumatic door. "Attention! We are about to blow the door to the laboratory! Stand away from the door!" A second later, the door buckled from the force of a contained explosion and fell into the lab with a horrendous crash. In the span of a heartbeat, a dozen soldiers with machine guns and shotguns burst into the lab. They were screaming orders and commands and checking behind cabinets and under desks. They moved with an amazing proficiency. In seconds, the screaming stopped and another solider walked into the room, followed by Dr. Sebbins.

Dr. Sebbins rushed to Dr. Cormair's side and checked his vitals. "I am afraid I will require an ambulance, Doctor," Cormair coughed. "I believe I have some internal injuries. Indigo has manifested some striking abilities."

The soldier who walked into the room with Sebbins flipped open a two-way radio and called for a gurney and medics. In moments, several military corpsmen sprinted into the room and placed Cormair and Hathcock on gurneys.

"Andy, where are the others?" asked Dr. Sebbins. Andy could detect an edge to her voice. She was nearly pleading with him. "These men need to find them before anything happens to them. It's for their own safety; please understand."

Andy gave her a half-smile, but didn't say anything. He turned his head to face up to the ceiling and stared. The medicine that Dr. Cormair had shot into his neck was already fading. The pain was returning slowly.

The soldier who seemed to be in charge strode over and pulled Dr. Sebbins away from Andy's side. He consulted a chart. "You are Subject One. Codename: Brawn. You are under our employ. You will do as you are told. This is non-negotiable. Where are the other subjects?"

Andy smiled at the soldier. He could see captain's bars on the man's shoulders. A cloth nameplate on the man's shirt read "Krantz." Captain Krantz. His face was heavily scarred on the left side. He had an eye-patch. Captain Krantz the pirate. Andy pictured him with a tri-cornered hat and a parrot. The image made Andy smile more.

The captain turned to Sebbins. "Is this subject retarded?"

"No. He's fine...I hope," said Sebbins. "He's undergoing a physical change, though. His pain level must be through the roof. It's probably all he can do to keep from screaming."

"How do we deal with this?"

"We need to get him to a hyper-womb. There used to be one in this room, but it was apparently destroyed. There are more on this floor."

"You put me in one, and I'm going to destroy it," grunted Andy. His voice seemed foreign to him. His voice seemed to have dropped an octave and it was thick and gravelly.

"I do not know if you will be able to get him off the floor," said Cormair. "His mass has increased exponentially."

"We'll get a forklift down here if we need to," said Krantz. "Can you walk?"

Andy shook his head. His thigh muscles were still rippling like water, swelling and getting thicker. His legs weren't his own currently. Any mental signals he could send to make them move seemed to be ending at his trunk. He could only lie on the ground like a twisted lump of flesh.

"You four," Krantz pointed at a cadre of soldiers. "See if you can get this subject off the floor."

The soldiers quickly surrounded Andy and slipped their hands around his shoulders and legs. On a three count, they all lifted as a group. Andy quivered for a moment, but remained on the ground. In a moment, the soldiers gave up. "Captain, this subject must weigh more than ton, currently."

"Then let's get the forklift." Krantz flipped open the radio again and barked out orders. In moments, the sound of a small engine could be heard in the tunnels. A forklift, painted in sand camouflage, came into the labs. The tines of the lift scraped the floor as they moved toward Andy.

"You're going to hurt him!" Sebbins cried. "He's strong, not invulnerable!"

"Do you have a better idea, Doctor?"

Sebbins bit her lip. "No."

"Then we proceed," Krantz gave the forklift driver a signal and the forklift moved forward. Several soldiers had to slide thick, corded ropes under Andy's neck and arms, and then a dozen of them pulled on the ropes to roll Andy to his side. The forklift crept forward slowly until the tines touched Andy's back. The soldiers let go of the ropes and Andy crashed down on the forklift tines. The driver started to lift Andy and the hydraulics groaned and protested. A few soldiers leapt onto the back of the forklift to keep it from tipping forward. The tines were able to lift Andy a few inches off the floor, but the balance point of the forklift was close to being compromised.

"Get him down the hall; get the doctor to the infirmary," shouted Krantz. "Doctor? Will you be accompanying the subject?"

"I will accompany
Andrew
, yes," Sebbins spat. "He's a human being! Treat him like one!"

Krantz ignored her completely. He turned to two of the corpsmen standing by. "McCloskey, DeWitt---get the subject into a hyper-womb immediately. Get the tank filled and start monitoring his vitals. According to the doctor's records, this one may be capable of extreme strength. Use extra sedation in the tank. I don't need him punching his way out."

Andy gave Sebbins as much of a smile as he could muster. "They better knock me the hell out, because if I can swing my arm in that tank, I'm going to blast out of it."

"I know you will," Sebbins said. She patted his arm and the forklift started crawling out of the lab, straining and slipping with Andy's weight.

Dr. Sebbins bit her lip. She felt like the whole experience was too surreal, too chaotic to be actually happening. Combined with smoky haze from the explosions that took out the doors, the lab felt more dream-like than real, as if she could pinch herself and wake up safe in her own bed. The acrid smoke in her nose and the noise and the diesel smell of the forklift told her that it was all too valid.

The corpsmen were preparing to move Dr. Cormair out of the lab. "Give me a minute with him, please!" Sebbins said. She knelt down next to the gurney. "In private, please, Doctor-Patient confidentiality. I am his personal physician, I have to ask him some relevant medical questions. A patient is entitled to a private conference in this matter."

Cormair arched an eyebrow at Sebbins and Sebbins winked back. The corpsmen exchanged confused glances and shrugs and reluctantly moved back several paces. Sebbins lowered her lips to Cormair's ears. "Where did they go?"

Cormair wheezed and coughed. He whispered as quietly as he could. "The...hidden entrance. The tunnel."

"Do you know where they're heading?"

Cormair shook his head. He tried to speak, but a cough stopped him short.

"Will they leave without Andy?" asked Sebbins.

Cormair coughed and shook his head. "I don't...think so."

"So they'll be on the property."

Cormair nodded.

"How do I stabilize Andy so he can get out of here? I want to find them and take them to the Safe House."

The Safe House was a hidden lab just over a hundred miles away. Cormair had set it up in case of an emergency. He had quietly funneled money to the creation of the Safe House from the incoming grants. The investors didn't know it even existed. Cormair had the foresight to hire several independent contractors to build the lab in sections. It was completely off the grid, supplied with energy by a hydroelectric generator and a geothermal steam vent.

Cormair nodded. Sebbins hoped he knew it was for the best. "The serum," Cormair croaked. "It's the only thing that can help him...but, Andy...he might be able to take the pain. Posey cannot; her transformation is the most extreme. She must be placed back in a hyper-womb. You might...be able to get Andy out--" Cormair was wracked by a cough that made him wince in pain and brought a trickle of blood to the corner of his mouth. "Inject him with a massive dose of serum straight into his bloodstream, preferably in his carotid artery. He may be able to get enough use of his body. He will need the serum consistently until he...finishes his change." Cormair gasped for air, and then his head lolled to one side.

"Corpsmen!" Sebbins called out. The soldiers rushed to the gurney and began administering oxygen. "Is he going to be all right? I think he might be bleeding internally."

"He just passed out," said one of the men feeling for a pulse. "We need to get him into surgery fast, though. We have a surgeon on the way. He should be at the base in twenty minutes."

Sebbins bit her lip. She walked over to a refrigerator in the corner of the lab where Cormair kept his supply of medicines. There were several IV bottles of serum and a few hypos of sedatives and steroids. She pocketed them all, whispering a prayer of thanks for the oversized pockets of her lab coat.

The soldiers had unceremoniously dumped Andy's body onto the base plate of one of the hyper-wombs. Sebbins could see him struggling to deal with pain. The soldiers were lowering the glass encasement over Andy's body.

"Wait!" Sebbins walked in and injected Andy with two hypos of serum. She lowered her voice and whispered in his ear, "When this takes hold, you should be able to move. Whatever happens happens, okay?"

Andy smiled at her with gritted teeth. "If I start, find a place to hide, Doc. I'm going to trash this place like a Led Zeppelin hotel room."

Sebbins walked over to the life support monitor for the tank and instructed the soldiers to continue lowering the tank. Andy's bulk took up nearly the entire base plate, but tank locked securely into place. The vacuum seal on the base engaged and the tank became water-tight. The serum began to pour down into the tank around Andy, splashing him and covering him with viscous orange syrup. The serum filled the tank quickly.

Sebbins could see the look of peace on his face; she could tell the serum had removed his pain. She leaned over the microphone on the control board. "Andy? Can you hear me in there?" Andy nodded.

"We didn't have time to wholly sedate you. In a few moments, the serum will be up to the top of the tank. You will not be able to breathe air anymore." Andy's face jerked out of its passive look. His eyes focused hard on Sebbins.

"Don't worry," she said. "You will not die. You will panic, however. The serum is oxygenated. It will keep you alive. You need to trust me on this. Swallow as much as you can so your stomach gets full. Then, when the serum is over your head, you have to breathe it in. You have to suck it into your lungs. Big, deep breaths. You will panic. Your body is going to try to fight it. It's a natural instinct. It's your body wanting to keep you alive."

The soldiers came over behind Sebbins to watch the monitors with her. She slipped a hand into her lab pocket and lightly fingered a sedative hypo.

Andy began to suck down big mouthfuls of the serum, grimacing as he swallowed it. He gagged slightly and coughed. The last foot of room in the tank filled quickly and Andy was submerged.

He was holding his breath; Sebbins could see it. "Andy, if you don't try to breathe normally, you're going to have a tougher time adapting to this tank!"

Andy closed his eyes and his mouth opened. His eyes popped open and his body went into spasm as the survival instinct took over. He began to seize.

"Blow the air out of your lungs, Andy. The inhalation will feel more natural. Don't worry! This will only last a few seconds!"

Andy shook and twitched. His arms began to tremble.

"Andy! This is normal! Listen to my voice: You will be okay, Andy! You
will
be okay."

Andy suddenly uncurled, flinging out his arms and legs. His fists and feet slammed into the glass of the tank and shattered the thick glass. The serum poured out of the tank in a glossy orange wave.

Sebbins pulled the hypo from her pocket and jabbed the nearest security guard in the neck. His eyes closed and he fell over almost immediately. Andy stepped out of the tank and took two steps that shook the room. He reached out and grabbed the two-way radio that the other soldier was fumbling. Andy squeezed his oversized hand around it and crushed it. He extended a finger and poked the soldier in the head. The man's eyes rolled up into his head and he fell to the ground in a heap.