Page 77 of Perfection

Chapter Seventeen

Kindra followed York into the living area. “We should head to Seville.”

He eyed her and shook his head. “No. After the scare you had last night, you need a break. HERO and Comp Nine are working the stats, and there haven’t been any more GEI cases in a few days. Even the Coder connection needs to be analyzed; that takes time. You can wait here just as well as you can in the office. Comp Nine will forward any updates, no matter your location. Okay?”

She laced her fingers and nodded, thinking.

“Good,” he said. “I’ll go follow up on my investigation and leave you alone.”

“No. On second thought, I’m not going to allow last night to keep me from my work” She looked at Brianna, still seated at the table. “What if I take Brianna and Nanny Sally to the office? I really don’t want to leave her here.”

“I’d prefer they stay completely out of sight.”

Brianna left the table and came into the room. Where moments before she’d dug into York’s food, now she looked tired. Kindra’s heart beat faster. She tipped Brianna’s face up. Her cheeks appeared pale, her complexion pasty.

“I feel funny.” Brianna’s eyelids dipped downward in a heavy sweep. “I’m going to rest.”

York gave Kindra an anxious glance. “You don’t think…?”

Together, they followed Brianna to her room. Nanny Sally picked up a brush, ready to tend to Brianna. “The child’s core temperature is 103 degrees.”

Kindra fought a swell of panic. That could only mean one thing: Brianna had the virus.

“Okay,” she said slowly, trying to allow logic to rule her emotions when all she wanted to do was cry and grab her daughter and hold on tight. She forced a smile for Brianna. “Looks like we’re going to have another adventure.”

York placed a comforting hand on Kindra’s shoulder. Tension tightened her back muscles. A twinge of pain from the wound along her spine reminded her of her fear last night. It was nothing compared to the stabbing in her heart now. My God, she wasn’t used to either. She gave a long, controlled exhale. “I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered to him.

“So am I.” He touched his lips to her temple. “Everything will be all right.”

She tilted her head to the side, then nodded.

“You need to test her, right?”

“Yes, but I wish there was a way to take her directly to cryo.”

“You have everything you need here. Go ahead and draw the blood samples. I’ll see to it that they are delivered to Seville right away.”

“Are we going somewhere again?” Brianna asked drowsily.

This time, Kindra bent and lifted her daughter into her arms. “Yes, you may have to take a nap in the cryo beds like the other D Generation children.”

Her bright little girl looked at York and back to her mother. “I guess I have the virus, too.”

“Perhaps. We’re going to find out.” Kindra tried to keep her voice even.

York left the child’s room and returned with her medical bag. “Here you go,” he said, placing the bag before her.

Kindra gathered a blood sample with the blood test strip. When she was finished, he placed it in a special box and attached it to a drone that would fly it to one of her scientists at Seville.

“I’ll have someone personally confirm its arrival at Seville. They can send you the results.”

As they traveled in the air-car, the hum of the vehicle’s engines assaulted her nerves more than ever. Brianna sat quiet and inactive in the back seat.

With Foster Cryogenics in sight, Kindra noted the sun’s position in the sky. She couldn’t suppress the tension twisting inside her. How many hours had she wasted, coming home when she should have been searching for a cure?

No, not wasted. She began to see how fragile and important those moments were. And she prayed there would be many more when this was all over. She bit down on her lip and gazed out the window at the bright landscape of the city. Below them, she spotted a line of about twenty children being escorted by one or two adults.

“So much for me thinking the virus had stopped spreading,” York said as he landed.