CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Nat watched the team working on the intricate system of pathways that would lead from one cabin to the next. The Russian workers camped out in tents lower in the valley and made the trek up the mountain for their shifts every day. They didn’t seem to mind the thistles and loose rocks, but the team certainly did. Ensuring a safe and secure pathway for everyone would be key to their little community operating effectively.
She watched in amazement as Flip moved the larger boulders with just a flick of his wrist. He stacked them strategically, creating a manmade barrier around their piece of the mountain. A giant wall of boulders circled the land, lining the edge of Uri’s property.
Along the pathways, Ivy created long lines of beautiful landscaping, defining the spaces more clearly. Nash rerouted part of the stream so it would align with the cabins, making it useful but also aesthetically pleasing. The clear crystal water was their water source, a purification system placed near the top of the stream as it trickled down from the snowy caps above them.
Kane stopped in his tracks and held up his hand.
“What’s wrong?” asked Flip, suddenly on high alert, his body tense and ready to leap into action if needed.
“I don’t hear anything.” Kane strained to hear the sounds of the workers but nothing.
“Yea, me either. What’s the problem? Never mind. Why don’t we hear anything?” asked Flip.
“Oh, sorry,” said Ashley and Akin in unison.
“That was us,” said Akin. “We were getting a headache with all the pounding of the construction, so we’ve been blocking the sound for the last few hours. We can release it if you like.” He grinned at Kane and then back at his sister. They were eerily identical, other than being male and female.
“Pretty cool, guys,” laughed Kane, “but I wouldn’t want something to happen at the construction sites, and we can’t hear it. I think we can suffer with the hammers and saws for a while longer.”
Akin nodded and held his sister’s hand. A few seconds later, the buzzing and hammering continued as if never disrupted. Kane could only shake his head in amazement. Adam watched with medical interest, shaking his head as well.
“Fascinating,” said Adam under his breath. “Have you two always been able to do that?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
“And do you always answer in unison?” he laughed.
“Not always,” said Akin, “but most of the time. We started blocking out sound as toddlers when we tried to go to bed. We would block out the television or radio in our parents’ living room. They didn’t know it, but we could do it and go right to sleep.” Adam nodded again.
“Is Ivy here?”
“She was with Regan,” smiled Flip. “Find one, and you’ll find the other.”
Adam grinned and nodded, walking around the area as work continued. He found Ivy seated on a large boulder beneath the shade of a tree, Regan seated next to her.
“Hi, Doc,” she said cheerfully.
“Hi, Ivy, how are you feeling?”
“Okay. The medicine seems to be controlling the discomfort, but the rash is still there.”
“Ivy, I want to ask you some questions about your time at the Depot,” he said calmly.
Kane and Flip turned to hear what doc had to say, moving toward the couple on the boulder. He sat beside her on the cool grass, Regan never leaving her side.
“Okay, but I don’t remember much, I have to be honest. I was much younger than most of the others when I was there.” Ivy shrugged her shoulders, knowing that she wouldn’t be much help to Adam if he was going to dig into her past. Like all of the other ‘gifted,’ she was a child during her time at the Depot.
“That’s okay. Let’s just give it a try. How old were you when you were at the Depot?”
“I guess between the ages of two and four. I don’t remember going there, but I remember leaving and not being happy. I was sick then, too. Not with a rash. I don’t remember…” she said, rubbing her temples.
Adam’s eyebrows raised both in curiosity and questioning. She hadn’t mentioned being sick as a child.
“Do you remember what you felt? Were you sick to your stomach?” asked Adam.
“N-no, I don’t think so. I think… I think it was serious. I remember my mother crying, and my father was angry because she wanted to leave the Depot. She didn’t want to be at the Depot anymore. I remember her saying that it, the Depot, was making me sick.”
“What happened to your parents, Ivy?” asked Adam.
“They died in a car accident when I was seven.”
“I see. Ivy, did you see doctors when you were at the Depot?”
“Doc,” said Regan impatiently, “I know you’re trying to help Ivy, but it’s clear she can’t remember that far back.”
“This is important, Regan. Indulge me.”
“I did. I think it’s why my father was angry. I remember my hair… my hair fell out. I remember because my mother used to put bows in my hair, and she couldn’t anymore. I was crying, and my mother was holding me.”
“Ivy, this is really important. Did you see a doctor more than once?” Ivy rubbed her temples again and then closed her eyes as if willing the memory to return.
“I did. Many times. We had to go off-base.” She was quiet for a moment, begging the memories to come to the surface. “I had cancer. I think I had cancer. The doctor said something to my father about a foreign body or something that was inside me that shouldn’t be.”
“Ivy, I’m going to lay my hands on your body again. Just relax.” Adam laid his palms against Ivy’s stomach and then her back, moving down her torso to her legs and then back up to her chest and arms. “Fiona?”
“Here,” she cried, running towards him.
“I need you to look for something with me. I think it’s hidden really well.”
“O-okay,” she replied quietly, laying her hands against Ivy.
“In her chest, it’s hidden behind the heart. I think it shouldn’t be there. I can’t…” said Adam.
“I see it,” said Fiona. “It’s a metal piece, something round, but it’s not like a pacemaker. I’ve seen those before.”
“What is happening?” cried Ivy. “What’s wrong with me? Is my cancer back?”
“Ivy, I think when you were sick, the doctors at the Depot put a tracking device inside you. I think the device is what’s making you sick. I believe it’s moved and is creating a sort of rebellion within your body. You show no signs of your cancer returning. All your blood work is clear, and neither Fiona nor I detect cancerous cells.”
“What do we do?” asked Regan, squeezing her hand.
“We take it out,” said Adam. “But we also need to check everyone for one. If Ivy has one, we all might. They may not be functional any longer, but it would lead anyone straight to us.”
“Son-of-a-bitch!” said Flip.
“You said it, brother,” grinned Adam. “Okay, missy, let’s get you back to the clinic, and we’ll get that hunk of metal out of you.”
Two hours later, Ivy was sitting up, her rash already dissipating and a small incision on her chest covered with a bandage.
“Is that it?” asked Kane, staring at the small metal disc.
“That’s it, brother. Definitely military-grade. It’s old, but it was functioning.” Adam looked at the small metal disc, the wires corroded due to exposure in her body. “It was supposed to be housed outside the rib cage, but it must have dislodged and caused problems. She’s lucky it didn’t pierce her organs or find its way into something that could have killed her.”
“Damn!” cursed Flip. “What about the rest of us?”
“I think we have everyone pass beneath my hands and Fiona’s. If it’s there, we’ll see it now that we know what we’re looking for.”
“Then what?” asked Kane.
“Then we remove them all. My guess is anyone wounded in the military probably had it removed there. I would bet the doctors thought it was shrapnel. But let’s be sure.”
For two days, Fiona and Adam scanned every member of the team. In the end, Adam was right. Spook, Flip, and Kane all had wounds from their service days. The device was removed along with what the medics thought was shrapnel. Nash, Garrett, and Gable were the same. All of the others still had their chips.
Adam carefully removed each of them, laying them out on a tray for all to see. Walking up to see the devices, Nat raised her hands.
“Can I?” she asked, allowing the flames to flicker at her fingertips.
“I think it seems a fitting end,” grinned Kane.
Flames licked her fingertips and then the metal discs. With heat unimaginable, the metal curved and melted before their eyes. As if on cue, Nash doused the flames to reveal only a melted ball of nothing.
“Well done, baby,” said Flip, pulling Nat close. She winced slightly at the pull of the sutures on her back. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Pain or no, a hug from you is always welcome.” She reached up to kiss his cheek, and the whole team gave a big ‘awww.’ Flip did what he was good at. He flipped them all off.