5. 5 #3
“Pretty good vocabulary for a twelve year old.” I could see the tiniest twitch at the corner of his mouth, and I knew that he was holding back a smile. “Why were you acting like that?”
“I don't know.”
He shook his head. “That’s not an acceptable answer.”
“I was enraged when I woke up. Everything you said or did just made me ridiculously mad. I don't know how to explain it.” That was as honest as I could be. There wasn't an answer that would serve as a satisfying explanation.
“I'm not going to lecture you because you're my partner and I feel like that's inappropriate, but I'm not going to lie to you. That really pissed me off. Also, you didn’t let me kiss you. That wasn’t nice.”
“Understandable.”
He went on. “Normally I don't mind that you're grumpy in the morning. Sometimes it's a little endearing. Just. . . I am so tired. The past few days you have been so prickly that not even getting handsy on a plane could help your attitude.” He whispered the latter half of his sentence, regardless if anyone nearby could speak English or not. “You’re always going to be my favorite person, but we have to work together. We have to get along.”
“Can I blame this on my period?” I asked, a little grin creeping onto my face.
“Obviously not.”
I'd gotten an IUD months ago, and my menstrual cycle had entirely stopped since then. I was just trying to be funny.
“Do you want to be. . . whoever you’re being, or do you want to be normal so we can kiss and make up?” He asked.
“The second option, of course,” I said. “But I think we'll have to do the kissing part later.”
“You're right,” he concurred, looking around the room. “And I look forward to it.”
“So, you're exploring without me today?” I asked, changing the subject.
He leaned away from the table, sitting upright. “I need to map out the place and send it back to command.”
“And you're leaving me with the suspiciously happy guy?”
“You felt that too?”
I nodded.
Elias glanced toward Dr. Novikov. “I don't trust him.”
“I think I can probably take him down if he tries anything funny in the lab,” I declared.
He gave me an eye crinkling smile at that. “You could. I have a feeling, though, that they definitely need you. I don't anticipate him actually doing anything, but he is hiding something, for sure.”
“We’ll have to see what the viral situation is like, we still don’t have any idea what’s going on up here. Everyone seems pretty chipper, though.”
Dr. Novikov returned, signaling that lunch was coming to an end.
“Dr. Hayes, are you ready to go?” He asked, gesturing to my plate of food that was only half-eaten.
“Yes,” I said, standing. I looked around the room for a trash can.
“I’ll take care of your tray,” Elias said. “Go ahead.” I nodded, resting my hand on his shoulder as I swung my legs around the bench I’d been seated on.
“On Fridays we have pizza,” Dr. Novikov said. “I think you will enjoy that a bit more than our usual fare.”
“Oh it’s not that,” I assured him. “I’m just not feeling well.”
“Off we go, then.”
I was ushered out of the room, but we fell into step when we reached the hallway.
“You seem to be quite comfortable with Mr. Elias,” he commented.
I could feel my face get hot, so I avoided eye contact. “We have worked together before.”
“They would not allow you to come without an escort, why is that?” We’d only been here for twelve hours and I was already being probed for information. Shouldn’t I be the one asking questions?
“The last time I worked with a virus like this, things didn’t go so well. Agent Correa saved my life,” I admitted. “I’m not saying that I’m in danger here, but I need someone around that I can trust.”
He shook his head in understanding. “A bond like that is not easily broken.”
I didn’t continue speaking.
Much the same as the rest of the building, the dingy hallways Dr. Novikov led me down were adorned with wires, pipes, and ducts. The outpost was plain, built entirely for the function of surviving a year-round winter.
The door to the lab was a metal door similar to the one that led into our quarters, security an afterthought in a place like this. Outdated equipment was arranged neatly in the small room, and it was pretty much what I had expected.
“I hope our facilities here will be of use to you,” said the Doctor.
“It depends,” I said. “Have the samples I requested from the U.S. arrived yet?”
“No,” he shook his head. “They will be here on Friday when the rest of the supplies arrive.”
“Uh, what day is today?” I asked sheepishly.
Dr. Novikov smiled. “Today is Wednesday.”
“Would you like to show me what I’ll be working with? I can at least start to brainstorm.”
I followed him as he walked to an old computer that had gathered a fair bit of dust. He booted it on, the fans humming to life as it woke up.
It did not require a username or password, and he hit the enter key to get to the desktop.
Double-clicking a file, he stepped back and gestured for me to take a seat.
Complying with his unspoken order, and my curiosity piqued, I sat in the chair and scrolled through the file, most interested in the photos at the top of the screen. Snapshots from a microscope, one after another, of the most bizarre thing I’d encountered thus far.
I leaned forward, my face inches from the computer screen. “What is this? Is this contaminated? It looks like there’s metal shavings mixed in.”
“No, that is the virus in a host cell.”
I was overcome with dread.