CHAPTER 49: COOPERATION
16 years old
Summer’s roused from a fog-like sleep with a woman’s face hovering over hers. She’s seen her before, but can’t place the face. Summer inventories the grey streaks in the woman’s black, silky hair, and the dark color of her skin that reminds her of someone from India or near the Middle East. Her accent, however, is clearly British.
“Summer, so nice of you to join us,” she says. “I’m Doctor Zhar.”
Summer tries to move but, just like before, she’s tied down. Constricted. It makes her heart pound and her breath come in quick rasps.
“I want to talk to you before I release the restraints. Get things straight between us,” says Doctor Zhar. “You see, I’m hoping that you won’t cause us any trouble, and until I am confident that you’ll be a good little girl, you’ll remain just like this. Act like an animal and you’ll be caged like one.”
Summer already doesn’t like this woman one bit. All she can think about is her mother, her new friends, and the hope she was finally feeling. Now it’s all been zipped away like a popped balloon, spluttering and deflating.
“As I’m sure you’ve already been told, you’re the cause for the Exodus. We won’t hold that against you here; not in this building. Not like those on the outside world that want to kill you for the wars you’ve caused.”
Wars I caused? thinks Summer bitingly. I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for this place!
“Ah, I can see you’re upset with us,” say Doctor Zhar with faux sympathy. “That’s completely understandable. I apologize for everything that’s happened. It was good that we caught you in time.”
Now Summer raises her eyebrows, not comprehending.
“Yes, after that shift in time your internal clock work went a little haywire,” says Doctor Zhar. “No worries, we’ve tuned you up, and everything’s fine now.” She says it like Summer’s a car. Vroom, vroom. “Now here comes the part where I ask for your cooperation. We want to train you to use your time traveling abilities. We’ll provide room and board, all your food, health care, and needs. All we ask in return is for you to go on . . . missions. You see, you could provide us with the intelligence we need to conquer the Canadian Federation once and for all.”
Doctor Zhar holds up a finger as if she’s stopping Summer from speaking—which is comical from Summer’s point of view.
“I know what you’re thinking. If we’ve fixed you then why should you help us? Well, there are a few reasons. Besides the necessities, we can provide you with riches beyond your wildest dreams.”
Summer almost snorts but is too scared to make a sound in case this woman has a whip.
“Other than that? We’ve made sure that there won’t be spontaneous shifts in time, but we have much work to do if you want to make it so only you go through time instead of all those with a specific blood type. That was the downside to it all—why we were going to terminate the project in the first place. After sixteen years, we’ve yet to create another subject with such excellent results as yours. Of course, you might accidently trigger another shift in time without proper training. Therefore, if you won’t help us, your control on time is tenuous at best, and no matter where you go, future or past, you’ll still have two hundred million angry people searching for the girl who keeps causing them to shift through time.” Doctor Zhar waits for a response, but of course doesn’t receive one. She shakes her head as if she just realized what she did.
“I’ll give you time to think about this offer. I’d hate to have to force your hand on the matter.” The threat is clear. “We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard. Either way, you’re stuck in this lab. I’m hoping that you’ll make my job easier,” says Doctor Zhar as she flicks a piece of lint off her white lab coat. She disappears from sight for a second, though Summer can hear her rummaging around for something. When she returns, she’s filling a needle with a substance Summer’s sure will make her go back to sleep. “I’m going to ask you now. Will you join us? Will you cooperate?”
Summer shakes her head defiantly and hopes any abuse to her body will be done while she’s drugged. “All right. When you wake again I’ll be back to ask you the same question. Next time the needle won’t be as peaceful as this one.” Doctor Zhar jabs the needle painfully into Summer’s hip. The medication burns as it’s forced into her body. “If you still say no? It’ll be your mother on this table—and a needle will be the least of your worries.”
Darkness eats at the edges of Summer’s vision as she sucks in an unreleased sob. Then the ever-expanding darkness bleeds like her whipped skin after a beating. Aching, tearing, and exhausting her last grips on reality until the drug devours her whole. Swallowing her like a great beast.