The Second Ship (The Rho Agenda #1)(41)
Dr. Stephenson ceased petting her head and moved back to his desk. “Now let us continue with your instruction.”
Dr. Nancy Anatole’s face contorted until it seemed the skin would split to reveal the bone beneath it. Unable to bear the screaming any longer, Jennifer switched off the playback.
Heather was stunned. Sick to her stomach. Sick to her soul.
“Oh my God.” Jennifer’s hands trembled as she closed the laptop. “Heather, what was he doing to her?”
Heather leaned on the back of the couch, her legs unsteady. “I don’t know. He wasn’t even touching her.”
“We have to help her.”
“I wish we could,” said Heather, her thoughts spinning. “But she may not be the only one who needs our help. Did you hear what they were saying? It sounds like Stephenson is getting ready to release another of the alien technologies. We haven’t even figured out what’s wrong with cold fusion yet. Dr. Anatole sounded scared of this second one in a way she wasn’t of the first.”
Jennifer shuddered. “How can we stop it? No one is going to believe a couple of high school kids.”
A lump rose in Heather’s throat. “Jen, I think we have to consider showing the tape to the authorities.”
Jennifer shook her head. “But that would lead to questions we couldn’t answer. They would want to know how we got it. They would find out about the ship.”
Heather stared into her friend's eyes. “I know. I’m sorry. But I don’t see any other way.”
Over Jennifer’s shoulder, lightning arced among the dark clouds that clutched Mt. McKinley’s peak. Unable even to cry, Heather stared out at the hauntingly beautiful scene, drinking it in, one last time.
Chapter 27
The predawn wind was cold. Damned cold. Its cutting bite brought tears to Mark’s eyes and then froze the wetness on his lashes as he stepped out his front door and jogged to the passenger side of Colleen Johnson's red Jeep Cherokee.
It irked him that he didn’t have his own car. As he slipped inside, he was met halfway into his seat with a kiss that would have steamed his glasses if he had worn any. One thing he had to admit: as uncool as it was to need to have his senior girlfriend drive him everywhere, she sure had a way of taking the sting out of it.
After last night, he could use a little of that kind of attention to take his mind off other worries. It had taken him nearly two hours to talk Jennifer and Heather out of the idea of giving the recording to the authorities, an action that would certainly result in the three of them spending several years in federal prison. Only his argument that their dads might also be implicated changed the girls’ minds.
The US government did not take kindly to someone making unauthorized recordings of highly classified material. Their intentions wouldn’t matter.
“Whacha thinking about?” Colleen asked as she sped along Pajarito Road toward school.
Mark smiled, putting his hand onto her knee. “Nothing, really. Just trying to get my head together this morning. Why are we off so early? School’s going to be locked up.”
“I have a surprise for you.” She glanced over at him and winked. “Bill, the custodian, said he’d leave the side door open for me. Anyway, I think you’ll find it exciting.”
Mark grinned. While people talked about Colleen’s “bad girl” image, she was really just fun. She was far and away more exciting than any girl Mark had ever dated. She had also surprised him by not being as wild as people said she was. Oh, she was willing to make out in public places for the thrill of it, and the way she kissed and moved her hands and body across him made him feel like a young bull that wanted to paw dirt and snort twin blasts of steam from his nose.
But when it came right down to it, Colleen always pulled back from going all the way, something Mark had no experience with but was more than willing to try. Colleen was more of a serious tease than a truly naughty girl, but man, could she ever torture him with the teasing. It reminded him of something he had once heard a famous comic say: “Man, if this is torture, chain me to the wall.”
So, if Colleen had a surprise for him, Mark was willing to play along.
They weren’t the first car at the school, but you could never really beat the custodian in, no matter what time you showed up. Colleen drove past the entrance to the school parking lot, bringing the jeep to a stop in the side lot. As he slammed the door, she grabbed his hand and led him surreptitiously around the side of the building, glanced around quickly, and then ducked in a side entrance.
“Ooh. Feeling pretty frisky this morning, eh?” Mark crooned.
Her laughing blue eyes crinkled at the edges as she whispered back, “You have no idea. Now come on.”
Turning a corner, Colleen led the way into the dark gymnasium. She pulled a small keychain light from her purse and then moved on across the court, pulling him into the boy’s locker room. As Mark grinned and reached for her, she pulled back.
“No, you have to wait a second. This is a surprise. Now turn around and close your eyes. Promise me you won’t open them until I tell you.”
Mark laughed softly. “Okay, okay. I promise. Just don’t take too long.”
“Just make sure they are closed tightly. I don’t want you spoiling everything after I’ve gone to all this effort to make it happen.”