The Second Ship (The Rho Agenda #1)(70)

Strung onto an eighteen-inch silver necklace, small, decaying fingers pressed tightly against one another, the fingernail of each lovingly painted with a fresh coat of red nail polish. She had recognized the shade and smell immediately. Summer Fling. The sick son of a bitch had painted those dead fingernails with her nail polish.

Priest grinned. Then, in a reversal of his entry ritual, he donned his robe, snuffed out the candles, and closed the door behind him, once again leaving her alone in the dark.





Chapter 49





While January had started with a bang, it left with little more than a whimper. The weather, their classes, and even the impact of the cold fusion science project on their bank account, all turned out to be much less threatening than Mark, Heather, and Jennifer had foreseen. A lazy mildness, reminiscent of an Indian summer, settled over the entire high plateau region, coloring all the teens’ activities.

Progress on the cold fusion apparatus was slower than expected. Acquisition of materials and the welding, soldering, and gluing of all the components were slowed by the additional requirements imposed by the national science fair. Every plan, measurement, and activity had to be carefully recorded according to the scientific method. The only things the three friends did not record were the special modifications that would allow them to hook in the subspace transmitter.

The teens were thrilled with the outcome from their sales pitch to their dads. Not only had both dads agreed, they were so thrilled they volunteered to fund half the cost.

Heather worked out several modifications to the cold fusion theory that allowed them to design a much smaller and cheaper version of the tank. As she solved each piece of the physics and mathematical puzzle, Jennifer created simulation programs that let them test the design. That finished, Heather and Mark began building it, quickly acquiring a degree of skill with the machine tools that even impressed Heather’s dad. Still, there was plenty of work yet to be done.

All of this would have gone much faster if not for the distraction of having to go to school. For Heather, the week had started no different from most: endless boring assignments, talking between classes with her other school friends, and the challenge of ignoring the annoying Ms. Gorsky.

All that had changed with the arrival of a new boy in her class. Heather found herself attracted to him as soon as she looked into his deep, brown eyes. He was only slightly shorter than Mark, his skin an attractive olive brown that glowed like his personality. And from what she could tell, he liked her right back.

Raul Rodriguez was a cancer survivor, someone who had gone to the ragged edge of the life-and-death boundary, maybe even dipped a toe in on the other side. As Raul told it, largely due to the power of his mother’s prayers, a miracle had happened. God, in all his mercy, had healed Raul of the cancer that had riddled his body, bringing a new happiness to his family and strengthening his mother’s faith in the Lord.

Raul’s doctors had worked to save him through a combination of chemotherapy and radiation before giving up and handing him over to hospice care so he could be comfortable for his last days. After his miraculous recovery, those same doctors had asked Raul’s father for permission to study Raul, in the hope that they could determine the cause of his recovery.

Ernesto Rodriguez had firmly refused, saying that God had healed his son and that was all they needed to know. Heather understood the residual anger Raul’s dad must feel toward the medical community that had failed him, but she still felt that the denial was shortsighted, possibly hurting others who might be helped by understanding Raul’s condition.

Now, having met Raul, she was delighted his light still shone on this world. They had gone out twice already, if you counted a trip to McDonald’s for a Big Mac and fries a date. And now he had asked her to the dance on Thursday night. It was going to be a last-millennium, retro sock hop at the school gymnasium, complete with the girls dressing in skirts and bobby socks while the boys wore jeans, collared shirts, and slicked their hair back with copious amounts of hair gel.

Just thinking about going with Raul to the dance distracted Heather horribly. Already this morning she had been scolded twice by Ms. Gorsky for daydreaming in class. Mark noticed her infatuation, and his snide comments as the class ended added to her annoyance. As he walked by singing “There’s a new kid in town,” Heather elbowed him hard.

“Mark, I’m really not in the mood for your needling.”

“Needling? Me?” The look of wounded innocence on Mark’s face didn’t improve her mood.

“I’m serious.”

Just then Raul walked up to her. “Am I interrupting something?”

Heather smiled. “No. Mark was just leaving.”

“Sure was. I’m sure the reason why will come to me shortly.” Before he could catch another elbow, Mark moved off into the crowd.

Raul did not seem to notice the quip. “So, Heather, are you doing anything over lunch?”

“Well, let’s see. I was planning on eating.”

Raul grinned. “You know that isn’t what I meant. I wanted to ask you to have lunch with me. My folks are going to swing by and will treat at the café.”

“That sounds like fun. I like getting treated, especially when it avoids the school cafeteria.”

“Great. It’s a date then.”

“You’ve got it.”