Whisper (Whisper #1)(83)

“The tests I’m considering don’t require her to have control,” Vanik responds. “I need her biologically, not psychologically.”

“Enough, Kendall. You have my answer.”

I hear one set of footsteps moving away, and then Falon’s voice comes again, but from across the room.

“It’s late, and I still have to investigate how my kids accessed a restricted area earlier tonight. If you’ll excuse me?”

I remain where I am as the door slides into place behind him and almost wish he would return. With Vanik’s history of going off-book, I’m not sure Falon’s directive to stay away from me holds much weight. If I’m caught …

I need to get out of this Karoel-walled lab, and I need to get out now.

But just when I decide to make a run for it, the door slides open again, and I hear footsteps. Lots of them.

“Right on time, my precious ones,” Vanik says.

His affectionate tone churns my stomach.

“In, in, come in, my lovelies. Make yourselves comfortable,” he continues. “Any problems, Alvin?”

“Just with Camelot, as usual. Her resistance is strengthening. But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

I know that voice. I know it because it belongs to Dr. Manning. But I’m more concerned by his reference to Cami.

Carefully shuffling until I can sneak a glance, I struggle to contain my reaction at the sight before me.

My friend is here, staring out at nothing just like the three zombie-like guards, seemingly oblivious to everything around her. But she’s not the only one. A small group of Exodus recruits stand with her, some familiar, some not. Crew and the semitransparent Sneak are a part of the small, mindless crowd, but neither they nor any of the other Speakers appear to have any clue where they are or what’s going on. It’s like they’re sleepwalking.

“All right, my dears,” Vanik says. “Let’s get started.”





CHAPTER THIRTY


All I want to do is curl up in a ball and scream, but I can’t risk giving my position away. Not even as I witness the Exodus recruits willingly lie down on the examination tables, one after the other.

I make myself watch as much as I can, but it’s difficult. Vanik draws blood — a lot of blood. He uses two different syringes to extract other samples, as well: pinkish fluid from areas close to where their hip bones nestle into their pelvises, and water-like fluid from in between the vertebrae at the middle of their spines. I watched enough medical dramas pre-Lengard to have a good idea of what the samples are: bone marrow and cerebrospinal fluid.

Bile rises high enough in my throat that I have to keep swallowing it back down. And while what I’m witnessing is beyond disturbing, what concerns me more is that not one of the Speakers utters a sound. No pain, no distress, no struggle. These are the kinds of procedures that should be carried out under heavy anesthesia, but the recruits are wide-awake, staring blankly into nothingness while Vanik experiments on them like lab rats. Unlike me, they don’t even recoil when he inserts long, long needles into their bodies.

I know it’s because of Manning. Because of what he can do. And I know this because —

“Next one, Alvin,” Vanik says after he switches out some vials in his centrifuge and starts the spin cycle again.

“You, come here,” Manning says.

My heart skips when the light that flows with his command touches Sneak. Until now, none of the recruits tested have been known to me. But with the young boy being ordered forward, I struggle more than ever to remain hidden and keep from bolting out to save him.

“Lie down, don’t move, don’t make a sound. You won’t feel anything,” Manning commands.

I can sense the power of his words from where I’m crouching, even though they’re not directed at me.

I don’t know what the therapist’s ability is, but I know it’s the reason for the zombie-like lack of responses. It’s the reason no one is fighting for freedom. It’s the reason Vanik can do whatever he wants with their bodies.

It’s horrific.

And it scares me to realize how strong Manning must be if he can wield that kind of power even with the suppressive limitations of the Karoel surrounding us. That’s the only reason I haven’t left my hiding place and tried to Speak a way out of here for my friends and me. There’s no way I can go up against the kind of strength Manning must have, not here. Some all-powerful Creator I am.

“The samples I took during your last visit proved rather interesting,” Vanik says to the semi-invisible Sneak, snapping on a new pair of latex gloves as he approaches the unresisting boy. “I think today we’ll try something a little … different. A tissue sample — yes, that’s what I need.”

Vanik starts preparing a tray full of needles and scalpels, and I wonder if I’m going to faint.

“Alvin, pass me that drill.”

My whole body seizes up at Vanik’s words, at watching Manning hand over the device and Vanik line it up against Sneak’s skull.

When Vanik’s fingers move to activate the drill, I’m unable to keep a distressed sound from escaping my lips.

It’s the worst possible timing, since my gasp is like a homing beacon to my position. I duck back behind the MRI machine, hoping they didn’t hear me, but when the drill remains quiet, along with all other noise in the lab, I know something is wrong. I muster the courage to peek back out and can see neither Vanik nor Manning anywhere.