Page 34 of G8
After they droppedT8 and N8 off at their jobs, Ingrid headed straight for the labs. It wasn’t until they’d passed the Heathfield town limits that P8 broke the silence.
“Am I being paranoid, or have any of you thought that this might be a trap?”
G8 grunted. “No, but now that you’ve mentioned it, it makes me wonder.”
“Didn’t the sheriff say there’ll be other deputies and men from the fire department there?” Ingrid reminded them.
“She has a point,” F8 chimed in. “If the scientists or whomever try to recapture us, won’t the sheriff and all keep us safe?”
G8 turned around in his seat to look back at them. More specifically, at P8. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not talking about traps as in recapturing us?”
“Because I’m not,” the man concurred.
F8 glanced at the two men. “Then what kind of traps… Ohhh!” She gasped, raising a hand to her mouth.
“Will one of you please explain to me what you’re all thinking?” Ingrid asked.
“Traps that are meant to kill whoever gets inside the labs to prevent anyone who gets close enough to a critical section or area that might contain information or valuable research from discovering it,” P8 explained. “Would you know about anything like that?”
G8 noticed Ingrid’s grip tighten on the wheel, and her whole body tensed. “Oh, sweet Jesus! No, I’m not aware that there’s anything like that. But to be honest, there’s a lot about that place I don’t know about. Oh, dear God, I hope there isn’t!”
Reaching across the center console, G8 placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t think about it,” he gently urged.
“Don’t think about it? How can I not?” she demanded hotly.
He smiled to himself. Now she was angry. That was good. Her fear had been replaced with anger, which meant she was more clear-headed.
F8 voiced what he was thinking. “Instead of letting your imagination run wild trying to envision what kind of traps may have been set, think about which areas we need to search.”
Ingrid nodded and focused on her driving. “Do you think some people may not have made it out alive?” she wondered aloud.
“Anything’s possible,” G8 admitted.
“Including people who might still be alive inside?”
“We won’t know until we get in there,” P8 replied.
“What if we do find…people?” F8 asked.
“Dead or alive, I’m sure Sheriff Biggs and the others will take care of them,” G8 assured her.
“What about the research?” P8 noted. “What about that? Who do we turn it over to? Who can we trust with it?”
“Not the government,” Ingrid quickly replied. “I’m not a hundred percent certain, but I’m suspicious enough to where I’m willing to say that the Rexxt Corporation, and Docenti Labs, and all the rest of it are funded by the government. If not directly, somehow. Like maybe through other branches.”
G8 studied her profile. “What makes you think that?”
She glanced over at him, then checked the faces of the two people sitting in the back seat via the rearview mirror. “You were bred for a reason, although no one I spoke to and asked could tell me why. But I think I have an answer. Two, actually. I may be totally wrong on both counts, but until I’m given a definite answer, it’s the best I’ve got.”
“Spit it out, woman!” G8 gruffly ordered. “What two reasons?”
“Now remember, these aremyinterpretations, but I’m thinking the government is trying to breed a more perfect soldier. With your enhanced abilities, a whole platoon of people like you could be the tipping point in any war.”
P8 slowly nodded in agreement. “Believe it or not, we thought about that ourselves. There’s a movie we saw while we were still underground. I don’t recall the name of it, but it was about these human-looking robots being used by the Army.”
“Don’t forget the one where human-looking robots were sent to other worlds to fight the aliens,” F8 mentioned.
“That’s my second reason,” Ingrid confirmed.
