Dark Matters_ Shadow of Heaven (Book 3) - Christie Golden [42]
Jekri's heart was beating rapidly. One more test to freedom. The third antechamber had holes in the wall. Again, they inserted their hands. Jekri felt cold metal against her palm, felt a slight tickling sensation as the mechanism painlessly extracted a DNA sample for analysis. On the other side, Verrak did likewise.
The machine hummed. Jekri was sweating. She hoped they did not pass too close to anyone; her stench would give her away. Dr. T'Lar might have been able to clothe her in a doctor's garb and heal her injuries, but there had been no time for a sonic shower. She wondered if her face was dirty. Surely the grime beneath her gnawed nails would reveal her as no doctor should anyone chance to glance at them.
A hum, a click. The forcefield shut down. After the small confines of the security antechambers, the room that yawned ahead of them seemed cavernous. They were in a large area, patrolled by bored-looking security guards who glanced up disinterestedly at them. Jekri sniffed. No proper centurions here. Her people would have been more alert.
Her people. No, they were not her people. Was anyone, anymore?
Verrak leaned over and began chatting about Test Subject 10928-Alpha and the reaction he had had to the drugs, which merely confirmed their theories. Jekri nodded at appropriate times, but did not dare speak.
A wail rose in the air. Jekri's heart lurched to a stop, men resumed beating with a painful rhythm. The lights dimmed to a dull red. The lethargic guards snapped to attention, listening to messages on their combadges.
Their heads came up and they stared at the two "doctors."
Verrak inhaled swiftly. "Keep going," said Jekri in a low voice. "You run now, you'll give us both away."
Verrak nodded, but nonetheless quickened his step. Jekri supposed he couldn't help it. She fished in her pocket for the padd. She'd have to risk speaking.
"Yes, I understand," she said to the phantom on the other side of her combadge. "We're on our way. Yes, I have the information right here." She glanced up at Verrak. "Code Alpha-Gamma-Theta, Doctor. Let's go."
Now she broke into a run, head held high. Not die frantic flight of a prisoner, no, but the assured, purposeful trot of a professional hastening to an emergency.
A guard stepped right in their path as they were a mere meter from the door. "I'm sorry, Doctors, but we have a Code Red here."
Jekri didn't hesitate for a second. "And I have a very special patient with an emergency," she snapped, waving the padd in his face. "Code Gamma-Theta." She stood, trying to convey a certainty that he would let her pass.
He looked suspicious. "I'm not familiar with that code."
"Of course you're not," said Verrak. He wore an expression of supercilious anger. "Though your superior would be. The content is classified. Let us through or mere will be trouble."
The guard looked as though he wanted to believe them, but was afraid to. "I apologize, but our orders are very clear on mis point With an escaped prisoner loose, all exits are to be sealed."
Jekri laughed harshly. "So, is that what you plan to tell the Praetor's widow?"
The guard's eyes widened. "The P-Praetor?"
"Our patient. We are his personal physicians."
The guard paled before the steely glare in Jekri's eyes. Cursing, he hit the controls and the door slid open. They darted through and continued moving quickly.
"You were brilliant," said Verrak as they strode across the deceptively pleasant grassy area behind the palace.
"I did what was necessary. Where is our beam-out site?"
"Just over by the-" The distinctive sound of disruptors being fired cut him off. As one, they broke into a run.
"Apparently I wasn't that brilliant," Jekri gasped. Her fingernails. She had