Chapter Fourteen

"You all could have been killed," she snapped. "Are you idiots? I thought I trained you better than that." The icy look in her eyes could have cut through metal. She continued to glare at us as we stood, soaking wet and shivering, in front of her.

I defiantly met her gaze, taken aback by her tone. It felt as if she had slapped me in the face with her demeaning words. This wasn't how she had acted before, in my dream.

Every muscle in my body tightened as I tried to forget about the cold. Two could play at this game.

"We came to get Theo."

"Theo is still in recovery," she said, her expression darkening.

"What does that mean?" I huffed.

"It means exactly what I just said: he is in recovery and he will not be able to leave with you right now," she pulled out a small object from her pocket and rolled it in her hands.

Samuel stepped up behind me and rested his hand on my shoulder.

"Hello, Mother," he said in a soft voice. I could tell the encounter made him nervous; he hadn't expected her to act like this.

Her glare whipped over to his face. "Don't call me that ever again, Captain Samuel James. You are all soldiers. It's time you start acting like it."

"Then what should we call you?" Audrina asked skeptically from behind me, her voice a little shaky.

"My name is Dr. James. Welcome to Artek. Please don't get too comfortable. You won't be staying very long." She turned on her heels and strode away. Her shoes made a clack, clack, clack sound as she exited the room, leaving us cold...and alone.

Samuel's back was rigid as he stared at the door through which Dr. James had passed. His face said it all, he was shaken and disappointed.

Gave crossed his arms over his chest. Through his shivering lips he said, "Whoa! She's always been serious, but I've never seen her that angry. I definitely don't think she wanted us to find her."

"Too bad," I said, pushing past him and running toward the door. "Dr. Marie James!" I yelled down an empty hallway. My voice echoed in the quiet. "Dr. James!" I yelled again. I wasn't going to let her get away with this. She had the answers we all wanted.

"Captain Esa James, please keep your voice down. This is a science research facility," she said, walking out of another room and staring back at me. "We have a lot of important work happening here and I don't want my scientists distracted by your antics."

"I will keep my voice down, if you tell me what's going on," I said, clenching my fists. Finally, I was getting to talk with my mother, but it wasn't going the way I had hoped. I was beginning to think, dealing with her was worse than working with Paul, and he was pretty bad.

"You have compromised my work. I wasn't ready for you to come here. It's as simple as that. Now, please go into that room and get some new clothes before you freeze to death."

"But you were ready enough to plant the seed for Samuel to build something above this place." I pointed to the ceiling, but I wasn't exactly sure where Samuel's lab lay. We had swam down in the water, but I knew I was probably turned around.

"Yes, you all have lost your focus over the past few years. It was time for someone to get you back on the right path," she said nonchalantly. "But this isn't what I had planned. You should have known better."

The other three had joined me in the hallway.

"What should we have known?" Samuel asked. His lips had turned a purplish color.

"I would have come and gotten you when I was ready," Dr. James snapped. "You, of all people, Captain Samuel James, should know how to follow orders."

"What orders? You haven't been around for more than three years. You disappeared just like Esa!" he yelled at her. "You left us without anything. The team had to fend for itself."

"Wrong. I trained you to be strong enough to handle anything. I provided you with a place to hide. I watched over you and made sure you with the right clues to give you direction, and I hid some very valuable information with Esa. It's information that I would like back, since I'm not really sure I can trust you to keep it safe."

"Too bad. You're not getting it," Samuel responded defiantly. "I've looked at your research. It's very interesting."

"I know it is," she said in a smooth voice. "My work is always perfect. Now, leave."

"Just take us to Theo and we will be out of your way," I said. "That's the only reason we came here."

"He's not ready," she responded quickly. "I will send him back to you when I'm done."

"Like hell. Just let us see Theo and we will let you get back to your work," I snapped back at her.

"Tsk tsk, Captain Esa James. You are a little too predictable. Relationships can cause weakness. Don't ever get too close to anyone." She leaned down and whispered into my ear. "That was your biggest mistake." She ran her hands down her white coat in what looked like an attempt to smooth out invisible wrinkles. "Well, since you won't leave, I want to scan all of you, to make sure you haven't led Paul or Troy to my location."

"No. How can we trust you?" I shot back, grinding my teeth. Something told me this wasn't going to end well.

"I developed you. I trained you. And I have made sure you are all protected. That's how you can trust me." Her eyebrows creased together as we glared at one another.

"Let me talk to the rest of the team and then we will give you our answer." I turned toward Samuel, Audrina and Gave.

"Captain Esa James, you are the leader. Why are you asking their opinion? You make the decision. Now." She stood in the middle of the hallway, her eyes darkening and a knowing smile curving her face. She was taunting me.

I tilted my head as I continued to hold her gaze. "Fine. Go ahead and run your tests."

She nodded. "Good choice. Follow me." She whirled around and marched down the hallway.

I got in line behind her, trying my hardest not to look back at the rest of the team. I already knew what they were thinking; Audrina was very loudly showing me her distrust in her thoughts. She had pulled a small knife from her suit and slowly slid it into her sleeve.

It didn't take long for us to reach Dr. James' lab. The lights were dim inside the small room. On the far wall were several upright glass cylinders.

"What are those?" I asked.

"That's what you will all be getting into so I can do a scan," she said, leaning over a computer.

"What will happen once we are inside?"

"Several lights will come on and then it will be over," she responded, pressing buttons on the screen.

A man with a thick neck and large shoulders walked in. He cleared his throat. "Dr. James, the cryopods are ready for the team."

"Good. Thank you, Reg," she responded, never taking her eyes off the glowing screen in front of her.

The man named Reg began to open the doors to the narrow cylinders and looked back at us. "Please get inside so we can begin."

Samuel walked in front. "I'll go first."

"No. All of you will get into individual cryopods and we will do the testing all at once." Dr. James looked up from her monitor. "Get in."

I didn't want to move; something told me that I should run the other way, but I knew there was no escape. She had us now. I reached for my medallion. We could jump back in time.

"Esa, your medallion doesn't work down here. I've already taken care of that," Dr. James said.

Her words made it seem like we'd never had a relationship, as if she had forgotten she was the reason Samuel and I were even born. Both of my parents seemed so distant, so evil. Had they always been like this? This was one of the many times that I wished I had my memory back.

Samuel and Gave walked ahead of Audrina and me as we all headed toward individual cryopods. I climbed in and looked over at the others. A soft hissing filled the air as the doors sealed. I reached out and pushed at the glass. It wouldn't budge; we were locked inside these contraptions. I tried not to let panic take over. I had to be strong for the team. Dr. James was watching us. More importantly, she was watching me.

I looked at the others and mouthed, "Sorry."

White smoke slowly crept up from the floor of the pod and filled the clear tube.

I glanced around again. Audrina's head had fallen forward. Samuel's did likewise. I could feel my own eyelids grow heavy. Something in the smoke was putting us to sleep. Dr. James had tricked us.