Chapter 14 - Beneath Saint Catherine’s
Saint Catherine’s Hospital had been abandoned for eleven years.
The city planned to demolish it after environmental surveys found chemical contamination beneath the oldest wing.
Reed’s investigators now understood why.
The hospital stood on the outskirts of Briar Glen, surrounded by rusted fencing and overgrown trees. The maternity wing’s windows had been boarded over.
Satellite surveillance showed no sign of Vane’s helicopter.
Emily believed he was already underground.
Patricia remained aboard the naval medical transport. Madison chose to join the Saint Catherine’s operation.
This time, she did not ask to carry a weapon.
“I will follow orders,” she said.
Emily looked at her.
“You stay with the archive team.”
“I understand.”
“You do not separate from them.”
“I understand.”
Madison glanced at Liam, who stood beside Daniel near the command vehicle.
The bruise remained visible.
“I’m sorry,” she said to him.
Liam looked at his mother before answering.
Emily gave no direction.
The choice belonged to him.
Madison crouched several feet away.
“I hurt you because I was angry about something that was not your fault,” she said. “What I did was cruel. You did not deserve it.”
Liam held his wooden airplane.
“You broke the wing.”
Madison looked at the damaged toy.
“I did.”
“My daddy made it.”
Pain crossed her face.
“I can try to repair it.”
Liam considered this.
“You can try. But you cannot touch me.”
Madison nodded.
“Okay.”
He walked away.
Emily watched her sister remain crouched for several seconds after he left.
It was not forgiveness.
It was a boundary.
And Madison had respected it.
The assault team entered Saint Catherine’s through the emergency entrance.
Daniel remained close to Emily.
His injuries slowed him, but his knowledge of Orion facilities made him essential.
“The nursery would be below radiology,” he said. “Vane favored sites with heavy shielding.”
They found the hidden elevator behind a lead-lined imaging wall.
Daniel used the brass key.
The same key had opened Richard’s estate and Black Ridge.
Emily looked at it.
“Why did you give this to me?”
“I stole it from Vane before Black Winter.”
“You knew it opened Orion facilities.”
“I knew it was part of a master access system.”
“You told me it opened a box.”
“I needed a reason for you to keep it without asking questions.”
Emily stared at him.
“Another lie.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admit them quickly now.”
“I am learning.”
The elevator descended eight levels.
When the doors opened, cold air moved through the underground corridor.
Glass rooms lined both sides.
Unlike Richard’s hidden facility, these rooms were not built for older children.
They contained infant beds.
Dozens of them.
Some still held faded identification cards.
O-1.
O-2.
O-3.
Emily found O-22.
Madison.
The record listed no biological parents, only genetic source codes.
Madison touched the card.
“I was a number.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You were a child they reduced to a number.”
The distinction mattered.
The archive team began copying records.
Emily moved deeper into the facility.
At the end of the corridor stood the first red door.
Not the imitation beneath Richard’s house.
The original.
Her body reacted before her mind did.
Heart racing.
Hands cold.
A memory surfaced.
A woman singing.
A bright ceiling.
A man’s voice saying, Subject Zero is stable.
Emily inserted the brass key.
The door opened.
A circular chamber contained a single infant bed beneath a glass enclosure.
The identification plate read E-0.
Inside a nearby cabinet were files bearing Emily’s name.
Birth date unknown.
Genetic parents classified.
Gestational host: Patricia Hale.
Emily opened the first file.
Photographs showed Patricia during pregnancy.
Vane beside her.
Richard observing through glass.
A note appeared at the bottom.
SUBJECT E-0 CREATED USING COMBINED GENETIC MATERIAL FROM PRIMARY ARCHITECTURAL LINE AND CARTER RESISTANCE LINE.
Emily read it again.
“Carter.”
Daniel took the file.
“My family?”
“Your father survived the chemical plant exposure.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“The plant was an Orion site.”
Emily continued reading.
The Carter resistance line had existed before Daniel.
Vane had arranged Daniel and Emily’s meeting because both belonged to the same generational experiment.
But the file contained something stranger.
Subject E-0 and Daniel Carter were prohibited from reproduction without authorization.
“Then why did they want us together?” Emily asked.
Daniel turned the page.
An amendment had been added years later.
REPRODUCTION APPROVED UNDER INHERITANCE DIRECTIVE.
Signed by Marcus Vane.
The dates showed the authorization was issued before Emily and Daniel met.
Vane had planned Liam before either parent knew the other existed.
A screen activated across the chamber.
Vane appeared live.
His shoulder was bandaged.
“You found your cradle.”
Emily aimed at the camera.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere beyond your reach.”
“You lost the ship.”
“I lost a facility. Facilities are replaceable.”
“You will not touch Liam again.”
“Liam is not the final subject.”
Emily felt Daniel become still.
“What does that mean?”
Vane smiled.
“The Inheritance Directive anticipated failure.”
A new image appeared.
A young girl, approximately six years old, sat inside a white room.
She had dark hair.
Emily’s eyes.
Daniel’s chin.
The girl looked directly into the camera.
“Who is she?” Emily demanded.
Vane’s voice softened.
“Your daughter.”
Emily could not speak.
“That is impossible,” Daniel said.
“Is it?” Vane asked. “Orion preserved genetic material from both of you before Black Winter.”
Emily stepped toward the screen.
“What is her name?”
“We call her Evelyn.”
“Where is she?”
“That depends on whether you wish to meet her.”
The video ended.
A warning alarm began.
Daniel checked the wall.
“He triggered a purge.”
The archive systems started deleting files.
Madison and the technicians rushed to preserve as much as possible.
Emily removed the E-0 records and placed them inside her jacket.
Then a mechanical sound came from behind the infant bed.
A concealed compartment opened.
Inside lay a red file.
Vane had taken one from the ship.
This was another.
Emily opened it.
The first page listed twenty-three infants.
Most names had been replaced with codes.
One entry had no code.
Evelyn Carter.
Status: active.
Location: HOME SITE.
Below it was a photograph of a snow-covered mountain facility.
Daniel recognized it.
“Karsin.”
The site of Operation Black Winter.
The place where everyone believed he had died.
Emily studied the photograph.
Lights glowed in the windows.
The facility was operational.
May you like
Then she saw the date printed beneath the image.
Tomorrow.
