Hospital security found Thomas Voss in the oncology wing.<\/p>\n
He was not hiding.<\/p>\n
He had checked in at the visitor desk using his real name.<\/p>\n
That frightened Agent Bell more than if he had entered through a service tunnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cConference room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArrest him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe sent armed men after me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not established that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthStar did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re establishing who gave the order.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated legal precision when my daughter was upstairs with a tumor in her brain.<\/p>\n
Voss requested to speak with me.<\/p>\n
Of course he did.<\/p>\n
Daniel said no.<\/p>\n
Sophie said, \u201cMom\u2019s going anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are becoming a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned from Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
I kissed her.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas Voss looked nothing like Samuel.<\/p>\n
Samuel carried authority like a weapon.<\/p>\n
Voss carried it like furniture.<\/p>\n
Comfortable.<\/p>\n
Expensive.<\/p>\n
Taken for granted.<\/p>\n
He was perhaps sixty.<\/p>\n
Silver tie.<\/p>\n
Dark suit.<\/p>\n
No visible fear despite two federal agents standing behind him.<\/p>\n
He stood when I entered.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire Bennett.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMorgan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy apologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe surname.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTry the armed men.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression did not change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not send anyone to Geneva.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Agent Bell sat beside me.<\/p>\n
Voss placed a folder on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came because Samuel Hale has spent twenty years making NorthStar the villain in a story he wrote.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ran Project Hearth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The admission startled me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou experimented on children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou monitored them without consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell leaned forward.<\/p>\n
Voss raised one hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not claiming that was ethical.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m claiming it was not what Samuel says.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Samuel say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat NorthStar stole his research.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took control after he became dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re expecting gratitude?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Sophie is in danger from Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe saved her life yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voss nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have access to some hospital data.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just admitted unauthorized access.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voss looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed that was already obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned back to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel knows how to save Sophie from immediate complications because he engineered those complications.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says he was trying to prevent disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Samuel never accepted failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voss opened the folder.<\/p>\n
Photographs.<\/p>\n
Laboratory records.<\/p>\n
One image showed Samuel beside a child I did not recognize.<\/p>\n
Another showed a hospital bed.<\/p>\n
Another, a pathology slide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPatient S-M03.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe died at twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the treatment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a tumor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voss tapped the pathology image.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Samuel\u2019s vector altered its behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan had described selection pressure.<\/p>\n
The disease adapting.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many children received it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEleven.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophie was number ten.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to the others?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree died. Two developed serious complications. Four remain alive without detectable disease. One disappeared from follow-up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Sophie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Bell.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot these numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voss continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthStar shut the intervention program down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why keep monitoring families?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we had a responsibility to understand what had been done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout telling them?\u201d<\/p>\n
His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat decision was indefensible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least we agree.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut stopping observation would not have undone the interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It just made children easier to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
His willingness to concede made him harder to fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did armed men come for Laura\u2019s archive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey weren\u2019t mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was in federal custody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel has followers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan had said NorthStar controlled the program.<\/p>\n
Samuel said Nathan was worse.<\/p>\n
Voss blamed Samuel.<\/p>\n
Every man pointed at another.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me something I can verify.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voss slid a phone across the table.<\/p>\n
A video appeared.<\/p>\n
Timestamped three days earlier.<\/p>\n
Samuel stood inside Facility 17.<\/p>\n
He was speaking to two men.<\/p>\n
One of them had been among the attackers in Geneva.<\/p>\n
I recognized him.<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
Voss said, \u201cSamuel ordered them to recover Laura\u2019s archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell took the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthStar retained surveillance access.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you were watching Facility 17.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Samuel returned.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the video.<\/p>\n
Samuel had known about the archive.<\/p>\n
Known about the keys.<\/p>\n
Known about my mother.<\/p>\n
He had come to the hospital claiming he wanted to save Sophie.<\/p>\n
Maybe both things were true.<\/p>\n
That was becoming the worst possibility.<\/p>\n
People could save a child for reasons that had nothing to do with love.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Samuel want from the archive?\u201d<\/p>\n
Voss answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biological samples.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura\u2019s tissue may contain the only surviving untreated reference material from her lineage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Shah had said samples existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would Samuel do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFinish his correction.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Sophie?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believes Sophie is his last opportunity to prove the treatment can work.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
Bell touched my arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to see Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voss said, \u201cDon\u2019t let him near her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get to tell me what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I have a daughter too.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
Nathan had a daughter.<\/p>\n
Now Voss.<\/p>\n
Every man in this story seemed to discover ethics only when science reached his own child.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she part of Hearth?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don\u2019t compare us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I left.<\/p>\n
Samuel was being held under guard in a secured hospital room.<\/p>\n
He looked at my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou spoke to Voss.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you sent the men to Geneva.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not a denial.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou nearly got federal agents killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told them to recover the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith guns.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not authorize shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you think they were bringing flowers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you need Laura\u2019s samples?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo help Sophie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTry again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVoss says you want to finish your experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cVoss has spent two decades pretending cowardice is ethics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you want Laura\u2019s tissue to engineer another treatment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were going to experiment on Sophie again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly if conventional treatment failed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout asking me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expect me to believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to the hospital openly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter causing a blackout.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not cause the blackout.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVoss.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says you sent the attackers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would Voss cut the hospital power?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo force me into the open.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody is blaming everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause everybody has blood on their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least that sounded true.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is NorthStar still hiding?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked toward the guard.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk Voss about S-M11.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSophie was S-M10.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an eleventh child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVoss told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he tell you her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s mouth tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n
I sat.<\/p>\n
Nathan had used the vector on Emily.<\/p>\n
Samuel had told me that.<\/p>\n
But apparently Emily was not an independent experiment.<\/p>\n
She was officially part of the same series.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho authorized it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVoss.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNathan wanted access. Voss wanted another subject.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI refused.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou refused.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter ten children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause S-M03 had died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s voice cracked almost imperceptibly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI finally understood the model was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
A decade of catastrophe compressed into that sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Voss do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe allowed Nathan to proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Emily\u2019s mother know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course not.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Emily know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthStar.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPrivate treatment facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she being held there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe cannot leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause her immune system is failing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan had attacked Maria, stolen a key, surrendered, escaped, and chased Laura\u2019s archive.<\/p>\n
Not for money.<\/p>\n
Not for Samuel.<\/p>\n
For Emily.<\/p>\n
That did not excuse him.<\/p>\n
It did explain him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens if Nathan gets the reversal protocol?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll use it on Emily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould it work?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if he gets Laura\u2019s biological samples?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may use them to build a treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike you planned.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The guard knocked.<\/p>\n
Agent Bell entered.<\/p>\n
His expression was urgent.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire, we have a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura\u2019s archive was transferred to the hospital research lab for emergency review.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the biological sample containers is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel stood despite the cuffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cL-B01.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura.<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s sample.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho took it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re checking cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel said, \u201cNathan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNathan is still missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t bring it here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Emily isn\u2019t here.\u201d<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Nathan didn\u2019t take it\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Voss did.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
His voice was barely controlled.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire, come upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSophie\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hospital security found Thomas Voss in the oncology wing. He was not hiding. He had checked in at the visitor desk using his real name. That frightened Agent Bell more … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12321,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12273\/revisions\/12321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}