Pulse: A Collection of Short and Flash Science Fiction by Frank Carey

Author:Frank Carey [Carey, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Elven Industries Press
Published: 2014-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

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The five scientists stood in the waiting room and waited for word on Seth. Each had a bandage on their arm where the docs had taken blood to match in case their boss needed a transfusion. They stood in a group, all except for Megan who stood looking out the window at the streets below. On the television was a news report about the events earlier today.

“Megan, it’s not your fault,” Margo said as she walked up. “Seth is notorious for leaving things on his desk instead of putting them away. How the hell were you supposed to know that you picked up an injector full of Serum 408?”

“I killed him, didn’t I?”

“You do remember the snake thing hanging from the ceiling, don’t you?”

“But I injected him! I killed Seth.”

“Last I heard Seth was still alive.”

“Excuse me.” They all turned around and saw a doctor holding a clipboard.

“Yes, Doctor?”

“I'm Dr. Ballis and I’m in charge of Dr. Marsden’s treatment. I just have a few questions. We know about Dr. Marsden’s work, so we scanned his blood for nanobots and found a lot of them, mostly congregated around what’s left of his shoulder. By the way, Dr. Allen, that was one mighty fine job with the bandages and clamps. You saved Dr. Marsden’s life.”

“Thanks. How is he?”

“Sleeping. We ran the bots in his bloodstream against the database in your lab and can’t find a match. They're not one of your designs.”

“That’s impossible,” Sam said.

“Unless they’re from downstairs,” Juan said. “What if those maniacs created designs based on ours.”

“Shit,” Margo said. “Dr. Ballis, you need to erect a...”

“EM shield around Dr. Marsden’s room? Already done, but the bots seem to have no desire to leave Seth’s body.”

“What’s his prognosis, Doctor?” They looked and saw Dir. Quinn walk into the room.”

“Dir. Quinn, what are you doing out of bed?”

“My job. Now what is his prognosis?”

“He has less than a ten percent chance of living through the night. There was too much damage and blood loss. I’m very sorry.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Is there anything else?” Natalie asked as she saw the effect the news was having on Seth’s team.

“One last thing. We need Dr. Allen’s signature on a couple of forms, most notably Dr. Marsden’s living will.”

“Can’t this wait...?” Natalie asked before suddenly stopping in mid-sentence. “Why Dr. Allen? Juan and Margo have power of attorney since Seth has no next of kin.”

“Again, I'm confused, then,” Dr. Ballis said. “Our tests show Dr. Allen is Seth’s biological daughter.”

Before anyone could react, there was a piercing scream from the direction of Seth’s room. As they headed to the waiting room door, Seth walked in wearing only a hospital smock. Instead of a bandaged stump, his left arm was clearly visible, normal except for a covering of silver paint.

“What the hell’s going on?" he asked while the others just stared.

Megan fainted.

###

Under orders from her boss, Olivia had taken the day off having already worked on the Clyster case for the last three days solid. She sat

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