Chapter Thirty-Five Faith

Faith's body ached with tension. After another restless night, she had been bracing herself for the worst to happen. At any moment, Susie could come in and hook her up to the machines which would flood her system with femgazipane. It was only a matter of time.

But the day had passed without the medic beginning the treatment.

She wasn't sure why Susie had delayed this long. Heeding Carol's warning about Faith's blood pressure, she had left Faith alone through the night, but this morning she had declared it to be normal. Still, she hadn't started Faith on the drug. It was almost as though she was waiting for something.

Faith had lain there all day, with the machines looming over her. She tried not to look at the horrible reminders of Sophia's fate.

It had taken her a while to work up the courage to send the message to the Resistance the previous day. She had been terrified that Susie would come in at any moment. But it had been all she could think of to do to help. Once she'd gotten back in bed, though, a sense of hopelessness had overwhelmed her.

Would Blake even see the notes? Was she still monitoring the cameras? Did anyone even know Faith was here?

Noah did. But the Resistance had not been in regular contact with him since he'd taken up his post at the hospital. She knew this, because she'd been longing for information about his wellbeing from the moment he'd left the library.

He'd refused to leave the hospital to get word to headquarters. And he'd promised to get her out. But what could he do? With the Resistance behind him, it would be difficult. But without their support? It was a death sentence.

There were hundreds of cameras spread throughout the building. She knew, from all the time she'd spent scrolling through them looking for Sophia. Surely, hospital security couldn't view them all at one time.

Still, it was a huge risk. If she was spotted, out of bed and signalling to someone via the camera, it would be disastrous. And not just for Faith. Questions would be asked about who she was trying to contact, and that put the Resistance at risk. Danforth would stop at nothing, now.

But if the message had been received, if the Resistance was acting on it, it was worth the risk.

The fertility ward had no windows, so Faith had no view of the outside world, but the skylight above her head told her night had fallen. Susie had brought her some dinner an hour ago. She had sat with Faith as she ate it, making sure she finished the entire meal. Before she'd left, she'd taken Faith's blood pressure, and declared it to be at an acceptable level, at last.

Knowing what this meant, Faith had been on edge ever since. But as yet, no one had come to insert the tube which would introduce the poison into her system.

She'd searched the room for a weapon. Anything which might allow her to fight, to attempt escape, to prevent them from overcoming her. But there was nothing other than the bed, the empty cabinet beside it, and the omnipresent machinery.

Perhaps there was time for one last act of rebellion. There had to be more classified information in the office where Susie had been working all day. If Faith could draw the medic out again, get inside, perhaps she would find more evidence. And if she could repeat her earlier trick, and Blake was her usual observant self...

Faith made up her mind. It might be too late for her, but, until they came to knock her out, she would do her best to fight on.

Sliding out of bed, she pulled the blanket around her shoulders. She shuffled towards the door and eased it open. The lobby was silent. The food trolley stood to one side, the remnants of Faith's meal still on the plate. Edging closer to the office, Faith readied her excuse.

But when she reached the door, it was empty.

Backing away, she glanced through the open door of the kitchen. There was no sign of Susie.

She walked to the door of the bathroom. Knocking loudly, she entered. Both stalls were empty, and there was no one standing at the sink.

Her heart racing, Faith returned to the lobby. Had they left her alone? She hurried to the exit, hardly daring to hope. But no matter how hard she hauled on the handle, the doors refused to open. She was locked in.

Abandoning caution, she hurried back to the office, beginning to rifle through the drawers. If there was a keycard, she was going to use it, before Susie returned.

But the search was fruitless. After several minutes of searching, Faith slumped back in the chair empty-handed.

"Dammit!"

She slammed a hand on the desk. The movement jerked the datadev to life, its screen still open at a document. Remembering her original plan, she leaned forward to read it.

The title at the top of the page read Historical Fertility Data. It appeared to be a record of Bellator's reproductive systems, going all the way back to the formation of the Women's Independence Party in 2085.

Faith scanned the information. Starting with Danforth's original plan to create a drug combination which might enable women to procreate without male seed, she worked backwards. There was a section about the existing reproductive system, which selected Bellator women to be impregnated with stored seed. Trailing a finger down the screen, Faith navigated back to the early days, to a time when the city had kept live male donors in captivity.

Clicking on a link titled Male Subjects, Faith was startled when a series of images appeared. Each picture showed a different man. Each one had an individual code underneath. Remembering the seed identification codes she had found in the Genealogy book, Faith's heart began to race.

Thesewere the men who had been executed for rebelling. But before their deaths, Danforth had taken copious seed samples from each one and frozen them, creating Bellator's seed bank.

One of these men would be Faith's biological father.

Scanning the images, she searched for a visual clue. Would she know which man she was related to just by looking at him? But there was nothing familiar about any of them. They were just faces. Unfamiliar faces. Without facial expressions, personalities, or even names, the men she was scrolling past meant nothing to her.

Halfway down the page, Faith froze. There was one face she knew very well. One which set her very teeth on edge. The wide forehead, the set of his chin, the dark expression in his eyes. It was all so familiar. Her hands shaking, she scrolled down.

Don't let it be him. Please.

Back in the library, she had memorised as many of the codes in the record book as possible. Her own had been among the first she'd remembered, followed by those of the girls who had been in the caves with her. As the man's code came into view, she heaved a sigh of relief.

Jacob was not her father.

But his code was familiar. It matched one of the ones she had memorised.

Avery's.

The irony hit her. Jacob was on the run with a girl he knew was Danforth's daughter. A girl he was perhaps willing to kill, just to hurt Danforth. But what he didn't know was that his captive was also his own flesh and blood.

What would he do if he knew the truth? What would Avery do? In other circumstances, the discovery might have been amusing. The look on Avery's face when she realised she was related to the man she hated would be priceless.

But Faith didn't feel like laughing. Returning her attention to the screen, she continued to scan the other codes. How would she feel staring into the eyes of her own biological father?

A clicking sound from outside the office made her jump. Susie had returned. Leaping to her feet, Faith had not quite made it to the door when it was flung open.

But it wasn't Susie. And suddenly, Faith knew why Susie had delayed starting the treatment.

Standing in the doorway of the office, a satisfied smile on her face, was Danforth.