Chapter Seventeen Faith

"Any change?"

Diane's voice startled Faith. Realising she'd fallen asleep in the chair in front of Sophia's monitor, she tried to focus. She stretched widely and brushed a hand across her face, wincing when her fingers brushed against the tender skin on her cheek. The wound was healing well, but was still painful to the touch.

"Not the last time I looked, which must have been…" she consulted the time at the bottom of the screen. "Wow. I've been asleep a while."

Diane tutted. "You need to actually go to bed. This isn't doing you any good."

Bending over Faith, she peered at the screen. "Looks like you're right. No change."

Faith rubbed her eyes. Since Sanders had woken up Sophia, Faith had spent as much time as she could watching the monitor, trying to work out what was happening to her friend. The checks on her had become more regular, and more thorough. The same petite medic took blood from her every day, and she was supervised at all times now by a small team. Faith suspected those looking after her were specially selected to keep Sophia's presence at the hospital a secret.

Sophia had also been removed from the room on two occasions. The first time, Faith had curled up in the chair, terrified as to where Sophia had been taken. After several desperate minutes spent jumping from camera to camera, Faith had clicked back to the original room to find that her bed had been wheeled back in again, with no visible alteration to her condition. Blake said they'd probably taken her for a scan. When she disappeared for the second time, Faith had been less anxious, but it had still been a difficult thirty minutes.

Even more disturbing were the bouts of sickness Sophia underwent on a regular basis. Since she'd woken up, she had been vomiting at least three times a day. Faith didn't know how she was keeping any food down, but she hadn't seen her eat any either. Again, Lily had told her that one of the tubes Sophia was hooked up to was providing her with sustenance. But watching her friend retch every few hours was awful.

"You had any breakfast?" Diane said. "A shower?"

Faith shook her head.

"Madeleine wants to see you." Diane took hold of Faith's arm and pulled her upright. "Go and clean up. I'll make an excuse til you're ready."

"But–" Faith gestured towards the screen, where Sophia lay, eyes open, but completely still.

"You're not doing her any good." Diane shooed her away. "You'll make yourself ill. How can you help her, then?"

Faith began to protest again, but found her head was spinning.

"When was the last time you ate?" Diane scolded. "You need to look after yourself." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a slightly crushed cereal bar. Pressing it into Faith's hand, she pushed her towards the door. "Get out of here." She jabbed a finger at the screen. "I'll watch her, I promise."

Knowing her friend wouldn't give up, Faith made her way out of the tiny room. She hurried down the hallway with her head down, grateful to find their shared sleeping space empty. Still feeling light headed, she devoured the cereal bar. Then she grabbed soap, shampoo, and a towel and headed for the bathroom.

Half an hour later she felt a little refreshed. She walked to Madeleine's office, wondering what the older woman wanted. Over the past few days, she and Diane had been given fairly light duties, and Faith had spent the majority of her time in Blake's room. Whenever she had entered the hub to grab some food, the door to the leader's office had been firmly closed.

She'd heard a couple of whispers about the current Resistance priorities, but she'd been so preoccupied with Sophia that she hadn't really paid much attention. Now, she wished she'd had the sense to ask Diane about the reason for the meeting. Still, it was too late now.

She knocked softly on the door. Hearing a sharp "Come," she obeyed, easing the door open and peering inside.

"Faith!" Robyn was the first to greet her. How's the face?"

It was sore, but Faith didn't want to admit weakness. "S'fine." She resisted the urge to bring a hand to her injuries.

Madeleine was less sympathetic. "About time. I sent Diane to fetch you ages ago."

Faith scuttled in with what she hoped was an apologetic expression. Madeleine sat behind the desk, a number of papers spread out in front of her. Without preamble, she waved Faith into a chair.

"We received a report from one of the safehouses on the outskirts of the city last night. Seems Ruth put those batteries we gave her to good use. Eremus has been in touch. I was able to speak with Flynn for a little while."

"Flynn." Faith was puzzled. "Not Jacob?"

"It seems there has been a leadership change in the community." Madeleine frowned. "He didn't give me details, but said Jacob wasn't available to speak to me."

Faith's heart began beating faster. If Jacob was out of the picture, would Madeleine still be happy to work with Eremus? "And that was okay with you?"

The older woman's face was impassive. "I've worked with both men for years. Jacob has always been," she paused for a second, searching for the right word, "somewhat hot-headed." She shrugged. "I suspect the explosions in the forest went a bit too far for some of the Eremus citizens. I trust Flynn though. He's headed up many raids in the past and always done it well. He's a man of his word and he's made some very interesting proposals which I think might well feed into what the Resistance wants to achieve in the long run."

Faith was flooded with relief. "You're still looking to work with them then?"

"I am. Providing Eremus shows they're willing and lives up to our conditions."

"Conditions?"

"We're not prepared to jump in with both feet until I know Eremus isn't just using us to get what it wants. We have to have common goals."

Faith's heart leapt. "What did you ask them for?"

"First, I asked that they return Charlotte Kemp to Bellator." Madeleine fingered one of the papers on the desk absentmindedly. "She's been a faithful Resistance member for a long time, and her cover at the academy took years to set up. There is another person within the academy who helps us, but they don't have the same access to the professors as she does."

"You're hoping Professor Kemp can go back to the academy?" Faith burst out. "After all this time? Where will they think she's been?"

Madeleine frowned. "We're working on a cover story which could explain her absence. If it's successful, she may be able to return to her old position and continue to support us from there."

"And if she can't?" A feeling of dread crept over Faith as she asked the question.

Robyn shrugged. "We'll get her out and she'll have to work undercover from here instead."

"Like me." Madeleine frowned. "Anyway, Flynn has agreed to bring her back here. Eremus is planning a raid in the next couple of days. Mostly for supplies." Madeleine tapped a list on the screen in front of her. "We know what it is they need, and we'll attempt to assist them, as we always have."

"How will you do that?" Faith asked, curious.

"We'll provide access to the city through some of the safehouses, make sure that the locations they want to raid are unguarded…" Robyn ticked the items off on her fingers. "Give them access to the more complicated targets... that kind of thing."

Faith's heart started to beat a little faster. Might Noah be among the raiders? She pushed the thought away. She hadn't been permitted to leave the library since the first mission to the academy. It was hardly likely that Madeleine would permit her a jaunt out in public simply to meet with a random Eremus boy.

"Flynn suggested they send some of their people here to swell our forces… show they're serious about joining with us. Undercover, of course." The Resistance leader shrugged. "It's an experiment, obviously. See whether or not they can blend in, go unnoticed." As Madeleine went on, Faith found herself shivering at the thought of what would happen if they couldn't blend in. "I think it will go a long way towards proving their dedication to our cause."

Faith swallowed. "You mean they're coming here?"

"They are." Madeleine's tone made it clear she was closing the discussion. Abandoning her datadev, the Resistance leader stood up. With a piercing gaze, she walked around the table until she stood right in front of Faith. "Now, I'm told there have been some changes to Sophia's condition." Madeleine leaned back against the desk. "Blake told us you've been watching that damn monitor permanently since they woke her up."

"Um, yes." Faith wondered if she was about to be disciplined. "I suppose I have."

"We'd like you to give us a thorough update on her condition." Madeleine said. "What with the information Blake dug up on the drug, and your description of its effects, we're curious to find out more."

Faith sat up a little straighter, leaning forward. "Well, as you said, she's now awake," she began. "The medics made some adjustments. It seems they had her sedated, before."

"Interesting." Madeleine exchanged glances with Robyn. "Do we know why they've woken her up?"

"Not at the moment." Faith searched for words which would sound logical, rather than emotional. "They seem to be monitoring her more closely. She's awake most of the time… I mean she does sleep, but normally… at night, as you'd expect. The medics have taken her out of the room a couple of times. Not for long, though. Lily said they probably took her for a scan of some sort."

Robyn nodded. "That would make sense."

"What's more worrying," Faith paused, "is the fact that she's being sick. A lot."

Madeleine raised her eyebrows. "How often, would you say?"

Faith shrugged. "Two… sometimes three times a day."

"Any other significant symptoms?"

"Well, it's difficult to tell, without being able to hear what's going on in the room." Faith had spent a lot of time thinking about it. "Sophia appears to be able to speak to them, but obviously, we can't hear what they're saying, so that's a dead end. When she gets up to use the bathroom, someone has to help her, so it looks like they're worried she might faint." She glanced between the two women. "You remember me telling you that I experienced extreme dizziness when I was given femgazipane? At times, I could barely make it across the room. If Sophia's being given multiple doses, it's no surprise that she's the same way."

Madeleine leaned closer to Faith. "You might be wondering why we're so interested. As you know, we've been listening to the conversations in Anderson's office regularly since your team planted the bug. So far, most of it's been pretty dull. But yesterday, Robyn heard them talking about Sophia."

Faith bolted upright. "What did you hear?"

"It seems," Robyn frowned, "since Sophia is the only one of the missing students to have been returned to the city, they've decided not to broadcast her return. Instead, her return has been kept quiet so they can… let's just say… accelerate the testing on a subject no one knows about."

"You mean–" Faith stammered, "they can cover up what happens to her because no one knows she's here?"

"We think so." Madeleine sighed. "This way, if she dies, they have an easy out." Faith went cold at the thought, but the Resistance leader pressed on without noticing. "My guess is they'd just blame her death on the rogue men who kidnapped her, spin some story, tell the citizens she died in the forest… or they brought her back to the city severely injured, then couldn't save her."

"It's disgusting." Robyn started pacing. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure Anderson was speaking to Danforth herself. The call was audio rather than video, though, and I could only hear Anderson's side of the conversation." She turned to face them. "What she confirmed is that Sophia is on higher doses of femgazipane than any other student so far. Anderson said they've kept her sedated to allow her body to adjust to the drug."

"The fact that they've woken her up implies there has been a breakthrough…" Madeleine mused, "or at least they were hoping that–"

"Surely the vomiting implies her body hasn't gotten used to it?" Faith interrupted.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Robyn rolled her eyes. "But Anderson implied that, given the large doses of femgazipane, they were expecting a far more severe reaction. Apparently, they're quite pleased with her progress."

"As we know, they have large numbers of the girls in the academy on lower doses of the drug, but the effects have been pretty severe." Faith gasped, and Madeleine hurried on. "No one has died. You were right. Whatever they did to the formula between giving it to Serene and to you has prevented that from happening."

"Thank goodness." Robyn massaged her temples.

"But the sickness you described, the dizzy spells, the disorientation, they're all experiencing that." Madeleine shook her head. "According to Anderson, many of the senior girls aren't making it to their classes, the effects are so extreme."

"And they keep giving it to them?" Faith was incredulous.

"So it seems." Robyn resumed her pacing. "They have them on rotation. They take the drug for a couple of days, then they're given a week off it, to rest and recover. But then they begin all over again."

Faith thought back to the photographs she had taken of the girls' charts. "The test they're given? That one on the charts Anderson has in her office. Did we work out what that's about?"

Madeleine drummed her fingers against the table. "It seems to be linked to their tolerance. Once the levels of femgazipane in the bloodstream reach a certain point, the side effects are so severe that the girls fail this test and have to be taken off the drug for a few days."

"But they're straight back on it as soon as they're recovered." Robyn bit her lip. "It's barbaric."

"But Anderson's conversation indicated something interesting about Sophia." Faith clenched her teeth as Madeleine picked up the story. "By keeping her sedated, it appears they've managed to get her body to tolerate far higher levels of the femgazipane for a far lengthier period of time."

Faith shifted in her chair, hoping the conversation would at some point lead to a way they might look at rescuing her friend. The expression on Madeleine's face did not give her much hope, though.

"As we know," she continued, "femgazipane is linked to fertility in some way. Now that they've had what they consider to be real success with Sophia, they've made some alterations."

"Obviously, they woke her up." Faith said. "Do we know why?"

"Not exactly. And there have been other changes too." Robyn said, her voice gentle. "Not only the scans, and Sophia's alertness, but Anderson mentioned a second phase of the process."

Something stirred in Faith's memory. "When I got over the worst of my reactions to the femgazipane…" she cast her mind back, suppressing a shudder as she recalled the barren room she'd been locked in, "Anderson mentioned something to Danforth about a Phase Two."

Madeleine frowned. "And what did that involve?"

"I'm not sure." Registering Madeleine's look of disappointment, Faith tried to explain. "It sounded like they wanted to somehow… take things a step further, based on the fact that I had survived the first dose."

Robyn sat forward. "We think she was referring to a second drug." Robyn paused, glancing at Faith as though monitoring her reaction. "You understand? It looks like Sophia's being given something in addition to the femgazipane."

Faith's heart was pounding. "But what will it do to her?"

"We're not exactly sure, but we think it might have already had the desired effect."

"What do you mean? What have they done to her?" Faith glanced between the two women. "Is she dying?"

"I'm sorry, Faith…" Madeleine was unusually hesitant, "but it seems there's been a… a change in Sophia's condition."

"A change?" Faith could hear her voice rising in pitch but could do nothing to stop it. "What kind of change?"

"Well, with all the sickness she's experiencing," Robyn's voice was gentle, "we believe she might be pregnant."