Fear by Francine Pascal Read Free Book Online Page B

heaving as if it had run a marathon. Then the capuchin fell over on its side, jerked once, and lay still.
    â€œThere!” said Dr. Glenn. “That’s the exact pattern I observed in the first one.”
    â€œFirst one?” asked Josh. “What first one?”
    Glenn waved him over to a cage farther down the wall. Inside, another capuchin lay lifelessly in the middle of a bed of pine shavings. “This animal demonstrated the same patterns before it died.”
    Josh pressed his lips together and looked at the small, still form. Over the last two days a number of the laboratory animals that had been treated with the serum had begun to demonstrate symptoms. Some of them mild. Some of them severe. In the last hours animals had started to die. “Have you lost all the mice?”
    â€œNot all,” said Dr. Glenn. “There are still a handful, though most of those are in decline. We’ve lost thirty percent of the treated primates and a good seventy percent of the smaller mammals.”
    Josh shivered. Heather. He had promised Heather that the injection would be safe. Of course, he had known that was a lie. The phobosan that Heather had taken had only been tested for a brief time and never on a human being. But Josh had never thought it could be this dangerous. Never thought it could be deadly.
    He turned to Dr. Glenn. “I’ve got to go and see Heather.”
    The doctor frowned. “There’s bad news on that front as well,” he said.
    â€œWhat?”
    Glenn held out a folded sheet of paper. Josh snatched it from his hands and read it anxiously.
    Josh felt his heartbeat increase as he read. Heather was in trouble. Big trouble. Her symptoms didn’t match those of the treated animals, but it was clear that the phobosan was having unexpected effects. “We’ve got to do something now. We’ve got to—”
    A door hissed open at the far side of the lab, and a tall figure stepped in. “I understand we’ve had a few setbacks,” said Loki.
    â€œSetbacks?” Josh walked across the room to meet the tall man. “It’s more than a setback; it’s a disaster.”
    â€œReally?” There was an amused expression on Loki’s face. “I think we can buy more animals when we need them. I don’t see any disaster.”
    â€œForget the animals,” said Josh. “To hell with the animals! What about Heather?”
    â€œI’m not aware of any health problems with subject B.”
    Josh waved the observation notes in front of Loki. “Then you haven’t seen this.”
    Loki took the paper and glanced at it for a moment. “Oh, this.” He passed the paper back to Josh. “Yes, I’ve seen these comments.”
    â€œYou’ve seen them?” Josh stared at him. “Then how can you say there’s nothing wrong with Heather?”
    â€œI see nothing in that report to indicate any medical problem,” said Loki. He pushed past Josh and walked over to Dr. Glenn. “Have you performed autopsies on the specimens that have died so far?”
    The scientist nodded. “Yes, we’ve—”
    Josh stepped in between Glenn and Loki. “Erratic. Disorientation. Declining. Don’t those sound like problems to you?”
    â€œThe girl is suddenly fearless. Are you surprised that she’s excited? She’s testing the limits, enjoying her new power.”
    â€œThis doesn’t sound like excitement to me. This sounds like a serious problem.” Josh looked his leader straight in the eyes. “I think it’s time that we administer the counteragent. Just in case.”
    Loki’s expression turned hard. “I’m afraid that you’re becoming too involved in your relationship with this subject. Maybe I should find another agent to interact with her.”
    â€œNo, you can’t—”
    â€œDon’t tell me what I can do,” said Loki. He stared back at