Dark Matters - Michelle Diener

Chapter 1

The door swung open, the sound of it jerking Lucy from a light sleep.

A light bloomed and then was dropped with a soft curse. In the twist and tumble of its fall, she caught a glimpse of Dr. Farnn, pressed against the wall, a strange dark splatter pattern across the pale green of her shirt.

The dropped light hit the ground and rolled a little, illuminating Dr. Farnn's feet, and then the doctor slid down and sat on the floor.

Lucy swung her legs over the side of her bed, heart hammering in her chest. “What is it?” Her voice was a whisper.

Dr. Farnn lifted a hand for quiet, looked toward the door, and Lucy thought she heard someone scream down the passageway.

The sound galvanized the doctor. She pushed herself back up to standing, her breath coming in pants. “You need to go.”

Lucy shoved her feet into the thin shoes beside her bed. “Go where?”

There was nowhere for her to go. That had been made clear to her.

“Hurry.” Dr. Farnn bent to retrieve the light.

“Why? What's happened?” She was right next to the doctor now, and she saw what she'd thought was a pattern on Farnn's shirt was blood spatter. Dr. Farnn was covered in blood.

Lucy stared at her in shock.

A tiny cry escaped the doctor's throat, her beak-like mouth opening and then snapping shut, and she pointed the light in Lucy's eyes. “Move.”

Lucy blinked, blinded, the scent of blood, the stink of sweat, enveloping her.

“No! Wait!”

She stopped, felt the rough pull as Dr. Farnn grabbed the necklace she'd been given more than six weeks ago, and tried to snap its chain.

It didn't break easily, but after another yank, Lucy felt it slither across her skin and then the ting of sound as it landed on the floor.

“Why?” She had always wondered about the gift.

“Tracker.” Farnn didn't even try to sound apologetic. “It was either that or embed it in you. In fact, they think we did embed it.” She drew in a deep breath. “We have to go. Now.”

The door swung open.

“Here's my pass, this will get you out.” Dr. Farnn shoved the slim card at her.

Lucy looked at it in the dim light of the corridor but didn't take it, even though only yesterday she'd have grabbed it with both hands if it had been offered to her. “First tell me what's going on.”

“There's no time to explain.” Farnn looked down the passage. “Cantin and Rool are holding them up, they've blocked the door into this section. We have seconds.” Her big eyes gleamed in the reflected light from her tiny flashlight. She was shaking, Lucy realized, and shivered herself. “You need to run and hide. If they find you, they'll kill you.”

“Kill me?” Her voice rose and Farnn winced. “Who's they?”

“Shh.” Farnn tilted her head, listening for a moment. “They sent you here, asked us to work with you, and now they think if they make you disappear, make all of us disappear, that'll clean up the mess they've made.”

She grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her down toward the far end of the facility.

Lucy heard a crash in the opposite direction and Farnn switched off her light. In the brief moment before it winked out, Lucy caught a glimpse of the doctor's face before they were plunged into darkness--she was terrified.

They ran in silence for less than a minute and then Farnn stopped and touched her shoulder, pointed to a door lit with a thin strip of floor lighting.

Before she could say anything, there was a thud of boots running toward them. “My hover is the one with the red wing.” Farnn shoved the pass into Lucy's hand, pushed her toward the door and ran on.

Lucy stumbled forward, shouldered through the door, and found herself in a garage full of small hovers.

She forced herself to move, even though she wanted to stand and gawk.

There! Three down from the door. A silver hover with a red wing on the side.

She ran to it, pulled herself in.

She was a little shorter than the Tecran, but not by much. She had never been in a real hover, but she had flown a virtual one almost every day for the last three weeks, racing the doctors and scientists in the game they all seemed to enjoy.

Had they known this moment was coming? Had they been preparing her for this?

She shook her head, slid Farnn's pass into a slot that seemed designed for it, and started up the hover.

As far as she could see,