The Persona Protocol - By Andy McDermott Page 0,157

looking fearfully back towards the ramp. ‘How long do you think we’ll have before they get here?’

‘Not long. You’ll have to work fast.’ He opened the holdall, extracting an emergency surgical kit he had taken from STS. ‘Okay, here’s what I need you to do,’ he said, handing it to her and then untucking his clothing to expose his lower back. ‘Just above the base of my spine there’s a thing like a large coin under my skin. That’s the kinetic power pack. You’ll have to find it by feel.’

‘So – so you actually want me to do this?’ she said. ‘You want me to cut you open?’

‘It’s the only way. Find the power pack.’

Bianca hesitantly touched him, fingertips moving down his backbone. She felt something under the skin, hard and unnatural, a circular object about four centimetres in diameter. ‘Okay, got it. What now?’

‘You’re going to cut through the skin just above it. Use a sterile wipe to clean it.’ She found one in the surgical kit and did so. ‘Now take the scalpel and make a horizontal incision across the top.’

There was a scalpel inside a plastic tube. She took the instrument out. Even in the gloomy half-light of the parking garage, the razor edge of the stainless-steel blade still glinted. ‘Oh God, I can’t stop my hands from shaking,’ she warned him.

‘You’ll be okay,’ Adam replied. He knelt down, leaning forward. ‘Find the pack again – use your left hand.’

She tried to control her breathing as she relocated the disc beneath his skin. ‘Okay.’

‘Now, put the tip of the scalpel just above it, about half an inch to the left of its top.’

Bianca brought the blade into position, but hesitated before the metal touched him, her hand trembling more than ever. ‘Adam, I’m scared. If I do something wrong . . .’

‘You won’t. I know you can do it. I trust you, Doctor Childs.’

That didn’t stop her from shaking, but at least it gave her the courage to press the scalpel’s tip against his flesh. ‘What about anaesthetic?’

‘There isn’t time.’ He tensed, taking a deep breath. ‘Make the incision.’

Another hesitation – then, wincing, she pressed the blade down.

Adam flinched at the pain, drawing in air sharply through his nostrils. Blood swelled from the cut, rising like a tar bubble before trickling down his back in a crimson stream.

Bianca gasped. It was not so much the sight itself that caused her alarm, rather that she was responsible for it. ‘Oh God. The blood’s coming out really fast!’

‘You’ll have to be fast too,’ said Adam through gritted teeth. ‘Make the cut – left to right, about an inch.’

She tried to slide the scalpel sideways, but the blade refused to move. ‘I can’t, it’s stuck!’

‘You have to – push harder. Like cutting a steak.’

‘Is this a bad time to tell you I’m a vegetarian?’ But she applied more pressure – and the scalpel shifted, slicing through the skin and the thin layer of fat beneath. A sudden gush of blood made her jerk in shock. ‘It’s bleeding, a lot!’

‘Keep cutting,’ Adam told her, voice strained. ‘You’re almost done.’

Wincing, Bianca edged the scalpel across until the incision was the size he had demanded. ‘Okay, okay! Now what do I do?’

‘Don’t put down the scalpel, you’ll still need it – but you’re going to have to use your other hand to open the incision. There’s a wire coming out of the top of the pack – the earwig’s power line and antenna. Use the scalpel to cut it.’

‘Oh God, oh my God . . .’ Bianca whispered as she moved her quivering left hand to the gory opening. Blood oozed out as she touched it. She probed deeper, feeling the curved edge of the implant against her fingertips. ‘I’ve found the power pack – but I can’t feel the wire.’ Desperation rose as she kept searching without result. Another bloody rivulet rushed down Adam’s back. ‘Oh God, I can’t find it!’

‘Stay calm,’ Adam rasped, muscles and tendons drawn tight. ‘It’s there. Right at the top. Just keep feeling . . .’

Her right hand was shaking so much she almost dropped the scalpel. She clamped her hand tightly around its handle, then slid her fingertips deeper into the incision. Still nothing but the smooth plastic curve of the power pack and the awful warm softness under his skin – then suddenly she felt something else that did not belong. It was much thinner than she had expected, more like a hair drawn taut