Rachel Caine - Fall of Night

So could Dr Anderson, it seemed, because she slowly raised an eyebrow and drew a manicured fingernail along the barrel. ‘VLAD,’ she said again. ‘Yes. I think it seems like the right thing, after all. So. Break it down for me, Claire. How exactly does this work?’

‘I’m not sure it does. I mean, it does something , but not necessarily what I want it to do, yet. The goal is to be able to tune in to a specific vampire broadcast emotion – like hunger – and cancel it out. Make the vampire not hungry. Theoretically, it could stop an attack, or at least drastically slow it down and lessen the intensity.’ She swallowed hard, because she had Anderson’s full and unwavering attention now. ‘In theory, it should also be able to cancel out the specific projections that vampires can do to make other people obey them on command, wipe out memories, etc. It levels the playing field. That’s why I called it VLAD.’

‘You think that it would stop them from attacking someone.’

‘Or at least slow them down – at the very least, it would throw them off balance. And it’s possible that it would seriously disable them.’

‘Permanently?’

‘I don’t know about that. Probably temporary?’

‘What trials have you run?’

‘Not many,’ Claire admitted. ‘I used it on Myrnin kind of accidentally, but he didn’t give me a lot of feedback about it. I think it disturbed him, though. Right now, I’m just calibrating the device to try to locate the specific wavelengths where vampire powers resonate. If I can pin that down, the theory is that I can then create a counter-wave to cancel them.’

‘So when a vampire projects fear at his prey – which is one of their key hunting abilities – it would nullify that.’

‘Well, it wouldn’t stop you from being afraid. I mean, vampires are scary all on their own. But they have a way of pushing you from fear into panic.’

‘And their mental abilities – to conceal themselves, to cloud memories, to compel people to do things …’

Not every vampire had any of those abilities, and as far as Claire had been able to tell, none of the vampires, not even the very strongest like Amelie, had all of them in equal measure. But she nodded. ‘Theoretically, it should work,’ she said. ‘But there’s a power problem to solve, and right now VLAD is way too heavy and bulky. Some of that is Myrnin’s attempt to help me. He likes – gears.’

‘Always has,’ Anderson agreed, with a smile that was almost fond. ‘First things first – we deconstruct, we test each piece of it, design more streamlined versions … and we construct a simulation to run in the array to show us exactly what the response is. Once we do that, we test it on a live subject, but not before.’

‘On a vampire? For that, we’d have to go back to Morganville.’

‘Not at all,’ Anderson said. ‘This thing, if it works, is far too dangerous to be in Morganville, or anywhere that Amelie can get to it. In fact, there’s a strong possibility that—’ She paused, because a soft musical tone sounded in the lab, and she swivelled to face a computer monitor set in the wall behind them, concealed from easy view by a half wall. On the monitor, striding down the hallway, was a tight knot of four people, all dressed identically – no, not really, but all in dark suits that seemed identical at first glance. Three men and a woman. Her suit had a skirt, and midheel shoes, and she lacked a tie, but that was really the only way the four of them differed.

‘Claire, take VLAD,’ Anderson said. She kept watching the monitor for a few more seconds, then nodded as if she’d confirmed her suspicions. ‘Come on.’

Claire scooped up the heavy weight and hustled after Dr Anderson as she moved around lab tables to a blank white wall … and then pressed her hand to an almost invisible panel that was set in it, white on white. It lit up with a shimmering silver glow, and a panel slid open.

There were shelves behind it. Most were crowded with labelled boxes and bottles, but there was a large empty shelf in the bottom, and Claire quickly knelt and slid VLAD into the space. As she pulled back, Anderson pressed her hand on the locking mechanism again, and the door slid shut with barely a whisper.

‘Say nothing,’ Anderson said. ‘If they ask you a direct question, just tell them you don’t know anything about the research, you just arrived. It’s true. Whatever you do, don’t lie to them, but tell them as little as you can possibly get away with.’

‘But – who are they?’

‘Let’s hope you never need to know. I sincerely don’t want to involve you in things above your pay grade.’

That was all there was time for, because the outer door slid open, and the first of the four stepped through. They obviously knew the protocol, too. The tallest man came through first, and nodded to Anderson as he stepped aside. He had cool, assessing brown eyes that flicked over Claire briefly before focusing back on the professor.

The other three came in quick succession, each nodding and politely waiting until the last had joined them. The last was a midsize man in a pale blue shirt and bright blue tie – just a shade more unconventional than the others in the group. He walked forward, extending his hand to Dr Anderson.

‘Irene,’ he said, and smiled. ‘Good to see you again.’

‘You too, Charles. To what do I owe this visit?’

‘Just a spot check, the usual stuff.’ He shrugged. ‘You understand how it goes. Protocol.’

‘I know that having four people assigned is a little heavy for a spot check,’ she said. ‘Isn’t that something you only need one agent for?’

‘For you, Dr Anderson, the royal treatment,’ he said. ‘How are the biologics coming along?’

‘Fine,’ she said, and flicked a glance at Claire. ‘Let’s discuss this in private.’

‘Just a minute,’ said the dark-suited woman, stepping forward. ‘Your name is’ – she made a show of checking her phone – ‘Claire Danvers, correct?’

‘She’s my lab assistant,’ Dr Anderson said. ‘What’s the point?’

‘Well, we’re doing background checks,’ the agent said. ‘I’ll need to schedule an in-depth interview.’

‘An interview? What for?’ Claire asked.

‘For security reasons,’ said the main guy. ‘That’s all you need to know. Is she read in on your projects?’

‘No, she just arrived,’ Dr Anderson said. She turned toward Claire. ‘I do some work for these people. They tend to be just a little bit paranoid, I’m afraid, even though what we’re working on is pretty mundane. Nothing to worry about.’ She sent a smile toward the other woman. ‘Look at her, she’s eighteen. You seriously think she could be a spy?’

‘I think kids younger than eighteen have done amazing and terrible things,’ the woman said. ‘Miss Danvers, I’ll be in touch for your interview. Until then, she has no access to anything related to your projects with us. Understood?’

‘Completely understood,’ Anderson said. She nodded to Claire. ‘You’d best be on your way, Claire. This doesn’t concern you.’

‘Okay,’ Claire said, and hesitated for a second. There was a very weird feeling in the air, in the way these four official types were facing off with her professor. ‘Are you sure you don’t need me to call anyone, or …?’

The woman looked irritated. ‘Who do you think you’re going to call? Beat it before I find a security reason to make you stay.’

Dr Anderson gave her a look that Claire interpreted as go ahead , and Claire collected her backpack and headed for the door to badge out. As she did, she turned back and said, ‘Oh, Dr Anderson, should I let your next appointment know you’ll be delayed?’