Kim Harrison - Dates From Hell

The automatic door shushed open for Claire, then closed behind her with the same soft sound as she carried Thumper to the table under the destabilizer. Setting the rabbit on the surface, she began to strap him down.

For some reason, this part of her job always bothered Claire. She didn’t like strapping the animals down. Of course, they always panicked and began to struggle at this point, but she couldn’t blame them, she wouldn’t like to be strapped down, either. Then too, they were probably picking up on some of her nervousness. As she worked, Claire found her eyes flickering nervously up to the funnel-shaped projector the destabilizer beam came out of. She was always nervous around the thing, afraid it would suddenly start spitting its beam at her, which of course it couldn’t do. Someone would have to turn it on for that to happen.

That thought made Claire glance over her shoulder and through the glass to the control panel. John was there, frowning and muttering to himself as he worked out the necessary calculations for the proper amount of power to use with Thumper. It was a very weight-specific process, needing a specific amount of power per pound of the animal. Too little and nothing would happen, too much and…but that had only happened with the first couple of trials.

Sighing, she turned back to Thumper and continued fixing the straps, making sure they were firmly in place, but not so tight they’d harm him. Despite her reservations about working so close to the destabilizer itself, Claire enjoyed her job. This was an exciting field to work in, this experiment on the cutting edge. They had used research on chameleons, as well as various changes natural in nature, such as gas turning into liquid when under pressure, and liquid to solid when cold. Putting it all together they had created their destabilizer, hoping that it would bring about cellular changes that would allow other animals to effect tonal changes that could act as camouflage. In effect, creating a chameleon rabbit, or a chameleon mouse, rat, dog, and—eventually—a chameleon human.

Finished with Thumper, Claire turned to head out of the room, pausing when John’s voice came over the intercom.

“Claire, Thumper isn’t aligned under the projector. Go back and fix it.”

Frowning, she turned and moved back to the table to peer at the rabbit. He looked to be in the right position to her.

“Are you sure?” Claire asked, knowing John would hear her through the open intercom. “He looks right from here.”

“The camera is only showing his lower half.” She could hear the irritation in his voice. “Maybe it’s the camera that’s off kilter.”

Claire glanced up, peering at the destabilizer itself.

“The camera is on the far side of the projector,” John announced. “Take a look at it for me, will you?”

Claire frowned. As far as she could see, there was no way to get to the far side of the projector without crawling over the table.

“The table slides back,” he said helpfully. “Just slide the table backward, then crawl under the projector and look up on the other side for a small camera. It should be aligned with the projector. If it isn’t, I’ll need Kyle to pick up some special tools on his way back from Dr. Cohen’s office so I can adjust it.”

She pushed gently on the table Thumper was strapped to. As John had said, it slid easily backward, leaving the floor under the destabilizer clear. Claire stared at the space, reluctant to fill it. She really didn’t like the idea of climbing right under the projector. It would put her in the direct path of the destabilizing beam.

“Which is perfectly safe so long as it isn’t on,” she assured herself.

“Hello! I’m waiting here,” John said testily.

Sighing, Claire dropped to her knees and crawled into the space where the table had been. Once under the projector, she raised her head and peered up. Claire spotted the camera at once, but it didn’t look out of line to her.

“It looks fine,” she said with a frown. “It—”

The words died in her throat as a white beam suddenly shot out of the destabilizer’s projector. It hit her with a jolt, and Claire suddenly found herself unable to move or even scream. It felt exactly what she imagined being hit by lightning would be like. A quick crack of agony shot through her, hitting seemingly every nerve ending, then she went numb and unconsciousness claimed her.

“Claire?”

The voice sounded urgent and upset, but it took a moment before Claire could move or open her eyes in response. When she did, it was to find herself staring up at Kyle Lockhart. His blond hair was endearingly tousled, something she’d rarely seen since high school. His sky blue eyes were crinkled with concern, and his mouth a firm line in his chiseled face.

“Kyle?” Claire breathed.

“Oh, thank God.” He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them just as quickly and straightened. “Come on, let’s get you up.”

Claire peered around as Kyle helped her to her feet. They were still in the experiment chamber, but by the front wall, as far from the molecular destabilizer as possible. The white beam that had shot such teeth-jarring pain into her was still pouring from the projector.

“This way.” Kyle began to usher her to the door, but Claire glanced back toward the beam and frowned as she recalled what had happened.

“The destabilizer went off somehow while I was checking the camera,” Claire said as he urged her out of the room. She shuddered at the recollection of the beam jolting through her body.

“John is the ‘somehow,’” Kyle said grimly.

“John?” Claire asked sharply as he led her to a lab chair and eased her into it. “You mean he deliberately zapped me?”

“Yeah. The bastard was determined to try his human trials and must have decided you would be the test subject. The jerk.”

Kyle placed a hand on her forehead and used his thumb to pull one eyelid up. He peered into her eye for a moment, then shifted his hand to the other side to repeat the process.

“Your eyes are a little dilated,” he said with a frown. “How’s your vision?”

“Fine,” Claire assured him. The moment he removed his hand from her forehead, she turned her head to glance toward the control panel, looking for John. The dark-haired man was out cold on the floor in front of the machine.

“What happened to him?” she asked, more out of curiosity than any real concern. It was hard to feel concern for the man after what he’d done.

“I knocked him out,” Kyle muttered as he took her pulse.

Claire’s eyes shot to his face in surprise. John was six feet tall and handsome in his own way, but he had the body of a scientist, long and lean. He also had the studious nature of a scientist and wasn’t the kind of guy who ran around getting into fights.

Kyle shrugged uncomfortably under her startled glance.

“I came back in and saw what he was doing and punched him,” he said almost apologetically. “Then I ran in to the experiment chamber to pull you out from under the beam.”

“You punched him?” Claire asked, still marveling over the fact.

“It was just…instinct,” Kyle explained with embarrassment. “I was…upset.”

“Oh,” Claire said huskily. “Thank you.”

Kyle shrugged and avoided her eyes by staring at his watch as he took her pulse, but then his lips twisted with displeasure and he said, “It’s my fault. I should have realized John would try a stunt like that. He’s been crabbing about the animal trials from the start and insisting we need to do human trials.”

“It’s not your fault,” Claire said quickly. “I’ve heard all his complaining, but didn’t expect him to pull a stunt like this, either.”