Read The Deep Beneath for Free Online Page B

direction. But Lilly has political prowess that I’ll never have. My days here at A.H.D.N.A. are numbered.”
    “Numbered days?”
    “It means I won’t be here much longer. It means I won’t be able to see you anymore.” Dr. Randall paused, waiting perhaps for an emotional response that never came. Though H.A.L.F. 9 displayed no emotion, a tear came to Dr. Randall’s eye.
    H.A.L.F. 9 said, “I do not desire for you to go.” And it was true. Dr. Randall was the only human that had ever treated him like anything other than an experiment and talked to him about the world outside of A.H.D.N.A. And though he had seen less and less of Dr. Randall in recent months, if Dr. Randall were to permanently leave the underground lab, H.A.L.F. 9 would be wholly alone.
    “Believe me, I don’t want to leave you. If there were a way to take you out of here, I’d do it. I’d take you with me. But …” Dr. Randall snuffed his nose and wiped at his cheek with the back of his hand.
    “I have never set foot beyond the confines of this dark, concrete prison that I call home. I know nothing of the human world other than what I have read or that you have told me. But I fear that there is no place out there where a creature such as myself would be welcome. Am I correct, Dr. Randall?” H.A.L.F. 9 did not need to wait for an answer. He had been around humans all his life and knew that his overly large, black eyes, tiny facial features, and strangely colored greyish skin would make him stand apart. He would always be ‘other’ than human. And if there was no place for him in the human world, how could he ever escape the underground prison?
    “You may have to find a way. You are a wonder, dear boy. Never forget that. Now, I must go before Lilly realizes where I am. But listen. If I have not returned before thirty days have passed, speak with Dr. Dolan. Ask him to tell you about the route that cockroaches take. Do you understand?”
    “I do not. Is that sarcasm, Dr. Randall?”
    “No, it’s not sarcasm. Look, it doesn’t matter if you understand what it means. Just remember what I told you and do as I said when the time comes.”
    “What is happening, Dr. Randall?”
    “You’re not what Lilly – what Commander Sturgis – expects from this program. I’ve done my best to argue on your behalf. But I fear that I won’t be tolerated here much longer. The hows and whys are many and ultimately unimportant to the task at hand. Now all that matters is this: Save yourself. Count thirty days and if I have not been here in that time, then talk to Dr. Dolan. He knows what to do.”
    “Dr. Dolan?” H.A.L.F. 9 was confused. Dr. Dolan was a medical doctor, but as far as he was concerned, Dolan was not a very good one. Perhaps Dr. Dolan was quite capable of caring for humans aboveground. But H.A.L.F. 9 had never trusted that Dr. Dolan knew more than the attendants about how to attend to the medical needs of an alien-human hybrid. It seemed odd to him that Dr. Randall would suggest that Dr. Dolan be trusted with what sounded as though it could be an important task.
    “Yes, and no one else. Never speak a word of any of this to anyone except for him. Don’t tell the attendants that bring you nourishment. Do you understand?”
    “Do not speak of it.”
    “That’s right. Goodbye, H.A.L.F. 9.”
    “Goodbye, Dr. Randall.”
    Thirty days came and went without any further visit or communication from Dr. Randall. H.A.L.F. 9 recalled how ill Dr. Randall appeared when they last met, and his concern for Dr. Randall’s welfare grew with each passing day. While he had previously seen only a single armed guard stationed at the door that led out of the H.A.L.F. wing, there were now two. Even in his groggy, sedated state of mind he saw the pieces of the puzzle coming together. Something had happened to Dr. Randall, and that meant that Commander Sturgis was solely in charge of A.H.D.N.A. – and of him.
    During his next monthly physical examination,