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people in the lab and they were all staring. I slowly stood up, ready to fight if I had to.
    “Yes, sorry, let me introduce you to some of our key players,” The Kid said, motioning us to follow him. “You’ll meet everyone eventually, but I think there are a few people you’ll especially want to see.”
    We weaved our way through the lab toward a back room. When Robbie opened the door, my eyes went wide.
    “Oh my God, Josh and Drea?” I burst out as I hurried toward our old friends from Phoenix. Drea enveloped me in a hug first as Josh shook hands with Dave.
    When Drea let me go, she turned to The Kid with a smile and a very motherly hug that he responded to with no hesitation. “Great work, buddy. You said you’d get them and you did.”
    “So you guys are all still together?” I said, rather stupidly, since it was pretty obvious.
    “You said to watch out for The Kid and we did,” Josh said, ruffling the boy’s hair as a greeting. “When the opportunity came to head up to this lab and keep working on cure elements, we couldn’t say no.”
    Josh had been a chemist in a previous life and I could see a spark in his eyes that said how excited he was about the work they were doing. Drea put her arm around him and for a moment my fears were assuaged. The two of them had always been good people. I couldn’t imagine they’d throw us under the bus without at least looking sheepish about it.
    “So you guys feel like this is legit?” Dave asked.
    Josh nodded. “It is. Robbie and I oversee the production of the different elements and the mixture. We have a lot of terrific, smart people working out there, people who have risked a lot to help us. I hope you two will join us.”
    “What happens if we don’t?” Dave asked, wariness in his tone.
    “Then you don’t…” Drea said with a sigh. “But it will hurt our cause.”
    “I just don’t know,” I said under my breath, confusion mobbing me.
    “Oh Sarah, always so jaded for someone with such spectacular breasts,” said a voice with a thick British accent behind us.
    I staggered around to find our old rock and roll friend McCray standing in the doorway. He was still wearing leather and he still looked like a rock god, but his eyes were clear and he had a few extra pounds on him that told me he’d lost his supply of heroin at some point.
    “McCray!” I cried as I hugged him. “Nicole didn’t say you were here.”
    He glanced at our reporter friend with a wink. “No? How you wound me, love.”
    She blushed and I stepped back in surprise. Ah… so the two of them were an…
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. Interesting since Nicole had hardly been able to stand him when we traveled together not that long ago.
    “Look, it’s a lot to take in, I know,” Nicole said, waving McCray off like she’d deal with him later. “And you’ve had a long flight, plus Sarah I know you’re not feeling so great. Why don’t we show you your rooms? You can rest tonight, meet a few more people, and talk about things. Tomorrow morning, when we have a full day to get started on our work, I think your minds will be clearer.”
    Dave looked at me and I shrugged. “It can’t hurt.”
    “Sure,” Dave agreed. “Let us absorb everything and we’ll start fresh tomorrow.”
    McCray laughed as he draped an arm around Dave’s shoulders. “Excellent. Then come along, my little zombie friend. We’ll show you to your humble abode above stairs.”
    Dave and I laughed as we let him lead us through the lab and up a couple flights of stairs to the old classrooms above, but there were still lingering doubts in my mind. Doubts I wasn’t sure would ever be erased.
    #
    Dave smoothed the sheets over the old dorm bed we’d been given and patted the flat surface for me to climb in. Instead, I sat down next to him to rest my head on his shoulder and for a moment we were quiet, even though I was pretty sure he had as many thoughts racing around in his head as I did mine.
    “It’s like reunion central here,