Jones dropped his arms to his side. “And you want to go down there alone?”
“No. I don’t want to have to go down there at all.” Reese gesture to the containment tent shielding the door to the lab. “But if I go alone the less likely anyone will die because the betas know me.”
“Okay. If these… betas are so strong. How did you keep them contained?”
“We used something called smoked glass.” Reese held up a hand, stopping Jones from asking a question. “There isn’t enough time for me to explain, and even if there was, you don’t have the education to understand it.”
The man scowled, and Reese ignored him.
“The point is, it could contain them. It’s the only thing that could. As long as they’re still in their cell we’ll be okay. But after what I’ve seen on the cameras, they’ve gotten operational, I’m afraid they might have gotten out.”
Dr. Katz set his hood back on the table. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t sign up for this.”
Harrington said, “Dr. Katz—”
“No.” The man sliced the air with his hand. “Count me out.” He walked away, leaving his two colleagues.
Reese waited for them to bail too.
“I’m in,” Rice said.
“You sure?” Reese wasn’t. He had no desire to put anyone else at risk.
“Were you serious about these… betas? That they were dead and now they aren’t?”
Reese acknowledged her.
“They really break the laws of physics?” Dr. Campbell’s eyes lit up. It reminded Reese of when he had realized the capabilities of the ichor.
“Yes, they do.”
The two scientists grinned. Yeah, only people like Reese would find the risk of getting killed to see something impossible exciting.
But how long until those expressions turned to one of loathing? It hadn’t taken Reese but a few months to hate himself.
“Since you seem to know more than the rest of us.” Jones cast a cold glance in Harrington’s direction. “What should we expect when we go in there?”
All the gunmen watched Reese now. “I don’t know.”
“Lovely.”
“When they get the rest of the cameras up, we’ll have a better idea,” Harrington said.
“Whendoesn’t help us now.” Jones returned to his men.
The two remaining scientists finished suiting up. Harrington walked over and the bravado Reese wielded, shriveled.
“I can’t decide if that was brave or stupid.”
“I’m pretty sure it was stupid.” Reese hooked the breather hose to his mask. “Why didn’t you tell them what they were walking into?”
“They were given a file with the schematics and room contents.”
Reese pressed his lips together.
“I didn’t prepare the operations plan.”
“Let me guess, Phillips did.” Reese wrapped the utility belt around his waist. One of three pouches contained specimen bags, another forceps, and the last, a small high beam flashlight.