Mission Cure

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN - M:FAC/1 - Clare

CLARE

Delivering a baby by flashlight proved easier than expected. The darkness seemed to soothe Roslava, making the labor less intense. And nobody had to see any of the more disturbing parts of childbirth.

Adrian held his fourth daughter and actually looked emotional. The kids were excited to see the new baby, and Roslava wanted to know when she could take a hot shower.

"I fix power now," Adrian told her, handing over their new little bundle of joy.

"You're still injured," Clare told him. "How do you plan on making it downstairs without getting attacked? And nobody else knows how to fix that stuff – we can't lose you."

"Maybe Tomb Raider can protect me." He smiled. "See? I make joke."

Clare rolled her eyes. "We gave both of the dart guns to the kids."

"Right," he nodded. "Well, what does Thomb Raider use?"

Clare glared at him. "She uses actual guns."

"We don't have guns."

"I know that."

He furrowed his brow. "Maybe we use something else?"

Clare tried to remember everything Cohen had said about the Voids. Were they afraid of something specific? Something that could be used against them? Nothing came to mind until she realized she was looking at it the wrong way.

"They like sugar!" she remembered. "We could use sugar to distract them!"

Adrian was already shaking his head and looking nervously at his wife. "Rosie does not allow sugar," he whispered.

"Maybe there's some in the community kitchen," Clare suggested.

"No sugar!" Roslava practically yelled, not really knowing what they were talking about.

Just then, Clare's phone chirped. She checked the message, sure it was from Dreary, surprised to see that it was from Richard.

It said: Figured out how to replicate the cure. Trying it on Jamie soon. Do you want to be here?

Her heart stopped. They were trying the cure on Jaime? If it didn't work, could it kill him? But even more disturbing... if it worked, would he remember her?

She read it out loud.

"This is good," Adrian decided in his usual, stoic voice.

"Is it?" she asked, unsure. "What if it doesn't work? What if it does more harm than good?"

Adrian stared at her for a second, his blue eyes very calm. He didn't have to say the words for Clare to know what he was thinking. That nothing could be worse than being a Void – not even death.

Clare texted Richard back, asking him to wait for her while she and Adrian tried to fix the power. Roslava assured them everything was under control – Yrel and Nikita were in full mommy mode, following orders and tidying up the living room.

They abandoned the idea of finding sugar when Adrian rummaged through a closet and emerged with a baseball bat and a taser. He handed the small device to Clare.

"Is this what I think it is?" she asked.

"Da."

"Why would you even have this?"

"I make it in college," he explained.

She already knew why he had the bat – they'd played baseball on Ship Four many times. It was the only one with the space for running around the bases, and everyone loved the reprieve from Harvest.