Save me, please...

Chapter 2

Within an hour, Dr. Peterson was on a private helicopter headed to...the middle of nowhere. Conrad never dreamed that US Intelligence would come knocking on his door. Yes, he did work for the government, but as a medical researcher, not some important scientist who gets flown out to the desert with a half hour of notice to pack his bags. A lab in the middle of the desert? Top secret projects? It didn't seem real.

Until the helicopter touched down on the helipad. Conrad quickly hopped out, glad to escape the confines of that military grade death trap. When he looked around him, all he saw was a small two storey concrete building and miles and miles of desert.

"Doctor Peterson. So glad you could make it,"said an approaching figure. He recognized her voice immediately.

"Doctor Anderson?!" he asked, disbelief sending his deep voice a few pitches higher. The woman before him laughed.

"Close your mouth, boy, or you'll catch a fly," she said, using a nickname Conrad hadn't encountered since university. He was elated to see his science professor again, but was baffled by the strange circumstances.

As if answering the unspoken question, Dr. Anderson began to speak while she walked. "I've been working here for just over a year now. All of us, the scientists, are a little out of our depths, we haven't had a breakthrough in months. The government decided that it would be best to bring in a new set of eyes, some fresh blood."

"And that person just happened to be me?" Conrad asked, incredulous.

Dr. Anderson stopped walking. They were already in the building's interior which seemed to be a lot bigger than what it seemed on the outside. Dr. Anderson looked up to meet Conrad's green eyes, only then realizing how tall he had gotten in just two years. "You are the smartest person I know, the ONLY person I know who has completed multiple degrees and a doctorate at the age of 22. Stop looking for excuses, boy. You're here now."

Conrad tried to look for the words to argue but found it impossible when Dr. Anderson simply continued walking.

"Now, if you'll follow me, I will lead you to your quarters-"

"Not the lab?" he interrupted her.

The woman laughed softly. "Aren't we a little eager? Here you were a few seconds ago, asking why you were chosen. It almost sounded like you didn't want to be here." She was teasing him. Conrad looked down sheepishly. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't incredibly interested in this amazing project that the government was running in the middle of the desert. "Besides I would think you were tired after flying out here so abruptly in the middle of the night. No, you wont be seeing the lab tonight. Don't worry, it'll still be there in the morning."

Conrad arrived at his quarters, a glorified flat really. A bedroom and a bathroom.

"Get yourself settled, unpacked. I will meet you in the dining hall in about an hour."

And with that, Conrad was left alone for the first time since Director Rodriquez walked into his lab and turned his life upside down.

What have I gotten myself into?