Salamandra Book I: Pale Blue Flesh

Scene Four

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Aleksander cleared the clump of bangs from his face with a swipe of his gloved hands, leaning forward and waiting for the reassuring chime of a successful retina scan. The thick security door slid open with a shudder. Maintenance still hadn't fixed the bent track, despite multiple repair requests. Their incompetence made him furious. His next complaint was going straight to Mr. K, he was done playing games.

As the bulky door wobbled shut behind him, he leaned in for the second retina scan. This time the approval chime was followed by a blue light that illuminated his face. The inner door would not open until his face mask was in place. He slipped it on and activated both his air supply and his communications channel. The blue light disappeared and the second door slid open, vibrating as it struggled to move across the track.

"What the hell," Aleksander mumbled under his breath. "This one too? Unbelievable!"

He stormed into the control room as Petar turned and grinned at him through his own plastic facemask.

"You are such an angry man, Aleksander! Why are you so pissed now?" Petar asked with a chuckle.

"Bah!" Aleksander spat out. "Now both doors are sticking! This maintenance crew is useless!"

"You need a vacation, my friend," Petar said as he put an arm around Aleksander's shoulder and continued chuckling. "You and Lena together. Get away from the facility, soak up some sunshine...eat, drink, and be merry!"

Aleksander's attention was already diverted by the biggest of five video monitors on the wall. The camera was focused on a lethargic young girl sitting cross-legged on the bare floor while she folded a piece of paper in her hands.

"You gave her more paper?" he asked with irritation. A loud sigh came in response through the speakers in his mask.

"Yes, Aleksander, I gave her more paper," Petar finally answered. "The poor girl just sits in there. She can barely breathe, barely stay awake. She enjoys the origami."

Aleksander turned to face his co-worker. "She is a high security risk, Petar. Mr. K made it clear that there must only be limited interaction with her."

Petar pulled his arm from Aleksander's shoulder. "What risk? She has been in there for weeks! Her air supply is so thin that she's barely conscious."

Aleksander sat down in the cramped control room's single chair, grabbed a computer tablet, and called up the data from the various systems monitoring the girl. Petar quietly watched him for a few moments, still perplexed at how obsessive Aleksander was about his job.

"Seriously, my friend," Petar said at last, "you need to relax a little. Remember your tests last spring? You need to manage your stress or I'm telling you it is going to kill you."

No response. Aleksander set the tablet down and returned his attention to the monitors. He zoomed in with the primary camera for a closer view of the girl as she carefully folded the paper. Her movements were very slow and deliberate, she was obviously having a hard time concentrating.

"Well," Petar sighed, "you have fun keeping an eye on our little Malaya. I'm going out to dinner to have some real fun! Something you should try once in awhile. See you tomorrow."

Aleksander shook his head in frustration as he listened to the door shimmy shut behind him. Then he zoomed the camera back out for a wide-angle view of the chamber where the girl was held. Her origami creations covered nearly every square inch of the floor. There were hundreds of them. And they were all exactly the same. She was surrounded by hundreds of tiny paper cranes.