Okay, so I was smart. I knew that already and had come to terms with it. “What’s the problem then?”
“Your mom found out about the experiments when you were three, about how we’d changed you. That was the beginning of the end. I should never have experimented on my own child or on other children. But I didn’t know the whole truth — not until later — and that’s when I decided to escape. To create the serum to hide your intelligence. I wasn’t going to let them use you.”
That’s why they were holding a spot for me at Branston. They were waiting for my smarts to kick in. For me to want to join them.
“You said there were other children who were injected with this same drug? Who were they?” I croaked.
Dad couldn’t look at me. “You know.”
Oh god. Max and Zella and Asher. “What about Amy Green?”
“Yes, she was part of the experiment, too.”
The room spun, and I dropped into a chair. “But what do they want with us? And what does it have to do with Project Infinity?”
Dad’s voice was hollow. “Branston wants power, and knowledge is power. They’re building an army of scientists, and they think you’re their first soldier.”
“Me?” I frowned at him. “There’s nothing special about me. I’m not smarter than anyone here at QT. I’m barely keeping up. And I’m certainly not going to kill anyone.”
“Lexie, your intelligence isn’t in being book smart. It’s in spotting connections, in bringing things together in new ways. In seeing possibilities. Your mom told me you took one look at the patrol robots and spotted a flaw in his design a dozen of scientists couldn’t fix. You discovered Avery’s calculations were wrong when no one else saw it. Branston’s experiment didn’t work on the other subjects the way it worked on you, and now they realize you could be the key to everything.”
I shook my head. “But I don’t understand. Why are they trying to sabotage Project Infinity?”
“Because that’s what they do. They steal the plans and sell them to the highest bidder. Money and power. That’s the currency Branston runs on. They are infiltrating the highest levels of government around the world. And when they have enough leverage, they’ll be able to influence every policy and decision made. They want to destroy QT because, when it fails, there will be no one left to stop them.”
Mom shook her head. “Lexie, you can’t tell anyone about this. You have to keep it secret, even from your friends.”
“How can I keep this from them? Branston changed us. They want to use us to take over the world.” I wasn’t going to lie to my friends the way my parents had lied to me. I jumped to my feet feeling like I’d explode if I didn’t move. “I need to go. I can’t think about this right now.”
“Lexie, please.” My mom put her hand out, squeezed my shoulder. “Please know we only did what we could to keep you safe. We’re still trying.”
“You can’t keep me safe anymore. No one can.” I shook my head. “I can’t deal with this. I need some time.”
“Let her go, Maria. She’s smart enough to come to the same conclusions we did.”
Mom let her hand drop. “Be careful, Lexie. Don’t do anything stupid because you’re mad at us.”
I glared at her and tried to think of a witty comeback, but there was nothing but an ache in my brain and an echo in my heart. I spun away and darted from the room, blinking back the tears.
Mom and I settled into a sort of routine over the next two days. She made coffee and worked in Dad’s home office. I spread out on the kitchen table with my calculations, and we both tried to ignore each other. Worry about my friends, about the project, about Branston gnawed at me every time she tried to talk to me about my feelings. I’d snap at her, and then both of us ended up mad.
It was just better to pretend everything was fine and stay out of each other’s way.
I threw myself into the calculations. From breakfast to bedtime, I scribbled and typed and rearranged and tried to figure out what the heck an ultraviolet catastrophe had to do with a wormhole. It just didn’t make sense. They were both theoretical. Neither of them existed. But somehow, they were connected.
The ultraviolet catastrophe explained how radiation worked at different wavelengths and why it didn’t just kill us all where we stood. Avery’s Einstein-Rosen bridge calculations talked about time travel and space-time and matter. There was no connection I could see.
I read and reread them until the numbers ran together in weird ways. In ways that made no sense. In ways that almost made sense. Raking a hand through my hair, I let out a long breath. I was never going to get this. Maybe there wasn’t a connection. Maybe all we had to go on was Avery’s calculations and the wormhole simulations.
Maybe I was wrong.
The chair squawked as I shoved it back to pace the dining room. Everything that had happened in the last few months spun around in my brain. Branston, the drugs, Asher, Dad, QT. They were all linked. In my mind, it looked like a spider web, with me at the center and the connections that had brought me here joining everything together.
This must have been what my parents were talking about — this ability to see connections. So if there was one between Avery’s calculations and the ultraviolet catastrophe, why couldn’t I find it?
“Can I make you some dinner before I leave?” My mom called from the kitchen. “I’m going to the hospital to check on your dad. The QT regents are in town to visit, and he wants some moral support.” They’d spent more time together over the last few days than they had in the last ten years. It should have made me happy, but I was too distracted to care.
“I’m fine. I’ll make a sandwich later.” I leaned against the doorway and watched her pour a glass of milk. “Why are the regents here?”
“According to Will, they’re concerned about the status of the project. They’re meeting with the directors tonight to talk about if they move forward or put it on hold.”
I chewed my lip. Evidently, Danvers’ plan to push forward wasn’t set in stone. Good, it might give us a little more time. “Give him a hug for me.”
“I will.” Her dark eyes searched mine. “Are you all right, Lexie? You seem preoccupied.”
“I’m fine.”
“You know your father and I love you and want what’s best for you. Branston is out there. We just want you to be safe.”