Human Sister Read Free Page B

better.” He handed me a glass containing a cloudy liquid. Though I still felt nauseated, I drank the liquid, which tasted like salty lemonade, and almost instantly my insides settled down.
    “Feeling better?”
    “Thank you,” I said, handing the glass back to him.
    He looked surprised that I’d spoken. “You’re welcome.” After a moment he added, “I’m sorry to have made you feel so sick, but that’s an unfortunate part of my job. Some people really do try to bring in nasty stuff, you know. Do you feel good enough to stand? There’s a shower in there where you can clean up.” He pointed toward the door in the back wall of the room.
    He told me the stream of water in the shower was set to last only two minutes, so I washed quickly. There was no soap. I presumed that the shower water—chemicals evidently had been added to it, as it stung a bit—would be tested for microdevices that might have been clinging to my skin. When the water stopped, the doctor opened the shower door, asked me to step out, and handed me a towel. Casey had entered the room. He sat on a chair, looking bored. The pail and portable toilet were gone.
    “Lie down on your back on the table,” the doctor instructed, resuming a more professional tone of voice. “We’ll take a scan of your body. Please place your arms and hands on the table beside you.”
    Using a wand-like device, he began the scan at my feet and slowly worked up. I was careful not to show any emotion as, with a faint hiss, the beige wand of the scanner passed over my nose. I was concerned that irregularities in my cribriform plate and the neural structures emanating from it might be detected.
    “What’s up with the finger?” Casey asked.
    The doctor looked at the computer monitor. “It was broken, probably within the last thirty-six hours. Nothing unusual that I can see.”
    “If you knew the characters we’re dealing with here, you’d know they easily might have broken her finger on purpose just to create a ruse for the cast. Remove it. We’ll take it over to the lab. The ring, too.”
    The doctor took off the cast, then the ring, and they left.
     
     “Tell me about the transmitter behind your right knee,” Casey ordered as he entered again, the doctor in his wake.
    I didn’t answer. Casey turned to the doctor. “She failed to declare it, so remove it. No anesthetic.”
    “Please lie on your stomach, Ms. Jensen,” the doctor said.
    I felt his fingers press against the back of my knee and find a tiny lump; then came the sharp pain of a small knife cut. But I’d been prepared by Grandpa for much worse.
    After a few seconds, the doctor said, “It looks like a standard transmitter used by private security companies. I’d say it was implanted when she was a small child. Many wealthy families implant them in—”
    “I know. I know,” Casey said. “Mike!”
    “Yes, sir,” a voice from the computer monitor answered.
    “Bring in the inquisitor. We’ve also got an implanted device for you to look at.”
    “Right away,” the voice responded.
    “Turn her over on her back and strap her down,” Casey ordered.
    As the doctor secured the straps he said, “I wish you’d speak with Mr. Casey. He just wants to know what you did on your vacation. If you don’t talk, I’m going to have to hook you up to a terrible device. I’ve seen it reduce the toughest gang members and terrorists to blubbering mush. It wasn’t meant for nice cultured girls like you.”
    “It was meant to encourage people to talk in accordance with the law,” Casey said. “This is a matter of national security, young lady, and the Supreme Court has made it very clear that national security outweighs individual constitutional rights every day of the week. So, if you’re thinking some lawyer hired by your grandfather is going to ride in here on a white horse and rescue you, you can forget it.”
    No, I thought, but a grape leaf will come to carry me safely away.
    Just then, a young man