Free Killswitch by Victoria Buck

Molly said.
    Chase met Amos’s pained eyes. “Are you all right?”
    “I could use a vacation.” Amos slumped forward.
    Molly let out a chuckle and Chase smiled. Then he stood and spread his arms wide. “Here’s what I’m going to do for you,” he said. “You and a guest will travel on a Synvue globe jet to a private Jamaican resort where you will spend the next month being pampered in every way possible.”
    Mel laughed. “Sit down, you fool. Nobody’s winning anything today.”
    Amos’s round belly shook with a silent laugh. “Just a nap then.” He got up and opened the door. “I’ll be in my room for a while.”
    Chase laid his hand on the man’s shoulder. The surge of energy from the exoself reminded him that Amos was sick. And growing sicker. “I’ll see if I can find out anything else about what happened in town last night.”
    Amos patted Chase’s hand. “You do that, son.” He headed down the hallway.
    Chase addressed Mel and Molly. “Can I talk to the two of you a little longer?” He watched the leader of the underground walk to his private quarters. “I need to tell you something.”

14
    Chase closed the door and returned to his seat beside Mel.
    “What is it?” Molly asked. “Do you know something you didn’t want to share with Amos?”
    “Yes. I’ll have to tell him,” Chase said. “I just don’t want to do it by myself.” He studied Mel’s concerned expression. “You know about the Wilberton device.”
    “Amos is sick?” Her eyes grew wide as she leaned forward. “Judging by the look on your face it’s bad.”
    “You two will have to fill me in,” Molly said. “Amos is sick because of some device?”
    Chase turned to her. “No. The Wilberton is inside me. It’s part of the exoself and it allows me to diagnose illness. All I have to do is to touch a person and I know.”
    “I watched the live show where you touched a woman in the audience. I’d forgotten.” Molly pulled her arms close and inched away from Chase. “Melody, you knew about this. You should have told us.”
    “I didn’t want everyone running up to him to find out whether or not anything was wrong with them.” Mel took Molly’s hand in hers. “Chase and I haven’t even had a chance to discuss it. Besides, there’s nothing he can do to help anyone recover. Not down here.”
    “She’s right,” Chase said. “Why tell these people what’s wrong with them if we can’t cure them?”
    Molly nodded. “Is it organ failure?”
    “No. I can tell that he hasn’t even had the cancer vaccine, so organ failure is not the problem.”
    “Wait a minute,” Mel said. “What are saying? The vaccine causes organ failure?”
    “Yes, the reason organ failure is so common now is due to the vaccine that we’ve all had. Well, almost all. Some who’ve been involved in covert groups haven’t had the vaccine.”
    “Amos has been what you’d call covert for the last twenty years,” Molly said. “So then, it must be cancer.”
    “Leukemia. Beyond curing. He’s had it for a long time.” Chase moved close and put his arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
    “He must know. He must feel bad, don’t you think?” Mel asked.
    “Molly, you’ve known him the longest,” Chase said. “Have you noticed a difference lately?”
    “The man relies on the strength of the Lord. He may know he’s sick, but he wouldn’t burden us with it. He’ll stand strong as long as possible. Son, is there nothing you can do for him?”
    “I can’t do anything but make a diagnosis. Even if he went up top, traditional medicine wouldn’t help. Techno-meds, perhaps. Advances are being made by the minute—no telling how far they’ve come even in the short time since I left the Helgen. But no one is going to allow that kind of treatment for a leader of the underground. They’d take him straight to jail. Or they’d speed up his death.”
    “We have to tell him,” Mel said.
    “After dinner tonight,” Chase told her.