THE MENDEL INHERITANCE

The Safe House

The ambulance waited at the rendezvous point.

Two miles from the Facility. A clearing off the logging road. No lights. No markings.

Ethan helped Sonya carry the stretcher through the trees.

Richard Cole's breathing was shallow. His skin was gray. But his chest rose and fell.

"He needs a hospital," Sonya said.

"No hospitals," Marcus replied. "Amelia has people everywhere. She'll find him."

"Then where?"

Marcus opened the ambulance doors. Inside: monitors. Oxygen. A stretcher rack.

"A safe house. Private. Off the grid."

They loaded Richard. Connected the monitors. The heart rate showed forty-two beats per minute. Too low.

Nora climbed into the ambulance. Sat beside Richard. Held his hand.

"He can hear us," she said. "He knows he's out."

Liam slumped against a tree. Charlotte helped him sit.

His face was swollen. One eye completely closed.

"We need to get him cleaned up," Sonya said.

"I'll live." Liam's voice was rough. "Elena. Did anyone find Elena?"

Ethan shook his head. "Not tonight. But we will."

Liam closed his good eye. "She's still in there."

"She's alive. Nora would know if she wasn't."

Nora looked up. Nodded.

"Elena is in Sub-Basement Two. The medical wing. They're keeping her sedated."

"Why?" Liam asked.

"Because she fights back."

---

The convoy moved.

Marcus drove the ambulance. Sonya followed in the van. Derek navigated from the passenger seat.

Ethan sat in the back of the ambulance. Next to Nora. Across from his father.

The monitors beeped. The road was dark.

"How do you know so much?" Ethan asked. "About Elena. About the Facility. About everything."

Nora stared at the wall.

"I've been Receiving since I was born. I hear things. See things. The Frequency connects everyone. Residents. Staff. Even the Director."

"Can you hear what Amelia is thinking?"

Nora shook her head. "She blocks me. She's trained herself. But I can feel her emotions. Anger. Fear. Something else."

"What?"

"Hunger. She's hungry for power. For control. For the Frequency."

The ambulance turned onto a gravel road.

"Where are we going?" Ethan asked.

"Old farmhouse," Marcus said from the front. "Belongs to a friend. No neighbors. No cell service. Safe."

The farmhouse appeared through the trees.

Two stories. White paint peeling. A wrap-around porch. Surrounded by fields.

Marcus parked the ambulance by the barn.

Sonya pulled the van alongside.

---

They moved Richard inside first.

A bedroom on the first floor. Old bed. Clean sheets.

Sonya and Marcus transferred him from the stretcher.

Nora stayed close. Never let go of his hand.

"The machines at the Facility were keeping him sedated," Sonya said. "Without them, he could wake up. Or he could slip further."

"What do we do?" Ethan asked.

"We wait. Watch his vitals. If he crashes, we find a hospital and risk exposure."

Liam limped into the room. Charlotte supported him.

His face had been cleaned. Cuts disinfected. Eye still swollen.

"I need to sit down."

Charlotte guided him to a chair.

"Elena," Liam said again. "We have to go back."

"Not tonight," Ethan said. "You can barely walk. We have no plan. No support."

"Then when?"

"Tomorrow. Or the day after. We need information first."

Liam slammed his fist on the armrest. "I've been waiting eight years."

"One more day won't kill you."

Liam glared. Then looked away.

---

The group gathered in the kitchen.

Old wooden table. Flickering light. Dust on everything.

Marcus made coffee on a propane stove.

Sonya checked her weapons. Derek set up his equipment.

Charlotte stared out the window.

Nora sat in the corner. Eyes closed.

"She's Receiving," Charlotte whispered.

"Let her," Ethan said.

Nora's eyes opened.

"They're searching for us. Drones. Heat sensors. Dogs."

"Can they find us here?"

"Not tonight. But soon."

Derek typed on his laptop. "I'm tracking Facility communications. They're panicked. Four prisoners escaped. A coma patient taken. Guards assaulted."

"Anyone dead?" Sonya asked.

"No. Just unconscious. The Director is furious."

"Good," Liam said.

Derek continued reading. "They're not involving the police. Keeping it internal. Amelia doesn't want outside attention."

"That's our advantage," Marcus said. "She's scared of exposure."

"Then we expose her," Ethan said. "We go public. Newspapers. TV. Social media."

"With what evidence?" Sonya asked.

Ethan pulled out his phone. "Recordings. Photos. My father's letter."

"That's not enough. You need hard proof. Documents. Video from inside the Facility."

Nora spoke. "The archives. Sub-Basement One. Your father hid files there. Evidence of everything. Experiments. Deaths. The Frequency."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"You weren't ready. And the files are protected. Booby traps. Alarms. If you try to take them, the Director knows."

"Then how do we get them?"

Nora looked at Liam. "He knows the security codes. He's Head of Security."

Liam shook his head. "The codes change every day. Only the Director knows the new ones."

"Then we need her keycard," Charlotte said. "The master card. Opens everything."

"Where does she keep it?"

"On her. Always."

Sonya smiled. "Then we take it from her."

---

The plan formed slowly.

Derek would monitor Facility communications. Find Amelia's schedule. Her routines. Her weak points.

Sonya would plan the extraction. How to get the keycard. How to get the files.

Marcus would prepare the media. Contacts at newspapers. TV stations. Ready to publish the moment evidence arrived.

Ethan would go back in. With Liam and Charlotte. They knew the layout. The people. The risks.

Nora would stay at the farmhouse. Protect Richard. Monitor the Facility through the Frequency.

"You're using me as bait," Nora said.

"No," Ethan replied. "You're our eyes. Our ears. Without you, we're blind."

She accepted this.

---

The night passed slowly.

Ethan couldn't sleep.

He sat on the porch. Stared at the stars.

The static in his head was quiet. But not gone.

Nora joined him.

"You're thinking about your father."

"Among other things."

"He's going to wake up. I can feel it. His brain is active. Dreaming."

"About what?"

"The past. You as a child. The lab. The tests."

Ethan's throat tightened. "He erased my memories."

"To protect you."

"From what?"

Nora was quiet for a moment.

"From the voice. The one behind the static. It wanted you when you were seven. It still wants you."

"Why?"

"Because you're the strongest Receiver it's ever encountered. Stronger than me. Stronger than your father. The Frequency sings through you like a choir."

Ethan's hands trembled.

"Can you hear it now?"

Nora tilted her head.

"Yes. It's saying your name."

Ethan listened.

The static grew louder.

Whispers. Indistinct.

Then a word.

Ethan.

Not Nora's voice. Something else. Older. Colder.

Come back.

Bring her.

Bring them all.

The static stopped.

Nora grabbed his arm. Her white eyes were wide.

"It spoke to you."

"Yes."

"That's never happened before. Not to anyone except me."

"What does it mean?"

Nora's face was pale.

"It means the Frequency is getting stronger. And the voice is almost awake."

---

Inside, Richard Cole's monitors beeped faster.

Sonya rushed to his bedside.

His eyes were moving under the lids.

"He's coming out of it."

Everyone gathered around.

Richard's hand twitched.

His lips moved. No sound.

"Dad. I'm here."

Richard's eyes opened.

Not white this time. Normal. Brown. Like Ethan's.

He looked at his son.

"Ethan."

"I'm here."

"You got me out."

"We got everyone out."

Richard tried to sit up. Failed.

"Listen to me. The Facility. The Frequency. It's not just a research project. It's a door."

"A door to what?"

"To the voice. The one behind the static. It's been trapped for centuries. The Frequency is its prison. But the Facility is weakening the walls."

Richard grabbed Ethan's shirt.

"You have to stop Amelia. Not because she's evil. Because she's wrong. She thinks she can control it. She can't."

"Then how do we stop her?"

Richard's eyes closed.

His hand went limp.

The monitors flatlined.

"Dad!"

Sonya pushed Ethan aside. Started CPR.

"Come on, come on..."

Nora touched Richard's forehead.

White light pulsed from her fingers.

The monitors beeped again.

Heart rate. Forty. Fifty. Sixty.

Richard gasped. Breathed.

Sonya stared at Nora. "How did you do that?"

"I boosted his Frequency. Jump-started his heart."

Richard's eyes opened again. Weaker this time.

"Nora. Don't. It costs you."

"I know."

She swayed. Ethan caught her.

"You saved his life."

"I borrowed time. We all have limited amounts."

Richard reached for Ethan's hand.

"The files. In the archives. There's a folder labeled 'Project Chimera.' Take it. Burn the rest."

"Project Chimera?"

"The voice's real name. Chimera. It's not human. Never was. And if Amelia releases it, everyone dies."

Richard's eyes closed.

But the monitors kept beeping.

He was alive.

For now.