CHAPTER 33 — THE WRONG CAPSULE
Claire turned toward the right passage.
Mason blocked her.
“That could be another recording.”
“It isn’t.”
“How can you know?”
“Because Lily loses her breath between words when she’s terrified.”
Another scream echoed through the tunnel.
“Mommy—please!”
Claire ran.
The passage led to a circular room filled with suspended screens. Each screen showed Lily in a different location.
Lily crying in a hospital bed.
Lily sitting beneath a staircase.
Lily sleeping beside Mr. Buttons.
Lily calling Claire’s name.
Mason looked around.
“They have been recording her for months.”
A screen near the floor flickered.
It showed Lily sitting inside a narrow metal compartment.
Behind her was a white pipe marked B-17.
Claire searched the room.
“There.”
A matching pipe ran along the ceiling.
They followed it to a sealed hatch.
Mason found no handle.
Claire noticed four small holes arranged like a child’s handprint.
She placed her fingers inside.
The hatch unlocked.
Lily was lying inside the compartment, barely conscious.
Claire pulled her out and held her.
Lily’s hair smelled of antiseptic.
Her pulse was weak, but she was alive.
Mason checked the scar beneath her chin.
There was none.
Claire touched Lily’s left ear.
Lily immediately covered it with her hand.
Claire began crying.
“It’s her.”
Lily opened her eyes.
“Mommy, Grandma told me not to sing.”
Claire looked at Mason.
“Margaret?”
Lily shook her head.
“The other Grandma.”
A speaker activated above them.
Sarah’s voice filled the room.
“You found the correct child. Congratulations.”
The hatch behind them slammed shut.
Gas began leaking from the ceiling.
Sarah continued calmly.
“Now let us see whether a mother can save her daughter without sacrificing everyone else.”
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A screen showed Olivia collapsing in the chamber above.
Her fetal-support monitor had turned red.
