Page 44 of Wild Fever

"Not really. I mean, from time to time, we’ll have protesters come out to the island. A lot of people think what's going on here is immoral or unethical. They say we’re playing God. I don't think they really understand what we’re doing. As far as I understand it, it's like hitting the pause button on life. What's the big deal if it’s not hurting anybody? I mean, people pay good money to do it, and they know full well what they're getting into.” He shook his head. "Just like everything else. The rich are going to live forever, and the poor are getting screwed. But hey, the paycheck is nice. This is probably the cushiest gig I've ever had."

"Did you know the deceased?”

"Nope. Never met either of them before. I work nights. First time I saw them was when they got added to the freezers. They were already stiff then. Didn't say much."

"The technician’s name is Bryan, right?”

Zach nodded.

In a hushed tone, I asked, “How long has he been around?”

"Since before me."

"Good guy?"

"Yeah. I mean, he's the only other guy around here to talk to at night, so I figured we’d better get along. He pretty much keeps to himself. A little on the nerdy side, but that's okay by me.”

"What was he doing around the time of the incident?”

"When I left the lab, he was on the phone with his girlfriend, I think. They were having some kind of argument.” He mutteredaside, "They’re always having some kind of argument. If you ask me, he needs to move on. Nothing is worth that aggravation.”

“Tell me about the malfunction,” I said.

“I really don’t know anything about this stuff,” Zach replied. “Way over my head. When I came back from my perimeter walk, Bryan was freaking out. Both pods signaled a malfunction. Bryan tried to troubleshoot the units, but by that time it was too late.”

“What happened next?”

“We called Dr. Cameron.”

“Not 9-1-1?”

“What’s 9-1-1 going to do? They wouldn’t know how to deal with this. Where do you even begin?”

“So, you waited for Dr. Cameron?”

Zach nodded.

“What happened when he arrived?”

“He was pissed. Wanted to know what happened. Dr. Cameron went through the emergency protocols. When that didn’t work, and he confirmed the subjects were no longer viable, he called the county.”

“How long did he take to make the call?”

Zach hesitated. “Like, an hour. He and Bryan tried everything they could think of.”

“I need to see the security footage.”

“Sure thing,” Zach said.

He escorted us to the main control area. There were several computer terminals and flatscreen displays. Diagnostics from all the stasis tubes appeared on the monitors. There were all kinds of buttons, toggle switches, gauges, and meters. It looked like mission control for a space program.

With a few keystrokes, Zach pulled up the security footage on one of the flatscreen displays. The screen was blank, and his brow knitted with confusion. He hit a few more keys and scrubbed back through the timeline, but it was all blank.

I shared a concerned look with JD and the sheriff.

"Something is wrong. It looks like the cameras went offline a little before midnight." Zach tapped a few more keys and tried to pull up other camera footage.

Every camera on the island had gone down.