Bedpan, he said, and I didnt think he was kidding. I take my responsibilities here extremely seriously, Miss Baldwin, and what I see about you in my classified files doesnt inspire confidence. You seem to have a running feud with the Wardens, and a shooting war going with authority. Now, why are you really here?

He settled himself in a chair next to my bed, and that put our eyes level. I didnt like it. I didnt like the very perceptive aura I was reading off of the guyhe was just plain human, but he was nobody to underestimate, clearly. They wouldnt have put him in charge of what had to be a major terrorist target if he hadnt been utterly capable.

Wait, I said, and gestured urgently to a nurse. She handed me a kidney-shaped bowl, and I retched up what little I still had in my stomach. It wasnt theater, it was truly that bad, and after I was done I fell back against the pillows, feeling shaky and still in sharp, cutting pain. So just to be clear, you think I got myself snakebit as part of a clever plot?

Maybe, he said, unmoved by my clearly unhappy condition. Im not taking any chances with you in my facility. You do have security clearances sufficient to gain entry under normal circumstances, so Ill let you stay until Dr. Reid says you can be moved, but the second that happens, you are out of here. With my best wishes, of course.

Of course, I said, and swallowed hard. Water?

He was kind enough to fetch the cup and sippy straw, and I drained it in a rush.

I know whats happening out there, he said, once I was done. He refilled the glass, which was a considerate thing to do, and set it within easy reach. I know how bad it is. And I cant think its any accident somebody like you just happens to show up on our doorstep, snakebite or not. You want to level with me, Joanne?

Well, Id like to, but I dont think your security clearance is high enough, I said. And Im not in a share-y mood right now, what with all the venom and throwing up and you being a giant prick.

He laughed. It was a real laugh, genuinely amused. Nice to know I was entertaining, even now. Now thats the Joanne Baldwin people told me about. Youd be a smart-ass to Death himself, wouldnt you?

I had been before. But that probably wasnt something to share except on a need-to-know basis. If you want to know whats going on, stick your head outside, I said. Humanitys sitting on a bomb, and the timers clicking down. Thats whats happening. Forget global climate change; we wont be around to see the last of the polar bears drown. Thats why Im here, Roland. Im on bailing duty on the Titanic.

He didnt like that answer, not at all, and it didnt spark any kind of laughter this time. He was a smart man; he could identify truth when he heard it. And why come here? he asked.

I didnt! I was dumped out by the idiot who picked me up. I think he could have been running drugs. In this part of the country, that was an extremely plausible scenario. Carloads of Mexican Brown were caught all the time, zipping their way up through the Southwest. They werent fighting a major drug war in Mexico for nothing.

That was my first real lie; only it was actually speculation. I hadnt stated it as a fact, only a perception. I waited, and watched Roland Miless aura up on the aetheric. It was tougher to read regular people than Wardens, but there was no mistaking the troubled colors that surrounded him. The man was under a lot of stress, and he was wary. I didnt blame him. He certainly had every right.

Wary he remained, but I didnt get the sense that he detected any hint of a lie in what Id said. That was good. It wasnt that I couldnt tackle the defenses he could probably bring to bear, but it would be very, very messy. Lives would be lost, and there was a decent chance that Id end up having to do what Id planned without evacuating the plant first. I didnt want that on my conscience. Especially as the last act of my life.

Dr. Reid buzzed in the infirmary door, trailed by another nurse, this one carrying a tray full of the antivenin bottles. He nodded pleasantly to Director Miles, who stood up and moved his chair away from the bed to make room as Reid bent over me, taking my pulse, probing the badly swollen arm, and generally being a nuisance before he nodded. Second round, he said, and began loading the antivenin into the IV drip. I didnt figure that one dose would do you. That was a nasty bite. Hows the pain?

Intense, I said.

On a scale of

Ten. And I wasnt kidding, it really was. As an Earth Warden I was all too aware of the damage the venom was wreaking on my tissues, and it scared me. There was definitely going to be scarring from this, if I survived the day. In a weird way, it was comforting to think that I didnt have much of a chance of that, anyway.

Six vials of antivenin later, Dr. Reid gave me some kind of additional shot. I didnt see him do it in time to countermand, but I knew I was in trouble the second the warm, weighty feeling of pain relief began to spread through my body. Oh crap. I couldnt fall asleep. That would ruin everything.

No! I gasped. Hed only emptied about half a syringe into the central line, and now he looked up, frowning. No narcotics, please.

Youre in pain.

I dont want it.

He shook his head, but it was, after all, a patients right to refuse medication. So I got enough to dull the raging, chewing pain, but not enough to get rid of it, or to lull me into dreamland.

Best of both worlds, really.

Miles tried to ask me something else, but Reid cut him off. I closed my eyes and went up into the aetherica struggle, considering my physical conditionand watched Miles leave the room. Lucky thing about the plantthe buildings had always been built for pure industrial use, and there werent a lot of emotions soaked into the place. Where they existed, they were centered mostly on the area where I was currently restinginjured and scared people had been brought here over the years, and that lingered. But outside, the aetheric shape of the place was orderly, almost sterile. This was an administration building; as I expanded my view I saw activity in several other locations, in some areas going down deep into the ground.

That was where I needed to focus my efforts. Deep in the ground. But not yet, not until I was capable of moving on my own.

It took another forty minutes, but the swelling began to go down, to the pleased murmurs of the medical staff. The venom slowed its progress, and the antivenin began to break it down into harmless chemical strings that were swept away in my bodys efficient housecleaning system. I didnt feel good, but I felt better. Clearer. I drank a lot of water, and one of the nurses, on Dr. Reids approval, provided me with some kind of high-protein bar. I was able to keep it down, which was great.

By the time the second sixty minutes had passed, my arm was only a little swollen and red. Reid bandaged up the wound, after antibiotic shots, and gave me detailed instructions on what to tell the doctor at the hospital when I arrived.

Dr. Reid, I said. He stopped his medical lecture and looked at me, frowning. I need you to listen to me.

Im listening.

I cant leave, I said. I need to be here. And you need to help me get everybody out of this compound before its too late.

Too late for what?

Im going to do something to help us survive whats happening outside, but its going to be very messy. I dont want your deaths on my hands when I do it. So I need you all to leave the compound, do you understand me? I held his gaze, and I put all of my Earth Warden powers of persuasion into it. Isnt there some medical protocol for evacuation?

In the event of a major radiation leak, he said. Yes. But

Trust me, therell be one by the time you call the alert. How long to get everyone out of here?