Waking The Zed Read Online Free

device, but I still believe in using a human eye and mind as a backup. That’s your job, Ms. Stone. You are employed to simply back up my computer systems. I don’t require anything else from you.”
    “Right,” Pam said, still unwilling to be baited. She had just determined she would do her best to get through this day, and then maybe go home and figure out if she could find some other way to pay her bills. It would be such a relief to show up for work anywhere without this witch around.
    The thought of all of those poor laboratory animals being sacrificed for Dr. Klein’s mad ambitions did not sit well with Pam. In a way Dr. Klein had a point though. Pam was no vegan, and she had even spent time hunting and butchering animals back on the family farm. On more than one occasion, it had also been Pam’s unpleasant duty to put down a sick or injured beast. She also believed in the occasional justification to experiment with animals for the greater good of humanity, but she would never condone it without an excellent reason. She certainly did not like to see any animals suffer. Pam avoided certain brands of cosmetics because the companies testing practices had been exposed as cruel to animals.
    Pam consoled herself. After she earned her doctorate, Pam assumed that she should have plenty of six figure job offers. Other pathology doctoral candidates she had known seemed to be able to pick and choose from a varied selection of opportunities. Her mounting student loans would be burdensome, but not totally unmanageable. As soon as she finished her degree, she could move into some type of productive work and put Future Faith far behind her.
    She fi gured the rest of the work day would be unpleasant, but a ten hour shift here would equal another five hundred dollars deposited into her shrunken bank account.  That would be enough to purchase most of her text books or pay for another class next semester. Her check for the month should be close to ten thousand dollars, and that would pay most of her modest living expenses for the next few months. If she could have stuck it out for another month, she would have had two semesters paid for. In another few years I won’t have to pick my job based solely on the salary, but right now I can’t afford to ignore reality. Losing this job would be regretful from a financial standpoint.
    Her mind still calculated how she could find a temporary job to make up the difference. It will certainly be too late to find a solid internship, but checking out groceries or waiting tables seem like attractive options at this point. They really liked me at the therapy ranch and maybe they can find a spot for me to ride out the summer.
    Then Pam decided that she would probably cooperate until she had her month’s pay safely deposited in her bank account, and then she would simply resign to find more hopeful and productive work with the living. It might be awkward explaining to potential future employers why she would rather they did not call Dr. Klein for a reference, but maybe she would just risk leaving this internship off of her resume altogether. Taking this job had been a mistake but Pam believed she could recover.
    As Pam considered her future, an uneventful hour passed. She watched the monitors and made infrequent notes on her handheld tablet as she thought about possibilities. Dr. Klein had watched her work for a few minutes, and then departed without a word. The gleaming, silent room still felt creepy and chilly. Pamela pulled a second lab coat out of the small closet to provide her with a thermal layer. She wished Dr. Klein would allow her to play some music or even browse the current news on her phone, but that was strictly against policy. The doctor wanted no distractions on the job. For some reason, Dr. Klein thought it would be important to listen to sounds in the room too. Pam had no idea what she was supposed to hear. The machines worked almost silently and the dead had nothing to say.
    Just