Evolution

by R S Penney

  Ben squeezed his eyes shut, tilting his head back. “Isn't it obvious?” he asked in a gruff voice. “We've spent the last three months looking for traitors. Does it really surprise you that we'd find one?”

  The woman stared at him with a gaping mouth, blinking as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. “How dare you?” she hissed. “I have served the Justice Keepers for almost twenty years without-”

  “Shut up, Tiassa!” Larani snapped.

  Tiassa leaned over the desk with her hands pressed to its surface, glaring daggers at her boss. “I'll have you before a board of inquiry for this,” she said. “You can't just fling such accusations without proof, and-”

  “Get out of my office.”

  For a moment, it seemed as though there might be trouble; Tiassa went eerily still with an expression Ben had seen dozens of times on cornered criminals who were about to try something desperate. Then the woman relaxed and slowly made her way around the desk. She sniffed with disdain as she slid past Ben. “There was a time when no one in her right mind would question the integrity of a Justice Keeper.”

  Larani strode around the desk and began tapping at the SmartGlass, licking her lips as she read through status updates. “Tiassa gave orders that no Justice Keepers could go to New York without her authorization,” she explained. “Several directors disobeyed, and she sent security teams to deal with them. There was a firefight in the hallways.”

  Pressing his lips together, Ben felt the blood drain out of his face. He looked down at the floor, collecting his thoughts. “So, it really has started,” he muttered. “Slade's got the Keepers at each other's throats.”

  “From what I can see, New York is a mess.”

  “What's our plan then?”

  Larani wrinkled her nose, then shook her head in disgust. “I don't know,” she said, dropping into the chair behind her desk. “But we need people that we can trust. Let's start by looking for your old friends.”

  Ben blinked several times, then touched two fingers to his forehead. “That's a good place to start,” he agreed. “But I won't be much use against Justice Keepers…Unless you came through on that little favour. You never did tell me if you got my weapons back.”

  When he looked up, Larani was beaming at him like a six-year-old at her birthday party. “I didn't get your old weapons,” she said. “But I did find something better…”

  “I believe I've located the source of the jamming.”

  A hologram of Ven floated in the middle of the Science Lab, roughly three inches above the black-tiled floor. Leyrian numbers zipped back and forth through a transparent body that faded from white to a soft pale blue.

  Behind him, the table that Professor Nareo used to study the Overseer multi-tool – the N'Jal, as Harry called it – was unoccupied with nothing on its surface but an offline tablet. It made Jack nervous to recall that the N'Jal was not there but rather tucked away inside Harry's pocket. At least the fleshy SlipGate was still in its proper place in the corner. He never really had figured out whether they had removed that damn thing from the network. If not, it was a security risk.

  Ven crossed his arms and cocked his head to one side as he studied Jack. “It took quite a bit of effort,” he said, floating upward just enough to loom over them. “But I was able to pinpoint the location.”

  Pressing his lips into a thin line, Jack squinted at the apparition. “That's great,” he said, nodding once. “How much do you want to bet that Slade keeps that device with him at all times? Find it and you find him.”

  Harry stood at Jack's side with hands inside his back pockets, his face blank and expressionless. “So what's our next move?” he asked. “It's not like we can just call Jena and tell her the location.”

  The hologram floated backward, then turned slightly to gesture at a screen on the wall, a screen that suddenly displayed a map of New York. Brooklyn, to be precise. “The jamming signal is coming from Prospect Park.”

  “Do we have any idea about the situation down there?”

  Ven shook his head.

  Jack crossed his arms with a heavy sigh, his head hanging as he considered all the factors. “We have to go down there,” he said, stepping forward. “Our people are helpless if they can't talk to each other.”

  Harry glanced over his shoulder with a bleak frown, his eyes slowly widening. “I thought you said finding the Key was more important,” he countered. “Now you want to risk it by throwing yourself into the hot-zone?”

  “Finding the Key is one thing,” Jack replied. “Keeping it is quite another. There's a good chance that you and I won't be able to do that alone. If Slade's got the resources to bring one of the biggest cities on this planet to its knees, then there's no telling what he'll throw at us when we become his target. We need Jena, and right now Slade has set up one hell of a gambit that might just cost us our queen.”

  Harry only nodded.

  Behind them, the double doors slid apart to reveal a single figure who stood in the hallway. Her clothes were a misty gray – Jack hadn't seen that outfit before; so his mind couldn't project colours onto it – but he would know that silhouette anywhere. “Good,” Larani said, striding into the room. “You're here.”

  Jack spun around.

  The Chief of the Justice Keepers strode toward him with her arms swinging freely, her eyes downcast as if she felt ashamed. “I shouldn't have been away for so long,” she muttered. “Now matters are getting out of hand.”

  “You know about New York?”

  “I just found out.”

  Jack scrunched up his face, shaking his head ever so slowly. “It's a real mess down there,” he said, gesturing to the map on the wall behind him. “But we've just figured out where the jamming signal is coming from.”

  “So you're going to shut it down?”

  “Yes, ma'am.”

  Larani held his gaze for a moment, her dark eyes smoldering with tightly-controlled fury. “Good,” she said with a curt nod. “But you're not going down there alone. It just so happens that I've brought you some backup.”

  Jack looked up in time to see a man coming through the double doors, a short man in thick black armour that covered him from head to toe. In fact, the only spot of colour on this guy's body was a bright red visor that glinted under the glare of the ceiling lights.

  Wait…Jack had seen this armour before! He'd seen it on the man who had tried to kill Professor Nareo back on Leyria. Vetrid Col? Why in god's name would Larani think that involving Vetrid Col would be a good-

  The helmet split apart along a vertical seam down the middle, panels sliding back to reveal a man's face.

  Ben's face.

  Well, there's a twist!

  A grinning Ben Loranai ran his gaze over everyone present. “Hey, guys,” he said, his dark eyebrows climbing up his forehead. “So, I hear we're going on a mission?”

  Chapter 13

  The van rumbled, and Jack was jostled about in his seat. It had been like this the whole way down from Southampton. Fortunately, that town had a SlipGate that was out of range of Slade's jamming field. Truth be told, Jack had worried that they would come up against resistance when they passed through New York's city limits, but it seemed as though Slade wasn't interested in keeping people out; he just wanted to make sure his precious hostages didn't get any bright ideas about fleeing the kill-zone.

  Jack would have loved to know whether they might have passed any cars on their way out of the city, but unfortunately, the only light in this black van came through the windshield, and he was too far back to see anything outside.

  Dressed in blue jeans and a light armoured vest over his blue t-shirt, Jack sat with his hands on his knees and frowned into his lap. “How much longer?” he wondered. “I think my legs are starting to cramp.”

  Harry sat across from him in similar clothing but a heavier vest. The man's face was stern, his brows drawn together. “We'll be there soon enough,” he said as if comforting a child. “When we get there…”
/>   “Trouble.”

  Looking imposing in his armoured suit, Ben sat with an elbow on his thigh, his chin resting on the knuckles of his fist. “Slade's going to have guards,” he said. “And we have no way of knowing how many.”

  Jack closed his eyes, tilting his head back. “Then let's review the plan,” he said with a curt nod. “You and I put on a show and keep them distracted with theatrics while Harry disables the device.”

  Harry frowned, then lowered his eyes to stare into his lap. “That should be simple enough,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “If nothing else works, I can always blast it with a force-field.”

  “Have we forgotten that I'm the techy here?” Ben asked.

  Biting his lip, Jack winced and felt sweat on his brow. “No, we have not,” he said, shaking his head. “But your armour is reliable. I only wish that I could say the same for Harry's Overseer weapon.”

  Harry glared at him.

  The van settled to a stop before the man could voice his protest, and that was for the best; the last thing they needed was a stupid argument before they went into battle. Jack could feel his Nassai's apprehension and, taking a page from her book, he offered comforting emotions. Or tried to anyway.

  The van's back door opened, revealing a pudgy man in a leather jacket standing in the light of early afternoon. He was short and pale with a thick gray beard that stretched from ear to ear. “Let's go!” he said, jerking his head to the side. “Why I do this for you, I will never know!”

  Jack was the first one out the door, and when he took a look around, he saw that they had parked at the edge of a traffic circle that surrounded a small field with bushes and trees rising up from the grass. On the other side of the road, two concrete pillars with marble statues of men on horseback marked the southern entrance to Prospect Park.

  Harry jumped out behind him, doubling over and shaking his head. “Thank you so much, Ron,” he said, straightening with a grunt. “Now get out of here! I don't want you within a mile of this place when it all goes down.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the bearded man muttered. “You owe me for this, Carlson.”

  “I'm sure I do.”

  Ben came out last, his armour making soft whirring noises as he dusted himself off. “Much appreciated,” he said, nodding to Ron. The mask slid into place over his face, red lenses forming the visor.

  Ron shut the door forcefully, then stood with his back turned, heaving out a breath. “Be careful, all of you,” he said without looking back. Before anyone could say a word, he made his way around the side of the van and hopped into the driver's seat.

  “You ready for this?” Ben asked.

  Jack replied with a smile, then bowed his head to the other man. “I'm frantic,” he said, eyebrows rising. “So, load me up.”

  They started up the road that ran between the two pillars and found themselves on a narrow, two-lane street that was shaded by trees on either side. Sunlight illuminated the leaves in a thousand verdant shades. Jack had been expecting some kind of ambush, but the place seemed to be deserted. Just a single road that cut through a green field.

  So, they ran while Jack kept his eyes peeled and Summer, Summer did whatever it is that Nassai do that allowed them to perceive the world around them and share that awareness with their hosts. Eventually Jack realized that he was pulling ahead of the others. Harry, to his credit, was keeping up, but the heavy armour limited Ben's ability to move quickly.

  That was just one drawback to a suit like that. To an ordinary person, it offered the best protection available, but Justice Keepers relied on speed and agility. Worse yet, his spatial awareness would be severely impaired – Nassai couldn't see through solid objects – and any attempt to craft a Bending would only destroy the armour's circuitry. Bendings formed within a few micrometres of his skin; a suit like that would get caught inside the patch of warped space-time, and who knew how that might affect it.

  Jack slowed his pace.

  A few minutes later, they came to a fork where one road ran off to their right and another went left, each lined with trees that traced the perimeter of a lake. According to Ven, the jamming signal was coming from a spot on the other side of that lake.

  Ben jerked to a halt, hanging his head to cast a red-eyed gaze down at the ground. “No guards,” he muttered with just a touch of breathlessness in his voice. “Does anyone else think this is too easy?”

  Jack squinted, then shook his head. “I wouldn't worry about it,” he said, turning his back on the other man. “I'm betting most of Slade's minions are out terrorizing the people of this city.”

  “Still…”

  “Well, we can stay here and worry about it,” Jack shot back. “Or we can get a move on. The map says the fastest way is to go west.”

  Once again, they ran, and once again they were treated to the quiet serenity of an empty road with trees on each side. Not enough trees to provide cover for anybody who might want to ambush them – there were plenty of patches of open grass and even the odd intersecting street – but enough that Jack's ability to rely upon his spatial awareness was severely limited.

  The road curved slightly to the right, following the outline of the lake. At one point, a man in black tactical gear stepped out from a patch of trees with his rifle held lazily in one hand, the muzzle pointed at the ground. He seemed not to notice them until he was at least halfway across the road.

  Then, he turned and gasped.

  A patch of rippling air sped toward the man, hit him with the force of an oncoming car and sent him flying backward. He landed in the middle of the street, groaning. Before Jack could react, a bullet flew toward the fallen guard.

  It hit the soft spot on his neck where his vest offered no protection and caused the man to spasm as electric current raced through his body. He went limp a moment later, passed out in the middle of the road.

  Ben stood with gloved hands clutching a pistol, his red visor fixed upon the fallen man. “Down and out,” he said, nodding once. “Good shot, Harry.”

  A few feet away, Harry had a hand stretched out with his fingers splayed. The man wore a scowl and shook his head slowly. “There are bound to be more of them,” he said. “The sooner we get out of the open, the better.”

  They soon came to another fork in the road where West Drive met Center Drive, and this time they took the path to their right. Less than a minute later, the trees on either side of that road opened into a lush green field under a blue sky with puffy clouds.

  Jack had them take a narrow footpath that cut through the trees surrounding the field. In theory, that would make it harder for them to draw any unwelcome attention, but Ben's heavy footsteps and tendency to occasionally crash through the odd branch might have undermined that plan.

  Eventually, they inched their way closer to the treeline, peeking through the gaps to get a good look at the field. Perhaps fifty metres away, a tiny gray-bricked building that looked like a shed stood guarded by two men in black gear who seemed to be taking a very casual approach to their duties. The place looked new, as if it had been constructed in the last few years.

  Clenching his teeth, Jack winced and rubbed his forehead with the back of his fist. “How much do you wanna bet that's it?” he whispered. “You don't have armed soldiers standing watch over gardening supplies.”

  Ben stood with his right fist thrust out, pointing his multi-tool at the shed. “You'd be right,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to study Jack through those crimsons lenses. “The jamming signal is coming from there.”

  “So we go for it,” Harry said.

  “Not yet,” Jack replied.

  Creeping closer to the edge of the field, he grabbed the trunk of a maple three with both hands and pulled his body close against it. Then he peeked around the side. After all these years, he had learned one thing about Grecken Slade; the man never made anything easy. The sense of satisfaction he felt from Summer made it clear that she agreed.

  A little ways beyond the shed, a wooden
pavilion that also looked like it had been constructed only recently stood in the middle of the grass. Under its gabled roof, a single man was leaning over a picnic table with his hands pressed to the surface.

  Jack knew him well.

  Only one man would be pompous enough to wear a thigh-length purple coat with gold trim along the hem and the cuffs of his sleeves. Slade had cut his hair; it now hung loose to his shoulder-blades.

  Jack turned back to his friends.

  They stood side by side, watching him with quizzical expressions. Well, Harry had a quizzical expression. Ben's face was unreadable behind that helmet, but his posture said that he was expecting an answer. “I'll deal with Slade,” Jack said firmly. “Sneak around and try to get the drop on him. When you see me make my move, take out those guards and do what you need to do.”

  “Right,” Ben said.

  “Let's go.”

  “I don't know where he is!”

  Jena strode across the gray-carpeted living room with her fists clenched, her face twisted in a haggard snarl. “Even with scanners, it's next to impossible to track a single man in a city this size, and we're cut off!”

  Pedro sat at the wooden table with one elbow on its surface, his chin resting on the knuckles of his fist. “Well, then,” he said in a pleasant voice. The man really did have a handsome face. “Maybe it's time we took out his jamming equipment.”

  Closing her eyes, Jena let her head hang. “It's a good thought,” she said, spinning around to face him. “There's just one problem. To pull that off, we'd have to know where Slade is, and we're stumped.”

  This argument had been going on for the better part of an hour, long past the point where Anna had decided that her contributions wouldn't be helpful. In truth, she couldn't blame Jena for being frazzled. Between Aamani, Pedro and a bunch of cops who all had opinions on what their next move should be, it seemed as though the poor woman was fending off attack after attack on her authority.

  Anna sat on the couch with one leg crossed over the other, her hands folded primly in her lap. Of course, she said nothing. A wise person learned the value of keeping his or her mouth shut. Well, Anna couldn't say that she was particularly wise in this regard, but she did know that her boss was in a fury, and trying to interject now would only send the full force of that storm in her direction.