by R S Penney
“Don't be,” his boss replied. “It pleases me to see you taking initiative. But I want you to focus your efforts on exposing traitors among the Keepers. I'm putting this case in the hands of another team.”
“What?” Harry shouted right on top of Jack yelling, “Larani, you can't!”
With a grunt of frustration, Larani stood up and fixed her gaze on him. She nodded to each of them in turn. “Leo has caused you all a great deal of strife,” she said. “Perhaps you don't remember, but I was on Earth during his campaign of terror. I recall the damage he did to a very fragile diplomatic situation.”
“I realize no one's asked me,” Cassi said. “But I agree with Director Tal.”
She was standing by the door in a white sleeveless dress with flowers on the skirt, her pink hair gelled into thin little spikes. “I think you're all a little too worked up by your history with this man,” she added. “Except maybe Lenai.”
“Thank you,” Anna said.
Maybe Larani had a point; maybe his judgment was compromised on this one, but Jack Hunter would be damned before he allowed a bastard like Leo to wreak havoc in his city. Not again. Not this time. If Larani wasn't going to clear him to work on this case, he would just have to do it in his off hours. It wouldn't be the first time Jack had taken on a job over the objections of his superiors, and it wouldn't be the last.
Honestly, it was the only way to get anything done. Authority figures were all the same; once they were convinced they were right, there was no changing their minds. You just had to take matters into your own hands. Summer was annoyed with him for thinking it, but that didn't make it any less true.
“That might be true, Agent Seyrus,” Harry said, using the control panel to turn his chair around. The look he gave Cassi was the sort that could grind rocks to dust. “But I'm afraid we have no choice.”
“How very interesting,” Larani cut in. “Do enlighten me as to exactly why that is, Mr. Carlson.”
Shutting his eyes, Harry took a moment to visibly calm himself and then nodded once in acquiescence. “Because,” he began. “It's very clear that Leo is coming after us personally. Which means no matter who you send to bring in, we will still be his target.”
He rolled around to face the desk again, then frowned and lowered his eyes to stare into his lap. “We're the ones Leo wants,” Harry went on. “And I can guarantee that none of your people will find him before he pulls his next stunt.”
“You have very little faith in us, Mr. Carlson.”
“It's not a matter of faith,” Harry explained. “It's a matter of accepting the fact that this is one of the most dangerous criminals we have ever come up against. I've had a long career in law enforcement, and I have never encountered anyone with the unique blend of sadism and resourcefulness that Leo used against us in Ottawa.
“So, the way I see it, we have two options: either we go about our lives, pretending nothing is wrong and hoping that a team of Keepers who don't know the first thing about Leo finds him before he does something to terrorize one of us, or we use the knowledge we gained fighting him last time to bring him in. I know which one I prefer.”
Larani was sucking on her lip as she studied him, nodding along with every word. “You make good points,” she said. “Perhaps you are the best people to take on this case. I'm assigning you all to work with Director Andalon – including you, Agents Hunter and Seyrus – and I want you to follow his lead at all times. Hopefully, he'll be able to provide some objectivity.”
The emotion Jack felt from Summer was the Nassai equivalent of a great big “I told you so,” and he decided to allow his symbiont to pull an Elliot Reid.
Blushing hard, Jack looked down at the floor. “Thanks,” he muttered at Larani. “This means a lot to me. I promise you we won't let you down, ma'am.”
“I have no doubt of that,” Larani replied. “Something else to consider. When you apprehended Leo last year, you were assisted by Tanaben and Miss Gabrina Valtez. Now that he's free, Leo may consider them to be viable targets. I would advise informing them of the danger.”
“I'll handle that,” Jack said.
There were a few more matters to discuss. Anna suggested reviewing traffic camera footage to see if they could find Leo, and somehow, it was decided that Cassi would work with her. But Jack was in his own world at the moment. There he was, ready to go off all half-cocked against Larani's wishes.
The last time he tried to make this a solo fight, Leo ended up burning his hands to the point where he couldn't touch anything for almost a week, and the man would have killed Jack if Ben hadn't been there to provide backup.
No, Jack Hunter did not play nice with others, but – as life had taught him many times – that was a skill he was going to have to develop. When the meeting was over, he quietly shuffled out of the room.
In the hallway outside, Jack stood with his arms crossed, shaking his head. “I'm an idiot, you know that?” he asked. “You'd think I would have learned to have a little faith in Larani by now?”
When he turned, Cassi was coming out the door with a bright beautiful smile on her face, her eyes sparkling. “You'd think so,” she teased him. “But I've come to realize that you're a little thickheaded.”
“This the part where you give me a lecture?” Jack asked. “Because you can tell me I'm emotionally compromised all you want, but you weren't around when this guy went on a killing spree last year.”
“No, I wasn't,” Cassi admitted. “But I know you're not going up against him alone.”
“That's true.”
A moment later, Anna stepped out of the office with her arms swinging, a great big smile on her face. “The old Station Twelve gang is back together,” she said. “Just like old times huh, Jack?”
“Looks like.”
Anna stepped forward, clapping one hand on Cassi's shoulder. Side by side, they looked almost like sisters: same height, same figure, same colourful hair. Well…Sort of. “Come on,” Anna said. “You can help me run a few search algorithms.”
And just like that, they were off, strolling through the corridor and chatting about something he couldn't quite make out. Should he be feeling a little awkward? The woman who wanted to date him was spending time with the woman he wanted to date. Definitely a recipe for weirdness, but he didn't have time to worry about that.
Instead, he had an ex-girlfriend to visit.
The view from her suite in the beautiful SilverLine hotel was simply breathtaking; from up here on the seventeenth floor, she saw the rooftops of buildings, most with trees or gardens on top, others reflecting the glint of sunlight off solar panels. In the distance, the ocean shimmered as cruise ships sailed out to sea.
In track pants and a t-shirt, Melissa stood by the window with a glass of water that she brought to her lips. Cold, refreshing water. “So, why exactly are we here?” she asked in an even voice.
She didn't have to look to see her father.
This small sitting room had a couch along the wall across from the window, and her father sat there with hands on his knees, frowning into his lap. “I suppose now is as good a time as any,” he said. “Do you remember the terrorist who came to Ottawa last year, the one who nearly caused us to sever ties with the Leyrians.”
“I believe his name was Leo.”
“He's loose.”
Shutting her eyes, Melissa took a sip of water and gave herself a moment to process that. “He's loose,” she said, spinning around. “And since we're not allowed to go home, it means he knows where we live.”
Her father looked up at her with that frigid gaze he had probably used on suspects in the interrogation room. “It's necessary,” he replied. “I don't want Leo getting anywhere near you girls.”
“Why wasn't I told?”
“You're just a cadet, Melissa-”
Perhaps someone else would have reacted with a little more passion – she could see Anna throwing her cup across the room or something like that – but Melissa was content to express hers
elf with a heavy sigh. Calmness usually earned you more respect. Or at the very least, it made people listen to you.
Melissa heaved out a sigh and strode across the room, bending over to set her cup down on the coffee table. “Look, Dad,” she said, rising. “I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
Lifting his chin to study her, Harry squinted. “That may be true,” he said, nodding. “But you weren't there last time. You didn't see what Leo did when he came to our house, looking for a way to kill Jack.”
Melissa stood there with her arms crossed, scowling and shaking her head. “What does that have to do with anything?” she demanded. “Fifteen months ago, I didn't have a symbiont; now I do.”
“He threatened you, Melissa.”
“Who did?”
The tears on her father's cheeks told her the answer. God help her; this monster had threatened to come after her personally? How did Leo even know of her existence? Why would he care about some teenager who was no threat to him?
Anger flared up inside her for half an instant, then faded away to be replaced with a profound sense of affection. Her poor father. Leo had stabbed him in the leg, but knowing Harry as she did, she was well aware of the fact that it was the threat against his children that did the most harm. “It's gonna be all right, Dad,” she promised him.
Without thinking, Harry reached into his pocket and withdrew something about the size of a baseball. He tossed the N'Jal up casually and caught it without looking. “You're damn right, it's gonna be all right…”
Harry turned his head, fixing dark eyes upon her. Dark eyes that looked as though they could burn a hole in solid steel. “If Leo comes near either one of you,” he said in a voice like ice. “I'll deal with him.”
“Put that thing away, Dad.”
“I'm serious.”
Stepping around the coffee table, Melissa sank to one knee before him and took his hand in hers. “I know you're serious,” she said. “That's the problem. Even if we weren't all a little wary of that thing…”
Her eyes couldn't help but wander toward the N'jal, which sat in the palm of Harry's other hand. A tiny ball of flesh. So small, so innocuous. But she had seen the harm it had done to poor Kevin Harmon. “Even if we weren't all afraid of that thing,” Melissa went on, “your insides have been shredded. You're in no condition to fight anyone.”
“I can't just sit here and do nothing.”
“Who's asking you to?”
“Well…You, for one.”
Melissa stood up with a grunt, glowering down at him in her best impression of an uncompromising eighth-grade teacher. “You can help by putting clues together,” she said. “By using those detective skills of yours.”
The door to one of the bedrooms swung open, and Claire stepped out in lime-green shorts and a bright, neon-orange t-shirt, her hair done up in twin braids. “So, you're here now,” she said to Melissa. “Can you tell me why Dad and Jack showed up to take me out of school early, or why we're here instead of at home.”
“We have to stay here for a little while.”
“Why?”
“We just do!” Melissa snapped. “You don't have to worry about it.” The knowing look her father shot her way was nearly enough to make her lash out again. Damn it! She wasn't willing to explain to a ten-year-old why they might be in danger from the same murderer who had forced them to flee their home once before.
Three weeks in Alberta. At the time, their mother had been thinking about moving them out there permanently. Melissa remembered the way she had whined about it, the way she had refused to entertain the possibility of leaving her friends behind. God have mercy on her soul, had she really been that immature?
The lecture hall was big enough to hold maybe fifty people, with most of its seats that were positioned on an inclined floor occupied by young college students in shorts and t-shirts. Rectangular windows along one of the sidewalls provided natural light, for which Jack was grateful. Classrooms that didn't let you see a little sunlight always felt a bit too stuffy for his taste.
At the front of the room, the hologram of a man in a high-collared black coat stood with one fist on his hip, gazing out on the audience with the imperious stare you always saw from portraits of historical figures. Who was he? Jack didn't recognize him by sight.
The hologram rippled as Gabi stepped through it, and Jack found himself holding his breath. She looked good. Real good. This was the first time he had seen her in almost six months, and he was expecting her to be a little miffed that he had never kept in touch.
His ex-girlfriend wore beige shorts and a dark, navy-blue t-shirt, her black hair left to hang loose. “We'll be reviewing Morat's theories of cognition next week,” she said. “I expect you to read chapters thirty-five through thirty-seven.”
Several people grumbled.
“Class dismissed.”
On cue, nearly forty college-aged students got out of there seats and began filing out of the room, some of them pushing past Jack as he stood by the door. He would be tempted to make some off-hand remark about kids if not for the fact that most of them were only one or two years younger than he was.
In less than two minutes, they were all gone.
The hologram flickered out of existence, revealing Gabi as she leaned against her desk with arms folded and stared up at him. “Jack Hunter,” she said in pleasant tones. “I wasn't expecting to see you today.”
He smiled, bowing his head as a flush set his face on fire. “Hiya, Gabs,” he said. “Long time, no see.”
“A girl might think you didn't like her.”
Jack strode through an aisle between seats, breathing out a deep breath and shaking his head. “Of course I do,” he said. “I just figured you might need a little time to yourself after everything.”
Gabi looked up at him with those stunning brown eyes and blinked once. “Well, at least we have that sorted out,” she said. “So, what brings you by today? Let me guess, the world is in peril.”
“Something like that.”
“I knew it.”
Jack practically fell into one of the front row seats, crossing his arms and sighing in frustration. “Remember Leo?” he asked. “The lovable blonde-haired scamp who brought us all together?”
“He's loose?”
“Got it in one.”
It took a moment for Gabi to react – the lady was remarkably good at showing only those emotions she wanted you to see – but she eventually sat down behind her desk with her hands folded on its surface, nodding as she thought it over.
Despite his best efforts to avoid the belief that everyone secretly despised him, Jack mentally prepared himself for some biting comment about how this was all his fault. Not that he really believed it, but there was this nagging feeling that he was the one who had dragged everyone else into this mess. “Did you come to recruit me?” Gabi asked. “To ask for my help in apprehending him?”
Jack paused for a moment to consider it. “Is that an option?” he asked. “The last I heard, you were out of the game. Do you really want to toss yourself back into it?”
“Of course I'm willing to help!” Gabi exclaimed. Then she looked at him, and once again, he felt as though she could read him like a book. “But why don't you tell me what's really on your mind?”
Tossing his head back, Jack grinned and tried to ignore his embarrassment. “Well, it's silly,” he said. “I'm pretty sure we've got much bigger concerns than the train-wreck that is my love life.”
Gabi arched an eyebrow.
Jack squeezed his eyes shut, trembling as he sucked air into his lungs. “Okay, okay, I'll tell you,” he said, getting out of the chair. “But I want to stipulate that I do this under duress, in clear violation of the Denabrian Accords.”
“So noted.”
He spelled out everything that had happened since they left Earth: the six months of silence from Anna, his heartbreak and confusion, Cassi's insistence that he get on with his life and put it all behind him. And then Ann
a's sudden reintroduction into life. He shared everything for the first time, and it felt as though a burden he hadn't even noticed until it was lifted suddenly vanished. Summer approved of his honesty. But then Nassai always approved of honesty.
When it was done, he braced himself for the worst. He wasn't entirely sure what the worst looked like in this case, but he knew it was coming. It always came.
Gabi was smiling down at herself, shaking her head slowly. “So, let me make sure I understand,” she began. “You actually believed that Anna wasn't going to come back into your life? Bleakness take me, Jack, I knew you'd be lost without me, but this…”
“Yes, well…”
“And now you're wondering how to delicately extract yourself from this situation with Cassiara,” Gabi went on. “Reminds me of an old boyfriend of mine, an eager young man who was more invested in our relationship than I was.”
Once again, Jack found himself blushing, and the sense of guilt brought on by her words made him want to slink away. “I'm sorry,” was all he managed to say.
Gabi put her hand on top of his and gave him a gentle squeeze. “You don't have to be sorry for that,” she replied. “It's pretty common for one person to want a relationship more than the other.”
Jack covered his face with one hand, groaning into his own palm. “I feel like it's my fault somehow,” he muttered. “Like I led Cassi on.”
With a heavy sigh, Gabi sat back with her arms folded and rolled her eyes. “So far as I understand the situation,” she said, “Cassiara showed up at your apartment, knowing that you were in love with another woman, belittled your feelings and then urged you to have sex with her while you were emotionally vulnerable.”
“That's pretty much it.”
“I think claiming that you led her on would be rather difficult to justify under such circumstances, wouldn't you agree?”
Before he knew it, he was laughing, his tension evaporating like dewdrops on a hot summer morning. “You have a way of putting things in perspective, Gabs,” he said. “So, are you coming back to Denabria with me?”