Frostburn (Ultrahumans Book 4)

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘And you know for sure that he couldn’t do it before then?’

  ‘Hugh’s pretty damn sure about it, so yes.’

  ‘Well, for someone who isn’t the killer, he certainly seemed capable of the same sort of tricks. I read Ultimate’s report on the ice. Dannon wrapped me up in something very similar tonight. And he had that house cold enough that my suit couldn’t keep it out. You think there are two people in New Millennium City who can do that?’

  Cygnus opened her mouth to say that she did, yeah, and then stopped. ‘You know, I don’t think there’s much point in arguing with you.’

  ‘Because I’m right!’

  ‘Because you’re an obstinate dickhead. Get some evidence. Real evidence that’ll stand up in court. Because if you go after Jacob again like that, I’m not going to hold Twilight back when she decides to cut you out of your armour and fillet you like a fish.’

  Hoffman glowered at her. ‘Dannon is the killer. I’ll get your damn evidence and if either of you stand in my way, I’ll take you down with him.’

  Cygnus turned to the window and started walking. ‘You couldn’t take me down with a missile, asshole. And believe me, it’s been tried.’

  Antarctica.

  His skin had a slightly unhealthy blue undertone to it, and his eyes were still glowing. On the other hand, the glow looked steady now: Jacob had twin, icy-blue orbs to counterpoint Andrea’s black ones.

  ‘I kind of like the new look,’ Andrea said, mostly because she felt she needed to keep the mood light. In truth, Jacob looked like shit and they both knew it.

  ‘Probably for the best,’ Jacob said, and Andrea decided to ignore how weak his voice sounded. ‘Professor Last thinks it’s permanent.’ Andrea stepped closer, walking to the side of the bed, and Jacob drew back. ‘You don’t want to get too close.’

  ‘No, I really do want to get close.’

  ‘I don’t want to hurt you, Andrea.’

  ‘And you won’t. You have noticed I’m the only other person who’s been in here without a climate-controlled suit, right? I’m willing to put good money on you having nothing that can hurt me. I’m still well inside my comfort zone. Look, my nipples aren’t even standing out.’ Reaching out, she took his hand, the one not encased in a plastic brace, before he could dodge the gesture. His skin was cool, but somehow not quite cold, though maybe that was just her perception of it. ‘The doctors say you’ll recover. That hand’s going to be out of action for a few weeks, but the rest of you should mend soon enough.’

  Jacob lifted his right arm, turning the hand over to look at the plastic cast. ‘I think that’s what set it off. Hurt like Hell when he hit me.’

  ‘Yeah, well, he better hope I don’t see him any time soon or I’ll tap dance on his fingers.’

  ‘What if he’s right?’

  Andrea frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘What if I am the killer? I mean, I wrapped him up in some sort of ice cocoon, just like the victims have been. I don’t know how I did it, but I did it.’

  ‘I think you’d know if–’

  ‘You’ve got two sets of brainwaves ticking away in there. Twilight handles your powers better than you do. Maybe I’ve got a hidden mind in here with me that goes out murdering people.’

  ‘Jacob…’

  ‘Face it, Andrea, it’s possible. I could probably try an insanity plea if it’s true, but it’s possible. It’s either that or there are two people running around New Millennium City now who can freeze people to the spot. What are the odds of that?’

  ‘Doesn’t matter, because there are two. You’re not a killer, Jacob. I know what a killer looks like and you’re not one. Get some rest. I’ll be right here with you. Get some rest and things will look a lot better in the morning.’

  Part Three: Trial and Fire

  New Millennium City, MD, 26th November, 2014.

  Dominika Zuyev considered herself to be quite a lucky woman. She had been lucky from the moment of conception, in fact. Genetically she was doubly gifted, first with good looks and a fit, flexible body, and secondly with a variation of the EMX1 gene which had brought her to the attention of the SOP’s super-soldier project. Then she had been lucky again since the number of people who underwent the activation process and came out intact was not high. She had been lucky to chance upon an opportunity to defect, lucky to get a modelling career out of her sudden celebrity, and she considered herself luckiest of all to have found the friends she had.

  But the one thing which often made her feel truly blessed was sleeping comfortably, warm and naked in silk sheets, in an apartment she owned and was not a gift of the state. There were nights when she remembered her basic training in Siberia, long days and cold nights spent learning to be a soldier and how to use her powers. On those nights, crawling into bed in her wonderful apartment felt glorious, but she still remembered the early mornings and being dragged out of bed by a drill instructor with the temperament of a rabid dog.

  As a result of those days, Dom always set her alarm for an hour before she really needed to get out of bed so that she could hit the snooze button several times before getting up. With a groan, she turned over and smacked the snooze button when the alarm sounds impinged upon her sleeping brain. Rather like her drill sergeants, the alarm refused to be snoozed.

  ‘Bozhe moi, zatknis’ ty, glupyy…’ Dom pulled her head out from under the sheets and glared at the inoffensive clock as the alarm continued ringing… And she realised it was two a.m. and the alarm was not coming from the clock, and that was right about the time the digits blacked out as the building’s power failed.

  Grabbing the brand-new earpiece from her bedside table, Dom pushed it into her ear. ‘Denny? Denny! It is Svetilo, da? I need help. There is fire! Fire in my apartment!’

  ~~~

  ‘The damage isn’t really extensive,’ Fire Bug said, wiping soot from his face. ‘I mean, it probably got the fastest response of any fire ever seen in New Millennium City.’

  ‘Da,’ Svetilo agreed, nodding, ‘and I am thanking both of you very much for coming so quickly. No injuries, not one.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Cygnus said, looking up at the apartment building, ‘but it’s going to take them a while to get this place functional again.’

  ‘Several weeks,’ Fire Bug said. ‘He targeted the main utility trunks again. Power, telephones, the lot. It’s going to be a fairly major operation before this place has services again.’

  ‘It was definitely same arsonist?’ Svetilo asked.

  ‘Same signature.’

  ‘When we find this man, or woman, you give me five minutes with them, da? I take away their services for a few weeks.’

  ‘Whole place is going to have to live somewhere else for a while, but no one was hurt. That’s the important thing.’

  ‘Da… Da, it is the important thing. Da…’

  ‘Come on,’ Cygnus said, lifting a few inches into the air. ‘We’ll go up to your place, pack a bag, and you can come over to my house.’

  ‘Oh… I mean, thank you, but I can’t impose–’

  ‘Yes, you can. At the very least you can stay the night, or for a couple of days while you find somewhere else. I’ve got room.’

  Svetilo sagged a little, but she lifted off her feet to follow Cygnus. ‘This is terrible idea,’ she muttered as she flew upward.

  ~~~

  ‘That’s crazy, Dom,’ June said. ‘There is no point in you going off to a hotel or something for a couple of weeks. I mean, it’s kind of perfect. Next week Cygnus and Andrea will be in San Francisco and I’ll be in England. You can house-sit.’

  ‘That is next week,’ Svetilo said. ‘For rest of this week and at least week after I will be here, getting under feet and being annoying Russian pest.’

  ‘Well, God knows when Andrea’s going to be back, so you probably won’t–’

  ‘This just makes it worse.’

  June and Cygnus frowned. ‘Dom…’ June said. ‘Are you saying that you can’t manage to ke
ep your animal lusts under control for a couple of weeks if you’re staying under the same roof as us?’

  ‘Da. This is exactly what I am saying. Da. Animal lusts. All over the place. Da.’ Cygnus and June burst into fits of giggles, which did not help at all. ‘Is not funny.’

  ‘Is funny, da,’ Cygnus said, starting off the giggles again.

  ‘Have some faith in yourself, Dom,’ June suggested.

  ‘Easy for you to say. Have you looked at yourselves lately? Anyway, is Thanksgiving in two… Is Thanksgiving tomorrow. You do not want silly Russian under feet at–’

  ‘Yes,’ June said firmly, ‘we do.’ She looked around at Cygnus. ‘I’d totally forgotten about Thanksgiving. Crap. Christmas better be quiet.’

  ‘That would certainly be nice. Look, Dom, you’re staying. Any more objections you wish to voice before you give in?’

  The Russian powerhouse shrank a little. ‘I don’t have robe. I don’t usually wear anything in apartment.’

  ‘We can lend you a robe.’

  ‘Or you can wander around naked,’ June added. ‘No one’s going to mind that much.’

  ‘I’ll mind,’ Svetilo mumbled, but she was caving. ‘I suppose it is practical solution…’

  ‘Right,’ Cygnus said. ‘Settled. And now that we have…’ Getting to her feet, she began peeling off her costume.

  Svetilo let out a moan. ‘What are you doing? Animal lusts, remember?’

  ‘If you’re going to be here for a couple of weeks, you get to see the real me. That should cool your ardour.’

  ‘Doesn’t cool mine,’ June pointed out.

  ‘Yes, love, but you’re mad. I’d obviously appreciate it, Dom, if you didn’t blab this part, but I’m not being Cygnus all the time. Even if I’m sort of always Cygnus now, but… Just wait and you’ll see what I mean.’

  Finally naked, Cygnus stepped clear of the furniture and… Svetilo’s eyebrows rose. ‘And now I know how you can just vanish when you need to. This is who you were before you became Cygnus?’

  ‘Penny,’ Penny said. ‘I’m Penny.’

  ‘I am pleased to meet you, Penny. And honoured to be trusted with secret. And… Okay, yes, less attracted…’

  ‘Told you.’

  ‘Yet… Still same person is there…’

  ‘Told you,’ June said, grinning. ‘But she’s mine. No animal lusts.’

  Svetilo held up her hands. ‘Oh no. Cannot ask this of me. Animal lusts will happen. I will just have to keep them caged up. I can do this.’

  ‘You don’t really sound too sure about that.’

  ‘I’m not!’ Svetilo wailed.

  ~~~

  ‘Nice place,’ Fire Bug said as he walked into the lounge. ‘I’m going to assume it’s up to code.’

  Cygnus grinned at him. ‘As far as I’m aware, it is. You realise I thought you slept in that fireman outfit you wear to incidents, right?’

  Fire Bug was wearing a leather jacket over T-shirt and jeans. Though he was still in fairly heavy boots, they were not the industrial-strength ones he was normally seen in. Cygnus was fairly sure it was the first time she had seen Andy Hatch out of uniform. The only thing that gave him away was his eyes, which still burned with inner fire. He grinned. ‘Huh, well, I’ve been known to on more than one occasion. Anyway, I figured you’d be naked or dressed in diaphanous gowns around the house. Uh, maybe that was more of a fantasy.’

  ‘Only on Sundays,’ June said, grinning and holding out a mug of coffee.

  ‘Thanks. So I have to find an excuse to come back Sunday? Right.’

  ‘They are lying to you, my friend,’ Svetilo said as she walked in from her room, settling her T-shirt into place. They were all not long out of bed having retired late.

  ‘God, Dom, I didn’t realise you were that traumatised,’ Fire Bug said.

  ‘I am not… What are you talking about, Andy?’

  ‘You’re in slacks!’

  Svetilo glowered at him as she poured coffee. ‘Shut up and tell us what forensics said.’

  ‘Well, they put a rush on–’

  ‘They did not need to do that for me.’

  ‘They didn’t. Have you ever known this city to do anything major for an Ultra? No, this is the first time we’ve got one of his devices intact. We got to the second device before it could go off because Cygnus thought to create a network for the Ultras in New Millennium, and the city is concerned that this guy is getting serious.’

  ‘Put like that, it is nice they rushed.’

  ‘Yeah, but it got us squat. No prints, no DNA, no nothing. This guy is careful. They’re going over the components used in the detonation mechanism to see whether anything’s traceable, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.’

  ‘I was not planning to. You let me know if there is anything I can do to help, da? He has made this personal. He will regret that decision.’

  ‘He has made this personal,’ Cygnus agreed. ‘First the secondary device Twilight found, now this. You be careful, Andy. He might try to take you out of the picture.’

  ‘Me? With fire? Not happening, but this place could be a target.’

  Cygnus nodded. ‘The thought had crossed my mind, yeah.’

  ~~~

  ‘How is he?’ Cygnus asked as she followed Andrea into the latter’s room.

  ‘Sedated. Weak. His hand is bust up, but it’s all recoverable. Psychologically…’ Andrea grimaced and began packing clothes into a bag. ‘I need to drop by Radium and let Roger know I won’t be in for a few days.’

  ‘I doubt he’s expecting you. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.’

  ‘Oh… damn, yeah. And we have the damn trial next week. Shit.’

  ‘Jacob’s a cop. He’s going to tell you to make sure Blutadler’s put away. And you can hop continents in a blink anyway.’

  ‘Yeah… I know that, it’s just… He’s half convinced himself he is the serial killer.’

  Cygnus frowned. ‘But the murders started before he–’

  Andrea held a hand up. ‘Logic is not one of his strengths just now. Hugh is pretty convinced that, this time, Jacob’s staying the way he is, and that’s cold and only comfortable at low temperatures. They’re going to wait until he’s fitter before experimenting to find out what his actual tolerances are. He seems to have at least one power in common with the killer, and that’s enough evidence to get him worried. It’s also enough to have Night Shift champing at the bit.’

  ‘I tracked him down. Night Shift. You’re right, he’s going to be a problem about this.’

  Andrea gave a shrug. ‘Hugh is convinced Jacob isn’t responsible and Hoffman isn’t going to be allowed to pursue Jacob to Antarctica. Actually, Hugh was muttering something about a possible cold-environment resource, but I think that depends on getting Jacob to think this is any kind of good thing rather than a curse.’

  ‘He’s never been that fond of Ultras.’

  ‘Ultras that hog the limelight, not Ultras in general. That said, he wasn’t faced with being one before now. I’m worried about him.’

  Cygnus nodded. ‘Of course you are, but… Well, Jacob’s always struck me as really practical. Too practical at times. Maybe a little stuffy.’

  ‘This is my boyfriend you’re maligning, girl.’

  ‘You know what I mean. He’ll come around. He doesn’t have much choice, under the circumstances, so he’ll get his head together. He has to.’

  Antarctica, 27th November.

  Jacob let out a groan and opened his eyes. He felt, for want of a better phrase, like shit, but not quite as bad as he had before they had decided to put him under. The rest had been good for him. He was still in a frozen isolation room in the Antarctic, but he was not in quite as much pain.

  ‘How are you feeling?’

  He turned his head and saw Andrea sitting beside the bed. She was dressed in a band T-shirt and jeans, oblivious to the cold in the room, it seemed, as she had said. ‘Uh… better,’ he managed, and he realised his throat was dry.

&
nbsp; Andrea got up and retrieved an insulated container of some kind from a table beside the bed. ‘Special cup. Stops the water freezing.’ She cracked open a seal on the top and handed it to him.

  He started reaching with his right hand, grimaced, and used his left, but at least the water felt good going down. ‘Is this going to be a permanent thing? Needing special equipment just to get a drink?’

  ‘Uh, well… They’re not sure. Hugh thinks you’re probably okay in a slightly warmer environment, but they aren’t risking any tests until you’re fitter. And, uh, alcohol is liquid at this temperature so you could just take up drinking to excess.’

  ‘Don’t make me laugh. My guts feel like I got hit by a truck.’

  ‘An asshole in powered armour, actually. And he was wrong.’

  ‘You have to admit that it’s a pretty amazing coincidence. Two people with cold powers turning up at once…’

  Andrea considered it progress that Jacob sounded like he might entertain the idea of a coincidence now. ‘I admit it’s odd. I would point out that coincidences happen. I would point out that you aren’t a killer. It’s not in you, Jacob. And there’s one other thing.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Yeah. I’m not willing to accept that Night Shift is right on this one.’

  ‘Huh.’ Jacob looked around absently. ‘What time is it anyway? There’s no way to tell the damn time in this place.’

  ‘Depends on your point of view. Here it’s just after ten a.m. Back home it’s a little after eight. I don’t think you’re allowed jet lag considering you’ve slept for twelve hours or so. Oh, and it’s Thanksgiving.’

  ‘I don’t think I’ve got anything–’

  ‘You continue that sentence, I am going to punch you in the mouth.’

  It had sounded pretty stupid even as he was saying it. ‘I thought he was going to kill me. I guess not being dead is something.’

  ‘Damn right. I’ve arranged for Heather to come down to visit later today and I checked, you’re allowed one glass of wine. So we’re going to have a drink together. And then Heather and I will be joining a few of the other staffers for a Thanksgiving dinner. You get soup.’