Yeah. Sounds reasonable.
Luc’s face softened, much like Therese’s in the van. For whatever reason, Penny knew he would apologize if he could. She didn’t understand all that was happening to her, but somehow she suspected Luc and Therese were as much in charge as she was. Penny reached out and put a hand on Luc’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry for what you had to do. I’ll do what I’m told. You’re done now. Take Therese and get out of here. Thank you for your respect in the van,” Penny said.
Luc pursed his lips and nodded a few times. He turned to go, but hesitated. He motioned for Penny to unlock the door. Apparently he needed to see her go in the room. She took a deep breath and inserted the keycard into the slot and quickly withdrew it. A green light flashed and Penny pushed the door open. Darkness greeted her inside. She turned back to Luc, but he had already disappeared behind the corner.
The darkness beckoned.
“Hello? Is there anybody here?”
Silence.
Penny listened for a moment longer, in case someone was just being quiet, but she heard nothing. She flicked the light switch on the wall and the room was immediately bathed in an incandescent glow. A quick examination of the room showed nothing out of the ordinary. A queen bed, a TV, dresser, chair...standard hotel decor. The bathroom was a little larger than most, with a floor to ceiling mirror on one wall.
She felt a little cold, so Penny headed towards the window where the temperature controls were. Before she could fiddle with them, she noticed the front doors of the hotel were directly below her room. She saw the van she’d ridden in since Indiana with Luc standing next to it. He opened the passenger side door and hopped in. For a minute, she watched the van drive away, down the block and away from her. Away from whatever she was involved in.
Then it exploded.
Penny’s heart skipped a beat as she watched the van violently burst apart. The back doors of the vehicle were ripped from their hinges and had struck a city bus that had been pulling up to the light where Therese’s van had been stopped. The fire was raging out of control. She watched and watched, hoping that somehow she would see a man or woman emerge from the vehicle. Within a few minutes, emergency vehicles showed up on scene. The fire rescue team got as close as they could, but none of them got close enough to open any of the doors on the van.
After a couple of minutes, she gave up hope. Penny sat on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands. She knew Therese and Luc were dead. What had happened? Was that bomb meant for them? Or was she supposed to have been in the vehicle as well when it blew? From one moment when she felt safe and secure in the strange hotel room, to the moment after the van exploded, her perspective changed. Her life was in danger. Mortal danger.
_____
Hours later...Penny wasn’t really sure...she awoke. The hotel room was dark again. She didn’t remember turning the lights out, but the moments after the van exploded were a blur. She was a wreck. Her only tie to her children was gone. She’d cried herself to sleep on the comfortable, but strange, bed.
The darkness was soothing in a way. Penny couldn’t see the world around her. The danger that threatened her was hidden and all she had was herself. She closed her eyes again, hoping to shut it all out for a little while longer.
After a deep breath, she heard a noise. It was electronic in nature, but she didn’t know where it came from. The heating controls were immediately to her right and the television was shut off. Curious, Penny stood up and walked towards the bathroom. She’d left the door shut earlier, but now a yellowish glow emanated from the crack between the door and the threshold.
As her eyes adjusted, Penny saw the light slowly fade, and then heard the light switch flipped up from inside the bathroom. She scrambled to the other side of the room and toggled the switch on the lamp for the far side of the bed.
The door to the bathroom opened and a voice called out, “Hello?”
It was a moment Penny would never forget. It was a perfect echo of what she herself had said hours earlier when she entered the room. In the same exact inflection and tone of voice. It wasn’t just similar. It was identical.
The bathroom door opened and a figure strode out. Penny blinked, sure her mind was playing tricks on her. A woman stood in the doorway, the light of the bathroom illuminating her right half. She held a towel, monogrammed with a stylish letter “E” for the Empress Hotel, and dabbed at her forehead.
The woman wore the same business attire as Penny. In the tragic aftermath of the van explosion, Penny had forgotten to change her clothes. Not that she had anything different to change into anyway. But it wasn’t just the clothes. It was the height. It was the hair. It was...everything.
Penny was staring at herself. At least, a version of herself. In spite of what she saw, Penny couldn’t help asking, “Who are you?”
“I’m you. Sort of.”
Flash Blinks
Blink.
Pain. Everywhere. Nik didn’t want to wake up.
Slap. “Come on, Nik! Come on!”
Nik tried to respond. It all came out wrong. The words weren’t working. He had a headache like a vise was on his head coming from all sides at once. And that high-pitched noise. Too much. He faded.
“Nik. Stay with me!” Slap.
So...tired. He tried to say so.
“Nik, just focus on me. Right here. Let me get that backpack off you.” Hands fumbled with some straps behind and a weight was pulled off. That felt better.
His head hurt and he cupped it in his left hand, dropping to his knees. It was easier without the backpack. Why a backpack?
Blink.
Blink.
_____
The other Smith said, “Grab whatever you need for an extended stay and let’s move.” It sounded urgent so Nik got out fast.
Agent Smith was already at the back of the SUV. “Nik! Get over here. I had a pack made for you with some clothes and toiletries. Put it on!” He proceeded to pass out packs to the others.
Agent Tinker, when he could get there after being last out of the vehicle, started prying away at a side panel. When it came loose he pulled out two black canvas packages. He handed one to Agent Smith and strapped the other one to his own backpack.
Agents Smith, Tinker and the other Smith all had their weapons out and were holding them at ready positions. As soon as Tinker and Anna pulled their packs on, both Agents Smith looked at each other. They nodded at each other and nearly simultaneously said, “Move out.”
_____
Blink.
“Nik! Nik! Are you with me?” There was a water bottle at his lips. He drank. Eagerly. He nodded a bit. That hurt. He winced at it and groaned.
“You just sit and rest a moment. I’ve got to check on Anna.” The voice went away.
He stared at the floor. The treated concrete surface faded in and out of his vision. To look up was to invite pain. He stretched his legs out in front of him. Ooohhh, that hurt too. It was raw, like a recent scrape. He rolled up his pant leg. There. His right leg was all bloody and scratched to all heck, ankle to just short of the knee.
What happened there?
Blink.
Blink.
_____
The man who asked to be known as Kent led them into a garden display area. There were statues, decorations, fountains, and all definitions of art everywhere they looked.
“Welcome to Ars Nouveau. This place sells all sorts of stuff like this and there are several different garden display areas. We’ve got to get to the back. Follow me.”
Liszt took Anna’s hand and took off after Kent. Nik followed next with Tinker and Smith pulling up the rear. They ran around a large gazebo in the middle of the garden and as Nik turned the corner to follow Kent again, he noticed a car pulling into the parking lot.
“Smith, look!” he whispered urgently.
Agent Smith paused with Tinker right beside. As they watched, two more cars pulled in the lot. They heard sound of several car doors opening and clos
ing.
Smith looked right in Nik’s eyes. “Run! Don’t look back!”
Nik thought that was a really good idea. He turned and began to sprint and immediately ran into a tall sprinkler head sticking out of the ground. He grimaced internally and breathed hard. It was so hard not to scream. Against orders he looked back.
Tinker grabbed him by the arm and helped him through the far entrance of the garden by pushing and pulling him around the various statues. They rounded the corner, Smith right behind.
Smith grabbed Tinker at the shoulder and said, “Stop.” All three men stopped. Nik hopped on his good leg, waiting for the other two.
Smith was talking to Tinker. “Did you catch everything that was said on the drive over here?”
Tinker nodded without looking directly at Smith. It was obvious he was watching for uninvited guests. “Yes, sir.”
“Then, you know I need to send you away right now. You need to get out of here and report to Wall.”
“Sir, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You have three non-coms and the other…you. How far can you get by yourself?”
“Tinker, that’s an order. It’s the right thing to do and you know it.”
“I don’t have to like it.” He started pulling off the small pack he had pulled out of the back of the SUV earlier. “Should I give this to you?”
Smith looked over at Nik. “No, he’s a part of this now. Give it to him. You can watch our backs for a few minutes, but I want you to get out of here no matter what.”
Tinker turned to Nick and strapped the little pack onto his backpack. As soon as he was done, Smith grabbed Nik by the elbow. “We’ve got to MOVE! NOW!”
Nik spotted the other three across the way and hit high gear. Before he turned the next corner, he looked back. Tinker was nowhere to be seen.
_____
Blink.
Breathe, just breathe. Ignore the pain. Pain everywhere.
He heard voices. They were behind him. He turned. The blurry forms of Smith and Anna were kneeling together over another person. Oh. The lights flickered overhead, bursting new sensations of pain into Nik’s head.
He winced at the piercing pain and reached his right hand up to feel his head. Was he bleeding up there? The barrel of the gun tapped his forehead as he brought his hand limply up. Gun? Where did he get a gun?
That piercingly loud and high-pitched sound came back again, with a vengeance. Nik dropped the gun with a clatter and put both hands up to his ears. He tipped over and lay on his side. Fading. Fading…
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
_____
Nik rounded the next corner, following the other three. Smith was right beside him. He grabbed his hand and placed something there.
Nik looked down to see the gun that had been confiscated from him just twenty-four hours earlier. He looked back up at Smith, the question obvious.
“I meant what I said.” Smith said, “We’re in this together now. I don’t know if you’ve got any training, but those other two are scientists.” Nik wasn’t sure what to make of that statement.
Up ahead, Kent Smith and the scientists stepped down into a hollow, decorated by columns on all sides. Nik and Agent Smith caught up to them there.
They arrived to see Kent Smith fuming. Nik had seen that look before on the face of the Smith from this world. “What’s going on?” he asked. He wasn’t sure if Smith would recognize his own frustrated look.
“They moved them. Damn! I got too confident.”
“Moved what?” Anna asked.
“There was a mirror display. I was planning to escape from here.”
Anna looked shocked. So did Liszt. “I didn’t know we were doing that. Is that a good idea?”
The Smith from Nik’s world answered, “Anna, it’s not only the best answer but the only one at this point. We are completely surrounded and the only way to stop this is by going through.” He was watching the door intently as he said it.
“All right,” Kent said, “They’ve got to be here somewhere. Did anyone see anything on your way here?”
A popping sound came from the direction they had come. Everyone ducked behind something. Nik kept watching as he hid. In a moment, a man fell through the entryway, blood blossoming from his throat.
Out of the corner of his eye, Nik saw Smith look down at his phone. “That was Tinker watching our backs. There’s more coming and he can’t stop them all. I just told him to get out so we’ve got to figure this out without him.”
Dr. Liszt was in the very back, hiding behind a sculpture across from Anna. “Hey guys, I think I see something.”
Nik and Kent went back to check while Agent Smith watched the exit. Liszt pointed at an opening in the hedge. It was wide enough for a person to squeeze through. Kent poked his head through and looked left and right.
“It looks like they’ve got a storage building back here,” Kent Smith said. “If the mirrors are anywhere, they’ll be in there.”
“Go!” urged Agent Smith, waving them all on. “I’ll be at your back.”
Blink.
_____
Blink.
Blink.
Hands rolled him over and pulled him back to a seated position. The hands had a towel and were wiping his right arm, shoulder, cheek and ear. The towel had been white. It was now red and sticky.
Am I injured? Nik explored with his own left hand. There was only more red color on his hand, no injury. A new towel came to that hand now, wiping.
“More water, Nik?”
Nik murmured yes, thanks. At least he thought he did. The water bottle appeared.
“What happened?” Nik managed. The lights were still too bright to want to look up. He kept his eyes closed from the glare.
“I don’t know, Nik,” the voice spoke softly. “You were there later than I was. It’s your story and it will come to you. The good news for you is that there are no significant injuries. The bad will wait.”
The bad.
Blink.
No.
Blink.
NOOO!!!!
Blink.
_____
Blink.
Kent led the way past a front loader and around several pallets. They managed to shoo off a couple of workers by waving their guns and saying “Boo!” They hit the door of the storage building and burst inside.
“Over there!” Anna shouted, pointing. Nik could see an area with several decorative mirrors on the far side of the building. Smith bolted through the door and looked for a way to lock it. There was an old sliding lock and Smith engaged it, but Nick wasn’t confident that would hold. Already, he heard the sound of crunching gravel in at least three places outside the building.
Kent, Anna and Liszt had already begun moving. Nik looked at Smith. “It’s as good a chance as we’re going to get, kid. Let’s get a move-on.” Nik turned and ran. Smith was right there with him.
Kent ran up to the mirror display and found one mirror that was around a corner a bit, out of the view of the windows. He pulled a device out of his pocket and hung some hooks over the top of the mirror. He quickly placed a similar device on the bottom of the mirror. “Smith! I need you!” he called out to his double.
Smith jogged over. “What?” He waved Nik to the corner and pointed toward the upper windows. “Keep watch,” he told Nik before turning back to Kent.
“This one only works by synchronic resonance,” Kent said. “Usually it has to be one of us on one side of the mirror and the other on the other side. Unfortunately we don’t have that ability at the moment. We’re going to have to trick it a bit and hope that it works. I left a portal ready to receive a signal from this device in the secondary control room so that should help. The other thing that also helps is DNA encoding. For some reason it increases the resonance.”
He pricked his thumb with a knife and handed the knife to Smith. Smith figured out what he needed to do and pricked his thumb also.
“All right, on three,
put your thumb on the green pad on the bottom device. Ready? One, two, three!”
Both Smiths pressed their thumbs on their devices simultaneously. The mirror began to shimmer and a crack formed going from the bottom device up to the top. A new image resolved behind the mirror.
“We’re going to have to pry it open. Use that knife I gave you.” Kent took out another knife and began digging in the crack. Smith did the same and pretty soon they were pulling the mirror away from the newly formed portal behind.
Kent and Smith looked at each other. “One of us has to go first and the other has to watch the rear,” Smith said.
“I agree. In case we don’t make it, you need to know a couple things.”
“We don’t have time for this.”
“Street is in The Hole, U.C. Level 9. Can you remember that?”
“Of course, but there is no level 9.”
“It’s new, along with the rest of 5 through 11.”
Pop, pop, pop. Gunfire rang out, striking between them. Wherever the gunman was, he didn’t have a good line of sight. They lifted simultaneously and fired at the shadow in the upper window. The shadow dropped and they looked at each other again. “So, who’s going first?” Smith asked.
“Rochambeau,” replied Kent. Smith agreed and the two clapped two times and all of a sudden Smith flew backwards through the portal as if pushed.
“What was that?” Anna demanded.
“Force field projector. Highly experimental and limited charge. Used it up.” He handed Anna a bracelet. “Take it. If you can charge it, it could come in handy.” She reached out her hand to take it and as her fingers closed on the bracelet, Kent grabbed her wrists and swung her around and through the portal.
Utility Company (Book 1): Blink Page 18