Caged (Talented Saga)

by Sophie Davis

  My monitor instantly went black and then a report filled the screen. I began to read. Six years ago, Randy Choi was arrested for helping Ellen Larson escape from Tramblewood Correctional Facility. Larson had been imprisoned after she was caught breaking onto school grounds. Using psychic interrogation, Dr. Wythe had determined that she was a member of the Coalition. The mention of Dr. Wythe gave me unpleasant reminders of my time in his office; his probing questions and suggestive counseling techniques were not something that I wished on anyone.

  I knew from Cadence’s file that Larson was Crane’s sister, but seeing the relationship now was still unsettling. When I thought about Crane, I never really considered the fact that he had a family. To me, he was this monster, a beast that had no regard for the pain that his actions inflicted. To me, he was my parents’ murderer. But to Ellen, he’d been a brother, a friend. Maybe to someone else, he was a father, a son, a husband. I didn’t like to think of him that way; it made him too human.

  Dr. Wythe had diagnosed Ellen as “crazy” and “delusional” based on her “outrageous claims,” but there was no mention of what her actual claims were. I scanned through the rest of the twenty-page report, but couldn’t find anything useful.

  “Is there anything else about this?” I asked Penny.

  She didn’t answer right away. When I looked in her direction, her head was resting on top of her crossed arms on the desk.

  “Penny?” I shook her shoulder gently, prodding her awake.

  “Hmmm,” she mumbled, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth.

  “Sorry,” I apologized, hating to disturb her. “I was just wondering if there is anything else about Randy’s interrogation or this woman, Ellen Larson.”

  “Crap, did I fall asleep?”

  “Yeah, kinda.”

  “I’ll check; gimme a minute.” Drowsily, Penny returned her attention to the computer and searched for Randy Choi and Ellen Larson. “Um, his official interrogation report is sealed, but I can call the Director tomorrow and have it unlocked if you want. There is one other report that mentions Ellen Larson – looks like after she escaped from Tramblewood she was caught just before she could cross the border into the Coalition’s territory, and was killed.” Penny’s voice wavered slightly when she said the last part, and I gave her a worried look. “I’ll send it to your computer.”

  “Thanks,” I said. I tried to get a better handle on her emotions, but her face was now composed, and I wondered if maybe I’d imagined her reaction.

  When the report appeared on my screen, I started reading. Ellen had refused to surrender when Toxic’s guards had caught up with her, and she’d lost her life as a result. I understood Penny’s pain when I saw the photographs of the woman’s mangled body. She hadn’t just been shot; she’d been torn apart. The automatic weapons the Operatives had used destroyed Ellen’s features, making her virtually unrecognizable. Disgusted, I quickly clicked through the pictures to the end of the report. I shuddered. What an awful way to die.

  You have no idea what your Agency does to innocent people.

  But Ellen Larson wasn’t an innocent person; she’d been one of them. Why had she been trying to break into the School? Of all the Toxic facilities, it seemed like the place that would be of least interest to the Coalition. What had she been looking for?

  “Do you want me to have Randy’s file unsealed?” Penny asked beside me.

  Tearing my eyes away from the screen, I nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

  “Approval has to come from the Director, I think, but I can try Janet if you want to see it today.”

  “Um, yeah, call Janet,” I decided. I wasn’t sure how important the file would prove to be, but it was the most solid lead that I had.

  Penny picked up the communicator on the desk and dialed. When Janet answered, she agreed to unseal the record and have it sent to my computer. As promised, several minutes later I had an incoming message.

  I opened the email and began quickly scanning the contents.

  Just like with Ellen, Dr. Wythe concluded that Randy was “delusional” and his claims were “unsubstantiated.” And just like with Ellen, there was no indication of what that actually meant. I wondered whether the report had been redacted or was purposely left vague. I resolved to ask Mac when he returned.

  After leaving Penny for the day, I headed back to my room. The campus was eerily quiet since the students and Instructors that went home for the holiday wouldn’t return until the following day.

  When I passed Medical, I detoured, deciding to visit Ernest. I hadn’t seen him in a couple of days, and while I doubted that his condition had improved, I wanted to check on him.

  I wound through the long corridors of the facility until I reached the Psychiatric Ward. Today, Ernest was propped up in a large recliner in the corner of his room. His hazel eyes darted in my direction when I entered, but they remained unfocused, and I knew that he didn’t actually see me.

  Feeling a rush of sadness, I pulled a chair next to his and sat. Dr. Thistler had said that a memory implantation was too risky, but the emptiness inside of his mind broke my heart.

  I took one of his limp hands in mine, closed my eyes, and concentrated on the images that I’d pulled from his head. Selecting his childhood memories first, I projected the scenes toward him. At first nothing happened; the same hollowness remained. I focused harder, and then slowly a faint smile graced his lips. It was all the encouragement that I needed, and I pushed more and more of his memories at him.

  The effort proved to be too much for both of us. Ernest’s smile was quickly replaced with a grimace, and he started to shake. He wasn’t the only one; my hands trembled and my peripheral vision darkened. Pulling back before I lost consciousness, I slumped against the back of my chair, panting. My head felt two sizes too big, and sweat trickled down the sides of my face. Dr. Thistler was right: Memory re-implantation was not easy.

  When I looked at Ernest, his eyes held a spark of life and wisps of thought floated through his head like smoke. I knew then that the physical toll the effort had taken on me was worth it. I wouldn’t be able to restore him completely, at least not in one session, but I felt confident that in time I’d be able to give him back the life that I’d stolen.

  Completely exhausted, I stumbled back to Instructor housing. A comm from Erik waited for me, and I grinned stupidly as I hit reply and flopped onto my bed. He didn’t answer, so I left him a message, sad that I couldn’t at least hear his voice after what I’d just done.

  I didn’t have the energy to pull myself out of bed to brush my teeth and wash my face; instead, I just closed my eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

  The next morning, it was back to business as usual. Donavon hadn’t called me once over the holiday and didn’t meet me for breakfast in the cafeteria. I sat alone in a corner, picking at my food until the cleaning staff began to wipe down the tables. I contemplated reaching out to him mentally, but I was afraid that he would block my attempts. Numbly, I moved through the rest of my day.

  I spent more time than usual reading to Ernest. The Medicals assigned to his unit no longer questioned my presence; Dr. Thistler had told them that as long as Ernest didn’t become agitated, I could sit with him for as long as I liked. Secretly, I figured that Mac had been the one to give the go-ahead since nothing around here happened without Mac’s say-so.

  That train of thought brought me back to Erik’s letter and what he’d told me on the ledge. Had Mac known about the raid? Had he approved the exchange of Erik’s service for the lives of his remaining family members? Worst of all, had Mac been the one to broker the deal? Erik hadn’t named the devil he’d sold his soul to, and I now wondered if that had been intentional. He’d wanted me to believe him, and accusing Mac of something so heinous wouldn’t have helped in that department. Originally I tried not to give too much thought to Mac’s potential involvement, but now I really needed to know.

  I considered looking up the report on the raid of Erik’s fami
ly and his subsequent collection. The names of the Toxic men involved would be listed. However, as much as I wanted to know, I also wasn’t eager to verify that Mac was keeping another secret from me.

  When I arrived at the Crypto Bank, Penny and Gemma were in their usual positions. They both smiled when I entered. Since I’d spent more time than I usually did with Ernest, I set right to work on my never-ending task of analyzing Operatives’ files.

  “What are you doing this afternoon?” I asked Penny, gathering my belongings in preparation to leave for Annalise’s class.

  “You’re looking at it.” She gestured to the scrolling lines of text on her monitors.

  “Any interest in helping with Kenly?”

  “I thought that Donavon was helping?”

  “He kinda gave up,” I mumbled.

  Penny shot me a relieved smile. I knew that the less time I spent with Donavon, the happier she was.

  “Sure, I’ll help. I mean, I doubt that I’ll really be any help; but if you want company, I’m game,” she said.

  “Thanks, Penny. Meet us at the practice arena at the end of the school day?”

  “I’ll be there.” She smiled.

  During lunch, I tracked down Cadence. Her brother’s file had been too sparse to get any useful information; if I wanted answers about Randy Choi, I’d have to ask his sister directly.

  Cadence sat alone in the corner of the cafeteria, angrily stabbing carrots into a blob of ranch dressing.

  “May I sit?” I asked, approaching from her right side.

  Cadence glared at me through long, black lashes. “If you must.”

  Taking that as an invitation, I sank into the seat beside her. I started in on my own lunch of meat loaf and sweet corn, watching her out of the corner of one eye.

  “What do you want, Talia?” she asked after I’d taken several bites.

  I swallowed, debating whether I should gradually lead up to my ultimate question or just go for it. I had a sneaking suspicion that Cadence might not sit here long enough for me to beat around the bush. Unless I wanted to actively control her in a room full of other people, there was nothing I could do to make her stay. I dove right in.

  “I want to know about your brother, Randy,” I said evenly.

  Cadence’s expression went blank and she just stared at me; it was a little unnerving.

  “He’s a traitor. He can rot in jail for all I care,” she replied calmly.

  Her words held the same amount of emotion that someone would use when talking about the weather. The inflection was flat, like she’d repeated the phrase so many times that the words had ceased to hold meaning. I felt the same hatred that I’d felt at the Old Crow trickling from her mind. It wasn’t gushing like a burst pipe, the way that it had been that day, but it was definitely still there. I wasn’t sure then whether the feelings were towards me, and now I still couldn’t tell. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought that feelings were directed inward.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere I have to be,” she said, rising from the table without giving me the chance to answer.

  That went well, I thought to myself sarcastically.

  Cadence walked quickly across the cafeteria, deposited her tray on the conveyor belt, and then dashed for the exit. I was pretty sure that the “somewhere” she had to be was anywhere I wasn’t.

  That evening, my training with Kenly went as well as could be expected. Using my manipulation, I walked her through the same moves that we’d been working on before Festivis. Her coordination improved with every repetition. Toward the end of our session, I released her mind and let her use me as a practice dummy. A couple of her hits landed hard enough that I thought my arms and torso might sport faint bruises in the morning; I couldn’t have been prouder.

  True to her word, Penny wasn’t actually of any use, but she was a great cheerleader.

  “You did really well tonight,” I praised Kenly as we cleaned up the practice area.

  “Thanks,” she said shyly. “I’ve been practicing in my room.” Her big brown eyes were shining with the same determination that had originally made me want to work with her. I hated to say what I said next, but I felt that she deserved the truth.

  “Kenly, I am going to do everything I can to help you get ready for your placement exams,” I began.

  “Oh, I know. I appreciate it so much,” she nodded earnestly.

  “I know you do. But I feel like I should warn you that it might not be enough. A lot of the students that are chosen to Pledge the Hunters have been training for years, and they have natural abilities that you don’t.” I met her eyes, afraid of the disappointment that my words were likely to invoke.

  “I know,” she replied in a clear voice. “I know that it’s a long shot. I’m planning to take exams for the Crypto and Interrogation Divisions as well. I just really want to be a Hunter. I’m from D.C., so when I’m home on holidays I see the Hunters come into the city, and I’ve always wanted to be part of a team like they are. I think that it would really make my mom proud. My father was a Hunter and was killed in a mission when I was eight. My mom always talks about what great things he did to stop the Coalition. I just want to do that, too.”

  I smiled. I knew her story already; I’d done a very thorough background search on her family after I’d convinced Mac to let me train her. Her father had been part of a special team, sent to arrest two known Coalition supporters who were actively working to start a rebellion. Unfortunately, the mission hadn’t gone well, and most of the Operatives died.

  “I’m sure she’ll be proud of you, no matter what,” I promised. “Cryptos and Interrogators do very important work for the Agency, too. But I’ll do everything I can to help you get ready.”

  I was so focused on Kenly that I didn’t notice the baton until I stepped on it. One of my ankles twisted painfully as my other leg flew out from underneath me. Before I could come crashing to the ground at the awkward angle, Kenly grabbed my arm to steady me. Gravity still should have pulled me down, but Kenly also used her Telekinesis to halt my fall. I was now teetering precariously on the outside edge of my twisted foot, while the other foot was still thrust in front of me.

  “Oh my god, Tal!” Penny exclaimed running, over to grab my other arm so I could get both feet firmly back on the ground. “Are you okay?”

  “Um ...yeah, of course,” I answered, wiggling my wrenched ankle to make sure it wasn’t sprained. The joint popped, but otherwise seemed unharmed. “Thank goodness you were here, Kenly,” I said turning to the younger girl. “That was a really awesome use of your abilities. I think that you just might be ready for those Placements after all.”

  Kenly still clung to my arm, shock and disbelief creating creases in her forehead.

  “I-I-I-I ...it was nothing,” she replied, staring down at my feet like they might take flight again.

  “That was really amazing, the way that you stopped Tal from breaking her ankle,” Penny said, placing her hand on Kenly’s free arm to steady the slightly shaken girl.

  “Yeah, right ...thanks,” Kenly said, still looking confused by her rare display of adept talent.

  Penny and I walked Kenly back to her dorm before heading to the Crypto Bank, where our dinner from Gretchen was waiting.

  “I think that you might really have a shot with Kenly after all,” Penny declared, digging into a plate of noodles smothered in cheese sauce.

  “I hope so. She is so determined,” I replied, twirling long strands of spaghetti around the prongs of my fork.

  “That little trick to keep your clumsy butt from falling was awesome,” Penny continued, through a mouthful of pasta.

  “I know, right?! She seemed amazed that she had actually been able to pull it off,” I agreed.

  “You must be an awesome teacher for her to have improved so much in a week,” Penny smiled.

  “Thanks, Penny that means a lot.”

  The next few days passed with much the same routine. My stubborn nature – and Pen
ny’s nagging voice in the back of my mind – kept me from actively seeking out Donavon. I wasn’t positive that I knew why he was ignoring me, but I had a pretty good guess: Someone must have told him about Erik.

  I wanted to go to him, but nothing I’d say would make the situation better. Telling him that I needed more time to sort out my feelings was pointless, redundant, and untrue; I knew that I wanted to be with Erik. Now I just needed to pluck up the courage to tell Donavon. Since he was already avoiding me, the truth couldn’t make the situation much worse – I’d already lost him.

  My sessions with Kenly weren’t evolving like I’d hoped. She was improving, but I’d imagined that she would be much further along by now. The glimmer of hope that I’d felt after using manipulation to help her feel the movements had petered out. Penny researched dual Talents and concluded that Mac was right; Kenly would never be strong in both areas.

  For his part, Mac kept telling me that I couldn’t expect miracles, reminding me that I was attempting to teach Kenly skills in just a short amount of time that had taken me years to master. Again, my stubborn nature didn’t allow me to concede to either point of view. The more that they both protested, the more determined I was to make her a Hunter.

  It had been nearly two weeks since Donavon had last spoken to me. I was running late, so naturally I literally ran into him when leaving my building.

  “Hey,” I said awkwardly.

  “Natalia,” he responded tersely.

  We stood there momentarily in uneasy silence.

  “I’m late,” I blurted out when I couldn’t find another means of escape.

  “Well, then, I guess you better go,” he answered evenly.

  Nodding, I started to walk away. I made it only several paces before I turned. He was still standing in the same place, watching me regretfully.

  “Donavon,” I began.

  “Tal, don’t,” he interrupted.

  “You don’t even know what I’m going to say,” I argued.

  “It doesn’t matter, Talia. I know that you spent Festivis with Erik. I know that he came back with you, and didn’t leave until seven o’clock the next morning. I know that you offered yourself to him after a week, but barely let me touch you in six years!” By the end of his tirade, Donavon was shouting loudly enough for the whole campus to hear.