A guard waved him toward the entrance lock, not even looking at him or the readouts. Sloppy, Rick thought. Even though he’d been in a truck they should still be concerned with decontamination.
Just another indication that things were slipping all over.
The entrance lock deposited him next to the truckers’ barracks. Farther to the right came the noise of swearing, music and shattering glass. The usual mix of trucker and squad bars. Every city had the same row. He wondered if they were franchised.
Nothing on the fabric dot indicated who would contact him, only that he would be contacted. Might as well get a drink while he waited.
The first bar he found was called the Mausoleum. A granite top covered the bar and the bartender wore a black suit with a white collar. Classy. The regular mix of mismatched tables and chairs sat scattered around the rest of the room.
Rick moved to the bar and ordered a beer. The bartender slid a glass in front of him and returned to the other end, talking to two men.
Taking a sip, Rick glanced around the room. He didn’t know anyone and no one even looked at him. Did they often get strangers here? In his city, a stranger elicited some reaction.
“You’re new.”
A high voice squeaked at him. It belonged to a young woman, thin with blond hair twisted into knots and spilling over her head. Red painted lips smiled at him as she plopped down on the seat beside him.
“You work with Reynaldo’s? He’s good to his drivers. Pays on time and everything.” The fingers of her left hand flicked in the direction of the bartender. Without a word, he grabbed a glass, poured bourbon into it and set it in front of her.
“Buy a lady a drink?” she said to Rick.
He stopped the smile that threatened to break out on his face; they had good racket going here. He appreciated the mastery.
“Why not?” he said.
She grinned and clinked her glass to his before swallowing the entire shot down. She set the glass on the table before Rick finished his sip.
“How about another?” she said.
“Sure.”
The bartender poured for her again and she again tossed it back. When she started to open her mouth to speak, Rick held up a hand.
“I don’t think I can handle your drinks.”
She nodded. “Next round on me.”
This drink she sipped. Rick took another swallow of his beer and glanced at his watch. Ten minutes past the hour; ten minutes made his contact was late. Maybe they’d seen him with this woman and didn’t want to approach with her around.
“I’m waiting for someone,” he said. “I’m sorry to rush you along.”
“That’s okay, Captain Collins,” she said. “Sorry if I was a bit late.”
Her eyes twinkled at him as she smiled. “I appreciate the drinks though.”
“I should have guessed,” he said.
She folded her arms on top of the granite counter and leaned forward. “We thought it less conspicuous this way.” She took another sip of her drink.
He nodded. “True. But I need some verification.”
“Of course.” She reached down her top and pulled out a small wafer tab. “I got a sample from the decontamination pod. It will only react to you.”
She handed the wafer to him. As it touched his fingers, a whiff of ozone flashed out. Above his fingers, a holo image of a head and shoulders shot formed, rotating counter clockwise. It was a woman in uniform, the same blond hair, this time arranged neatly in a bun on the back of her head. Words scrolled along the bottom. Lieutenant Marjorane Wilson, second division, assigned to city security.
He closed his hand on the wafer. The image vanished. He took a quick glance around. No one was watching.
“Don’t worry, nobody saw anything. It was sequenced to you, I told you.”
“But the image was hovering over my hand.”
“You saw it. No one else did.” She smiled. “Not even me. I hope Jenkins used the better shot. In one of them I look loopy.”
“You looked fine,” he said.
“Good.” She tossed the rest of the bourbon back. “Let’s go.” She slinked her arm through his.
Rick managed one more sip of beer before he slid off the bar stool beside her. “This a long enough time?”
“Any longer and it would be suspicious.” Her smile was wide as she tugged his arm. He grabbed his bag and they headed for the door. As he pushed it open and held it for her to go ahead, he noticed the same distant look on her face that he got whenever he was receiving an urgent message on his earbuds. Had Bennett’s men not been fooled by his show with Mitchell? Did his reach extend here?
As he followed her out into the street, she took his arm again and this time steered him away from the barracks, increasing their pace.
“What’s up?” he said.
“We’ve had an emergency call for you,” she said. “I’m to bring you in right away. We’ll have to risk you being seen.”
“Who’s watching?”
“We’ve got our own challenges. I’m sure your squads have them too.”
He sighed. “We do.”
She led him through a maze of buildings, a mix of old and new construction. Rick recognized the similarity to some of the houses outside the dome. That reminded him of the boarded up house he’d seen on the way in. Best to mention it.
“I saw something that might be of interest on the way in,” he said.
Pressure on his arm intensified as she steered him to the right down an alley. “Oh?”
“A house with taped up windows. Indications of a nest.”
Marjorane stopped scanning the surrounding to look at him. “How close?”
“Close. Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes from here.”
The muscles along her jaw clenched. She snorted air out of her nose. “Let’s get you in fast.”
She picked up the pace. The three story walls cast deep shadows along the alley. He noted the way the wall on the right indented, darker crevices that anyone could hide in.
Marjorane increased her pace again. This time he lagged behind, slipping his arm halfway out of hers. Something about this didn’t seem right.
A shift of sand to his right alerted him. He jumped to his left, locking Marjorane’s arm against his side and swinging her around in front of him. She stumbled as she blocked the man coming out of the shadows. Rick released her arm and shoved her forward. Her stumble turned into a fall. The man tripped over her.
Rick ran back up the alley. His bag knocked against his hip, a reminder of all the weapons he’d brought but he thought he’d need them against vampires, not against people. He didn’t want to do it unless he had no other choice.
He stopped just before the mouth of the alley. Behind him, he could hear the man cursing as he got up to follow. A squeal of tires sounded from the street. Dammit, reinforcements. Rick was going to have to open his bag of tricks.
As he reached in, the man stopped then backed away. He grabbed Marjorane’s arm, dragged her to her feet and they hurried back down the alley.
Guess those reinforcements weren’t for them, Rick thought. He faced the mouth of the alley as a short blond woman stepped out. She wore fatigues with her hair pulled back in a bun, looking very much like the floating holo he’d had in his hands less than half an hour ago.
“You must be Lieutenant Marjorane Wilson,” he said.
“I am, Captain Collins. I’m sorry you were intercepted. Here are my real credentials.” She handed him the usual squad cards.
“They made quite the show.”
“Yes. They probably wanted to get the information from you and let you leave, thinking you’d delivered it to the right person.”
“A good way of infiltrating.”
“Yes. I’ll take you Colonel Telson now.”
He followed her to a van and they both got into the back. The engine started and the van drove on.
“She looked almost exactly like you,” Rick said.
“Probably a q
uick holosync job,” Marjorane said. “Another ten minutes and her real face would have started to show through. Maybe I should have waited for that. It’d be nice to know who was trying to intercept you.”
“That’s your business,” he said. “Another piece of business for you; you got a nest about fifteen minutes out of town along the road we drove in on. I saw houses with covered windows.”
Marjorane frowned, displaying lines that hadn’t been evident on the impostor. “I’ll tell Colonel Telson. We’re stretched pretty thin right now.”
“I know that feeling.”
The van jostled along as they both fell silent. Rick fingered the fabric dot in his pocket. This job might turn out to be more than he bargained for. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so hasty to take it. Right, he hated being useful.
Across from him, Marjorane touched her fingers to her ear. “I’m getting an urgent message for you.”
“That sounds familiar.” He managed a half smile before the look on her face froze it.
“Can you relay to me?” he said.
She shook her head. “We don’t have the remote capability. Another couple of minutes and we’ll be there.”
Sami, he thought. What other urgent message could there be? The edges of the data bead bit into his fingers as he clenched it. He shouldn’t have taken this job. He should be there now. He shouldn’t have been drummed out of the Night Killers. Too many shoulds.
The van finally stopped and he followed Marjorane out of the back. They were parked inside a warehouse. The door was already sliding shut behind the van, slicing the patch of sunlight as neatly as a piece of bread. In the dimness, he smelled dust, oil and grease. Marjorane led him past columns of waiting trucks to a small office at the end of the garage.
She held the door for him and he stepped inside. A short man stood by a table, hands folded behind his back. His black hair was liberally speckled with white. Hazel eyes regarded him over a large nose.
“Captain Collins?”
“Yes sir. I assume you are Colonel Telson?”
“You assume right.” The colonel shook his hand but didn’t release his grip. “We’ve got a call for you. You take it first in there.” He gestured to a small room behind him.
“Thank you, colonel.”
Marjorane ushered him in and handed him an old wired handset. “This is the only way we can be completely sure it’s not being intercepted,” she said. She punched in a code, then backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“Yes,” Rick said into the handset.
“Rick, it’s Sister Theresa.” Her voice sounded dim and echoy. Probably some kind of line security.
At the sound of her voice, Rick felt his body start to go numb. He’d been waiting for this, he realized, from the moment he’d lost the Night Killers. It had only been a matter of time.
“What’s going on, Sister?”
“We got a new commander. He was an ass. Led us into a nest, less than a day outside the city, Rick. What the hell were they doing there? Sorry, I’m getting distracted. Michael, Sami’s ward, he was on the squad.”
“I know,” Rick said. “Go on.”
“We were ambushed. Another new boy who joined too, he was killed first. In the ambush, Michael… He was bitten. It’s bad. Sami and Josh dropped me and the idiot here. They took Michael…”
Her voice trailed off but she didn’t have to say the words. He knew. God it was worse than he’d thought. Sami had gone looking for Peter.
“When?”
“Early this morning. Took me time to get through debrief and dump the idiot. I had to fudge my report and figure out where you were. Sami’s Gran said you’d gotten a courier job. I had a bugger of a time tracking you down.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have left word.”
“I’m not scolding you, Rick.”
“How bad was Michael?”
The Sister paused. “Bad. They shouldn’t have spent the time to drop us at the city.”
Rick’s hand tightened on the handset. “I’ll be back tonight. Gather what you can. We’ll head out when I arrive.”
Anyone else would argue with him. “I’ll see you when you get here,” was all the Sister said before she disconnected.
He dropped the handset onto the table. Without consciously thinking, his mind was already planning the route home, anticipating length of time and if he could make it by dark. He couldn’t but that didn’t matter, he was going anyway.
When he returned to the main room, the quiet murmurs ceased. Colonel Telson stepped in front of him.
“Bad news?”
“Yes. I have to get back to the city.” Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out the fabric dot. “I believe this is what you were waiting for. If I can get a ride back now, I’d appreciate it.”
The colonel took the fabric dot. “I’m sorry, captain, no one’s leaving now. We’ve only got about an hour of daylight left. No one’s driving back now.”
“Then give me a truck, a van, anything with wheels and I’ll drive myself.”
“Absolutely not. I’ll not be responsible for what happens out there to you.”
“Colonel, I’m a squad member. I know exactly what happens out there and I’m going whether you assist me or not. I’d rather have your help because it’ll get me out of here faster. But if I have to find my own transportation, I’ll do it.”
“Captain…” Telson started but Marjorane put a hand on his arm. She leaned over to him and whispered in his ear. He shook his head and she whispered more until he pulled away.
“I will not,” he said.
“You know it would be safer,” she said.
“I don’t have time for arguing, colonel,” Rick said. “You have your information. I’m leaving.”
He slipped around the table, heading for the door. Marjorane followed.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Lieutenant…” Telson said.
She turned back to him. “You know he’ll have a better chance if I’m there.”
“I’m not taking you with me,” Rick said.
“I’ve had spotter training,” she said. “I’m not sensitive enough for a squad but I’ll be able to give you fair warning. You’ll need me.”
Rick shook his head. “I can’t be responsible…”
“You aren’t. It’s my decision.” She sent a hard glance back at the colonel. Telson turned away, pocketing the data bead.
“I’m not taking you,” Rick said.
“Get a truck from surplus. Lieutenant Wilson has the access codes and will only use them if you take her along,” Telson said.
“Colonel…”
“Do you want to waste more time arguing?” Telson said. “I thought you were in a hurry.”
“You’ll need my help,” Marjorane said.
Rick shook his head. This was lunacy but the colonel was right, Rick didn’t want to spend any more time discussing this, he had to get moving. Just one last try…
“You can show me the truck,” he said.
“No one will give you anything without me. I can make sure of that,” Marjorane said.
Rick glanced over at the colonel but he still refused to look up. Something on the empty section of the table must hold great interest.
“Let’s go,” Rick said. “Do you know how to handle a gun?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Josh didn’t like the way the sun light angled across the sky. Too close to the horizon, too close to going down. As well he’d wasted too much time figuring out where they were but at least now he had a better idea. He wanted to tell Sami but didn’t think she’d hear him. Since they’d left Michael, she’d barely said anything.
He wished she’d let him take care of it. She shouldn’t have to do it. But after hoisting the axe to decapitate him, she’d at least let Josh bury the boy. After that, she responded only in monosyllabic words to anything Josh said.
Dammit, he wished Rick was here. Rick would know how to con
sole her. Hell, Rick would never had let them get into this situation. It was that ass Druthers’s fault.
The van shimmied on the sand, jerking Josh’s attention back to the faint trail. Better pay attention now. It was starting to look familiar. They might be getting close.
“I think we’re near the lab,” he said.
Beside him, Sami stared out the windshield. She grunted but Josh wondered if she’d really heard him. She’d been making the occasional sound for a while now.
“I seem to remember this section,” he said. He needed to hear something, even if it was just himself talking. “I think we blew our tire close to here. Lucy had set it as a trap.”
Nothing, not even a grunt now. He shot a quick glance at her. Still staring out the front windshield. If he didn’t know better he’d think she was a statue. He had to do something, had to get her attention, jolt her out of the malaise. But how? Wait, that helicopter wreck. She’d pulled something out of it.
“Hey Sami, what’d you think that ‘copter was doing out here?”
He had to look back at the road but he sensed her stir beside him.
“Ah, what?”
“That copter. What was it doing out here?”
“I dunno.” Her voice slurred as if he woken her up. Maybe he had, jerked her out of a coma of despair. He wished he could have left her there to grieve but he couldn’t do that, not when they were still outside and the sun was starting to go down. He needed her to be sharp.
“Check that ‘pad you pulled out.”
“Oh.” He heard her rummaging down at her feet.
“Here,” she said. “It’s encrypted. I can’t get past the sign in screen.”
“Can’t you break it?”
“Not sitting in this van with you driving like a maniac. Can’t you find some part of the ground that’s flat, Josh?”
He grinned. “I’m hitting all the bumps, just for you, Sami.”
The left side of her mouth curved a bit, just the tiniest bit. It wasn’t exactly a smile, not even really close but Josh would accept that. She’d said two sentences to him. It was most she’d said in hours.
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