Ripped Open (The Infected: Ripped to Shreds Book 2)

by P. S. Power

  It could have made her jealous, but the evening was more about making contacts than anything else.

  So she smiled at the woman in her sparkling dress and winked a bit.

  “Thanks. We probably need to hurry. I hear that a reporter is coming in, and that Mickey is going to be at dinner with him? Georgia too. Oh… Have both of you thought about getting on the list with her? It’s for sex.” She was being a bit too blunt, but that was a psychopath for you. Jake looked interested, and Sandra shook her head a little bit.

  The woman winked however.

  “See, I didn’t know that was even an option. Not for me, but some of the guys here might want to consider it? Georgia is a sweetie, after all.” She even meant the words, and wasn’t being catty about the idea.

  So Cin nodded, going large with the move.

  “Can you set that up with the people here? Get with Kerry, from the cooking show? She’s in charge of that part of things. Part of making up for betraying us all for drugs. For that matter you should suggest to, um, Warren, that she be put in here part time. We need to keep her busy for a bit. I mean Level had her arm ripped off, and had to sit in a cell for two months, but Kerry basically got off with no more than a slap on the wrist. We should at least tease her a little over it.” Which, honestly, would be enough to keep her in line. Lauren would be that way too.

  Her first mode made her really lonely, all the time, so she was easily swayed by a pretty face. The male ones anyway. The reason she was being punished more was all about the fact that everyone was afraid of her. She was just too powerful to take lightly, so they had to prove that she was willing to mind. If she wanted to leave the brig, with its six-inch steel walls, it would take her about five minutes. If she wanted to stretch a bit first, drink some water and talk to the guards about it all before starting.

  They were blackmailing her, using Denis, who was kind of her boyfriend, for all the woman couldn’t have sex. He could use his powers to overwhelm her mode for a while, and on occasion could help her feel nice. In a sexy way. It was about the only thing that could get her off, so she naturally loved the guy.

  Really, Cindy needed to find out if Burrows first mode treatment would work for her. The answer, after a quick check, was a simple no. Her current form was too hard for that. They functionally couldn’t give her shots. Worse, she didn’t die. Her arm had kept living when ripped off, and showed no signs of decay, tissue wise. Things like drowning weren’t going to let her out of being alive at any point then. Not that it would be fun for her to try, but it meant she was just stuck, feeling miserable forever.

  Which both bit, hard, and was baffling to Cin. For one thing, there was no reason for her to care about that kind of thing. None in the world. The woman was a bad guy, at least for the time being. Fixing her wasn’t the kind of thing that she needed to be worrying about. No one there, even Ms. Turner, would expect her to try and get that done.

  Except, in less time than it took to make small talk about the weather with Jake, and decide that the fancy sounding chicken dish was sophisticated enough not to seem like she was twelve, she knew what to do. Possibly. There were people to ask about it all, and presuming anything was a poor plan, but she could get things set up to have the woman, and probably Tobin Peterson, fixed.

  Not everyone on the base, and certainly not the whole world, but a few others might be snuck in, if she played things right. Doug had gotten free genetics work done in a different reality, after all. He’d even made plans for Tobin to be looked at, while he was there. That might not work, but it could. The same would be true for Level, and maybe even Felicia and Lobo. The truly strange looking Infected on the base.

  The trick would be getting the man who could do the work to come in for it. That, or just possibly, going to him. That was on the Moon however. In a different reality scheme. It sounded impossible, on the surface.

  Plus, that kind of thing really wasn’t her business. No one had even hinted at it being the kind of thing she needed to get done. What she had been asked for, was data on Mickey.

  Looking across her menu at Jake she smiled. It was good news, after all.

  “Mickey Robson isn’t a threat to us. His parents are from a different reality scheme, and came here about thirty years ago. Not of their own free will. An accident. Then they lived decent, hardworking lives and raised a good kid. I have Trivia making sure they won’t be having any document problems in the future. Mickey doesn’t know anything about that. Honestly, we probably don’t need to tell him. They’ve kind of acclimated to being here. Their world was way more high tech than we are, so there was a bit of work needed that way on their part. I suppose we could get them back if they want?” She didn’t know how to get that done, but the man across from her smiled and nodded.

  “That’s at least something we should offer them. In secret? I’m not wild about lying, but some truths aren’t ours to share. I have some friends that can go to other worlds. Brian can do it, and I think there’s a lady in town that can as well. Mary? She’s a friend of Mr. Hobbs. Zack… Um, he’s Brian from a different world? He’s the best at it though. We might want to talk to him on this one. At least one of his people.” It could have been confusing, but there was a lot of data, complete with simple charts, floating over the man’s head. It was hard not to stare at it, reading about the weirdness that was going on that way.

  The same basic trick could be used to get with Zack as she’d need to talk to Tim Baker. The Doctor that had done the genetic work on Doug. That was going to take a bit of time, if she didn’t want to bug Brian on the matter, which at the moment wasn’t a great plan. He was busy after all, trying to make sure there weren’t hundreds of nukes hidden all around the country, ready to explode at any moment.

  The answer there was in his own mind however. There weren’t hundreds, only seven more. One of them was just sitting in a swamp, buried after having been accidently dropped from a U.S. military plane a long time before. Brian wasn’t getting the location directly, but he knew it, on some level. The places the other things were, too.

  Which, after she gave her order, and ate, would probably take up the rest of her night. Annoyingly. Jake was kind of cute after all. It had been a while since she’d had so much as a hug. Just because she wasn’t overtly cuddly all the time, that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy being close to people.

  A waiter came over to help them, and did his job efficiently, having been warned by Sandra that they needed to get Jake out ASAP. There was no sense of rushing from the fellow however, just dashing rapidly as soon as he was out of sight. It meant their service was impeccable however, so she didn’t whine about it.

  “So… I need to get back to work after this, which means no naughty alone time for us tonight. Unless you want a quickie in the office? I can spare ten minutes or so?” She wasn’t really kidding, but the man smiled at her anyway.

  “That would be fun, but we should probably make more time than that. At least the first few times, so you can see that I actually have skills that way.”

  Which he reviewed internally, showing that he actually did. He was old though, and in a young man’s body. A thing that had been true for over a hundred years. So his hormones were primed to make him like sex, just like everyone in his world had going on, more or less. They were all fairly attractive in his world, or at least fit, thanks to their technology and medical practices. That meant anyone that had a desire to be good at that kind of thing could arrange chances to practice. Really, it was kind of clear that she was the one that needed to step up her game that way, if she wanted to play in the big leagues.

  It sounded fun to her, and like a challenge, but nothing she couldn’t cheat her way through.

  “Good. Tomorrow night then? Unless I’m gone to another world. Oh… If anyone comes in that can take me around, can you send them my way? I have a project that needs to be investigated. We’ll need passage to Tim Baker? Um… Tor’s brother, I think?” She knew, and so did Jake, who’d actually visite
d there once. About two days before.

  He got that she was picking things up from alternate sources, but that part didn’t seem to bother him. The man was pretty much happy about everything, when he wasn’t filled with compassion. It presented almost like a first mode, but the overview was almost entirely positive for him, which was better than a lot of people got that way.

  “I can do that. It’s an interesting place.”

  They were about to chat about it all, when the food came, having been produced at speeds that showed someone had used powers to get it done. Who that was she didn’t know, and didn’t bother to check on at the moment, since not paying close attention to her date was silly. The man was pretty much guaranteed to at least be her friend, possibly with benefits worth having, if she let him. It would take minimal work on her part to make it happen, but she needed to put it in.

  So she actually applied herself for a bit, trying to do what he needed her to, in order to feel comfortable with him. It really wasn’t hard. She just had to make the right eye contact, and speak when it was her turn, without being mean or snotty about anyone else.

  All things she had practice faking. She’d needed to be able to, in order to work with the public like she had, at the library.

  After all, killing high school kids that were just looking to finish a project for class would have given away her secret hobby. Murder. So she’d practiced seeming normal, and not like a total bitch all the time. She kind of gravitated that way by nature, but didn’t really mean it most of the time. It was all about controlling the situation to get what she wanted. Most of the time that meant getting along. That was all.

  Seeing a well-dressed Bridget come in, and sit not too far away got her to recall that the girl had some things to get to soon as well. Also that she hadn’t yet. That was mainly about getting a press appropriate boyfriend. One that wasn’t too old for her, or Infected. Not that anyone had put in that last part, but the kid was so powerful that showing she could play nicely with a regular boy would sway some minds to her side.

  Cindy didn’t say anything about it all, just eating and making polite small talk, until the rest of the people started to come in. The reporter wasn’t in yet, when she stood, getting Jake to follow along with her toward the door. It meant they were able to get around the corner of the building as the press man came in, along with a camera crew. Not that the man was getting footage at the moment. At least, the light had been put on a switch, so that it looked like the camera was off, even though it was still recording everything.

  To make it seem right to Jake, she leaned in and kissed him warmly. It took a few tries to really match the skill level he expected, but she got that part down with a little feedback from the words over his shoulder as she held him close for a bit.

  “I need to leave you here. Tomorrow night though? My room, at nine?” She filled in the rest of it, so that he could get there, even though he lived in one of the nice Team One spaces. That was because he was kind of a visiting dignitary.

  “That sounds fun. I’ll be there. See you then, if not sooner?” He held her hand, backing up, and not letting go until he was two steps away. Then his gaze lingered on her face, as he backed up, until he was able to get around the corner. It was adorable, and made her feel loved. It wasn’t exactly what he was going for.

  The truth was that he’d forgotten that she wasn’t his wife for a bit. Whom he actually missed. It was sweet, in a crazy, mixed up sort of way. Still, if she could make an extra friend after someone else had done most of the hard work, then it was just easier for her. Not that her plan for the night was all about herself. After all, if six nukes went off near major cities, that wasn’t her job to deal with. They had people for that kind of thing. Also, saving all those lives wasn’t really going to be credited to her if she made certain they lived. That part was just life. Everyone else along the chain would take credit for other people’s work. Except she was too far down the chain for that to mean anything. Even Proxy was. He at least could use it for cred with the President, who he actually knew in real life. Somehow.

  Turner and Yi were still in the office when she got back from dinner. Her lips still tingled a bit from where they’d touched Jake’s. That had been nice, more or less. She was left a bit frustrated, but had plans for the next evening. Plus, if things got bad enough, Cin could always try out Georgia. She wasn’t at that point yet, maybe, but it was good to keep your options open.

  There had to be other men around too, if she was willing to look for them that way. Dave had been eager enough to do Pixie, after all. She’d found that one pretty quickly. If she just wanted a hook up, she could likely just scan the men around her to find the right combination of mainly single and willing. Really, if she paid attention she’d probably find a few in the next days, just living her life. That kind of thing did come up after all. She normally just ignored it, or had in the past. Now it might be a way to meet people, if she wanted.

  The list of nuclear weapons inside the country that Proxy had wasn’t exactly all that precise. It took nearly two hours to find the correct rough locations that way, and the very best data she had on it came from Trivia, not Brian. Someone still living knew where the things were, in each case, and by putting in a request to her book carefully Cin could find out who that was, and then read up on where things had been placed. Not all of them actually understood what they’d put in however, though a few had kind of guessed at it. Still, in a recession a lot of people were willing to do things that they ordinarily wouldn’t.

  Cindy put all of their names next to the nukes they’d added to the mess, and suggested they be locked up in butt rape prison for it. After all, it wasn’t like they were working at sketchy massage parlors giving handies to needy men for their rent money. They’d installed nuclear devices. Ones that could kill millions of people in some cases. On the great side, she was able to jump from the men that had done the actual work, to the people that had driven them in, while the workers wore blindfolds.

  Then with only a lot more effort than she felt like putting in, Cin was able to locate map directions for everything, including where the things had been placed. None of that led directly back to the people that were in charge however. Just the lower level people that they’d hired to do the work.

  What they really needed was someone that was good with money to see if they could work back along the chain to where the funds came from. Most of the payments had been in cash, though some were in gold or silver. About a third of them had the funds placed directly into their accounts however, and that part might be something that could be worked with. The skill set wasn’t a thing she had, personally, but she was able to put down what the different people had been paid, when, and how that had taken place. She even got their bank account numbers, and access codes, just in case.

  She was willing to bet that they hadn’t listed it all on their tax returns. In fact, she knew that was the case, for almost all of them. She noted that too, before walking the maps and info in to Director Turner’s office.

  Brian was still there, dressed in tan fatigues. Marcia was too, her face a bit annoyed when she looked up at Cindy. Slowly she managed a smile for her, if a tired looking one. A voice was speaking, over the phone.

  “How many other devices do these people have? They could be anywhere. This is probably one of the most dangerous situations our country has ever been in, Mr. President. I think we need to declare martial law, and suspend the Constitution. I just don’t see another way to keep people safe.” The man speaking sounded genuine enough, though Cindy had to fight to keep from rolling her eyes.

  Her mouth worked on its own, as she handed things over.

  “Six bombs. We have the locations for you. Names as well, of the people that put them in, drivers and that kind of thing? Also one bomb that was lost over Georgia? You might want to pick that up, too. It’s been there for a while, but leaving nukes around just sounds sloppy, doesn’t it?” She waited for people to start yelling at her, or ask
ing questions, but Marcia just took the paperwork, and spoke instantly.

  “That’s Cindy Mableton. The Operative that found the first weapon. She does indeed have maps and locations for those other devices. Is that all of them?” Her tone was a little short, but that was because she was waiting for the brass hats to start whining about them not having found them all sooner.

  “It should be everything nuclear that we don’t have control over inside the U.S. at the moment. At least that’s an actual danger. Proxy provided the initial data for it, but that was precognitive, so I had to do some digging to find the rest of it and confirm it all. We still have to get people to the different locations to make certain I’m correct. I am, but I don’t expect anyone to simply trust that. Still, we got one of them earlier, so that should buy us at least a peek to make sure I’m not delusional, right?” She was looking between the two other people with her, when a deeper, but more familiar voice chimed in.

  President Lawrence.

  “That sounds reasonable to me, Ms. Mableton. Who do we have that can get to these locations soonest.” It was Proxy, of course, but the regular people wanted to send in teams that knew what they were doing, and a lot of those didn’t really want to hang out with Infected people for some reason. At least that was what their boss seemed to be indicating.

  Marcia smiled slowly, feeling pissed inside, but sounding relaxed.

  “Not a problem, we can send along the data we have so far? If you need more, you can call Cindy directly. I’ll get that number for you.” Which would allow the bigots to either not bug them, or to bother the new girl instead of her. It was a great plan, more or less.

  On the great side, she was allowed to leave then, in order to get some sleep. At least that was her plan when she walked out, not waiting to see if anyone wanted her for anything. Her bed was calling to her about that time anyway, since it was late. For the IPB anyway. Nearly eleven at night.