I bit back the last of the obscenities. “Thanks for getting me out. That was smart.”
Kane grimaced. “I was hoping a complete change of context would shock you into concentrating again. I’m glad it worked. The only other idea I had was to try to pour you into a pail.”
“That would have been... disturbing.”
“It was disturbing enough as it was, thanks,” he replied. “Come on, let’s get lunch.”
At the Melted Spoon, turned heads and whispers greeted me. Apparently the rumour mill had been in full swing. I shifted uncomfortably and stared at the menu board while I waited in line. Beside me, Kane stood impassive.
A small, elderly man rose from his table and was making his way to the door when he spotted me standing in the lineup. He veered over and patted my arm gently on the way by. “Good job, honey.”
I was gazing after him open-mouthed when Kane nudged me. “You’re up.”
“Oh.” I turned to give my order to the woman behind the counter. When I reached for my wallet, she smiled and shook her head. “On the house. You did what a lot of us have wanted to do for a long time.”
I shook my head, baffled. “What, get beaten up by a couple of losers? You can have it.”
“No. Stood up to a couple of bullies.” She handed me my sandwich. “Enjoy.”
“Thanks...” I drifted away to a corner table, bemused.
Harks wasn’t a popular guy. By the time I’d finished my lunch, several other people had dropped by the table to congratulate me, though I couldn’t imagine why. I tried to explain that I hadn’t done anything except failed to escape, but nobody seemed to want to hear the facts.
After the third attempt, Kane leaned over. “Don’t bother. They want a hero, and you’re it.”
I grimaced and gulped the last of my sandwich. “Let’s get out of here.”
A pale, thin young woman stopped me on my way out. “I’m so glad you fought back,” she whispered. “I wish I had.”
Something in her face stopped me in my tracks. I cut my eyes to Kane, and he stepped outside the restaurant to wait.
“Did he assault you?” I asked quietly.
“Yes.” She hung her head. “But I was too scared to tell anybody. He said if I told, he’d... do terrible things to me.”
I took her hands. “Tell the police now. He can’t hurt you anymore, and every woman who comes forward will strengthen the case against him.”
She backed away. “No, I couldn’t. I’m not brave enough.”
I sighed. “I know how scary it is. But you’re not the only one, I know it. Just think how much good it would do if every woman he’d attacked went to the police now.”
She met my eyes timidly, and I smiled at her. “Just think about it, okay?”
“I will.” She turned away quickly, and I went outside to join Kane.
He paced easily beside me as I marched along the sidewalk. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
I took a deep breath and unclenched my fists. “That asshole Harks has been assaulting women all over town. And then he threatens them to keep them quiet.”
“Was that woman one of his victims?”
“Yes. And she’s still too scared to come forward. I tried to encourage her, but... Jesus, I wish I could have kicked his ass the way he deserved!”
“You did something better. You made sure he’ll get punished for what he’s done.”
I felt my lips twist as I looked up at him. “You really believe that? He’ll get a slap on the wrist, and come out even meaner and uglier than he is now.”
Kane sighed. “Maybe. Maybe not, if more women come forward.”
“Well, I’ll start spreading the word, then. Maybe some good can come out of this after all.” I looked up as Sirius Dynamics loomed in front of me again. “Godforsaken hellhole.”
“Please get that thought out of your mind before you go into the sim again,” Kane said seriously.
Chapter 26
I took a deep breath and clasped my hands together. They trembled visibly anyway. Along with the rest of my body. I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair, belly breathing and doing my best to clear my mind. The trip down the stairs had been like being slowly buried alive. Breeze and sun blotted out, replaced with canned air and canned light.
I tried to refocus. That imagery wasn’t helping. I opened my eyes again, and the institutional grey of the walls advanced on me. Prison walls.
Jesus!
Spider and Kane were watching me worriedly. I swiped my hand over my aching face. “Just trying to get focused before I go in.”
I clamped my eyes shut again and imagined my hillside, clinging to the warm, sweet alfalfa smell, the buzzing of the insects in the grass, and the long stretch of fields locked in their wild dance with the wind. The sun baked my back, and I stretched my pain-free body.
Kane smiled over at me. “That’s better.”
I sucked in a breath and the vista contracted rapidly around me when I realized I’d stepped into the sim.
“No, stay with it,” Kane encouraged. I wrapped my arms around myself and repressed a whimper. Bars sprang up around me, but Kane was instantly on his feet, holding them back. “No,” he said firmly. “You control this. It doesn’t control you.”
I held onto his words and held onto the sight of him holding back the bars. They slowly dissolved, and the sun came out again. I took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m okay now. Thanks.”
I breathed some more. “Okay. I’m going to go and see if I can put a bug on that Fuzzy Bunny server.”
Kane reached for my hand, and I stretched my invisible body along my path of breadcrumbs. I seeped through the firewall and floated through the enemy network, stealthy as air. I sniffed through their files and noted their automated synchronization routines with satisfaction. I’d be back another day to sneak into their other facilities. Today, I had something different in mind.
I teased delicate tendrils into their services and applications and created miniscule pinholes in firewalls. I built a tiny invisible bug to skitter along my gossamer pathways, listening and learning. And then I stretched an infinitesimally fine thread behind me while I eased back into the sim.
In Sirius’s network, I carefully constructed the ear that would listen to my new little creation. Ever so gently, I connected the thread and breathed life into the system. The tiny thread vibrated as the data began to stream down it, and I smiled. Yes, this was good.
At last, I turned my attention to the tugging on my virtual arm. I snapped into existence in front of Kane, stumbling into him as he yanked my hand again.
“Aydan!” His eyes were dark with worry. “What happened? Where were you? I’ve been pulling on your hand, and it just... stretched. I couldn’t get a grip on you.”
My knees wobbled and I sat hurriedly on the ground. My head spun. “Sorry. I was setting up a surveillance system,” I mumbled.
The hillside spun faster. Like a tornado.
“Stop!” Kane’s voice rose over the roar of the wind. “You control this!”
He stood in the eye of the storm, his reality unaffected by the chaos around us. He reached out and I took his hand, letting him pull me inside the circle of calm.
He looked into my eyes. “Aydan, focus. Let’s go to the portal.”
I tried. God help me, I tried.
The wave crashed over me, ripping my hand out of Kane’s and slamming me into the ocean floor. Rocks gouged my flesh while I rolled and tumbled in the undertow. Flailing wildly, I tried to gulp a mouthful of air, but choked on sand and water instead.
Drowning. My heart thundered in my ears.
Suffocating!
Mindless panic took me while I thrashed and struggled against merciless bars. The cage squeezed tighter while I sank into the darkening depths. My lungs couldn’t expand.
There was no air for them anyway. My racing heart began to slow.
Through the twilit green, my last sight was of Kane as he parted the water and lifted me, cage
and all.
Then his lips were on mine, and I knew nothing but pain.
The pain began to subside, but Kane was still kissing me. That was nice. First good thing today.
I lay passively.
Maybe I should respond. Most guys appreciate that.
It seemed like a lot of effort, though. I lay still a while longer, enjoying the sensation in a detached sort of way.
Yeah, just keep doing that. That’s nice.
He pulled away, his face rigid as he cradled my head in his hands. “Come on, Aydan! Breathe!”
And suddenly, I desperately needed air. I sucked in a long, wheezing breath, then another, my body jerking while I choked and gasped.
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Keep breathing.”
As I finally achieved a ragged rhythm and began to register my surroundings, Spider dashed in the door, followed by Mike Connor, the security analyst who did double-duty as a paramedic for Sirius staff. Mike stopped short, staring.
“Aydan!” he stammered. “My God... thank God... you’re alive.” He dove to his knees beside me and hurriedly hooked up a portable oxygen cylinder. He worked in silent concentration, checking monitors and watching me closely.
At last, I caught my breath. “Hi, Mike. Long time no see.”
He squeezed my hand. “I missed you. It’s been, what, four months since the last time I peeled you off the ground?”
I chuckled weakly. What a nice young guy. “Yeah. I thought I’d see you sooner. Have you been away?”
“Vacation. Don’t talk so much just yet. Just breathe for a little while.”
I nodded and concentrated on inflating my lungs. The oxygen seemed to be helping.
Finally, he checked the monitor. “Okay, your sats are back up to normal. Let’s try it without the mask for a bit.”
I let him slip the mask off. “Sats?”
“Oxygen saturation in your blood. You were down really low.”
“Oh.”
Everybody stood around and watched me breathe for a while longer.
“Can I get up now?” I begged. “I feel fine.”
“Okay, why don’t you get up and sit in the chair for a few minutes?” Mike agreed.
I hauled myself up, Kane hovering with a hand under my elbow while I managed the few steps to the chair and sank into it.
Connor consulted his monitors. “That’s fine. I think you’ll be okay now. You should probably go over to the hospital and get checked out thoroughly, though.”
“Do I really have to? I was just there. Twice. In two days. Three times in a row just seems a little much.”
Connor chuckled. “If you really don’t want to, I don’t think there’s any pressing need. If you start to feel faint, though, call the ambulance right away.” He turned to Spider. “Keep an eye on her for a little longer. I have to get back to work. World of Warcraft tonight?”
“It’s a plan. See you then,” Spider agreed.
“I really need to get out of here,” I said, holding onto calm with both hands. Or maybe clinging to it with my fingernails.
My heart rate increased again at the sight of the prison-grey walls. Definitely fingernails.
“Okay, let’s go,” Kane murmured soothingly. He stayed close while I rose from the chair and made my way down the hall. By the time I reached the top of the stairs, my heart was pounding while I panted shallow, rapid breaths. Kane took a firm hold on my elbow as we reached the top of the stairs.
I shook him off when we stepped into the time-delayed chamber, and he understandingly flattened himself against the wall again. When the door released at last, I stumbled light-headedly out into the lobby.
“Outside,” I mumbled as I wove my way toward the door.
“Hold on.” Kane unclipped my security fob and dropped it at the desk along with his. In a couple of quick strides, he was by my side, his hand under my elbow again.
I tottered outside and leaned against the scorching wall. Sweat sprang out all over me.
Kane peered down at me, still holding my arm firmly. “Aydan, sit. You look like you’re going to faint.” He dragged me to the steps and lowered me onto the top one.
I let out a long sigh and concentrated on slowing my breathing. “No, I’m okay. Just hyperventilated a bit, I think.”
“Nice change from not breathing at all.”
I lifted a painful shoulder. “What can I say? I like variety.”
We sat for a few more minutes, and then I stood up. “Let’s go back inside. I need to talk to Spider.”
“No,” Kane said flatly. “You’re done. That’s the second time you’ve nearly died in the sim. No more.”
“I’m not arguing,” I promised. “I have no intention of going back into the secured area. But I absolutely have to talk to Spider right away. Can we go up to the second floor?”
He eyed me dubiously. “All right. But just a short meeting. Then you need to eat and go home.”
I glanced at my watch. Five o’clock. No wonder I was so hungry. “Deal. In fact, if you’ve still got some of that orange juice upstairs, I’ll have some of that.”
“Fine.” He followed me in, scrutinizing me with a frown while I retrieved my fob from the security wicket. “Are you sure you’re all right?” When I gave him a nod and a smile, he sighed and added, “Go on upstairs, then. Webb and I will meet you in a few minutes.”
I made my way up to the second-floor employee lounge, where I collected a bottle of orange juice. Then I slipped into the office that should have been mine and leaned back on the small sofa, sipping.
A few minutes later Kane and Spider arrived. Kane swung the door shut behind him and they sat.
Spider leaned forward eagerly. “What did you do in the sim? I found a very interesting little piece of software.”
I grinned. “I’ve bugged their server. Kind of. I don’t know what the right word for it would be. But for every email that goes through, for every new file that’s created, a copy will get dumped to our network.”
“Sweet!” Spider beamed at me. “I can hardly wait to see what comes through. Are you stealing their whole system?”
“No. It’s only going to collect anything that’s active. I plan to sneak back in there and check over their files later. And I’ll be able to tunnel into their sync sites, too.”
“That assumes that you go in again,” Kane said. “As of right now, you’re grounded. No more network access at all. Not unless we can figure out a way to make sure you won’t die in there.”
“But I need to...”
“You need to stay alive. I barely got you out in time. We can’t risk that again.”
“Hmm.” I tugged a lock of hair. “Let me think about it. There has to be a way.”
“Maybe, but not tonight. Go over your software setup with Webb, and then go home. That’s an order.”
“Aren’t you the bossy one?” I grinned at his frown. “For once in my life, I’ll obey willingly. I can hardly wait to get out of here.”
It was well after six by the time I staggered out the door. But my little pet software program was humming along beautifully, and Spider and his team of analysts would monitor it around the clock. I went home feeling I’d truly accomplished something.
Chapter 27
I pulled up in front of my house smiling. Yeah, I’d almost died. Again. Yeah, my entire body still hurt. But I’d kicked Fuzzy Bunny’s furry ass today. And I still had good food in the fridge. And it was still daylight. And I didn’t have to go back underground tomorrow.
I grinned and did fist-pump on my way to the house, before recalling with chagrin that a) I was on camera; and b) a fist-pump hurt like hell. I scuttled into the house and repressed the urge to sing while I assembled a plate for supper. No need to torture the poor sucker who’d gotten stuck with bug duty tonight.
I gobbled my meal with more enthusiasm than I’d had in a couple of weeks. Then I did a few chores around the house before heading out to my garden. Thank goodness I’d done some hoei
ng before my dance with Harks and his buddy, so I didn’t have to overtax my sore body.
Puttering happily along the rows, I hand-weeded here and nibbled fresh peas there. I had just crouched down to examine the blossoms on my beans when a small fountain of dirt kicked up with a thud about six feet to my left.
I barely had time to register surprise before the echoing crack of a high-powered rifle reached my ears. All my muscles convulsed with the electric shock of adrenaline and I sprang up with a yelp to sprint for the house, ducking and dodging. My muscles screamed protest, but I wasn’t inclined to listen to their complaints when several more shots rang out. Another bullet hit the ground, ahead and several yards to my right. I rocketed up the front steps two at a time and burst into the house.
“Somebody’s shooting at me, rifle from the northwest,” I gasped as I pounded toward the basement stairs. “Going to the basement. I’m armed. Identify yourselves before you come in.”
I plunged down the stairs and jerked around the corner to my gun locker, my breath sobbing in my chest.
Goddamn gun laws! I scrabbled frantically at the lock with violently shaking hands.
Finally it gave and I snatched my 12-gauge shotgun and .22-250 rifle out of the case. I realized I was cursing loudly between gasps as I grabbed my ammo box. Stored separately. Just like a good little citizen. If I got shot because I couldn’t get armed fast enough, I was going to come back and haunt whoever made up these laws.
I flung myself into a corner, two solid concrete walls at my back, and stuffed the shells into the shotgun first.
Then the rifle. Ammo scattered across the floor as I fumbled the box in my wild haste. My swearing ratcheted up a notch. Scrambling on hands and knees, I scooped up a handful of bullets and jammed four into the magazine.
My back pressed into the corner, I looped the strap of the shotgun over my shoulder for easy access while I held the rifle.
I waited.
My entire body shook, and I wedged myself more tightly into the corner. Come on, knees, don’t give up on me now.
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