by Sophie Davis
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Name: Stace Clarice Eienhold
Age: 37
Position: U.S. Senator from Georgia; Chief Commander in the United States East Naval Services
Talent(s): None
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“All containment transports have returned from the Isle, Ma’am,” Eienhold barked. The tone was the same favored by career military everywhere.
I didn’t know much about the Naval Commander. Of Ian’s twelve cabinet members, she was one of five holdovers from Danbury McDonough’s regime. Penny had given her the task of recovering and relocating all the Created who’d been in containment on the Isle at the time of the attack.
“And?” Penny prompted.
Eienhold’s dark gaze flitted briefly toward me but quickly returned to Penny without comment.
“Twenty-two containees, Ma’am.”
Penny exhaled slowly. “And the other three hundred and seven?”
Again, Eienhold’s eyes drifted my way.
“Yeah, that is Erikson Kelley you see. Get over it,” Penny snapped.
Eienhold blushed. “My apologies, to both of you. I did not see a news blast of Agent Kelley’s recovery.”
“That’s because he wasn’t ‘recovered’. Agent Kelley’s whereabouts have been classified for his safety. And they will remain the same until I decide otherwise.”
I smiled to myself. Penny was clearly taking cues from her uncle, artfully mastering the combined role of political and military leader.
“Now, what can you tell me about the other three hundred and seven individuals who were in containment on the Isle prior to the attack?”
Standing impossibly straighter, Eienhold cleared her throat. “We have reason to believe that a portion of them were captured. Another portion seems to have escaped, ma’am.”
“So, what you’re really saying is you don’t know where our prisoners are?” Penny asked. Except, it wasn’t a question. “Where are the twenty-two leftover prisoners now?”
“They have been securely transported to the West Bank Medical & Research Hospital. Just as you requested, ma’am,” Eienhold replied.
“Have you made Dr. Patel aware of their arrival? I just spoke with him and he didn’t mention it,” Penny said flatly.
“Right away, ma’am. I have five of my teams on a hunting and recovery mission and should—”
Penny held up her hand to cut off the other woman. “Not a priority right now. Recall and redirect your teams. I want all currently contained Created relocated to either the West Bank or McLean as soon as possible. I am also going to need additional security at both facilities. It is only a matter of time before someone decides to target them.”
“I will send two fighter crafts to each coast immediately,” Eienhold said quickly.
“Shoot down all unidentified crafts that come within range. All of them, no exceptions,” Penny ordered, her jaw set in a hard line. “I do not want to hear that we’ve lost another individual who was in containment during the attack. Am I making myself clear?”
Eienhold gave Penny a short, sharp nod. “Yes, ma’am. I will make sure of it.”
“Dismissed,” Penny replied. Her only moment of awkwardness came when she returned Eienhold’s salute.
“You’re a natural,” I sent her reassuringly.
“I feel like a fraud,” Penny sent back. Her attention turned to Senator Garkus, Ian’s Chief of Armed Offensives.
“Senator, how are the evacuations coming along?” Penny asked. Her tone was beyond no-nonsense, almost challenging someone to waste her time.
It was a loaded question from what she’d told me the night before; the evacuations were proving bloodier than the attack on the Isle.
“Permission to speak freely, Ms. Crane?” Senator Garkus asked.
“If that means speaking honestly, then permission granted,” Penny replied, barely suppressing a groan. “Don’t even think about sugar-coating things, I don’t have time for it.”
“Our forces are holding Hernston Island currently,” the senator explained. A female soldier appeared in the holo-scene. “But we will need reinforcements to make it through the evacuation period.”
“Four casualties. Nineteen injured, sir,” the solider informed Senator Garkus. “Hudson Regional says they’re out of space. Where should I send them?”
“Lower Manhattan,” Garkus said. Turning back to Penny, the senator apologized for the interruption. She waved it off.
“Just tell me what’s happening.”
“Sons of After are turning out in full force,” Garkus said pointedly. “And they’re heavily armed.”
In our time with Penny, I’d learned about the Sons of After; the acronym stood for the Society of Normals Against Freedom for Talent Equal Rights. It was the same anti-Talent group who’d attacked the McDonough School. It was also the same group who would’ve been responsible for our deaths if not for Penny. Apparently, seeing so many hovers appear out of thin air had freaked them out to the point the Sons of After had ordered their people to retreat.
Still, quite a few of the Sons didn’t make it out alive. Quite a few more were currently in custody at an old TOXIC prison in Western Kentucky.
“Heavily armed with normal guns?” Penny asked pointedly.
“Yes, but you know the risk….” Garkus trailed off, his eyes trained on Penny.
“I’m well aware of the risk,” she snapped. Her anger wasn’t directed at the senator, though. She knew as well as I did that engaging with these groups was bad publicity. The news outlets would spin the story, they’d turn us into monsters. And yet, after coming this close to killing her closest friends, Penny wasn’t sure she cared about public perception.
“Four casualties, you said? Ours or theirs?” I asked.
“Ours, Agent Kelley,” Garkus replied.
“I really wish Uncle Ian was here,” Penny sent. “Dammit.”
“But he’s not. The decision is yours,” I told her.
“What would Talia do?”
I smiled, drawing strange looks from Garkus and Linthicum. For Talia, it wouldn’t have been a question. Despite her dislike of authority, my girlfriend’s goals mirrored the purpose of UNITED: Protect the Talented. We wanted to protect our kind from those intent on eradicating an entire race. It would be an easy decision for my girlfriend.
“The United States is a talent-friendly country,” Penny began slowly. I felt the weight of a nation sitting on her shoulders, and I was still impressed with her ability to keep her cool. “We have a duty to protect all citizens. I want the ringleaders of Sons of After in McLean, Virginia by the day’s end.”
She sounded so much like her uncle. I couldn’t say for certain what Ian would have done. Nevertheless, he would be proud of his niece’s leadership ability when he returned. I was certain of that.
Raising his hand to his forehead, Garkus gave Penny a small smile as he saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”
With Eienhold and Garkus gone, we all turned our attention to Linthicum. He was another holdover from TOXIC’s reign.
“What can you tell me about New Mexico?” Penny asked, getting straight to the point again.
Linthicum was Chief of International Liaisons & Threats, so I wasn’t sure why Penny was asking him about a U.S. state.
The senator looked as exhausted as Penny. “Not much, I’m afraid. It does appear they are using the mountaintop facility as a base of operations. So far, we can confirm flight patterns from Lisbon, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, and New South Wales, all to Alamogordo. From there, RAVs are used to transport people up the mountain to a Dome that’s been supportive of our cause.”
“Wait, did you say ‘RAVs’?” I interrupted.
“Yes, Agent Kelley. Why?”
“It might be nothing,” I replied, realizing belatedly I might’ve said too much. “But last night we were attacked. The attackers had RAVs. They’re just not that common anymore.”
“Sons of After, right?” asked Senator Linthicum
.
Maybe I hadn’t truly said too much; it seemed he was already aware.
“Sorry, let me explain,” Penny interjected. “Have you heard about what happened in Portugal? The kidnapping of the President’s daughters?”
“Yeah, yeah. Tal—” Shit, shit, shit. Normally I wasn’t so careless.
“It’s okay,” Penny interjected. “He knows Talia is with us. The Senator is an old friend of Uncle Ian’s. The original spy for the Coalition, I guess you could say. You can trust him.”
Eyeing Penny and weighing her statement, I didn’t continue right away. Who were we supposed to trust when everyone around us was lying?
“You were saying?” Senator Linthicum prompted after a moment.
“Um…Talia and I saw the kidnapping on the news yesterday. It’s awful. What they did to Amberly, too. It was hard to watch,” I said honestly.
“It was Nightshade,” Penny said bluntly.
“What?” I countered. “No. I saw the mob. I saw them go inside Amberly’s house and—”
“The mob was real. Sons of After wants Talents out of Portugal,” the senator interrupted. “But the people who went inside, the people who actually took the President’s daughters? They were definitively Nightshade agents.”
“We got a positive ID off facial recognition for one of them,” Penny confirmed.
“The agent you apprehended, Eighteen, alerted on the pictures of several individuals in the videoclip of the kidnapping,” Senator Linthicum explained. “We’ve had her in interrogation since you all arrived in Virginia.”
It was a lot to wrap my head around. In truth, I couldn’t say I was surprised. The more I thought about the kidnap and ransom demand, the more it sounded exactly like something Nightshade would be behind.
“So, who hired Nightshade? Sons of After?” I asked, looking from Penny to the senator to Miles. Miles was uncharacteristically silent.
“We don’t know for certain,” Senator Linthicum hedged.
“What’s your best guess?” I asked dryly.
“Sons of After,” replied the senator.
At the same time, Penny offered her own perspective. “Gretchen McDonough.”
“I see,” I hedged, keeping an eye on the senator.
I did see both as viable options. Kidnapping the children of political leaders to force those leaders to exile Talents wreaked of the McDonough brand of fucked up. Gretchen would then offer the displaced Talents refuge and revenge, a perfect savior complex that would work out for the McDonough matriarch.
Of course, Sons of After seemed like the logical culprit.
“The other cities you mentioned…,” Miles began, finally getting involved in the conversation. “Same thing that happened in Portugal? Children taken? Demands to kick out all the Talented?”
Linthicum nodded. “Yes. In all cases, young children were taken.”
“Where does this mountain in New Mexico come in?” I asked, attempting to bring this discussion full-circle in my own mind.
“We believe Nightshade is currently using it as a base. It’s likely that’s where they’ve taken the hostages,” Linthicum answered.
I glared at Penny. “You didn’t think to mention this last night?”
Now I understand how Tals felt earlier, I thought.
Penny didn’t dignify my question with a response. I didn’t blame her. She was dealing with a lot, including saving our asses from angry Norms who were hellbent on killing all the Talents in existence.
Penny really deserved a break.
“Are you planning a rescue?” Miles asked.
Senator Linthicum sighed. “This is Nightshade we are dealing with.”
I was on my feet. “Seriously? The hostages are innocent children,” I countered.
“We can’t get any readings off the compound. It’s inside the mountain. If we were to send a team, they’d be going in blind,” Linthicum argued. His posture suggested he wasn’t comfortable with the decision.
“Inside the mountain?” I looked at Penny, the unspoken question evident in my expression.
“Yes, it’s an old Coalition stronghold. We haven’t used it in over a decade, but our ally, Doug, still owns it,” Penny said.
“How much can the structure of a facility built into a freakin’ mountain really change in a decade?” Miles pointed out.
“I’d feel better sending in a team if we had better intel. Give my people some more time with Eighteen,” Linthicum replied. “She might know something useful.”
It was probably the best compromise we were going to get out of him at that moment. Nevertheless, I still didn’t like the idea of doing nothing when we had actionable intel. Even if the details were sort of vague.
“Those hostages don’t have much time,” I reminded the senator.
“I’m aware, Agent Kelley. Believe me, I’m aware.”
Penny’s sigh was pure exhaustion. “Report back as soon as you finish your next round with the Nightshade girl.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Like the others, Linthicum saluted Penny as she dismissed him from the briefing.
The instant the holograms were gone, Penny slumped on her uncle’s desk and hit the top with a closed fist. After three hits, all sorts of files and images popped up. She groaned loudly.
“Clear all,” she mumbled, waving a hand while her face was still planted on the desk.
“Where is he? Why hasn’t my uncle come back yet?” Penny asked no one in particular. When she sat up and looked at me, her lime-colored eyes were swimming. “Erik, I can’t do this. I can’t make these decisions…I’m not…this isn’t….”
She began sobbing openly. Miles and I exchanged uneasy glances. I’d seen Penny cry before, but this was different. Every feeling she’d kept bottled up inside of her for the last month burst forth in a thunderous storm of emotion.
“You did well. No, you did great. You did great,” I told her, sending her calm vibes that had no effect.
Tears streaming down her cheeks, Penny slammed the top of the desk with an open palm. Again, Ian’s files appeared in holo-form. They swirled together, creating a funnel cloud of electronic documents that sizzled and popped. It sent sparks flying in every direction.
“You’re stronger than this,” I told her.
“Come on, girlie. Keep it together,” Miles urged. The holo-desk burst into flames.
I leapt toward Penny and pulled her back from the inferno. Miles shouted obscenities and tried to douse an electrical fire with water from a pitcher.
Wrong move.
“Might I suggest a calming tonic?” Robo Gentry had reappeared in the doorway, likely alerted by some alarm in the holo-system.
The cool, calm, confident girl who’d stepped into her uncle’s shoes effortlessly was gone. Penny curled into herself, both physically and mentally. Her mind was a million puzzles pieces scattered in the wind. I tried to break the connection between us, but Penny’s thoughts were a vacuum sucking me in.
“Get out of here,” I growled to Miles. “Get Talia. Now. And you,” I pointed at Robo Gentry, “do something about this fire.”
Turning my attention to Penny, I heard the door open and close. I knew help was on the way. On the ground, Talia’s best friend—one of my best friends—was in the fetal position, hugging her knees to her chest. She sobbed so hard, she was choking on her tears.
It had happened so fast. One second, she was the very definition of control. The next, she was in the throes of a full-on breakdown.
While comforting Penny, barricading my mind was impossible. At least, it wasn’t possible to block it off entirely. I was able to keep out the most debilitating of her emotions, the ones that made it feel like my soul was being crushed. The images that haunted her in both the waking and sleeping worlds were even more painful. I still experienced an overwhelming sadness that gave me the urge to curl up alongside Penny on the floor.
The study door burst open. Talia hurried forward with Miles on her heels.
“Can you pic
k her up?” Tals asked me.
“I don’t know,” I hedged.
Physically, of course I was capable of lifting Penny. She barely weighed more than Talia despite the eight-inch height difference. That wasn’t what my girlfriend meant, though. Touching Penny at all when she was in this sort of in-between state—not quite catatonic but not quite present in the moment either—could draw my mind too far into hers.
“Let go. Close off your mind completely,” Talia instructed. “I’ll keep her calm.”
She knelt beside her best friend. “Penny? Can you hear me? Nod if you can hear me.”
Jerkily, Penny’s head moved back and forth on the carpet. I closed my mental channels and shut down my emotions. Once I felt ready, I slid two hands under Penny’s side and cradled her in my arms.
“Her bedroom?” I asked Talia.
“No, let’s put her on the couch for now.”
I laid Penny on the sofa where Miles had been sitting earlier. Talia covered her with a quilt. She took Penny’s hand in hers and concentrated.
“Again, I might advise a sleeping tonic,” said Robo Gentry.
“That might not be a bad idea.” Tals looked up at me for confirmation.
“Great, we’re all following the heap of metal’s medical advice now?” Miles grumbled.
“Penny has a full day of meetings and shit,” I said, glancing around the study uneasily as though an alternative might be sitting in plain view. “If we give her something to sleep all day, who’s going to take charge?”
“I have a tea that will induce a peaceful rest for a given time,” offered the droid. “Might I suggest two hours?”
Domestic droids weren’t uncommon, and most families could afford a base model. That one, the most rudimentary, was the kind that only listened to commands and replied with “yes, ma’am” or “no, sir”. Butler droids with advanced intelligence were only for the wealthy. And the politically connected, apparently, since Ian wasn’t actually rich.
A part of me agreed with Miles’ hesitancy to follow the droid’s instructions. The butler was programmed. That meant it could be reprogrammed. While I was sure Ian thought he could trust those around him, money was a powerful motivator. Talia’s reluctance earlier had nothing to do with traitors and conspiracy theories; she just found Robo Gentry creepy.