Jane and the Exodus

by T. R. Woodman

  “Dad!” she shouted, instinctively putting her hands half up at the sight of the armed men. “Dad … please … you can’t let them take you.”

  “Jane,” her dad interrupted, trying to move toward her but being blocked by two of the guards. “What happened to your face? You’re bleeding! Are you okay?”

  Jane absently put her hand up to her face and looked around rapidly at the men guarding her dad. Glancing down at the blood on her hand, it was obvious the cut over her eye had reopened, but she didn’t care.

  “Please, you have to let him go,” Jane pleaded to no one in particular. “Please just let us go. We’ll leave and we won’t come back.”

  “Let Mr. Philips through, men,” ordered the one unarmed guard. “His daughter is hurt.”

  Quickly the guards parted enough for Jane’s dad to slide through to her. He put his hands up to her face.

  “What happened?” he started, a look of concern on his face. “Did the guards do that?”

  “No, it’s not like that. I’m fine—really. Dad, I’m so sorry! I never should have left in the first place. If I had just come right back, we would be gone.”

  “Jane, Jane,” her dad said, nodding at her, “it’s okay … really, it’s going to be okay … None of this is your fault. I need you to calm down and listen to me.”

  Jane stopped and looked at her dad. She could feel herself start to calm down at the sound of his reassuring voice, even though she felt her eyes getting closer to watering.

  “You need to go to the clinic to get your face checked out. And then I need you to wait here—on Vista—for me,” her dad said, cocking his eye at her. “Do you understand?” he added in a tone that was less of a question and more of an order.

  “Yes, but—” Jane started, unsure about whether she could sit around and do nothing.

  “Really, Jane. I mean it. I will be back soon.”

  Jane was quiet for a moment and noticed the tickle of a dripping sensation on her cheek. Reaching up to touch it, she tried to wipe away what she knew was fresh blood.

  “You really should get that looked at, Miss Philips. It looks like you might have fractured the bone around your eye socket.”

  Jane looked absently in the direction of the guard who was now giving her medical advice, and then drifted back at her dad. Not a second later, she jerked her head back, trying to the place the face she thought she recognized.

  It was the guard who wasn’t armed who spoke—the one who had told the others to step aside when her dad was trying to get to her moments ago.

  Jane stepped toward the guard. He had the strangest look on his face, almost like he was worried for a friend.

  “Have we met?” Jane asked, cocking her head to one side in suspicion.

  “No, miss, we haven’t,” he replied.

  Jane watched his expression shift from one of seeming concern to one much cooler. She continued to approach him, looking him over. The chiseled jaw. The sandy-blond hair. The distinguished look. He was hard to read—and then she had him.

  “You …” Jane raised her finger slowly, pointing at his face. “You were at the plaza—yesterday morning.” Jane paused, the heat of rage building inside her as she thought of him standing in the crowd of gawkers with that devious grin on his face.

  “You’ve been watching me?”

  The guard looked at her but said nothing.

  Faster than she knew was possible, and without even thinking of the consequences, Jane’s hand flew up and slapped the guard, sending his head jerking sideways and leaving a smear of her own blood on his cheek.

  No one moved, other than the guard, who guided his face back with his hand, rubbing his cheek gently, clearly surprised he had just been smacked.

  Jane’s mind was racing, wondering how long he had been watching her, and feeling more violated with each passing second. Then she remembered what Evelyn had told her earlier that morning, after stealing away in the truck.

  “It was you, wasn’t it?” Jane pointed her finger in his face again. “You’re the one who was looking up stories about my family—in Atlanta—last night.”

  Jane paused for a second, noticing the look on the guard’s face had shifted from cool to confused concern.

  “Who the hell are you?” Jane asked, the heat now pulsing through her body.

  The guard shifted his weight back slightly but still seemed at a loss for words.

  Again, Jane’s hand flew up, slapping his face and sending it jerking even further to the side.

  “Answer me!” she screamed, moving toward him like a spider to a moth caught on a web.

  A split second later, Jane felt someone grab her around the waist and pull her back, lifting her off the ground.

  “Answer me!” she screamed again, pulling at the arms of her captor and kicking her legs wildly. All she could think about was digging her thumbs into his eye sockets.

  “Let her go!” Jane heard her dad yell from behind.

  “Everyone, settle down!” the guard commanded through his clenched jaw, massaging his chin. “Miss Philips, please—stop.”

  Jane continued to struggle against the arms holding her, which may as well have been carved from granite for the all progress she felt she was making.

  “Miss Philips,” the guard tried again, now with a little less irritation and a little more compassion in his tone. “Stop and I will explain.” He looked above Jane’s head at the giant holding her around the waist. “Max. Stand down. Let her go.”

  The guard released his grip and set her on the floor. She was tempted to fly at the guard she had slapped again, but her instinct told her to wait.

  “Well?” Jane asked, irritated and glaring at the guard.

  The guard Jane slapped looked at another of his guards. “Johnny, go get the first-aid kit from the shuttle. Bring Miss Philips something to help with the bleeding.”

  “Sir,” the guard responded, heading off quickly to the shuttle behind them.

  Not wanting to admit that she was moderately touched by the guard’s chivalry, Jane stood firm, refusing to touch her face again despite feeling another drip of blood trickling down her cheek.

  “Well?” she repeated, though less irritated than before.

  “Miss Philips,” the guard began, looking unflinchingly into Jane’s eyes. “I’m Special Agent Marcus Kline, and to answer your questions: yes, you did see me in the plaza yesterday, and yes, I have been looking into your family’s history, though to be honest, I am very curious to know where you got your information.”

  Agent Kline paused for a moment.

  Jane remained still and silent, determined not to flinch.

  Perhaps feeling he wasn’t going to get an answer out of her, Agent Kline continued. “My orders, Miss Philips, are to bring your father in for questioning—”

  Jane started to open her mouth in rebuttal, but Agent Kline quickly interrupted her attempted interruption.

  “And your father, Miss Philips, has agreed to come in—willingly.”

  Jane closed her mouth and turned to look at her father. “Dad!” she said in disbelief. “Why? Why would you agree to go with these guys?”

  “I told you not to worry, Jane,” her dad replied. “Now, it’s important that you let us go. I will be fine.”

  Jane was bewildered at her dad’s apparent willingness to give up and glanced back at Agent Kline. The other guard had returned and had given him a metallic plastic pack. Ripping the top off, Agent Kline pulled out a damp towel and walked the few steps over to Jane.

  “For your eye,” he said, holding the towel out to her. “It will help with the swelling.”

  Jane took the towel from him but didn’t bother bringing it to her brow. Still confused, she looked back at her dad and then at Agent Kline.

  “Please leave … let us go,” she said, gesturing to the shuttle with the towel in her hand.

  “We can’t, Miss Philips,” he replied, still looking straight into her eyes.

  Agent Kline had stepp
ed even closer, well inside her personal space, but strangely, she didn’t feel the need to slap him again. He had completely captured her gaze.

  “I need you to listen to me very carefully,” he began. “My orders are specific. As it stands right now, I am to take only your father in for questioning. I know you are worried about him. I understand you don’t have a reason to trust me. I give you my word, however, that I will make sure he is safe. But I need to take him in—right now.” He paused but didn’t let his eyes wander from hers.

  Evelyn had been completely silent to this point. “Jane,” she interjected quietly through the earbud, “he’s right. You need to let them leave.”

  “Do you understand?” Agent Kline tilted his head almost imperceptibly.

  Jane didn’t know what was going on or what Agent Kline was trying to tell her, if he needed her to read between the lines, but for the first time in days, she felt like she should listen.

  “Yes,” she said.

  Agent Kline looked at his team. “Men, move out.”

  Without hesitation, the three armed guards escorted Jane’s dad onto the shuttle, and Agent Kline followed closely behind. The door closed behind him. Jane heard the shuttle’s engines fire, and moments later, she could see it peel away from the airlock and race off toward the surface.

  In shock, Jane stood alone in the corridor. “What just happened, Evelyn? I just let those men take my dad away. Why did I do that?”

  “Because you’re finally starting to listen to reason, Jane.”

  “No,” Jane replied, ignoring the jab. “It was more than that. I think he was trying to warn me about something.”

  “Why don’t we talk while you walk to the clinic, Jane? You need to get your face looked at.”

  Jane turned in the corridor and started walking, without acknowledging Evelyn’s request. “It’s almost like he was trying to get off the station as quickly as he could.”

  “I would have been too if you were slapping me.”

  Jane snapped out of her walking-thinking trance. “What? What are you doing? What’s with the hostility?”

  Evelyn was quiet.

  “Evelyn, what’s going on?” Jane asked again.

  “Fine,” Evelyn finally replied. “I suspect you’re right about Agent Kline, but I will not talk about it with you until you are back in your quarters, after you have visited the clinic. Your face cannot handle another—distraction. Are we clear?”

  A smile flickered on Jane’s face but disappeared quickly as she thought about her dad being hauled off to prison. “Got it, Evelyn,” she said, heading for the clinic.

  EXHAUSTED

  Jane walked through the door into her quarters, letting it close slowly behind her, and went to the mirror. So that's what a skull fracture looks like, she thought, inspecting the doctor’s handiwork. Apparently, it had been a good thing that her cut had reopened, as it allowed the doctor to glue it shut properly. Maybe she would have a tiny scar, the doctor had told her, but it shouldn’t be too noticeable.

  The fracture over her eye was a different story. That was the reason the area around her eye had turned purple and was swollen, and unfortunately, there wasn’t much to be done other than to keep ice on it. Jane knew that wasn’t likely, given all the commotion on the space station. She would just have to be careful.

  “There—I went to the clinic. Are you satisfied, Evelyn?” Jane gently touched the purple area under her eye, feeling the dull ache of a bad bruise touch back.

  “Yes. I’m sure you’ll be back to your normal beautiful self in no time, Jane.”

  “Well, thanks,” Jane said, surprised. “That’s a really sweet thing to say.”

  “Just try not to do anything else that stupid.”

  “And—there it is,” Jane said, smiling and chuckling a little. She sat down on the edge of her bed. “You owe me some information now, Evelyn. I got my face checked out—just like you asked me to do. Now tell me what you think about dad and Special Agent Marcus Kline.”

  “I think you’re right,” Evelyn confirmed. “I think he was trying to get off the space station quickly. I tracked all the communications he received, and at one point, before he ran into you, he was asked if you or your brother were on Vista. He responded that he hadn’t seen either of you, and then he was ordered to bring in your dad. Based on that, and what he said to you, I think his superiors may have been listening. I suspect he wanted to get off the station before anyone had a chance to order him to bring you in too.”

  “Why would he care?”

  “Jane?”

  “I mean, why would he care if he was ordered to bring me in too? Why didn’t he bring me anyway? Why would he run the risk of making his boss angry for not bringing me in when he could?” Jane stood and paced around her few square feet and then stopped again. “And why would he say he would make sure my dad was safe?”

  “I don’t know, Jane. Perhaps he thought you were cute.”

  “Ha!” Jane pulled her head back and cocked her eye in amusement, wincing immediately at being reminded of her fractured face. “No, I’m pretty sure that’s not it,” Jane said, leaning over to take another look at herself in the mirror. “If you could see what I see—well, let’s just say I’ve looked better.” Jane put the ice pack up to her eye. “Besides, I smacked the guy—twice! That’s not exactly the kind of behavior that leads to a date.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t have answers to your questions, Jane,” Evelyn replied. “I don’t know why Agent Kline would have left you here. I think it’s safe to say that he plans on coming back, though.”

  Jane sat back down on the edge of her bed. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because he left five members of his team here on Vista.”

  “Why? They aren’t looking for me, are they?” Jane asked, getting a little worried.

  “Not that I can tell,” Evelyn replied. “They are all in the command center. From the video feed I am monitoring, two are standing watch and three are trying to hack into the computers.”

  Jane stood again. “What are they looking for?”

  “Me,” Evelyn replied. “They’re looking for me. They don’t know what they are looking for specifically, but they are looking for the programming related to artificial intelligence … me.”

  Jane whirled around to talk to a different part of the air in her quarters. “But they have no right … We can’t let them do this.”

  “Don’t worry, Jane. I’m a lot smarter than they are. They will never find me, and like I said, they don’t even know what it is they are looking for exactly. I’ll just keep sending them down dead ends. Frankly, it’s better this way because they are all preoccupied with hacking the computers in the command center instead of getting into trouble by roaming around Vista.”

  Jane relaxed her shoulders. “So I don’t have to worry about you?”

  “Not at all, Jane. But—”

  “But what?” Jane asked, her shoulders tightening up again.

  “I have something else to tell you,” Evelyn replied.

  “Well, get on with it, then. Telling someone you have something else to tell them when you’re already talking about bad things is never good. Spit it out!”

  “When Agent Kline left here with your dad, I starting tracking their shuttle. Nobody said over the lines I was monitoring where they were headed. I was hoping they would go to Washington because at least that would have been openly public, but if they were headed to a detention facility, I wanted to make sure we knew which one it was. They didn’t head to any of those places.”

  Jane’s head started to throb again, partly from the fracture but mostly from the stress. “Come on, Evelyn, get to it. All this drama is pissing me off! Where did they go?”

  “They went to Ironhead … They went to get your brother.”

  Jane hadn’t expected that news at all. Her knees gave out, and fortunately, there was a chair ready to catch her. She stared at the wall.

  “Why would Dad do that?” Jane aske
d, more to herself than to Evelyn. “Why would he lead them to Tate?”

  “He didn’t, Jane—you did.”

  Jane was speechless. She couldn’t comprehend Evelyn’s accusation, and her thinking wasn’t going anywhere. A moment passed, and she finally found the words—but not for anything other than more questions.

  “What? How is that possible? Did I say something to the agents while they were arresting Dad?”

  “Not exactly,” Evelyn replied. “Most of the government’s communications are encrypted, but as the officials involved in the pursuit of your dad have revealed themselves, I have been able to focus more time on hacking into their communications specifically. When the agents came on board Vista, I started monitoring all of their transmissions too—especially Agent Kline’s—and I found this …”

  Ten feet away from where Jane sat, stupefied, a holographic screen appeared. On it the face of her brother appeared against the backdrop of the inside of his chapel. A second later, the recorded video started. Jane couldn’t get over how close the camera had been to him, and why he would have allowed himself to be recorded this way.

  “You mean, am I worried they’ll find out I’m the son of a billionaire?” Tate asked.

  “Not exactly, Tate.”

  Jane’s heart stopped at hearing her own voice, realizing it was the conversation from that morning.

  “What I mean is Dad is getting himself in trouble with a lot of powerful people, and some of them are snooping around our family’s past. You know, if anyone finds out who you are and what you have inside your head, you could be in a lot of trouble.”

  Jane saw Tate nod his head in agreement. “I know, Jane, and I knew what you meant—”

  Jane thought about that moment—what she thought was a private moment she had with her brother and how much it had meant to her to get to see him. She dropped her eyes to the floor and continued to listen, and as she did, the sound of her brother’s voice, and the knowledge that somehow she had betrayed his secrecy, almost brought tears to her eyes.

  “You’re really not worried, Tate?”