“Really?” the cashier said, forgetting Cord’s money in his hand and turning toward them. “Down, down, or just down?”
It looked to Cord like the cashier was a huge gossip, which was great because he almost had a stroke when the security guard had said, “put her down.” It was a good thing they were all Human and could not pick up on it like the Kin would have. He took lessons from those around him and allowed himself to show interest in the conversation.
“Knocked her out bigtime. The standard put her to sleep, but it didn’t stop the interference, so they gave her the elephant dosage.” He was soaking up the attention he was now getting. “Oh yeah. Huge talent. They’re gonna be picking her apart for months, if she can handle it.” The man paused for effect.
“What do you mean?” asked the woman behind Cord. “She can’t handle the breaking in?”
“They haven’t even started that yet. There’s too much interference from the other subjects, they think. She’s definitely messing with their tests. They’ve got her in the block, but it is still getting through somehow. Seems like she’s having seizures from it, so they’re starting to worry if she’ll even make it.”
“They should move her to Yarington, if that's the problem. It is a much smaller facility,” suggested the cashier self-importantly.
The man shrugged and then went over and grabbed a slice of pie, “You mind?”
“Naw, go ahead. See ya later.”
“Probably be back in another half hour for false alarm number one hundred. Thanks for the pie.”
Cord finally got his change and went to sit with Jenna. “Sorry. The guy was chatting it up with security.”
“Yeah, I saw that. I would have said something.”
“Naw. I don’t mind waiting. Not doing anything else.”
She didn’t like that. He reflected again on how different she was out of bed. He thought it would have been nice to spend a little more time with her there, where she was relaxed, generous, and not so disgustingly insecure. It was too bad the situation didn’t allow it.
“Well, I was doing one thing,” he confessed.
“What?” she snapped.
“Thinking about how I was going to treat you to something special tonight. Why do you think I got an extra pie?”
She was actually easy to please, when it got down to it. He really did like that smile.
“They were talking about someone in special handling. What’s that?” he asked while she was in a good mood.
“It’s a restricted area. I’ve never been there. They put hard cases there.”
“Hard? Like what?”
She shrugged, “Powers they have to contain, stuff like that. Did they give a name?”
“No.” He concentrated on his pie, holding up a bite and wiggling his eyebrows at her. “This berry pie is going to make a big mess,” he promised.
She smiled again, but it fell away when the man who had walked straight to their table after entering the eating area stopped next to Cord.
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Click. Click. BEEEEEP.
Warren Liftner’s alarm went off and he stopped typing, pulled the disk out of the drive, and headed to the elevators. He went up one flight, where he passed assistant supervisor Price, whom he nodded to. She didn’t acknowledge him.
He went straight to the fire alarm and pulled it down without hesitating. It was something he had always wanted to do, and the result was just as entertaining as he thought it would be. Everyone started running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Instead of evacuating, like most people were doing, he took the lighter out of his pocket, slipped into the men’s room, climbed up onto the toilet and lit a fire under the sensor until the sprinklers went off. He jumped down and flushed the lighter. He was feeling pretty excited. Everything was going just the way...just the way...it was supposed to… When it finally swirled out of sight he blinked.
He looked around. Why had he come upstairs to used the facilities? He hated it up here, because the sup’s were always walking around, looking for someone to bitch at. He especially didn’t want to run into Price in the mood she was in. He left the stall, checking his zipper as he crossed to the sinks to wash his hands.
What is with me today? he wondered, frowning down at the paper towel he was using to dry his hands as it darkened from the water falling from the sprinklers. He shook his head. Why was he bothering to wash and dry his hands in the middle of a fire drill anyway? He hurried to the door, but stopped when his hand touched the cool metal handle.
It might not have been a drill, because the sprinklers were on and that had to mean the real thing. There was no way the company was going to endanger all those computers for a drill. Nope. Had to be real.
A fire. That was serious. He stepped into the hallway and looked around. The place was deserted. They’d all run off already, which was what he needed to do. He passed the elevator on his way to the stairs. It felt kind of strange, being the only one around. Strange and scary, with the water pouring down and that annoying alarm screaming its head off. Kind of exciting, too. Kind of invigorating, to be the last man standing...
He’d always wanted to be the kind of guy who would be rushing through a building, maybe to diffuse the bomb, or catch the bad guy, or save the girl. The only one left...their only hope. As a kid he’d loved the old movies where the handsome main character got to ride to the rescue of the pretty girl. Of course, there weren’t a lot of villains kidnapping helpless damsels around, so he had given up on that dream, but…
His foot hit the next step and got stuck there. It was not a drill. It was a real fire.
Maybe there was something heroic he could do. He had just thought of a group of people who would be in danger from a fire. A beautiful woman might be in danger at that very moment. He knew just where to look for her.
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“Here’s the information you wanted,” said Lo. He handed Cord a portable hard drive, setting it down with a clunk on the table.
“Thanks. You having lunch?”
“Naw, I got to go do some formatting real quick. See you.”
“Later,” Cord said, tucking the hard drive in his backpack and lifting his eyebrows at Jenna’s stare. “What?”
“What was that? Who was that?”
“Oh, that’s Lo. Don’t you know him?”
“No. What did he give you?”
“Porn.” He laughed at her expression, and then added, “Naw. Just kidding, although I wouldn’t mind a little. It’s some information to help me with my new job.”
“How’d…”
An alarm went off throughout the building, and Cord and Jenna stood up and looked around along with everyone else in the cafeteria.
“What is that? An escaped subject?” Cord asked.
“No. I think it’s a fire drill.”
“So, what do we do?”
“We evacuate, I think. Let’s go.”
“Alright.” On his way out, Cord noticed the flickering red and orange lights in the kitchen. Those grease fires could be nasty.
As they neared the front door, the sprinklers went off. “Holy shit, it must be a real fire,” he commented, pulling her closer to him in the throng of people who had started shoving in the cramped hall. A feeling of panic was spreading through the crowd.
“Guess so,” she said, looking around nervously.
Once they made it outside, they were ushered a safe distance away to where the security personnel monitored the volunteers who sat on the ground in groups. The pair milled around watching the evacuation and searching the building for signs of the fire until Cord suggested they get their car and leave. They walked around to the back of the complex where the recruiters parked.
A loud voice carried across the parking lot. “This is not a drill, folks. Move away from the building! Get everyone back.” It was Mrs. Price, whose impressive voice was not hampered by hefting a large computer in her arms.
“Isn’t that the woman who controls our bo
nus?” Cord left Jenna’s side and approached her. “You want me to take that off your hands, ma’am?” he asked, holding out his hands.
“I just offered,” a frazzled looking man hovering by her side said.
“Thanks, that would be a great help,” Price said, dumping the hardware in Cord's arms and frowning at her assistant. “Why don’t you make yourself useful?” The startled aide carried himself away to an area where people looked like they needed some direction. “You!” Price barked, pointing one of her newly free hands at Jenna.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Get over here. I want to talk about the girl you brought in yesterday.”
“Okay? Um, right now?”
“Yes right now! You doing anything else?”
“Um, no ma’am.”
“I want you to tell me everything about the acquisition, starting from when you got the assignment. Don’t leave a damn thing out.” She frowned at Cord, uninviting him from her presence.
“I’ll just wait by the car,” he said, backing away from her nasty glare.
Jenna stared at him, as if to beg him to get her out of the interview, but he just shrugged and walked the short distance to their car. He put the computer in the back, went around to the driver’s seat, put in the keys and turned on the car. He drove to the far side of the building, where only about ten people were gathered. He parked the car by the door and got out.
“I’m supposed to pick up someone and bring her to Price. Not sure…” he appealed to the most likely candidate, a middle aged man who was standing over a small group of seated, quiet, downtrodden teens. “Is one of those the occupant of special handling 12?”
The man shook his head, “No. The specials don’t get evacuated.”
“Well, what do I do? I don’t get paid enough to go looking in a building that’s on fire.”
“It’s your lookout, son,” the man said, chuckling. “Price will have your balls if you don’t get her what she wants. I’d rather face the fire, myself.” At his joke, several others who were standing around laughed appreciatively.
Cord tried to look like he was debating, “Well, I don’t know where it is...so I guess I can’t…”
“It’s inside, pass two halls, go left. Second door on the right,” said a helpful intern-looking type.
“Shit. Thanks a lot,” Cord said sarcastically, which earned its own round of laughter. He went to the door and opened it. The floor was covered with water. He sighed heavily and spit out a colorful string of curse words for their benefit, and then went in. Once inside, he ran, quickly covering the distance to the room. When he opened the door, he found Warren lifting Mercy off the bed with a huge smile on his face.
Water was running down his face and his hair and clothing were sopping wet, but he was ecstatic.
“Wow,” Cord said, “You’re a life saver, Liftner.” He stepped back and held the door for him, quickly glancing at the device that the clerk had just removed from her. He considered grabbing it, but the one piece, wrap around device appeared to be affixed to the bed with a thick cable that was impossible to remove without a cutter. “This way out.”
“Yes, I am a life saver. Have a look at her.” He said, turning so Cord could see the woman in his arms. “Talk about stunning!”
Mercy’s face was gaunt, and it was clear that she was under the influence of some heavy medication, because Cord could barely sense her power even though he was right next to her. Normally, he wouldn’t feel more than a shadow of it because her shield was always up. However, at the moment she didn’t have it around her, which meant that she should have had a migraine’s worth of power spilling out. There was little more than a trickle, which made him worry.
Even as worn out as she was, even with the effects of her treatment evident on her face, even with her hair ratted and wet, she was still a beauty. To further Warren’s amorous desire, she was dressed in a thin shift, like a nightgown, which was completely soaked, and which gave her proud rescuer his just reward.
“Let’s go, prince charming. This way.” Cord practically pushed him to the exit, since the man’s obsessive need to stare at her kept him moving at a snail’s pace. They turned the last corner and ran into the two guards from the cafeteria.
“Look here,” Warren said, hurrying forward to show off his bounty. “She almost got left behind.”
“That’s because we don’t evacuate the specials, idiot,” the lead guard said, rolling his eyes.
“What? Why not? You just leave them to die?” Warren yelled, clearly outraged.
Cord was in a little bit of a predicament. He could take one man easily, hold him, change his memories, and implant directives like, “Find this woman and bring her out of the building.” But, all that took his full attention. When there were two or more, he couldn’t use his power. Especially when both were watching him as closely as these two were.
Cord continued to push Warren forward, whispering, “You’ve got to get her out, Warren. Don’t let them stop you.”
“What are you whispering, and who the hell are you anyway?”
“Let us by!” Warren said, forcefully. “You can’t let people die.” He was close enough to start pushing by them, and that’s when Cord realized that Mercy could be very useful at times.
As Warren bumped into the first guard, the man glanced down and was able to get his first good look at the way the wet cloth stuck to her skin, revealing just about everything her voluptuous body had to offer. Then his partner got a look. Instant rock hard statues, the both of them.
Cord, coming up right behind, took the first one down with a solid punch to the temple. The man fell like a stone. He was only one step away from the second man. He grabbed him by the collar and pushed him up against the wall, shouting, “I’ll get them, Warren. You put her in the car outside, where she’ll be safe.”
Warren hurried to obey, and Cord focused, pulling one last person into the game. When he was done, he stepped back, turned and left the building.
Outside, Warren had just finished arranging Mercy in the back seat so that she looked like sleeping beauty. A few of the smarter guys had come close to help.
Cord asked, “Could we borrow one of those blankets? I don’t think Mrs. Price will like this too much.” When he tucked it around her, he had to smile at the way a few of the men frowned at him. He waved to the man in charge and took his place at the driver’s seat, giving Warren a formal salute.
“I almost forgot, you need this, right?” Warren handed him a data disk, stepped back, and returned the salute.
“Thanks.” Cord put the car in gear, drove around the building and away from the center.
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Temper wiggled her fingers, trying to get the tingling to come back. They felt like thick, numb sausages. She supposed she should be glad they weren’t hurting; several other places around her body had been nagging her with shrill, persistent screams all night. She shifted until she had moved her body weight off the sharp pain in her bottom. The cold, hard floor was remorseless in reminding her that she was not as young as she used to be.
“Temper.” Avvel said.
She turned her head and looked to where he was tied up just a few feet from her. Around the perimeter of the dark room, the rest of her team was lined up as well. Of the five of them, just she and Avvel were awake. The rest slept fitfully. Thankfully, no one had been seriously injured, although many were in pain. She and Avvel as the team leaders had taken the brunt of the damage, mostly at the beginning when they were questioned. After that, they were all bagged, and transported to a small house several miles from the bordertown. After another hour of the special treatment, they were tied to posts in the damp basement.
“Enjoy rotting in hell, bitch,” Kinsing had said just before he went up the rickety stairs and bolted the door behind him.
“Avvel,” she said in a voice that she hoped would inspire confidence.
He blinked at her strong tone and then nodded. He pulled his shoulders back
and straightened his spine. When his body sunk against the post again, he was sitting a bit higher than before. “Yeah, me too.”
“They’ve got us here waiting.”
“Yeah.”
She knew that their captors were waiting for something. Otherwise they’d already be dead. Temper hoped that what they were waiting for was a someone, perhaps someone who had to come from a distant city. That supposition and the humming of the cheap listening devices that were spread around the room kept her calm. They were listening and they were waiting, so she and her team didn’t have a choice but to do the same.
Her empty stomach growled and she thought about turkey sandwiches with extra spinach.
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Report to: Scere Intelligence Officer Iris
Re: Investigation of subject Karin Horn
Have lost target. She left the train in Adoral and we can find no record of her leaving the area. Still searching. Please advise.
Orders to: Scere Field agent West
Re: Investigation of subject Karin Horn:
Have located suspect’s destination. Deploying a team. Leave two agents in Adoral and meet up with second team. Details attached.
Chapter 26
The fire spread across the ceiling, leaking out of the air ducts and scattering at an incredible pace in all directions. The five of them immediately retreated to the door, but there was no going that way, either. They had already closed the door to keep the flames in the last room from reaching them. The man next to Scythe started to panic, his slow, steady moan rising in pitch.
“Don’t move,” Scythe said severely and extended his hand out to grip the man’s arm. He held him steady when the man began to reach for the door. The other two looked like they were ready to bolt at any time as well. “Ian.”
Scythe watched Ian’s shield form around his body and then widen until it was a thick half dome that settled over them and extended into the ground. When the flames made it to them, they hit the shield, crawled over it and passed them by. Next to him, three people stared unbelievingly above them. They couldn’t see Ian’s power, of course. They could only see the fire arcing away from them, the beautiful red and orange and other, lighter colors swirling and undulating in a mesmerizing dance.
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