Expansion (The Accidental Heroes Chronicles Book 2)

by S. E. Cyborski

“Just do it, Amy,” Amy muttered to herself, giving herself a little shake. “Sandra isn’t going to eat you for calling him.”

  Taking a deep breath, Amy knocked on the door sharply, three brisk knocks echoing down the hallway. She’d timed this conversation fairly well, in her opinion, as they had a show in about two hours. It was one of their last here in Las Vegas and Amy was sad to know that they would be leaving the stage. But their agent had plans to move them around the country putting on shows in other cities. As much as Amy had come to love it here, performing in front of hundreds of people, travelling and meeting new people was a fascinating idea. And, of course, the longer they stayed here, the more likely it was that the police would suspect they were behind all the thefts.

  “What do you want?” Sandra asked, somewhat nastily as she opened the door. She was in a bathrobe with the hotel’s logo. Michael wasn’t in the room as Sandra stepped back to allow Amy in. He was most likely downstairs in the casino, spending some time gambling. He was actually decent at poker and had won a couple thousand dollars. Sandra’s hair was still dripping from her shower and she worked a towel vigorously over it as Amy settled down in a chair.

  “I thought you might want to know something,” Amy said, procrastinating the actual conversation. Sandra tossed the towel in the bathroom and sat on the bed, staring intently at Amy. She could feel conflict and worry in the other woman’s emotions. Something had changed. “I called... I called George. I didn’t actually reach him, just his voicemail. But his voicemail said he was going to be gone for a month. George doesn’t like to be away from his phone. It’s his lifeline to everyone. So I was thinking, what if he’s involved in another trial with Gnotret? What if Dr. Carnesby is injecting more people with this drug?”

  Sandra opened her mouth to snap angrily at Amy about calling George in the first place when the rest of her little speech finally penetrated. Was Dr. Carnesby performing another trial? That could be potentially fatal to her plans or provide her with another source of people to control. After all, having two superhumans at her beck and call was good but having more? Sandra shivered at the thought, a warm glow working through her body at the emotions that would come from more people, wondering how many people she could control as she did Michael and Amy. She knew the limits with regards to crowds but a small group of people wouldn’t be a problem. It couldn’t be, could it? Possibilities spun through Sandra’s mind as Amy fidgeted on her chair, twisting her fingers together nervously.

  “I don’t think you should have called George,” Sandra finally said, much calmer than she had been at first. She leaned on Amy’s emotions, her jealousy and greed, to augment her next words. “You know that’ll only lead to an argument between the two of you. You said yourself you both had grown apart.”

  “I know but have we, really?” Amy replied, shaking her head. “I thought that before but, the longer I’m away, the sillier it all seems. I mean, we’d had arguments in the past and we’d always gotten past them. But I ran away from this one. Is it my fault?”

  “It isn’t, Amy, it really isn’t,” Sandra replied with as much patience as she could muster. She delved deeper into Amy’s emotions, keeping the frustration off her face and out of her words. Amy shuddered a bit at the intrusion, eyes going glassy. “It was George’s fault, remember?”

  Amy nodded slowly, eyes fixed on Sandra’s face. There was a storm of emotions coiling in her stomach, jealousy warring with love warring with anger warring with loneliness. She wanted to go home, wanted to go back for a little bit just to fix things with George. Or at least leave on a better note than what she had. But, with Sandra combing through her emotions and altering what she didn’t like, Amy forgot that wish. Her jealousy over George’s other friends, him leaving her behind even though that wasn’t exactly true, overtook her other emotions. Layered under that was greed again, the combination Sandra knew would work on Amy every single time she had doubts. Sandra smiled at the feel of metal against her skin, greed an emotion she was intimately familiar with. After all, it was one of her own motivators.

  “Yes, it was all his fault,” Amy said faintly, her eyes losing the glassy look as Sandra withdrew from her emotions. Anger filled them then, a righteous anger that burned out all the loneliness and feelings of remorse. “He doesn’t deserve working things out. I’m not going to answer if he manages to call me back. But what do you think about the trial? Should we do anything? Chances are it’s in the same building, you know. I can’t see them moving out of a perfectly good building that just needed a little repair.”

  “I think we’ll wait and see what happens,” Sandra said after a moment’s thought, tapping a finger against her lips. “If anyone is worthwhile, we can work on recruiting them. Is there anything else you wanted to tell me, Amy? Perhaps talking to detectives about our crimes?”

  “No, that’s all,” Amy replied, rolling her eyes at the sarcasm in Sandra’s words. “I’m not in a hurry to go to jail, you know. I just felt the need to talk to George but I don’t think it’s going to happen again.”

  “Well, good,” Sandra nodded, standing up and walking to the door. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to finish getting ready for the show tonight. It’s our second to last show and I want to make sure everything is perfect.”

  Amy nodded and walked out the door, not at all surprised at how quickly Sandra closed it after her. Really, she shouldn’t have waited so long to talk to the other woman. There was a clarity to her thoughts and emotions that followed her after every conversation with Sandra. It was amazing, really, how Sandra could talk her through basically any problem and see the correct way through. Amy walked back to her own room, contemplating that idea. If they ever decided to give up the shows and stealing, Sandra could probably make a very good living as a psychiatrist of some sort. Amy giggled a little at the idea; Sandra didn’t really seem to have the temperament to listen to other people’s problems for hours on end.

  Yet now was the time for her butterflies, the nervousness that always came before one of their shows. Even after the handful they’d done so far, Amy still got stage fright for the few hours before the show started. Once she was on stage, that all disappeared and she threw herself, mind and body, into her part of the show. It helped that she didn’t have to pretend to be doing something while keeping the audience distracted from how she was actually doing the trick. She just needed to concentrate on keeping control of her fireballs and let it go from there. Once back in her own room, Amy slipped out of her clothes and into the shower. Sandra had the right idea, wanting everything perfect. Amy wanted to be remembered here, remembered with awe and wonder. And missed when she was gone.

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  Katrina sauntered down the hallway, heading towards the room the Council met in. It was rather interesting just having the two of them there. A lot more got done with far less arguing and convincing that it had taken before. Aaron was often the one playing devil’s advocate or just being plain obstinate, wanting everything explained and worried at until not even the tiniest little detail was left unexplored. Especially if Lucian was the one putting forth an idea. While Aaron often leaped before he looked, that was only with his own plans most of the time. There was a functionality to the Council that wasn’t there before, a sense of streamlining and peak performance. She congratulated herself yet again at a job well done. Who could have believed one little assassination could have had such lasting benefits? But that feeling of satisfaction faded away when Katrina entered the room and saw Lucian’s face.

  “Oh god, what the hell is wrong now?” Katrina snapped, closing the door firmly behind her. “I swear, every time I see you, doom and gloom follow you like a shadow.”

  “You’re poetic today,” Lucian replied, a smile touching his lips for a moment before fading away. He regarded her somberly, eyes narrowed. “But yes, there is a new development with Gnotret. I haven’t yet decided how good or bad it is, though.”

  Katrina sat down
in her customary seat, stretching her legs out under the table and crossing them at the ankle. She could be as patient as Lucian if need be and there was no way she was going to ask. Lucian held far too much power on the Council and over her, in Katrina’s opinion. She felt it was time to reverse the trend. Meeting Lucian’s eyes calmly, Katrina folded her hands on the table and just waited. Whatever the news was, it was most likely big news. Lucian wouldn’t be able to keep it from her for long. Especially if it impacted the Council in any way.

  “One of the rats being injected with Gnotret developed a new ability yesterday,” Lucian finally said, biting off his words as he realized he had lost their silent battle. Katrina was gracious enough not to grin in triumph but it was a near thing. Lucian ground his teeth as he saw her lips twitching.

  “Is that so?” Katrina asked, fully prepared to play along now that she had gained the upper hand. At least for now. “What kind of ability? Are they teleporting the scientists now?”

  “Ah, no. Not teleporting at all,” Lucian replied uncomfortably. He’d seen the rat in question through security cameras and was still rattled by the experience. “This rat can talk. Apparently, he speaks for Gnotret.”

  Katrina felt the blood drain from her face and fought to keep a neutral expression. His avid eyes and calculating look betrayed the fact that Lucian was studying her carefully, cataloguing each twitch and tremor. Even so, he wasn’t the most terrifying thing in the room anymore. This was part of Aaron’s fears come to life. Suddenly, Katrina wasn’t quite so certain killing him had been the right course to take. There was no use dwelling on the past, though. What was done was done and Katrina had to focus on this disturbing news. A faint frown crossed Lucian’s face and Katrina knew she had succeeded at keeping most of her fear hidden.

  “You said he speaks for Gnotret,” Katrina repeated thoughtfully, picking her words carefully. “Gnotret as in one being? Why not say the Gnotret or the cells?”

  “The rat refers to it as one being,” Lucian explained, sitting back in his chair and taking a deep breath. “Aaron’s theory of a sort of hive mind appears to have been the closest. The entity appears to have named itself, as well. There was no hesitation or fumbling over the name.”

  “What does this mean in regards to our experiments? I doubt there is much we can do about the current human trial but we could stop human trials afterwards,” Katrina said, tapping a finger against her lips.

  “I don’t know that that will be necessary,” Lucian said, shaking his head slowly. “After the rat named the organism, it requested a meeting with the people in charge. Well, more like ordered. It mentioned both of us by name and would speak no more after that. Until we know exactly what Gnotret wants, I don’t think we can plan for very much.”

  Katrina studied Lucian in turn, surprised that he was completely serious. Usually, the man had plans within plans and yet he was planning nothing now? Of course, this was a completely new situation, one Katrina was fairly certain no one had encountered before. She herself was hesitant to meet with a speaking rat after distancing herself so completely from the experiments going on in the basement. Even the teleporting rat had been a coincidence, not something she’d sought out. But curiosity was growing, curiosity and a desire to be the first to converse with an alien species. There was no doubt, now, that Gnotret was definitely not from this planet. Its DNA matched nothing known on Earth.

  “Well then,” Katrina said with a small smirk. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go speak with this rat that has asked for us by name.”

  Lucian grinned sharply, a baring of teeth that never failed to send chills down Katrina’s spine. She was fairly certain that’s why he did it most of the time. They stood at the same time and Lucian held the door politely for Katrina to precede him. While it was nice of him, Katrina was in no way fooled by the veneer of politeness. Lucian liked having people in front of him so he could stab them in the back if need be. Also, having people in front of him protected his own back. Literally. Since they both knew what the other was capable of, each was watchful as they made their way to the elevator.

  At this time of day, nearly everyone was in their own office working or in meetings so there was no one to see them enter the elevator. Lucian pressed the button for the basement floor after inserted his key into the lock. The elevator dropped quickly, the bland and simple elevator music playing the whole way down. That music actually grated on Katrina’s nerves so she tried to spend as little time in the elevators as possible.

  “Hello sir, ma’am,” an intern said, nervously pushing his glasses back up his nose as the elevator doors opened. He blinked at them before turning on his heel and walking down the hallway. There were doors leading off, some open and some closed. “We sequestered the speaking rat in one of the empty labs. If you’ll just come this way.”

  “Has it said anything else?” Katrina asked quietly as they passed by labs with scientists working busily. The intern shook his head and stopped outside a closed door, using a keycard to open it.

  “I’m not supposed to go in,” he explained, pushing his glasses back up his nose again as he studiously looked away from Katrina and Lucian. “Wasn’t asked for, you see. But you’ll be able to open the door from the inside. There’s no lock from that side.”

  The intern hurried away after a quick nod and disappeared into one of the open doors. It shut after him with a whisper-silent click. Katrina snorted quietly, wondering if the rat was really as intimidating as all that. Or maybe the intern was afraid of them. After a glance at Lucian, Katrina pushed the door open and entered the room. It was lit with fluorescent light bulbs and, like much of the rest of the building, was painted a bland white. The floor was tiled in white tiles with gray patterning in it. There was a table set up in the middle of the room made of glass and metal, a metal cage resting on top of it. One of the numerous white rats they’d been experimenting on sat in it quite at its ease, nibbling on a carrot. It eyed them curiously as they walked in, nose twitching as it caught their scent.

  “You wanted to speak with us?” Katrina asked the rat, feeling more than a little silly talking to the thing. Honestly, if this was all an elaborate trick set up by Lucian...

  “You are Katrina van Hale and Lucian Thorn?” the rat asked them in a squeaky voice but perfectly understandable English. Katrina’s mouth dropped open, no words coming out. She hadn’t quite believed Lucian upstairs. But now, there was no doubt.

  “We are,” Lucian confirmed when Katrina stayed silent. “What can we call you?”

  “I have no name and the only designation I was given was subject 135,” the rat replied, putting down the bit of carrot and taking a drink from the water bottle hanging on the cage. “My name is not important. What is important is who I speak for.”

  “Gnotret, is that correct?” Katrina asked, managing to keep her voice polite and pleasant. No matter how ridiculous this might look, this talking rat was their only active link to an alien organism. It couldn’t hurt to be courteous.

  “Yes,” the rat nodded, a surprisingly human gesture. “Gnotret wishes to know your plans for it. It gave me the ability to speak with you and the intelligence to converse ably because it cannot do so itself.”

  Katrina and Lucian exchanged glances, wondering how much to tell the rat. They really didn’t have too many concrete plans for the organisms. Well, organism now. The rat was very definite in its pronouns, indicating that Gnotret was a singular being contained among several cells. Their short-term plan was to understand Gnotret and how it changed its host. Long-term was originally to develop super soldiers, at least once it was known that the rats injected gained superhuman abilities. But would Gnotret agree to be used in such a way? Did it have its own moral code that would not allow their plans to come to pass? Did it have a way to stop those possible plans?

  “We wanted to understand Gnotret,” Lucian finally said when Katrina ducked her head slightly. She didn’t want to be the one this all came back on it if all went to hell. Let Lu
cian be the spokesperson and the one who’d get any possible backlash. He didn’t need to give the full truth anyway. “We didn’t know it had intelligence and wanted to study alien cells. What about Gnotret? What does it want?”

  “Gnotret wants a home,” the rat replied soberly, in between washing its paws. “Its own home was destroyed. Many of its people died. The remnant existed on the meteorite that impacted on Earth.”

  “It thinks it can make a home here?” Katrina cut in, eyes narrowing in suspicion. All very well to claim one’s home and people had been destroyed. What proof did they really have? And what proof that Gnotret wasn’t the first of an invasion force?

  “Earth is compatible though not perfect,” the rat admitted, nodding its head again. “Gnotret only wishes to live side by side with the current inhabitants. Indeed, strides have already been made in this direction at its orders.”

  “What do you mean?” Lucian asked, shaking his head. “We’ve received no orders from Gnotret. The first time we’ve spoken with it is through you.”

  “No, it’s not,” Katrina whispered, shock threading through her voice. “Remember, the idea just came up to inject the cells into animals? And the name itself, where did that come from? What if Aaron was right and Gnotret’s been directing each step of our experimentation?”

  “Now you begin to see,” the rat said, pleased as it moved on to cleaning its whiskers. “Gnotret could have persuaded you to harm yourselves or others but did not. Instead, it embarked on a path that would ensure its survival and your cooperation. After studying you, it knew the best way to motivate you was through greed. Power, money, status, these are things you all craved. Gnotret was willing to oblige.”

  “How connected is Gnotret to itself?” Lucian asked, sidestepping that thought for a moment. “Can it sense the cells in the human subjects?”

  “In a way,” the rat replied, its nose twitching as if following a scent. “Gnotret can... sense, as you say, the subjects because they contain pieces of itself. But it’s not like finding your fingers with your eyes closed. Gnotret knows they are there, can pick up bits of information, but they mostly remain opaque.”