by Trudi Jaye
Added to that, he didn’t like talking about his research. It made him uncomfortable, and he was good at deflecting. Unfortunately, he’d been spot on about her creatures being a taboo conversation. He’d gotten the reaction he had expected, and exactly what he’d deserved.
Maybe it’s for the best, said a voice deep inside. You don’t need a complication like Fee, a woman who makes you feel like you’re in a lightning storm when you kiss. Imagine what it would actually be like to make love to her. It was too much, too complicated.
There was a little bit of relief as he watched her storm out the door.
Next minute that relief turned to anxiety when he saw whom she bumped into at the door.
Dr. Pelgrim Shaw.
Henry stood up and strode over. He felt rather than saw Eugene, David, and Nolan follow him. He felt like a mother hen, fluffing up her feathers to make an intruder go away.
“.... I see you’re still holding out some pathetic hope of doing something without me,” Pelgrim was saying to Fee, looking down his nose at her.
“At least, I’ve got a job,” she replied just as Henry arrived behind her.
Score one point for the woman with the crazy robots.
“Not for long,” said Pelgrim with a snide smile on his face. “Lucas admitted to me he was going to allow you to work out your month and then let you go. He doesn’t expect you to make any serious inroads in that time, especially not without a lead researcher.”
“You’d be surprised what can be achieved in a month,” said Henry mildly, before Fee could say anything more. “Some of my best work has been achieved in less time than that.”
Nolan stepped forward. “We’re actually out celebrating because we’ve made some rather startling break throughs. It’s been a particularly successful day.”
Pelgrim glanced over Fee’s shoulder at Nolan. “What would you know? You’re just a medical researcher. You couldn’t possibly comprehend the complicated nature of this kind of technology. You were brought on board to help us with the basics. Like a junior researcher, only with less pay.”
Nolan stepped forward, as if to hit Pelgrim, and Henry held him back. “He’s not worth it, Nolan, and he’s not correct. You’re important to the team. We need everyone’s expertise to make this work.” Henry glanced over at Pelgrim. “Just because he’s too stupid to see that is his fault, not ours.”
Pelgrim’s face darkened and he turned his glare onto Henry. “And you, a bum and a carny, unable to get a degree anywhere, so you tout yourself as a consultant? A conman, that’s all you are, and as soon as Lucas sees reason, I’ll prove to him how useless you are. I know you all played hooky yesterday, and went to a theme park instead of working.”
Henry just raised his eyebrows at Pelgrim. He’d been on the receiving end of similar slights—in fact, many worse—in the course of his years. People tended to think badly of the Carnival folk, and when things went wrong, the Carnival was to blame.
But Fee wasn’t used to it. Before he could stop her, she took a step forward, pulled one arm back, and slammed her fist into Pelgrim’s face. He staggered back, holding one hand to his nose as Fee jumped around shaking her hand. “Ow, that hurt,” she said, tears in her eyes.
Blood appeared on Pelgrim face, his hand soon covered in blood from his nose. “I’m bleeding,” he said in outrage, a strange nasal lisp in his voice. “You punched me.”
Henry pushed Fee behind him as Pelgrim thrust himself to his full height and stepped forward.
“You should go,” Henry said. “At the very least, to the bathroom, to staunch the flow of that blood.”
Pelgrim pulled back his other arm, and tried to hit Henry, but he was slow and awkward. Henry felt like he was fighting a sloth. He easily blocked the incoming punch, and then twisted Pelgrim’s arm painfully up his back.
“Let me go, you bum! I’ll call the police. This is assault.”
“I have witnesses who will corroborate the fact that you punched me first,” said Henry. “And you’d probably be laughed out of the police station for saying that Fee attacked you. She’s two feet shorter than you and more than 100 pounds lighter.”
“Let me go.” Pelgrim’s voice was tarnished with anger, but it couldn’t be helped. There was no way Henry would have let Fee fight her old boss by herself. He let go of Pelgrim’s arm, and the other man stepped immediately back out of reach.
“This isn’t the last you’ll see of me,” he said and stormed out the door of the bar.
“Did anyone else feel like they’d seen that exit line in a Marvel comic book?” said Eugene.
The others sniggered.
“You okay?” said Henry to Fee.
She nodded, holding her hand and staring off after Pelgrim.
“I think I better drive you home,” he said.
Fee glanced up at him, startled. “No way. Just because you protected me from Pelly, doesn’t mean I forgive you or want to be around you. You’re still an ass.” She stormed out the door.
Henry glanced back at the others.
“Go,” said Nolan, shooing him out the door. “We want her to be safe. And Pelgrim isn’t one to give up on a fight.”
Henry chased down the road after Fee. Instead of heading to her apartment, she was walking back in the direction of Callaghan Technology.
“Hey, Fee. Wait up. I’m sorry,” Henry called out.
She ignored him and kept walking. Henry jogged a few steps and caught up with her, slowing to walk beside her.
“I’m sorry. I made a mistake. I know I should have talked to you before bringing up your creatures.”
“Too late,” muttered Fee, her blonde hair swishing angrily over her shoulders as she strode down the footpath.
“I think you should let me walk with you, just for now. Pelgrim’s not exactly a nice guy. You don’t have to forgive me, just let me keep you safe until you get home.”
Fee stopped and glared at him. “The problem with that plan is that you’ll think you’ve done something to help me, and you’ll expect me to forgive you. Which I don’t. So you can take your “keep Fee safe” idea and shove it where the sun don’t shine. Go back to your drinking buddies and have some more wine. Because I don’t need you.” She stormed off, and Henry let her. But he wasn’t going to let her roam about on her own with Pelgrim still angry with her.
Especially if it was because of what he’d said or done. He followed at a distance, making sure she made it to the building and got in with her swipe card.
He let himself in as well, and waited by the reception area for her to come back, settling himself into Wanda’s seat. He noticed Wanda’s glasses sitting on the desk, and picked them up, turning them over and over. He looked at the items on the desk, pulling open drawers until he found what he needed—small thin staples and a metal paper clip or two—and settled in to make the changes Wanda needed, while he waited for Fee to come back down.
He was concentrating on his task, and didn’t notice how much time had passed until he looked up at the big clock on the wall. Half an hour and she still hadn’t returned. He placed Wanda’s newly corrected glasses back where he’d found them and walked to the elevators.
When the elevator opened on the research lab floor, he pushed himself to standing, and strode quietly into the darkened space.
“What on earth are you doing?” asked Fee from her corner.
Henry took a breath. He felt heat going up his neck and face, and was glad for the semi-darkness of the lab. “I was worried about you,” he said.
“I thought I told you I don’t need your help. Especially if the first thing you do is break my trust and tell my secrets.”
Henry walked slowly to where she was sitting at her desk. “I’m sorry, Fee. That was dumb, and I totally get why you’re annoyed at me. You have every right.” He stopped in front of her desk. “But I did mean it when I said you should be using your creatures here at the lab. I think some of Violet’s problems could be fixed by using the technology you’ve
invented for Max and the others.”
Fee went very still. She didn’t say anything at first, as if she was still processing what he had said. “I keep them secret for a very good reason,” she whispered. Then she shook her head. “None of them ever turn out right, anyway. They’re my failures.”
Henry shook his head. “If they’re your failures, why do you keep them around?” he asked softly.
When she didn’t answer, he replied for her. “It’s because they’re tiny individuals, with enough heart and soul to capture yours. Which means they’re more alive than any other robotic creation I’ve ever heard of or seen. You’ve used your magic to create something spectacular.”
Fee shook her head, but didn’t say anything. Just at that moment, a little metal spider creature came scuttling out from under a pile of papers on her desk. It took a running leap into the bowl of water at one side, creating a little splash of water over Fee’s arm.
Henry grinned as Fee wiped the water off with her hand. “See? You somehow created a waterproof skin for that one, didn’t you? He spends all that time under water and doesn’t have a single spot of rust or corrosion to show for it, and his electronics are perfect. That’s amazing.”
“He’s crazy,” Fee blurted. “He doesn’t do what he was supposed to do; he just swims around in a bowl of water all day long.”
“It doesn’t matter. You learn what you need to from him, and move on.”
“If I did that, I’d have so many tiny robots running around that my apartment would be overrun with them. I can’t bring myself to destroy them once they come into being.”
“You don’t have to destroy them. And you can be judicious about making them as well. Decide on the features you want to replicate, what has worked particularly well in each of your creatures, and focus on that aspect.” Henry felt his enthusiasm rising to the fore, and tried to dampen it down. She’d said she didn’t like how he’d tried to convince people the night before. But it was hard.
“What are you doing?” Fee asked in a strange voice.
Henry blinked. “I... uh... I was trying not to be too enthusiastic?”
“You look like you need to go to the bathroom,” she giggled.
Henry took a breath. At least, she’d relaxed, and wasn’t as angry with him anymore.
“Do you really think my creatures would be helpful for Violet?” she said.
“Definitely. I’ll show you, come on.” Henry grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the locked room that held Violet. “Open her up,” he said.
Fee fumbled with the security fingerprint and number pad but finally got the door open, and they both went in. Henry looked up at Violet, still amazed by the sheer audacity of what they were trying to achieve with her, despite her sausage fingers. The door swung shut behind them, locking back into place. The room was dimly lit by lights all around the base of the room, and Violet stood in the middle. The sophisticated computer operating system was let down by the bulky skin they had encased her in, and it made Henry even more determined to use his recipe to create a skin that was more appropriate. But first things first.
“She could use the kind of technology you used on Max’s legs to make her arms and legs flow better. Do you really want Violet to have fat sausage fingers?” he said with a laugh in his voice.
Fee went to stand closer to Violet, and reached out a hand to touch the patchy skin they’d been using. “It is pretty awful, isn’t it? It’s so strange to realize we have other options now and that we don’t have to listen to Pelly’s dictates on what we can and can’t do.”
Henry nodded. “We’ll be able to prove to Lucas that it’s actually going to be easier to finish this project without Pelgrim.”
“I hope so.”
“I know we will. I can already see so many possibilities for Violet, including using your ideas. You need to have a little faith—”
Just then, as one, the lights went out across the whole lab and they were plunged into darkness.
“Fee?” said Henry. “What just happened?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The sudden full darkness took a moment to adjust to, although not as long as it might have if they’d had full lighting. She squinted over at Henry and his vague shape came into focus. He was still waiting for her answer to his question.
“I don’t know,” she said. “This hasn’t ever happened to me before.”
“Have you been here at night?”
Fee nodded and then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Sure. I’ve worked here at all hours of the day and night. This isn’t normal.”
She put her hand out in front of her and made her way slowly to the door, and pulled on the handle. It was locked solid. She pressed a button on a keypad. Nothing. No sound. “I think we might be stuck in here,” she said.
Henry appeared behind her, and bumped his body into hers. Electricity shivered across her skin, making her entire body tingle. She moved away, telling herself sternly that she was still annoyed at him.
“Maybe we can circumvent the locking system,” was all he said. A small pinpointed light came on. Henry had a flashlight on his key chain. Of course.
She watched as he fiddled with the keypad and used a tiny screwdriver—also on his key chain—to pull off the front casing of the door lock. Even as she watched him do it, she knew it was no use. Lucas was a security fiend, and made sure everything they used was double and triple protected in any kind of emergency. But she was curious to see him at work, trying to fix something, so she kept quiet. Maybe he would prove her wrong.
She knew the kind of state she went into while she was building robots, a kind of magical trance, and she wanted to know if he did it the same way. No one else she’d ever known had had magic like she did. Or at least had ever admitted to it. She’d always wondered if her mother had magic too—because where else would her magic have come from but her parents?—but her mother had never spoken of it. It would have meant her life if she did.
Henry’s magic was soft and gentle, and it came on slowly, easily. It wasn’t overpowering; it was calm and collected, a little bit like Henry. She held herself still, and watched with complete attention as he attempted to get them out.
Eventually he shook his head and heaved out a breath. “Nope. It’s too tightly locked down. He’s got password on password on password in here.”
“I think Lucas has a bit of his own magic,” said Fee. She shook her head when Henry glanced up at her sharply. “Nothing major, just a strong sense of intuition for the right technology at the right time. And also about security. I have a feeling we might have to wait this out.”
“What? Here?” Henry looked around. “In the dark?”
“Are you afraid of the dark, Henry?” said Fee softly.
He paused. “Not likely. It just seems a little convenient. You’ve managed to get me alone with you locked in a small space. It seems like you might want to have your wicked way with me,” he said teasingly.
“Give me a break,” said Fee. “I’m still pissed at you. You broke the trust between us; you knew they were a secret.” She took a step away from him. “I don’t forgive that easily.”
Henry sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry. I really am.” He paused. “Do you want to play truth or dare? I’ll tell you the truth of why I really did it.”
Fee’s eyes went to his face, trying to read his expression. It was too dark, despite the light from his tiny flashlight. “I haven’t played that in a long time. If ever.”
“Is that a yes or a no?”
Fee glanced around them, at the bulky shape of Violet in the middle. “I guess there’s nothing better to do.”
“Damn right there’s not,” agreed Henry. He led Fee over to the side wall, and they both sat down leaning against the cold wall. Fee shivered. It was much colder in this room than outside in the usual Tampa heat. Damn climate control.
Henry immediately pulled off his sweater and handed it to her. “Here you go. I’m used to the cold weather,” he sa
id. “It’s not going to run out of air in here, is it?” he asked.
Fee shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’s just colder than anywhere else.”
Henry shifted slightly, and his shoulder brushed hers. A tingling sensation spread out from her shoulder.
“So,” said Fee, clearing her throat. “You choose truth?”
Henry nodded. “I do.”
“So I ask you a question I want answered?”
He shrugged. “I want you to ask me why I did it. But you could pick something else to ask me about.”
Fee considered it a moment. “No, you’re right. I want to know why you told them about my creatures when you knew they were a secret.”
Henry sighed and looked at her. “Because I’m scared of how I feel when I’m around you,” he whispered. “I’ve never felt anything like it, this constant desire to be close to you, to learn more about you, to talk to you…to touch you. It’s becoming almost painful when we’re apart. So I was trying to push you away by saying something I knew you would hate.”
Fee took in a shocked breath. Of all the explanations she had been expecting, that was not one of them. She didn’t know what to say. “Uh...”
“I know; it’s way too honest for where we’re at.” Henry shrugged. “You see? This is what I mean. We’re moving too fast, and I can’t stop it. I can’t stop myself saying these things to you.”
“Okay,” said Fee, her whole body trembling. “Let me think about that for a while.” What did she have to say? She didn’t know what she thought, although she understood where Henry was coming from. It felt like they were hog tied to a freight train barreling at full speed toward some unknown, and possibly deadly, destination.
“Sure. In the meantime, I get to do a truth or dare with you,” said Henry.