Sketches

by Teyla Branton

  She smiled. “I’d like that, but make it chotks and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

  His laugh was genuine. “Okay, will do.”

  She closed the door behind her, smiling. Alex asking her out felt so normal after what she’d been through the past three days—no, make that the past five months. Coming home was a good idea.

  Home. A memory of her tiny house in Colony 6 flooded her mind, and with it, all the problems came rushing back. So much work left to do. If only she knew where to begin.

  The bathroom was stocked with an oversized sonic shower, and she held the stain of her blouse over one of the nozzles to remove the blood. She’d learned that little trick at the hospital in the academy from sleep-deprived older students. It had served her well for years. It only worked on thin materials, though, so the vest she’d have to deal with later.

  She pulled on her blues and tucked her vest and clothes into her bag before turning on her iTeev to see the time. She was already five minutes late to meet the others in the shuttle bay.

  As she hurried out the door and down the hallway, she queried her iTeev. “Location of Enforcer Jaxon Tennant.” While the feed wouldn’t normally show his location outside the building, at least if he was out of range of a public camera, it would show his location anywhere inside the building. If he was already in the shuttle bay, she’d have to message him and let him know she was coming.

  “Enforcer Jaxon Tennant,” came a melodious female voice, “is in dispatch.”

  Good. She slowed her pace. If she took a different path she could swing by there and meet him. She would like to see how Lyssa felt about them finding Dani.

  Chapter 21

  JAXON ALWAYS FELT awed when he entered dispatch. Three desks faced walls that were alive with the different holo feeds produced by the Teev Aided Dispatch Alert System, or the TAD-Alert. The super Teev tracked callers, prioritized calls, and suggested the names of enforcers to respond. It also recorded all calls and had prompts to help dispatchers walk people through emergencies, and could link to most home or work Teevs to have immediate eyes on the scene. It was ingenious, or so Jaxon had always thought, but now he wondered if it was possible to access private Teevs or iTeevs without permission. How much of their discussions were really private?

  A new woman whose name Jaxon didn’t remember sat in front of one of the displays, moving her fingers in the air as she typed out one report or another on a holo keyboard.

  “Hi, Detective Tennant. Can I help you?”

  “Just here to talk to Lyssa for a minute.” He glanced toward Lyssa’s desk, where she lay back reclined in her chair, only partially facing her wall of holo feeds, her eyes shut. She seemed too immobile to be napping, but appeared almost as if she were frozen in place—much like he felt when he had a vision. Could she be traveling to wherever Lyra was at that moment?

  “She’s taking a break,” the woman said. “We’ve had a busy afternoon. It just died down.”

  “What kind of busy?” Jaxon asked, his eyes still on Lyssa.

  “Not anything to interest Violent Crimes,” the other woman said. “It’s been a lot of random offenses—busted windows, domestic arguments, shoplifting. That sort of thing.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s weird.”

  Without warning, Lyssa sat up and turned toward them, her eyes open and fully alert. “Birth order applications were processed yesterday. Once every three months we always have a day like today. It’ll calm down significantly by tomorrow, but the incidents will be higher all week.”

  Her co-worker nodded. “Oh, right. They had a class on that in training.” A soft bell went off and she lifted a hand to her headset, turning from them. “TAD, what’s the nature of your emergency?”

  Lyssa arose and came to stand next to him. “So,” she asked, her voice low. “What happened?”

  “We found what we were looking for, but I’ll have to fill you in later.” He’d planned to tell her more, but he felt too exposed with the TAD listening.

  “You mean—?”

  He shook his head. “Can you take a walk maybe?” He held her gaze pointedly until she nodded.

  “Give me five minutes. Beth’s replacement is coming in, but she’ll stay and cover for me.”

  “I’ll be in the shuttle bay.” He started to leave.

  “Hey, about Ty.”

  Dread gripped his chest. “Yeah? Something happen?”

  “He’s a nice guy. I really like him.”

  “I thought you were going to stay away.”

  “We just met for drinks last night. I made sure he wasn’t being—” She broke off, looking over at Beth. “That it was okay.”

  Okay how? That he wasn’t followed? That no one saw them together? “Don’t . . . look, hold off until we talk, okay?”

  She stared at him for the space of several seconds that felt like hours. “I’m assuming you have a good reason—or at least it better be good.”

  “It is.” There had been no repeat premonition of Ty with a broken neck. Did Jaxon dare hope that somehow they’d changed the future? If so, it would be the first time.

  Another soft bell went off, and Lyssa lunged for her headset. “Later then. I’ll see you in a few. Don’t leave.”

  “Okay.” But thinking of Garrett sitting outside the clothing manufacturing plant prompted him to add, “Please hurry. I’m on a case.”

  She waved at him, already speaking into her mic.

  Jaxon stepped into the hall, but as the door closed behind him, his stomach clenched with an abrupt feeling of unease. The light around him dimmed and vanished. He stands in the morgue next to Alex Andres, the medical examiner. Ty’s body lay on a stainless steel gurney in front of them, his neck twisted at an impossible angle. Bruises cover his bare chest, and blood mats his hair.

  Jaxon stumbled, catching himself on the wall with his hands. He wasn’t as shocked at the scene as he had been the first time, but his stomach still twisted, threatening to lose the meal he’d purchased from the sky train readymeal dispenser. Forcing himself to concentrate, he tried to hold on to the premonition, scanning the morgue for anything that would give him a clue as to when this would happen. A clock, a date, a scrap of paper. His premonitions usually ran their course in days or months, but he’d had at least one vision an entire year before it happened.

  A hand on his shoulder pulled him back to the present. He looked up to see Reese staring down at him with concern in her very green eyes, her handgun drawn. Before he could straighten, another premonition scrolled across his vision. Kissing Reese, his hand trailing along the bare skin of her stomach as she looked at him with something far different than concern. The horror of the first premonition faded, taking with it the urge to vomit.

  “Jaxon!” Reese said. “Are you okay?”

  More than okay. He wanted to close his eyes, curl up, and relive the second premonition, but Reese’s worried tone made him unbend and pull himself upright. “I’m fine,” he said.

  “You had another one, didn’t you?” Her voice was barely loud enough for him to hear.

  “Ty—he’s a guy from personnel,” he said, matching her volume. “He’s going to die.”

  “When?”

  “I don’t know. Today, next week, months from now.”

  “Can we stop it?”

  “I don’t think so. I never have before.”

  That meant the vision of Reese and him together would come true too. He opened his mouth to tell her and then shut it again. He’d seen the caution in her eyes. Now wasn’t the time, and pushing her when he knew she was holding back could risk any future they might have.

  Yet was he risking anything if his premonitions always came true?

  Reese stepped forward, her arms extended as if she would offer support, but she stopped at the last moment, her eyes going to one of the ever-present cameras. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get to the shuttle bay. Wait, where are your blues?”

  He noticed she was already wearing her uniform. “Since we’re n
ot on an official op, I thought we’d go undercover.”

  She shook her head. “No way. Those men in that shuttle were dressed as enforcers when they dropped the body. In this case, our uniforms are our cover. If we end up going in, I mean.”

  “Agreed. I’ll go grab one. But let’s wear them under our clothes for now. Can you let Eagle know I’m coming? He’s probably wondering what happened to us.” He started down the hall, feeling stronger with each step, as though he’d left the visions behind him, the horror of one not quite canceling out the promise of the other.

  When he finally reached the shuttle bay, Lyssa was already there talking to the others. She no longer wore her dispatch uniform. “Wherever you’re going, I’m coming along,” she said as they moved toward their assigned shuttle. “Don’t worry. I’ll stay out of the way.”

  “I thought you had to work.” Jaxon set his palm on the shuttle door to open it.

  “Beth agreed to finish the rest of my shift. I want to hear all about Dani.” She ducked into one of the back seats before tapping the side of her head and adding, “Lyra’s here too. She wants to hear everything.”

  Eagle studied the space around her. “Hmm.”

  “What?” Lyssa asked, sounding irritated.

  “Just wondering if with the right equipment, I could see her too.”

  THERE WAS PLENTY of time to fill Lyssa in about Dani during the drive to the industrial area. “I wish I could have been there,” she said. “Did you ask her if she has an ability?”

  “No, we didn’t talk about us specifically,” Reese said. “But she told us that many of the people from the Coop are experiencing psychotic episodes, presumably because of whatever they gave us. She says they have more disruptions there than in the other colonies.”

  Lyssa made a face. “Well, that’s disturbing.”

  Jaxon agreed, though it was something he hadn’t yet brought up with the others. “Just be on alert in case you start to feel anything strange.”

  Eagle snorted. “Our whole lives are strange.”

  No one offered any objections.

  They left the enforcer shuttle three blocks from the address of the clothing manufacturer Nova had given them. Jaxon urged them to set blocking on their iTeevs, just in case an unfriendly—or maybe the captain—was tracking them.

  Unlike Lyssa and Eagle, Jaxon and Reese wore their blues under their civvies. Both had chosen the long-sleeved uniforms, because of the surveillance advantage, but the heat of the late afternoon made him regret the need. They passed only a few people in the street, which wasn’t a surprise. Outside of law enforcement, emergency services, or entertainment, no one worked the weekend.

  “Be on the lookout for eyes,” Jaxon reminded the others. “Nova said El Cerebro was watching the place.” His flesh crawled with the idea.

  Eagle scanned the area. “No hidden heat sources here.”

  “Man, I’ve got to get some of those glasses,” Reese mumbled.

  The surrounding buildings resembled the factories in the Coop, but only by their size. They were fewer in number and their exteriors brighter, the walls dotted with far more windows.

  “There,” Jaxon said, jerking his head toward a small black car parked in the shade of a building they were passing. The car wasn’t the latest model, but new enough to belong to a factory manager. The location of the vehicle was perfect: close enough to a side door to look as if someone had parked there to run into the building for a moment, but the shade from the next building made the car almost blend into the background. The angle of the street kept the front entrance to the clothing factory in plain sight.

  As they approached, a soft whir told them Garrett was unlocking the doors. “Took you long enough,” Garrett shot as Jaxon opened the door.

  “Sorry.” Jaxon slid into the passenger seat while Reese, Lyssa, and Eagle took the back seat, with Lyssa in the middle and Reese behind Jaxon. Reese cleared away a pile of empty food packets to make room, stuffing them under the seat.

  Garrett had met everyone except Eagle, who he’d only seen during Captain Brogan’s introduction the day before, so Jaxon introduced the men before asking Garrett, “Anything new?”

  Garrett shook his head. “Nothing except that shuttle I told you about. I have to say, I’m about ready to call it quits. Unless you have a plan. Look, can I talk to you privately a moment?”

  Jaxon nodded and they both climbed from the car, where Garrett’s calm deserted him. “What do you mean bringing an inactive enforcer and someone from dispatch?” he demanded. “They’ll just get in the way. I’m worried enough about doing this off the record.”

  “I’m not concerned about Eagle—he’s trained and may have some skills we can use. But I am sorry about bringing Lyssa.” Jaxon paused before adding, “Look, I told you Reese and I went to Colony 6 today.”

  “To see if there was a connection to why you were attacked. I know. It was in the file you sent me about this place, though why you felt you had to encrypt it, I’ll never know. But the information is bare bones. I understand about the image receptor of Reese that Hammer found at the scene, but why would it be connected to the colonies?”

  The truth wanted to burst from Jaxon, but there was no way Garrett would believe what they’d learned about the colonies and the murders until he heard the numbers, and there wasn’t time for that now.

  “What’s going on?” Garrett pushed. “You looked spooked.”

  “I am spooked. The people who attacked me and Reese? I think we aren’t the first. And I think it’s someone from the CORE Elite who’s behind it.”

  Garrett’s brows shot upward. “Lyssa must be mixed up in it too, if you’ve brought her.”

  “Unfortunately, she is.” They both fell silent, and Jaxon wondered what Garrett would do now. He was within his rights to insist on hearing the full story before doing Jaxon any more favors.

  Garrett gave a low grunt. “Okay, let’s get this taken care of”—he jerked his head in the direction of the factory—“and then we’ll worry about the rest. No matter what, I got your back.”

  “Thanks.” They clasped hands and climbed back inside the car, with Jaxon feeling more than a little relieved to have something besides the colonies to focus on.

  “Everything okay?” Reese asked the minute they were inside. She threw a questioning look at Jaxon, who shook his head slightly. Later they’d discuss how much to tell Garrett, but she’d understand at least that he hadn’t told him her secret. Not without her permission.

  “So the factory appears to be made up of two connecting parts,” Garrett said. “The smaller main building here in the front that isn’t fenced, and then a second larger building that is fenced. That gate there is where the black shuttle entered, so I assume if whatever we’re looking for is here, it’s in the second building.”

  “Are there other entrances into the fenced area?” Jaxon asked Garrett.

  “A small one that leads out to the next block, but it’s chained shut. Judging by the rust, I don’t think it’s been used in years. I accessed the camera on that street, and no one’s come in or out of the back since I’ve been here.”

  “And you didn’t see what the people in the black shuttle were wearing when they passed?” Jaxon asked.

  “No. Bad angle. But I’ve been recording.” He motioned to a device fastened to the passenger side of the car’s front window. “I didn’t see anything on playback, either, but maybe you’ll catch something I missed.”

  Reese leaned forward to peer through the partially tinted front window. “Any cameras inside the factory?”

  “None that are registering,” Garrett said. “Not even in the yard.”

  Jaxon thought a moment. “We’ll have to go inside.”

  “Do we wait until it’s dark?” Eagle asked them.

  “If Lyra were here, I could—” Lyssa began, but Reese elbowed her into silence, for which Jaxon was glad.

  “You’re not an enforcer,” Jaxon told her. “Don’t worry. We won’t
ask you to go in.”

  “What if we just walk right in now?” Reese said. “We could say we heard a disturbance and we’re checking it out.”

  Garrett frowned his disapproval, but Jaxon mulled it over. “It might work,” he said. “The most they can do is refuse, and we could still threaten at that point to get an order from the Controller.”

  “I’d feel better if we had something to go on.” Garrett rubbed the side of his face, stifling a yawn. “Remember, none of us are on duty. A little hard to explain to the captain why we’re here in the first place. What about asking him to let us go in? If we suspect they have some of our missing people, he should know about it.”

  “We can’t.” Jaxon gave an abrupt shake of his head. He hesitated, then added, “I’m sure the captain’s okay, but someone is messing with our evidence.”

  “What if we caused a disturbance?” Eagle’s smile looked a little too eager at the prospect for someone who didn’t like to carry a gun.

  “It’d have to be something believable,” Jaxon said.

  Reese pointed to the camera. “Let’s play the recording of the black shuttle. Maybe we’ll spot something new. Eagle has good vision.”

  “Actually, I’m pretty much blind,” Eagle corrected. “But my glasses have some amazing abilities.”

  Garrett put on his iTeev and swiped the air a few times. “I’m connecting with my camera now, but someone needs to watch the building.”

  “I’ll watch it,” Lyssa said. “I’ve kind of always wanted to do something exciting like this. I’m usually on the other end—you know, listening from a distance.”

  Jaxon put on his iTeev as Garrett’s feed came up, but because Garrett could only record one side of the large black shuttle, it wasn’t a true lifelike rendition. Just a flat, moving picture.

  “There’s no ID, just like the shuttle that dropped the body at the fountain,” Garrett said.

  “That could mean we’re on the right trail.” Jaxon watched the holo as the black shuttle rolled down the street, pulled into the clothing manufacturer’s parking lot, and headed to the gate that led to the second building. He couldn’t see anything inside the vehicle.