Asunder (The Infected: Ripped to Shreds Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  There had to be a base somewhere. If that could be taken out, it might disrupt the long term plans.

  As they spoke about it, Cin waved for them to stand.

  “Quick, get out of here before she changes her mind. You as well, Tor. You’re probably too good for her to not realize you could fix First Modes as well. Next time call ahead? Also, get us some of those nifty shields if you can? I can’t help but notice that I was totally vulnerable to your type of energy weapons.”

  The man nodded, and then dug under his shirt top, pulling out a large amount of stone or glass tiles on a string. Most of them glowed on the front. A few twisted light in interesting fashions as well. The action got Marcia to tense, getting ready to attack if she could.

  The tall man just smiled.

  “I have ten shields here that I can part with? For the party tomorrow. I… Don’t have enough clothing amulets. You have one already, correct miss?” That was for Bridget.

  The fidgeting girl nodded quickly. Then she patted at her throat.

  “Yeppers. I extorted it from Will, being his partner. You know, I was joking at the time that he had to outfit me that way, but he gave me one anyway. I didn’t actually blackmail him or anything.”

  None of the three sitting there actually knew what blackmail was, though they had the concept in their heads. That was just a language thing. She had to search for about thirty seconds, but in the silence was able to speak a single word. It was strange, but Will was able to break it down for her phonetically, once she found it and presented the idea to his story.

  As soon as it was spoken, they all seemed to get the idea.

  Tor even smiled again, looking at Bridget in a friendly fashion.

  “Ah? Well, that’s good then. I’ll get some for the rest of you? That… It might not be in time. I should go as well. I need to get my ship.”

  Which reminded Cindy of the fact that she probably wasn’t going to get hers now. That was a shame, but it wasn’t as if she’d had a lifelong goal of moving off into space or anything.

  Tor looked at her, picking up that she was thinking what she was, if only in a loose fashion. It was related to how he did magic, rather than real telepathy. Will was better at that kind of thing, by a good portion, though it was clear that part of that was down to his Uncle not really caring to try very hard that way.

  The man was intensely focused all the time. Even when he was being charming.

  His words were directed at Taman, however.

  “I’d told Cindy that she could have the other me’s ship, not knowing you were inside. Her people will want to look at it. I can provide another one, so that won’t be a huge problem.” He was honestly conflicted about the whole thing.

  To him, he’d given his word, and now had to go back on it, which meant a lot more than it would to Cin. Taman got that totally. Will did as well, but to him it was slightly different. That was about how, now that they were friends as proved by Cindy nearly dying to help Tor fight, the man would be willing to do almost anything for her. Even dying himself, if it was needed.

  That wasn’t an alien concept to the three sitting there at all. Interestingly, Tam was kind of thinking of her in that light as well. Mainly for helping her get free of the offered enslavement to the IPB. That wasn’t as firm, since Cin had also helped to kill her brother. In short, the young looking teen girl was conflicted all to hell over the idea.

  She wanted to be angry about the loss of the craft, but much like Tor, she could just make her own, and had a case in her room in Harmony that was filled with thousands of the things. Ones that were slightly better than what Tor had. His was made by Tiera, so had weapons. So did hers, but they were a lot more dangerous. Faster as well.

  The tiny wizard lady nodded then, still seeming sad.

  “Why don’t you keep Tor’s craft? He would have wanted it to be used to help people. It might be a bit dangerous, so keep that in mind.”

  It felt strange, being given that, under the circumstances, but Cindy nodded, not smiling. She didn’t care what the others felt, but she wasn’t an idiot. She could read what the girl needed at the moment, which was, oddly, a hug. That was delivered, with Bridget actually moving in to do the same thing herself. The hyper red-head managed to calm herself first even.

  Then, Will got the other two out of the room. Cindy read up on their stories, which stopped the instant that they went into the dusty red box on the right side of the building they were in. In Tor’s case it lingered longer, thanks to him using his own craft to leap between worlds. As soon as that happened, about three minutes later, since the man was hurrying fast his information vanished. Trying to get back home, instead of fleeing the dangerous Marcia.

  That part was a bit strange, but as soon as they were all gone, Cin nodded at her boss.

  “Tor wants to bang you, so much.” It was true, though she hadn’t mentioned it with everyone else in the room. “Will does too, but honestly, he’s more into me. Which is nice to know, since otherwise I’d have to be all jealous, you know?” She smiled, the woman in front of her shaking her head.

  “Freaking hell… We aren’t equipped for this kind of thing. No one is. That’s the only reason that the government is letting us do this at all. Trust me, a lot of them don’t love the idea of the IPB being in charge of the people from other realities. What else did you get? Just prospects for my future love life, or was there anything that might actually be important? Other than the fact that the U.S. now has a space ship, I mean. That one will buy us a lot of good will, I bet.”

  Cindy didn't answer instantly, taking a seat. The one that was still warm from Taman being in it. Bridget hopped into the one next to her, not speaking. After a moment, Cin was able to nod.

  “Right. Well, as soon as they left here, for another reality, their data faded to nothing. But… The Tor that died here? I can still read up on him. Other than the part where he threw in with the bad guys at the end, he was identical to the other Tor here today. I mean, everything, as far as I can tell. Every time they guessed a coin toss they called it the same way and all that. They used the same baking tricks and stuff.” She looked at the printed page in her mind, seeming to float in front of her, and skimmed for a bit.

  “I… He was in contact with people from the other side of things, so I might be able to get some data on it. This is…” She made a face, which was a bit annoyed. “It isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing. I need to work out the Anthony Levitt stuff. After that day he went back to a fairly normal life. I mean, if going around and doing dirty work for politicians is normal. I haven’t dug out anything useful for the other thing yet though. It’s frustrating.”

  That got Turner to exhale sharply.

  “I understand. If he doesn’t know things, then he doesn’t. We should… I guess we could make up a package of data for the people we’re visiting tomorrow? Who’s on the team for that?”

  It was a bit of a shock, being asked that. Mainly due to the fact that, for a few moments, Marcia was actually just accepting her as being one of the people in charge of things. Part of her team, without reservation. That was going to fade, due to her first mode, but for the moment it was kind of nice to see. After all it had happened twice in a single day, which had to be a record.

  Which meant that, if she wanted to keep things going in her life, hitting close to what Marcia wanted her to do was good. Only… The woman didn't have everything that she did, info wise.

  “Sara, since this is about her, as far as I can tell. Then… Proxy. Brian went to Prince Dareg’s wedding, so he’ll be expected to show up at all future functions, unless he has to work. Dareg got married to Karina. She’s a Princess of Noram… Both are deeply involved with Tiera, so it might be an issue if he’s left out of anything. Then… You, Mark, Senator Roberts, Maggie Lawrence…” The next bit was harder to do with a straight face. “Bridget and myself. We get two guards as well. Or we can do that part. Showing up without them is allowable, Maybe Tobin and Olga?”


  From the information that was coming from the now dead Tor’s book, that last one would go over very well, as a guard. Large people were more respected there than not, even on the Moon. The only issue there was that it left Will out, and he was kind of their ride. So that part wasn’t going to play.

  Before it could be mentioned by Bridget, who was smarter than anyone really seemed to get, she winked. “Or, well, Tobin doesn’t have to go. It’s just that I’m betting his other self will be there. Will counts for this?”

  There was a nod from the boss, followed by a very puzzled look.

  “Maggie Lawrence? Why would we take a sixteen-year-old girl that isn’t even Infected?”

  Cindy rolled her eyes then, since it was actually a little bit complex.

  “Don’t be an anti-Infected bigot, Turner. Just because she doesn’t have powers doesn’t mean she’s useless. In this case, she’s the daughter of our President. Also, she’s eighteen. A real adult and everything. He can’t go and it wouldn’t be expected or welcome to a thing like this, making it a matter of state instead of a regular party. It’s apparently bad enough that we’re bringing you in, being an important person here. Taking the Princess along, or someone close enough to that, will let them know that we’re taking this seriously, without putting too much stress on them over it. Not that we can get her for it. Another member of the government would probably work, but it will be harder for them to understand if they’re too low in things.”

  There was a nod, and Bridget pulled her cell phone, tapping on the thing for a bit, then holding the black, encrypted, device to her ear. Everyone that had a phone there had ugly, but very hard to crack, things like that. Not that the NSA didn’t have a full log of everything they said anyway.

  After a bit Bridget chirped into the device, sounding happy.

  “Hey! Mags! This is Bridget.”

  Cindy felt a bit shocked, since there was no last name or even code name given. She wasn’t Bridget Chambers, or Impulse… Just Bridget. Meaning that the girl next to her actually knew the President’s daughter. As in the two were friends. Interestingly, the speaking from the other side sounded excited as well, instead of questioning as to why she was being called out of the blue.

  As the girl went on, things became clear. Even without reading her information.

  “We have a job we need done. Possibly by you. Tomorrow, fairly early, a team of ten people from here are going to visit a different, but friendly, reality. You made the short list for it. It’s a real mission, not just a chance to party or anything, but apparently, bringing you in will make the people we’re going to meet feel a lot better. We also want Senator Roberts for it, so you can get on that and wrangle him for us? Even after your father tells you that you can’t go? I give that a ninety percent chance, but still, it’s cool that you were on the list, right? I didn’t even pick you for it. Cin Mableton did.” There was a smile, and laughing from the other side.

  After a bit, Bridget schooled her face and made herself sound serious.

  “No… Mags, this isn’t a joke or game. You’re in a position to be useful here in a way that no one else is. This is real. We’ll send a data package over to you? Got it. I understand, of course. Good to hear that! Later.”

  After she hung up, the girl smiled. It made her slightly pointed face seem a lot warmer than it had just been. Kind and gentle, instead of sort of foxy and sharp.

  “Maggie is in. We have to convince her father, but she thinks he might go for it. Probably not. The thing with her mom… You know, since you were the one to find out she was still alive and all. Anyway, she is going to get with them and Senator Roberts for us.”

  The words seemed firm, but Cindy wondered just how good the odds of it happening were. Oh, it made great sense, but after the thing with Mary Lawrence being kidnapped and replaced by an exact double… Well, it might not happen due to that, if her parents were normal. That they might not be seemed unlikely to her now that she thought about it for half a minute. Even if going to a different reality was kind of worth the risk. If it were her daughter offered the chance she would have let her go. Then, the closest thing she had to that was Sara and Cindy really was letting her go without any kind of fight about it.

  “Sounds good. Now… I need to get back to work. This whole thing we have going on here… It’s frustrating. I can’t work out how to crack it. Tony Levitt just doesn’t know anything. Not even the other people involved in his own secret cult group. I mean, he’s seen them, but can’t name names. There are a lot of masks involved, too.”

  The words got two different responses. Marcia looked at her and nodded, the thoughts over her head showing she was actually sympathetic. To her it was all about Mableton trying to save them all. Pushing herself into madness trying to get her job done.

  Next to her, Bridget just seemed to think that thinking about anything except the fight that had taken place not long before was too hard to imagine.

  “Um, you probably didn’t notice, being awesome like you are, but you know, you nearly died. We kind of need to get you into counseling. At least a debriefing.” The impulsive girl actually had to fight off suggesting that they strip Cindy right there to see her briefs. It was an old joke around the base, but only used when the agents, or Marcia, weren’t around.

  The feeling was mastered however, Bridget shifting to a meditative state to fight it off. It was impressive, since most people had to really fight to control their mode, and normally failed, even then.

  That was less than fun, but Cindy got the basic idea. She needed to get everything on the record. Soon, just in case her memory failed her in the future.

  “I get with Agent Burkes for that?” He wasn’t her keeper or anything, but he was one of the two names that she knew off the top of her head as far as that side of the organization went. That was due to him being the big man in charge, or whatever they called the position. The other was Lancaster, who technically wasn’t even an Agent any longer. He was young enough and had been in charge of that section for years, but had been Infected about a year or two before.

  The law said that he wasn’t allowed to hold an Agent’s spot, given that. Even if he had the skills and was basically driven to be good at his job by his first mode. That job, in particular. The one he wasn’t allowed to have any longer.

  So Burkes it was, unless told otherwise. Interestingly, Bridget seemed to think that was simply right. Turner didn’t really care, just assuming that Cindy knew what she was doing, since that was actually the name of a real Agent and everything. To her any of the guys were good enough to write her story down in a cogent fashion.

  From behind her desk, a pale hand was waved suddenly.

  “Get with him on that. He can assign someone else to it, if nothing else. As soon as that’s done… Work on the meet tomorrow. Spinning your wheels on the Levitt thing isn’t helping at the moment. Sometimes you have to step back and let things percolate in the back of your brain. Who knows, maybe getting out of here for a bit will shake things loose in there?” She wasn’t saying it to be mean, actually trying to get the most out of Cin’s skills. The letters over her head were really bold, which meant she was trying to project the idea, like the other woman was a telepath.

  Standing, Cindy looked at the others, then tilted her head a bit.

  “Right. Well, it won’t get less done on it right now, so it’s probably a great idea. Hey… Should we get Burkes and… I don’t know, maybe Lancaster in on this?” They had the spaces left, after all.

  Ms. Turner grinned then.

  “Set it up? Now, I need to actually get with some people before I lose my job… Calling in the First Daughter like that…” She wasn’t really upset, being more than willing to risk Maggie. She didn’t know her after all.

  Sure, the girl was the First Daughter, but as far as Marcia Turner was concerned she might as well have been the lowest Private in the Army. There had been a time, about twenty years before, when that thought wouldn’t have been in her head, but t
hings had changed for the woman.

  Cin read up on it all, and could even get when it had happened for her. It had been about a year before, give or take. When the government had plotted to kill everyone in the IPB, simply for being Infected. For some reason that hadn’t really sat well with the woman. She got it, in a way, of course. They were all afraid that they, the Infected, would take over using their powers. More to the point, it had been Braid that had led them to think that kind of thing. Devorah Timberland. The super-psychic from Hobb’s world.

  Still, that didn’t mean Turner was in love with the government any longer. It came down to the idea that killing her friends, the people she did love, wasn’t allowed. For anyone.

  That news was interesting to Cindy. For one thing, she hadn’t really understood the Director was capable of love at all. It wasn’t a slam against the lady either. After all, Cin wasn’t really able to do that kind of thing herself, so it just hadn’t been something that she’d really thought about before that moment when the words over Marcia told her about it. How one of her driving forces in life was protecting her friends.

  Waving her right hand, Cindy stood up smoothly. It was a lot easier now, having super strength. Even after healing like she had earlier.

  “On it. Be back in a bit.” Or whenever she was.

  Interestingly, everyone in the room got that part. They just didn’t think it would be that hard to wrangle Burkes and Lancaster as far as visiting another reality went. Especially since they were going as guests. Cin had been thinking of them as the guards, but it kind of made sense to do it Turner’s way.

  When she walked outside, the world was a lot different looking than it had been the last time. For instance, there was a path made to replace the old one. It was of smooth, tan colored, glass. Something similar to it at any rate. It actually looked just as sharp as the cement that had been there. More so, to be honest. It didn’t fit with the rest of the base, but it also didn’t seem to be out of place really. Probably because the whole thing was kind of tan colored to start with. The big thing, for her, was that the deep pits had already been filled in. By two men, working inside a few hours. It would have taken heavy equipment for Cindy to get it done. That, or Kerry.