“What the hell is wrong with you?” Sisko demanded. “You having trouble with your combat programming again?”
“I’m fine.” Noah handed his phone to Sisko. “Take this number. Find out everything you can about Asa. And follow Hannah. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. Thirteen years is a long time. I have no idea who this guy is now.”
“I’m on it.” Sisko gave the big block of data a swift glance and handed it back. They all had the photographic memory mod, but Sisko’s talent for data-gulping and ferreting out information was uncanny even by Midlander standards.
“Find Zade, too. Tell him to get his ass in here to talk to me,” Noah said. “But be careful on the phone. We’ve definitely been hacked.”
Sisko gave him one final worried stare before the door fell closed.
Finally, he could just sit alone in the dark and try to chill. These massive back-to-back adrenaline dumps were going to take a long time to metabolize. Good thing he didn’t actually need sleep.
Or at least, not what an unmod would call sleep.
There were several episodes in his life that he made a point of not remembering. The one in his mind now made the short list. That day he woke up after Dad’s death and found Mom gone. He’d been seventeen. Asa, fifteen. Hannah, nine.
She never came back. CPS had been farming them out to foster homes when Noah took his younger brother and sister and ran away.
He’d kept them going for quite a while. Scrounging, stealing and scamming was all he knew how to do at the time, so he’d clenched his teeth and done it. They had to eat.
He and Asa were both skilled, having learned the craft from Mom and Dad. Places to stay were more complicated, but they managed, sleeping in flophouses, or on the streets. They might have gone on like that indefinitely but for a run of bad luck. Hannah had pneumonia when the Midlands recruiter found them. Asa was being surly and secretive, sneaking out at night. All of them were hungry, dirty and cold.
The recruiter overdid his promo spiel. The way he told it, Midlands was an elite school for magical superkids. Like any elite, desirable place would be free, ever. The guy said Midlands would give them powers, abilities that would make them special.
Riiiight. It sounded like a big fucking fairy tale to him, but he figured, why not go with it for now? Get some hot food, a shower, antibiotics for Hannah. As soon as they were on their feet again, they’d pick a lock and breeze on out of there.
Asa had disagreed violently. Fuck, no, he said. Don’t get near the place. Those scumbags would shackle them and eat their livers.
Noah lost it. Told Asa to fuck off. Big fist fight. And Asa had fucked off.
Permanently.
His brother never did get to gloat about being right. Midlands had been worse than he’d ever imagined. And Noah had led his baby sister in there by the hand.
He shoved that thought down into the dark where it belonged. Or tried to. Despite his best efforts, he could still feel its cold dead weight inside him. He needed to leave that stuff behind. He had problems enough to deal with right now.
Like Asa’s mysterious message. Aside from its content, the message implied other alarming things. Asa knew Sisko’s codes, Noah’s cell private number, the secret Batello deal. He knew about Noah’s engagement, which had never been announced.
Most of all, he knew about the Obsidian Group, the investors who had funded the Midlands research facility. But how?
He put on the contacts and shield specs again, and raised the shield shades so he could stare at Mount Rainier again. To an unmod the mountain would be completely hidden in the gathering dusk. He could see it just fine even through shield specs.
He’d chosen this office for that mountain. The view chilled him like an analog hook. He’d climbed it many times. Even from a distance, he could could almost smell the snow, feel icy air burn his nose and the jagged black rock scraping his fingertips.
He pictured huge, cold spaces around him, vast and empty. Big enough even for him to breathe, to move. To fully exist without crashing into anything.
He wondered if he’d screwed them all, with this one impulsive, stupid move.
Asa could be lying about Batello, of course. But why would he? Asa had his faults, sure, but dishonesty was not one of them.
Only death could be more honest than thirteen years of silence.
Chapter 4
The door burst open. Noah blocked his eyes, but not before the light flooding in gave his head a sharp, rattling zing. Shit.
Stupid, not to lock the door while his shield specs were off. He was getting sloppy.
Zade Ryan entered, the door shut, and the light dropped back to manageable levels.
“You could knock,” Noah said.
“I don’t believe in giving advance warning,” Zade replied.
“This isn’t a surprise attack.” Noah rubbed his throbbing forehead. “I hope.”
“Relax, Noah. Sisko told me that I was summoned into your exalted presence, so here I am. I’ve been out there, doing your bidding.”