[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
when he squeezed the trigger in his right hand, the clay gave a loud sizzle before
"It melded the door shut!" Ian exclaimed, getting to his feet and bringing his sister with him. "I thought
you were blasting us out of here!"
"Too dangerous," Kazu replied over the blaring alarm. He ordered sharply, "Get back and stay under
those foam pads."
Ian stared, surprised his lover would speak to him in such a tone but soon obeyed since Kazuhi obviously
knew what he was doing. Already there was banging and shouting from the other side of the steel door,
but it was all ineffective. The alarm kept blaring but strangely, the shouting stopped. Tense and alert,
Kazu stood to one side of the door, pressing his back against the side stone wall and seemed prepared to
ambush the first intruder.
What seemed like an eternity later, the alarms died and Kazu smiled, posture relaxing as he moved away
from beside the door. Glancing over at him, Kazu asked, "Can you feel them?"
"What?" and then it hit him, that faint thrum from the nano-mites in his body. He could suddenly sense
there were other presences around him, and surprisingly, he realised he could sense Kazuhi himself.
Startled, he pressed a hand to his own chest, looked up at his lover and exclaimed, "I thought mine were
all dead!"
88
Andra Sashner Dragonfly
"They were," Kazu replied cryptically, expressionless. Then he turned back to the door and
commandingly said, "Just stay where you are until we're found. I don't want us to get caught up in
things if someone else gets in here before the RIG operatives do."
There was the sound of distant gun fire, coming closer, until shots were fired from directly outside the
door. After some inaudible shouting, someone thumped a precise rhythm on the door and Kazu
pounced forward to thump a pattern back.
"Get under those pads," Kazu said, grabbing his own pad, "They're going to blow the door in."
Eileen whimpered in his arms and held him tighter but Ian managed to get the pad up and over them. In
two breaths, an explosion sounded, the door gave an impressive protest, but then the steel piece fell
forward into the room and crashed loudly to the floor.
"Escape route delivery for three hostages!" called a cheerful voice.
Ghost jubilantly called back, "Arch!"
Ian pushed the pad off of himself and Eileen, coughing at the thick dust in the air. He struggled to get up
to his feet, his ears ringing, and he wondered how he could possibly be hearing anything at all
Oh, that wasn't nice at all...
The sight of Arch hugging Ghost tightly, lifting the smaller man clear off the ground and grinning
triumphantly did very bad things to the space behind his breastbone. Turning resolutely away, he helped
his sister to her feet.
Coughing, clinging to him, she stumbled a bit as she stood and asked, "Is it over?"
I hope not. The question hit him very hard but he managed to answer, "I hope so."
"Prepare to move people!" Falcon ordered from the doorway, tossing Kazuhi a parcel.
From the plastic, Kazuhi ripped out a three vests and a large pair of wide single-panelled eye glasses.
Helping first Eileen then Ian into the vests, he donned his own then pulled on his glasses. The lenses,
from Ian's perspective, began to light up and he realised the lenses were actually a screen.
"Yo!" Kazu gave a small grin, obviously speaking to his handler, "Nice to be back, sir."
Falcon said, at Ghost's indication they were ready, "You take second," and tossed him a handgun.
Arch cocked his rifle and told the siblings, "Follow Ghost, I'll be right behind you."
Down unfamiliar hallways and through doors, Ian followed Kazuhi no, Ghost. Questions raced in his
mind, thoughts he wasn't sure he wanted. He's trying to keep you alive, he berated himself with an
internal shake of his head. They marched up a set of stairs and finally, after crossing down one hall, they
made it to the main ground floor.
89
Andra Sashner Dragonfly
"Warehouse," Ian breathed, looking up at the tall ceiling and huge space. But then there was the distinct
sound of an aircraft. "Hangar?"
"Get down," Falcon hissed, and Ghost push-pulled them both down to the ground as the other two
operatives opened fire to a point Ian couldn't see.
Between his own ear and where Eileen huddled at his neck, Ghost shouted, "We have to move!"
Crouched but scrambling through the dust and noise, Ian followed Ghost's lead, not looking when Ghost
paused only momentarily to fire a single and precise shot, ignoring the answering cry. Suddenly, dashing
through a small side-door, open air hit and dizziness struck.
Ghost called, "This way!"
Following his lover, this dangerous operative he almost didn't recognise, he found himself surrounded
by police and flashing lights. Suddenly a pair of medics attempted to pry Eileen from his arms and
though she initially resisted, she relaxed under their soothing tones. After making sure she was being
seen to, Ian stopped and looked around, searching.
"Where is he?" He muttered, turning in a slow circle.
"Sir, please, if you would come with me," one medic protested, trying to pull him along, "It's not safe to
remain here "
"He has an eye missing!" he argued, not even sparing the irate man a glance, still searching for Kazu's
small form, "He needs medical attention as well."
"There are only two of you," the medic said, renewing his efforts.
"No, you imbecile," he spared the medic a glare and snapped, "He's an operative but he's missing an eye
now, don't you tell me you're going to leave him like that!"
Patiently, the medic soothed, "No, sir, of course not. But if he's an operative then he'll have a separate
team to attend to him." Gesturing to their surroundings, the man cleverly argued, "See, he's not here,
he's probably being seen to now. They get the best medical attention, trust me."
After one last look around, meeting eyes with May who stood dangerous and armed only a few metres
away, and seeing her nod encouragingly, he reluctantly let himself be led away.
*~*~*
"I told him the truth," Gale admitted softly. Elbows propped on his knees as he leaned forward, his
hands clasped before him, and a rare solemn expression on his face. "I had to. It's been over two weeks.
He and his sister have done everything we asked, gone to a councillor, working on putting this all behind
him, but he hung on to you."
"I don't understand," Ghost said flatly, fighting back the curious and demanding questions that
threatened to burst from his mouth of its own accord.
90
Andra Sashner Dragonfly
"He tried to drive down into the basement parking," Gale recounted, "Security turned him away, of
course. So he came on foot, tried to get into the building without a pass. He reasoned he still had active
nano-mites, made a fuss in the lobby when the receptionist wouldn't let him through or even call up."
He scrubbed a hand over his face, "They had to bodily remove him from the building and the second
time he came they had to call the police."
"So you told him," Ghost finished.
"Yes," Gale murmured, "I'm sorry."
"That was the plan, wasn't it?" Ghost said more than really asked. He turned away, making it look like he
had resigned himself when really he was just hiding the wetness in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Gale murmured when he left.
Ghost lay frozen in the clinic bed, letting the pre-op drugs kick in. He blinked up at the ceiling, ignoring
the throb in his other eye socket and the insistence of his body that there was something in the empty
space. Taking a deep breath, he clenched his fist, yearning for the quiet of oblivion, wanting the ache
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]