Test Subjects

by R S Penney

  “Yes, ma'am.”

  The call ended abruptly, and Anna took a deep breath. Ziarogati might be the least of her worries. There was a good chance that one of Slade's minions was here, someone with abilities identical to those of a Justice Keeper. If Leo or Valeth or, Companion forbid it, Isara decided to attack those cops, good people would die. Maybe the cops would get lucky and take Leo, Valeth or Isara down as well, but Slade's lieutenants all believed that the Overseers could resurrect them. Which meant they weren't afraid of dying.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Keli watching her with a concerned expression. “Are you going to be okay?” the telepath inquired. “Please tell me you're not doing that thing where you blame yourself for all of this.”

  Chuckling softly, Anna smiled and shook her head. “I'm not,” she promised. “I just can't stop worrying about what's going to happen when Slade's minions discover they're surrounded by armed tactical officers.”

  Keli grunted.

  Their drive to the fabrication centre was a relatively short one; after maybe three minutes of anticipation, they approached the building from behind. Unlike many of the residential or communal structures, which had architecture meant to emphasize their beauty, the fabrication centre was all about function.

  It was a large, flat building that took up most of a city block, with solar panels and skylights on the roof. A line of automated cars waited in a loading zone for people who had heavy items to transport.

  Anna saw a line of windows on the back wall that looked into the food court, as well as several fabrication rooms, but the slightly tinted glass made it impossible for her to tell what was going on inside. For the first time, she realized that she was more than a little nervous. If this had devolved into a hostage situation, could she handle it?

  Multiple police cars formed a blockade behind the building, and she assumed there were more in front. She also spotted half a dozen egg-shaped security drones hovering above the uniformed officers. There were also two vans surrounded by women and men in full tactical gear.

  Their car came to a stop.

  Anna got out with a sigh, a strong wind hitting her as soon as she emerged, and marched to the line of cops. “Status report,” she ordered. “Has he made any demands or given any signs that he's willing to negotiate?”

  One of the uniformed men, a broad-shouldered fellow with light-brown skin and a dimpled chin, turned around and nodded to her. “Not yet,” he said. “We don't even know if he knows we're here.”

  “Oh, I'm sure he knows.”

  “Orders, ma'am?”

  Several others watched her with anxiety plain on their faces. By now, most of them would have heard about the debacle two nights ago. Knowing that they faced an enemy who could take control of their bodies wouldn't be easy.

  Turning on her heel, Anna crossed her arms and paced a line in front of the officers. “Keli and I are going in first,” she began. “We both have some degree of protection from telepathic attacks.”

  “And the rest of us?” one skinny cop asked.

  Anna looked over her shoulder, then set her jaw and nodded to him. “Maintain the perimeter,” she answered. “If things go Bleak, Rajel and Cassi will be your best defense against whatever comes out of that building.”

  Now, where were her wayward Keepers? After giving her a brief summary of what had happened outside Marini's house, they had gotten into their car to rendezvous with the local cops.

  Anna spotted them standing in a cluster of armoured Tac officers, chatting amiably. Rajel stood with hands clasped in front of himself, his head bowed as he listened to one of the uniformed men. From fatigue, most likely. The guy wasn't exactly prone to random displays of humility.

  Cassi had her back turned as she nodded along with whatever the conversation. She looked like she had recovered from the pummeling the ziarogat had inflicted. The small woman turned around when Anna drew near. Sneaking up on a Keeper was very difficult.

  “Hey,” Anna said.

  “Operative Lenai.”

  “Stay with them,” Anna said, gesturing to the cops. “Keep them safe. If anything wacky comes out of that building, it's your job to protect them.”

  “Wacky?” Cassi said with a raised eyebrow.

  “You know, ziarogati, hostile telepaths, a strange hooded woman who looks like she's on her way to a sci-fi convention. The usual brand of patented weirdness that seems to pop up whenever Slade decides to get involved.”

  Cassi's face was scrunched up like a pug dog, and she shook her head in dismay. “Is this what your life is like?” she asked. “Bleakness take me, is this what my life is going to be like now that I've gotten involved with you?”

  “It's the Anna Lenai guarantee. Adorkable quirkiness and life-threatening danger: that's the irresistible combination that made me Emblem Magazine's sexiest Keeper not one, not two, but three years in a row.”

  Cassi laughed.

  Anna clapped the other woman on the shoulder, then nodded once in respect. “Stay with them,” she said again. “And don't let anyone with delusions of competence decide to play hero. None of these people are equipped to handle a telepath.”

  “You can count on me.”

  “Keli!” Anna shouted. “It's time!”

  The telepath was a silhouette that came up behind her with a pistol clutched in both hands. “All right,” Keli said. “Let's get this over with.”

  Several armoured officers stepped out of the way to make room for them as they passed through the blockade of cars. The fabrication centre didn't have a huge parking lot like you might see outside an Earth shopping mall, but there was about fifty feet of open asphalt between her and the sliding glass doors that led into the building.

  Keli moved stiffly with her gun pointed down at the ground, her teeth bared as if she expected a wild animal to lunge at her at any moment. “How do I let you talk me into these little missions?”

  “Stay calm,” Anna said.

  She hadn't even touched her gun; instead, she walked with an easy stride, her arms swinging as if she were strolling through a meadow. Maybe it was years of experience, but Anna really wasn't afraid for her life. There was apprehension, but that was focused entirely on the possibility that someone else might get hurt.

  The doors slid apart.

  Inside, she found a wide hallway with white floor tiles and doors in each wall that led to various fabrication rooms. One for furniture, one for clothing, one for children's toys. There was even a repair centre for household robots that required maintenance. At the end of the corridor, another set of glass doors led to the street.

  Through them, Anna saw several police cars arrayed in a blockade and at least six floating drones waiting like sentinels. She hoped the cops had evacuated the area. There was a rec-centre across the street.

  On her right, a smaller, narrower corridor branched off from the main one. This one had windows that looked out on the sidewalk and potted plants along the opposite wall. It ended in a set of double doors that led to the food court.

  Tables were spaced evenly across the tiled floor, and automated food dispensaries were built into the walls, each one offering selections from a different region of Leyria. There were screens of SmartGlass positioned on the walls where space permitted; some advertised movies or plays that were being performed in local theatres.

  She saw people as well, a group of seven who huddled together in the middle of the room. Adren stood over them with a plate of some chicken dish, his fingers drenched in sauce. He was scooping up chunks of marinated meat with his bare hands and shoving it into his mouth. “More!” he ordered.

  Her mind took in all of that in half a second and then settled on the real threat.

  A woman in brown pants and a sweatshirt stood on a table with her feet apart, a hood pulled up to hide her face. Crap! Anna moaned inwardly. It would have to be the worst of them.

  Isara reached up to pull the hood back, exposing a face identical to that of a woman that Anna had look
ed up to. Her hair was longer, but those were Jena's features. “Hello, Anna,” she said in a soft, silky voice.

  Tossing her head back, Anna rolled her eyes. “Of course it's you,” she muttered. “If I wanted proof that the universe hates me, today would be hard to ignore.”

  With a giggle, Isara jumped from the table and landed on the floor tiles. She dusted her hands and moved gracefully forward. “Not to worry, dear,” she said. “We don't have to fight, if you would prefer to avoid it. Just let me take Adren, and I'll be on my way.”

  “You know that's not gonna happen.”

  Isara sauntered toward her with a smile that promised pain. “I figured,” she said, her eyebrows rising. “But I thought I would make the offer. I know there's no chance of us becoming allies, but…we don't have to be enemies.”

  Anna narrowed her eyes, then shook her head. “You shot up a park full of innocent people just to make a point,” she spat. “You know, I kind of think we do.”

  “If you insist, dear.”

  “I really do.”

  In her mind, Anna saw Keli's silhouette moving toward Adren at a slow, measured pace. Good. Let her deal with the telepath; she had the skills for it. Anna would keep this sad wannabe-Jena off her back.

  With another enemy, she would have drawn her pistol, but using firearms against someone with Keeper powers was usually a bad idea, and that was especially true today. There was too much chance that Isara might curve her bullets toward one of the many civilians scattered throughout this room. Even a stun-round could be harmful to certain people. Someone with a heart condition, for instance.

  Isara planted herself in Anna's path, her smile broadening to something ghoulish. “Well, my dear,” she said. “I do believe it's your move.”

  Once again, Anna noted a strange sense of calm. It wasn't that she wasn't afraid – if she really thought about it, she could feel the tightness in her chest – but she knew what she had to do, what to expect.

  They circled one another until Anna stood with her back to the tables while Isara positioned herself in front of the exit. “You know,” Anna said, adopting a fighting stance. “When I play Chess, I prefer to play black. So why don't you make the first-”

  Isara spun in a blur, kicking out behind herself to drive a black boot into Anna's chest and force the air from her lungs. Winded and wheezing, Anna stumbled backwards. “All right…Now that's more like it.”

  Isara rounded on her, charging forward.

  Anna jumped and curled her legs up against herself, allowing the other woman to rush past beneath her. She dropped to a crouch on the tiled floor, then rose smoothly and turned to face her opponent.

  Isara whirled around in all her raging glory, lips peeled back to show pearly-white teeth. The woman threw a hard punch.

  Leaning back, Anna brought one hand up to smack her opponent's wrist and nudge the blow aside. Another fist came at her, but she deflected that too. The onslaught forced Anna to back up while her adversary advanced.

  Isara pressed her attack with another jab.

  Anna ducked, allowing the woman's fist to pass harmlessly over her. She slammed both hands into her opponent's stomach. Grunting from the impact, Isara retreated just a few paces.

  Anna jumped.

  She snap-kicked, the tip of her shoe connecting with Isara's nose. Bloodied by the hit, the woman went sprawling back to the tables, catching herself with a hand on the edge of one. “I dare say that was surprising.”

  Anna stood with her fists up, a tight frown on her face. “I'm everyone's favourite party girl,” she said. “Always willing to do tricks for your amusement.”

  Keli moved through the food court with a purpose, her jaw set, her face tight with anxiety. Rarely was she so aware of the pounding of her own heart, of the sensation of fingernails digging into her palms.

  Tables had been pushed out of a small section in the middle of the floor to make room for seven people who cowered on their knees. One man had fingers laced over the top of his head as he sobbed. An older woman cradled her grandson to her chest and turned her face away from Adren.

  There was a young couple who shivered on the floor, a man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and a teenage girl. Every one of them was whimpering, crying or at least breathing hard. None were willing to look at Adren.

  He stood over them like some twisted puppet master, fingers plucking at invisible strings as he wove illusions and inflicted them upon his victims. Keli could see them in the thoughts that radiated from the cowering people.

  The teenage girl was surrounded by spectral images of her classmates, all pointing and laughing at her. The young boy who clung to his grandmother saw a hooded figure standing over his bed in the dead of night.

  “Food!” Adren shouted.

  Apparently, he had decided that procuring it himself was too much of an effort. Or maybe it was because he feared what might happen if he got too far away from the group of hostages. Keli sensed no aggression from the police who surrounded this building, but a hostage taker who got too far away from his human shields was just begging a sniper to pull the trigger.

  Adren released the thirty-something man from his hold, and that fellow blinked as he came back to reality. “Food!” Adren shouted a second time.

  The man knew his job; he stood up on shaky legs, turned his back and ran over to the nearest dispenser, punching his order into a touchscreen panel. Well, then…Adren's hunger might make this a little easier.

  Keli positioned herself behind him, squinting at the back of his head. “Let them go, Adren,” she said. “This game is over.”

  He spun around and gave a start when he saw her. Apparently, the man had been so fixated on his captives that he hadn't even noticed Keli's approach. She had masked her telepathic presence to the best of her ability, but that was hardly perfect concealment. He should have sensed her when she stepped into the room.

  With his mouth open, Adren blinked at her. “You,” he spat in a gravelly voice. “I don't have time for you.”

  Once again, he attacked her, trying to open Keli's mind to the fear and pain of the people in this room, but she was ready for that little trick. She muted each thought to an incoherent buzz and focused on Adren.

  Keli stepped forward.

  He stepped back.

  All of a sudden, the fabrication centre was gone, and she found herself trapped in a cramped cell with a thick metal door. Her clothes had been replaced by a drab, gray smock and there was a slaver's collar around her neck.

  Trapped again! Caged like an animal! If she stretched her arms out to both sides, she could touch both walls simultaneously. Her heart began to race. No, not this place! Anything but this place!

  Keli closed her eyes, breathing deeply, slowly. “It's not going to work,” she replied in a hoarse whisper. “And really, you should be ashamed. Raynar could come up with better illusions than this.”

  When she opened her eyes, she was back in the fabrication center with a disheveled Adren standing right in front of her. Behind him, the hostages, who were no longer under his control, began to slink away.

  He attacked again.

  Keli focused.

  The illusion dissipated before it could form, and Adren grunted as he took a step backward. He stretched a hand toward her, fingers curling as if he meant to squeeze her heart until it stopped beating.

  She felt him trying to dig through her thoughts and put up a wall. The pressure on her mind was not insignificant – more than Raynar had ever managed, if she was honest – but she had spent years training for this.

  Sweat beading on her forehead, rolling over the bridge of her nose, Keli shook her head. “Nice try,” she said, stepping forward. “Maybe you'd like to see what it looks like when an expert does it.”

  She hurled her will against him and came up against an impenetrable barrier. So, she focused on it, hammering it with everything she had. Exhausted as he was, Adren had to struggle to maintain a defense. She pressed and pressed. Keep him fo
cused on that. He would not notice when she pulled her gun and-

  Unexpectedly, cracks formed in the wall that shielded his mind, and it crumbled to dust. She slipped into his thoughts with no effort. Let's see what you really fear, my boy. Turn about is fair play.

  She was standing with Adren in the middle of a forest, rays of sunlight filtering through to warm the damp air. He still looked haggard, watching her with bloodshot eyes, then staring past her at something else.

  Keli turned.

  Isara was there too, or rather some facsimile of her, standing on a rock with the hood of her sweater up and smiling at nothing in particular. Something moved through the trees with a bloodcurdling moan.

  It was invisible, but she had a brief glimpse of its outline as it flowed toward her. Keli had seen a creature like this before. A year ago, on a beach, after Isara had rescued her from people who wanted to return her to captivity.

  She rounded on Adren. “You've seen it too.”

  He panted.

  Everything blurred around them, and the illusion fell apart to leave them standing in the fabrication centre food court. A stunned Adren took a few steps backwards, arms flailing as he tried to keep his balance.

  Keli lifted her weapon and fired.

  A stun-round to the leg made Adren flinch, and then his body spasmed as the jolt went through him. He fell face-down on the floor, unconscious for the time being. At last, Keli let out a sigh of relief. It was over.

  Now, she just had to help Anna.

  Snarling like an enraged animal, Isara came forward with murder in her eyes. Once again, Anna steeled herself for a fight. All she had to do was give Keli enough time to subdue Adren and get the civilians out. After that, they could call in backup. Thought fled when her enemy attacked.

  Isara spun for a hook-kick.

  With a hiss, Anna leaned back to watch a black-soled shoe pass right in front of her nose. In an instant, the other woman came round to face her and threw a punch aimed for Anna's nose.