The Operator

by Kim Harrison

What the fuck! Not breathing, Peri kicked up, forcing Harmony to let go. Harmony couldn’t outfight her in hand-to-hand—not with her weight confined to one leg—but that was exactly what she was doing. Still on the floor, Peri rolled.

  Harmony jumped to evade it, and Peri reversed, cutting her legs out from under her on the return. Swearing, Harmony fell right on top of her. Harmony’s elbow hit the stone tile instead of Peri, and Peri couldn’t help her grin as she grabbed her by the cornrows and slammed her head down.

  Groaning, Harmony brought her knee up, jamming into Peri’s groin. Peri hesitated in shock, and in that moment of distraction, Harmony got a solid grip on Peri and spun her facedown onto the floor.

  Pain lanced through Peri, so hard and fast she couldn’t tell where it came from. Her face was on the cold tile. Blood slicked it, coming from her lip. Harmony had her knee on her back, and Peri’s arm was wrenched behind her. Her breath came in with a gasping pain as Harmony let up, and she lay there, caught. Damn, the woman is good.

  “Go ahead. Draft. I don’t mind kicking your ass twice,” Harmony said, leaning to put her lips inches from her ear. “Great, I think they’ll believe it now,” Harmony said around her whispering pants. “You’re going into a cell—”

  Peri bucked wildly at the sound of the metal cuffs. Harmony fell back, and Peri lurched upright, spinning to a crouch as the watching agents cheered them on. Coffee covered Harmony, and she looked ticked. The elevator dinged, and Harmony’s expression shifted to annoyance when it opened to show Steiner and his aides. “I don’t have time for a pissing contest,” she muttered, then launched herself.

  Peri’s eyes widened. Screaming, Harmony jumped onto the glass table, using it for momentum and speed as she flew right at her, feetfirst. They hit Peri square on, shoving her back into the pillar. Her head hit with a thunk and, dazed, Peri leaned against it, trying to remain upright. Before her, as if in a dream, Harmony hit the table as she fell, shattering it.

  Peri could do nothing as the agents urged Harmony to finish it. A primitive fear struck her as Harmony dragged herself upright, shoving pieces of the table aside as she crawled forward. The urge, the need maybe, to jump was a faint tickle, and she shoved it away.

  “I’ll be down to get you in an hour, okay?” Harmony muttered, clearly in pain even as she pushed Peri over and yanked one, then the other of her arms behind her back. “Just sit tight.”

  Like I have a choice? Peri thought, shuddering at the feel of steel ratcheting about her wrists. “Get off,” Peri wheezed, but Harmony had already pulled away, leaving Peri to sit up and lean against the same pillar she’d hit her head against. Her skull hurt, and she stared at Harmony as the woman got to her feet and tugged her coffee-splattered top straight. The agents ringing them had gone silent at Steiner’s disapproving presence, but money was changing hands as they began vanishing.

  “Make sure she doesn’t have a concussion and put her in a cell,” Steiner said.

  “Don’t touch me,” Peri demanded, knowing that “helping hands” might hurt more than assist, and she staggered to her feet. Her breath came in slow, and the world stopped spinning. Harmony was good, exceptionally good, and a deeper respect sifted through her.

  The lobby was emptying with a guilty quickness. Filthy and clearly hurting, Harmony retrieved Peri’s bag before shoving Peri to the elevator.

  Peri searched Harmony’s face as she got in, ran her card, and punched a button, but there was nothing: no satisfaction from having bested her, no anticipation at the beginnings of an escape—just a pained tiredness. “You’re a tough bitch,” Harmony said as the elevator doors closed. “Did you black out?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” Harmony dropped her head, hiding her face from the camera. “I’ll be back down in an hour to get you, and we can go. Nice and quiet out the back door. It takes that long just to free the pass codes after a lockdown.” She glanced sidelong at her. “Thanks for taking it so easy on me.”

  “No problem.” That was easy? Peri wiped away the blood from her lip with her shoulder.

  “I just need to know one thing.”

  Pulling back, Peri eyed her. “What?”

  “What did Heddles mean by ‘I won’t let you need’? Don’t lie to me. I have three younger sisters, and one dumb-ass older brother, and I can tell.”

  That Harmony hadn’t asked where Michael was stuck in Peri’s mind. It wasn’t necessarily a sign of trust, but rather a signal of intent, an assurance that Harmony wouldn’t take the information and go, leaving Peri behind. Her breath quickened, and she kept her head down and away from the cameras. The voice telling her to be honest with Harmony was only a shade louder than the one telling her to stick to her old ways and trust no one. “Bill darted me with Evocane at Everblue,” she finally said, heart pounding. “Michael is bringing me a vial as a sign of goodwill. Allen is there to sanction it, but the reality is that it’s probably a trap.”

  Harmony nodded, focus distant as the elevator’s numbers counted down. “And you expect me to believe that bullshit? That you’re not running back to Bill?”

  Peri looked at Harmony past her sweat-clumped hair, shoulders hunched and tired. “I want out. That’s all I ever wanted.”

  Harmony’s grip on her arm tightened. “Why am I believing this?” she said. But it was obvious she did.

  “You do know they’re going to demote your ass if they don’t outright fire you, right?” Peri asked as the doors slid open to show a familiar hallway, with thick glass doors at the end. It was an old Opti facility. No one built their containment like Bill. Her graduate thesis had been finding the holes and patching them.

  “I won’t be demoted if I come back with Michael,” Harmony muttered, hand on Peri’s shoulder as she escorted her down the hall. “Allen is your goal. Michael is mine. If you leave before Michael is in my custody, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth. If you’re screwing with me and you’re trying to get back to Bill, I’ll not only hunt you down but kill you. Deal?”

  Peri glanced sidelong at her, recalled Harmony’s haggard expression and haunted eyes atop the kitchen in the ductwork. “What did Michael do to you?” she asked.

  Harmony took a breath, emotion clogging her voice until she looked away, pain etching her brow. “There’s usually a reason when chickens kill one of their own,” she said when the elevator dinged.

  Oka-a-a-ay. Midwestern farm trivia aside, this felt right. “Deal,” she muttered as if she weren’t in cuffs, her lip bleeding and cheek scuffed. “But I’m not paying for the gas. You’ve probably got some lard-ass SUV that eats gas stations for lunch. I’ll get the snacks and water.”

  Harmony smiled, steeling her face as she ran her card and the man on the other side of the glass wall stood up. “Fine with me.”

  CHAPTER

  FOURTEEN

  Diary propped up on her chest, Peri lay on the foam cot, her jacket wadded up under her head. The hum of 741 Hz vibrated her synapses and prevented her ability to draft, and she couldn’t decide whether she was a trusting fool or just plain stupid. Sleep had been impossible, and now, after several hours of waiting for Harmony, even her diary was failing to distract her from the possibility that she’d fallen for a ruse designed solely to get her into the cell block. The other option, that Harmony herself had been found out and was in the next wing over, wasn’t much better. Fortunately, she’d helped design the safeguards to escape; she knew the ways around them. But it rankled, having trusted someone only to have it betrayed before the sun came up.

  “She’ll show, babe,” Jack said, but Peri was too pessimistic to trust even her intuition.

  “One of these days, you’re going to choke on your Pollyanna sandwich,” she said, hearing her words bounce back from the pages inches from her face. A feeling of what might’ve been homesickness took her as she looked at Jack lounging on the narrow cot opposite hers. His head was thrown back and his feet were spread wide. A featureless black tie hung loosely about his neck, and the white shirt
was unbuttoned at the top. She vaguely remembered seeing him like that once before . . . just not the particulars.

  I can’t wait any longer, she thought, squinting at her cramped handwriting. Steiner was a bastard. He might be grilling Harmony, keeping her stuck in an office somewhere.

  Peri had gotten through almost an entire year of memories, and it was odd, seeing Allen as a frustrated suitor against the fabric of platonic partner she’d draped him in. In the pages, Silas’s mood had improved, even if he still held himself at a discreet distance, enjoying her company mostly because Peri kept the other women away. Seeing her own infatuation bothered Peri, and it was infatuation. It was only love when it was returned.

  I can’t believe I was so stupid today. Silas and I were sparring before regular class, just warming up. He got me laughing so hard I almost peed my pants, which he then used to take me down. He was so cocky I couldn’t stand it, and like a dumb-ass, I kissed him. I don’t even know why I did it, except that he looked happy for once. He just stared at me, this empty expression on his face. I tried to apologize, but he said forget it, grabbed his stuff, and walked out. He missed the entire class, hiding like an old cat gone somewhere to die.

  Allen saw the whole thing. He says Silas is still feeling guilty about Summer. She’s been dead now for almost a year, and she’s still in his mind. Maybe I should just let it go. It’s not as if there’s a real chance for us. He’s one hell of an anchor, but they’re going to move him fully into tech at the end of the year. It sucks, because he’d be good at this, too, and it’s what he wants. But he’s too smart to waste, even if a drafter will make him bulletproof. He knows it, and it makes him mad. Maybe Silas is the smarter of us, keeping his distance.

  Peri turned the page to a new entry, her brow furrowed. She didn’t remember it, but it might explain why Silas had always refused to spar with her.

  Good, good day, though I can’t shake this feeling of waiting for the second shoe to drop. I don’t know if I need to thank Allen or if Silas figured this out all on his own, but we’re good. Better than good. Silas showed up at the range this morning, just as silent and broody as always, but before I could get out my apology, he kisses me within an inch of me ripping his clothes off. It really wasn’t a kiss as much as a mutual mauling. He wouldn’t say I love you, and every time I tried to say it, he’d start kissing me again. I’m afraid to ask Allen what changed his mind, but I doubt Silas opened up to him about it. Frankly, I don’t care. I feel safe with him. His silence is worth more than a hundred declarations of devotion. I watched him mourn Summer, and I know the guilt is still in him. I’m willing to wait for those three words, even if I forget.

  “You need to stop reading that thing,” Jack said sourly.

  Peri used one of the pages that had fallen out as a bookmark and closed it. “That’s not what Silas thinks.”

  Jack tilted his head and gave her an askance look. “I’m not Silas’s intuition, I’m yours. It’s going to bitch-slap you. You know there’s nothing in the past except things that are no longer real. The only real thing is right now. And right now, you’re screwed.”

  “Thank you, Jack. That’s comforting to hear coming from you,” she said, sure they didn’t have any audio bugs down here with the 741 Hz going. At least with it being an old Opti cell, the antidrafting audio wasn’t so loud that it was annoying.

  Jack smiled impishly and straightened his tie. “Just trying to help.”

  Sitting up, she rubbed the ache from her neck. “Well, don’t.” Standing, she tossed her diary back onto the cot and stretched to keep her sore leg from stiffening. She was alone among the half-dozen cells, though she was sure there’d be a live guard in the detainment office. It was eight in the bloody morning, and she was so strung out that she was hallucinating.

  I don’t think she’s coming, she thought as she extended her leg until the scab threatened to crack and bleed. She’d been captured by Harmony’s alluded promises and outright lies, going meekly into her cell like a kid promised candy. If she had for one moment thought that Harmony would let her rot down here . . . But no-o-o-o. She trusted her, and now she was going to have to break out of here on her own. Not impossible, but Opti had a tendency to fill in their security holes when she pointed them out, and WEFT would likely be the same.

  Jack shifted his feet to make a sliding sound that didn’t really exist. “Maybe Steiner had her bugged and he heard the entire thing?” he suggested. “She might be in her own cell.”

  “Maybe.” Taking her jacket, she stuffed her arms in the sleeves and zipped it up as if readying for a task. She couldn’t risk missing her chance at Allen and a vial of Evocane, not to mention avoiding having to explain to Steiner why she was in withdrawal. Sixteen hours. She could evade a building of guns, but it would have been easier with a second set of eyes and something more than her fists and a bad mood.

  Fidgety, Peri looked past the thick plastic to the heat-sensitive keypad by the door. Anticipation curled up through her like smoke. Breathing out the adrenaline, she tried to quash her excitement, her muscles still uncertain from their recent ordeal. She couldn’t wait any longer.

  Turning back to the cot, she ripped her pillow open, using a wad of the absorbent cotton to fill her ears and dilute the 741 Hz. More went into her mouth, and she chewed it to a stiff pulp.

  Standing, she padded over in her spiffy keen prison slippers to one of the vent holes of her cell. The alarm pad glowed a dim green, and leaning against the plastic, she exhaled to steady herself as she spat a wad of warm cotton at the heat-sensitive door pad.

  “Nice,” Jack said as it fell off the pad, leaving a red three glowing on the screen. “They should’ve replaced Opti’s old system, not recoded it,” he added, coming to stand beside her.

  “You think?” My God, she was even hallucinating his scent, masculine with just the right amount of sweat. One by one, she methodically punched in the code to open Opti’s sub-diagnostics, then another to access the security systems and start a system check. In the upper corner, the glow from the security camera dimmed and went out. She smiled. Halfway home. The cell locks remained closed, of course, but with the system check running, she could go in through the diagnostics and do it manually—thanks to the fire codes.

  Her smile widened when the door lock clicked open, a fleeting thought passing through her that Cavana would be proud of her. Tucking her diary into her jacket’s pocket, she pushed the door open soundlessly before going to the pad and making sure the system check couldn’t be shut down. She had ten minutes before anyone could access the higher functions in the cell block.

  But her satisfaction vanished when the door to the central guard station beeped and hissed open. Peri spun, awkwardly jerking to a stop when she saw it was Harmony, her cornrows oiled and a new white bandage showing on her elbow. The woman stopped short, her lips parting in surprise as her eyes went to the empty cell, open door, then her. “How did you get out?” she exclaimed.

  Relief spilled through her, surprising Peri at its depth. She hadn’t been betrayed. “You took too long,” she said, seeing a downed man behind Harmony in the guards’ office. “I thought Steiner had incarcerated you.”

  “For beating you up? Not a chance.” Harmony grinned as she held the door open. In the guards’ office, an alarm began to buzz. “If anything, smacking you up got me points. You want anything from your cell?”

  She looked back, seeing Jack beside the cot. Using her foot, she shut the door with a decisive kick. “No,” she said tightly.

  “Oh, that hurts, babe,” Jack said, walking right through the barrier. “But I think I’m starting to like your new partner.”

  Peri’s expression fell. “She’s not my new partner.”

  Harmony eyed her, still standing in the threshold to keep the door open. “What’s that?”

  “Nothing.” Anxious, Peri slipped past Harmony, almost tripping over the guard unconscious on the floor.

  The light on the guard panel went out as Harmon
y let the door shut, and the faint alarm ceased. “Sorry about being late,” she said as she cut the card key from the guard’s belt. “Even with beating you up, Steiner was giving me grief. I got us a very clean three-minute window. It gets dicey after that. I managed to get you a knife, though. Here.”

  “Oh, hey. Thanks,” Peri said as Harmony handed it to her, then shocked herself when she looked up from tucking it away to find Jack standing right next to Harmony, both of them slick and professional.

  “Hell, I was impressed she got down here, but getting you a knife? Ballsy,” Jack said approvingly. “I’m definitely starting to like this woman.”

  Me too, Peri thought. “You want to tie him up?” Peri asked, ignoring Jack as she opened drawers to search for plastic wrist ties.

  Harmony checked her watch and peered past the door to the hall. “Don’t bother. If we’re not out in three minutes, it won’t matter if he’s tied or not. Stay three feet behind or right at my elbow. We’re going to be on camera for eight seconds in the lobby, but I’ve got a little diversion.”

  Jack cracked his knuckles as a distant hooting began. On the guard panel, a light flashed.

  “And there it is.” Harmony swore softly. “It’s early. Can you run?”

  “Yep.” Peri shoved a wad of wrist ties into her pocket, shut the drawer, and jogged after Harmony, the woman already in the outer hall. A smear of blood on the floor caught her eye, and she gave it a wide berth. “Is that going to be a problem?”

  “No.” It was curt, and Peri watched Harmony massage her hand in memory. “Up the stairs. Elevators are traps.”

  Peri was last into the stairwell, and Harmony grunted in impatience when Peri stopped to zip-strip the handle closed. They took the stairs fast, feet shushing on the tile. It felt good to be moving, and a faint, acidic scent tickled her nose.

  “Why didn’t you draft to get away? In the lobby,” Harmony said, surprising her. “No one would have known you did. Or did you and I shut your ass down twice?”