Reave had never seen anything like it before. If someone had reported it to him, he would have had trouble believing it. As it was, he had to accept that Scythe’s feelings for the girl and her father were genuine. It was probably as close as any halfblood orphan could get to being part of a true okin. He began to think that perhaps Scythe was more Kin than he originally thought.
“Sir?” Anvil said from the doorway.
“Yes?” Reave turned off his display and began to clear his desk. It was about time to eat something and turn in for the night anyway.
“Just to let you know, there was a little disturbance in one of the warehouses.”
“What?” Reave swept the confidential paperwork into its folder and secured it in the safe while the man explained.
“A small fire shorted an electrical line. It has already been found and put out, but you will smell a little of the residual smoke coming from the air vents; it had already begun to circulate through the system…”
Reave could smell the subtle odor now that he was concentrating on it, as well as feel a slight stinging in his eyes. “Isn’t there a decent filter?” That was going to give him a headache if he had to smell it all night.
“There appears to be basic filtration in the air conditioning system, but we think it will be faster to just air out the building. With your permission, we’ll open all doors and windows and run the ventilation fans on full.”
“All right. Put another two on the perimeter and make sure we’ve got surveillance covered.”
“Already done. Rogers sent out a team as well.”
“Good. Let’s see it.”
They crossed the patio, pausing only to communicate their situation and reassure the Huran representative who oversaw the facility at night. After he updated them on the situation, most of the soldiers returned to their activities. The majority of people were finishing up with their evening meals and enjoying what short leisure time they had. While some were playing cards or other games at the tables in the large courtyard or in their cramped barracks, others had already turned in for the night.
At the end of their journey through the warehouses, Reave was not surprised to find Scythe at the top of a ladder, his head and shoulders swallowed up by aluminum ducting.
Below him, one of Reave’s technicians said without hiding her annoyance, “I’ve already looked at it, sir. A little dust and soft debris had built up in a crevice that had some thin wiring passing by it. The heat from the current eventually dried it out and it caught about thirty minutes ago. When the fire hit the wire, the system’s circuit breakers cut the electrical immediately. There was no spread of fire beyond this point. I don’t see any signs of tampering.” She frowned irritably up at Scythe as he lowered himself out of the hatch.
Reave said, “Good job, Frejin.” He waited calmly until Scythe reached the floor.
Frejin smirked when Scythe said, “There is no sign of tampering. It happened just like she said.” She turned and started packing up the ladder, pausing when he continued, “However, I think it still might be sabotage. You might want to alert…”
“What? You just said…”
Reave raised his hand to forestall her, keeping his eyes on Scythe. It was a relief to see the efficient Special Agent he had come to rely on back in the rhythm of things.
Scythe continued, “It maybe nothing, but I wouldn’t count on it. This gauge of wire should be able to handle the quantity of amperage for its use. It’s a standard installation. For it to heat up enough to ignite the dust clumps, there is something down the line pulling more than it should. On top of that, there should have been circuit breakers at that end to shut down the flow of electricity.”
“It couldn’t be just a case of poor installation?”
“I count at least two or three signs of negligence, depending on how strict you are, which is two too many for it to be a coincidence in my book. This stuff is standard, as I said; there is a range of safe allowance, and usually even the highest limit is well below what it would take to generate that much heat. Whatever is pulling more electricity is pulling a lot more, something even a novice would know not to do.”
“Are you saying I don’t know…”
“No, Frejin,” Reave interrupted patiently, “He’s not.” He signaled to Scythe, who shrugged.
“We could follow it…”
“But you think it would be a waste of time.”
“I think it would be too late. If it were me, on the unlikely chance anyone figured it out, I’d have the cable strung all over the place; I’d know how long it would take to find the end, and I’d make sure that it was too long to make a difference. My guess is that the smoke is there to cover something else. I think we should figure out what that is instead.”
Reave turned to Anvil, “I’ll put everyone on alert. We’ll initiate a search for anything unusual. You evacuate the civilians.” Anvil headed toward the separate civilian lodgings at a run. He waved both Scythe and Frejin ahead of him and they began to walk quickly back to the common area. He said darkly, “This was not done while we were here.”
“No.”
Reave cursed and next to him Scythe nodded in agreement. They all knew the implications of that, and Reave needed to log it as soon as possible.
“It is a clever little stunt,” Scythe said appreciatively after a moment. “It isn’t even dangerous until whatever is drawing energy is turned on. It wouldn’t get caught by even a thorough search.”
“Could the power draw be turned on by remote?” Frejin asked. Her curiosity was stronger than her resentment of the halfbood’s interference with her job.
“Yes, remote, timed, manual. It could even be something simple, like a routine procedure that happens at this time...something from the plant…”
“Regardless, our greater problem is what the smoke is hiding. It has to be a smell.” Reave said, thinking hard. “A chemical toxin, gun oil…”
“Or, more smoke.” Scythe’s eyes widened as all three realized at the same time that the smell was getting stronger, not weaker, as they left the row of warehouses and entered the administration building. “Damn! We are always a step behind!”
Their eyes scanned the ducts above them. The air coming out of the vents was carrying wisps of brownish gray that dissipated quickly but left the air along the ceiling hazy. The smell was much stronger in the windowless hall, and all three of them were feeling the effects of the smoke: each breath seared their sensitive nasal passages and their eyes began to water. They had broken into a run by the time they thrust open the door at the end of the hall and staggered out into the nearly fresh air of the courtyard.
Frejin grabbed a clean rag from the mess counter and began wiping her face and rubbing her eyes. Scythe sped to the door to one of the Human barracks, glanced inside, and then moved even quicker to a Kin room.
Reave’s voice burst from him, causing the people around him to jump, their personal activities disregarded. “Everyone, we are on alert. Regroup with your teams here in four.” He gave a few instructions to the squad leaders that were already there and then jogged to his office. Inside, he powered on the display and turned to open the safe. He was rocked by a large explosion, and only a hand on the wall prevented him from hitting his head into the safe. He barely had time to brace himself before another, closer explosion went off. He turned to the desk and picked up the display that had fallen over; he hit a button for the security feeds. Two warehouses were fully engulfed by fire and a third went up while he was watching. An alarm started shrilly screaming in the corridor, and people began to run past his door. He picked up his headset, plugging it into his ear before opening a communication port on his display.
He began to report the current crisis, including his hypothesis that the sabotage was performed at Huran before the team was even assigned to the location, and his theories about what that meant. While he typed the brief he would send out the second it was completed, he monitored the plant through his headset and what vide
o feeds were still operational.
“That’s right, full evac,” he confirmed, speaking into the mic. The evacuation had already begun and was looking successful. The majority of the people stationed there were assigned to rooms adjacent the courtyard, which was right by the entrance. The video showed that most of the civilians were already out as well. He switched to the exterior cameras. There seemed to be nothing in all directions, and the movement detectors, aside from registering the explosions, did not have anything significant recorded. “Get everyone down, shelter along the exterior wall, Kirst.”
“Will do.”
Another explosion heralded the destruction of the next warehouse. Now, only two remained. Two warehouses, the civilian residence, the outer buildings and the administration building were all that was still untouched.
Reave finished his message, sent it and turned to pull out the contents of the safe. The quick move made him slightly dizzy and he stumbled a little, accidentally bumping into and knocking the safe door shut. He cursed and entered the code to unlock it, mistakenly inputting the wrong code twice before getting it open. He dumped everything in his hard case and locked it up. He stood and looked around. There was something else he needed, but he couldn’t remember what it was. He shook his head from sided to side, trying to shake off his confusion. Then his eyes fell on the monitor on the desk. That’s it.
He grabbed the display, after switching it to mobile use and disconnecting it, and tucked it under his arm. That was when he finally noticed it.
“It’s in the vent,” he observed, staring up at the metal grate. He blinked. The rectangular plate looked like it was stretching out at the edges and then springing back into place.
“What, sir?”
“I c’n smell it. Arina. It takes a while to...build up to high enough ‘centrations to be sufficien’ly flamble, that’ whe’ it becomes...” Detectable. Hmm. There was something else about it, too. What was it? He felt numb. He knew he should probably be hurrying, but his legs and arms felt heavy.
He was already at the door, anyway.
“Sir, what is your location?” The voice was pitched higher than normal and had an edge to it. His troops were feeling the strain of the situation. He needed to get out there, keep them calm, make sure they were doing what they were supposed to, and verify that everyone had gotten out safely.
“I’m almos’ there…” He stepped out of the room just as it exploded behind him. Reave was blown down the short hallway. He raised his hand, still gripping the case, as the wall rushed toward him and then smacked him down.
His head flopped to the side. When he opened his eyes, he could see into the courtyard through the arch at the end of the hall. It was empty, but for the bright flashes and then flames that erupted from each room in succession. They leapt out into the night and then jumped back in, each warm orange light hovering jealously over its kill.
His mind jumped back to the last track.
“Expensive, though.” He thought, trying to calculate how much of the gas would have to be used to blow up that many warehouses. He was having trouble figuring it out, because each of his thoughts had to pull itself through a thick bog before it reached him. Anyway, he told himself after giving up the battle, it would take an enormous amount. Then you’d have to store it...
“Captain Reave! What is your status?!”
“Underground, maybe.”
“Underground?”
As he was thinking about the huge tanks of water that larger companies were required to store for emergency purposes, his nose twitched. That’s an unusual smell, he thought. Reminds me of… He couldn’t remember what it was.
He closed his eyes, or he thought he did, because everything went black.
“Time to go,” a voice told him and the blackness wrapped itself around him and picked him up. Darkness carried him away.
Chapter 16
She was furious: white hot mad until she was shaking so badly she had to squeeze her arms around her body just to keep herself together. Across from her, the Kin soldier, Summer, sat frowning with her back against the truck’s inner wall.
“Are you all right?” Summer asked impatiently.
Mercy could see that the woman really didn’t want a bothersome answer, so she said, “Yes.”
The woman narrowed her eyes. “You don’t look all right.”
“I don’t like to be waiting around, doing nothing.”
“Humph.” The woman definitely thought she was a brat. Next to her, Temper sat quietly, and outside the truck, Orin stood by with the two border patrol men assigned to their team, Steven Holmes and the man, Jin, whose last name she couldn’t remember.
Mercy closed her eyes, which made it easier because she couldn’t see where she was, and tried as hard as she could to be still.
“Stay here,” was what they said, and then left her there.
She had been loading the last things on the truck with her dad and the rest of their team before it all happened. Scythe had been off on some errand for quite a while and she was thinking of all the ways she could accuse him of slacking off and leaving her with all the work. Then, she turned around to grab another crate of supplies and he was there, talking to her dad, Temper, Orin and Summer.
She could tell right away from their expressions and the way her dad was standing that it was serious, so Mercy left the rest of the things and hurried over to see what was going on. She barely caught something about a fire when a huge explosion went off and shocked the hell out of them. Mercy bumped into her father, and then put her hand out to steady herself against the nearby stack of pallets; her dad turned and steered her behind them. Everyone else did the same and soon they were all crouched behind either the wood or the few crates that were piled up next to them.
“Was that one of the warehouses?” Jin asked, his face mirroring the surprise of those around him.
“That is one hell of an explosion. How did anyone get that much explosive past us?” asked Summer.
“They didn’t,” Scythe said. “Summer, can I borrow your headset?” She handed it over and he put it in his ear immediately. “Thank you.”
A second warehouse exploded.
Scythe listened intently for a minute and then announced to the soldiers around him, “I want you to stay here. There is an evacuation order, and this place is as good as any. Watch our gear and guard Mercy, understood?” Of the four who nodded, only the two Humans looked over at Mercy with raised eyebrows. She shrunk in on herself a little under their scrutiny and leaned into her dad.
Orin said, “Got it, but how did they get the explosive here again?”
“It was already here.”
Everyone seemed to know what that meant but Mercy, and she was too embarrassed to ask in front of the others. How could it already be there? It didn’t make sense that they would move into a place without checking it first for something like a bomb.
Scythe turned to Ian, “Would you be willing to lend me your shield?”
Ian nodded. They turned to Mercy, who frowned, understanding without knowing exactly what the details were that she wasn’t going to like whatever it was they were going to say.
“Stay here,” Scythe said, and they both gave her their version of the 'I’m not messing around' look.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to go back in.” Scythe looked at Ian, “Right now.”
Her mouth dropped open, “Inside?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, we’ll be careful, Mercy,” Ian said.
“No. No way.” She grabbed onto her dad’s sleeve and begged him privately, Please, don’t leave me. Her real fear wasn’t for herself, though, and it was spread out for him to see: It’s dangerous! Don’t go!
Don’t worry, he told her. Scythe will take care of me. He was clever, counting on her complete confidence in Scythe to keep anyone safe. Besides, his voice whispered knowingly to her, we both know he lives, don’t we?
What? She felt the blood rush out of her face and she
sucked in a sharp breath, which might have been her last because then she forgot how to breathe.
While she sat dumbfounded, Ian slipped away with Scythe, who said as they jogged to the door, “That was impressive. You got her to listen. What did you tell her?”
“I am just that respected and feared, Scythe. It’s a father thing.”
“Hm, that’s weird, because I never saw you do it before…”
She stared at the door for a while, and then leaned back against the wood, thinking about the times she had talked with her dad in the last day or so. She was sure that she hadn’t told him anything about her vision. When they were connected, she had been careful to not think about it.
She was good at guarding her thoughts after years of practice and a million botched attempts at keeping things from him. It was amazing how quickly a thought could just appear from nowhere without permission. That was why she had to hold it in a special place in her mind and dedicate a small bit of energy to keeping it locked up when she really wanted something hidden. She had made sure to do that with her vision, so how did he know that her vision was not only about herself but Scythe as well? What else had he figured out?
The third explosion went off a few minutes afterwards. This one was closer than the other two, causing all of them to look around nervously for better cover.
Orin said, “We’re moving into the truck. Back it up against the wall, farther from the building, Summer.” Without thinking, he grabbed Mercy’s arm and stood her up roughly, his mind on getting her to the truck quickly.
There had only been one time in her entire life that she had been treated like that, and it had left marks that couldn’t be erased with logical arguments like, “This man is a friend,” or “That was five years ago.” Despite what she had told Captain Reave about trusting the Kin, there was a difference between what she believed and what her instincts told her when anyone grabbed her that way.
Halfblood Journey Page 26
