“Of course.”
“Who was the other person you told?”
“Evan’s nephew, Andre. He, like you, had some big shoes to fill.” There was that name again. Lucy wasn’t sure if she was intrigued or scared of this mysterious nephew of Evan’s. She packed her book back into her knapsack and got up, leaning down to hug the older woman.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “You’ve really given me a bit to think about.” As she walked out to the garden path, Ida called her back.
“One more thing, Lucy. Andre just so happens to be tall, dark, and if you take the word of this old hen, rather handsome. And Lucy,” her eyes reflected a grave seriousness, “he won’t trust you.”
Lucy said nothing, wondering if this was another joke.
“Not at first. Andre has Evan’s stubborn streak and then some. I suspect as soon as he finds out about your father’s side, he’ll have questions of his own. But Lucy, trust yourself.”
Chapter 9
The weapons lab looked just as Lucy had expected, as if she had stepped out of reality and into a James Bond movie. Through a heavily armored door, they walked into a wide hallway with doors leading off to offices. There were windowed research labs, where Lucy could see people with protective eyewear and clothing working with beakers and Bunsen burners, and even a shooting range at the very end of the hall. Miles led them into an office that was marked by a brass placard that read “Firearms and Assault Technology.” The names listed underneath revealed that Miles shared the office with an Andre Garnier. Lucy guessed that this was Evan’s mysterious nephew.
The office was large, with two desks and a conference table, but every available surface was covered with stacks of papers, wires, gadgets, and computer paraphernalia.
“Excuse the mess,” Miles apologized. “Andre was in the middle of a project when he left and I’m afraid to touch anything.”
“My nephew is working on some sort of a detection device,” Evan explained. “He hasn’t given me too many details. He’s scheduled back at the end of the month.”
“Where is he?” Lucy asked.
“Paris,” Evan supplied. “Andre is doing a little investigative work for me. I didn’t give him much notice.” Evan had correctly interpreted the way Lucy was studying the empty desk. The juxtaposition of wires, circuit boards and tools led Lucy to believe that whoever was working on the project had simply gotten up for a break and would be back at any minute. But Andre had been absent since before Lucy came into the organization over three weeks before. She wondered if the situation in Paris might be worse than anyone was letting on.
Miles had just finished clearing the conference table and was searching for chairs when Hugh walked in carrying two large metal trunks. Lucy could guess what was inside, so she gave Hugh wide berth.
“Don’t be nervous,” Hugh smiled while unlocking the first case. “This is the fun part.”
Lucy swallowed nervously. The thought of wielding any type of weapon was not her idea of fun.
“Don’t worry Lu,” Miles said, sensing her hesitation. “Come on over and have a seat. Nothing in there is live. I made sure of that myself.”
“And I double checked,” Evan added. “This is more of a show and tell to familiarize you with the weapons we use.”
Hugh placed a formidable looking gun on the table. Despite the fact that he deliberately pointed the muzzle away from everyone present, Lucy still cringed at the sight of it.
“Is that a sniper rifle?” she asked hesitantly.
“Sniper’s rifle,” Miles corrected, “but close enough to impress me. This one happens to be my baby. Are you familiar with what it’s used for?”
Lucy’s mind whirled. She’d never seen one up close before. “It’s for assassinations at long range, at least that’s what I’ve seen in movies.”
“Exactly, which requires accuracy. Unless you’re a natural sharp shooter, I don’t think you’ll be using one of your own, but you will become familiar with every weapon we use as a safety precaution.”
Lucy did not want to become familiar with any gun. Just being in the same room as one set her nerves on edge. Miles showed her two more guns, pistols to be exact, and again told her she would learn to properly handle them.
“Don’t get the wrong impression,” Evan assured her. “We rarely have to use traditional weaponry, but I require all of my staff to know how to shoot, clean, and properly handle a gun. You may not even be issued one, but your partner may have one.”
“Partner?” Lucy asked.
“We work in pairs,” Evan explained. “For your first few weeks, I’ll have you alternate between Hugh and Miles and their partners, until I decide who would be a good fit for you.”
Hugh looked like he had been sucking on a lemon. “Evan has a unique gift for pairing us off.”
Lucy sensed some sarcasm in his remark, remembering the exchange she witnessed when meeting Lance and Hugh for the first time. Evan didn’t acknowledge this, but Lucy was sure she saw a faint look of smug satisfaction on his face.
“We’ll get to that later,” Evan pressed on, lifting a smaller case onto the table. “This is your primary weapon.” He held up a metal cylinder that was about six inches long and slightly thicker than a drinking straw. Lucy remembered seeing Miles use one on the night she was attacked. Evan pressed two buttons, that Lucy hadn’t noticed, and a needle sprang from one end with a sharp hissing sound that made her jump.
“This is a Compact Pneumatic Auto-injector or CPA for short.” Evan pressed the needle against the table until it made a clicking noise. “The needle is recessed. When the plunger is pressed, a compressed air cartridge pushes the internal syringe mechanism, and that pushes the needle, which delivers the payload at the same time. These are filled with a cocktail of chemicals that are instantaneously fatal, regardless of the point of injection, which is why there are built in safety measures to eliminate the risk of accidental activation.” For emphasis, Evan pushed down on the black rubber plunger on the end several times. Nothing happened. He then twisted the cylinder and Lucy noticed that the shaft was made up of two separate pieces.
“Locked.” Evan pointed to two dots, one on each piece of the tube. “Unlocked.” He twisted the tube again and the dots were now on opposite sides of the tube. “I know these are hard to see right now, but you’ll be issued a pair of lenses that will make the indicators very obvious to you, even in the dark. Now,” he continued and unlocked the safety once again, “there’s a second safety catch here on the back.” He turned the tube over in his hand and showed Lucy a small panel about halfway down the segment with the plunger. “You need to hold down the catch, otherwise the plunger is useless.” He did just that and the needle released again with a hiss. He closed the weapon and held it out to Lucy. “Go ahead, see how it feels.”
With shaking hands, Lucy gingerly took the weapon. “Are you sure it’s not loaded?”
“Trust me.”
Lucy stared at the weapon, rolling it slowly in her hand, noting the locked position. With a flick of her thumb and middle finger, she unlocked it, twirled the cylinder into a jabbing position and depressed the plunger, jumping visibly as the needle hissed out. “Sorry.” She looked around apologetically. Everyone in the room was staring with open astonishment. “I guess flinching isn’t an option?”
“It’s not that,” Miles said, taking another CPA out of the case. “It’s what you did to activate it.” He tried to unlock his weapon the same way Lucy did, with one hand, and nearly dropped it. “Can anyone else do that?” He asked Hugh and Evan.
“I sure as hell can’t.” Hugh was already fiddling with a CPA with results similar to Miles.
“What, this?” Lucy snapped the safety off again. “That’s the easy part. Sticking it in someone with the intent to kill is where I’m going to have some difficulty.”
“When your life’s on the line that becomes the easy part.” Evan got up and walked over to a shelf piled high with odds and ends. “Miles, do
you have a wrist holster in this mess?”
“Third shelf up.”
Evan extracted a black cuff and brought it over to Lucy. “Try this on. The straps adjust to wrist size.”
Lucy pulled the cuff over her hand and tightened the straps. It looked like the leather cuff style bracelets that the Goth kids in the square wore, except it was made of some sort of interwoven sturdy material and had several open loops all around.
“Hold out your arm.” Evan held out a CPA and Lucy flinched. “Don’t worry, that’s a titanium alloy matrix that the needle can’t penetrate. And these aren’t loaded, remember? The holster holds up to six CPAs.”
He slid the cylinders into the holster. Now Lucy thought it looked more like the industrial jewelry the punk kids wore.
“Are you able to extract one CPA with the same hand you’re wearing the holster on without undoing the safety?”
Lucy flicked her wrist and a weapon appeared in her hand as if by magic.
“Okay.” Evan raised an eyebrow. “Now take them out one at a time, unlock then trigger them and set each one on the table when it’s spent.”
Lucy did as she was told. Within seconds all of the CPAs were discharged and sitting in a row in front of the astonished Miles and Hugh. Evan looked pleased.
“How the hell?” Hugh started.
“Lucy revealed this talent in the form of a nervous habit a few weeks ago. So how long have you been doing sleight of hand?”
Lucy thought back to the day Evan spoke of. “It was the pen wasn’t it?”
Evan nodded. “And the knife, at dinner on the first night you were here. Both times you were holding an object, twirling it in your hand and it kept disappearing. I didn’t say anything at the time.”
Lucy blushed. “I was at a birthday party when I was a kid and there was a magician who was making things disappear and reappear. I think I was the only kid there who realized the difference between magic and illusion and I wanted to know how it was done, so I went to the library and read every book I could on the subject. When I got to Houdini and I started picking locks, my grandmother got a little concerned that I was teaching myself all of the most valuable traits of a criminal and wouldn’t let me read any more.” Lucy smirked. “Of course, this gave me more incentive to learn everything I could. Not that I’ve ever done anything illegal, but I have won a few more carnival shell games than most.”
Evan laughed. “Well fellas, it appears Lucy will be skipping the lesson on the element of surprise. Now get her suited up for a practice session and get her comfortable with using these things for more than parlor tricks.”
Lucy blanched. “I thought we were just going to learn about weapons today? Don’t you have more stuff to show me?”
Miles stifled a laugh. “I said we were going to get a feel for what you’ll be comfortable with, and I think we have that covered. Congratulations Lucy, you’re top of the class with honors. Now the real fun begins.”
Lucy followed the men down the hall and through two more sets of heavy metal doors.
“Should I be nervous about the obvious high security here?”
“The doors are for both security and safety,” Evan explained. “Aside from the fact that we keep and develop all of our weaponry here, there is also a full projectile weapons range as well as three practice courses. They all lock from the inside and are required to remain that way when live ammunition is in use.”
Lucy flinched at the mention of live ammunition.
“Don’t worry,” Evan assured her. “All of the walls, as well as the doors, are lined with six inches of steel and an impact neutralizing mesh that we have developed here. Even if the building was demolished, those walls would remain intact.”
Evan opened another door and motioned Lucy inside. The room was about half the size of the gym, with a springy floor and large pylons of various shapes that were scattered throughout. Miles went immediately to a cabinet along the far wall while Hugh opened a panel by the door and started flipping switches. As he did, Lucy noticed that a series of pulleys, wires, and what looked like punching bags had begun to descend from the ceiling. Miles jogged back to where she stood, expertly dodging the new obstacles, and presented Lucy with a red plastic box.
“These are your training weapons,” he explained, opening the box. Inside were cylinders that looked like the CPAs, but were made of red plastic. “They work exactly like the real thing, but instead of a hypo, these are tipped with a sponge and filled with a red dye. The first thing we’ll work on is getting you used to using the weapon on a person. So take one,” he said and casually tossed the red tube, which surprisingly, she caught, “and stab Evan.”
“What?” Lucy looked horrified.
Evan nodded at her. “It’s okay, Lucy, the dye disappears in thirty minutes. You won’t ruin my clothes or my skin.”
“That isn’t what I’m worried about,” Lucy muttered. “Can’t I start on those punching bags or something?”
“Nope.” Hugh had rejoined them. “Gotta get you out of your comfort zone. We’ll use the bags for technique later, now stab Evan.”
Evan took a step back and threw out his arms. “Let’s see what you got.”
Lucy took a tentative step forward, raised her arm and faltered. “Anywhere?”
“Anywhere,” all men answered in unison.
Lucy took a deep breath, repositioned the weapon, and lunged. At the last minute, she pulled back, spun to Evan’s left, and dropped to the ground. Before he could react, she swung her arm up, unlocked the safety, and triggered the weapon when she felt it make contact.
“Interesting choice of attacks, Lucy.”
Hugh could barely contain his laughter. Miles didn’t even try. Lifting her head, Lucy spied, much to her embarrassment, a dime sized red splotch on the seat of Evan’s khaki pants. Evan met her gaze with open amusement of his own and she averted her eyes.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, picking herself up from the floor. “I was aiming for your leg.”
“No need to be sorry, you did exactly what was asked of you. That was a good feint, but it cost you a few seconds of reaction time.” Evan picked up the discarded weapon, reset the safety and handed it back to Lucy. “Let’s try this again, only this time, I’m going to try to block you and I want you to keep in mind that all you have to do is land a blow, it doesn’t matter where.”
Once again, Lucy lunged, but this time Evan grabbed her wrist, immobilizing her weapon. Her first instinct was to reach for it with her other hand, but Evan anticipated her move and grabbed it with his free hand before she had a chance to react.
“So, what would happen if I tried a knee jab to the groin?” She was willing to stray from her comfort zone if need be, but the idea of kicking her new boss in the nuts seemed like starting off on the wrong foot.
“If I were a vampire with inhuman strength I’d probably snap your wrists and I’d be pissed off,” Evan said calmly. “Try again.”
Lucy flexed her wrists and realized she could maneuver the point of the weapon to where it touched Evan’s arm. “Seriously?” Evan just nodded slightly. Lucy disengaged the safety and left a red mark on Evan’s arm.
“Seriously,” Evan confirmed. “The idea is to strike as quickly as possible. Hopefully you will not end up in a situation where your opponent has any hold on you, but if you do, remember that you still have the advantage.”
Chapter 10
Lucy spent the next several hours peppering Evan, Miles, and Hugh with red dye, which she noticed, did indeed fade pretty quickly. If she had any fantasies about discovering hidden talents or powers, they were soon forgotten. By the end of the lesson, Lucy was comfortable with the weapon, but not much more. All she wanted to do was eat dinner and go straight to bed for the next twelve hours. She dragged herself into the dining room and was grateful to find Lona waiting for her with a large mug of coffee.
“So how was training?” Lona asked.
“Exhausting,” Lucy sighed, slowly easing into a chair.
“I never thought I’d find something worse than Miles making me run laps in the gym, but this is worse. Now I’m running laps and trying to stab things while avoiding getting tackled by Hugh. It doesn’t make sense, Lona. How is it possible that a vampire took a chunk out of my neck and I healed within hours, but after a workout, my muscles ache for days? Shouldn’t I be able to heal just as fast?”
“Ah, I actually know this! You only heal when actual damage has been done,” Lona explained. “When you exercise, you’re building muscle, which hurts, but isn’t exactly bad for you. Kind of like growing, I guess. If your body tried to ‘heal’ all the changes you went through you would be a baby permanently. Abe explained it to me a while back.”
“That makes a lot of sense, actually. But it still sucks. I don’t think I even have the energy to eat right now.”
“Well no complaining,” Lona winked. “Here comes the boss.”
Lucy looked up to see that Evan was making his way to their table.
“Hello ladies,” Evan said brightly. “Lucy, I’m going to have you start sitting in on our nightly meetings to get a feel for how we operate, so come by my office at nine.”
“Sure thing,” Lucy said with enthusiasm, but groaned inwardly. So much for getting some much needed rest.
“Come on,” Lona said after Evan left, “let’s get some food, looks like you’ll need some energy.”
Lucy said nothing, but stood gingerly, on wobbly legs, and followed her through the cafeteria-style line. After selecting a sandwich, she turned to Lona. “Why don’t we take our food up to the roof? It’s kinda crowded here and the chairs are more comfortable up there.”
The rooftop garden was only slightly less crowded, but to Lucy’s joy, she found an empty table with a cushioned chair. They ate in companionable silence, enjoying the warm night that was threatening to lull Lucy into a sleepy state.
“Hey Lona, can I have this chair?”
Lucy looked up to see a tall, lanky teenager with golden blonde hair that hung so far over his eyebrows that Lucy wondered if he could see where he was going.
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 10
