Danger’s Vice

by Amanda Carlson

  I tensed, expecting the worst. “Did you tell them about my residence in the canals?”

  His face brightened. “You hadn’t taken me there yet. They knew you had a place there, so they pressed me for details. They even threatened to kill me. I ended up giving them vague directions about the area, swearing I’d never been there, which I hadn’t. Then, when they picked me up shortly after we parted ways a few days ago, they’d run out of Babble, so they couldn’t inject me.” He grinned. “They sent someone out to the general area, and they got caught in one of your traps. They were so pissed. It was perfect.”

  I’d spied that one of my traps had gone off when I’d gone to my residence with Case to get extra bombs. “I’m relieved they ran out of Babble. That was an incredibly lucky break. It won’t be safe to go back home until these guys are completely handled, but it’s a huge relief.” I scooted forward. “So, how’d you get from Tandor’s group into government hands?”

  He shrugged, his face back to looking miserable. “I don’t know. I think Marta—the fellow scientist I was working with—must have knocked me out with something. She was the only one around once the goons who took me left. When I came to, I was in a small room. It took a day before anyone came to find me. When they did, they had government uniforms on. They asked me some strange questions about the work I was doing. I made up some stuff, and that’s when Claire came in. She pretended to be in charge of my case and broke me out.”

  “Why isn’t she with you now?” I couldn’t help but be worried about my friend.

  “She had to go back so they wouldn’t suspect it was her. She couldn’t tell me a lot, but she said really big things were happening on the inside, and there was going to be a shakeup of some kind coming soon. She was anxious to get back so she could be there to aid anyone in need.”

  “Please tell me she got back safely.” I glanced from Darby to Bender. A simple nod from either of them would be fine.

  “As far as I know, she did,” Darby said. “She’s the one who got a hold of Lockland and gave him the coordinates to find me after she broke me out. She and some guy named Mattie took me to this deserted building and dropped me off. It was a government-sanctioned area where they used to do experiments outside the city. It was pretty creepy.”

  “Is that why you guys left so quickly?” I asked Bender, who stood against the door, his arms crossed. “Claire told you to go pick up Darby?”

  He nodded. “She said if we didn’t get to him within an hour, his location could be compromised. We wasted no time.”

  I stood and began to pace in the small enclosure as I told them what had happened to me over the last few hours. “Not all of Tandor’s men are gone. In fact, the second in charge, Hutch, is alive and well. There’s a distinct chance he purposely stayed out of the fray, knowing Tandor was at a disadvantage.” I turned, dropping my hand from where it had crept to my forehead. “They blew up my fucking residence in The North.” Darby appeared surprised by the news, but Bender’s lips remained pursed in a thin line. “You knew?”

  “Heard about it on the way back.” Bender inclined his head. His way of giving me sympathy.

  “That’s not all,” I said. “Waiting for Lockland now might be advisable, though, since it’s serious, and I don’t want to have to repeat it.” I headed back over to the chair I’d vacated. “By the way, where is he?”

  Bender answered, “The assholes had us in their sights once we got back within the city limits. They were waiting for us. Lockland dropped me and Darby off where we’d stashed my craft, and then he led them on a chase. They took the bait. He should be here momentarily.”

  Darby nodded at Daze. “Nice to see you again, kid. I heard you had a rough ride. But kudos to you for hanging in there.” If Darby could’ve reached him, he would’ve given Daze a good-natured sock on the arm.

  “Thanks,” Daze replied, his voice not much more than a whisper. “I couldn’t have done it without Holly. She saved my life.”

  “Yeah, she tends to do that,” Darby agreed. “Then we end up owing her big-time. It’s a vicious cycle.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, right. You’d owe me anyway.” Now was as good a time as any to bring out the prize. Waiting for Lockland was getting old. Slowly, I unzipped my vest and reached inside. Darby’s eyebrows rose as I slid the pico out, setting it on my lap nonchalantly, like I always carried a superfast computer tucked inside my vest.

  Darby sprang out of his seat. “No way!” His gaze shot to mine, his eyes wide. Then he glanced at the pico, then back at me. His hands reached out of their own accord, only to recoil, as if he was unsure that what he was seeing was real. It was an interesting, dramatic response. I hadn’t expected any less from Darby. This was a big deal in our world. “The guys that took me kept talking about it,” Darby said excitedly. “They needed the quantum drive back bad. They said that without it they wouldn’t be able to implement whatever dastardly plan they had cooked up, which they didn’t share. But from what I overheard through bits of conversation, it had to do with Plush and infecting innocent people.”

  I opened up the top and powered it on. The screen jumped to life within seconds. Darby dragged a chair over as I arranged the pico to face him. Daze took his place over my right shoulder. “From what I can surmise,” I started, “the documents on here originated from Bliss Corp. I believe it might be the chemical makeup for Plush, as well as a cure—or something like that. Whatever it is, the government was involved.” I glanced at Darby, who was completely focused on the screen, barely listening to my awesome explanation. “I couldn’t really make sense of it, but I know you can.” Carefully, I lifted the pico and set it in his lap. He was momentarily stunned, his jaw going slack, his eyes glazing over. I chuckled. “Darb, I know this is a lot to take in, but it might be a good idea to come back down to Earth.” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “After you look over this, we’ll have a lot to discuss. I’m sure you’ll keep everything safe while it’s in your possession.”

  He nodded, his eyes refocusing. “I will. I promise.” He leaned forward, instantly absorbed by what was in front of him, his fingers busy on the keys.

  He’d be lost for a while, and that was fine with me.

  I glanced at Bender, who seemed distracted, only mildly interested in the pico and the information we’d uncovered. I stood to walk over, murmuring, “What’s the plan if Lockland doesn’t return?”

  Before Bender could answer, a noise sounded from the hallway. We both backed up, grabbing our weapons. A familiar knock came on the door a minute later.

  Bender whipped it open, and Lockland breezed through.

  His jacket was torn, and there was blood on his cheek. I harnessed my Gem. “What the hell happened to you?” I asked.

  He glanced quickly around the room, taking stock. Once he was satisfied, he turned back to me. “Led those assholes all over the city before I ditched them,” he answered, his breathing labored. “They blew up your residence.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I said. “Case and I almost died in the blast. They didn’t detonate until we were on our way out. Eventually, we circled back to try and track them down, but the old man who likely exposed our location was dead. He’d been murdered a short time before we arrived.” I wasn’t going to question how everyone knew it’d been my residence. Gossip traveled fast, and it was obvious the bad guys were proud of their accomplishments. “Even worse news, these guys seem to have taken over Port Station, possibly as long as two months ago. Not sure if all the guards are compromised, but we narrowly escaped with Luce.” I began to wander around the tiny room, but I was a pro at navigating without much space. When I was stressed, there was no standing still. “I’m not getting why we didn’t know this was going on in our city. It doesn’t make any sense. There are clues all over. How did we miss something this big?” Lockland gave Darby a cursory glance as he moved forward, absorbing what was on the techie’s lap as he took off his helmet and set it on a pallet.

  “We didn’t know b
ecause the network is closed,” Lockland answered as he took a seat, a gloved hand running back and forth over his short hair. “Meaning anyone who’s caught talking, or even thinks about talking, dies. They threatened them with Plush, and it’s working. I finally got a few people to talk, but only after I threatened their lives, promising them that being infected with Plush was an easier way to go than what I had in mind.” After a moment, he stood and walked over to Darby, positioning himself over his shoulder so he could read what was on the screen.

  I continued to move around the room. “They’re not only threatening them with it, they’re doing it. I ran into two guys in The North, and shortly thereafter, a seeker emerged. The one guy, Dill, was unaffected by her presence. He produced a dart and slammed it into her forehead. He called her Mary. The other guy, Ned, told me that he’d give me some information in exchange for protection. We didn’t get a chance to broker a deal, because Dill called him away. I didn’t stick around to see what the dart did to Mary, other than knock her out. But that proves that they’re using the drug already.”

  Darby’s head came up, his brows furrowed. “I’ve only perused a few pages so far, but if what’s in here is for real, they had the beginnings of a cure for Plush before the meteor hit.” He shook his head. “So there’s a possibility that all the stuff I was doing in the lab with Marta wasn’t a ruse like I thought.” He met my gaze. “I think they actually needed my help. It was…real.” He stumbled to stand, clutching the pico precariously in his grip.

  “Whoa, there,” I said, rushing forward, taking the supercomputer out of his hands before he dropped it. Once I had it, I soothed, “It’s okay, Darby. You’ve been through a lot. Sit down.” I gently guided him back into his seat by the shoulder. “If the lab was real and the work you were doing was genuine, there’s a good chance your work is still there. But if they’re smart, they’re guarding it, so we have to be careful.” When he looked somewhat mollified and refocused, I set the pico back in his lap, keeping my hand on his shoulder. “I need you to stay awake for this, Darb. No passing out. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Once you get through these documents, we need to make sense of them. You’re the only one who can do it.”

  He looked up at me and nodded. “I will. But I want you to know this is…huge.” He glanced back down at the pico and started, like he was surprised to see it sitting there. “From what it says here, the sooner you can get the partial cure injected, the effects of Plush on the user will vanish to almost nothing.” He squinted down at the screen. “It says if it’s administered within forty-eight hours, there will be no lasting side effects. For those who have been taking Plush for years, they would need a steady, repetitive dosage. It’s unclear if they can become completely cured or not, but that’s what I believe Marta was trying to do. She was trying to find the full cure.” His voice caught in the back of his throat. “She had…patients. I don’t know how she left them there.” He tried to stand again, but my hand was still on his shoulder.

  Squatting next to him, so there would be no mistaking my intent, I said, “We can’t go check it out now. Everything you’re saying matters. All of us know this is a big deal. But first we have to take care of the threat. If we can’t get rid of Hutch and his men, we have no chance of ending this for good. Do you understand what I’m saying? First, we eliminate the source of the trouble, then we work on a cure for Plush.” He nodded, his pupils partially dilated. I leaned forward, our faces close. I could see all the emotion roiling beneath the surface. “Darby, I know you care about this more than anything. You also have a tendency to go nonverbal and get distracted, but I need you to stay in the here and now. You’re going to have to remain here with Daze and work on this research, while Bender, Lockland, and I take care of the threat. Are we clear?”

  “Yes.”

  I patted him on the arm as I stood. “Good. Now we just have to find them.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  We’d been discussing plans for several hours. Blackout was set to begin in half an hour. We were getting ready to move. I was reclined on a pallet, Daze asleep next to me. Darby hadn’t stopped his perusal of the pico the entire time, occasionally making nonsensical comments to assure us he was still cognizant of his surroundings.

  “Say that again, Darby.” I sat up. “What about seventeen?”

  He glanced at me, startled that I’d addressed him directly. “Um, I’m not sure. What was I talking about?”

  I scooted to the edge of the makeshift bed, trying not to disrupt Daze. It didn’t work. The kid woke, scrambling up quickly. “You mumbled something about The North, then said, ‘Stupid seventeen.’ You were talking about our safe house, right?” My heart beat quickly as I stood. “What are you reading? It can’t say anything about our safe houses in there.”

  “Oh, it doesn’t,” he answered nonchalantly. “It’s a reflex I’ve developed from having Babble in my bloodstream. Sometimes I repeat things I said while under the influence of the drug. I don’t know why. It must be my brain recalling a memory. I hope it doesn’t last long.”

  I stopped in front of him. “Darby, this is important. I have to know why you were talking about seventeen.” I’d told the guys about Cozzi’s strange behavior, but we hadn’t dwelled on it. “Did you tell Tandor’s men about seventeen specifically? I didn’t think you’d ever been there.” Before all this, Darby had rarely left home.

  He nodded. “I went to seventeen once a few years ago. I was picking up a package in The North. I’d bartered some coin for a specialized battery I needed. I got a little scared, and it was getting close to blackout, so I used it.” He visibly shuddered. “But I wouldn’t do it again. That place is scary. It’s so dark and dank.”

  And currently home to a gentle old man who had a penchant for wearing burial shrouds.

  “I have to go,” I announced to the group, turning in a semicircle.

  Bender was already standing. Lockland got off his chair. They understood my angst without me having to explain it. If Cozzi was in imminent danger, he was the current priority.

  “We’ll go with you,” Lockland said. “We were almost done figuring things out here anyway. The plan is to gather intel and regroup in three hours. Once we have their known location, we formulate a better, concrete plan. We have enough firepower to take them out—granted, if we can find them. I’m fairly certain I can get the same informants to talk. I’ll know more in an hour or two.”

  I didn’t love leaving Darby and Daze alone in six, but it was the only solution. I pulled my taser off my waist and walked over to Daze. “Here you go, kid.” I set it in his outstretched hand. It was so big that his fingers didn’t reach all the way around the handle as he grasped it. “It’s set to full tase. Your job is to stay here and protect Darby and the pico at all costs. I showed you the way out through the floor in the waste room already.” I’d also explained how to get to my residence in the canals from here and how to maneuver through my traps. Darby hadn’t been listening, but the kid had been all ears. “If you have to evacuate, get to my residence. Do you remember everything I told you?” The kid nodded, his face serious, even though it was still creased with sleep.

  “I can do it.” He stuck the taser in his waistband. It looked ridiculously large next to his bony body.

  “I know you can,” I said. “That’s why I’m putting you in charge.”

  “When we leave here, flip this,” Bender said, pointing to a switch on the wall. “It actives the lasers outside the door. Anybody coming through this way gets sliced.”

  Lockland moved forward. “But that doesn’t mean you stay if there’s trouble. Get out as soon as possible. Follow Holly’s directions and use the tech phone she gave you. Try all four channels. Someone will be there.” My heart gave a squeeze to hear my crew giving Daze directions that would save his scrawny hide. They cared what happened to him.

  That spoke volumes, and I knew Daze was paying attention.

  Bender opened the door, and he and Lockland went
through, first checking the hallway to see if it was clear. I followed, glancing back. “Darby, make sure you and the kid stay alive. If Tandor’s men have infected even half as many people as I think they have, we’re going to need that cure.”

  “Will do,” he answered. “I’m pretty sure Marta had access to most of the compounds listed here. I just have to get over to the lab to see.” His eyes shone with excitement.

  “We’ll head over first thing when I get back, but not a moment before. Do you hear me?” I had to clear my throat to get his attention, which he had refocused on the pico. “Darby, do you understand? We don’t go to the lab until I get back. It’s too dangerous for you and Daze to go alone. I don’t care how close it is.”

  “Yes, yes, I understand.”

  That was all I was getting. I nodded to Daze. “Stay safe. Use the phone if you need to.”

  “I will,” he said. “Holly?” I gave him my attention. “Stay safe.” The kid was putting on a brave face, and I appreciated that.

  “That’s the plan,” I said, giving him a smile and a three-finger salute as I slipped out the door, shutting it firmly behind me. Bender was already in the stairwell, Lockland waiting for me in the hallway.

  We made excellent time, arriving where I’d left Luce in less than twenty minutes, which was a record for me.