“I sent them on an errand. What about the nuclear shield?” Zane demanded. Listening to the exchange in horror, Jenna realized that there should have been more security for this room. Her heart sank. Was that what Zane had been doing when he had left her alone in the lab? Smoothing out the path for enemies to attack the gate? Had he completely lost any hold on his sanity at all?
“The QE is shielded, and the shield is holding as far as I know,” the guard said, “but the intruders came in through the Tower! I can’t get any comms through; our whole internal system is down.”
Zane focused on his netband for a moment and then cursed, his voice tense. His anger seemed genuine. Maybe he really hadn’t planned for this. She had to get him to come back to his senses. “I don’t have time for this,” Zane growled, towing Jenna away from the red line marking the entrance to the gate. He clearly meant to send her through it, whether they were under attack or not. She gave her plan another try.
“You need to escape, Zane. They’ll come after you. They won’t care about me, but you are a Quintan! Go through the gate to Marah, and then you can contact your father for help!” she pleaded.
Zane chuckled mirthlessly. “So they must be friends of yours. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I head off for the other side of the continent, and you let your cronies in to destroy the gate.” Jenna stiffened.
“I didn’t have anything to do with this! If anyone’s to blame, you are!” she accused furiously.
“I don’t think so, you filthy spy,” he said irritably. Turning to the tech, he issued a verbal command. “Send her now.” Jenna had no time to react. Zane shoved her under the octagonal arch. She stumbled, dropping to one knee, and then felt a tingling start behind her navel. It spread throughout her body, and then her limbs went entirely numb. The last sight she had was Zane staring eagerly at her, and then her vision faded completely.
18. Hostages
The bodyguards dragged Jimmy out of Jax’s apartment kicking and yelling. He’d even managed to bite one of them on the hand. There was no way he was going to come quietly along. Zane could be murdering Jenna right at that very moment! He’d lost all contact with reality. Jimmy’s last sight of her, coughing and doubled over on the floor, was not a guarantee that she was all right. And where was his brother?
He learned the answer to that soon enough. Grier was waiting in the lift, supporting a still-unconscious Jax.
“Grier, what is going on? Can’t you see that Zane is crazy? The nanobots are running his mind. This is all nanospeed!”
Grier didn’t answer him at all. He just silently pressed the button for the basement service floor. Jimmy gave up resisting. He might as well rest while he could, and he wasn’t going anywhere in the lift. But the bodyguards didn’t relax their vigilance one bit, he noticed.
When they exited the lift on the service floor, Jimmy’s eyes darted around, looking for someone who might be able to help or somewhere he could escape to. Of course, leaving Jax was not what he wanted to do, but under the circumstances, Jax couldn’t possibly get away. The best scenario would be for Jimmy to escape and track down Mr. Quintan and get the help that he needed to rescue Jax. They wouldn’t hurt him; not if what they wanted was the knowledge in Jax’s head.
Though they most likely would become quite angry when they realized that the knowledge would stay locked in Jax’s head, since he wouldn’t speak to them. Ever.
The service level was completely deserted. It was disappointing, but not much of a surprise. It was the middle of the night, after all. Grier directed them past the empty laundry room and the silent and locked maintenance doors until they reached the entrance to the special underground parking area for the Quintans’ personal transports. Jimmy raised an eyebrow at this. Would Grier really use Lev Quintan’s luxurious personal transport to kidnap Jimmy and Jax?
Less than a minute later, he had his answer. Grier led them directly to Quintan’s pristine passenger transport and opened the door. Jimmy twisted, looking behind them. Was Zane coming along? What was he doing with Jenna?
“Where are you taking us?” Jimmy demanded, fed up with the silent treatment. No response from any of their captors. Was it worth fighting? He eyed Grier speculatively. He’d seen Grier in action, and there was likely no way at all he could take the guy on. Not to mention he didn’t want Jax to get hurt in the ensuing fracas. Three against one wasn’t very good odds. What he needed was a weapon.
Inside the transport, his flanking “bodyguards” carefully strapped him down. It was good to know they cared about his safety, he thought wryly.
They loaded Jax into the transport through the back door, and Grier strapped him in as well. By craning his neck, Jimmy could get a glimpse of his brother; as far as he could tell, Jax was OK, though he slumped against the window, still unconscious. Once all the guards were inside, Grier took the driver’s seat and started up the transport. They took the exit from the underground garage that led straight to the Red Zone. After all, if they stayed in Omphalos, it would officially be kidnapping. In the Red Zone, it was simply a business transaction, and nobody would interfere. Of course, there was the minor little detail that he had been taken from his room in Quintan Tower, which technically was still Omphalos. Obviously that hadn’t stopped Zane. At the entrance to the street, Grier opened the security shield with his remote, and then they continued on into the empty streets of the Red Zone. The trip was short; within minutes they had reached their destination, a forbidding concrete structure looming several stories up with no windows that Jimmy could see. They waited for a moment at the entrance to the dock, and then the security shield slid open with no communication from their transport at all, at least not that Jimmy saw or heard. Grier pulled the transport into the dock, which led to a cavernous hold of some kind. There was nothing to see other than the vast emptiness illuminated by the lights of the transport. Grier stopped the transport when they had just barely entered the hold and killed the engine. He exchanged significant looks with the other guard in the front, and then they both drew their weapons.
“Will someone please tell me what is going on?” Jimmy demanded again. “Where are we?” Instead of answering, Grier nodded at the others and then climbed out of the transport. Jimmy had just decided to bolt for it when his own guard pointed a gun at Jimmy and jerked his head at the door. He sighed and climbed out into the dim gloom, the gun at his back the whole time. This time instead of lugging Jax (still unconscious) over his shoulder, Grier merely shifted him onto a hover gurney conveniently waiting right next to the transport. They were expected, then, even though there was no one standing around to greet them. At least not that Jimmy could see.
He was deathly afraid for Jenna. Zane seemed completely unhinged, and for some reason the man blamed everything on her. He didn’t know how Zane had found out about the two of them in the first place. Suddenly, a chilling thought struck him. Maybe Zane hadn’t known at all. Maybe he had just come after Jimmy so he could take Jax, only to find Jenna sleeping in his bed. Jimmy cringed with horror. If Jenna had been sleeping in her own room tonight, would she still be safe from Zane’s unreasonable rage?
It was an unsettling thought, and he put it out of his mind. No time for regrets. There wasn’t anything he could do about it now other than get out of this predicament as soon as possible so he could find her.
They moved through the inky darkness of the parking bay in silence, the sound of occasional scuffing feet echoing hollowly. None of their captors spoke. Jimmy wondered idly how long Jax’s unconsciousness would last. He wouldn’t wake up well. Did these fools even have a plan for that? Did they know what they were in for when Jax found out he was not somewhere familiar? When his brother was being restrained? Were they ready for the epic meltdown that would follow?
Somehow he doubted it.
Eventually they must have reached the end of the cavernous garage, because a door whisked open, flooding them with the ee
rie blue glow of emergency lighting. Grier silently motioned the others to stop. The man on Jimmy’s left held him back with a firm arm, though it wasn’t painful. Then he actually stepped in front of Jimmy, like he might be protecting him—or that whoever was in the room would need protection from him.
A large dark figure stepped out of the shadows. He was almost absurdly tall—and built with the kind of muscles that bespoke serious gym time. His entire face was concealed with the kind of face mask that was so common it was almost a fashion statement here in the Red Zone. A holographic projection shone on it, the face nondescript and impossible to recognize later—pointless even if you could, since the whole point was to conceal the true features of the person underneath. But the voice, as Jimmy had expected based on the physique, was decidedly male.
“Quintan didn’t bother to come himself,” the figure observed in deep bass tones. He walked all the way over to Jax’s prone figure on the stretcher and stared down at him. His mask made the gaze seem emotionless, inhuman. Jimmy wanted to jump in between them and shove him away from his brother, but his guard had a firm grip on him again.
“So, this is supposedly the inventor of the local gate,” the voice spoke again, skeptical this time. “How do I know he didn’t pawn off some imposter on me?”
Grier spoke for the first time since he had walked into Jax’s workroom. “He is Jaxon Forrest, inventor of the gate.”
The figure shrugged. “Doesn’t look like much, but we’ll put him to good use.” He straightened and turned, looking at Jimmy. Jimmy met the blank holographic screen without flinching and tried to keep his stance relaxed and casual. “Who’s this?” the voice rumbled. “I was only told to expect one guest.”
Grier shrugged. “You’ll never get anything from Forrest without his twin. So here he is. What you do with him is up to you.” Jimmy snorted. It was high time someone injected some sense into both sides.
“You can’t get anything from Jax anyway,” he contradicted. “Whatever this is—some deal Zane made, probably for nanospeed, am I right?—whatever plans you have won’t work. Jax is not someone you can reason with—or threaten. He won’t cooperate.”
The man didn’t respond, though he continued to face Jimmy. With the blank face mask, it was hard to tell if he was actually looking at Jimmy or not.
“Look,” Jimmy added in exasperation, “I don’t know who you are or what exactly you want. But I can promise you that you would be better off just letting us go. You may have made some kind of deal with Zane Quintan, but Lev Quintan is the one with the real power, and when he finds that you have us, he will make sure you regret it. You don’t mess with Quintan,” he finished, his voice hard. He hoped the stranger would believe him.
“You are a Forrest,” the figure finally observed. “The son of Jay Forrest, of Quintan-Forrest Enterprises?” The question was almost a statement.
“Yes,” Jimmy answered slowly, trying to figure out what the man wanted. Surely they already knew who he was? Or was he confirming to his captors a piece of information that he should keep secret? He couldn’t possibly be thinking of holding the both of them for ransom. Unless he was new to the Red Zone games and didn’t understand that Jimmy and Jax were the guests of Lev Quintan, and it wouldn’t matter one smidgen if he asked their father for money. Quintan had strongly ended anyone’s desire to try that manner of leverage over him. The first time someone had kidnapped one of his daughters, not only had Quintan rescued her, but he had also hunted down every single person who had been involved, from the street urchin who had stood as lookout to the block boss who had authorized it, and publicly (and very slowly) executed them all in the most gruesome manner. No one had ever tried again.
But then again, this man had the guts to sell nanospeed to Zane. Clearly he thought he was beyond the reach of Lev Quintan.
“I am not afraid of Quintan,” the voice answered with a careless wave of his hand, as if answering Jimmy’s thoughts. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly cottony. If this man was not afraid of Lev Quintan, he must have nerves made of cold steel. Such a man would be capable of anything.
“You may tell Quintan’s son that his debt will be forgiven as soon as I have the Forrest men secure in my compound,” said the man to Grier. “Not a second sooner.”
Grier did not say anything, but the two men flanking Jimmy looked at him. Waiting for orders, Jimmy presumed. Would Grier just walk away now? There was no guarantee that the dealer would honor his promise—though Zane had once explained that most thugs in the Red Zone did keep their oaths, at least in any dealings like this. Otherwise they earned a reputation—and nobody would bother dealing with them in the future.
The silence stretched out so long that Jimmy wondered if Grier was having second thoughts about this whole preposterous deal. Finally, Grier nodded and stepped away from Jax’s stretcher. The two security officers followed his lead. Grier didn’t turn his back on the dealer, but the other two men turned and led the way back to the transport. Jimmy watched them go with mixed feelings. They were working for Zane, but he trusted them more than he did the masked stranger. Jimmy eyed his new captor, but the man seemed to be focusing on the retreating Quintan Security officers. Left to himself, Jimmy hurried to the stretcher to check on Jax. He was still unconscious, though his cheeks were dark and his forehead was beaded with sweat. Was that just a normal side effect of the atlatl hit? Or was something wrong? A sudden avalanche of footsteps echoed loudly, making Jimmy spin around. A large group of men with weapons trained on him and Jax emerged in a slowly tightening circle from the shadows. They had night vision glasses on and diffusing lasers. Jimmy’s gaze darted from man to man, seeing only holographic masks and dark military-style jumpsuits. He was flanked and outgunned. Fortunately, it seemed the stranger wanted Jax alive; that kept Jimmy from panicking and losing it completely. He gripped his brother’s limp hand, though, desperate for a reminder that he wasn’t alone. (Something his brother never would have allowed if he had been awake.)
“We have no reason to harm you, Forrest,” the dealer said, his deep voice calm. “We merely want the knowledge that is in your brother’s head. Cooperate with us, and we will see that you are treated fairly.”
“You mean other than being held against our will?” Jimmy clarified bitterly with a quick glance at the transport behind him. The engine was warming up, but they seemed to be taking an awfully long time to exit the garage. Something was not right about this situation. His instincts told him that this whole deal was about to crumble. Then he saw the red glow as the weapons system on the transport charged. He acted without thought, shoving Jax’s stretcher and sending it skidding sideways as he crashed into the ground after it. Immediately shots erupted from the transport, deafening in the closed garage. Chaos broke out among his captors as they scattered, looking for shelter. More shots rang in his ears as some of them returned fire on the transport. Jimmy crawled on his belly toward the stretcher. It had careened away from him and now had a gaggle of thugs hiding behind it and firing over Jax’s body at the transport. He grimaced. They were going to get his brother killed. Looking around behind him, he saw the prone body of a goon and crawled as quickly as he could over to him. The dead man’s left hand was still closed around the handle of his diffusing laser. Jimmy pried it from his hand and scanned the warehouse. So much smoke now filled the room that it was hard to see; the leader wasn’t anywhere in his dwindling range of view. He looked at his new weapon. Luckily, the man had the cheap street version—there was no thumbprint safety nor anything to stop Jimmy from using it himself. Moving deftly to the side to clear his angle, he carefully aimed at the men taking shelter behind his brother. He fired, dropping the first and second men from behind before they even realized anything was happening. The third man whirled around, getting off a couple of wide shots before Jimmy fired repeatedly and got him straight in the chest. He slumped down, and Jimmy dashed for the stretcher, pushing it away from the bodies. Sh
ots were still being fired, though Jimmy couldn’t tell if they were coming from the transport or the thugs.
Suddenly the transport exploded, lifting Jimmy right off his feet and slamming him across the floor. The hover stretcher smashed into him, and his gun went flying from his hand. The room went blurry for an instant. His ears rang, his mind fogged, but he clawed his way back to reality. His leg was on fire. He blinked to clear his eyes and focused on the stretcher. His brother was gone, flung who knew where by the explosion. He tried to sit up, but his leg was pinned beneath the stretcher. It felt like a solid block of iron digging into his thigh, its magnetic lift destroyed. Tears pooled in his eyes as he tried to pry the stretcher up with his fingers. Grunting with the effort and ripping off several fingernails in the process, he finally raised it enough to pull his leg free. It was sore but fortunately not injured.
Get to my brother and get out, he thought fiercely. I can do this.
Jimmy scanned his surroundings again and spotted Jax. He wasn’t too far away, and Jimmy darted over to him as quickly as he could move, scuttling forward in a crouch to his brother’s side.
In shock he realized that his brother’s eyes were wide open. Jax wasn’t screaming, though. He stared right into Jimmy’s face, blinking repeatedly, even though the rest of his body was almost uncharacteristically still.
“Jimmy?” he croaked, his voice bewildered.
“Jax!” Jimmy breathed in relief. “Are you OK?”
“Yes,” Jax answered shortly. His voice was hoarse and high-pitched, but at least he didn’t sound like he was headed for hysterics immediately—there was still time to settle him down. Jimmy took a deep breath.
“Jax, I need you to be calm, OK? We’ve been kidnapped. Remember the training Father made us go through, just in case it ever happened?”
“Yes,” Jax said, his voice quivering. Jimmy carefully kept his voice neutral. “What did we learn was most important in a situation like this? We’ve got to stay calm, right?” Jax wasn’t listening anymore. The reality that he was outside his lab in a very large, open space was starting to overwhelm everything else.
The Quintan Edge (Roran Curse Book 2) Page 21
