Out of the Woods (The Coalescence Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  Willum didn’t understand that part of things.

  After all, if they were required to follow orders, and did so, then blaming them for it was insane.

  Looking over his head, the woman nodded at him.

  “Exactly. Still, it’s how things will be on the ground today. You need to get with your team leader, which is Denis Tompkins for this one. He’ll let you know what else you need to have ready. Remember, when in doubt, don’t kill anyone. If possible, don’t use any powers on them at all. Not unless ordered to.” She winked at him then, and touched his left hand. “Good luck.”

  He nodded, then made himself smile, reviewing everything he’d just seen, if quickly.

  “Thanks. I’ll see if I can…” He stopped then, since Ms. Turner was standing in the door. Listening to them. She glanced at where Cindy’s hand was resting, but didn’t even register it as anything sinister or wrong. What tiny bit she did consider wasn’t even about anything he was doing, just wondering if her data assistant liked him.

  That was all. No thought about beating him or driving him away from her female friend. It was still so expected in his own way of thinking that he kind of couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that it wasn’t happening. Certainly, both women found him appealing, if in different ways. That made a difference to how they were responding to him, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from feeling like the entire situation was more than a bit off. It was a thing that he desperately had to change and fast. After all, Cin was a product of her own culture. It wasn’t enough to just leave his hand there, he needed to honestly take the gesture as how it was meant.

  Which required him to focus on the woman carefully. Laying hers over the top of his to be more exact. There was interest from her, but that wasn’t a powerful thing at the moment. She was, more than anything, attempting to fake being kind to him. She wanted him to be her friend after all, for the free travel to other worlds. Her plan was to start a relationship with him, in order to get that to happen.

  Even if it meant selling her body to get that done.

  Instead of taking offense at him working that much out, she looked over the top of his head and nodded, smiling after a few moments, understanding that he’d picked it all up from her.

  “The question then is, will it work?”

  The words got Marcia to worry suddenly, since it was clear to her that some kind of telepathic communication was going on, without her being kept in the loop on it. That meant her inner sense of worry suddenly kicked up to full power or nearly so, as she watched both of the other people like they were plotting against her personally.

  Will simply explained, even as he kind of suspected that Ms. Turner might not actually trust him. To be fair, he didn't think she had that kind of ability, which meant she sort of couldn’t trust anyone at all. Not on a deep level.

  “Cindy is planning to form a relationship with me, so that I’ll donate free line travel to her. To all of you, I think? The issue there is that I’m from… Well, it’s very rural and the rules were very different. You live by more city rules here, I think. The noble ones are even worse… You mentioned Georgia? She could fit right in, as far as that goes, it sounds like.” He looked at Director Turner directly, hoping it was enough for her, but Cindy pushed his shoulder a bit. Not that hard, but she was a lot stronger than most women her size would be.

  “You’re a noble though, right? Countier Lairdgren?” Her accent was horribly off as she tried to say the words in Standard, as far as his newly discovered title went. It was cute however, instead of annoying.

  Will tried to copy a fun seeming expression then, hearing voices talking in the other room. It was clear that Timon had his new tutor on the line already, with the first language lesson being discussed. Which hadn’t taken that long at all. It was a bit surprising, since he recognized who his uncle had gotten for that.

  “Yeah. But I only found out about that a month ago or so. Since then I’ve mainly… Well, you understand. So I haven’t adapted to any of it really. To be totally clear, I know more about being one of you, here, than about being a proper noble of Noram. You can see how well I’m doing at this part.” He felt a bit bad for a moment, but Marcia laughed, then stepped in to pat him on the arm, near the shoulder.

  “You aren’t sucking that hard at it. Not considering that you’re only a month into training. You have English down well enough to fool a casual observer already, for instance. You mess up on lacking vocabulary at times, but cover that pretty well. Past that… Well, your understanding of customs isn’t great yet. Just by smiling a lot and being friendly you could keep most people on the street from noticing that. Which reminds me, change the hair and eyes for the mission. You’ll want to blend in with everyone.”

  He didn’t wait, matching her own deep brown eyes and dark brown hair as far as color went. His natural coloration had been darker up top, but the eyes were close. As soon as he did it, the woman smiled at him.

  “Not bad. You have the basic plan down?” She looked over at Cindy, as if the other woman were the one in charge of him. If so, they’d neglected to tell him about that part of things.

  Still, the blonde woman smiled at him, her face seeming pleased. Her mind wasn’t really. Inside she was much colder, as well as far more calculating than almost anyone else he’d met there yet.

  “He even went to the location four times and found a hidden spot for them to go in. Then we ran over the normal procedures. Use of force rules and who to obey on the ground, so that there’s no confusion.”

  That got a nod from the woman in charge as well as his arm squeezed a bit. Interestingly, unlike with Cindy, who wanted influence over him for her own reasons, Marcia was more interested in Will increasing his skills, to help them in the battle they found themselves at the moment. The touching portion of things was being done simply because he’d indicated he wasn’t used to it. Not for any other real reason.

  “Get with your team leader then, Will. Let me know if anything comes up that you need help with. Myself, Cindy here, or Brian, for the time being. Bridget will be busy, for several days.”

  That part was new, but the feeling was of something the lady wanted to keep hidden. From him at least. As if doing that wouldn’t have him searching it out. Which, Will had to wonder, might not be part of the real point. Marcia wasn’t just concerned about him and that he was a spy, but was also trying to help teach him how to do that kind of thing.

  It still had to come after he made certain he was doing his job well enough that no one thought about him in a bad way. To that end, he nodded, waved a bit and then went off to find Denis. A man who was familiar to him from his daily efforts with Master Hobbs. That meant, while he had no clue where to find Mr. Tompkins if he weren’t in the kitchen or the training facility, Willum could kind of focus on him, as if he wanted to deliver a message.

  Instead of going into the void, which would have actually been easier for him that way, since then the line would be unfettered and unmuddled, Will struggled a bit, to filter out the world around him. Then he moved in a strange direction, which took him off to the right. Past the apartments, which was what the tall barracks for the Operatives were called. The path was the same gray, poured seeming stone under his feet that he was used to seeing on the base.

  The short building was unremarkable on the outside. The only thing that seemed interesting was that it wasn’t that large, compared to most of the other places there. It was about the size of a decent Pine Creek village house. So, four or five large rooms, if that, without having multiple levels.

  When he walked inside, not knocking, figuring that the door would be locked if they didn’t want him to go in, the space was rather bland seeming. It was mainly one large room, filled with ten desks, each one having a fit man behind it, wearing a black suit. They all had similar short haircuts, except for one man near the back who was bald on the top of his head. Near the side there were two men visible through an open door. Both of them were in tan, with another person
, also male, speaking to them.

  One of the fellows was Den, so Willum walked over directly, barely getting a look from anyone else in the place. That part was strange, since they didn’t stare at him, but half of them were ready to shoot him. They knew he was there and would try their best to kill him where he stood, if violence started. They also knew that they would fail. Recognizing who he was, personally.

  When he got to the door of the space, he pounded lightly on the frame, like everyone did in the front office. That got everyone else in the room to spin in place, looking at him. The man behind the desk was about to speak, when Denis did, waving.

  “This is Willie.” He looked at him closely, then smiled. “With new hair and eyes. This is better for the mission coming up. He’s our way down there, as well as decent in a fight. No particular weapons skills yet, but similar powers to Marcia. Also telepathy, as well as his teleportation trick.”

  The man behind the desk regarded him coolly for a bit. His eyes were almost gray. It was kind of sinister seeming, but instead of feeling put out by Will showing up there, he nodded.

  “I was briefed on you. Here to learn how to infiltrate other realities? I’m Burkes. You know Den here already. Next to him is Lancaster. He’s lobbying to go on the mission with you, but his powers aren’t really suited for it. Fire based attacks for the most part. He also used to have my job, being in charge of the Agents section. So he knows the work, which is his point. What do you think?”

  It was a lot of information, the worst bit being that it was clear no one was being fooled by him yet at all. So he looked at the other man, who was kind of miserable seeming inside. Not outside, where he appeared hard, lean and ready to fight. That was inside of him as well, but the worst bit was his own sense of boredom with his current life.

  What was also clear was that he was really, really good at his old job. The man wasn’t that certain of his ability to use fire as a weapon, however.

  Denis was actually tentatively supportive of the idea, as was the man behind the desk. The real issue took a lot of concentration to comprehend, then a bit of thought, which he didn't totally pick up immediately. No one was thinking about that part. They all knew, on a deep level, what the problem was. Will had to take it from context.

  Lancaster was Infected. The leaders there punished other people for that. Most often by refusing them honest work, because many of them were filled with anger, rage or fear. It made them unpredictable and hard to work with. This man however seemed to be very focused on his current task. He simply didn’t have one. That was a major problem for him, personally.

  The government wanted to punish him however, in order to control him.

  So Willum shrugged.

  “Um… Honestly? He should go. I was told that we need to avoid using powers when possible? So having more people who can act on that level will be potentially helpful. As mentioned, he knows the job.”

  Interestingly, the man behind the desk, Agent Burkes, nodded then, his head moving a few times.

  “All right. That sounds like a plan to me as well. Good. We still need an agent to go with you. In this case, you get me, since Reyes pulled the London trip. I think he wanted to do some sightseeing. Do we have the insertion location scouted?” He stopped, then looked directly at Will. “That’s the hotel we’re staying at. I don’t want to lose you with my fancy IPB Agent’s speak.”

  That part was meant to be funny, but the man had actually been helpful explaining that to him.

  “I was there a few times to make certain that I can do that and found a slightly hidden place out back to go in. I didn’t check it past that. I can go do that now? Or take someone else there for that?”

  Interestingly, Lancaster stood then, getting a nod from Burkes.

  “Excellent. You two set that up. Meet back here in an hour?”

  After that, led by the new man in tan, they ran.

  Chapter fifteen

  Willum Baker learned more about alternate reality infiltration in ten minutes walking with Darryl Lancaster than he had in the last two weeks. The man spoke constantly, figuring out what a stranger would need to know, and then how it might be useful in different realities. There was always going to be room for error, which the blonde man mentioned.

  He also insisted they change first, before going. He was in a plain suit, which had a black jacket and white shirt. Looking at Will, he grinned. They were moving from his room, where the man had hurried through changing so fast that it was actually and honestly, impressive.

  “You’re too young looking for a suit. I don’t suppose you have jeans and a t-shirt? We can pass you off as my son. We don’t look that much alike, but most people won’t care about that.”

  Stopping for a few seconds, he altered his clothing. That meant he was in faded jeans, in the required blue color, as well as a tight red t-shirt. Then he found a mirror, so that he could match the particular shade of blue that Lancaster had for his eyes. The hair was harder for him, but he got it after several minutes of changing small parts of it, making it darker in places so that it seemed right.

  The other man didn’t even blink about it happening.

  Lancaster just nodded as he jogged from the space they were in, on the first floor of the other apartment building. They had to find the node location, or at least one of them, but when they got to Houston it turned out to be raining. It hadn’t been earlier, though the promised rain on the base hadn’t come yet.

  They walked around, with the other man talking to him as if they were actually related.

  “We’ll stay here for a few days, Willie. Texas is a great place to just soak in. Look at the architecture of the buildings here.” He waved at the hotel, which was pretty plain seeming, to be honest. “The structure here was built with storms in mind. See the upper windows there? That’s double paned safety glass. They won’t open, which means that there will be central air. It’s pretty cool today, but that’s the time of year. Normally it’s pretty hot here.”

  They were being spit on by the clouds above, which they were both willing to ignore, in order to see the miracle that was the hotel. Lancaster just walked in, looking around carefully, with a small smile on his face. They walked the whole thing, with Will trying to find any threats that might be there. Waiting for them.

  They hurried, so that they could get back in time. Will’s part was as cover for Lancaster, which helped a few times. People would come too near, seeming suspicious, so the man with him started to speak about Will’s mother.

  In each case the person that was wondering why they were walking the halls just smiled, relieved to find that it was just a very fit man and his good looking boy. Out for a walk. Inside a hotel. Because that made any sense at all. People let it go, just finding a thread that made sense inside their world, clinging to it, even if their instincts told them the truth in the first place.

  After half an hour they moved back to the base. Once there, they jogged to the Agents’ offices, reporting in almost instantly. Denis was still sitting. Working.

  Lancaster just spoke, his voice strong sounding.

  “It’s clear, at least at the point we left. We worked it as father and son.” He waved at Will, to explain that, which Burkes understood instantly.

  “Got it. That fits. You two are up for guard duty for the next forty-eight? We need twenty-four-hour coverage. People have caught on to the fact that we’re required to show up at any protest of more than ten people now. No one has tried it yet, but if it were me and I wanted to kill a few IPB Operatives for publicity, I’d set up something small, then snipe from a distance.”

  Denis tilted his head a bit, then shrugged.

  “Yeah. The stuff with Bridget is freaking people out.” He glanced at Will, thinking about what to say, then realized that he was so new that large chunks of the world he stood in would be unknown to him. Even if he practically carried Bridget around in his pocket most days. “We had a war of sorts here about a year ago. It was a trick, trying to get us to
kill millions of regular people. Setting the Infected against the norms. Instead of letting that happen, Impulse, that’s Bridget if you missed that, went out and killed anyone that wouldn’t stop fighting. Now everyone is afraid that she’ll lose it one day and just start taking out anyone that doesn’t do what she wants.”

  Will could understand that at least.

  “I think I see. So, if they can’t reach her easily, being too difficult to harm, they might go after her friends and family. Taking hostages or killing them so that she’ll lose her focus for a while? That won’t work. Not for long. She’s very good at holding to a single task.”

  Burkes snorted through his nose, but nodded.

  “We get that. The trick is, do they? We’ve had some attacks already. An organized program, hitting in different areas. They even tried to nuke a city here… Do you know what that is? Nuclear bombs…”

  He made a face, going hard, then nodded.

  “In the last big war, when I was a boy, that kind of thing was used to create giant killer waves. It damaged the environment enough that we’re still recovering from it. That was twelve years ago or so?”

  Den took a sudden, rather deep, breath.

  “Fuck. That’s screwed up. It’s the kind of thing we’re dealing with though, here. So it could actually be dangerous for us to go to this thing. From what we can tell, this is just about gay rights, which shouldn’t be a big issue. They have a right to hold a rally. Normally that kind doesn’t get that violent. They might do some raunchy things, but the protestors aren’t the big problem this time.”

  He kind of got the idea, but tilted his head.

  “Gay?”

  Lancaster waved at them, his head going upward.

  “Men that love men, women who love women. It’s legal for them to marry now, but they catch some flak for it. Mainly from some religious and conservative people. The thing there is that the vast majority of them, those groups, don’t really care that much. So the big thing here is the fact that we, the IPB are required to go in, by law. What we don’t have to do is let them know that we’re actually there.”