Psion Delta (Psion series #3)

by Jacob Gowans

  “You all right?” Jeffie now asked him.

  “Not sure. You?”

  “Yeah. I’m a little scared.”

  “Only a few of you have combat experience,” Sammy said. “If this turns into a fight—”

  “It’ll be okay,” Jeffie told him. “We’ll figure it out.”

  “No. No. It might not be okay. The Rio mission was a lot safer than what we’re doing now, and it nearly killed me.”

  “This is different.”

  “How is it different? I don’t want to be responsible for the deaths of my friends!” He remembered that everyone else was sleeping and lowered his voice. “Jeffie, you have to remember that I’m not some god. I can’t do everything. I may not be able to keep an eye out for you while I’m doing whatever I need to do.”

  Jeffie raised an eyebrow. “Who says I need you to keep an eye on me?”

  Sammy tried to smile for her, but couldn’t. “Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy. On my mission last month, there was this little girl. She was ten. I thought the Thirteens had already killed her when they announced they had hostages. I guessed wrong and I watched her die right in front of me. A Thirteen killed her. He shot her in the head. And with everything else I’ve seen, sometimes I feel like I might go nuts. If you or Brickert dies, I don’t see how I could stop it. I’d lose it. I’d lose it all.”

  “I know I might die, Sammy, but I’d rather die than let you go there alone. You don’t deserve to be alone anymore.”

  Sammy’s eyes locked on hers. Something powerful stirred inside him. The thought of losing Jeffie without ever letting her know how he felt seemed too terrible a tragedy to face. He swallowed hard and slowly let out a trembling breath. Jeffie swallowed, too.

  “Seriously?” she asked as she stared back at him. “You want to do this now? Here?”

  He nodded and licked his lips nervously. She saw this and licked hers in response. Sammy watched her, mesmerized.

  “I haven’t kissed a lot of girls.”

  Jeffie let out a breathy laugh at his words. “Yeah, zero isn’t very many, is it?”

  He swallowed again. His eyes still hadn’t left her lips. With his eyes, he traced and memorized every wrinkle in them. “What if I suck at it? I mean, you’ve kissed a bunch of guys, right? I’m probably terrible.”

  “Are you trying to offend me?” She raised one eyebrow, but her lips twisted into a smirk. “Trust me. Close your eyes. Pucker up and move in. Let me do the rest.”

  “Okay. Pucker. Close—no, wait. Close, pucker, move in.” Sammy took a deep breath. His heart hadn’t pounded this hard in a while. An earthquake seemed to be going on in his hands. He glanced briefly at her face, then returned his gaze to her lips. That was the goal.

  Focus on the goal.

  Jeffie closed her eyes. He followed suit.

  I’m going to suck at this!

  He thought an invisible hand had snuck under his skin and was now bending his spine forward. He leaned, leaned, leaned. . . .

  Heat blew across his face: Jeffie’s breath, hot and minty. Sammy peeked. Her face was right in front of his, her eyes closed, lips slightly puckered, waiting. It was beautiful. A thrill chased down his arms, spreading up and down his back, filling him with giddy energy. He closed the rest of the distance and pressed his lips against hers.

  Too fast. He swore at himself. Am I doing this right? What do I do with my hands?

  “Relax,” she hissed at him.

  He tried to do what she said. As he succeeded, he gave more of himself to the kiss. It was soft and wonderful, everything he’d imagined it to be . . . right until his lungs ran out of air. What do I do? What do I do? He breathed deeply through his nose, letting the oxygen relax him once more. Jeffie’s hands encircled his head, her fingers trapping his hair. Sammy’s arms went around her body, pulling her closer as their kiss deepened.

  Wow, she tastes good. What took me so long to do this?

  Finally, the kiss ended. Sammy noticed the hairs on his arms standing straight. Jeffie opened her eyes and grinned.

  “Not bad, Sammy.” A dancing light filled her eyes. “Not bad.”

  “Thanks,” he began. “I was—”

  Jeffie grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back to her. As she kissed him the second time, fireworks went off all over his body. It was the best feeling in the world. The kiss went on for a while until the sound of someone softly clearing of his or her throat separated them like two bandits caught in a searchlight. Sammy looked back to see Brickert grinning at him. Natalia, blurry-eyed and sleepy, gave Jeffie a thumbs-up.

  “Okay,” Sammy said, his face hot and his whole body quaking, “now I want to die.”

  Jeffie put her hands on the sides of Sammy’s face and drew him close. Just before their lips touched, she diverted her head to his left ear. “Don’t make me wait that long for the next time.”

  “Deal.”

  Slowly the other Betas woke up. It was far too little sleep for any of them, another thing that worried Sammy. They’d crossed into another time zone. The clock read 2257. As they drew near to Orlando, discussions grew heated about how to proceed once they landed. Sammy demanded the final say in the matter and refused to let anyone besides himself go near Katie Carpenter. A very basic plan was hashed out right as Sammy landed the ship. He ordered everyone to remain low and out of sight.

  The cruiser set down near a large lake. It was too dark outside to distinguish much more than water and a few houses in the distance. Sammy flipped on the cruiser’s floodlights to blind whoever might be around. He jumped out and landed on wobbly legs, tired from both lack of sleep and sitting for three hours straight.

  A man stepped into the light about ten meters from Sammy. He wore a dark suit with a light blue shirt and a red tie. The hat on his head cast a dark shadow over his face. This man was not Mr. Nemosio, Sammy knew that for sure. He pointed a silenced pistol at Sammy. “I’m going to fire twice.”

  A flash of light exploded from the end of the gun accompanied by two small puffs of air. Sammy shielded both bullets.

  “My apologies, but I was asked to shoot at you. Had to be certain.”

  “You’re supposed to give me instructions?”

  “You came alone?”

  Sammy spread out his hands widely. “Do you see anyone else?”

  “I’ve been asked to look inside your cruiser. Move aside.”

  It took Sammy about ten seconds to subdue the man and jam the gun up under his jawbone. “Give me the information I need right now, or this bullet is going to pierce your nose through your jaw!”

  Sammy pulled the trigger as he covered the man’s mouth, muffling his hollers. Only a trained ear would have known that he had not fired the gun into the man’s head but into the ground. He waited several seconds with the gun pointed back into the captor’s head, listening for the sounds of someone approaching. When he was satisfied they were alone, he reached into the man’s coat and found a com. Sammy threw it into the lake. In the other coat pocket was a set of keys. Sammy took these, too. Then he pushed the barrel harder into the man’s head.

  “Tell me where I am and how to get where I need to be.”

  “Lake Holden is right behind you.” The man spoke quickly and calmly, but Sammy caught every word. “Take the car. It’s parked not more than a hundred meters away.”

  “Which way?”

  “That way,” the man said, jerking his head backward. Go west on Thirty-Seventh. Get on the Four-Forty-One going north. Get on the northbound freeway. It’ll take you all the way to Church Street. There’s a building on Church. It’s huge. That’s where you want to go. Church. It’s got a big purple—”

  “N.”

  The man surveyed Sammy with renewed interest before continuing. “Yes. That’s right. Park on the street and go in through the street level entrance. You’re supposed to take the northwest elevator up to the top floor, elevator number one. It’s the only one that goes all the way to the top floor. You go in through th
e garage, they kill the hostages.”

  “You mean my parents?”

  “All I know is that there are hostages.”

  Sammy pulled the man’s face uncomfortably close to his own and gave him a cold stare. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

  The man wasn’t scared, and Sammy didn’t like that. “I’ve told you everything I was supposed to say. I was sent here to pick you up and take you.”

  Sammy waved his hand at the cruiser. The doors opened and all the Betas came out. “I need restraints,” he told them. Kaden brought out two pairs of cuffs. Sammy used them on the man’s hands and ankles. It disturbed Sammy to see the man’s lack of surprise that the other Betas were with him. He left the stranger bound in the dirt and joined his group by the cruiser.

  “We’re heading to the heart of the city,” Sammy said. “Church Street. N building. Top floor. Li, lead your team into the garage after I’ve been inside fifteen minutes. If you can, use stealth, but I wouldn’t count on it. Find my parents and subdue whoever’s guarding them. It could be a trick, so if there’s no one down there, don’t waste time. Get out as fast as you can. Ludwig, you’re going to have to stay cool and patient. If you get restless, none of us have an escape route. Let me and Li’s team do our thing. I’ll look for your signal.”

  “No worries, man,” Ludwig said. “I know what to do. You just be watching for me.”

  Sammy took a deep breath. “Everyone with Ludwig, follow his orders as if you were in the Arena. Same thing for everyone on Li’s team going with me. Trust each other and follow your honcho.”

  They split into two groups. Ludwig went back to the cruiser and opened up the floor compartment. Inside were two pairs of binoculars, food rations, four submachine guns, and a dozen ammo magazines. He gave one gun to Li, Jeffie, Kobe, and Kaden. “There are two grenades in here. You want ‘em?”

  Sammy and Li looked at each other.

  “You bet I do.” Li stowed one in each pocket.

  Sammy gave his handgun to Brickert.

  “You need a gun,” Jeffie told Sammy.

  “No, I don’t. You really think they’ll let me in there with a gun?”

  Jeffie didn’t argue. Brickert tried to talk Natalia into being part of Ludwig’s team, but she flatly refused to leave him. The Betas said goodbye to Ludwig, Strawberry, and Hefani and watched them take off into the twilight sky. Sammy and Li’s team found the car in under five minutes. It was an old, white SUV, but still quite a squeeze for eleven people to fit inside. They managed with lots of people sitting on laps or hunkering down in the very back.

  Sammy put the car into drive and stepped on the gas pedal. The car jerked away from the curb, and he immediately put his foot on the brake. “Sorry.”

  A car approached them from behind and honked because Sammy was now blocking the lane. “Give me a second!” he called out. He put the car in reverse and again hit the gas too hard. The car backed up on the curb.

  “Okay, switch!” Jeffie said.

  “What?”

  “Get out. I’ll drive.”

  “I’m doing fine!”

  “Move it or lose it!”

  Sammy moved over and let Jeffie into the driver’s seat. With practiced ease, she pulled out onto the road and drove west.

  “Where did you learn to drive?” Brickert asked.

  “I’ve been driving race karts since I was seven. I won a regional racing—”

  “Okay, we get it,” Sammy said.

  Jeffie winked at him. The drive was short and uneventful. They discussed a few possible contingencies. Sammy was confident their plan was the best they could come up with under the circumstances. It reassured him knowing his friends had a few weapons and explosives, though he hoped that they wouldn’t have to use them.

  Downtown Orlando was busy for a late Sunday night. Several restaurants and bars were still open. Pockets of people roamed the streets. Sammy watched them with curiosity. Partying, clubbing, bar hopping . . . it was a life he would never know. Then again, I, too, have a life that they will never know.

  The deeper they drove into town, the taller the buildings grew until they were in a cluster of towers that reached toward heaven. The sky was clear, but no stars were visible beyond the lights of the city.

  “There,” Kawai said, pointing between Sammy and Jeffie. “That’s the N building.”

  “Pull over,” Sammy said. “I’ll get out here.”

  Jeffie immediately curbed the vehicle. Sammy looked at her, then at the rest of his friends. “Well, I guess I’ll see you when I see you. Remember the plan. Be safe.”

  As he closed the door, they all wished him good luck in their own ways: Jeffie took his hand through the window and squeezed it tightly, Kawai kissed her fingers and touched them to her heart, Brickert reached over and shook Sammy’s hand, and Natalia smiled bravely.

  “Bye, guys.”

  The air was warm and muggy. No breeze found its way through the maze of city buildings. An unpleasant scent filled his nostrils. The SUV sped off past him. Jeffie tapped her brakes to say goodbye one more time. Then, remembering his conversation with Al a few weeks ago, Sammy said a silent prayer for his friends.

  The walk to the N building lasted almost ten minutes. He crossed the four-lane street and came to the main entrance. Large purple and gold Ns were on the double doors that marked the Church Street entrance. They looked exactly like the ones on the N building in Rio de Janeiro. Part of him wanted to shatter the symbols into a thousand little pieces. However, that would attract unwanted attention. The doors opened automatically for him as soon as he stepped near.

  He tried to ignore all the purple, but it was impossible. A lone man wearing a purple business suit and a matching tie over a gold shirt sat behind his information desk.

  “Good evening, sir. Do you need any assistance?”

  Sammy saw the sign for the elevators and politely declined.

  There were thirteen elevators in total. Only two of them had their own call buttons, the first and the last. Number one was indeed the most northwestern of them. Sammy called the elevator and waited. As he waited he heard the muffled tone of the man at the desk speaking.

  “ . . . arrived . . . moment . . . sir,” were the only words Sammy discerned.

  Then the elevator arrived with a very pleasant ding. When the doors opened, a chorus of warnings went off in his head, reminding him of the many cartoons he’d seen where characters were ambushed in elevators, gripping the walls as if that might somehow save them. He imagined a great big sinister finger pushing a giant red button, ordering the elevator safeties to release, plummeting the victims to their deaths; although it didn’t make sense to bring someone all the way to Orlando to push a button and kill them in an elevator.

  This comforting thought didn’t prevent the upward ride from feeling like a miniature eternity. It began to rise the moment he pressed the button. As it moved, the second movement of Beethoven’s sixth symphony played over the speaker. Sammy had no idea how he even recognized that the music was Beethoven’s, let alone which symphony and movement it was.

  He watched the digital display announce every floor from one to ninety-one. Around the twentieth floor, his mouth went dry and tasted like sour drops without any sugar. By the time he hit level fifty, his hands were shaking ever so slightly. He couldn’t help but wonder what his friends were doing, and if he had already gotten them all killed. He also thought of Katie and Stripe, and hoped no one would kill them. That was his duty. His privilege. It was a secret he wanted to keep even from himself, but the truth was there: Sammy wanted to watch their eyes glaze over and dim to extinction.

  The music faded as the elevator stopped at the ninety-first floor. The doors opened to reveal a small antechamber of the penthouse suite. Across the way was another elevator, number thirteen. The man at the lake had said there was only one, Sammy remembered. He stepped into a luxurious antechamber. As the son of a popular district attorney, he’d attended several parties in many of
the finest homes in Johannesburg. None of them compared to the grandeur of this small room.

  A camera hung on the side of one of the ornate wooden doors. Three more watched him from other angles. They tracked his movement through the antechamber like four robotic heads eerily stalking him. A small holo-screen turned on, but all Sammy saw was the graphic of an odd-looking fox.

  “Hello,” announced the same voice Sammy had heard back at headquarters. “We’ve been expecting you. Please come in.”

  A buzz from the door startled him. The screen went black. The doorknob of carved gold felt cold to his touch, and he noticed his hands were still shaking and his forehead had become moist. He paused to wipe his brow, then pushed the door open.

  * * * * *

  After dropping off Sammy, Jeffie drove around the block and parked the SUV across the street from the eastern garage entrance. Then she rolled down the side window four or five centimeters for Li, who took several minutes to examine everything through his binoculars.

  “You see anyone?” Kaden asked. “Anything?”

  Li shook his head, then got out of the car. “Wait for my signal.”

  He was gone about ten minutes before he came back and tapped on the glass. “There’s a whole bunch of cameras in there. No way are we doing anything without being seen. We could waste bullets shooting them, but by the time we do that, they’ll know something’s up.”

  Jeffie stared at the garage. “So what do you want to do?”

  “Since stealth is out of the question, we may as well go for shock and awe.”

  As soon as Li was situated in the passenger seat, Jeffie slammed on the gas and shot from the curb toward the entrance ramp. She gritted her teeth as the SUV plowed through the gate, smashing it like tin foil.

  “YEE HAW!” Kobe shouted.

  “Hold on!” she yelled. They were in the garage. She sped around the first level, weaving in and out of cars and lanes, looking for any sign of hostages or Thirteens.

  “I don’t see anything,” Kobe said.