by J. C. Diem
“I give you my word that nothing will happen to Alexis.” Mark flicked a glance at me and realized I’d moved close enough to have overheard every word that he’d said. He frowned and turned away, cupping his hand over the receiver in an effort to keep the rest of his conversation private.
My father had a voice that could carry across a parade ground and I could still hear him, although his words were far more muffled now. “What kind of monsters are you dealing with this time?” he asked.
“The human kind,” Agent Steel said in a hushed whisper. “They have powers that I’ve never seen before. They’ve already killed several people and their attacks are escalating.”
“Try not to expose Lexi to anything that she doesn’t need to know about. I’d like my daughter to have as normal a life as possible. Put Alexis on the phone.”
I took the phone with a hand that wanted to tremble. Was my father really going to let me leave town with a complete stranger? Excitement warred with fear that I might actually have to utilize the skills that he’d taught me.
“Hi, Dad.” I hadn’t spoken to him in over a week and I missed him a lot. We couldn’t always speak weekly. He was often too busy to make the call. While I didn’t like him being away so often and for so long, I understood that it was his duty. He’d raised me to believe in doing the right thing and I knew he only left me because he’d been ordered to by his superiors.
“Hi, sweetheart.” He sounded weary and resigned.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Agent Steel wants your help to take down some bad people, honey. He needs someone with superior sniper skills as backup and it’s pretty well known that you’re currently the best person available.” It wasn’t flattery, but pure fact and we both knew it. “He promised me that you’ll only have to take the shot if all else fails.”
Although I’d always known it was probable that I would spill blood one day, I didn’t think it would be when I was quite this young. I took a deep breath, held it for a second then let it out. “I won’t let you down, Dad.”
“I know you won’t, Lexi.” The pride in his voice had me swallowing down a lump in my throat. “The world isn’t quite as normal as you think it is, honey. There are things out there that would shock most people if they knew they existed.”
“What kinds of things?” I was totally bewildered by his warning and had no idea what he was talking about.
“Strange things. Things that can’t be explained rationally,” he said gravely and a shiver worked its way down my spine. My father wasn’t prone to exaggeration and he meant exactly what he said. “You’ll see what I mean soon enough. I have to go, honey. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said then the line went dead.
I handed the phone back to Agent Steel and he caught and held my eyes. “Welcome to the TAK Squad, Alexis.” His smile was probably meant to be reassuring, but it just added to my sudden anxiety.
₪₪₪
Chapter Three
“What is the TAK Squad exactly?” I asked as we left the building and headed towards a shiny black sedan. Patrick watched me through a window as I walked away and I felt his mournful gaze lingering on my back. It was almost a relief to be leaving with Agent Steel. I was pretty sure Patrick had been on the verge of dredging up the courage to ask me out. Dating really wasn’t something that I was interested in doing just yet. What would be the point of getting attached to someone when I was going to be joining the army soon? I’d be far too busy learning how to be a soldier to date anyone for at least the next few years.
Army jeeps predominated in the parking lot with a few civilian trucks and cars scattered here and there. It was hot enough to drive everyone indoors, but Mark looked around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear us before he answered my question. When he did, he kept his voice low so that it wouldn’t carry. “TAK stands for ‘Track and Kill’.”
“Oh.” It made the squad sound like a bunch of psychopathic killers. For all I knew, maybe they were. “How many people are in your team?”
Unlocking the doors, he motioned for me to climb in. “Four, including myself.”
It seemed like a small number for a squad, but I kept my opinion to myself. “What are they like?”
Taking my question seriously, Mark thought about his answer before replying. “They’re intense, focused and dedicated to their jobs.”
They sounded old and stodgy and were probably all Agent Steel’s age. If so, they’d most likely treat me like a baby. I’d been looking after myself for the past four years, which had made me independent and self-sufficient. Being treated like a kid wasn’t going to be fun, even if I was technically still a child.
“How did you get that scar on your shoulder?” he asked casually, changing the conversation abruptly. My tank top had shifted aside enough for him to catch a glimpse of a ragged bite mark on my right shoulder. Not only had I left my jacket behind, I’d forgotten to change into a t-shirt before heading out to the range.
My hand automatically tugged the material back over the scar. I’d been a few months old when I’d been attacked and I didn’t remember the event at all. I was sure it had been traumatic at the time and I was glad that the memory hadn’t stayed with me. “A dog bit me when I was a baby.”
“Really?” he said with heavy skepticism. “That doesn’t look like any dog bite I’ve ever seen.”
I had to admit the scar was odd. Only the upper set of teeth showed, as if the dog hadn’t had a lower jaw. He wasn’t the only one to have pointed the scar’s weirdness out to me over the years. “What do you think did it then? A vampire?” I asked and rolled my eyes.
My scorn rolled straight off him and he gave me a strained smile. “Of course not.”
“Who are these people that you’re hunting?” I asked to change the subject away from me again. This was why I usually wore t-shirts while out in public. I didn’t find my scar to be very interesting, but everyone else seemed to be fascinated by it. They all wanted to hear my survival story and there was very little that I could tell them about it. I was savaged by an animal and now I had a scar, end of story.
“We’ve long suspected that some people have enhanced mental capabilities,” he replied. “There have been stories of people who were able to use telekinesis, telepathy and many other psychic powers for hundreds of years.” He glanced at me to see if I was listening and noted my skeptical expression. “Seven men and women recently broke out of a mental facility near Denver,” he explained. “Each has unique abilities, but their predominant talent is mind control. They use compulsion to force people to fulfil certain acts and perversions.”
Although still highly doubtful, I was intrigued with the idea that some people might actually have psychic powers. “It seems kind of coincidental that seven different people in the same facility all broke out at the same time. Did they somehow coordinate their escape?”
He inclined his head in a short nod. “We believe they learned of each other’s abilities while overhearing the guards talking. Once they discovered there were others in the facility with similar gifts as themselves, they hatched a plan to escape. One of the survivors vaguely recalls being ordered to carry messages from one of the cells to another. It took several weeks for the inmates to organize their escape.
“I believe they weaned themselves off the tranquilizers they were fed each night and were eventually able to take control of their guards. It was a simple, but effective plan. One of them used mind control to create a riot between the guards that resulted in over a dozen deaths. Another forced their guard to open all of the cell doors in the facility. With the rest of the inmates set free to cause havoc, all seven of the telepaths escaped during the confusion.”
“Why did they allow themselves to be caught in the first place if they have the ability to control minds?”
“They were fairly new to using their powers at the time and they didn’t have the ability to control several people at once. Th
e team that captured them used tranquilizer darts shot from a safe distance. The psychics were kept under sedation night and day ever since their capture. The doctors on staff learned that even light sedation interferes with their ability to use mind control and their other abilities. I’m not sure how they managed to wean themselves off the drugs without the staff’s knowledge.” His frown implied that he’d be looking into it.
Mulling this information over, I watched the scenery pass by. There was little to see except for dirt, rocks and cacti during the long drive from the outskirts of the army base into town. My father had opted to rent a small house in town rather than to live on the base with the rest of the personnel. The high school was tiny, but it was only a few blocks away from home and I could easily walk to it. Now that I’d graduated, there was little in town to help me pass my days. This was the reason I spent most days at the range, practicing both my indoor and outdoor target skills.
So far, what I’d heard of these telepaths was alarming, but I wasn’t sure why my help would be needed. Practically anyone could shoot a tranquilizer gun, they didn’t need a trained sniper for that. I needed more information to understand what I’d potentially be facing during this mission. “Exactly how strong are their powers and what can they make people do?”
“They’ve grown very strong even while they were held under sedation and they weren’t able to exercise their abilities to their full extent. Normal humans have little to no resistance against them,” Mark said grimly. “Three of them have precognition and can see limited glimpses of the future. Two of them can lift objects the size and weight of an average man and use them as projectiles. Another can set fires that burn so hot that water can’t extinguish them and they have to burn out on their own. The final psychic can teleport short distances.
“These gifts are hazardous enough, but it’s their predominant ability that is the most dangerous. Their mind control allows them to make us do whatever they want. They can force us to put a gun to our heads and blow our own brains out if they want to.”
Shuddering at the image of being forced to commit suicide, I was glad I’d be needed only as a last resort. “What do you mean by ‘normal humans’? What other types of humans are there?”
“While the vast majority of people can’t resist the psychics’ powers, a few have a natural ability that makes them nearly immune to coercion. My team has already encountered two of our targets and they were successfully able to ignore their commands. One managed to escape by teleporting beneath the street into the sewers and the other blocked our path with fire. They tried to use their mind control to escape first, but my agents successfully resisted their orders.”
My curiosity was piqued again. “What type of commands were they given?”
The glance he sent me this time was longer. He was assessing me to see how well I was handling this so far. “Each of the telepaths has a favorite trick. We’ve taken to calling them the Seven Deadly Sinners.”
My father wasn’t a religious man and he hadn’t raised me with any particular beliefs when it came to God. Religion wasn’t something that I’d studied very much and I had to think hard for a few seconds. “Are you talking about sloth, greed, lust and the other sins that I can’t remember?”
“Exactly,” he replied with a nod. “The first psychic we came across is able to make people think they are above the law and that they don’t have to conform to the rules of society.”
“Which sin does that relate to?”
“We think its pride.”
“What about the other one? What does he make people do?”
“She,” Agent Steel corrected me. “She forces people to collect and hoard objects.”
“I take it she’s greed?” He nodded and I thought about what he’d told me so far. The mental commands didn’t sound all that dire to me so far. “I can’t see how forcing people to hoard stuff could be all that bad.”
“It’s bad because Greed’s victims don’t care if the objects that they desire already belong to someone else. One woman smashed her way through a window of a jewelry store with the intention of stealing everything that was on display. She cut herself badly on the glass in the process.”
“Is she ok?” Something in his expression told me she wasn’t, but I felt compelled to ask anyway.
Mark assessed me again and decided I could handle the truth. “She didn’t make it.”
“It must have been a pretty deep cut.”
“She didn’t die from her wounds. She was subdued by some concerned citizens and paramedics took her to a hospital to be treated. The victim died because she didn’t manage to fulfil the command that she was given.”
Thoroughly confused, I crossed my arms and gripped my elbows tightly for comfort. “What do you mean? What happened to her?” The more I learned about these psychics, the scarier they were beginning to sound. His warning that they could force us to blow our own brains out should have been my first clue of danger. This still seemed pretty farfetched to me and I was having a difficult time believing this was real.
“Doctors performed autopsies on the victims who have failed to obey the orders that they were given. The scans showed certain anomalies that resulted in their deaths.”
“What sort of anomalies?” I prodded when it didn’t look like he was going to elaborate.
Cutting a look at me, he could see that I wasn’t going to let the question go. “They had a complete neural breakdown that resulted in brain death.”
My mouth dropped open, but nothing came out. It was rare that I was stunned speechless, but that was what I was experiencing right now.
“Now you know what we’re facing and how crucial it is to keep your distance from the targets.”
I found myself nodding with profound agreement. If my father hadn’t warned me that the world wasn’t quite as normal as I’d always thought it was, I’d have been out of the car and running away from the agent in a heartbeat. He might sound crazy, but I had to believe that he was telling me the truth. These telepaths were real and they had to be stopped.
₪₪₪
Chapter Four
Agent Steel didn’t require directions to find my house. He’d already input the data into the built in GPS in the dashboard. The robotic voice led him through the tiny town directly to a small, yellow building with ugly brown trim. The lawn was nonexistent, just like all of the yards in this street. It wasn’t worth the effort and expense trying to keep the grass alive. Not when we’d only be living here for a short time.
Climbing out of the car, I led the way to the door. It was stiflingly hot inside after the refreshing coolness of the car’s air conditioning. The house had only the bare minimum of furniture, most of which had come from a thrift store. Two threadbare, avocado green armchairs sat in front of a battered coffee table. The TV was the only thing that was actually new. There was no use buying new furniture when we’d probably be shifting before the year was out anyway. With luck, I’d be accepted into the army straight away and I could soon leave this place behind me forever. The upside to moving constantly was that I didn’t have a permanent home to miss when I embarked on my chosen career as a soldier.
Mark studied the few photos that hung on the walls in the living room while I entered the short hallway that led to the two small bedrooms. My bed was narrow and I’d pushed it up against the wall to make more room. A dresser and bedside table were crammed into the small space, leaving just enough room for my gun safe in the corner. My closet was so small that it could barely contain even my admittedly meager wardrobe.
“What sort of clothes should I pack?” I called. I wasn’t sure what the temperature would be like in Denver in summer. I sincerely doubted it would be as hot as it was here in Texas.
“What you’re wearing now will be suitable,” he called back. “We’ll be based in the Rocky Mountains and it can get quite cool there at night, so make sure you bring something warm as well.”
I packed a suitcase with jeans, cargo pants, sweate
rs, shirts, underwear, socks, a spare pair of sneakers and my two favorite leather jackets. Still sticky from being out in the hot sun, I took a rapid shower and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. I stuffed toiletries and other essentials into a waterproof bag and added it to my suitcase.
Carrying the suitcase into the living room, I found the agent on his cell phone. He paused in mid-text and looked at me enquiringly. “How many guns can I bring with me?” I asked as I put the suitcase on the floor. The carpet was a truly hideous shade of mustard that clashed with the pink walls. Whoever had decided on the décor of this house had extremely poor taste.
“How many do you have?”
“Apart from the sniper rifle, I have four handguns and a semi-automatic rifle.”
“That’s a lot of firepower for a teenager,” Mark said in disbelief. I was left on my own a lot of the time and my father wanted me to be safe in his absence. I had enough ammunition to survive a zombie apocalypse if one ever broke out. “You can bring one handgun and your sniper rifle,” he decided.
Nodding, I retraced my steps to my bedroom and unlocked the gun safe. It was large enough to contain my entire arsenal as well as spare boxes of ammo. I chose one of the handguns, a holster to carry it in and several boxes of ammo for both of my weapons. The backpack became far heavier with the extra gear, but I didn’t mind the added weight when it meant I would be armed.
It was far too hot to wear a sweater or one of my leather jackets, so I took a lightweight, tan, military style khaki jacket out of my closet and draped it over my arm. I might need it on the plane, since they usually tended to be too cool for me.
