Empowered: Traitor (The Empowered Series Book 2)

by Dale Ivan Smith

  A hero. That was a joke. I didn’t see any heroes anymore. Certainly there weren’t any in the Scourge, and the “Hero” Council seemed as ruthless as the Scourge.

  The van pulled in, Keisha behind the wheel.

  I raised an eyebrow at Simon as he came out the back of the van, carrying the bag I asked him to bring.

  “She insisted,” he said.

  Keisha came round the front of the van. “I wanted to drive for a change. I’m tired of other people calling the shots.”

  “Well, don’t get used to it,” I told her. “We’re not in charge here.”

  “I noticed.”

  I led them through the connecting doors to the old office building, and upstairs to the cubby farm.

  “Nice place you have here,” Keisha groused as we headed up the stairs. “Where are the ghosts?”

  Connor just craned his neck, taking it all in, while Simon kept quiet and watched, like usual. We reached the cubby farm. Nefarious had changed out of the chauffeur’s uniform and wore a black commando style jumpsuit like Ashula.

  Keisha shut up when she saw him. Even Simon’s eyes widened.

  Connor looked at Keisha and Simon’s wide eyes, then to me. “Who is that guy?” he asked.

  Teenagers. Ancient history to Connor.

  “One of the people in charge,” I said.

  “Thank you for coming,” Nefarious said. “I am Nefarious.” Ashula came to his side.

  “And this is Lady Night.”

  Keisha hissed at me. “And you say Empowered names are old-fashioned.”

  She could bite me.

  “You must be the Steel Witch,” Ashula said to Keisha, who grinned at me.

  “Whipcrack, good to see you again,” Ashula said to Simon. Whipcrack? Simon didn’t even have the grace to act embarrassed, just nodded. She smiled at Connor. “Nice to meet you at last, Zapper.” Connor blushed.

  Zapper. Figured.

  Nefarious looked at each member of my cell. “You have uncovered some nightmares,” he said. He nodded at me. “Vine pushed us to investigate, and for good reason.”

  I wished he wouldn’t call me Vine. But I can see now that Ashula and Drake had a thing about Empowered names, so of course they were going to dredge up my old one.

  “We are in the process of extracting information,” Nefarious continued. “Once we have that, we’ll be able to plan a course of action to deal with Emerald Biologic.”

  Despite the looming threat of torture our captives faced, my heart rose.

  Action against Emerald Biologic at last.

  But the first thing we did was spend a few hours cleaning the place up. Ashula disappeared, returning later with food—insta-meals. We ate. When we had finished, Nefarious asked us to gather round, like a camp leader.

  “We need to be quick about this,” he told us. “I may need each of you to assist me in gathering information from our captives.”

  “What the hell?” Keisha blurted. “You mean torture?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “No, I mean information extraction. There is a difference.”

  Keisha’s face went hard. “Not from here there isn’t.”

  “Ms. McMillian, if you refuse, I won’t force you. We’ll keep you on guard duty.”

  Nefarious went to Connor. “Zapper, can we count on you to assist?”

  Connor nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Kiss up. What happened to not having a clue as to who Nefarious was? Connor was one of those followers who went with whoever was in charge.

  Nefarious didn’t ask Simon. Whipcrack. My guess was because Simon would do what he was ordered to do. Nefarious didn’t ask me either. Guess I fell into the “loyal” follower category now. Zhukova would be so pleased if she knew.

  So, Keisha got sent down to the ground floor, to sit in a chair and play security guard, comming us if someone showed up.

  I went in with Nefarious and Connor to talk with Sullivan, who looked like he needed to pee and was probably starving by now.

  “Mister Sullivan,” Nefarious said, coming around to stand behind the chair the guy was tied to. “I need to know about Emerald Green.”

  Emerald Green. What was that?

  Sullivan must know, because he tried to push away from Nefarious, but the straps were too tight. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Of course you do. It’s your company’s new developmental lab. The next phase, I believe your internal company memos called it.”

  Sullivan looked shocked, confirming what Nefarious said must, at least somewhat, be true. “Never heard of it.” Sweat covered his forehead now, and a dark stain spread across the crotch of those spendy wool slacks he wore.

  “The dude peed himself,” Connor blurted.

  “People can when under extreme stress and feeling extreme fear,” Nefarious said. “Mister Sullivan, do we really have to resort to more direct, painful means to get you to tell us?”

  I held my breath. Sullivan had to do the smart thing here.

  But before he could answer, Nefarious turned to Connor. “Zapper. A shock to the groin, if you would.”

  Connor didn’t hesitate.

  Sullivan screamed and twisted in the straps.

  “Painful, but it’s only the beginning.”

  Sullivan squeezed his eyes shut. The room stank of sweat and urine.

  “Okay, okay!” Sullivan gasped. “Emerald Green is located in the Rocky Mountains, sixteen miles from Colorado Springs. It’s where we are developing new biotechnologies.”

  “Mister Sullivan, a toddler could make that conclusion. What sort of technologies?”

  A long silence followed. Sullivan didn’t answer. Nefarious sighed.

  “Really, Mister Sullivan, you are going to balk at giving us some specifics?”

  Sullivan’s mouth stayed closed and his eyes shut. Connor raised his hand, looked at Nefarious. The kid looked all too eager to zap Sullivan again.

  Nefarious motioned no with his finger. “Something else is required at this point.” He held up a poster pushpin, the kind with a tiny plastic cylinder for your thumb and finger to grasp.

  “Just a little pin.”

  Sullivan kept his eyes closed.

  “But with the right luck, a little pin like this can cause a great deal of pain.”

  I wanted to be anywhere else but here. Mutter had loved to torture people. Maybe Nefarious didn’t, but he certainly had no problem using pain to get someone to reveal their secrets. Both Mutter and Nefarious looked at the world as something to control. The same with people. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans, and raised my chin, found a point on the wall behind Nefarious, and kept my eyes locked on it.

  Sullivan screamed, and the scream went higher. I kept staring at the point on the wall, clenching my jaw.

  Finally, the screaming stopped. Sullivan sobbed, deep-from-the-belly sobs. “I’ll tell you what you want to know,” he said in a tiny voice. A voice so broken it made my skin crawl.

  “Augmented biologic enhancements for normals. Increases stamina, speed, motor skills, strength, endurance.”

  “Fascinating.”

  Nefarious asked several more questions, getting down to brass tacks about details. He didn’t take notes, just listened to Sullivan’s answers.

  When he seemed satisfied, he went to the door.

  “We’ll get you cleaned up, Mister Sullivan, and something to eat. But we will need to confirm your information.”

  Sullivan pleaded with us. “I’m telling you all the truth, I am! I’ve spilled my guts.”

  “Metaphorically speaking, yes,” Nefarious said.

  After we closed the door to the corner office, Nefarious told Connor to pull up a chair and guard the door. I pushed what had happened in that room as far away as possible.

  Nefarious took me over to a big table where Ashula and Speed Guy were working with some fancy-looking computer equipment. The chip was inserted in some sort of reader that connected to the computer. Information scrolled too fast to
read on the monitor, but Speed Guy seemed to have no problem. He still wore his fire retardant suit, with that cap and mask of his.

  Nefarious looked over his shoulder and watched him scroll. I got the impression he could read nearly as fast as Speed Guy, which was spooky.

  They flipped documents, one after another.

  “This confirms what Mister Sullivan told us,” Nefarious said.

  “I’m impressed you could crack that chip,” I said.

  “It’s not so hard if you have the right gear,” Speed Guy said.

  “And the right people using it,” Nefarious added.

  Ashula’s fingers had been dancing on the keyboard, which had its own monitor. Numbers flowed by on it.

  “What is this stuff?” I asked.

  “The latest in computer technology,” Ashula said, stopping. I noticed lettering on the side of the computer. Hero Council Sanctioned Use Only, the lettering read.

  How had the Scourge managed to get its hands on this ultra tech computer equipment? Damn it, was it another example of the factions Winterfield had told me about, or had the Scourge just done the old-fashioned thing and stolen it?

  Zhukova would probably rip out her own heart to figure out how the Scourge had gotten this, assuming she still had a heart to rip out.

  “What next?” I asked, caught myself as soon as I said the words. Idiot.

  Speed Guy grinned at me.

  “We talk to Dynamo,” Nefarious said.

  “After a time,” Ashula said. “It would be more effective if he’s lost track of time first.”

  Speed Guy’s grin got bigger. “I’ll do it.”

  My muscles tensed. Calm down, I told myself. Cooper’s tough. Besides, what did I care? He was Hero Council, and had been body guarding Sullivan. What if he worked for the faction backing Emerald Green? But what if he were just a tool, like me? He’d been at Sequoyah in Seattle when Mutter tried to destroy the city. He’d put his life on the line to save people. He’d been straight up with me when we met in the Dungeon at my last training with Flick, with Willow. He’d told me her name. Treated me like a person even though he had to know I’d been a criminal.

  I wasn’t playing a hero, never been one, but for once, maybe I could save one.

  “Let me handle it,” I said.

  Speed Guy frowned. “I asked first.”

  “This isn’t first grade. I used to do this sort of thing back in the Renegades.”

  It was a gamble. A gamble that none of them knew jack about the old Renegades, and what we did.

  Nefarious nodded. “Very well. We’ll give you two hours.”

  I had two hours to figure out how to save Cooper.

  Chapter 19

  I made a detour outside, to grab some weeds. Pulled up some blackberry vines from the lot behind the building, some ivy, and some dirt, shoved it all into a bag I found outside, carried it in front of me.

  Keisha leaned in her chair against the chipped and cracked concrete wall, the front chair legs up. A razor blade slowly spun in the air in front of her.

  “God, I’m bored,” she said.

  “You’re in luck, then.”

  “How’s that?” she asked.

  I grinned. “I’m here to relieve you.”

  Her expression lightened up. The chair legs banged on the concrete floor and she got up. “Thanks, boss!” She looked around. “Any chance I can stretch my legs?”

  “Yeah, but go through the garage.” I glanced at my wrist comm’s clock. “Be back here in an hour.”

  She stretched. “Will do.” She walked off, fingers drumming on her legs. She went out quietly. They couldn’t have heard the door open from three floors up.

  I unlocked the door, hit the light switch. Karl blinked in the light, tried to focus on me.

  I closed the door behind me, put the bag on the floor. Stepped over to the chair and pulled his gag off.

  “It’s just you and me,” I said. “For the moment.”

  He smiled. “Glad a fellow sanctioned is here,” he said. Cooper was the clean-cut, straight arrow type that seemed to take everything at face value. Because he’d seen me in the Dungeon, he saw me as sanctioned. Didn’t matter that I was an infiltrator. I was on his team. I usually found straight-arrows annoying as hell, but at the moment, I felt myself warming to him.

  “How long do we have?” he asked.

  “An hour until my minion comes back, another until Nefarious figures you’ll be ready to be interrogated.”

  “I won’t talk.” Even tired, he radiated confidence.

  “That’s what everyone says. Your pal Duncan Sullivan said the same thing. He still talked.”

  “I’m not Sullivan.”

  “But you are guarding him.” Warming to him or not, he’d still been guarding Sullivan.

  “Titan gave me the assignment personally.”

  How involved was Titan with Ellis’s business? “What’s the Hero Council doing running security for a corporate stooge like Sullivan?”

  “I wasn’t told, other than it was a priority assignment. It was my turn to provide escort.”

  Now that was interesting. A Hero Council star like Cooper was kept in the dark.

  “Why didn’t you ask?”

  “They never tell us why.” He rolled his neck. “I don’t suppose you brought a key for these cuffs with you?”

  “Fat chance.” Of course, Keisha could get him out of those cuffs in two seconds, but she wasn’t likely to think it a great idea. The problem was, Nefarious would probably kill Karl, talk or no talk.

  Even Ashula seemed in a murdering mood when the Hero Council came up. I understood hating them, but killing a prisoner just because you were pissed off at what they did?

  No way.

  He tilted his head. “You’re improvising this, aren’t you?”

  I frowned, but before I could say anything, he continued.

  “I have an idea about how you can help me escape.”

  He shook his handcuffs. The chair rattled, the metal arms beginning to screech. “I’m surprised they didn’t stop and think that my Empowered strength would let me break these chains.”

  “Cooper, you aren’t as funny as you think.” True, though. Cooper’s power was his super strength. It wasn’t exactly a secret. Why hadn’t Nefarious or Ashula taken that into account?

  A nasty thought rose up. What if they suspected me? And this was some kind of test? A hell of a test to run a cell leader through.

  “Their oversight gives us a chance to break me out.”

  “Cocky much, Cooper?” I snapped. “You have no idea where I’m at, or what kind of shit I have to do.”

  His eyes sparkled. “You meet challenges head on. I like that.”

  Was he saying that was sexy? I shook my head. “So, what’s this ‘idea’ of yours?”

  “An oldie but a goodie. I break these poor excuses for Empowered manacles and then knock you out.”

  “Great, so if they didn’t suspect me before, they’ll suspect me now.”

  He gave a casual shrug. “Okay, so what’s your idea?” I couldn’t believe an imprisoned man could be so freaking laid back about the whole thing. They’d kill him when they were done, and he was acting like this was all no big deal.

  Despite myself, I was impressed. He had balls, I’d give him that. “You really don’t know anything about why you were escorting Sullivan?” I still couldn’t believe that Cooper didn’t know.

  “Back to that? No, I don’t.”

  His blond bangs fell over his eyes. He shook his head again to clear his eyes. “I’d love to have my hands free.”

  I laughed. “Okay, you’ve succeeded in giving me an idea.”

  “Why did you bring the bag of dirt?” He’d finally noticed that.

  “Torture implements.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Laugh now, but blackberry vines can get real nasty when they are tight as steel bands and their thorns are two inches long.”

  I du
mped the dirt on the floor, began growing the vines.

  Cooper tried to push himself back from the rising jumble of vines.

  “I believe you, really, lady. No reason to demonstrate.”

  “It needs to be believable.”

  “What does?”

  “That you are cut up and bleeding when Speed Guy gets here.”

  “Cut up and bleeding. I don’t like the sound of that.” Cooper paused, looked puzzled. “Wait, who is Speed Guy?”

  “The guy in the fire retardant suit who likes crowbars and runs real fast. And seems to have a thing for torture.”

  Cooper grinned, ignoring my torture comment. “That’s Overclock.”

  Fuck me. I sighed. “Stupid name.”

  Cooper actually looked surprised. “You don’t believe in Empowered names?”

  “No, of course not,” I said. “They are lame.”

  “Didn’t you used to have one?”

  “Once upon a time. It got me sent to Special Corrections.”

  He didn’t ask anything more.

  “Sorry about this,” I said, and I actually meant it, a little at least.

  “No problem. Do what you have to do to make this look convincing.” He closed his eyes. I ran the vines over his arms and chest. He clamped down his jaw and gave a little half-grunt, but that was it. I punched him in the face, hard enough to snap his head back.

  Then I ran the blackberry vines between the cuffs and his skin, then had them twine around the cuffs until the metal started to twist and break, then killed the vines and pulled them free.

  Cooper groaned.

  “I didn’t knock you out, did I?” I asked.

  He opened his eyes. A big bruise had begun to darken the right side of his face.

  “You don’t hit that hard.”

  I shook my head. “The bruise covering your face says otherwise.”

  He gave me another grin. “You are funnier than you let on.”

  “Well, what’s coming next isn’t funny at all.” I raised my left wrist and thumbed the comm. “This is Brandt. I’ve worked him over, but he needs a little more prep.” I worked at sounding royally pissed off. “Speed Guy thinks he’s hot shit in this department. Send him down and we’ll see if he can do any better.”