Masks and Mirrors: Book Two: The Weir Chronicles

by Sue Duff

  “Hey, Pops, what’s crackin’?” the freckled one said. In spite of dusk muting the colors of the day, Ian swore his flaming hair was a perfect match to the red licorice stick waving between his lips.

  The other one’s bleached hair bordered on pure white, heightened by his dark complexion. He blew a huge bubble. It popped, loud enough to be heard over the swishing blades of the nearby helicopter. He stared at Rayne like a dog in heat.

  “Pur Heir, Ms. Bevan, I’d like to introduce Parker—” Licorice cleared his throat like an angry parent and gave the general a sideways glare. Marcus rolled his eyes. “Pacman and Xander.”

  Ian reached out but the formality of the introduction was lost on them. They flicked their hands in the air, clarifying which was which with a fleeting glance.

  “Pacman,” licorice said.

  “Xander,” gum said.

  Marcus let loose a deep growl and peered at the boys with warning. “Take this mission seriously, you two. We’re infiltrating a Duach research facility. I need you at the top of your game.”

  “Game we got,” they said in unison. They held their hands out in front and moved their fingers as if handling a game controller.

  “This isn’t a video game!” Marcus roared. “Get focused, or I’m grounding you from this mission before you get us all killed.”

  The boys sobered with downcast eyes. “Sorry, General,” Pacman said with a cursory salute.

  “We’re just excited for the challenge, sir!” Xander said. After professing his “undying devotion to mother earth” and “all that is Weir,” Xander turned his attention to Rayne. He invaded her space and his one-sided staring contest kept her eyes averted.

  “Stow your gear in the helicopter,” Marcus ordered.

  “Blades!” Pacman said and stuck out a fist at his friend.

  “Sweet!” Xander said. They took part in some ritualistic hand game that ended in a knuckle punch. It was so fast; Ian could barely keep up. He secretly hoped they’d have a chance to teach him later.

  Xander smiled at Rayne. He pocketed his gum in his cheek and lowered his voice at least an octave. “We’ve got official Weir business to attend to. Still my beating heart and promise me you’ll be here when we get back.”

  By the look on Rayne’s face, she was cooking up the mother-of-all remarks.

  Ian stepped between them. “Sorry, we have our own official business elsewhere.”

  “Keep it in your pants and let’s go you hormonal time bombs.” Marcus gripped the boys by their shoulders and ushered them to the helicopter. They didn’t stop waving goodbye until Rayne acknowledged them, in spite of a lieutenant’s best efforts to shove them inside.

  “Anyone who goes on a mission with those two is taking their life into their hands,” Rayne said. “Does the Pur Weir army have the Purple Heart?”

  “Marcus says they’re undisciplined as hell, but put them in front of a computer and they’re all business.”

  She leaned closer. “I’m shocked that Marcus isn’t informing the Primary of this,” Rayne shouted as the helicopter blades rotated faster and faster.

  “Neither of us appreciates being kept out of the search for the book. Marcus is a soldier, not a politician. He’d rather go into battle any day than enforce an order he finds unreasonable.”

  “He still has to answer to the Primary,” Rayne said. “You may have gotten him in this as deep as you.”

  “Then pray those two geniuses uncover something at Donovan’s company, or we’re all screwed.”

  {41}

  Yannis’s ID got them through the front gate and into the building without as much as a second glance from security. All the same, Jaered and Vael turned their faces from the cameras when Yannis signed them in at the front desk.

  Vael turned around and leaned in toward Jaered. “Pharmaceutical company. I’m guessing corporate espionage. I like where this is headed,” he said under his breath. “I’ve always wanted to play in the big leagues.”

  Jaered let Vael think what he wanted. The less his friend knew what he was walking into, the better.

  The security guard looked up at the clock. “Will you be here long, sir?” the guard asked.

  “We shouldn’t be,” Yannis said.

  “It’s just that we change shifts in thirty,” the man said. “If you’re not out by then, I’ll let the night crew know.”

  With their backs to the security cameras, the three men waited for the elevator. Jaered checked his watch. “Are there security cameras on all the floors and in every wing?”

  “Everywhere but the stairwells and elevators,” Yannis said.

  “Why not there?” Vael asked.

  “I heard rumors that Donovan preferred banging his secretary in private.”

  They stepped inside and the doors swished shut. The elevator rose, headed for the eighteenth floor. They passed the third floor when Vael slammed his hand on the stop button. The elevator stopped with a jerk. “To hell with you not paying me. This swanky building? I want to know what’s in the safe and what my cut’s going to be.”

  “And I want us to walk out of here in one piece,” Jaered snapped. “Don’t play games, Vael, not tonight.”

  “I’m renegotiating terms. I have a right to know what I’m sticking my neck out for,” Vael said, not removing his hand in spite of Jaered going for the button. “Who’s this Donovan?”

  “CEO of this place. It’s his safe we’re breaking into,” Yannis said.

  Jaered glared at Vael. “Once you open the safe, I’ll answer all your questions.”

  Vael stared at Jaered for a few seconds longer, then punched the button and the elevator moved. “My bonus will be two cases of beer,” he grumbled.

  If we make it out alive, Jaered thought, I’ll buy you the whole damn store. When the doors opened, Jaered drew a greater amount of electromagnetic energy into his core, enough to cause static in the video feed.

  They stared at mahogany paneling and brass fixtures. Nothing spared for the corporate elite.

  “This way.” Yannis led them to the end of the hall. He inserted a card key and punched in a five-digit code.

  The doors opened onto a private reception area with an office door beyond. Yannis led them into the large executive office with sweeping views of the city’s lights.

  “That’s the cleanest desk I’ve ever seen,” Vael quipped.

  “I’ve been snooping around in his files and records, but he’s no fool and is good at hiding things. Either that or he does most of his work at home or at another site.” Yannis opened a door. “The safe is in here.”

  They entered a small adjoining conference room. The executive assistant removed a large portrait of a distinguished-looking man. “Donovan’s Dad?” Jaered said, noticing a strong resemblance to the CEO.

  “From what I’ve surmised, a Duach Sar,” Yannis said.

  Vael dropped a small statue that he’d been checking out. He threw a panicked look at Jaered.

  Jaered grabbed Yannis and turned him back toward Donovan’s office. “You can open Donovan’s secure files, right?” Jaered asked.

  Yannis nodded. “It’s where I’ve been spending all my time since I got here. My mission was to find proof of rebel interests in the company.”

  “But you haven’t found anything about the serum, or the rebels?” Jaered asked in hushed tones. Movement out of the corner of his eye. Across the room, Vael squirmed like he was about to pee in his pants.

  “No,” Yannis admitted. “I need more time.”

  “We’re out of time.” Jaered handed the man a thumb drive. “Go out to Donovan’s desk and insert this. The virus will attach itself to the mainframe system and wipe anything that ties the facility to my father. It’s going to take a few minutes.”

  Yannis didn’t move. He looked skeptical. “Unless you’re questioning my father’s orders,” Jaered said. Yannis left and sat at Donovan’s desk.

  When Yannis inserted the thumb drive, Jaered closed the door to the conference r
oom, rested his forehead against the door and gave in to a sigh of relief. The second Yannis inserted the thumb drive, the virus swept in to wipe out everything. Eve’s rebel involvement with Lux Pharmaceuticals would soon be nothing but whispers. Once he got his hands on the sample, Jaered would silence the pain-in-the-ass CEO for good.

  “What the hell did you get me into?” Vael hissed. “A Duach facility? Are you insane?”

  “Donovan isn’t a Sar, neither is Yannis. We’ll be fine as long as you keep your cool,” Jaered said.

  “What’s really in the safe?” Vael asked. “What could possibly be worth risking our lives like this?”

  “Nothing less than Earth’s survival,” Jaered said.

  Stunned, Vael drew back. “What are you talking about?”

  “Donovan created a serum that will wipe out all Weir Sars. He’s working with Aeros to mass-produce it and inject every-one that stands in his way.” Jaered pulled off his jacket and rolled it up, then placed it at the base of the door. The last thing they needed was for Vael’s Pur power to give him away. It would escape under the door in an emerald glow. There’d be no hiding it from Yannis.

  “How do you know this?” Vael said. “How did you get in the middle of it?”

  “Suffice it to say, I work for someone who is trying to save this planet.”

  “But—”

  “No more talk, Vael. Get inside that safe before we’re both discovered.” Jaered gripped Vael’s shoulder when he looked like he might bail. “We both know you can do this. Just do it fast.”

  Vael’s fist turned translucent. It took on an emerald glow that sparkled and lit up the dim room with dancing light. Jaered hovered over it, concerned that Yannis might still notice the green light around the edges of the office door. Vael pressed the swirling molecules against the steel door. The metal became a twisting gray soup.

  “Watch the tumblers,” Jaered urged.

  “Like I’ve never done this before.” Vael’s gleaming fist disappeared inside the door.

  Jaered listened. Click-Click. Vael hadn’t lost his touch.

  Vael tugged and the door swung wide. He slowly drew back his arm. A horrific scream.

  Jaered grabbed the back of his head and pressed a hand over Vael’s mouth. “Shuuush!” Confused at the pain etched into his friend’s face, he looked at Vael’s hand. The safe’s metal had fused with his living tissue. Vael was trapped in the door.

  Shocked, it took a few seconds for Jaered to realize that the center of his chest hadn’t just cooled. Jaered’s core was numb.

  “Do something!” Vael cried out. His eyes fluttered. Jaered feared he would pass out at any minute. His friend’s legs gave way under him. The safe door swung.

  Jaered wedged himself between the door and the opening. He groped around inside. The safe was empty.

  Marcus paused next to the door that read Mainframe and signaled for his guards to spread out and keep watch. He couldn’t shyft the boys inside the computer room without knowing the lay of the room. He removed the zippered pouch from a pocket inside his vest.

  “What’s that?” Xander asked.

  “He’s got lock picks,” Pacman said. He leaned in close. Marcus elbowed his shoulder to get out of the way.

  “Where’d you learn to do that?” Xander asked, blowing a bubble and popping it.

  “Before I joined the Weir guard, I served in the United States Army,” Marcus said, listening as much as feeling the gears.

  “Does the Pur army teach that?” Pacman said.

  “Don’t be lame,” Xander said. “Powers, duh.”

  A muted metallic scrape and Marcus ushered the boys in-side and closed the door.

  Pacman and Xander chose positions across the room from each other and before long, clicking echoed in the room as their fingers flew over the keys.

  “I’ll breech the firewall before you,” Pacman taunted.

  “In your dreams,” Xander countered.

  “Quiet, both of you,” Marcus warned. He stood still. Something had his sixth sense tingling and he studied every nook, every potential hiding space, unsure of what his sub-conscious had picked up on. A muted beep and an intermittently flashing red light on a wall console drew him closer. An amber bar was sliding down toward a reading of zero.

  “Xander, here, quick,” Marcus barked in a hushed sort of way.

  The young prodigy rushed over and without missing a beat, pushed a button. A panel flipped open and a keyboard sprang out. He worked his fingers across it.

  “How’d you know a keyboard was in there?” Marcus asked.

  “I could build most of this in my garage,” he said.

  “Only better,” Pacman said from across the room. “This stuff’s like, old.”

  “How old?” Marcus asked.

  “At least three years,” Xander said. He pushed a button in the digital display column beside them. A touch screen appeared. He tapped and ran his finger across it. “They’re deleting something,” Xander said. He attacked the keys and pressed combinations of strokes. “It hasn’t been running very long. It’s only wiped out forty-eight percent.”

  “Forty-eight percent of what?” Marcus said.

  “From what I can tell, everything. At this rate, there won’t be anything to copy in ten minutes.”

  “Then stop it!” Marcus said. “Could this have been started remotely?”

  “Unlikely,” Pacman said. “This kind of virus needs direct access or the system’s firewalls can inhibit it.”

  “Someone with clearance. Top-floor kind of clearance,” Xander said.

  Marcus pressed his earbud. “Lieutenant, any sign of company in the executive suites?”

  “We’ve just finished sweeping the sixteenth floor. Heading back to you on seventeenth.”

  “Stay sharp. I think we have company. I’m turning on the jam. Hardware use only in extreme circumstances. Under-stood?”

  “Roger that.” The intercom went silent.

  Marcus pulled the jam out of his pocket. He flipped the switch.

  A cry reserved for the mortally wounded came from directly overhead.

  Xander flinched and looked up at the ceiling. “What the fuck.”

  “Stay focused. Stop that delete!” Marcus shouted. “Get me what they didn’t want found.” He activated the intercom at his ear. “Lieutenant, get to the eighteenth floor, west wing near the stairwell. There’s a Sar in one of the upper offices. I want him alive.”

  {42}

  Yannis stood at the threshold to the conference room. He didn’t utter a sound, but stared with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

  “It’s not here,” Jaered shouted over Vael’s cries. “Donovan got to the safe first.”

  “Or he lied. Kept us distracted so he could skip town,” Yannis said. He didn’t peel his attention from Vael’s wrist. “What about your—”

  “Whatever it is shut me down. I can’t shyft us out of here.” Jaered reached deeper into the safe. He touched what felt like a small vial that had rolled to the back. “Wait, I got something.” He withdrew his arm.

  “Oh, like hell!” Vael shouted. He pinned Jaered with the door.

  Yannis rushed in and punched Vael. He lost his footing and dangled by his wrist. A bloody scream filled the room. Bile spurted out of Vael’s mouth.

  “Leave him!” Jaered shouted and shoved Yannis toward the door. “Get to the stairwell.”

  “The program’s not done,” Yannis said.

  “The virus will do the rest.” Jaered clutched the vial. “Go!” He propped Vael against the wall, sickened by his discolored arm and the unimaginable pain his friend endured.

  “Don’t leave me,” Vael muttered.

  The man’s whimper thrust a knife into Jaered’s gut. The vial held a clear liquid. The date and inscription confirmed it was from the first trial, the one that Jaered had witnessed. The day Donovan had burned a man from the inside out. It was a bitter consolation. He checked the outer office. Yannis had left. Jaered held up the serum. “This
is the Angel of Death for all Weir Sars.” Jaered grabbed the back of Vael’s neck. “This is bigger than you and me. Hell, it’s bigger than the universe. You’ve got to believe me, Vael.”

  He scoffed. “They’ll only make more.”

  “I won’t stop until I know they can’t,” Jaered said.

  Vael closed his eyes and dropped his head back.

  Purple streaks snaked down his friend’s arm. Jaered stared at it. “Pray that whoever shut down our powers, finds you be-fore the humans.” Horror overshadowed Vael’s confusion. “They might be the only ones who can save your hand.”

  “You planned this—you did this to me!” Vael cried as rage purged his despair.

  “I didn’t.” Jaered backed up, bracing himself for what he had to do. “I’m sorry.” He rushed out of the office.

  “Jaaaaered!”

  Vael’s anguish shoved Jaered out into the hall and didn’t stop until the stairwell door clanged shut behind him.

  “Now what?” Yannis said. He had a gun in his hand.

  “Put that away. If we’re seen, we’re two employees spooked by all the confusion.”

  Yannis didn’t look like he shared Jaered’s optimism, but he holstered the gun.

  Jaered started down the stairs. Voices rose from below. He raised his hand for Yannis to stop. From the amount of noise filling the corridor, there were more men than they could deal with. “Up is good.” He turned and rushed past Yannis, taking the steps two at a time, then burst through the unlocked, un-guarded roof door.

  “See if there’s a way down,” Jaered said. They separated and ran along the parapet, checking over the side of the twenty-story building. They met back up at the far end of the roofline with a shared conclusion. They were trapped.

  “You really can’t shyft us?” Yannis asked.

  “No.” There was something familiar about the pressing numb in the center of Jaered’s chest. Like it had happened before. Jaered searched his memories. Oregon. The warehouse rooftop at Qualston. Jaered’s core couldn’t draw energy then either, not until he shot the wooden box and the speaker housed inside exploded.