“Okay, then all your IDs look cheesy.” Jack shook his head. “I don’t look anything like this Steve guy. Won’t that be a problem?”
“I’m cut off from my connections on this. I can’t exactly use assets of the Makers.”
“You keep mentioning these ‘Makers’. Who are they exactly?”
Sewell dodged the question. “They’ll be on me like a fly on – well, you get the picture. Besides, it’s the fingerprint that’s important.”
“Houston, we’ve got a problem. Last time I checked, I was fresh out of Steve Harper fingerprints.”
“I’m not.” Sewell held up a small clear case. “Give me your right thumb. Please.”
Jack did as Sewell asked.
“Here. Hold this with your other hand.” Sewell handed Jack the small case and reached into his pocket again. He retrieved a small vial of amber-colored liquid. “Turn your thumb up toward me so I can see the print. Yes, that’s it.” Sewell put a single drop of the acrid-smelling liquid on Jack’s thumb. He put the cap back on and quickly put the bottle back in his pocket, where he retrieved a small plastic bag with what looked like a miniature pancake spatula. Sewell used the mini spatula to smear the liquid around Jack’s thumb. He opened the case, removed the small, thin piece of silicone and carefully placed it on Jack’s thumb.
“I don’t even want to know where you got that print, do I?”
Sewell shook his head. He used the tiny spatula to flatten the print onto Jack’s thumb and force any air bubbles out.
“Feels weird.” The amber liquid had made Jack’s thumb cool, but the silicone must have created a chemical reaction because it made his thumb heat up. It felt like his thumb had been dipped in hot wax.
Sewell held Jack’s thumb up, rubbed his finger over it and smiled. “That’ll do. We’ll be arriving in a few minutes. Follow my lead. Try not to say anything if you can help it. And try to act as if you belong there.”
Jack Wilson. Poet. Songwriter. Musician. Card-carrying government skeptic. How am I supposed to act like I belong to Sturgis’ goon squad? “I’ll do my best.”
“I hope you succeed. Your life likely depends on it.”
No pressure. “And what, exactly, am I to help this Anna Sturgis do?”
Sewell shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “You’re not going to like my answer.”
“Well, I’m on the train now. You’ve gotta tell me sooner or later.”
Sewell cleared his throat. “You will help Anna break Commander Sturgis out of prison.”
Jack nearly swallowed his own teeth. He laughed nervously. “You’re kidding, right? Good one, Mr. Sewell.”
Sewell wasn’t smiling.
“Wait. You’re not kidding?”
“I’m entirely serious.”
“What the – ? Why, Sewell? Commander Sturgis ordered me killed. As far as I can see, she’s exactly where she should be. I hope she rots there.”
Sewell took a deep breath and straightened himself up. “Perhaps you’re right. I can’t say that her attempt to have you terminated was the right call. But for the horror that’s about to be unleashed on this planet, we need her. All of us need her. And I need you to help me. That is the quid pro quo of which we spoke the other day. I got you out of A.H.D.N.A. You help me liberate Commander Sturgis.”
Jack was pretty sure he’d gotten the short end of the stick. His fate was once again, in a roundabout way, still tied to Commander Sturgis. Maybe it’s better to tell him to shove it. But if Sewell was right and not yanking his chain, then breaking Sturgis out of prison might be the only way he could protect his mom from whatever the greys planned to spring on them. And maybe Sewell has a way I can communicate with Erika.
7
ERIKA
Xenos stepped slowly toward Erika. The diminutive creature was now only a few feet away. It was at least five inches shorter than Erika but a bit taller than the greys that had brought Dr. Randall. Its bulbous head wasn’t entirely bald like the greys but covered in long, stringy strands of thin hair that grew in patches. Xenos had more of a nose and a larger mouth than the greys and had tiny bumps of flesh on its chest. Looks female. It blinked its huge, dark eyes at Erika.
“What are you?” Erika asked.
“I am Infractus.”
“And the others? The ones that brought us here?”
“Conexus.”
So that’s what the greys call themselves. “Why are you – different from the Conexus?”
The Infractus looked furtively over its shoulder and wrung its hands. It spoke in a soft whisper. “I am like you.”
Not exactly. The being looked like a mix between Alecto and Tex. “You’re part grey – I mean Conexus – and part human?”
The Infractus nodded.
Ian and Dr. Randall got to their feet and stood on either side of Erika. “Dr. Randall, if they’ve already made a hybrid, then what do they need you for?” Erika asked.
“A good question.” Dr. Randall moved toward Xenos to get a closer look, and as he did, she shrank back from them. “We won’t hurt you.”
“Speak for yourself. I’m so hungry, I’d consider eating its bony ass,” Ian said.
The Infractus’ eyes grew wide and it backed up further.
“Ian, stop. He’s just kidding. You know. A joke?” Erika said.
Xenos shook her head.
“It was supposed to be funny.” Erika laughed a loud but fake laugh.
The Infractus’ eyes grew even wider and it looked toward the door.
“We’re not going to eat you. I’m Erika. This is Ian and Dr. Randall.”
“Maybe we’re not going to eat her, but we need to eat something. I’m so hungry my stomach is doubling back on itself. Any chance you have a restaurant nearby or a kitchen we could raid?” asked Ian.
Xenos stared at them with her huge black eyes.
“We need food. You know, something to eat.” Erika mimed a bowl in one hand and an eating utensil in the other and pretended to scoop food into her mouth. “You do eat, don’t you?”
Xenos tilted her head. “You request nourishment.”
“Yes, lots and lots of nourishment,” Ian said. He patted his stomach. “Anything resembling a cheeseburger will do.”
Erika hadn’t eaten meat since she was in middle school, but she’d be willing to make an exception to her self-imposed restriction against eating animal flesh if it meant food in her aching stomach.
“I will acquire nourishment for you so that you do not expire. Xenos will be severely punished if you expire.” She moved toward the door and waved her hands above her head and in front of her. The door slid open.
“Wait. Why would you be punished if something happened to us?”
“I have been assigned to care for you during your time here.” She moved quickly into the dark hall.
The door slid closed before Ian could get to it. He waved his hands in front of the door as they’d seen Xenos do, but the door remained closed.
“Maybe it reads fingerprints or something.”
“I guess,” Ian said. “Why do I feel like Hansel and Gretel being fattened by the witch?”
Erika had a similar feeling, though she didn’t want to speak it out loud. She didn’t think the Conexus were going to eat them, but she didn’t think they would take her home again, either. “I know one thing.”
“What’s that?” Ian asked.
“We need to get out of this room and find a way home. And that Infractus creature may be our ticket out of here.”
“She’s small. Probably easily overpowered. Unless she’s like Tex. Do you think she is?” Ian asked.
“Only one way to find out.”
8
STURGIS
Lillian Sturgis paced her jail cell like a neurotic panther in a zoo. Apparently due process doesn’t apply to the former commander of A.H.D.N.A. William Croft’s men had unceremoniously thrown her into the back of a white, windowless van and drove her away from everything that had given her life any mean
ing. She knew he wasn’t going to have her terminated. Croft was too pragmatic to kill someone who might be of use to him someday, no matter how much the person pissed him off. But being spared death was no consolation. Without her work to fill her days and occupy her mind, she’d go mad. And she’d rather be dead than have her father’s name sullied with the brand ‘traitor’.
As if to illustrate to Sturgis the breadth of his power, Croft had Sturgis sent to a military prison without so much as a hearing or video appearance before a judge. She didn’t get a phone call. There was no right to an attorney.
Sturgis hadn’t put up a fight. She’d lived a black-ops life. It was a world with its own peculiar rules but beholden to the law. Croft’s punishment was just the sort of thing she would have done. She knew the way out of her predicament was through outsmarting him at his own game, not by causing a scene.
What galled her was that she should be punished at all. She’d performed her job exactly as requested and delivered two powerful hybrids. Her reward for a job well done was an orange jumpsuit and a windowless, six-by-ten-foot room.
The first day of confinement she lay on her bed, stared at the ceiling and did equations in her head to keep herself from punching the wall and screaming out in anger. The second day she asked for library privileges.
“Nope. We have specific orders that you are not to be allowed library or computer privileges,” the guard had said.
Sturgis tried to use her authoritative voice. “I know my rights. I demand my library privileges.”
The guard just shook his head. “Orders.”
“Who gave the orders?” She had accepted the imprisonment without raising a stink, but denying her the right to access information was a step too far. “I demand to know why I’m here. They didn’t even give me an arraignment. Did you know that? I have the right to –”
“You have the right to shut your trap before I shut it for you.” The guard’s face had become red and he moved closer to the bars that separated them.
“You can’t use force on me. You’ll never get away with it.” She tried to sound sure of herself.
“After what you did? Killing your own men just to test a new chemical weapon. Even the worst criminal in here never did anything like that. You push me too far, I’ll hand you over to the crazy-ass bitches in here and I’ll make sure they know that you killed men under your command just to advance your career. They’ll tear you to pieces, and me and the other guards’ll sit back and watch. So go ahead. Keep talking.”
Sturgis pursed her lips. Her face was hot with anger, but she kept her mouth shut.
Lilly had suffered through many difficult things in her life. Days of work with little food or sleep. Living with only the companionship of her paid staff and a few houseplants. Foregoing a normal life with the love of a companion and the joy of children. Suffering through the constant recriminations by her mother and the death of her beloved father.
But Croft understood her well. He knew the one thing that mattered to her above all else.
Being a Sturgis. All she’d ever wanted was to live up to the legacy of her brilliant father and win the approval of her demanding mother. No matter how many accolades she received or diplomas on her wall, her younger brother, Robert, had simply to live to be the apple of their mother’s eye.
If she learns of this, it may kill her.
Alone in her cell without books, a computer or Sewell to bark orders at, Sturgis had time to think. And time to plan.
On the third day she requested paper and something to write with. At least the guard did not give her an automatic no. It took two more days, but on the fifth day of her confinement, a legal pad and pencil were delivered to her.
Croft probably thinks I’m going to continue my work – work that he’ll later find a way to take from me.
But instead of writing equations, she planned her escape – and her revenge. Day after day, she patiently observed the patterns of the guards and the routines of the prison world in which she lived. She scribbled notes on her pad of paper in a numeric code she’d learned years ago for sending messages.
Croft might have won a battle, but Sturgis had no intention of being dealt out of the game. Not when all that she’d worked for was coming to pass. Not when the world needed her the most.
Once free of the bonds of prison, she’d find Alecto. Together they’d rid the world of Croft and his daughter, Lizzy, heir apparent to become head of the Makers. And together, she and Alecto would continue her cloning project.
But first I need to get out of here. Sturgis filled the pages of her legal pad with coded notes as she put her genius to work on devising a plan to escape the cage Croft had put her in.
9
JACK
Sewell got Jack through the security checkpoint at Davis-Monthan though how it worked, Jack couldn’t say. Jack kept his mouth shut as much as he could and followed Sewell’s lead. The fact that Jack was wearing street clothes rather than the ubiquitous black uniform caused a bit of discussion, but the lack of resemblance to the ID made the guards hesitate. Sewell explained the clothes due to ‘Steve Harper’ being on cleanup duty and the ID as a crappy picture taken before ‘Steve’ had lost weight and grown his hair out. When the guards still didn’t buy it, Sewell began throwing General Bardsley’s name around. That prompted the guards to move them through.
Once through security, it took about twenty minutes to get out of the building complex. They had to walk from the underground platform, through a labyrinth as confusing as A.H.D.N.A.’s and finally up into the warm, sunny Tucson day.
The sun. Jack feared he’d never see it again. He couldn’t help the grin that came to his face. He was alive. He’d survived his underground ordeal and he was in the world again. It seemed so long since the helicopters doused Tex that he felt like a time traveler. He half expected to look in a mirror and find himself aged and the world changed.
But it all looked the same. It had been only two weeks. Feels like a lifetime.
They finally got to Sewell’s car. Jack had expected an all-black four-door sedan. Instead Sewell unlocked a Prius.
“Prius? You keep surprising me, Mr. Sewell.”
“What’s wrong with my car?”
“Nothing, man. Not a thing.” Jack got in and was happy to feel the dry sauna heat inside the car after it had sat closed up in the hot Arizona sun. He couldn’t wipe the wide grin from his face.
“You’re smiling, Mr. Wilson. Did I do something else to make you laugh?” Sewell started the car and they were on their way.
“No. I’m just happy to be alive, I guess.”
Sewell smiled then too. “I’m glad of it as well. I was overwrought when she ordered the three of you terminated. You know that if there was anything I could have done, I would have.”
No, Jack didn’t know that. He figured Sewell for an ass-kissing company man who blindly followed orders just so he could keep his job. Maybe Sewell was a cowardly ass-kisser. Maybe he was more. Jack decided he’d let the guy’s future actions determine his final thought on the matter. “It’s okay, Mr. Sewell. I don’t hold the order to have us killed against you. Now Sturgis, on the other hand …”
“Yes, well, I suggest you not bring this up with Anna.”
“You don’t want me to burst the bubble of the person you’re counting on to break Sturgis free?” It left a bad taste in Jack’s mouth to say out loud that he had to help Sturgis.
Sewell kept his eyes on the road.
“You said for me not to tell Anna about her aunt’s plan to kill me. Does Anna know that her aunt is an evil mad scientist with a lab of freakish creations?”
“Anna knows more than she should. But I think it would be difficult for her to accept that her aunt ordered three teenagers to be killed. I need Anna’s help – and yours. I’m hamstrung right now. The keystrokes on my computer are being logged, my phone tapped. If Croft knows I’m helping Commander Sturgis …”
As much as Jack longed to see Sturgis pay fo
r the hell she had brought down on Jack, Erika and Ian, he had to admit that Sewell could be right. From what he’d seen of the Croft guy and what Sewell had told him, it could be that Sturgis was the only one thinking about saving others rather than her own ass. I can’t forgive her for what she did. But if she was right about the greys … Erika, what did you step into?
“Mr. Sewell, tell me this. How long am I supposed to stay with Anna? I’m guessing she’s not going to want a roommate indefinitely. And I’ve got to get home eventually. My mom … I’m sure she’s worried sick about me.”
After a few minutes he said, “I’m very sorry for that inconvenience and worry to your family. You know you can’t go home just yet. I’m sorry.”
“So I’m to lie low and be at your beck and call?”
“I did get you out of A.H.D.N.A. And I told you that you wouldn’t be able to go home.”
Sewell had gotten him out of the underground hell. But what was to keep him from walking out of Anna’s house later and never coming back?
It was as though Sewell could read Jack’s mind. “And in case you’re thinking that you’ll go back home without holding up your end of the bargain, Ann will notify me if you run.”
“And?”
Sewell didn’t immediately answer, perhaps thinking of what he wanted to say. When he did speak, Sewell’s voice was quiet but firm. “I suggest you not press me on this and comply with our agreement.”
Jack did not doubt the resolve in that statement. “Okay, I’m scratching your back. I’ll help this Anna retrieve the spawn of Satan from prison where she belongs. Will you do me a favor in return?”
“I’m amenable to doing a favor, but before I can agree, I must know what it is.”
“My mom. She’s got to be … Sewell, you gotta let her know that I’m alive.”
“I can’t do that, Mr. Wilson.”
“You’ve got to. Look, I can’t … it’s just my mom and me, you see. And if she thinks … Well, I can’t continue breathing oxygen while she thinks I’m dead. Or worse. You’ve gotta do this for me, Sewell.”
Mr. Sewell kept his eyes on the road. He finally glanced over at Jack. “I’ll – I’ll see what I can do.”
H.A.L.F.: The Makers Page 5
