Marked

by Alex Hughes

  Harris held up his yellow badge. “I am here as mediator for the matter of Adam Ward, a man who belongs to both the Abled and Normal worlds. What proof exists that Ward is conspiring against anyone? Who are his conspirators? What is the nature of the lapse in security?”

  Whispering went across the chamber.

  The evidence has been . . . Diaz trailed off, and switched to spoken word. “The evidence has been presented to the Council over the last two days.”

  “By who?”

  “Many Council members have worked tirelessly to bring detailed information to our attention. Most of this information is not available to anyone outside the Guild.”

  I noticed that Edgar Stone stood, quietly, at the right, near enough to the Council to be called on but not so near that anyone would think he had real power. He was that heavily shielded mirror I’d seen from him before, almost not-there in Mindspace. But his physical body language, the thing that always gave him away, told me he was uncomfortable with the collection of evidence they were talking about. I went a little cold at that.

  I’d better start my play, or I’d risk being caught in someone else’s.

  Green sent a private message that I caught the edge of. The message had gone to Johanna, I thought, or the Council member past her. And suddenly I noticed something I hadn’t before.

  I had had a complicated plan worked out, one that accused Rex and took him down with me for conspiring with Guild First and not the Guild as a whole. One that had counted on Kara’s family here. One that gave me half a chance or better to walk out of this, I’d thought.

  But Kara’s family was nowhere to be seen. And as Harris asked more questions and the Council answered them, my attention had been caught by Johanna.

  Her mind, like all the others in the chamber, projected a leashed distress and sorrow and sadness. In fact, the emotions were exactly—exactly—the mix currently in the mind of Kim Lee right now. That was not what had caught my attention.

  When people were truly sad, truly overcontrolling their grief and emotions, they looked down. They hunched. Or they sat too straight, too controlled. When people had the emotions I was feeling out of Johanna, there were certain ways their hands folded, their bodies sat, their eyes grew red.

  But not Johanna. Her face was scrunched, like an exaggerated bad-actor portrayal of grief. And her hand, her hand stroked her wrist over and over again.

  That was Jamie’s strong-emotions habit. I’d never seen anyone else use it. And more important, I wasn’t getting any projection of the physical sensation over Mindspace. It was like Johanna had seen Jamie and was copying her blindly, the gesture like the mental copying of Lee’s emotions, aping of the people around her without any true feeling.

  If you weren’t looking too closely, if you depended on Mindspace as your primary sense, overriding all others, Johanna seemed just like everyone else in the room. But if you looked at her like a normal, only from the outside—

  She was very charming, very helpful, wasn’t she? Hadn’t she reflected every single thing she’d thought I’d wanted to hear?

  And she was sitting in a row with some of the most powerful and influential people in the Guild. She’d gone from an assistant who fetched coffee to a woman of real power in the space of a couple of weeks.

  What had Kara said? With the Council so decimated, they’d promote anyone with experience, do whatever it took, call for elections?

  And who would win those elections? The woman who’d already dealt with a mental health crisis as Health and Human Services acting chair? What did I want to bet that the “madness scare” would flare up over the next week, only to die when she implemented a new policy?

  The puzzle pieces moved together. I’d thought it was Rex who’d benefitted most. I’d thought it was Rex who’d done this. But his people would be watched like hawks during the next year. They were suspected of killing opponents now. His days of subtle maneuvering would be over.

  But Johanna—there was a reason she’d put my back up in the beginning. She was one of Those People, one of the sociopaths I’d met in the interview rooms. One of the people who truly felt no empathy for other people, no fellow feeling. That’s why her body language didn’t match her Mindspace signature; in a world of telepaths she’d had to learn to fake the one flawlessly but not necessarily the other. Telepaths trusted the evidence of their own minds.

  And the evidence of their senses. She’d planted the mind control devices, hadn’t she? I’d seen her talking to the old Research chair. She’d started all of this moving, and then had the gall to accuse a good man of madness to make it seem more real.

  How many had died? How many more had their careers destroyed to have her sitting there?

  “Ward was in the presence of multiple police officers during that time period,” Harris said. “Even he can’t be two places at once. Unless you think some of that was done in advance . . . ?”

  Edgar Stone shook his head, projecting his words loudly. “There was a full inspection the day before. The technicians have been mind-probed. The vehicle checked out. Whatever happened was during that time period.”

  “Wait,” I said.

  They ignored me.

  Tubbs, Kara’s ultimate boss, said, “Ward has plenty of criminal contacts. It was him that told us about Fiske to start with. Who’s to say he didn’t have one of his contacts—perhaps Fiske himself—do the honors? A mind-probe here seems justified.”

  Faintly, on the level of a faint normal mind, I felt anger enter the air from Harris next to me. “We’ve repeatedly screened Ward. These past months, we’ve been monitoring him heavier than ever. He’s purchased his drug this last week, but that was a low-level criminal who wouldn’t be capable of what you’re suggesting. He hasn’t seen or talked to anyone else.”

  “You know about that?” I stared.

  He turned, mouth down. “Paulsen was geared up to defend your job to the political powers that be before you quit. And then you go and do this. I’m very disappointed. You’ll be taking a drug test when this is all over.”

  “Ah,” I said, numb. How did they . . . ?

  Stone was looking at me, waiting for me to meet his eyes. One small nod.

  I swallowed. “Seriously, wait. I have something to say.”

  And I felt Jamie’s presence in the public part of my mind. I hadn’t hidden anything. She saw the unused drugs—and she saw my conclusions about Johanna. She started moving toward that part of the room.

  “Silence,” Rex said. “The prisoner will not speak.”

  Green’s contempt projected across the room. You’ve proven your character or lack thereof many times. This sabotage happened only when you reentered the Guild. The timing cannot be coincidence.

  I took a deep breath, and projected as loud as I could. We’ve all been manipulated! We’ve all been led to believe—

  A force like a sledgehammer hit my mind. I staggered, pain and pressure knocking me sideways.

  Tubbs, Kara’s ultimate boss, held the other end. “You cannot respect protocol even in the hour of your sentencing.”

  He had locked down on my mind, literally locked down, until I could do nothing, say nothing. I was a prisoner in my body. I beat against the restraint like a bird whose foot was caught in a trap, wings beating as hard as muscle and bone would support—hurting only myself.

  I was a Level Eight telepath! I would be free!

  The restraint held.

  Level Eight no longer, Tubbs said to me, quietly. Stay still or I will make you.

  I tried to send him my suspicions about Johanna, but he cut me off, like a wet blanket.

  Pay attention. My mind was forced to the front, to the outside.

  Rex smiled, a small cruel smile. “For your crimes, the Guild will sentence you—”

  Diaz put a hand out, in front of him, where the man couldn’t help but
see it.

  And then the double doors crashed open, and Kara’s family, thirty strong, arrived in a wind of teleporters and firestarters and unthinkably strong Ability.

  Hawk Chenoa, one of the strongest and most politically powerful men in the Guild, the Guild’s primary liaison with the United States Military Services, stepped forward. “Council of the Guild, we bring challenge. Under the bylaws of the Guild, if you repeatedly endanger high-ranking full members, we have the right.”

  Tubbs’s grip slipped, and I had my Mindspace senses back. My senses, but not my freedom.

  Concern and shock radiated from every person on the Council. Every person, that was, except Johanna.

  My attention returned to her in time to catch one, small smile.

  Diaz threw a bolt of energy into the center of Mindspace.

  The world turned over, and I fell. Jamie still stood, Harris on his knees. Half of Kara’s family behind me remained upright; the others shattered. But my mind was free, was clear. If I could just stand, just think . . .

  I am still the Council, Diaz said. Mutiny is punishable by mind-wipe. Be very, very careful of what you say.

  Rex leaned forward on the table. We will destroy you if you challenge us.

  They were one front.

  Hawk Chenoa nodded grimly. You will hear what we have to say. No matter what it costs.

  And Tubbs let go of my mind completely, his concentration broken by fear. A full war, I felt from him, a full war to shake the foundations of the Guild.

  I tried to stand—and fell. My mind still gummed up by whatever Tubbs had done. I tried again—and made it to my knees, then upright.

  Diaz sent out a loud—and forceful—demand, and Hawk responded with freezing resistance, his people behind him settling back into Mindspace in a stable front.

  Harris spoke up loudly. “Peace. Peace for two minutes, while noncombatants leave.”

  Rex looked down. “This is not a fight we need to have in front of an outsider.”

  Diaz held an amazing amount of force in his hands, force coiled like a spring compressed, ready to move in Mindspace. Hawk held a series of tight intentions, like sharp arrows, close. Gustolf’s hands cradled fire, waiting to move. The Council and its supporters stood at one end, ready. Hawk and his supporters waited in a semicircle opposite.

  Two breaths passed.

  “Leave,” Hawk finally said.

  Harris grabbed my arm, forceful. “Time to go.”

  The physical pain finally cleared the fog. I pushed his mind away, pulled my arm away. And stood. I projected loudly, out loud and in Mindspace to back myself up, so that no one within forty feet in any direction could possibly avoid hearing me.

  “You have all been manipulated,” I said.

  By you? Green’s mental voice rang out.

  Manipulated, manipulated, echoed through the room.

  It’s too late. Men are dead, Hawk’s voice said.

  Too late, from Rex. Council members dead.

  “Listen!” I yelled. “Listen. Before it all falls apart and you bring Cooper’s worst nightmare to life, listen. You have all been manipulated by one brilliant mind. She planted devices to influence good men to madness. She used her position to target specific people. She is sitting here in this room.”

  I glanced at her. She sat, all masks stripped away, calculating. Jamie had been moving, moving in the confusion, and was now only a few feet away. Good job, I thought. Jamie will disable her if no one else can. She’s a Level Ten.

  Tubbs teleported to a few feet away from me. The air popped as it displaced with new mass. “You’re spinning more lies to save your life. You’ve probably provoked the Chenoas and Eriksons to violence yourself.”

  I refused to be intimidated. “And when did I have time?” I asked. “You yourself charged me with shirking the responsibilities you gave me.” I raised my voice to the crowd. “Yes, he hired me to find Del Meyers’s killer. It took me longer than it should have, and I accused one man for the wrong reasons. But now—”

  “Who are you accusing exactly?” Kara asked, anger and betrayal on her face. “I had nothing—”

  “I accuse Johanna Wendell,” I asked. “She’s—”

  “That’s ridiculous. Johanna’s been very helpful,” Hawk said, at the same time Diaz said, “She’s been a vital part of—”

  Both men looked at each other.

  “Look at her,” I said. “Just look. Her body language—her real-space presence—doesn’t match her Mindspace one. She’s been faking it all, mirroring what we wanted to hear.”

  And then it was too late. In the space between one heartbeat and the next, Johanna was on the main floor, with a vibroblade to Jamie’s neck. “Anyone moves, anyone touches my mind, she dies. That includes you, Jamie. You squirm, you might end up filleted. Now, we’re going to back up, slowly. I’d suggest you all clear the way.”

  An odd humming came through Mindspace at the same time the teeth-jarring humming had started from the vibroblade.

  Stone moved forward, but Johanna’s grip tightened, and he stopped, unsure. He looked for Nelson, who was never here because of the demotion. No one was in charge, not now.

  Next to me Tubbs flickered, like a bad movie effect, air making a strange sound. He came back to reality with an overwhelming sense of nausea and almost fell.

  Johanna’s pretty features were twisted into a look of disgust, her lips pulled up. “The antiteleportation device being tested by Research? I should mention I have one. Don’t think to follow us. I will kill her.” She backed up, one step at a time, one of her hands steering Jamie by gripping her shoulder, the other holding the knife.

  Jamie looked terrified.

  All around, shock and dismay poured out on both sides. They acted like they’d never seen a hostage situation before.

  Maybe they hadn’t. They’d locked up Charlie, the only black-ops-experienced guy in the room. Even Hawk was more used to defined battle than hostage situations.

  Next to me, Harris’s mind had gone to the dark, calculating place that Cherabino went, the all-hell cop place. “Jamie is not involved in these politics,” he said, enunciating too clearly. “You cannot let her die because of your stupidity.”

  Johanna shook her head, stepping back one step, then another. “Sorry, Grandpa. Politics don’t really matter to me. You should have let me be,” she said to me, and then took another step. “I didn’t do anything against you.”

  A flicker in Mindspace that felt like Jamie.

  Then blood, blood pain, as Jamie’s arm was sliced bone deep. Mindspace was suddenly, completely cold. Still. No one moved.

  Johanna was breathing hard. “You do that again and you’ll start losing body parts.” She looked over at Rex. “That’s it. All of you let go of your weapons. You hurt me, you threaten me, and body parts are going. You need her intact, and you know I don’t. Do it. Do it now.”

  Diaz’s huge-force spring slowly let out, and Hawk’s intention arrows started to disappear, the others following suit.

  “Nobody follows me,” Johanna said.

  CHAPTER 23

  We all waited, a long, tense moment.

  “You ready?” Captain Harris asked me.

  “Give it another second,” I said. “She’s not as strong a telepath as some here, and Jamie’s presence will cloud things, but she’ll still be able to feel us coming more clearly than the suspects you’re used to.”

  “You can’t go after them,” Tubbs said. “She’ll kill her. One of the strongest telepaths in the Guild, and she’ll kill her.”

  I looked at him. “She’ll kill her anyway if we don’t move.”

  Harris looked around. “We need physical backup here. People who won’t escalate the situation, somebody I can count on in a fight.”

  I looked around. “Gustolf. Stone. You’re with us. T
ubbs, you call Enforcement.”

  “I need all entrances and exits to the building cut off. Anything I should look for with this lady? Can she fly or something stupid?”

  “She can see the future reliably, medium-term. An hour or two is preferred.”

  Harris shook his head, working that out.

  I thought about that. “Okay. We get the exits blocked off. She’ll see that.”

  “We plan to send Ward in alone,” Harris said.

  A burst of muttering moved through the crowd, but Gustolf and Stone had already stepped up.

  “I can get more physical backup,” Stone said.

  “If we can get Turner here quickly, do it,” I said. “But too big a group she’ll see it coming. I’d like you to plan in your mind to hold back when we get there and not start any violence. I’d like you to make that decision now, and stick to it in your mind unless and until something happens.”

  Gustolf smiled, seeing where I was going. “You got it.”

  “Let’s go,” Harris said.

  “What right do you have to make decisions for all of us?” Diaz asked.

  We paused halfway to the door. “Obviously no one else here is doing it. We’ve both seen hostage situations before. Plus you and Hawk have a lot of talking to do before I get back. It would be a disgrace to the Guild founders if you let one woman manipulate you all into destroying the Guild.” I put heat behind the last and made myself believe it.

  And so we turned and walked out, Gustolf and Stone following without further questions.

  • • •

  Outside in the hall, Mindspace was disturbed, too disturbed; after Diaz’s force-bomb, it wasn’t holding on to signatures the way I expected.

  Harris had kept walking. He looked back. “This way.”

  “How do you know? Mindspace is empty,” Stone said.

  “I was married to the woman for years. Mumbo jumbo or not, I can find her in a snowstorm. She’s used this against me more than once.”

  A Link. And we turned back.

  Diaz and Hawk had entered the hallway.