by Cindy Combs
As the startled trio paused, Jim dashed across the street into the park. Instantly, the other three ran after him.
"Daddy, are there tuxer birds up where we are going?"
Nash was about to reply when he was grabbed from behind. He immediately swung an elbow into the face above him, but the man had a few inches on him and several pounds. Damn, this bastard is huge.
"DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cassidy screamed as she was shoved roughly into the bushes.
"DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The scream nearly overpowered the untrained sentinel's ears as he tried to find the threat. The thought of the Roaches after a child sent a wave of anger through him. He could not allow that to happen, not while he was alive and breathing. He quickly turned towards the scream, barely aware of his team behind him.
Breaking through the brush onto a path, Ellison spotted a large man injecting the contents of a syringe into the struggling man he held. A second large man was walking towards the others. However, while Jim's eyes said 'man', his subconscious mind yelled 'Roach'. Reacting, Ellison raced over, meeting the second man half-way. Ducking under a swing, Jim punched the man in the shoulder as he would with a Roach. While the blow would not have seriously hurt a tough man, this one fell as if Ellison had hit him in the groin. Another blow to the chest, and
the man was down.
As Ellison fought, Janson and Brown raced over to the abductor and his victim. The perp tried at first to run with the unconscious man. Then he shoved the man at them, turning to disappear in the brush. Brown continued to chase him, as Janson caught the victim and gently lowered him to the ground.
BT, breathing hard from trying to keep up with his larger, healthier friends, paused on the path. He spotted a struggling, crying girl, her blue sweater tangled in the thorny brush. Quickly, he trotted over to her. "Easy, there," he wheezed, still trying to catch his breath.
"They're hurting my Dad!" the girl shouted, trying to tug her arm out of her sweater.
"Easy." BT took a quick glance back, spotting Rafe with an older man. "I think he's safe. My friends have rescued him."
"He's okay?" The girl twisted, trying to see. Tears streamed down her face.
"Let's get you out of this bush and you can see for yourself," BT soothed, burying his own fears in order to calm the girl. "Are you hurt?"
Looking up into the warm blue eyes, Cassidy took a shaky gulp of air. He looked trustworthy enough. "I'm okay. I just want to see my Dad."
While keeping an eye on the man that smelled like a Roach, Ellison called over to Janson. "How is he?"
"I think the drug just knocked him out."
Suddenly, the abductor yanked out a knife. Before Ellison could move, the man slashed his own throat. Florescent orange fluid ran out as the creature died.
"Oh, God," Rafe whispered in shock, watching Roach blood flow out of a human body. BT turned, then immediately shielded the sight from the girl as he himself turned paler.
Jim was not surprised at what his senses had been telling him all along, but it scared him in another way. If Roaches could look like humans, how were they ever going to be safe?
Sheree carefully pulled a book off her mentor's self. She had thought she had seen it a while back. Lightly, she ran her fingers over the title, 'A Common Doctor's Guide to Sentinel Medicine'. Hopefully, it would provide her with some answers. What little she knew on the subject only made her hesitant to treat Jim.
"Hi Sheree," Dr. Mark Sloan called out as he entered his office.
"Hi Mark," Sheree turned, nonchalantly placing the book behind her. Even if she could lie to the dear man, she didn't think she could come up with a believable one.
However, Mark's white head was down, intent on studying the papers he was holding. "I have some preliminary results on your Mr. BT."
"What did you find?" Sheree asked eagerly.
"His body chemistry is still off, probably due to those interrogation drugs." Mark slowly shook his head. "That must have been a wicked combination they gave him. I'm also guessing that the head injury came a day or two before the drugs."
"You're kidding," Sheree stated slowly. "That injury was pretty severe, Mark. How did those creatures expect him to give information in that condition?"
"The Roaches don't care to learn about human limitations, because we are not worth it. They only care about their own needs." For a moment, Mark's age shone through his normally youthful face. Then he shook it off. "The only up side is that I doubt they succeeded in this case. It is unlikely the young man was coherent enough to give them any answers."
Sheree sadly shook her head. "He is such a good-hearted young man. He didn't deserve this kind of treatment and he is still suffering. Those headaches are so debilitating."
"We are still waiting on some results for those. I suspect they should gradually ease as he grows stronger. Perhaps if he was to stay in a long-term facility with therapy, he would progress faster."
"That won't happen," Sheree stated with a rueful smile. "His temporary guardian nearly bit my head off when I suggested it."
"How come?"
Sheree sighed. "Captain Ellison is the camp survivor who managed to escape. Just before he was found by Banks' patrol, he fractured both legs and cracked several ribs. With no home or family to look after him, he was placed in long-term care to recover. Apparently, it was one of those overworked, overcrowded facilities. By the time his friends found him, he was badly neglected and malnourished. There is no way he'd let BT anywhere near one."
Mark shook his head sadly at the thought of such bad care. "I noticed he was rather protective of the young man."
"Henri says that BT is around the same age as Jim's brother when he died in the camps."
"That would explain it." Mark paused a moment. "Some interesting reading, there."
Sheree followed Mark's eyes to the book she had forgotten was in her hands. "Oh! Well, yes, well, it is suppose to be fairly isolated where I'm going, and I thought it would be a good read." Sheree knew that wasn't going to fly from the hint of disbelief on her mentor's face. She'd seen that look before.
"You know, I have never known you to read anything that you didn't have an immediate use for. Now, why would you have a need for that particular book?"
Sheree quietly studied the kind doctor who had helped her so much. "Okay, hypothetical question: What would you do if you discovered that among your patients is a developing Sentinel?"
Mark's eyes narrowed for a second on his former student, then sat on the corner of his desk. "Hypothetically, I'd first be cheering with joy."
"Huh?"
Mark chuckled at the look on Sheree's face. "The town I had my first practice in was protected by a Sentinel/guide pair. Both were very fine men. I always felt safe, knowing they were there. Feeling safe is becoming a rare quantity now-a-days."
Sheree's eyes widened. Mark was familiar with sentinels? She just barely stopped herself from asking all the questions she had that in turn would betray Jim's secret.
"Now, however, I can see the problem. Back then, whenever I had to treat Dickens, I just had to consult with his guide Tom, or in a worse case situation, called back to the Center. Tell me, does this hypothetical sentinel have a guide?"
Sheree rolled her eyes at Mark's innocent look. She knew she'd never get away with this. "No, the hypothetical sentinel does not have a guide. The hypothetical sentinel barely knows what to do with his gifts as it is."
Mark frowned. "That wouldn't be good. A sentinel can be a very powerful ally, but the gifts can make him very vulnerable if there isn't a guide to watch out for him."
"Unfortunately, the hypothetical sentinel doesn't have many options with the Center gone."
"Very true," Mark commented. Sheree could already see the sharp mind making connections behind the facade of a simple man. "Too bad BT is so young. It seems that Captain Ellison has bonded quite quickly with him."
"Huh?" Sheree's mind bent in three different directions, trying to process her mentor's last comment.
"Mark, how ...well, is it that obvious?"
He laughed. "How did I know Ellison is your sentinel? His alertness and his protectiveness over BT. I swear that is just how Dickens would act when I was working on Tom. It is only obvious because I have had experience with sentinels. Even then, I doubt I would have put it together if you hadn't mentioned the possibility. People believe that we no longer have sentinels to protect us, so we don't look for them." Mark paused in thought for a moment. "I wonder how many other latent sentinels may be running around?"
"Well, from what Henri says, it doesn't do Jim much good without a guide," Sheree pointed out. "What did you mean about BT being too young? What makes you think BT's a guide in the first place?"
"To answer your first question, guides were usually older than their sentinels because of the amount of education they needed. Tom was a good five years older than Dickens."
"But now, there is no education programs for guides," Sheree pointed out. "Would the same rules apply?"
Mark shrugged. "I honestly don't know. While the sentinel talent laid more in the physical, with his senses and his physical training, the guide's was more scholarly and emotional. They had to not only learn a tremendous amount of information, they had to be able to use it. Just like med students," Mark flashed a smile at his former student.
"What makes you think that BT might be one?" Sheree persisted.
"He strikes me as both intelligent and compassionate. You should have seen him calming a child with a broken arm while waiting for his own scan. I wondered at the time whether he might be a pre-med, and if not, whether I could sign him up." He and Sheree shared a wealth of memories in their eyes. "But the dead give-away is how your Captain Ellison is with him. Sentinels tend to be protective towards their people anyway, but it is more intense when their guide is hurt. Captain Ellison fits my profile of a sentinel with a seriously sick or injured guide to perfection."
"But Mark, BT can't even remember his own name right now. The Center was destroyed before his birth. How can he be a guide?"
Mark shrugged. "How can Captain Ellison be a sentinel? Sometimes, my dear, things just have a way of working out. All a good doctor can do is stand back and hope for the best."
Joel watched each floor number brighten in succession as the elevator slowly climbed. The tension, which began the instant he had read the message about Jim's Roaches, tightened his body. Then the slim arm around his waist squeezed him. Joel looked down into his wife's almond-shaped eyes. Ariel gave him an encouraging smile, then tucked her dark, curly head back into his shoulder. He squeezed her back, rubbing the creamy brown skin of her arm, again grateful to have this delightful, exotic woman in his life. He just hoped she was still safe from the Roaches here.
The elevator dinged, opening up onto the chaos on the hospital's tenth floor. Joel, Ariel still by his side, quickly spotted Rafe and BT off to the left. BT was sitting, head down, leaning forward with his arms resting on his thighs. Rafe's arm was draped protectively around the younger man's shoulders, softly talking to him. When Rafe glanced to see who had arrived, Joel was struck by how pale Rafe looked. Damn, Rafe didn't look much better than BT. Did something happen to Ellison?
"Hey, you two," Joel said comfortingly, bending his large frame next to them.
Rafe smiled faintly in greeting. "Hi Joel, hi Ariel. Sorry to drag you two away from your plans."
"No problem," Ariel replied with a smile. She had learned early that her husband's line of work often involved sudden changes. Besides, as a former Clarian refugee, she had always had a soft spot for Janson and Ellison. She quickly studied the other young man she had heard so much about.
"You okay, BT?" Joel softly asked, concerned.
BT shrugged his shoulders, and gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just got a little dizzy."
"You passed out," Rafe corrected sternly. He turned to Joel. "He didn't have breakfast this morning due to the blood tests they wanted to run. Then with all the excitement, we missed lunch."
Ariel frowned. "Then maybe you two should eat something." Joel was right, BT was way too skinny. A quick glance also confirmed that Joel needed to speak with his teammates alone. "I think the cafeteria is just a couple floors down. I'll run down and pick something up."
"I'm not..." BT began.
"Thanks, Ariel," Rafe stated over him, giving the older woman a grateful smile.
As soon as Ariel was in the elevator, Joel glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Then he demanded to know what had happened. Rafe, with bits from BT, quickly filled in him. Joel barely contained his shudder. Now they had Roaches that looked like humans? No wonder Rafe looked so pale. The only saving grace was that Jim could smell them.
"The doctors say that Dr. Branson, the guy we saved, was injected with some pretty powerful sedatives. They don't expect him to wake up for at least another couple hours."
"Dr. Nash Branson?" Joel asked, stunned.
Rafe and BT exchanged looks. "Yes," Rafe confirmed. "Do you know him?"
Joel shrugged, "I briefly met him through one of Ariel's friends a while back." Glancing around at the excitement behind him, Joel asked, "What is going on now?"
"Soon after we came here, Cassidy called a friend of her father's, then a group of people started showing up," BT explained.
"Plus, Jim and Henri are talking with the Major and the local police and I think some of the local guard are filtering in as well. I don't think anyone has a procedure for covering this," Rafe explained ruefully.
Joel ran his hand over his face. No, the last thing anyone expected was a Roach that looked like a human in the middle of Manhaven. The higher-ups must be having a cow some where.
"Hey Sport, I thought you might like some juice," a warm voice stated as someone approached. Joel turned to see a man with brown curly hair sprinkled with gray, carrying a glass.
"Harvey?" Joel asked in surprise.
"Joel? Hey man, what are you doing here?" Harvey handed the glass to the pale young man and turned to his friend.
"These two are part of my unit," Joel explained. Seeing the puzzled looks on Rafe's and BT's faces, he continued, "Harv, this is Rafe Janson and BT. Guys, this is Harvey Lane. He's the young seaman whose yacht brought Ariel and the girls safely over from Claria."
A light turned on behind Harvey's eyes during the introductions, but he returned with a smile, "My last sea voyage and the most worthwhile." He studied BT a moment. "How are you feeling now?"
"Kinda stupid," BT mumbled, staring at the floor.
Harvey chuckled. "I can understand that, though you have nothing to feel stupid about. Cassidy is singing your praises to Inger about how you rescued her from the bush. We are pretty grateful to you. To all of you,' as he included Rafe.
"Just in the right place at the right time," Rafe returned, slightly embarrassed. He turned back to BT. "Drink up. It will do you good."
As BT sighed and took a sip, Joel nodded to Harvey and the two slipped into a corner. "What's going on?" Joel softly asked.
"Chaos," Harvey stated grimly. "Nobody is quite sure what to do. Hell, if it wasn't for the body, I'm not sure how many would believe this story. The really weird part though, is that our work group is scheduled to be relocated next week because of the mysterious disappearances. Guess we now know how they do it."
"Yeah, we are up for security detail due to the increase risk to science groups," Joel added, thinking hard. "I hadn't realized you guys were doing anything that sensitive."
Harvey shrugged. "Well, our work has made a few subtle shifts recently. Jeff MacGregor's group was placed on one of the projects hit during the Sealand attack, which resulted in us being upgraded and placed on one of theirs. Harvey glanced back at Rafe and BT. "Speaking of which, is that the kid you wanted me to check the refugee records for?"
Joel nodded. "Yeah. He regained his voice a couple days ago, but other than some vague dreams, he still doesn't remember anything prior to waking up in the med center."
Harvey studied him another moment. "He looks like he might be from one of the East end communes, though those big blue eyes are a bit different. Unfortunately, most of my contacts are from the West end pleasure resort areas."
"So you don't think you can trace him?" Joel spotted Ariel reenter the room, carrying a tray with sandwiches, soup and cookies.
"Hard to say. The East end was hit first, forcing all the survivors to the West end to escape. That whole evacuation scene was Hell. Too many people were fighting to get onto too few boats. Finally, the children were simply shoved into any corner of a boat they could squeeze into. My craft normally held 30 people. I took 83, mostly children and young mothers. My captain even jumped off so that two more children could be loaded on." Harvey sadly thought back on his mentor's heroic deed. "It was just as bad when we reached the other side. With statcus starting to hit, everyone was worried we were contagious. We were crammed into tent cities for several weeks before they determined it was caused by contaminated water. There were so many orphan children running around scared. I kept an eye on the ones I brought over, with help from Ariel and a couple of the other women, but that whole scene was a logistical nightmare. Lots of kids were lost in the cracks."
Joel shook his head. Ariel had told him about the tent cities. With her skills as an apprentice chef, she had been among the first groups allowed out. She had taken her baby girl Lily and a three-year-old named Tabby with her. Tabby's grandmother had begged her to look after the child as Ariel waited to climb onto Harvey's boat. Joel shuddered thinking of his dear stepdaughter by herself in the tents. Did a nine- or ten-year-old BT have anyone to look after him then? Was he looking out for a younger Sam as well?
At that moment, Major Banks with Ellison and Brown made their way through the crowd. Seeing the Major wave him over, Taggart quickly said good-bye to Harvey and joined his team.
"I just got a call from the Colonel," Simon began. "Plans have changed. First, all relocation timetables have been moved up. We leave tomorrow morning to set up the security at the new base. "
