Roachia 03 Before Dawn

by Cindy Combs

  "But Major, maybe I could help these guys search for the other Roach," Ellison pointed out.

  "No," Banks ordered softly but firmly. "You can not sniff every man, woman and child in Manhaven looking for a Roach. We both know you're not ready for that yet."

  Ellison was about to argue until he saw BT's pale face. True, they weren't ready yet. The doctors that morning had said BT may have a chance at full recovery, if the young man was given time to take it easy and continue to heal. Chasing around with an untrained sentinel

  searching for the humans' worst enemy was not taking it easy.

  "We have also been reassigned. It is felt that since you have gained the trust of the Branson research team, it will make the transition period go smoother if we are assigned as their security. Their team will join us in a couple days." Simon looked into the faces of each of his men. Much had happened in the last few hours, changing their world drastically, perhaps forever. "Now, let's get moving, people."

  Next day, another city

  "Damn it, they moved up the Branson group departure!" Accountant Michaelson's voice roared across the small office. In the corner, a young man winced. That tone didn't bode well for the afternoon.

  "Moved it up? But aren't we suppose to audit them next week?" whined the secretary. Leesa hated anything that meant more work.

  "What, are they AFRAID of the Roaches or something?" Griffin sneered. Griffin had an even lower opinion of the 'cowardly' scientists than Michaelson, who hated anyone who didn't understand the fine art of accounting.

  "Well, it is rumored that Dr. Branson was nearly kidnapped," Leesa piped up. She loved hearing and spreading gossip.

  The young man's head lifted. Oh God, no. Not another one.

  "Well, the Roaches must be slipping, because he's still here. Only now we'll have to track him down Lord knows where to audit his project! Why we are spending money on that one at all is beyond me."

  Lifeboat. Son, there is always a chance we'll lose this war. If that is the case, there is only one place left to retreat. But don't worry, we don't plan to lose. Lifeboat is like option Y on the list. God, are we running out of options that quickly?

  "MAXWELL! Aren't you done with those packages yet? You are so SLOW, boy."

  Three days later, Science Base Delta

  Ellison stopped a moment, watching BT testing security nodes. The kid had swiftly picked up on how to connect the nodes, using the black box to check them and set the switches. In fact, the team had been impressed at how quickly BT picked up on the electronics of the entire security system. Thanks to their new team member, they were well ahead of schedule. Just what did you do before? Dr. Mike says psychology. Sheree guesses pre-med. Yet you take to wires and circuits like a fish to water. What kind of a life have you led, kid?

  At least the nightmares were easing. Both BT and Rafe had awakened him during the first two nights after finding the human-like Roach. Jim hadn't dared tell either that his own sleep was filled with friends suddenly changing into Roaches. At least this remote base felt safe. Jim vowed to smell each newcomer individually, to make sure everyone in their midst were as human as they looked. Starting with the scientists and tech people arriving today.

  "Hey Ellison, will you help me move this console?" Brown shouted. With a last glance at the blissfully occupied BT, Jim left the room to find Henri.

  The box made a snorting buzz as BT connected it to the node. Hmm, what's wrong with you, little guy? Looking up, he realized he was alone in the room. Oh well, where did Jim put that toolbox? Searching the room with his eyes, BT spied the open box, contents scattered around it. Grabbing a couple of screw drivers, he turned back to the node.

  A few minutes later, he was smiling as the node finally tested properly. Picking up the metal casing, BT started turning it, trying to remember how it fit. Sam, why did you have to design this thing so tight? Wait a minute... where did that thought come from?

  However, his musing was rudely interrupted by a shout. "HEY! What do you think you are doing!?!" BT jumped up from the floor, pieces of node in his hands, face to face with a big man yelling at him. "You are NOT suppose to touch these boxes! They are only to be opened by certified techs!"

  "But I was just..."

  "This is an expensive and complicated piece of equipment. It is probably shot to hell now, thanks to you." BT took a step back from the man's wrath.

  "Are you picking fights with the locals again, Bettina?" BT looked up to see that Dr. Branson had entered the room, along with Joel's friend Harvey and a younger dark-haired man about BT's age.

  "Nash, this kid tore apart one of the security nodes. You know the rules state that only an authorized tech can touch these!"

  BT tried not to shiver. He thought he had fixed it. Would he be forbidden from working on the system now? He didn't resist when the dark-haired man took the node, too scared to notice his kind brown eyes.

  "Hey! Back off!" A large hand grasped his shoulder reassuringly in spite of the bark. The cavalry had arrived in the form of Jim Ellison.

  "What kind of an operation are you running here?" The big man was in a full rampage now.

  "We are your security," the Major stated firmly from behind BT. "Is there a problem?"

  "I'd say..."

  "Bettina, shut up," Nash told him firmly. He turned to the large men backing the scared kid in front of him. "There just seems to be some confusion on procedures." He gave the kid a warm smile. Damn, he looked half sick. "I'm Nash Branson, leader of this project." He held out his hand to the tall, dark man who seemed to be in charge.

  Simon shook the hand. "I'm Major Simon Banks, I head the security detail. This is my second officer, Captain Ellison, and our budding electronics genius is BT."

  Nash's eyes narrowed a moment. "Then I not only owe you an apology, but my gratitude. You were the ones who saved my daughter and I the other day."

  "That's right," Ellison stated, trying not to growl. Every one of his protective hackles had raised when he had heard the other man hassling BT. It was hard to turn them back down. One hand firmly grasping BT's shoulder, he discretely sniffed the air. Only human smells, thank God.

  "What is the problem?" Banks asked reasonably.

  "Well, these security nodes are rather complicated," Harvey explained, carefully studying BT. "Not too many people understand how they work, so our group is under orders to leave them alone."

  BT blinked. They weren't THAT complicated. "I'm sorry, I was just fixing it."

  Nash chuckled. "That's okay. We know you were only trying to help."

  "He did fix it."

  Startled, Nash turned back to his assistant. "What?"

  "He fixed it." Flipping the case over to check the id number, he continued, "Harv, this is our old friend, D1TD0T."

  "Ditdot? You're kidding?" Harvey turned back to address his boss. "Nash, that node has given Evan and I fits from the start. We planned to ship it back, but it must have been tossed in by mistake during the packing rush."

  "You fixed it?" Nash turned back to the young man trying to find a way to hide. "When did you learn about security nodes? Are you a tech?"

  "I don't know..." BT stated softly, not sure what to do.

  Before Ellison could defend him, Harv jumped in, "It's okay, BT. Good work. Maybe once we're set up, you can work with us a little." Harv flashed Nash a hidden sign, indicating he'd explain later.

  Nash was quick on the uptake. "Sounds like a plan to me. We can use some help around here. What do you say?"

  "Okay," BT quietly responded. Dr. Branson and the other two seemed all right. He would like to see what they were working on.

  "Now that that's settled, we need to work on the command center. Nice meeting you, Dr. Branson. Hopefully, we can talk this afternoon." Simon led his men through the door.

  "Sounds good," Nash called back. Once they were gone, he turned to Harvey. "Okay, what's going on here?"

  One week later, another city

  "Well, little orphy, you have t
he right attire in that bag?"

  The young man couldn't prevent the eye roll, though he held enough control not to slam a fist into Griffin's face as he walked past him. Since turning down Griffin's pass the first week, the man had done everything he could to aggravate the teenager. He would love, at the very least, to tell the huge man where to shove it. But that would not be in keeping with a scared refugee kid trying to hang on to his job. Damn, he never dreamed that acting like a meek office boy would be so hard. He hated the annoying nickname Griffin gave him. Maybe because it's true; Maybe I am an orphan. He immediately shoved that thought away, refusing to think that way. Dad had to be alive.

  He slipped his light duffel in next to the crates of paperwork he had loaded earlier. Of course, neither Griffin nor Michaelson helped. There were times he wasn't sure who he wanted to be the traitor. Then there was times he wasn't sure if either were the one.

  But not now. There had been too many coincidences, the timing too convenient. One of these men was betraying their own people to the Roaches. He just had to catch them in the act before another scientist became a target.

  Science Base Delta

  "Is that it for the acquisitions list?" Joe Domingez asked, searching the faces around the table. It was his first chance to have all of the heads of the facility and their seconds in one room. He knew Nash and his science team well, since his wife Inger was on it. However, he hadn't been able to talk with Dr. Jackson, Major Banks, or Captain Ellison. So far, he was impressed. He felt safer already.

  "If that's it, we need to..." Nash began.

  "No, one more thing," Joe jumped back in. "I just found out that auditor Michaelson and his people are coming for a visit in a couple days." Joe barely controlled a shudder.

  "Damn," Nash muttered. "That guy's becoming a real pain."

  "An auditor? Already?" Banks asked in disbelief.

  Nash shrugged. "Michaelson's life mission is to find waste and root out all violations of accounting procedures. He seems to think we're a prime candidate. They were going to check us out before we came here, but things were shuffled."

  "How many people are we talking here?" Ellison asked. He had personally met every one of the 118 people currently residing at the base, double-checking by scent that they were human. As a by-product, he now felt somehow responsible for their safety. Maybe it was a sentinel thing. Still, he planned to continue the checks if he could.

  "Three or four, I think," Joe stated thoughtfully. "Michaelson and his assistant auditor for certain. Probably his secretary and his gopher as well."

  Harvey shifted in his seat, a frown on his face. Catching the look, Nash said, "Wait a minute. Harv, was this the guy you thought might be mistreating the kid working for him?"

  Harv shrugged. "Maybe." Seeing the puzzled looks from Banks and Ellison, he continued, "Teenaged refugee kids are often taken in by businessmen as cheap labor. With little or no parental backing, they can be overworked and underpaid. Yet they're too scared of losing their sole means of support to complain. Sometimes it can even get to the point of verbal and physical abuse."

  "Abuse? Don't the agencies keep an eye on that?" Sheree asked.

  "Too many refugees, not enough manpower," Harvey pointed out. "It's been happening since the Clarian invasion and it only seems to get worse."

  "And you suspect this with Michaelson?" Simon asked slowly. He had rescued too many refugees not to realize how vulnerable they could be.

  "Let's just say I interrupted a situation that I thought looked suspicious, but not enough to write up."

  "And I've learned to listen to Harvey's suspicions. Hell, that's how we got Evan." Nash paused, remembering the eager-to-please teen they had taken in only a few years ago who was now growing into a top-notch scientist.

  The Major and Captain exchanged their own looks. "All right, we will pass the message on to the rest of the unit. If we spot anything suspicious, we'll see what we can do."

  After discussing a few more topics, the meeting was dismissed. As everyone shuffled out, Jim worked his way over to Harvey. "Hey Lane, how did BT do this morning?"

  Overhearing the question, Nash answered. "That kid is great. He really knows computer systems."

  "Any headaches?" Jim questioned. He hadn't seen his friend since that morning, trying not to hover over him like some weird mother hen. He still worried, though.

  "No, he was doing fine," Harvey replied. "Evan made sure he took breaks and ate lunch."

  "Good." That meant that Jim didn't have to force the kid to the med center. Jim hated to see those blue eyes filled with pain.

  "Oh, by the way," Harv added, "Evan and I did a little checking into whether any of the security nodes techs are missing. There were two from Sealand, but one was a woman and the other a 45-year-old man."

  "Damn," Jim whispered, clenching his jaw. It seemed like every possible lead they had turned into a dead end. Even the Keegan Jeffery lead ended when Dr. Mike reported Jeffery was said to have had no heirs. No known heirs, anyway.

  "We're still looking," Harvey was quick to add. "Evan suggested that BT might be known to the nodes' designers, so we are trying to dig up which group it came out of."

  "Thanks," Jim replied. It was amazing how quickly people took up the young man's cause.

  Nash waved him off. "No problem. He's a good kid."

  As Branson and Lane turned to the science labs, Sheree caught up with Ellison. "Did I hear that they were doing some checking on BT?"

  "Yeah, but no luck so far," Jim replied.

  "That's too bad." Sheree checked to make sure the hall was empty. "Jim, have you ever considered that BT might be a guide?"

  Jim stopped, turning to the doctor with a blank expression. "What do you mean?"

  "Well," Sheree hesitated, then plunged in. "I picked up a book from my mentor in Manhaven on sentinel medicine."

  Jim gave her a resigned look. "In order to treat me?" He felt weird that she would have to go to such trouble to help him. Nor did he like the thought that he wasn't normal like everyone else. He turned towards the main security center, hiding his dismay behind his impassive face.

  "Of course," Sheree replied, trying to keep up with Jim's long-legged stride. "Just like I would with anyone else under my care with special needs."

  Jim sighed. Great, now he had 'special needs'. "Okay, but what does this have to do with BT?"

  "The book gives a little background on sentinels and guides, including a profile used to pick out potential guides. BT fits the description in all but the Center's training program and his age."

  "His age?" Jim repeated, puzzled.

  Sheree shrugged. "The book says that young sentinels were always introduced to older guides in hopes they'd bond. Supposedly, the additional years provide the guide with the extra experience, maturity, and education he needs to handle a sentinel. Thus, they tried to pair a sentinel with a guide three to five years older."

  "Keegan was five years younger than Harry."

  Sheree and Jim stopped in surprise, looking at BT who had silently joined them in time to hear Sheree's last statement. "Really?" Jim asked, casually beginning to walk again. BT's headaches lately were usually preceded by BT pushing his memory, so Jim didn't want him to push.

  "Yeah," BT fell into step alongside them. "Actually, the Center tried to pair Harry with an older guide, but he just didn't bond with anyone. Then one day, Harry was jogging through a park when he heard a little girl scream. She'd been playing with her puppy and fell into the river. Harry was soon joined in the rescue efforts by Keegan, who was in the park reading his books for class. By the time they delivered the little girl to her mother, Harry knew Keegan was the one."

  Just like that. Jim realized that was how he felt about BT.

  "Just like that?" Sheree questioned in amazement. "What did Keegan say?"

  BT chuckled. "He wasn't too sure at first. It wasn't suppose to happen that way, plus the Center was really upset that one of their strongest sentinels would chose a kid only
half-way through his guide training. Harry flat-out told them that it was Keegan or he would leave the guild. Since leaving the guild was practically unheard of, they relented. They apparently gave Keegan a hard time during the rest of his schooling, though."

  "How do you know this, BT? Your dreams?" Sheree asked.

  BT paused. "Yeah, I think so. I know the story of how they met. Not sure about the rest of it, though."

  Sheree and Jim traded glances. Other than stories, where would BT learn it? Jim shoved the question to the side for now. "Hey, weren't you going to show me how to work those monitors?"

  Two days later, Science Base Delta

  After the narrow tunnel entrance, the young man was surprised when it opened into the huge cavern. Slipping out of the land vehicle, he stared at the tall stone walls that curved over him. Part of this had to be natural. He couldn't see how else the builders had cut out such a large cavern in so short a time. Lights above blazed to illuminate the cluster of buildings ahead.

  "Stop gawking, Maxwell, and get the gear." He winced at the angry tone. Michaelson's mood had grown worse during the drive here. This was not going to be a fun trip.

  At the inside gate, Rafe had been studying the group as Nichols called up to the main control to report the day-early arrival of the accountants. Something about the whole situation made Rafe uneasy, but he couldn't pinpoint why. Then he noticed the kid in his late teens wince. Remembering the Major's briefing, he decided he'd better check it out. Gesturing to Nichols that she should stay at the gate controls and monitors, Rafe stepped out of the guard building.

  The young man unlocked the trunk, sighing at the load inside that Michaelson would want as soon as possible. Glancing over the vehicle roof, he noticed a tall, broad shouldered white man in his twenties approach. The man was wearing the drab greens of the military, probably security. Grabbing Michaelson's briefcase and the form box, the young man carried the items to his boss.

  "We need to see the facilities, then meet with your accountant as soon as possible," Michaelson demanded in his most authoritative voice.