Death in Time

by Robyn Nyx

  Landry pulled her attention back to the face call. “Has he revealed if the mutiny goes deep?”

  “He says that he hadn’t begun recruiting. Delaney had told him to hold fire until a week after the mission, to be sure nothing had gone wrong. When the memories of Delaney and Simson began to fade for him, and for everyone else, he knew they hadn’t succeeded. Delaney had planned for Kondo to get the hell out before you got back so he had a chance of a new life.”

  Her mom sighed deeply, and Landry hoped that getting the information she needed from Kondo hadn’t taken an emotional toll. Landry didn’t believe that her mom was built for that kind of experience.

  “Do you believe him?”

  “I believe he has no reason to lie, and it all sounds perfectly logical. Without Delaney as their leader, Kondo had no desire to step up and take the reins.”

  She paused and looked unsure about continuing. What don’t you want to ask?

  “He was holding out hope that you would’ve joined them…Were you tempted?”

  There it is. “Honestly?” Her mom nodded. “I might’ve been if you had performed the mind wipe on Jade and if we hadn’t had the conversation about my father. Then maybe I could’ve seen myself joining them. Looking back, it was obvious Delaney was trying to enlist me by stoking my rage against Jenkin.” And then there’s Jade as my weakness.

  “And?”

  Her mom looked at her the way she always did when she knew Landry was holding something back or telling a white lie. It took her back to her teenage years, and guilt crept up the back of her neck like ice on a car windshield. “When they were trying to get the location of the PRU, Delaney used Jade in an attempt to persuade me. It made me wonder if my days as an extractor are over because I’ve allowed myself to get close to someone, someone whose well-being could be used against me. I wasn’t so much thinking of joining her as simply stepping aside and living a ‘normal’ life.” It was an admission she hadn’t planned on sharing with her mom. Jade had done her best to convince her that she wasn’t Landry’s Pepper Potts, but doubts niggled at her belief in her continued efficacy as an extractor.

  “That was a natural reaction, Pumpkin, but this situation was a one-off. There’s no way it’ll happen again. Delaney was your only close friend on the island, and you spend your non-mission time in Frisco. For one, I doubt you’ll ever tell anyone on the island about your personal life again, and two, we’ve learned from our mistakes. All our operatives and extractors are going to be brought in to have their mission memories wiped—the bad bits—as I’d planned when I began to develop this tech. We’re never going to let a degeneration like Delaney’s happen again.”

  “Pulsus accepts responsibility for Delaney’s actions?” Maybe they would consider letting her stay on.

  “Almost one hundred percent. Our psych team failed her. I failed her. I didn’t work fast enough.”

  The sadness in her mom’s words was obvious, and Landry believed she would do her best to prevent a similar situation.

  “Will it be an elective procedure?” Landry’s autonomy twitched at the thought of compulsory mind wipes.

  “If the mission has involved questionable moral behavior—”

  Landry coughed dramatically. “That’s an understated way of putting it.”

  “If it has, then the procedure will be compulsory, but the choice remains whether to erase the whole mission or just the worst of it. It’ll be part of the regeneration procedure. We’ve always fixed the body, now we’ll be able to fix the mind.”

  Landry smiled at her mom’s use of the same phrase she’d thought of. There was no denying it was a valuable operation, and she expected the operatives particularly would have no qualms in having it done. Its efficiency would have to be foolproof. “You’re absolutely certain the process is completely accurate?”

  “To the second. I’ve mapped every one of the functions within the human brain and pinpointed the areas for short- and long-term memory. The tech reaches inside and its lasers are fingers reading the memories like Braille. The information translates to the screen, and I can scorch the unpleasant stuff. The person will be able to see them and self-select if they wish.”

  Landry decided to wait until she returned from Chicago to broach the possibility of keeping Delaney on and changed the subject. “Where did you find him?” It seemed like she should ask. Landry didn’t care as much as she was curious how far he’d run.

  “New York. He wasn’t exactly laying low.”

  Her mom’s immediate response let Landry know she was allowing the subject change but knew she had more on her mind. They’d get to it eventually. “How are you getting on with Priscilla’s condition?” The question had been pressing for attention, but Pulsus business had to come first.

  Her mom’s face darkened, and before she answered, she left the room where they were holding Kondo and walked silently to her office. The door closed, and her mom sat back in her chair before she spoke again.

  “Something is eating her from the inside out, faster than her young cells can regenerate. I’ve induced a cryo-stasis to more or less stop the advance of the disease.”

  Landry’s face must have reflected her distress.

  “I know you were hoping for better news, Pumpkin, but this is going to take some time. Dealing with something destructive is far harder than rebuilding something healthy.”

  Landry sighed and sank deeper into her sofa. She tried hard to stave off the irrational desire to shout and scream at…something. She didn’t know what. Landry never liked being out of control, but lately, it seemed like that’s all she ever was. This absolute lack of power was humbling and totally unwelcome.

  “I know. I was just hoping I might be able to return Priscilla before I went away for my mission.”

  Her mom shook her head and looked mildly angry.

  “Tell me you didn’t say that was a possibility?”

  “No. I did warn them that there was no way you could predict how long she’d be with you…and away from them.” Now I need to tell them they might not see their daughter for weeks.

  * * *

  Landry perched on the edge of her pool table and waited. She hitched up and her ass moved some of the balls as she sat on the felt.

  “Baby, it’s gonna be all right,” Jade said as she sauntered toward Landry with a cookie in hand.

  “Is it?” Landry wasn’t convinced. Lizbeth and Caitlin were coming up to hear about their daughter, who was in a place they didn’t know about and couldn’t visit. She didn’t need a single maternal bone in her body to know how torturous that must be for them.

  Jade took a big bite of the sweet treat and offered what remained. Landry opened her mouth and let Jade pop it in. It was noon and that was all she’d eaten. Her stomach was loudly protesting its neglect, but food was of little importance right now.

  “Your mom is doing everything she can. They’ll know that.”

  Jade stood between Landry’s open legs and wrapped her arms around her waist. Her warmth felt good, comforting in a way Landry was coming to rely on. She pulled Jade closer and held her tight.

  A gentle knock interrupted the momentary sense of peace that had come over Landry. She kissed Jade lightly and extricated herself to answer the door. Lizbeth and Caitlin looked haggard and worn down. The suitcases beneath their eyes evidenced a lack of sleep, and their clothes were beginning to look too big for them. Eating wasn’t anybody’s priority right now.

  Landry drew Lizbeth into a long hug. Over her shoulder, she shared a tight-lipped smile with Caitlin and saw desperation had taken up residence. Her usually bright eyes were almost clouded with a shroud of tangible loss. Are you giving up? Lizbeth’s resolve faded, and Landry felt her sobbing softly into her chest.

  Landry pulled away slightly and tipped Lizbeth’s chin up with her fingertip. “Hey.”

  She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with her shirtsleeve. “Sorry, Landry. I should probably stop wearing makeup for a while.”

  S
he pressed a finger on Landry’s T-shirt, and Landry saw a smudge of black. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Jade moved to Landry’s side and took Lizbeth’s hand. “Coffee?”

  Lizbeth nodded, and they moved toward the kitchen. Caitlin closed the door behind her. “Hey, buddy.”

  Landry draped her arm around Caitlin’s shoulders and guided her into the room. “How are you doing?”

  Caitlin shook her head and dropped onto Landry’s sofa. “I’m not. I’m walking around. I’m working. My body is still doing everything it’s supposed to.” She leaned back into the sofa and put her hands over her face. “But I feel like I can’t breathe. There’s a tiger on my chest, with its paw raised, and I’m just waiting for it to swipe out my throat.”

  Graphic. Lizbeth and Jade came back from the kitchen to join them. Caitlin wrapped one hand around the mug Lizbeth gave her and pulled her to sit beside her. They sat close, as if each might fall to the floor without the support of the other. Landry felt the weight of expectation on her next words as forcefully as if she were Atlas holding up the globe.

  Lizbeth looked to Caitlin and swallowed hard before she spoke. “How’s our baby, Landry?”

  Fuck. “Before I tell you what Elena’s had to do, I need you to try to relax and listen to everything before you react.” Elena. It felt strange now to call her anything other than Mom, but she was talking to them about their own daughter so she didn’t want to highlight their relationship.

  Lizbeth and Caitlin looked at each other, and Landry could almost see their combined fears manifested and sitting on their shoulders like an ugly gremlin. Their knuckles went white as their grip on each other tightened. Jade sat beside Landry, placed her hand on her thigh, and squeezed. Her presence was mildly comforting, but it wasn’t her own state of mind Landry was concerned with.

  “Elena is still running tests because so far, she’s not been able to determine the problem.”

  Lizbeth shook her head and looked like she might say something, but held back.

  “Whatever’s attacking Priscilla has gone into a particularly aggressive state. To slow it down, Elena has induced a sort of coma.”

  “Jesus, Landry. What’s a sort of coma?” Caitlin slammed her mug on the table, but Lizbeth pulled her other hand in and clasped their hands together.

  “Baby, hear her out.”

  Landry held up her hands. “Please. Just listen.”

  Caitlin sank back into Lizbeth’s arms. “I’m sorry, Landry. Continue.”

  “It’s okay. I can’t begin to imagine how hard this is for you both.” Landry placed her hand on Caitlin’s shoulder until she nodded for Landry to continue. “Priscilla is in cryo-stasis. She’s completely safe—her body temperature has been lowered to the point where everything is working at a bare minimum.” Lizbeth and Caitlin looked even more confused. Maybe Mom should’ve explained this. “She’s no longer in any pain and the disease can’t do any more damage. It gives Elena time to fully explore what’s wrong with Priscilla’s cells and figure out…” how…if… “figure out how to rid her body of it.”

  “Can we see her?”

  One question I’ve been dreading having to deflect. She glanced at Jade, who smiled back. Her eyes communicated her empathy for Landry’s impossible situation. They asked for this, Jade had reminded her moments before they’d arrived. “You know the answer to that, Caitlin. You’ll see her when Elena has done absolutely everything in her power to save Priscilla. She was only able to take her on that stipulation.”

  “But you’re disappearing on a mission soon, aren’t you? How long will you be gone?”

  Landry was surprised it was Caitlin doing all the questioning, but Lizbeth simply sat silently, as if it were taking every ounce of her energy to stay in one piece.

  “Three weeks, but—”

  “Three weeks? Fuck, no.” Caitlin got to her feet and stood directly in front of Landry. “We want her back. We need her back. You can’t keep her.”

  Landry ignored the physical challenge. Caitlin was emotional and could be forgiven for almost anything. Lizbeth grasped at Caitlin’s hand, but she shook it off.

  “Damn it, bring her home.”

  Landry remained seated and looked up at Caitlin. “If I bring her home now, she won’t be with you for long.”

  Caitlin gestured wildly at Landry. “You don’t know that. You’re not a doctor.”

  Lizbeth rose and took Caitlin’s hands in hers. “Don’t take this out on Landry. She’s doing her best to help us, and you know that.”

  She kept her voice even, but Landry could hear her almost breaking inside.

  “I won’t bring her home to you until Elena has tried everything. I told you that when I asked your permission to take her away for treatment, and you both agreed.” Landry spoke quietly, but realized her words were vaguely threatening, and Jade nudged her hard in the ribs. “Please. You’ve tried everything else. Just give Elena the time to work.”

  Caitlin dropped down to sit on the table and faced Landry. “You understand what you’re asking us to do?”

  “You’ve met Elena. You can trust her. If she’s done all she can before I get back from my mission, she’ll arrange with Jade to bring Priscilla back to you.” There was no way Landry would ask Jade to bring Priscilla to them unless she was in perfect condition. Anything less and it would have to be her mom who brought her home. “You asked me to help, and this was the only way I could. With absolute secrecy and total control. I’m so sorry that it has to be this way, and I might never be able to explain why, but if everything goes well, you won’t care.” Please God, let my mom cure Priscilla. I couldn’t face these two again if she dies under my mom’s care…on my watch.

  Caitlin put her head in her hands, and Lizbeth tenderly stroked the back of her shaved head. She didn’t look up when she said, “Promise me, Landry, promise me you won’t let our little girl die.”

  She heard the sharp intake of breath from Jade. Or was that me? All these promises she was making lately weren’t hers to keep. She had no right to make them when people expected her to deliver. All she would do was disappoint them.

  “Don’t, Caitlin. Don’t ask for a promise like that. It’s not fair,” Lizbeth whispered, her hand resting on Caitlin’s neck.

  Caitlin was on her feet again and pushed Lizbeth away. “NOT FAIR? What’s not fair is our baby lying God knows where, frozen nearly to death because I can’t protect her.”

  She grabbed a ball on the pool table and slammed it into a huddle of other balls. They smashed and scattered loudly across the felt. Landry saw the eight ball drop into a pocket and hoped it might bring luck. Caitlin made her way quickly to the door and left without another word.

  Jade stepped in and took Lizbeth in her arms. “We’ve got you, Lizbeth.”

  Landry stood and pulled them both in. “I can’t make the promise you need me to, Lizbeth, but if anyone can cure Priscilla, it’s my mom.”

  Lizbeth nodded but said nothing. It wasn’t long before her tears soaked Landry’s shirt through to her skin. Jade glanced up at Landry and kissed her cheek. Landry half-smiled and kissed her back. There was a promise in her kiss that was much easier to make than the one Caitlin had asked for.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Good timing. Landry jogged up the steps to her mom’s building at the same time as her new mission colleague.

  “Hi, Ms. Donovan, you probably don’t remember me. I’m Makenzie Mason.”

  The slight, blond operative Jenkin had chosen for the mission offered her hand to Landry. She did remember her from one of Simson’s classes. Her slender build was deceptive—she was freakishly strong in a Wonder Woman kind of way that you couldn’t see but Simson had definitely felt. Makenzie had caught her attention then, and Landry had been keeping an eye on her training and progress since. She was about Jackson’s age, and Landry could see her and Jackson working together much like Landry and Delaney had. Jenkin’s choice indicated her tacit approval of Landry’s plan to bring
Jackson home with them.

  Landry shook Makenzie’s hand and was again struck by her power. She had a grip like a crocodile’s jaws around its prey. “I do remember you. There are about five recruits a year who could get the better of Simson in combat training. I particularly enjoyed your victory.” At the time, Landry had briefly considered hooking up with her but quickly decided against it. She only had time for one fuck buddy at Pulsus, and Delaney had been filling that gap. It had been unusual for Landry to even think about it. She and Delaney made sense because they worked so closely together, but it wouldn’t be right to just start fucking everything that caught her eye. She had taken to exercising that behavior on the mainland. Still, there had been something special about Makenzie, something extra that made her stand out in a crowd, and there still was. No doubt Jackson would see it too.

  “You’re here for your physical?” She waited for Landry to go through the door first before following her.

  “Yeah. They want to make sure my body’s ready to endure another jump.”

  Makenzie laughed. “Your body’s the stuff of legends—I hear it can endure just about anything.”

  Landry smiled at Makenzie’s compliment and the easy way she delivered it with no sexual undertones. “You can train your body to take almost anything. It’s your mind you have to really take care of.” Makenzie had already been involved in two missions, but so far hadn’t been anywhere near anything as unsavory as Delaney had in her time. In her time? There’ll be more if I can convince Jenkin it’s worth giving her another chance. Landry was hanging on to impossibly thin threads, but they were getting her through this.