by Frank Morin
Eirene reached the security gate separating the top-floor suite from the rest of the stairwell and burst through just as the fire door above crashed open and heavy bodies began thundering down the steps.
Eirene left them far behind.
They started shooting. Bullets ricocheted off steel and concrete, and the painful echoes reverberated through the stairwell. None of the shots came close, and the security gate slammed shut behind her, blocking their aim.
The enforcers continued down, shouting loudly, and started shooting as soon as they passed through the security gate. They couldn’t hope to hit her.
They were herding her.
If she could just reach the fifth floor, she could implement the primary escape plan. Getting that far would be the challenge.
The stairwell door below her flew open and three armed men rushed inside, guns up.
With less than a full flight of stairs between them, Eirene launched herself, every ounce of momentum focused on the heel of her foot. It drove into the first man’s head hard enough to crack even an enhanced skull. The impact rattled her all the way up to her hip.
It also knocked the enforcer into his two companions. Eirene tucked her body tight and hit them like a cannon ball. The brutal impact jarred her to a halt and left her head spinning, but the two men fared far worse. One of them tumbled right over the rail, and barely caught himself, hanging over the open drop eighteen floors down.
The other two landed beneath her and cushioned her fall. Only one of them tried to move, so she kicked him in the head. After the second kick, he collapsed beside his unconscious partner.
Eirene took off down the stairs again, delayed exactly three seconds by the encounter. That was pretty good, even for her.
For the next fifteen seconds she flew down the steps, every muscle attuned to the need to run faster. Nothing mattered but the blur of steps, the pounding of her heart, and the thrill of the downward plunge at the very cusp of losing control.
Stray bullets ricocheting and frustrated shouts faded to silence. Even the hollow thudding of her feet on steel and concrete barely registered.
Eirene almost ran right past the door to the fifth floor. With a grin she flung it open and leaped through.
She skidded to a halt and her confidence shattered.
Waiting for her in the hallway, barely ten feet away, stood eight black-clad men with silenced pistols already aimed in her direction. Mai Luan stood to one side, a pleasant smile on her lovely face.
Even as Eirene snapped her weapons up toward the hated woman, the men fired. Sixteen darts drove into Eirene’s abdomen and chest. Pain rippled through her torso in disproportionate magnitude to the tiny impacts, and she rocked back with the agony.
As soon as the initial electric shock subsided, Eirene embraced her nevra core and severed sensory input from her body, but she had taken too much damage. Her arms became numb, dead weights and her weapons slipped from her fingers despite her efforts to pull the trigger just once.
Eirene focused all her nevron on maintaining a single nerve connection and blocking the effects of the paralytic drug. Her body wobbled like a newborn and her vision turned fuzzy. Her chin fell forward, but none of that mattered. Through the growing haze, and with agonizing slowness, she pulled the sleeve of her right arm up past her watch to reveal a second device strapped to her forearm. It looked a lot like a watch, but with no face. Simplicity itself, it sported only three buttons.
She tried to push the red one.
She failed.
Her body collapsed to the floor and that last vibrant connection snapped. If she had worn a body with more bulk, it might have withstood the drugs another half second, just long enough to send the signal.
As the fast-acting tranquilizers shut her body down, Mai Luan leaned over her.
“By all means, let’s send for Gregorios.”
Mai Luan pushed the yellow button.
Yes, at times I did provide new lives to those who could afford them, even when they didn’t deserve them. Most of the time though, I focused on ridding the world of heka, of tyrants, and of those who lived one life too many.
~Gregorios
Chapter Five
As the plane made its final approach for landing, Sarah forced worries of body renting and Alterego aside. She would enjoy herself, she’d secure the meeting with Eirene, and she’d keep an open mind about Tomas.
New Orleans airport was strangely empty when Sarah stepped off the plane, full of nervous excitement. With nothing but carry-on luggage, she exited the secure area and descended an escalator toward parking. At the bottom of the escalator was a tall statue of Louis Armstrong, the famous jazz musician, blowing his trumpet. As she passed, she realized his face looked strange. It didn’t fit right.
She stopped to look closer, wondering if maybe she was just obsessing a bit, projecting her worries about her recent harrowing experience. No, the statue’s face was just odd.
“Sarah!”
She turned to find Tomas jogging toward her, and rushed to give him a hug.
“Welcome to New Orleans,” he said grandly and gave her a peck on the cheek.
What was that supposed to mean? No attempt to steal a real kiss, and his hug was more like a brother’s than a hopeful boyfriend.
“What’s with no people around here?” Sarah asked. “I thought this place would be packed.”
He shrugged as he took her roller bag. “No matter how busy it gets here, it always feels kind of empty. Not the strangest thing about New Orleans.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wait till we get into the city.”
He led the way toward the exit, but did not take her hand. Sarah studied him as they headed for the short-term parking garage. He was average in build and stood only a couple inches taller than her five-foot-eight. His hair was straight and brown, his face rather unremarkable. She was happy to see him, but didn’t feel the anticipated thrill of emotion to think of him as a potential boyfriend.
Although still not yet noon, it was already hot and humid. She was glad she had packed warm weather clothes and wondered why he had insisted she bring something for cooler temperatures.
Tomas had saved her life, helped her escape Alterego with soul and body intact, and for that she owed him a debt she could never repay. At the same time, he had introduced her to the terrifying reality of Alterego’s secrets. Facetakers and runes and freaky soul coffins and Mai Luan. She had wished to leave all that mind-bending baggage behind for good, but she needed Eirene.
For that, she needed Tomas.
They climbed into his Honda Accord and although he held the door for her, he made no other advances. As they headed for the parking lot exit, Sarah caught another glimpse of the man with the mis-matched face from the airplane. He was hurrying across the parking lot toward a nearby row of cars and vans, and he glanced several times in her direction.
Poor guy. She hoped he’d let the past go.
As Tomas paid the parking fee and took the long ramp that arced high over several buildings toward the highway, she wondered if she’d mis-read his intentions all along. Although he looked rather plain physically, he bore himself with confidence. He seemed older than he looked, and had demonstrated some remarkable abilities during their escape from Alterego. He’d broken into the vault and confronted Mai Luan and Mr. Fleischer more like a trained fighter than a medical tech.
Mai Luan had looked like a normal, petite Chinese-American woman before she tried to kill them with archaic rune magic. Then she’d shrugged off several mortal wounds and somehow imploded the entire corporate headquarters in on herself.
Tomas had helped Sarah escape that nightmare. There was more depth to him than anyone she’d ever met, and she found that attractive. With her famous good looks, there was no shortage of handsome guys to date, but Tomas offered the possibility of something more. At the moment he looked relaxed, happy. That was a good sign. He glanced at her and smiled.
She felt comfortable
in his presence, just as she always did. It was that good-hearted dependability that she had grown to appreciate. She trusted him, and looked forward to getting to know the real Tomas.
Traffic picked up as he accelerated onto Highway 10, heading east toward the city, but he merged without any trouble. She asked, “So I’m here. Tell me about the plan.”
He grinned. “We have a lot of ground to cover. One day is not nearly enough to explore New Orleans.”
“What do you mean? You told me to plan for at least two weeks.”
“But not here.”
She punched his shoulder. “Fine. Be all mysterious, but give me a clue.”
“You brought your passport, right?”
“Yes, but I didn’t need it to fly to New Orleans.”
“You’ll need it when we leave for Rome.”
“Rome!” Sarah laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I take it you’re pleased.” He glanced in the rear-view mirror.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Rome.” She squeezed his hand. She had wanted to travel for a long time, but had not managed to get away much in the past couple of years. She had left Alterego a wealthy woman and could go anywhere. Rome would be the perfect place to start.
Most guys thought flowers were romantic surprises. She liked how Tomas thought bigger than that. “So what do you have planned for tonight?”
“We’re going to the French Quarter.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It’ll be great. I guarantee it.”
She stared past him at glimpses of the huge Lake Pontchartrain north of the highway. This vacation definitely had possibilities. Now she just had to get that meeting with Eirene set up.
Tomas glanced in the rear-view mirror again and frowned. “I hate to sound like a bad TV show, but we’ve got company.”
Sarah scanned the traffic behind them, expecting to see a news van. Leave it to the media to interrupt her vacation. But there were no news vehicles anywhere in sight.
Tomas said with a tone of disgust. “They’re even driving a white van with tinted windows. How cliche can they be?”
She spotted the van coming up in the left lane, but it didn’t look remarkable. “I don’t understand.”
Tomas changed to the far right lane and accelerated. “Either they’re following you to settle scores from Alterego, or they’re following me. That would be ... bad.”
“What do you mean?” Surviving Mai Luan’s freakish attack and the fireball of the imploding Alterego building had been bad according to Tomas. Fear she had thought permanently buried started clawing back to the surface.
“You made some powerful enemies who might have discovered your involvement in the company’s collapse, despite everything I did to hide it. They’re not the kind of people to just forgive and forget.”
“Who would be following me?”
He hesitated. “People working for Mai Luan.”
Sarah shivered to hear that name spoken. Although Tomas had warned her that Mai Luan might not have died in the disaster, she had not wanted to believe it. With more than a little worry, she watched the white van for another couple minutes as they passed the Metairie suburbs, but nothing looked suspicious.
Sarah started to wonder if Tomas was making the whole thing up. They had become close through a time of conflict and danger. Did he think he needed to manufacture more of that to keep her around? Could he be that insecure?
Tomas looked calm, but alert, not freaked out by the thought of someone following them.
“Is this some kind of joke?” she asked.
Before he could respond, the van accelerated and swerved into the middle lane to come up beside them. The side door slid open to reveal the same man from the plane, secured in place with a harness, and wielding a military style rifle. It looked like one of those AK-47 rifles the terrorists always carried.
The man leaned forward and fired.
A room without books is like a body without a face.
~ Marcus Tullius Cicero
Chapter Six
Sarah screamed as Tomas slammed on the brakes. She lurched forward against the seatbelt as bullets tore into the road right in front of the car.
The van braked and the gunman swung against his restraining harness, forced to stop firing as his rifle swung wide. The brakes on Tomas’ car squealed, and he swung in behind the van. Other vehicles around them swerved and blared their horns. A compact collided with an SUV that skidded into its lane. The car crumpled and the SUV rolled right over it, sending bits and pieces flying, and forcing all three lanes of traffic to grind to a halt.
The van slowed further and began swerving from side to side. Tomas stayed in their wake, matching their every move.
“What are you doing?” Sarah cried. “Get us out of here!”
“He’s trying to shake me loose so the gunner can get another shot,” Tomas said.
“What about the rear door?” she asked, surprised no one had started shooting at them from there yet. Her hands shook and she fought down a ridiculous notion that she was in a bad dream and just needed to wake up.
“I’ve got it,” Tomas said, still remarkably calm. “Cover your ears.”
He extracted a huge pistol from under his seat. Sarah recognized it as a forty-five caliber. It looked like an H&K USP. She’d had a boyfriend who’d loved that gun, but the double-stacked magazine made the grip too big for her hands. Tomas rolled down his window, and fired with his left hand.
Sarah clapped hands over her ears just in time, but the concussive booming of the gun just outside his window still hurt. The window in the van’s left rear door shattered and the van swerved hard to the left. Sarah doubted she could have hit anything trying to shoot one-handed, left-handed for that matter, while driving.
Tomas accelerated, and the plain-looking Honda had a lot more power under the hood than Sarah expected. The sudden acceleration drove her back into her seat.
“Watch out!” she shouted as they pulled even with the right side of the van, barely ten feet from the gunner.
Before the man could bring his rifle to bear, Tomas fired again. The bullet tore into the gunner’s chest, and blood splattered the van’s interior as he sagged in his restraining harness.
Another man leaned around the gunner, a pistol in his hand. Tomas ignored him and continued accelerating. As they pulled even with the front of the van, he fired again. The passenger window exploded all over the man seated there.
The van braked hard and swerved away.
Tomas continued to accelerate. When it appeared the van would not immediately give chase, he rolled up his window and holstered the gun back under his seat.
“I think they were following me,” he said calmly.
Sarah craned her head around to stare at the van falling farther behind. “How did you do that?”
Her heart still raced and fear that had not had time to really grab hold spiked to near-panic levels. She wanted to slap him for looking so calm.
“Just take deep breaths,” he offered. “You faced worse in the vault.”
“But they had guns! They were trying to kill us.”
Tomas laughed. “Sure, if they had caught us by surprise, it wasn’t a bad plan. But they’re just human.”
“We have to stop, have to call the police.”
“That wouldn’t help.”
“Why not?” She focused on the conversation as an anchor for her thoughts.
“The NOPD usually manages to arrive only after emergencies are over,” he said. “Besides, they’re notoriously corrupt, so there’s a pretty solid chance they’re already on the payroll of whoever hired those hit men. Wouldn’t help.”
“But that’s not supposed to happen these days.” Why did everyone always say to call the police first if the police wouldn’t help?
Tomas laughed. “Are you serious?”
Sarah took a couple of deep breaths, trying to bring her pounding fear under control. She hadn’t had police help at Alte
rego. They’d had to figure things out on their own. They could do it again. In her mind, she heard her parents ridiculing her again, tearing down her choices and trying to force her into a useless life with no dreams, no ambitions. She had plenty of practice overcoming challenges, so she centered herself like she did when facing their criticism, and regained control.
“Tomas, the guy with the rifle. I saw him on the plane.”
“That’s why I didn’t spot any tails on the way to the airport,” he said.
“Why would you even be looking?”
Instead of answering, he cut in front of an eighteen-wheeler and took the Carrollton Streen ramp off the highway. Sarah didn’t see the white van as he merged into light traffic, then turned left to circle the campus of Xavier University.
“I don’t see them,” she said. “Are you sure we should have left the highway?”
“They had fallen behind,” he said. “But might have had a second team waiting for us.” He took several rapid turns, and when the van did not appear behind them, Sarah started to relax a little.
He circled back to the campus and pulled into a student parking lot. “I think we’re clear.”
“So tell me why you were watching for tails on the way to meet me,” Sarah said.
He hesitated before speaking. “I had hoped you wouldn’t get caught up in everything else.”
“Now’s not really the best time to be vague,” she warned. “Tell me what’s going on, Tomas.”
“Remember when I told you Eirene was still searching for Mai Luan?”
“I hoped you were wrong about her.”
“I wish I was, but I guarantee Mai Luan is still alive.”
“How does Eirene’s search for Mai Luan connect to a guy from my flight trying to shoot us?”
“You’re sure it was the same guy?”
“Positive. His jawline showed signs of misalignment, just like I used to see at Alterego. I couldn’t miss it. I saw him again in the parking lot before we got into your car.”
