The two men on the outside looked at each other and understanding passed between them. Then the one on the right said, You go ahead and run if you want. Then they suddenly leaped forward with their long knives slashing at Tag.
Danielle pressed the crystal on her com; she hoped help wouldnt take too long getting there.
Tag saw that the two were going to attack, with the one on the left being slightly quicker than the one on the right. They both had knives that looked like small swords, and they used them to thrust at their target. Once again, everything turned to slow motion for Tag. He stepped inside the mans thrust from the left, grabbed his wrist, and swung him into the path of the attacker on the right. The thrust aimed at Tag penetrated the first attackers chest and went into his heart. Tag took the blade from the hand of the impaled attacker and cut the second ones Achilles tendon on his left leg as he rolled by and slashed the arm holding the knife, which fell to the ground. The attacker screamed and fell to the ground, yelling, My leg! My leg! Tag came out of his roll immediately, holding the big knife directly in front of the big man. Once again it had happened too fast for the big man to even have time to move, and now, once again, the big man was face-to-face with this living nightmare that was holding the long knife in his face.
Danielle couldnt believe her eyes. Tag was standing there one moment, and then almost faster that her eyes could follow, the two criminals were down and he was confronting the remaining attacker. The speed with which he took out the first two attackers was absolutely incredible. Then she heard Tag say, I dont have it in me to deliberately hurt anyone, but if I did you would be the one. You prey on innocent people and I believe you should die for your actions, but I dont want to be the one that does it. Now I ask you again, what do we do now?
The big man was trembling and Tag could sense his fear. Then the man said, This is the last time Ill ever try to hurt someone. I should have learned the lesson last time but I didnt. Ive tried to justify this by saying its to support and protect my family from these men, but in my heart I know thats not a good reason. The big man dropped his knife, backed away three steps, and then turned and ran.
Danielle, are you okay? Tag went to her and held her close.
Tag, listen to me, theres not much time.
He stepped back from her and said, What do you mean, Danielle?
I was trying to tell you before this attack took place that Im not who you think I am. My real name is Danielle Ash; Im an associate inspector with the security enforcement committee. I have been looking to find you since the four men were killed who attacked you and your theft of the test booklet. Im nineteen years old and have been undercover as a student in your school. I knew when Eric told me about your dart prowess that you were the one my department has been looking for. I came out here to warn you and tell you who I am.
Tag was stunned. He was speechless; all he could do was look at her.
Listen to me, Tag. Focus. I wasnt going to turn you in. But when the three men attacked you I electronically called for help. They will be here in less than a minute. They are going to see what you did to those two criminals and they know who I was out with tonight, so theyll know that you are the Superman weve been searching for. If youre still around, they will arrest you; you have to run.
Tag pulled her close and kissed her hard, and all at once he could feel what was in her heart, and what was even more remarkable was that she could see into his. They broke the kiss and Danielle said, Now you know; I love you and I always will.
He turned to run and saw a psychic field that surrounded Danielle. She has a gift too, he thought. He yelled back at her, Danielle, you are and always will be it. Then he disappeared as the first security floater arrived.
Chapter 17
T ag left the area of the pond, quickly moving through shadows to insure that he wouldnt be seen. He didnt know where he should go, but he knew for certain that he couldnt go home. That would be the first place they would look. He had no idea how he was going to hide once security started looking for him in earnest. As he ran quickly, staying in psychic shadows to avoid being seen by the surveillance cameras, he saw the big man running towards the buildings north of the entertainment area and he thought, Hes been hiding effectively. So he turned and began following as the big man ran north. He noticed that there were no shadows around the big man so the cameras were manually following him. How does he avoid getting captured? Tag wondered. There were plenty of shadows that allowed Tag to follow him without being seen. He took off his green jacket and stuffed it under his shirt. He didnt want to match any description that might be given about his appearance. He had to give the big guy credit; he was moving fast and appeared to be headed towards a door on the south end of the building ahead, so Tag moved towards the next door north of the same building. The man was moving quickly, but he was trying to use obstacles such as trees, parked floaters, and shrubbery to mask him from the cameras. Tag could have told him that it was a waste of time once the cameras locked on you. He actually got to the north door at the same time the big man entered the door to the south.
The buildings corridor was filled with people leaving their jobs and headed home. Tag saw the big man duck down like he was tying his shoes, then move quickly through the crowd, bent over so he was lower than everyone else. Tag stayed ahead of him and watched until the big man was covered in shadows. Thats how he loses them, Tag said to himself. The cameras cant see him in the crowd. Then he noticed that the man was moving through the crowd to the side of the corridor he was walking on. He stayed low, and Tag could see that he was headed towards the door of a cinema. As the big man got there he waited for the camera to turn away; then he walked past the ticket counter and punched a ticket he already had into the entrance computer. Tag got behind a woman who walked up after the big man entered and went in with her after she inserted her ticket. He was surprised how easy it was to stay in the shadows and not be seen. He thought that there would be a lot more camera activity looking for the big man. Then he noticed that all the cameras were pointed out into the corridor. Even an amateur would only have to watch for the cameras to swing away and then enter the cinema entrance to avoid being seen.
Tag followed his quarry into a cinema that he knew had awful ratings for a movie that lasted over five hours. It was some sort of history about a country that was called the United States. It was supposed to be about the time before the third world war when that country was supposed to be the dominant nation. If he remembered right, it was supposed to be a love story where a couple was trying to get together while nuclear weapons were exploding in every major city. As he entered, he noticed that the cinema was already playing and the theater was dark. The big man moved to the far right side and went to the second row from the front. The worst seat in the house, Tag thought. He stayed in the shadows and moved to a seat where he could observe what the big man was doing. Tag noticed that he bent over and pulled out a backpack from under the seat in the front row. They were the only two in the cinema. The big man then changed his clothes and put his old ones in the backpack. He put on a pair of glasses and a hat, and then stood up and straightened his shirt. Tag immediately noticed that he looked twenty-five pounds lighter. He must have had something on to make him look fat, Tag realized. Even his cheeks were thinner. The man then went to the back of the theater, entered the concession booth, and came back to his seat with popcorn and a drink. He sat back down and watched the cinema while he ate his popcorn.
Tag moved into the row behind him without being seen and said, You still havent told me what we were going to do. The man spilled his drink and popcorn and nearly fell over the row of seats in front of him while exclaiming several expletives. That language is not very becoming, Tag said.