“Crap.”
She is striking. The girl will be beautiful when she grows up. Definitely an Adonis Vessel.
“Nothing worries a mother more than a pretty girl. I have a bad feeling about this one. Maybe I should forbid them from showering.”
The fair-haired girl looked to be about Cameron’s age, though most likely a little younger. Jill could tell that the girl was agile; she moved easily when she walked and carried the grace of a dancer, though in this case, she was pretty sure the dances the girl performed were of the more deadly variety. Her gaze wandered back to the tall, gaunt-looking man standing protectively close to her. That had to be her father.
Ladm is a pragmatic Quasing and has always played the role of financier. His hosts never got their hands dirty. Vladimir is high on Vinnick’s roster of rainmakers. Last recorded net worth was around four hundred million.
“A big fish. Why can’t we have guys like that on our side?”
We did. They either lost their fortunes or are already dead.
“Is he soft? Just a rainmaker?”
Unlikely. No one operating in Russia is soft, especially those under Councilman Vinnick. Since the war began, no Quasing has maintained a more stable zone of control than Flua.
“Where does Vladimir rank on the fanaticism scale? If the reports are correct, many in Vinnick’s regime are almost as crazy as in Enzo’s.”
Unsure. We will cover that during the debriefing.
“There’re less of them here than I thought. Who’s our VIP?”
The woman.
“What about ours?”
He is not there.
Jill looked over the group, identifying and detailing each Quasing and their host’s role before clicking the safety off her pistol. She was sure there was no danger; Roen would never let his son get close to them otherwise. However, a show of force often proved the best deterrent for trouble. Just because both factions faced a new enemy in the IXTF didn’t mean the Prophus and Genjix didn’t still despise each other. Even years later, memories of Sonya, Paula, and Stephen were fresh in Jill’s mind.
Jill stopped at the bottom of the stairwell and waited until everyone in the group noticed her, then walked deliberately slowly through them until she was at the far side. She turned around, keeping her hand close to her firearm. By now, the group had fallen silent.
“My name is Jill Tan,” she said tersely, watching the recognition on each person’s face. She was used to being the bogey-woman of the Genjix. More than a few had tried to attack her on the spot after she announced that, something she highly recommended against with Roen in the room.
She drew her pistol and kept it in plain view. “You are under Prophus protection as well as detainment. Try to escape and we’ll kill you and your Quasing. Be disruptive and endanger my operation, we’ll kill you and your Quasing. If you do not obey instructions, we will kill you and your Quasing. Do you understand?”
The girl’s father put his arm protectively around his daughter’s shoulder, but she was eying Jill without any hint of fear. In fact, she looked like she was seething. Jill hoped the girl wouldn’t do anything stupid. Killing a child twisted her insides into knots, but no one lived in a civilized world anymore.
“We’re going to interrogate you separately. Think very carefully over the next few hours about the words you’ll say. Your life could depend on it.” Jill looked at Roen. “Quarantine them.”
“Excuse me,” the father said. “My daughter. She can stay with me?”
She shook her head. “You, Vladimir, should think doubly seriously about your words. You have two to think for.”
“She’s only fourteen!” He raised his voice. “What sort of a monster are you?”
Two meters distance. Aim for his lower left leg to avoid the girl.
“I’m not going to shoot someone in front of his daughter, Baji.”
Jill cocked her pistol and pointed it at him. “Take another step, Genjix, and I’ll show you exactly the sort of monster I am.”
Roen had his rifle pointed at the man as well. “Vladimir, step off. Nobody wants this; most of all you.”
The large man held his hands up. Jill noticed that his daughter continued to look at her, no, study her, without fear. The girl was used to having guns pointed at her. She didn’t flinch at all. This child was dangerous in more ways than one.
Jill holstered her pistol and walked back toward the stairwell. “You’ll be given your own rooms with hot showers and a bed for now. I suggest you get some rest.” As she was leaving, she saw Cameron standing halfway down the staircase looking at her.
Her heart twisted a little. Her son had experienced a lot since Roen and she had reconciled. They had done their best to shield Cameron from as much of the ugly parts of their work as possible, but it couldn’t be helped. Then she noticed the pistol in his hand. Their eyes met and he looked abashed. He crept back up the stairs and was gone.
Jill shook her head sadly. Even with everything that had happened, he was a good kid. Reality was a harsh master, but in this case, it was also the best teacher. He was almost a man now. Pretty soon, he would need to join the network and fight alongside them. Not quite yet, though. Not if she and Roen could help it. At least not today.
3 Wanted Guests
Timestamp: 2566
They told me I was in a medically-induced coma for three weeks. Truth was, that was probably the best nap I’d had in years. When I finally woke up, I realized that something was wrong. I couldn’t move and felt as if my body was floating on water. I knew that couldn’t be, because I can’t tread water worth a damn. I tried to call out, but could only moan.
A nurse came in and turned the lights on. She pulled this tube out of my mouth and asked if I could hear her. Asked if I was hungry or needed to take a shit. I nodded to all three. I looked down and saw that my entire body was wrapped in plaster like a mummy. My eyes focused on my exposed toe, and I wiggled it. Seeing it move felt pretty glorious. The pain that followed, not so much.
The first thing Roen did after he locked up the Genjix refugees was to walk Cameron to the end of their long driveway. It was already half past eight, so his son being late to school was a foregone conclusion. Roen handed him a typed-out tardy excuse; they kept a dozen of these in a tin box for these sorts of occasions. This time, according to the piece of paper, Cameron was needed to deal with coyotes that were stalking their chicken coop. He was pretty sure coyotes lived in these parts. Now if they only had a coop, or chickens, for that matter.
The high school was used to his tardiness, and he was a straight A student, so the teachers were willing to look the other way. Besides, his parents – actually just Jill – spent an awful lot of time volunteering for the PTA, so that earned Cameron a decent amount of slack in this small community. Still, best not to push their chances.
“Hey, Roen,” Cameron said, walking the bike down the gravel driveway toward the asphalt road.
Roen nudged him on the shoulder. “That’s Dad to you, pal.”
“Sorry, just voicing Tao’s words. He wants you to be careful with this group of Genjix.”
“He says that about every group of Genjix.”
“This one in particular.”
Roen shrugged. “He says that too. They’re in my home with my wife and kid. If that bald Russian so much as looks at you and your mom sideways, I’ll put a -”
Cameron said, hopping on his bike, “It’s not Vladimir he wants you to watch out for. He’ll talk to you about it later tonight.”
“All right, son, have a good day. Come home straight after school and don’t run into any trees.”