Afterburn by Karen L. Abrahamson
The wind sighed in the tall cedars as Xavier led Vallon in a crouch along the path that led from the lakeshore into the woods. The forest earth was springy underfoot, the groundcover low bayberry and scaled coils of new ferns. Overhead a large black bird coasted between the trees and croaked. A raven, no less.
She -reached- seeking Gifted. A low glitter of flame off to her right. -Reached- farther and, “Landon?”
She started to straighten to peer through the new growth of huckleberry leaves. Xavier grabbed her and yanked her down and away.
“But….”
“He is not alone.” He waved her to silence and led her away.
Vallon -reached- again and realized he was right. Not just Landon. The dark figures of non-Gifted moving stealthily ahead of Landon’s bright little flame into the brush, and with that recognition came the questions. There was no way Landon Snow would be out here of his own volition. He hated leaving his little world of the AGS and his work.
Which meant something was seriously wrong.
She paused.
“Do you wish to find Fi or no?” Xavier whispered harshly.
A nod. Of course. And the two of them ducked off the trail, and low and fast after the bright glow of Fi’s flame leading them northward into the park. But Vallon couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. The world closed in on her. Everything was ending. Her chest couldn’t get enough air.
A shout from behind said they’d been seen, and everything went from bad to worse.
“Vallon!”
Landon’s voice almost turned her around.
Xavier’s hand caught her as they leapt across a stream. He steadied her, and for a moment she was swept in his power, the unique sense of being together. She clamped down on it, because such things couldn’t be trusted. But then, she couldn’t trust Landon either. There was no one but herself in this world. And Fi, who she had to help. That was how it had been in school.
She focused on Fi’s familiar anise and mint feel, warmth and ice, and led out in pursuit.
Xavier and she had gained ground on Fi. She was running scared and they were running strategically, cutting across ravines and hillsides to catch her. Behind came the others—not Landon. He was left behind.
“What are we going to do?” she puffed.
“Let us see.” He suddenly stopped. Turned, and his eyes went black. She felt the flare of power and wondered if he were going to wink out as he had when she first saw him.
Instead the slope below them misted and ran. The land folded. Folded again, toughening the landscape their pursuers had to cross. Then the flow of power winked out leaving behind the acrid stench of ozone and ether.
He staggered a little, but grinned. “Now we outrun them.” Sardonic smile.
She nodded and -reached-. The Homeland Security force charged across the first fold of land.
“It won’t slow them for long.”
“Long enough.” He grabbed her arm and herded her uphill.
Fi’s flame flared northeast where the land lifted in a steep climb.
“There are many paths. They all lead toward the parking lot or towards the old seminary.”
She had already seen. But the AGS must know that, too. When she sent her senses behind, the group of non-Gifted had split in two, with one group retreating to Landon and back towards the lake.
“They’ll try to cut us off.”
The mists still hung between the tall trunks of the second or third-growth forest as they charged up the hill. The air smelled of ripe sap and tan bark and the ferns they crushed when they stepped off the trail. Up. Her thighs strained as they took the second steep slope up from the creek that bisected the southern half of the park.
Vallon’s breath tore in her lungs. Xavier came behind, his steady footfall like a metronome, his hand there to steady her when she slid on wet loam. They climbed towards the red brick tower of St. Edwards Seminary that rose beyond the yew, hemlock, and Douglas fir that filled the park.
“We’re not going to catch her like this. She’s got fear on her side,” she puffed.
“And an addict’s need.” Xavier came up beside her as the trail widened and gave onto open land.
“It makes sense. I found….” Ahead the trees parted onto a broad open field, a lone figure sprinting away on the far side. They started to run.
How could she explain the weird things she’d found near Pioneer Square and at the shelter?
“You found rifts in the earth’s crust where the power runs close to the surface.”
She glanced at him, nodded, but didn’t speak. She needed all her breath for the race they were in. Behind, the Homeland Security force topped the hill. They’d be out of the trees soon. Ahead, Fi ducked into the avenue that led toward Juanita Drive, the main road away from the park. If someone picked her up, it would be tougher to find her.
“Vallon Drake, stop. By order of Homeland Security, give yourself up.”
She spun around and backed a step. Six men had exited the trees. All of them had guns drawn. They’d been faster than she’d expected.
Xavier grabbed her arm, dragging her back.
“But…”
“We must go if we are to stop this thing.”
Hesitating, she turned back to her pursuers once more. A bullet traced past her head.
“Hold your fire,” someone yelled. “They want her alive.”
She ran, following Xavier in a mad dash across the lawn toward the Seminary. Behind came the pounding of feet. There was no way they could escape on foot, and Landon and the others would be coming by vehicle any moment.
But she wasn’t giving up.
They reached the old stone building and ducked around its corner. Beyond lay the gymnasium and a small parking lot reserved for park vehicles. Two vehicles sat there. A green State Park pickup and a low-slung black coupe pointed nose-out to the road.
Xavier grabbed her arm and dragged her to the black car. “Get in.”
“How the hell…?”
Voices beyond the seminary said the Homeland Security team was almost here. She got.
Xavier pulled a key from the visor and turned the ignition. The engine revved and they took off in a squeal of tires just as their pursuers rounded the stone building. Vallon turned in her seat. Muzzle fire flashed and the rear window of the vehicle exploded in a shower of glass, but then they were speeding out of the open area, toward Juanita Drive. If they could just get there before Landon and the others. If they could just catch Fi.
Vallon -reached-. Landon and company were still winding their way up through the streets that led down to the lake, but coming on fast. Fi—she was closer.
“Slow down. She’s just around the next curve.”
“I know.”
Vallon turned to him. “How the heck did you arrange for this car? Did you just will it into existence or something?”
A wicked grin. “Perhaps. Or perhaps I simply rented a parking space from the caretaker. I make sure I have backup options, Vallon. It is critical to my work.”
“What is your work, again?” Maybe he’d answer this time. “And how the heck do you do what you do without vellum and ink?”
“At this moment?” Another grin. “My work is keeping Vallon Drake safe.”
Of course he ignored her technical question and she was going to pursue it when, in a squeal of tires he yanked the car to the curb and leapt out. He dove into the edge of the woods to return with a kicking, scratching, screaming Fi.
Vallon scrambled out after him and grabbed Fi’s hands.
“Fi! Fi! Fi, honey.” She released one hand to stroke Fi’s face and got a fist in the temple to show for it. Landon’s vehicle turned onto Juanita Drive and they were just about out of time. “Just bring her.”
She ran back to the car, hauled open her door and scrambled into the glass-filled rear seat. “Hand her to me.”
Vallon grabbed Fi’s hands and Xavier shoved heroically, finally managing to slam the door behind her flailing
legs.
Vallon wrapped her arms around her struggling friend as Xavier scrambled inside, and the car shot forward. The back seat became a wind tunnel from the shattered window. It whipped her face with the lashes of Fi’s dreadlocked hair.
“Fi. Fi, you have to listen.”
Fi head-butted her in the face and Vallon’s vision went red. It was a few minutes before she could start again.. “Yes, that photo was your mother. So was the file. The other was my Dad, Fi. Remember my Dad?”
The change of subject seemed to settle Fi slightly. Her struggle lessened. “Where did you get them? How did you know?”
“Know what, Fi?” Vallon released Fi’s hands, stroked her hair, and pulled her back so she leaned into Vallon’s chest. She wrapped her arms around her shivering friend.
“Know about her.” It came out sad and sweet as a small child. And all the pieces fell into place. Fi stolen away from the Academy. Fi returning with warning. Fi linked to the strange lights that drew the gifted. And Rebecca Murdoch’s hate of Vallon and her father. She decided to take a chance.
“It’s her, isn’t it, Fi. It’s your mother you were warning me about.”
A small sob and a nod.
“I said she shouldn’t do it.” Another sob. “She doesn’t listen anymore.”
Fi struggled to turn and sit up on her own and for a moment Vallon thought she was going to go on the attack again, but she only faced Vallon.
“She scares me.”
“Where is she, Fi?”
Fi shook her head and brought up a handful of shattered safety glass. She studied it as if it was the most important thing in the world, and Vallon knew she couldn’t push. It was up to her to find out what she needed another way.
“You got a phone in this car?”
A nod from Xavier and he reached for the glove box. It opened and he tossed a cell back to her. She keyed in Jason’s number.
It picked up on the first ring.
“Vallon?”
“How’d you know?”
“I’m a good guesser. And I’ve been waiting for your call. I got the results of the facial recognition.”
“That was fast.”
A pause and then, “If I were paranoid, I’d say almost too fast.” Another pause. “Vallon are you okay? I’ve got really bad feelings about this.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
“Where are you?”
“You know I can’t tell you that. Someone might be listening.”
“Now who’s being paranoid?”
“For good reason. Now what have you got for me?”
“Rebecca Murdoch has been caught on camera in the Pioneer Square area near the Smith Tower at least five times in the past three months.”
It made sense. Too much sense. “Thanks, Jason. That’s what I needed to know.”
“Hold on a minute. Where should I meet you?”
“I’m not involving you in this, Jason. You’ve felt her power. It’s too dangerous.”
“Like hell.”
Vallon clenched the phone to her ear. “Now you listen. Really listen. You’ve got to watch out for you. Get out while you can.”
Stony silence on the phone, was followed by a grunt that she hoped was acquiescence. “Jason?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks.” She hung up and slid the phone into her pocket. “Pioneer Square.”
Xavier nodded and the black coupe picked up speed and swept onto I-522, heading for the original heart of Seattle. Vallon checked over her shoulder. No sign of pursuit, but when she -reached- she felt them, like a dark swarm with Landon as a glowing heart. They weren’t coming after. She thumped back against the seat, Fi against her side in the cramped space and thought about what she knew. Damn it, just what the hell had her father been involved in that had turned Rebecca Murdoch into a serial killer?
“Xavier, you mentioned concern that -,” she looked at Fi, and reconsidered her words. “- that you thought her plan is to release the power of the subduction plate here in the Northwest.”
“The earth’s plates move, Vallon. And here, where the Pacific Plate dives under the continent, there is a problem. The Pacific Plate sticks as if it had Velcro holding it in place.”
“I know. The continent’s edge buckles and bulges as a result. If the Velcro came unstuck all at once it would cause a massive quake that’d destroy everything. It’s happened before—the evidence suggests every five or six hundred years. The many small quakes the area has had could be precursors.
“And Seattle is long due for a quake, even if it’s not the great one,” She added.
But something didn’t fit.
“If large quake occurs, it could cause a chain reaction through all the faults down the coast. The destructive force is horrible to even think on, but all her efforts have been focused on Seattle. If she wanted to cause major damage down the coast, she could have, easily enough. The San Andreas is a fuse waiting to be lit,” Xavier said as he guided the car expertly around a curve.
“Those fissures in the soil that allow the web of power to flow close to the surface—those are unique to the Northwest, aren’t they?”
Xavier glanced at her in the rearview mirror as the car entered Lake City, headed toward I-5. “It is a unique facet of the Pacific Coast. It exists in California, too. But Washington and Oregon most of all.”
She thought about it. “That’s why there are so many Gifted here.”
It made sense. The geology of the area with its volcanoes and seismic activity. That might draw her kind, and AGS counts of Gifted showed there were more Gifted per capita in the Northwest than in other parts of the country. Certainly she’d known she had to have her house because of the cracks in the foundation.
“And that brought the AGS.”
Because the Pacific Northwest was a good place to recruit people into the agency. Likely a good place to find people for a breeding program, too. Or else all those people were the result of a breeding program.
She felt sick to her stomach. That was why Agents were encouraged to sleep around in the AIDS era. They were frigging looking for genetic diversity. “A frigging cattle farm.”
“Pardon?”
Her gaze met Xavier’s. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” Her father had just been a stud put to breeding. He never loved her, wanted her. She was just a biological specimen, a potential weapon, just as lasers were weapons.
“Vallon, tell me.” His voice held a velvet command, and she didn’t do commands.
“Why the hell should I? What I think is my business, just as your business is yours.”
“My business does not cause me to look as if I might be sick.”
“Tell you what. You tell me why you’re in Seattle and I’ll tell you what I’m upset about.” She pulled Fi in to her side. Fi who was no doubt also a product of the program. Fi who was quite possibly her half sister.
“I’ve already told you as much as I can.”
Vallon could have screamed. He was bossy and dismissive and far too superior. The trouble was, his mystique was also fascinating. She wanted to understand what led to the tenderness she’d felt and seen. And the power.
“Then let me tell you what I think. You’re one of them—the ones who know more than the AGS—who look down on us like primitives.”
A quirk of brow and he focused on the road. “A paranoid notion. Who would say this?”
“I wouldn’t describe Landon Snow as paranoid.”
“The albino who was with the men from Homeland Security?”
Vallon sighed and -reached-. Landon was still there, but his path had split off from the black coupe’s. They were no longer pursuing.
“He’s my friend.” If only she truly believed it now. He had to have known about her and her dad. Hell, he probably planned it. She’d talk to him. Force him to tell.
If she had the chance. The fact that Landon was with Homeland Security said the worst had happened. Either Homeland Security had taken over
the AGS, or Landon was working with them. She couldn’t imagine the latter happening, so that meant the worst had happened to the AGS. She was in this alone.
The car swept down onto I-5 and south towards the grey glass towers that dwarfed the space needle. A stray beam of sunlight lasered off the windows of the tallest tower as the car took the Mercer Street exit.
“I don’t think she’s planning to cause a quake, even if there have been a lot of them lately.”
As if on cue the road lurched, and Xavier had to wrestle the car to keep it on the road. Lurched again, and the car in front of them slammed into a parked car. Vallon grabbed Fi and braced for impact, but Xavier managed to wrench the coupe sideways and around the crash.
Was that how it had been for Janet Hunt? Quakes shook her off the road?
But this road steadied. Xavier accelerated through the traffic toward Elliott Bay and Alaska Way.
“Xavier, I think I know what she is doing. She’s been messing with Mount Rainier. What if—what if she were trying to localize her destruction? What if she were trying to localize it here, to take out the AGS? It would be consistent with her psychological and ethics profiles.”
Another glance in the rearview as the car sped south following the shore. This time there was an edge to his gaze and closer consideration.
“A volcano would be easier to localize for damage except for the ash cloud and gases. But Mount Rainier is miles from Seattle.”
And that was what she was afraid of, for she’d already seen Mount Rainier grow a long tentacle towards the city.
“But what if she’s shifting it closer?”
Chapter 25—Compression and Control
She -reached- seeking Gifted. A low glitter of flame off to her right. -Reached- farther and, “Landon?”
She started to straighten to peer through the new growth of huckleberry leaves. Xavier grabbed her and yanked her down and away.
“But….”
“He is not alone.” He waved her to silence and led her away.
Vallon -reached- again and realized he was right. Not just Landon. The dark figures of non-Gifted moving stealthily ahead of Landon’s bright little flame into the brush, and with that recognition came the questions. There was no way Landon Snow would be out here of his own volition. He hated leaving his little world of the AGS and his work.
Which meant something was seriously wrong.
She paused.
“Do you wish to find Fi or no?” Xavier whispered harshly.
A nod. Of course. And the two of them ducked off the trail, and low and fast after the bright glow of Fi’s flame leading them northward into the park. But Vallon couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. The world closed in on her. Everything was ending. Her chest couldn’t get enough air.
A shout from behind said they’d been seen, and everything went from bad to worse.
“Vallon!”
Landon’s voice almost turned her around.
Xavier’s hand caught her as they leapt across a stream. He steadied her, and for a moment she was swept in his power, the unique sense of being together. She clamped down on it, because such things couldn’t be trusted. But then, she couldn’t trust Landon either. There was no one but herself in this world. And Fi, who she had to help. That was how it had been in school.
She focused on Fi’s familiar anise and mint feel, warmth and ice, and led out in pursuit.
Xavier and she had gained ground on Fi. She was running scared and they were running strategically, cutting across ravines and hillsides to catch her. Behind came the others—not Landon. He was left behind.
“What are we going to do?” she puffed.
“Let us see.” He suddenly stopped. Turned, and his eyes went black. She felt the flare of power and wondered if he were going to wink out as he had when she first saw him.
Instead the slope below them misted and ran. The land folded. Folded again, toughening the landscape their pursuers had to cross. Then the flow of power winked out leaving behind the acrid stench of ozone and ether.
He staggered a little, but grinned. “Now we outrun them.” Sardonic smile.
She nodded and -reached-. The Homeland Security force charged across the first fold of land.
“It won’t slow them for long.”
“Long enough.” He grabbed her arm and herded her uphill.
Fi’s flame flared northeast where the land lifted in a steep climb.
“There are many paths. They all lead toward the parking lot or towards the old seminary.”
She had already seen. But the AGS must know that, too. When she sent her senses behind, the group of non-Gifted had split in two, with one group retreating to Landon and back towards the lake.
“They’ll try to cut us off.”
The mists still hung between the tall trunks of the second or third-growth forest as they charged up the hill. The air smelled of ripe sap and tan bark and the ferns they crushed when they stepped off the trail. Up. Her thighs strained as they took the second steep slope up from the creek that bisected the southern half of the park.
Vallon’s breath tore in her lungs. Xavier came behind, his steady footfall like a metronome, his hand there to steady her when she slid on wet loam. They climbed towards the red brick tower of St. Edwards Seminary that rose beyond the yew, hemlock, and Douglas fir that filled the park.
“We’re not going to catch her like this. She’s got fear on her side,” she puffed.
“And an addict’s need.” Xavier came up beside her as the trail widened and gave onto open land.
“It makes sense. I found….” Ahead the trees parted onto a broad open field, a lone figure sprinting away on the far side. They started to run.
How could she explain the weird things she’d found near Pioneer Square and at the shelter?
“You found rifts in the earth’s crust where the power runs close to the surface.”
She glanced at him, nodded, but didn’t speak. She needed all her breath for the race they were in. Behind, the Homeland Security force topped the hill. They’d be out of the trees soon. Ahead, Fi ducked into the avenue that led toward Juanita Drive, the main road away from the park. If someone picked her up, it would be tougher to find her.
“Vallon Drake, stop. By order of Homeland Security, give yourself up.”
She spun around and backed a step. Six men had exited the trees. All of them had guns drawn. They’d been faster than she’d expected.
Xavier grabbed her arm, dragging her back.
“But…”
“We must go if we are to stop this thing.”
Hesitating, she turned back to her pursuers once more. A bullet traced past her head.
“Hold your fire,” someone yelled. “They want her alive.”
She ran, following Xavier in a mad dash across the lawn toward the Seminary. Behind came the pounding of feet. There was no way they could escape on foot, and Landon and the others would be coming by vehicle any moment.
But she wasn’t giving up.
They reached the old stone building and ducked around its corner. Beyond lay the gymnasium and a small parking lot reserved for park vehicles. Two vehicles sat there. A green State Park pickup and a low-slung black coupe pointed nose-out to the road.
Xavier grabbed her arm and dragged her to the black car. “Get in.”
“How the hell…?”
Voices beyond the seminary said the Homeland Security team was almost here. She got.
Xavier pulled a key from the visor and turned the ignition. The engine revved and they took off in a squeal of tires just as their pursuers rounded the stone building. Vallon turned in her seat. Muzzle fire flashed and the rear window of the vehicle exploded in a shower of glass, but then they were speeding out of the open area, toward Juanita Drive. If they could just get there before Landon and the others. If they could just catch Fi.
Vallon -reached-. Landon and company were still winding their way up through the streets that led down to the lake, but coming on fast. Fi—she was closer.
“Slow down. She’s just around the next curve.”
“I know.”
Vallon turned to him. “How the heck did you arrange for this car? Did you just will it into existence or something?”
A wicked grin. “Perhaps. Or perhaps I simply rented a parking space from the caretaker. I make sure I have backup options, Vallon. It is critical to my work.”
“What is your work, again?” Maybe he’d answer this time. “And how the heck do you do what you do without vellum and ink?”
“At this moment?” Another grin. “My work is keeping Vallon Drake safe.”
Of course he ignored her technical question and she was going to pursue it when, in a squeal of tires he yanked the car to the curb and leapt out. He dove into the edge of the woods to return with a kicking, scratching, screaming Fi.
Vallon scrambled out after him and grabbed Fi’s hands.
“Fi! Fi! Fi, honey.” She released one hand to stroke Fi’s face and got a fist in the temple to show for it. Landon’s vehicle turned onto Juanita Drive and they were just about out of time. “Just bring her.”
She ran back to the car, hauled open her door and scrambled into the glass-filled rear seat. “Hand her to me.”
Vallon grabbed Fi’s hands and Xavier shoved heroically, finally managing to slam the door behind her flailing
Vallon wrapped her arms around her struggling friend as Xavier scrambled inside, and the car shot forward. The back seat became a wind tunnel from the shattered window. It whipped her face with the lashes of Fi’s dreadlocked hair.
“Fi. Fi, you have to listen.”
Fi head-butted her in the face and Vallon’s vision went red. It was a few minutes before she could start again.. “Yes, that photo was your mother. So was the file. The other was my Dad, Fi. Remember my Dad?”
The change of subject seemed to settle Fi slightly. Her struggle lessened. “Where did you get them? How did you know?”
“Know what, Fi?” Vallon released Fi’s hands, stroked her hair, and pulled her back so she leaned into Vallon’s chest. She wrapped her arms around her shivering friend.
“Know about her.” It came out sad and sweet as a small child. And all the pieces fell into place. Fi stolen away from the Academy. Fi returning with warning. Fi linked to the strange lights that drew the gifted. And Rebecca Murdoch’s hate of Vallon and her father. She decided to take a chance.
“It’s her, isn’t it, Fi. It’s your mother you were warning me about.”
A small sob and a nod.
“I said she shouldn’t do it.” Another sob. “She doesn’t listen anymore.”
Fi struggled to turn and sit up on her own and for a moment Vallon thought she was going to go on the attack again, but she only faced Vallon.
“She scares me.”
“Where is she, Fi?”
Fi shook her head and brought up a handful of shattered safety glass. She studied it as if it was the most important thing in the world, and Vallon knew she couldn’t push. It was up to her to find out what she needed another way.
“You got a phone in this car?”
A nod from Xavier and he reached for the glove box. It opened and he tossed a cell back to her. She keyed in Jason’s number.
It picked up on the first ring.
“Vallon?”
“How’d you know?”
“I’m a good guesser. And I’ve been waiting for your call. I got the results of the facial recognition.”
“That was fast.”
A pause and then, “If I were paranoid, I’d say almost too fast.” Another pause. “Vallon are you okay? I’ve got really bad feelings about this.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
“Where are you?”
“You know I can’t tell you that. Someone might be listening.”
“Now who’s being paranoid?”
“For good reason. Now what have you got for me?”
“Rebecca Murdoch has been caught on camera in the Pioneer Square area near the Smith Tower at least five times in the past three months.”
It made sense. Too much sense. “Thanks, Jason. That’s what I needed to know.”
“Hold on a minute. Where should I meet you?”
“I’m not involving you in this, Jason. You’ve felt her power. It’s too dangerous.”
“Like hell.”
Vallon clenched the phone to her ear. “Now you listen. Really listen. You’ve got to watch out for you. Get out while you can.”
Stony silence on the phone, was followed by a grunt that she hoped was acquiescence. “Jason?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks.” She hung up and slid the phone into her pocket. “Pioneer Square.”
Xavier nodded and the black coupe picked up speed and swept onto I-522, heading for the original heart of Seattle. Vallon checked over her shoulder. No sign of pursuit, but when she -reached- she felt them, like a dark swarm with Landon as a glowing heart. They weren’t coming after. She thumped back against the seat, Fi against her side in the cramped space and thought about what she knew. Damn it, just what the hell had her father been involved in that had turned Rebecca Murdoch into a serial killer?
“Xavier, you mentioned concern that -,” she looked at Fi, and reconsidered her words. “- that you thought her plan is to release the power of the subduction plate here in the Northwest.”
“The earth’s plates move, Vallon. And here, where the Pacific Plate dives under the continent, there is a problem. The Pacific Plate sticks as if it had Velcro holding it in place.”
“I know. The continent’s edge buckles and bulges as a result. If the Velcro came unstuck all at once it would cause a massive quake that’d destroy everything. It’s happened before—the evidence suggests every five or six hundred years. The many small quakes the area has had could be precursors.
“And Seattle is long due for a quake, even if it’s not the great one,” She added.
But something didn’t fit.
“If large quake occurs, it could cause a chain reaction through all the faults down the coast. The destructive force is horrible to even think on, but all her efforts have been focused on Seattle. If she wanted to cause major damage down the coast, she could have, easily enough. The San Andreas is a fuse waiting to be lit,” Xavier said as he guided the car expertly around a curve.
“Those fissures in the soil that allow the web of power to flow close to the surface—those are unique to the Northwest, aren’t they?”
Xavier glanced at her in the rearview mirror as the car entered Lake City, headed toward I-5. “It is a unique facet of the Pacific Coast. It exists in California, too. But Washington and Oregon most of all.”
She thought about it. “That’s why there are so many Gifted here.”
It made sense. The geology of the area with its volcanoes and seismic activity. That might draw her kind, and AGS counts of Gifted showed there were more Gifted per capita in the Northwest than in other parts of the country. Certainly she’d known she had to have her house because of the cracks in the foundation.
“And that brought the AGS.”
Because the Pacific Northwest was a good place to recruit people into the agency. Likely a good place to find people for a breeding program, too. Or else all those people were the result of a breeding program.
She felt sick to her stomach. That was why Agents were encouraged to sleep around in the AIDS era. They were frigging looking for genetic diversity. “A frigging cattle farm.”
“Pardon?”
Her gaze met Xavier’s. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” Her father had just been a stud put to breeding. He never loved her, wanted her. She was just a biological specimen, a potential weapon, just as lasers were weapons.
“Vallon, tell me.” His voice held a velvet command, and she didn’t do commands.
“Why the hell should I? What I think is my business, just as your business is yours.”
“My business does not cause me to look as if I might be sick.”
“Tell you what. You tell me why you’re in Seattle and I’ll tell you what I’m upset about.” She pulled Fi in to her side. Fi who was no doubt also a product of the program. Fi who was quite possibly her half sister.
“I’ve already told you as much as I can.”
Vallon could have screamed. He was bossy and dismissive and far too superior. The trouble was, his mystique was also fascinating. She wanted to understand what led to the tenderness she’d felt and seen. And the power.
“Then let me tell you what I think. You’re one of them—the ones who know more than the AGS—who look down on us like primitives.”
A quirk of brow and he focused on the road. “A paranoid notion. Who would say this?”
“I wouldn’t describe Landon Snow as paranoid.”
“The albino who was with the men from Homeland Security?”
Vallon sighed and -reached-. Landon was still there, but his path had split off from the black coupe’s. They were no longer pursuing.
“He’s my friend.” If only she truly believed it now. He had to have known about her and her dad. Hell, he probably planned it. She’d talk to him. Force him to tell.
If she had the chance. The fact that Landon was with Homeland Security said the worst had happened. Either Homeland Security had taken over
The car swept down onto I-5 and south towards the grey glass towers that dwarfed the space needle. A stray beam of sunlight lasered off the windows of the tallest tower as the car took the Mercer Street exit.
“I don’t think she’s planning to cause a quake, even if there have been a lot of them lately.”
As if on cue the road lurched, and Xavier had to wrestle the car to keep it on the road. Lurched again, and the car in front of them slammed into a parked car. Vallon grabbed Fi and braced for impact, but Xavier managed to wrench the coupe sideways and around the crash.
Was that how it had been for Janet Hunt? Quakes shook her off the road?
But this road steadied. Xavier accelerated through the traffic toward Elliott Bay and Alaska Way.
“Xavier, I think I know what she is doing. She’s been messing with Mount Rainier. What if—what if she were trying to localize her destruction? What if she were trying to localize it here, to take out the AGS? It would be consistent with her psychological and ethics profiles.”
Another glance in the rearview as the car sped south following the shore. This time there was an edge to his gaze and closer consideration.
“A volcano would be easier to localize for damage except for the ash cloud and gases. But Mount Rainier is miles from Seattle.”
And that was what she was afraid of, for she’d already seen Mount Rainier grow a long tentacle towards the city.
“But what if she’s shifting it closer?”
Chapter 25—Compression and Control