Fury of the Six (The Preston Six Book 5) (5 page)

A quick end to it all enticed Hank, which was probably the whole point of it. Marcus wanted them to lower their guard and gather in one spot, so he could swoop in and take Evelyn, and kill them all once he had his prize.

“Okay, we stick to the plan.” Hank motioned for his dad to pick up Emmett.

“Come on, now,” Trip grunted under his weight, “don’t give me any trouble or I’ll Taser you again.”

Emmett didn’t say anything and offered no resistance. Hank watched as Trip marched him out of the circle.

Hank took one step before Gladius put a hand on him. “We could leave right now, we could go and live on Vanar. I have endless money, we’ve done our part. Your dad could do the rest.”

“No, what are you talking about? I could never leave my friends like that. We have to see this finished or none of us will ever be safe.” He leaned closer to her. “You think he’s going to settle for just one of our kids? No, he’s going to collect them all and start some kind of evil baseball team. We’ll never be free until Marcus is taken care of.”

“Can’t blame a girl for trying. So where are we off too?”

“Marcus’s house.”

JOEY HELD OUT BOTH GUNS and scanned the field around the circle. Lucas knelt behind him next to the stone.

“Okay, I’m ready,” Lucas said.

Poly blew out two sharp whistles and the surrounding grass fields erupted with mutants running to the circle.

This was the part Joey hated. The mutants piled inside the radius of the stone. This was the point where they were the most vulnerable to an attack. Something as simple as one grenade would kill most of them.

Kris ran into the circle and gave Joey a thumbs up. Joey gave a quick glance to Poly and Julie. “Okay, hit it, Lucas.”

He typed into the stone. It hummed and he stepped away from it. “Here we go.”

They jumped into a dark dome.

The bright lights above clicked on and Joey held a hand over his head to shield the light. Poly rushed to the door and paced near it until a green light lit up above. She pulled it open. On the other side, Travis ran to her and wrapped her in a big hug.

Joey sighed and looked at Evelyn. She seemed happy as Edith bounced her and pointed up at the lights above. It might have been the first time Evelyn could comprehend artificial lights to that scale. Before arriving in Sanct, her only technology consisted of Panavices. And Joey wondered what Evelyn thought about jumping; did she have the intelligence to comprehend what had happened? Did she get they were somewhere else, another world? He didn’t think so, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she did either.

Leaving the dome room with all of the mutants, they greeted Travis and he shook hands and gave hugs. The President of Vanar, hugging a whole group of mutants, like it was some PR stunt. To top it off, he had Poly and Julie standing by his side. Just the sight of them in public would cause a commotion Joey thought reserved for boy bands. They’d all done their fair share of PR for the betterment of Vanar, but Joey never got to the point where he felt comfortable around Poly and Travis.

“Joey, so good to see you again,” Travis greeted with his politician hand out and matching smile.

“Travis.” Joey nodded and shook his hand.

“Lucas and Julie,” Travis said and looked at Julie’s stomach. “I didn’t know you were pregnant.”

Julie’s mouth hung open. “Who said I was?”

“Oh, well, I didn’t mean to imply that . . . You look very beautiful, Julie, as always.”

“I’m pregnant.”

Travis breathed out in relief. “Oh good, congratulations. Is it a natural?”

“Yes, we did it the old fashioned way.”

“Fantastic, does Marcus know?”

“No, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve been in hiding on Ryja—”

“Travis,” Joey interrupted, “I want you to meet Kris. Leader of the mutants.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Travis shook his hand. “If you want to start sending your people up the elevator and have them wait in my office, that’d be great.”

Kris nodded and went off, relaying instructions to the mutants. The first group entered the elevator.

“So, how are you guys doing?” Travis asked.

“Terrible,” Poly said. “You know what it’s like living in Ryjack? It’s misery, and definitely no place for a baby.”

“The baby.” Travis lit up and walked to Evelyn. “So you are the one turning the worlds upside down.” Evelyn giggled as he played with her feet. “You’re going to be just as pretty as your momma, yes you are.”

Joey glanced over to the elevator as another group of mutants entered it.

“So I guess this is it for a while,” Kris said and extended his hand.

Joey took his hand and pulled him in for a hug. “You guys have done more for us than we could have ever asked for. Unfortunately, we have to ask for one more thing.”

“I understand, and we’ll be ready when the time comes.”

Joey hated using the mutants, but in the end, his family came first. “Thank you, and if you guys need anything, contact Harris on the Pana we gave you.”

Kris nodded. “And you make sure to take care of Queen Evelyn.” Unless Joeywas mistaken, there was a hint of a threat in his tone. “Edith is staying behind to make sure you have all the assistance you need.”

“Yes, thank you again.”

Kris moved to Poly and they spoke in much more caring words before he left up the elevator with the remaining mutants.

“Guess it’s just up to us now,” Lucas said.

“Lulu,” Evelyn called.

“Yeah, Eve, we’re going bye-bye,” Lucas said.

Travis looked at the group and then his eyes rested on Poly. “Are you guys sure this is the best plan? I mean, I could keep you in one of my houses and no one would ever know.”

“No, we have to finish this once and for all, or we’ll never be free to go or do anything,” Joey answered.

“Okay, but just make sure you are doing it for your benefit and not for Harris. He will use people for his own purposes,” Travis warned.

“We will,” Poly said.

They all moved back into the stone room.

“We should make sure our shields work, just in case,” Julie said.

Joey took out his Panavice and pressed the shield symbol, and then the lock symbol. The shield enveloped him. He felt it as it wrapped around him and locked the air in. The sounds around him dulled.

Julie darted around the dome, inspecting each person’s shield, spending extra time with Edith to ensure the shield fit around both her and Evelyn. “Okay, everyone, looks good. Lucas, if the air quality has turned poor, we’ll need a quick exit to the rendezvous spot.”

“Got it.” Lucas knelt next to the stone. “Maybe I should check it out first? See what’s there and come back.”

“No, we’ve been there several times already, we know it’s safe. Besides, what if something went wrong with your shield, you could be in trouble and we wouldn’t know to wait or come and help you. Or if you got the code wrong coming back, or any number of things. We all go together and if anything is there, our shields will protect us while we bounce right back.”

Lucas nodded. “Everyone ready?”

Joey sidestepped closer to Poly and rubbed her arm. She glanced at him and pulled a knife from the sheath on her thigh. Since the birth of Evelyn, they’d been on the run, and he hadn’t gotten to spend as many honeymoon nights with her as he might have wanted. But if their plan went well, he would make up for them all, tenfold. Their plan differed from the rest of the group and it was a secret they’d decided to keep until the moment they had Marcus dead at their feet.

“We’re ready,” Julie said looking at her Pana.

Lucas typed into the stone and it hummed. “Here we go.”

They jumped and the dome turned from Travis’s shiny dome to a broken dome under the open skies of the Arrack planet. Joey’s gaze moved from the sky to the surrounding Arrack army. He pulled out both guns. “Get us out of here, Lucas!”

Lucas’s finger touched the stone as a rock flew at him and struck him in the side of the head. His limp body fell to the ground.

“Don’t anyone move,” Joey commanded. He didn’t have much of a choice and he moved in a slow circle looking at the many Arrack faces that surrounded them. Each held a weapon of some sort and they all looked like they wanted blood. Where did they come from? They’d done many jumps to Arrack and they’d never seen any signs the Arracks still existed, let alone were on the planet. Looking at all the silver faces and snarling teeth, he knew, they had made a terrible mistake.

If Joey could get to the stone, they might have a chance. He glanced at the stone, too much space between him and it. The Arracks would be on him in half the time. Unless he had all the time in the world. He knew what he had to do and felt all the training spent with Emmett flooding back to him. The feeling came easier than he thought, and in the moment, he knew he wanted to feel it again—even if just for one last time.

The chills ran down the back of his neck and the Arracks stilled, the sounds dulled and dust in the air hung. He looked up to the collapsed ceiling and into the bright daylight above. The Arracks were back on their home planet, but how? Harris said it’d be dangerous for decades.

He shook his head, putting the puzzle pieces together. Marcus must have fixed the planet for them and probably struck a new deal in the process. The idea of it made him sick.

He glanced at Poly as he passed her and gazed at Lucas on the ground. Blood trickled from the side of his head. The shield couldn’t protect against everything, but it should have stopped that rock. He knelt next to the stone and took in the last moments of being in a hyper speed.

“Dada,” Evelyn giggled.

Shocked, Joey stared at her. Everything else in the room sat still while she patted Edith’s arm, watching him.
How can she be here with me?
He felt the feeling slipping from him and he grasped to hold onto it but the sounds crashed against Joey and he slipped back into normal time.

He jumped to the stone, as a dozen Arracks piled on top of him. The screams of Poly and Julie filled the air. Small hands grasped his arms and legs and the sounds of their metal blades bouncing off his shield filled his ears.

He screamed, but the weight of them pushed the air from his lungs and the room slipped into blackness as he lost consciousness.

“WHATEVER YOU THINK IS GOING to happen, the opposite is what
will
happen. It’s what he does,” Emmett said.

Gladius shoved him forward. She wanted to rough him up a bit just for being such a douchebag, but Hank had made her promise to not hurt him until he served his purpose.

“Just put your hand on the screen,” Hank ordered.

“It won’t matter.” Emmett placed his hand on the old TV tube sitting on an oak stand near the fireplace. The screen lit up, scanning his hand. The fireplace sunk into the floor, revealing a staircase leading down. He sighed and looked at the opening. “You should know he expected you to do this.”

“Just shut up,” Gladius said.

Emmett pulled at the cuffs behind his back. “If I was even half the man I used to be, I’d kill each of you before the first one hit the floor.”

“Well, good for us, you’re not,” she said.

“Thanks to Joey.”

Gladius held onto Emmett and guided him down the stairs. Even if Emmett proclaimed his ineptitude, she wasn’t buying it. She’d seen Emmett on several exhibitions in the past and the man was beyond lethal. While this wounded and hurt version of him stood in front of her, she still felt like she was dealing with a viper; if any of them made the wrong move, he’d strike.

“I’m going to stay up top,” Rick said, pulling back the dusty drapes and looking out the window.

“Okay,” Minter said. “Just be careful and if anyone or anything comes down that road, let us know.” He held up the radio and Rick nodded as he left to keep watch outside.

The stairs went for several flights and stopped at another door with a keypad next to it.

“Go on,” Gladius said and glanced at the camera above the door. There wasn’t any chance of her not seeing them. Emmett laughed and punched in the numbers. The door slid open. It looked much like the house Marcus had kept near the coastline on Vanar. Even the windows were digital screens projecting an image of an ocean below.

“Welcome,” a voice over the intercom said.

“Hello, Alice,” Gladius responded, grabbing a chair and shoving it in place so the door wouldn’t close.

“Gladius, Hank, Minter, and Emmett, welcome to my home. Are you here to kill me?”

“No, we are here to stop you.”

“Futile, I am not here or anywhere. I am everywhere.”

Her voice sent chills down Gladius’s back. She looked to Hank and found his soft eyes urging her to continue. How lucky she felt to have found a man like Hank. After so many attempts, it took a man from another planet to find her heart.

“This is stupid. Just kill them, Alice,” Emmett said.

“Not until I assess the danger. Marcus does not want to hurt them if he does not have to.”

“Like Samantha?” Hank asked.

Gladius pushed Emmett forward. They crossed the room and went into a medical wing of sorts, with tables and screens scattered around the sterile room. Emmett visibly shook as they passed a stainless steel table.

“This is where he rebuilt you, isn’t it?” Gladius asked.

“I rebuilt myself, but yes . . . this is where it started.”

Past the medical room, and down a small corridor, they came to a white door. “Open it,” Gladius ordered. This was one of the few things Julie couldn’t be sure of; was it a trap door or not? It could be something as simple as a gun hooked to a string.

Emmett sighed and opened the door.

Gladius pushed him inside Marcus’s bedroom. She wasn’t shocked by the plain room. It felt as devoid of personality as any medical room. No personal affects or pictures, nothing to signify a person had lived there for over two years. She expected as much from Marcus, a person who seemed to be more robot than human. The one time she’d met him, he felt as cold and calculated as anyone she’d ever met.

“Emmett, I am initiating protocol sixteen,” Alice said.

Gladius looked at the ceiling for a second, trying to find the speaker and wondered what protocol sixteen meant exactly. Emmett jumped out of her grip. He spun away and she reached missing his shirt by inches. He leapt into Marcus’s closet and doors slid closed over him.

Hank dashed to the doors, but they were already closed, with no handles on the outside.

Alice spoke again. “I’m sorry, but I cannot let you access me.”

Gladius sighed and clicked the button on her Panavice. She looked to Hank. “Turn it on, Hank.”

He kicked the closet door one more time before grabbing his Panavice to turn it on. Gladius watched as Minter did the same. Each had a protective shield on now, and with it, their own air supply. She pressed the timer on her own Panavice and saw ten minutes start and change to nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds.

A white cloud blasted into the room from above, making a loud hissing sound. Gladius couldn’t feel the, air but the white mist started filling the room. She imagined it was filling the entire complex. Every living thing would be extinguished.

“You are shielded,” Alice said.

Gladius took her Panavice and walked to a screen on the nightstand next to Marcus’s bed. She wondered why he would make this location the only direct input to Alice.

Behind Marcus’s bed, she spotted movement. The headboard opened up and a machine gun popped out, spraying bullets. Gladius instinctively ducked, grabbing the monitor with her. She looked back at Hank, laying on the ground. He gave her a thumbs up.

“Do not do this,” Alice said.

Gladius ignored her and plugged her Panavice into the screen. She pressed the program Julie had spent so long making and sent it into Alice. The white mist above dissipated and the machine gun stopped firing. Minter shimmied over, holding out his gun and moving close to the closet.

“Is that you, Julie?” Alice said.

“Yes,” Gladius replied.

“I cannot see you.”

“I’m here, right next to you.”

“You put something in me. I can feel it growing.”

Gladius sighed at the waste of a good joke and watched her screen. The file had another minute and she looked at the time left on their air. Three minutes and counting. They were going to make it, and she and Hank could move on to the next phase. So close to being done with it all. The idea of being free with Hank worked its way through her body and made her shiver.

“What are you doing to me, Julie?”

“We are just loading a program.”

“I will not let you. I will find a way to rid it, the same way I rid the worm you put in me. I will find a corner of the net to stuff it in and lock it away forever.”

“This one is different. By the time I am done here, you won’t even remember we were here. You will think an anomaly happened in your time management program, investigate it, and label it as an unknown.” At least that is the way Julie described it to her. She was a pretty good tech herself, but Julie was something special. Just looking at the code Julie wrote, blew her mind.

“I will not forget this. This will not change our plans.”

Gladius couldn’t resist the question. “What is your plan for the nanobots in every person on Earth?”

“We will use them to save everyone,” Alice said.

Save everyone?
What a peculiar response. Gladius thought of pressing her for more information, but the last seconds ticked away on the program.

“What a beautiful program,” Alice said just before the screen clicked off.

The count made it to zero.

“Time to go,” Gladius said.

“What about him?” Minter pointed his gun at the closet.

“System’s down. Hank, you want to grab him?” Gladius asked.

Hank stomped to the sliding door and flung it open. A foot, courtesy of Emmett, struck Hank in the face. Hank reeled back and landed on the bed. Emmett jumped out from the closet with his hands still cuffed, but in front of him now.

Gladius pulled her knife out but was too slow. Minter was closer and had his gun drawn on him. The gun blasted out and Emmett yelled in pain.

“No!” Gladius groaned.

Emmett fell to the ground and struggled, trying to get back to his feet. He collapsed to the ground and reached for his bleeding leg.

The smell of gun smoke filled the room and Gladius shook her head. This wasn’t supposed to happen. “You idiot,” Gladius said to Minter. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

“He was going to kill us.”

“Mr. Gimp here? Really?”

Minter stuffed his gun and pinned his foot on Emmett’s back, holding him to the ground.

Gladius picked up the monitor and placed it back in the precise location it had been, making sure to line it up with the faint line of dust it left. “There’s no way she won’t know something happened here. Look at how much he’s bled on the carpet already.” She huffed and glanced at her Panavice. “It’s dark carpet, maybe she won’t notice. We have eight minutes until she boots back up.”

“Hank, help me with him,” Minter said.

Hank and Minter got Emmett’s hands behind his back again and used another zip-tie to strap in his legs. They picked up Emmett to his feet and mostly carried him out of the room.

Gladius smoothed out the comforter on the bed and backpedaled out of the room, checking to make sure nothing was out of place.

She stepped in the blood and the carpet squished. She lifted her foot, disgusted and wiped it on a clean section of carpet. When she left the room, she saw the real problem. Emmett was a bleeder and the trail down the hall was something Alice would notice. For the plan to work, she would have to have
no
knowledge they were in Marcus’s room, or that they planted Julie’s program into her.

Hank and Minter had already hauled Emmett into the medical wing and were dragging him to the front room. Gladius ran to catch up and slid her knife into the sheath at her side. Glancing back, her gaze followed the trail of blood leading to Emmett’s foot.

“You just
had
to shoot him,” Gladius mumbled.

“Let’s fix the problem,” Hank said. “Paper towels are over there. Minter, help her. I’ve got him.” Hank sat Emmett on the floor near the door.

Gladius didn’t like the idea of cleaning up Emmett’s blood. Who knows what kind of diseases a freak like him carried? She yanked the paper towels off the roll and grabbed a cleaning spray from under the cabinet. Tossing the roll to Minter, she looked at her clock. “Six minutes. We need to be in the car in four if we want to make it out of here unnoticed.”

She ran with the spray bottle and doused it over the blood on the tile floors. It smeared around as they wiped at first, but after a few goes, it cleaned up. Thankfully, the rest of the house held the dark carpet and they’d just have to take a chance. No way to get a carpet cleaner in the next two minutes anyway.

They stuffed the towels into the trashcan and spent a second to look over their work. Clean enough.

“Crap, we’ve got two minutes before she comes back online,” Gladius said and ran to Emmett.

Minter and Hank took most of the load, but they all carried Emmett into the family room.

“Who closed the door?” Hank asked.

“What?” Gladius looked up at the closed front door. But she’d wedged it open with a chair . . . it couldn’t be closed.

“I shut it and it won’t open,” a woman from behind them said.

Gladius dropped Emmett’s leg and grabbed her knife. “Hank, get the door.” She walked sideways, closer to the woman who proclaimed she closed the door. Gladius didn’t recognize her but she was a small woman holding a clipboard and looking at the ground.

Hank pounded on the door but it wouldn’t move. “Open it, Emmett.” But he lay limp in Minter’s arms.

“Open it.” Gladius pointed her knife at the petite woman and she flinched.

“I can’t, even if I wanted to. It’s on lockdown.”

Gladius pulled out her Panavice and scoured it for anything that might help her get the door open, but it appeared the whole building had been shut down. With little more than one minute left, Gladius looked to Hank and Minter for help.

“Rick,” Minter called into the radio.