Magisterium (6 page)

Kevin yanked Glenn to her feet and pulled her backward. As she staggered away, she was shocked to see the orange flashes coming from the drones. Not stingers, but bullets. Real bullets.

Reality came crashing down and Glenn turned and fled into the woods with Kevin staying just ahead of her. They both ran flat out. At some point Glenn was aware of passing the border’s warning lights but she just kept on going, lurching over obstacles in their path until her lungs ached and a vicious cramp put a stitch in her side. Finally exhausted, the two of them dropped down behind a thick screen of trees, panting.

Glenn dared to raise her head to look back the way they had come. Nothing but trees. The firing had stopped.

“We must have run a mile or more,” Kevin said, shivering as he looked around. “We crossed the border.”

The warning lights were only a faint glow behind them. Ahead was dense forest stretching as far as she could see. Even with a nearly full moon, the space between the trees was a deep black.

“Why aren’t they chasing us?” Glenn said.

“Why were they shooting at us in the first place?”

The red jewel at the center of the bracelet glowed like a cat’s eye.

Was it possible? Had he really discovered something? Something Authority was willing to kill for? Glenn felt sick as she saw him on his knees in the snow, looking up at her before he collapsed.

“We have to talk to your father,” she said.

“What? He’s the one who got us into this in the first place!”

“It’s a misunderstanding. If we explain it to him rationally maybe he can get my dad freed.”

“And how are we going to do that when thirty Authority drones want us dead?”

“They stopped chasing us,” Glenn said.

“But —”

“What choice do we have? Unless you picked up some camping

skills while I wasn’t looking we’re going to have to go back at some point. And your father is
government
, Kevin. There’s no way Authority is going to shoot us on his doorstep. Your house is probably the safest place we could be.”

Before Kevin could say anything else Glenn looked up and

sighted Polaris.

“That way’s north,” she said. “Come on.”

Kevin started to protest but Glenn was on the move and he had no choice but to follow. As they made their way through the darkness, Glenn looked for some sign of Hopkins. Her heart ached at the thought of him putting himself between her and the drones, only to be lost in the cold without her to protect him.
No
, she told herself, he’s smart.

He’ll slip past the drones and get back inside the house. He’ll be there waiting for me when all of this is over.

The land sloped upward, a slippery mess of old snow and fallen tree limbs. Glenn was more used to asphalt and concrete but she carefully picked out a narrow path and eased her way up. She felt every rock and branch through the soles of her thin slippers. Beside her, Kevin had his arms wrapped around his chest and was shaking as they walked.

“Seriously, Kevin. There’s nothing to be afraid of. They’re just woods. No werepeople.”

“I’m not afraid,” he said, his voice wavering. “I’m cold.”

“So dial up the thermals in your clothes.”

“Not working,” he said. “Must have busted something when your dad’s workshop went up and I came to get you.”

Kevin pulled his thin jacket tight over his chest. Other than that, he was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. The temperature had to be below zero, easy. If his thermals weren’t working, he must have been freezing.

“You didn’t have to do it,” Glenn said. “You could have just gone home.”

“Gee, Morgan,” he said, “you’re welcome.”

“I didn’t mean —”

“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?” Kevin asked. “I would have told you that you couldn’t trust my dad. He’s a doctor, sure, but he’s government first. I mean, we’re friends. Aren’t we?”

There was a noise off to her left. Crunching leaves. Glenn

stopped.

“Wow. Thanks for the lingering pause there, Morgan. It’s a real vote of confi—”

“Shhh.”

Kevin stopped where he was. Half a second later another set of footsteps came to a halt. Glenn looked out ahead but saw nothing.

“What was that?” Kevin asked.

Glenn turned back just as an enormous shadow glided behind

Kevin. It moved from one tree to another and disappeared.

“What? Did you see something?”

Glenn swallowed hard.

“No,” she said, wrestling with the stammer in her voice.

“Nothing. Just … my imagination.” She took his arm, looking over her shoulder as she urged them forward. “Come on, this way’s east. It’ll take us right to your place.”

Glenn told herself that what she had seen was a trick of the moonlight. Some hapless forest animal blundering through the woods just like they were, its shadow almost certainly making it seem bigger than it actually was. She remembered her own words to Kevin the day before. The mind’s tendency to find patterns where there were none.

Glenn was as susceptible as anyone else.

They passed under the red lights at the border and soon the forest broke. There was no sign of the drones. Kevin’s house was a little farther on, just over the rise of a tree-covered hill. Glenn and Kevin climbed it side by side, digging their feet into the snow and grasping tree branches to steady themselves.

Once they crested the hill, Kevin’s house loomed in front of them.

It was huge, more a mansion than a house: three stories with an expansive yard, the kind of estate that was only available close to the border where few people wanted to live. Most of the lights were on, filling the windows with a warm glow that spread out across the yard and the heavily manicured trees that flanked the front door. No sign of drones or agents or skiffs. It should have seemed absolutely normal, but Glenn felt a sinking in her stomach. It was eerily quiet.

“What?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Something’s … I don’t know. I’m just being paranoid. Right?”

Kevin looked down at the grim face of the house and swallowed.

“Yeah. Definitely. Paranoid.”

Glenn took a step forward but Kevin grabbed her wrist at the last second.

“But maybe we go around the back,” he said. “Just in case.”

They slipped into the house through a back door. Unfortunately, it felt the same inside as out, like the tense seconds before a bomb went off.

“Where is everybody?” Glenn whispered.

Kevin shrugged. “Mom should have been back by now.”

They froze as somewhere in the house a door opened and closed.

There was a pause and then the sound of voices, quiet and talking fast.

Kevin nodded ahead and he and Glenn crept through the living room and into the darkness of the Kapoors’ bedroom, which was as dark and spare as the doctor’s office. At the far end there was a heavy oak door with a razor of light underlining it. The voices were coming from the other side.

“Where does this door go?”

“His office,” Kevin said.

Once they reached the door, Kevin turned to her as if to ask,

“You still up for this?” Glenn nodded and they knelt down and pressed their ears to the wood.

There were at least two voices on the other side. Both men.

“… and where are they now?” Dr. Kapoor asked. His voice was tense, clipped.

“I can’t really —”

“This is my son we’re talking about, Mr. Sturges. And the

Morgan girl is no more than sixteen.”

There was a slight pause before the man with Dr. Kapoor spoke.

His voice was soft and breathy.

“Of course, Dr. Kapoor. We understand. We hope, though, that you will understand that this is a matter of government security. We must approach all aspects of this issue very carefully.”

There was a dry sound, like the shifting of paper on a desk.

“John Morgan is brilliant but he’s been troubled ever since his wife left them.”

“Delusional?”

“Given what Glenn said at our last meeting … I think it’s

possible. It’s hard to say. I see his daughter but he’s refused to come.”

“And the girl?”

Glenn held her breath, staring down at the dark floor. She could feel Kevin watching her.

Dr. Kapoor paused. “She’s distant. Angry. She barely talks in our meetings, but given two parents with apparently profound mental health issues, it’s unlikely she’s escaped them completely.”

Kevin’s hand moved across the carpeted floor and pressed down on top of Glenn’s but she snatched it away.

“Is it dangerous?” Dr. Kapoor asked. “This thing you think she has.”

Dr. Kapoor was met with silence. Glenn and Kevin exchanged a look, then she glanced down at the bracelet. The red jewel shone in the gloom.

“Well, obviously it isn’t what her father said it was,” Dr. Kapoor pressed.

“Certainly not,” Sturges said with a good-natured chuckle. “What the girl actually has” — he carefully measured each word in his breathy whisper — “is important. Dangerous, even. To herself, to your son. I’m afraid I can’t comment on its nature any more than that. Now, do you have additional information that may aid us in our search for your son and —”

Sturges abruptly stopped talking.

A chair creaked.

Glenn’s heart pounded; a tide of hot blood beat at her ears and throat. She could feel the two men’s eyes on the door. Kevin was frozen in place, hovering above her right shoulder.

“It was very brave of you to come here,” Sturges announced from the other side of the door.

Glenn and Kevin froze, his words like the thin web of a drone, binding them tight.

“Please, come in and join us. Glenn. Kevin.”

Taking a chance, Glenn took Kevin’s arm and they slowly moved back from the door. After a few steps, they turned to the bedroom, ready to flee, but blocking their way was a tall silhouette.

As it stepped forward, the light from the hall gleamed against the distinctive red armor of the Authority agent.

Kevin tensed, the muscles in his arms and legs tightening, ready to run, but Glenn held him back. Another agent moved into place behind the first.

They were trapped.

Sturges wasn’t what Glenn expected. People from Authority were generally big and athletic. Law enforcement types. Sturges was trim and small with thinning hair and glasses. Unlike the armored agents, Sturges wore a simple suit of dark blue with a slate gray tie. His shoes were old and heavily worn.

“Please,” he said. “Come in.”

When Glenn and Kevin didn’t move, the agents behind them did, herding them into the room.

“It’s okay,” he said. “There’s no reason to feel afraid. You’re both all right, I hope?”

Glenn swallowed back coppery-tasting fear and said nothing.

Mr. Sturges buttoned his coat as he stood to face them. “My name is Michael Sturges. I’m with Authority, as I imagine you’ve guessed. And you are Glenn Morgan. Or, actually, Glennora Amantine Morgan. Is that right?”

“Where did you take my father?”

Sturges’s eyes narrowed. “Where? Well” — he opened his hands and shrugged slightly — “we took him right where you wanted us to take him, Glenn. Greenfield Hospital’s psychiatric ward.”

Glenn’s stomach knotted. She bit the inside of her lip to keep her anger and guilt locked up tight.

“As soon as we get our business concluded, you’ll be able to see him.”

“Why were your drones firing at us?” Kevin interrupted.

“Firing at you?” Dr. Kapoor said, his voice rising. “Sturges, what is he saying? Were your drones —”

“They were never in any danger,” Sturges snapped. His eyes

locked on Kevin. “A preprogrammed response. A warning. If they meant to actually cause you harm, they would have.”

Sturges glared at Kevin for a split second longer, then abruptly sat back in his chair. “I think we’ll find that all of this was a bit of a misunderstanding. It’s been a stressful night for everyone. But your father is fine, and once you hand over that bracelet and come with me to do a little more talking —”

“It’s a piece of junk,” Glenn said. “It doesn’t do anything. My father is sick. This is all a mistake.”

Sturges smiled. “I’m sure it is. Still, we have our procedures.”

Dr. Kapoor leaned forward at his desk. “Glenn, I’m

recommending you spend some time at the hospital yourself.”

“No,” Glenn said. “I won’t —”

Dr. Kapoor looked away from her. “Surely Kevin doesn’t need to

—”

“I’m afraid so,” Mr. Sturges said, rising out of his chair. “It’s a formality. I’m sure you understand. We won’t be long.”

“No. Wait. I’ll speak with —” Dr. Kapoor reached for the tablet on his desk, but Sturges was at his side, holding it down before he could lift it.

“I’m sorry, doctor. But I can’t let you do that.”

Mr. Sturges’s voice was like a wall. The two agents drew up behind him. Something dark and barbed radiated from the small man.

“This is an Authority matter, doctor. You have our thanks for alerting us to it, but now we have to do our job. Your son will be returned to you by the morning.”

“But what about —”

“Ms. Morgan will be fine. Like you said, she needs help. Your part in this is done now. Again, you have our thanks.” Sturges waved at the two agents and they split to either side of Glenn and Kevin, flanking the door that led to the bedroom.