Polaris (25 page)

“Made it,” Aileen said.

“Good—” Jeth broke off as he saw Aileen's head poke out from the vent shaft, then her torso, and finally her whole
body as she swung herself down onto the chair Sierra had left beneath it. “Angel, what are you doing? You don't need to be in there.”

Aileen ignored him as she reached behind her back and withdrew a gun. A dozen questions skidded through Jeth's mind, all of them irrelevant given the evidence before him. Somehow, despite the metal detectors on the subway, Aileen had managed to smuggle in a Luke 40.

“Sparrow, behind you!” Jeth shouted. At the same time, he spun around, heading for the ventilation shaft. He had to get up there. But Remi stood beside the entrance, ready to block the way.

Through the comm, Jeth heard the familiar click of a round entering the chamber of a gun. Then Aileen's smooth, smirking voice filled his ear. “Nobody panic. We're just making a little detour.”

“GET OUT OF MY WAY,” JETH SAID, CHARGING AT REMI WITH
fists raised. The back of his skull throbbed from the influx of adrenaline—more exhilarating than painful. He was ready to tear his way through the ceiling and up to the fourth floor. Behind him, he sensed the same thing happening to Eric. Whatever Aileen was doing, it was a shock to him as well.

To Jeth's surprise, Remi sidestepped, motioning Jeth on with one hand. He skidded to a stop, first suspecting a trap, but then realizing that Remi had no reason to stop him. It wasn't that Jeth couldn't fit inside the shaft—he could—but there wasn't enough room for him to use his arms for the long climb up. He tried three times without success. He just couldn't get purchase.

“Dammit.” He faced Remi, who was standing a mere pace away from Eric, the two men bracing for a fight.

Don't,
Jeth said through the link.
He's too strong.
Even if he and Eric ganged up, he doubted they could take him down.

Glowering, Jeth returned his attention to the viewer. His heart struck a frantic rhythm against his breastbone.

“What is this, Angel?” Marian said, her voice like acid.

Aileen ignored her, her attention centered on Sierra. Keeping the Luke aimed at Sierra's chest, Aileen slid the strap of the bag she'd carried up with her off her shoulder and tossed it to the floor at Sierra's feet. “Put the Reinette tubes in there.”

A muscle danced in Sierra's jaw as she gritted her teeth, but she didn't argue. She bent and placed all six tubes in the bag, her movements slow and measured. Jeth began to pant, his fury and frustration a wild thing desperate to be uncaged. He couldn't just stand here and let this happen. He couldn't.

Only there was nothing to do. Sierra was trapped. There was no way up there for him, short of bursting through the front door.

Sierra looked up at Aileen, her hands splayed and hovering over the bag. “What now?”

“Set it on the chair. I'll carry them out as promised once we're done with my little side trip.”

Sierra did as she said, easing the bag onto the chair. Then she turned to face Aileen once more.

“Head back into the hallway.” She motioned Sierra toward the door.

Sierra swallowed, fear creeping into her eyes, but she did as she was told, her steps tense. Aileen followed after her, keeping a safe distance. Sierra's superior reach in the sparring ring didn't matter with the Luke 40 playing host between them.

No decontamination was required to exit the lab, and in seconds Sierra and Aileen entered the hallway. For a
moment, Jeth worried the alarms would sound and the gun turrets engage, but then he remembered the security feeds in the building were playing on a loop to anyone outside Marian's hack. Aileen was perfectly safe for the moment.
But there's nowhere to go.

“That way.” Aileen pointed Sierra to the left, back toward the elevators. “Second lab on the right.”

Sierra glanced over her shoulder, a question in her gaze.

Aileen scowled. “Just do it.”

“You're going to get us caught,” Sierra said as she came to a halt in front of the door. The name written across it read simply:
STOCK
.

Jeth frowned. He switched the view to show the inside of the lab, but it looked hardly different from the Reinette one.

“Stock,” Sierra said. Then she swung around, leveling a glower at Aileen. “That's your name.”

Aileen Stock,
Jeth realized. But she'd said her father was an arms dealer—
of a sort
. He exhaled.
The sort that works for the ITA.

Aileen smiled, tight-lipped. “The very same. Now use that clearance of yours and open the door.”

Sierra put her hands on her hips. “What are you after? The door will only let me through.”

Aileen shook her head. “We'll be fine. Just get it open.”

“Don't do this,” Jeth said through the comm. “If Sierra gets caught, I'll kill you.”

Aileen rolled her eyes. “Don't be so dramatic. I promised I'd keep her safe and I will. Now stop worrying.” She nudged Sierra on.

Jeth's insides seethed as he watched Sierra face the security panel. But as with the Reinette lab, the door opened smoothly at her touch. Sierra stepped in and Aileen rushed up behind her, following so close she clipped the back of her heels.

“There's no way this will work.” Sierra stumbled to a halt as the door sealed and the decontamination process began to run again.

“Yes it will,” Aileen said, holding the gun with the barrel pressed to Sierra's back. She didn't sound nearly confident enough for Jeth.

But to his relief, it worked, the inner door opening a few seconds later with no hint of an alarm. Although similar to the Reinette lab, this one was easily twice the size. Nevertheless, Aileen knew right where she was headed. She herded Sierra toward one of the cabinets down on the left, not far from a row of massive biotubes, clouded with smoke that hid their contents.

“That one.” Aileen pointed. “Open it.”

Sierra hesitated. “What's inside?”

Aileen stomped her foot. “Just open it.”

Sierra shook her head and turned to face her, her expression defiant. The sight of her defiance made Jeth's stomach clench. There was no chance Aileen would miss at that range.

“Tell me why first.”

“Open it or I'll shoot you.”

A cold smile rose to Sierra's lips. “Go ahead. And good luck getting past the security. It doesn't work if there's no pulse.” She raised her hand, wiggling her fingers in emphasis. Jeth
winced at the gruesome image this conjured in his mind.

“One shot won't kill you right away.”

Sierra shrugged. “Maybe so. But you'll have to force me and that means coming in close. Oh, and just be aware my pain threshold is higher than you can imagine.”

Red blossomed in Aileen's face. “If you don't open it, I will have Remi rearrange Jeth's body parts.”

“Jeth can handle himself,” Sierra said. Jeth glanced at Remi, doubting her assertion more than he cared to admit. He thought maybe Sierra doubted it too, as she said, “Tell me what's in there and why you need it first. This lab is where the ITA's cloning research is done. And don't think for a second that I'll help you steal something that will enable Dax to follow through with the ITA's plans to clone Cora.”

Dread began to pound in Jeth's ears. A cloning lab. It made far too much sense. He'd been set up all along. He'd—

It wasn't Dax,
Eric said through the link.
This wasn't part of the plan
.

“This has nothing to do with Dax or Cora,” Aileen said. “This is personal business.
My
business.”

Sierra shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Tell me what it is in this cabinet that you need and why you need it. I'm not letting you take anything to fence it later. There's too much dangerous shit in this place.”

“Fine,” Aileen huffed. “It's medicine.”

“Medicine for who?”

“Me, you idiot. Who else?” Aileen looked ready to explode, her frustration coming off her like ignitable fumes. At once Jeth remembered the odd bruise on her back, the
one that looked nothing like a bruise.

Shooting another glare at Remi, Jeth said through the comm, “I think she's telling the truth, Sparrow.”

“See,” Aileen said, a falsely pleasant smile slipping over her lips. “Even your boyfriend believes me. There's no reason for you not to.”

Sierra arched an eyebrow. “No reason? After you pulled a gun on me and attempted to sabotage this mission?”

Aileen blew out a loud breath. “Point taken.” She brushed back loose strands of hair from her face. “But I'm not trying to sabotage the mission. I'm just trying to get what I need and then get the hell out of here.”

“Why would you need medicine from a . . .” Sierra trailed off, her thoughts overtaking her words.

“Sparrow,” Jeth said, picturing the bruise again. “Just do it.”

Sierra bit her lip and then exhaled. “All right.” She turned toward the security panel. “This better work.”

Aileen smirked. “It will. But you've got to enter a passcode with it—five, eight, three, nine, nine, seven.”

Sierra nodded as she pressed her finger against the control panel. It flashed red, yellow, then green. But this time a message popped up, prompting for the code. She entered it and the cabinet slid open. True to Aileen's claims, there were several vials of what looked like medicine inside.

“How many do you need?” Sierra asked.

“Just one.”

Sierra grabbed two of the nearest vials and pulled them out. “You can put the gun away.”

Aileen debated for a moment, but then did as she said, stowing the gun behind her back. “The vial, please.”

“Not until we're out of this building safe and alive. All of us.”

Aileen grinned. “No problem. Let's go.”

They headed for the door, but when Aileen grabbed the handle and yanked, nothing happened. “What the hell?”

Jeth stared down at the viewer and flipped through a couple of camera views. Nothing was happening. The guards at the front desk remained sitting, their conversation idle.

“Try it again,” Jeth said. “Maybe it's jammed.”

Sierra grabbed the handle, but froze as Marian's voice broke through the comm.

“You've triggered a silent alarm. They've detected my hack. You've got to get out of there. Now!”

“HOW?” SIERRA SPUN AROUND, HER GAZE SWEEPING THE
lab.

Jeth didn't answer, his mind racing. “Can't you override the door, Riptide?”

“No, I've got my hands full just trying to stay connected.”

“I have a way,” Sierra said as she marched to one of the lab tables where another handheld laser torch perched in a holder. She grabbed it and then scanned the ceiling, her gaze stopping on the ventilation shaft.

“What are you doing?” Jeth said as he watched her climb onto a chair and begin cutting another hole as she'd done in the Reinette lab. “There's no way down for you.”

“I'll make it. I'm small enough to get leverage to lower myself down.”

“It's four stories. That's a long way,” said Jeth.

“I've trained. I'll make it.”

“But—”

“There's no other way. And I'm not staying here.”

Jeth exhaled. She was right. It was the only way out.

“Here, take these,” Aileen said before Sierra could climb up. Jeth watched on screen as Aileen removed the scalers
from her elbows and handed them over. “I'll manage without them.”

With a look of surprise on her face, Sierra accepted the scalers and slipped them on. A welcome surge of relief swept over Jeth. It would still be hard, but she would make it all right.

Sierra climbed up into the shaft first, disappearing from sight as Aileen scrambled up after her.

“How do I get back to the Reinette lab from here?” Sierra said.

“Why?” Jeth began then remembered that they'd left the Reinette canisters in the other lab. “Hold on.” He accessed the screen. “I'm pulling up the view now. All right, move down that shaft, make a left, go straight at the first intersection, and then another left. You'll be back where you started.”

Sierra didn't respond, but through the comm Jeth could hear the metallic groan of the shaft narrating her movements. “I'm here,” she said a few moments later, and Jeth adjusted the camera view in time to see her emerge from the vent shaft into the Reinette lab once more.

“Hurry,” Marian said. “Security's heading into the building now. They haven't pushed me out yet, but if they do they'll spot where you are right away.”

“I'll be fast.”

Jeth watched Sierra sling the bag over her shoulder and climb back onto the chair. She was just pulling into the shaft when the viewer went dark.

“I've lost connection,” Marian said.

“We're on our way down now,” Sierra said.

“Just don't lose your grip and fall on me,” Aileen muttered as she headed down first.

The next few minutes were the worst wait of all. Several times one or both of the girls let out gasps or grunts of effort. Jeth fought back the urge to ask for a progress update every couple of seconds. He would only distract Sierra from the perilous climb down.

Aileen arrived first, flashing Jeth a guilty look. “She's right behind me.”

Jeth held his breath until Sierra's legs appeared, soon followed by the rest of her. She was dirt-smeared and sweaty but all right. He pulled her into a quick hug.

Across from them, Eric had fixed a dark look on Aileen. “If this mission fails you will regret it. Dax will make certain.”

Aileen waved him off. “Just appreciate the fun of a good challenge, big boy.”

Jeth let go of Sierra and spun toward Aileen. Glowering, he held out his hand. “The gun. Now.”

She shook her head.

“Now, I said. You got us into this mess.”

Sighing, she pulled the Luke from her belt and handed it to him. Relieved to be armed again, Jeth tucked it into his pants. “Let's get out of here.”

They headed down the first hole and then the second into the subway alcove.

“We're back at the tunnel,” Jeth said through the comm.

“You'll need to wait. The next train is coming through any second,” said Marian.

Jeth peeked out into the tunnel, caught a glimpse of bright lights barreling toward him, and pulled back, his heart skipping. The train raced by, sucking the air out of the alcove with the force of its passing.

As soon as the train was gone, they leaped down into the tunnel and took off at a run. This time, several people in the crowd noticed them climbing up off the tracks, but their expressions were only mildly curious. Jeth hurried past them, up the stairs.

“We're almost to the street,” he said through the comm. “We'll come to you.”

“Be careful. There's ITA everywhere. They've surrounded the building and are setting up a perimeter.”

“Are you in danger of being spotted?”

“I don't think so. But getting out of here will be tough. We might have to wait until things die down.”

“That's fine,” Jeth said, thinking that passing a few hours in the truck would be easy compared to what they'd just been through. “We'll blend in and make our way to you.”

Blending in wasn't a problem. Chaos ruled the street as they arrived. The crowds were pressing in around the Hanov building, trying to get a look at the unfolding scene. Lines of local police and ITA agents held them back as they barricaded the sidewalks, setting up perimeter nets. The white, ropy material of the nets was magnetic, stretched taut between
the portable metal stands. The nets looked like human-size spiderwebs.

As they stepped out from the subway entrance, the flow of the crowd started to push them toward the barricade. In seconds they were far too close to the ITA agents for Jeth's peace of mind, and he pushed back against the crowd, trying to make a wide berth.

It would take longer, but he decided to go all the way around the back of the building to reach the other side where the hover truck was parked. He guessed most of the focus would remain on the main entrance where the police hovercraft were lined up in a jagged formation, red and blue lights flashing even brighter than the video ads on the buildings surrounding them.

He was right. As they made the first corner around to the back, the crowd thinned to something closer to normal for this wildly packed city. Even so there were still nearly a dozen ITA agents inside the perimeter around Hanov. They were easily recognizable in their gray uniforms with the star and eagle emblem on the sleeves. They had their guns drawn as they surveyed the scene for any sign of the intruder. Several carried the ITA standard-issue .45-caliber Mirage pistol. Others carried high-powered Luke rifles. And two of them, Jeth saw, carried the same Kali shotguns as the security guards inside.

He picked up the pace a little, sticking close to the sidewalk's edge. He glanced behind him, making sure they were all accounted for. He knew Eric was there, his presence
inescapable with the link, but he worried Aileen would make a break for it. He spotted her shadowing Sierra's footsteps as if she feared Sierra might suddenly vanish. The medicine—if it really was that—was still inside Sierra's lab coat, which she had removed and slung over her arm, not wanting to draw attention.

They were halfway past the back of the building, when a loud, high-pitched voice suddenly cried out, “It's her!”

Jeth, like every other person in the vicinity, wrenched his head toward the speaker who had screamed so emphatically it reminded Jeth of the hyenas Hammer had kept in his menagerie. He spotted the speaker at once. He stood just inside the police line. He was an old bald man with a rotund belly and sporting a patterned sweater and slacks. Definitely not an ITA agent. He held one hand pointed their direction.

Sierra,
he thought, heart pounding.

“Aileen Stock,” the man screamed. “That's her! Stop her!”

For a second, shock froze Jeth in place, but then he broke into a run, barreling through the people in front of him. The ITA agents reacted at once, leaping over the perimeter nets and into the crowd. Jeth and the others made it several paces, but the ITA were able to move faster, the crowd parting for them like a human wave. In seconds they were surrounded.

“We've got trouble, Riptide,” Jeth said through the link as he came to a halt.

“Stall,” Marian said. “We're on our way.”

Stall.
Yeah right
. Jeth contemplated drawing the Luke, but
there were too many guns pointed his way for such a risky move.

“That's them,” the balding man shrieked. He rushed toward the circle of ITA agents surrounding them, his round face flush with excitement.

“Aileen,” he said. “Aileen.”

“Daddy?”

Jeth turned to see who had spoken. It didn't sound like Aileen at all. That was the voice of a little girl. A scared little girl calling for her—

Daddy.

“Yes, darling,” Stock said. “That's right. I'm here. You don't need to run anymore.”

“Daddy?” Aileen said again, her voice still strange. Jeth pivoted, bringing her into his line of sight. She was shaking her head, as if trying to dislodge whatever demonic force had taken possession of her voice box. Remi had stepped in front of her, with one hand braced behind his back, as if he worried she would try to run in front of him.

“Come now, Aileen. Step away from that man,” Stock said. “He's no good for you. Only I'm good for you.”

“No,” Aileen said, her voice trembling now but once more her own. “No!”

“If that man moves,” Stock said, pointing at Remi, “shoot him. Shoot them all.”

Oh shit,
Jeth thought, racking his mind for some other way to stall.

But a second later, Marian's voice filled his ear through
the comm link. “Get ready,” she said.

Jeth turned his gaze toward the edge of the building and saw the hover truck swooping toward them. Its arrival took the ITA agents by surprise and they swung to face this new threat. Perry was driving and he barreled toward them, not slowing down. The agents jumped out of the way, some of them managing to open fire.

Jeth rushed forward as the truck swung hard to the left, bringing the side door into range. He hadn't quite reached it before more gunfire erupted, this time from behind. He ducked, pulling the Luke from his belt. More agents had arrived from around the building and were ringing them in fast.

Jeth let off a couple of rounds, taking down one agent. Then he turned back to the truck as the side door slid open. His mother stood in the doorway with her arms outstretched, as if she were a priestess about to bless the assembled crowd.

“Get down, Mom,” he screamed. She was an obvious target, her white clothes a beacon for the ITA agents. She didn't move, and a second later, Jeth understood why as white light began to flash behind him. He glanced back to see the agents' guns disappearing, one after another as Marian phased them into metaspace.

But she couldn't phase them all. Some of the agents managed to open fire before she reached them. Bullets struck the truck, and Jeth flinched at the loud bang from each hit.

“Get down,” he screamed again, but his mother was already falling backward.

Jeth sprinted to her. He reached the truck and climbed in to see his mother struggling to get up. A line of blood was spreading across her abdomen.

“Mom!”

She pushed him back, moving toward the door again. She raised her hands and a flash of blinding light erupted behind Jeth. It was a phase stronger than any he'd seen before. One minute there were ITA agents standing by the building, firing on them, and the next they'd been cut down. Bits and pieces of the bodies that remained crumpled to the ground, limbs jerking spasmodically as the life sputtered out of them. Marian had spared no one. ITA agents and bystanders alike had been cut down in the arc of her phase.

But the effort of manipulating that much metaspace had taken its toll. More blood appeared, the wound in her abdomen spurting, and two lines of red trickled from her nose. She slumped back onto the floor, eyes closed and body still. Jeth knelt beside her again as the others piled into the truck around him. Eric hauled the door closed and Perry flew them forward, more bullets striking the hover truck as they passed.

Jeth felt hands press against his back and heard Sierra say, “We need to hold her still.” Nodding, Jeth moved to Marian's side. He grasped her arm and hip and did his best to prevent her from sliding as the hover truck rounded a sharp turn. Aileen moved into position by Marian's head, kneeling down to hold her shoulders. Jeth wanted to yell at her to leave his mother alone, that she'd done enough damage, but he
couldn't find the will to speak. Fear held his voice prisoner.

Remi, impossibly huge, braced her opposite side. Marian closed her eyes at every bump and rock of the truck, her lips pressed tight as she fought back a scream.

Don't scream, Mom,
Jeth thought, staring down at her blood-soaked stomach.
It'll only hurt more
.

Sierra, doing her best to hold Marian's legs still, reached over and began to pull up Marian's shirt, exposing the wound. It wasn't messy, just a neat round hole in her stomach, right above the naval. It wept blood freely.

“We need to stop the bleeding.” Sierra grabbed the lab coat on the floor beside her and began to wad it into a compress. When she felt the medicine vials get in the way, she pulled them out and handed them to Jeth. He stuffed them into his pocket, glancing at Aileen, who watched the exchange with an anxious expression.

She turned away, avoiding his gaze.

Sierra placed the lab coat over Marian's wound and pressed down. A soft groan escaped Marian's throat but she didn't struggle or protest.

“We have medicine and supplies on
Polaris
,” Sierra said, her voice a calm, soothing sound against Jeth's nerves. “We just need to get her there and she'll be fine.”

Jeth nodded, even though he knew she was lying. Gut wounds were dangerous, and impossible to analyze at a glance. Organs could have been damaged beyond repair. “I'll call Flynn and have him meet us. We need to shave time off this trip.”