Authors: Pamela Foland
That choice brought an uncomfortable moment as Chavez made his way to the table.
He glared across the table at Annette as he approached. Sitting next to the girl, Angela could feel the strength of his malice. Just shy of wanting to do the girl harm, it bubbled there under the surface all the same.
“What’s she doing here?” He asked as he came even with Angela. His word were tinged to show he meant not just at the table, but in Sanctuary as a whole. Through the window of his anger towards the girl, Angela gained a sense of the man. The demotion had hurt more than his pride. It had been a blow to his sense of self. Perhaps it wasn’t the demotion as much as the idea that Niri had been right. Now he was just a third rate flunky not quite in line for the command of a department he didn’t even care existed before.
“She was with me when the quake hit. We were talking,” Angela hesitated, it didn’t feel right to mention that the discussion had been about the training Sinclair had opposed. Even without actual mention Sinclair’s mind seemed to turn that way. He grit his teeth and took a seat at the far end of the table.
With him, the last of the stragglers also took their seats. Once again it was time for Angela to definitively take charge.
Angela started to open her mouth to oblige them, but closed it rapidly. She didn’t know what to do. She glanced at Annette again, to draw strength but there was no more to be found. The girl had drawn herself to attention and now looked at Angela, clearly waiting for the next command. The silence hung in the room like a threat.
Beside Angela on the other side Tina leapt to action, sensing her cousin’s dismay. “I’ve drafted most of the non-factor
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porters and
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paths as emergency transportation for the medics who can’t get around on their own. If I could have a few of the tertiaries too that would be a big help. They have emergency medical training so they could scout ahead and do triage. Thankfully overall the injuries seem to be relatively minor. Though we’ve had more head wounds to telepaths than I like.”
Angela held back a smile, Tina had rescued her from creeping panic, once again providing direction. Then the implication of Tina’s words hit her,
“What about Gene? Is he injured?”
“Gene is dazed but doing what he can, handling those who can make it to the clinic on their own. Not being telepathic or anything, he isn’t exactly equipped to take charge. He told me to do it, so I am.”
Angela flinched, at least she wasn’t the only old-timer not prepared to handle this situation, “Take who you need and get back out there.” Tina nodded and shot glances around the crowded room drafting most of the secondaries and tertiaries that had helped convene the meeting. Then they disappeared together.
“I need damage reports! Where’s tech? Where’s Dennis?” Angela blurted the instant after Tina left her side, in the hope of sustaining momentum.
At the end of the table Sinclair cleared his throat. Angela heard hesitance in the sound. “What?”
Sinclair brushed dust from the table and glanced at the ceiling briefly. Then finally, painfully he spoke, “There were,” his voice broke and he cleared his throat again, “several deaths in the tech department, apparently from power surges in the equipment though some from quake damage.”
Angela looked at him again, he was almost a different man. He was clearly talking about the death of friends. She needed more information, but how to get it gently, “And Dennis?”
“An interface blew while he was trying to get emergency transport back on line. Elevators and communications are down too, but you probably already knew that,” Sinclair answered.
Angela felt a desperate sinking suspicion, “And Dennis is being treated for burns, right? What did Gene say?”
“There was no point in taking what was left to Gene. Right now nobody’s in charge in
R&D,” Sinclair answered, taking on his usual abrasive tones. Angela suddenly realized, that he used his gruff insensitive surface to hold people at a distance. Like Angela, Sinclair wasn’t the person everyone else saw.
“What about the brains of outfit, surely Ralph is taking charge.”
Sinclair’s lips pulled themselves into a tight line, Ralph had been his direct superior, “He died from internal injuries before we could even get to him.”
Angela froze, mind and body, another of her oldest and dearest friends was gone, dead. She didn’t know what to do next. Her world was falling apart. Yes, it was and if she didn’t pull it together it was going to kill a lot of people as it did. Communications, and transportation, and the elevators were out.
“We need to get people into the elevators, to check for injuries and survivors.”
Angela almost missed the small but strong voice of Annette as she piped up, “My team is already searching elevators and pulling out the trapped and injured.” Angela’s head spun, she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.
Then Angela heard an echo of her own thought from Sinclair’s lips,
“What team?” Then the man continued, focusing all of his pain and anger venomously on the girl,
“Your team? Since when do you have a team?”
All of the sudden sympathy and insight Angela had so recently gathered on the man, drained away with the near violence of his reaction to the girl’s simple statement.
Annette, with her new abilities had to sense Sinclair’s feelings, but to her credit Annette managed not to cower. Instead, Annette answered hesitantly, “The other F.I.T.s in my training group. We do a lot together. When the quake happened we conferred telepathically and they’re halfway through searching the elevators at this point.”
Angela was quietly impressed. She hadn’t heard a thing telepathically. Inwardly she frowned, it must’ve happened while she was walking the hairy line of panic. How about that, the kid was taking action while Angela fought not to hyperventilate. Angela stuck her hand in her pocket and thumbed the star Ben had given her. She looked at the girl who stared blankly at the ceiling. Angela felt a clear telepathic pressure around the girl. She’s keeping her team organized.
Annette’s eyes came back into focus, “They’re finished, all the elevators are clear. There were only two major injuries. They’ve moved on to checking the older corridors.”
Angela nodded and smiled at her. The girl had a good head on her shoulders, just maybe. . .
Angela thumbed the star and glanced back in Sinclair’s direction. He was glowering at Annette. Angela yanked her hand from her pocket and slapped the table in front of her,
“She’s doing her job, so is her team. How about you Chavez? I need communications and transportation back online, five minutes ago!” Sinclair’s chin dipped and he disappeared leaving an almost tangible telepathic fog of frustration and confusion. Angela shook her head and wondered how long it would take him to realize that her words effectively put him in charge of the technical department, seeing as it didn’t occur to her until after he disappeared.
“Let’s all pull it together people. We need to restore structural integrity. I want you to split into teams, a kinetic to hold things together and non or weak kinetics to do stabilizing repairs. You’ll also need someone who can teleport and a good strong telepath for transportation and communication,” Angela declared. Rapidly the remaining factors moved to follow her orders, “Beyond and during the recovery efforts, I want everybody thinking about what caused this and gathering clues.
If possible find out the how and why. If you find anything, bring it to me. . . or Annette,” Angela smiled at the quickly hidden shocked looks dashing across people’s faces. Adding Annette’s name had been a whim, or near to a whim. It had occurred to Angela that this might be the perfect way to see just what the girl was capable of.
As the meeting broke up Angela found a sudden wedge of people between herself and the girl. All of them wanted to get a look at this surprising girl so few had heard of until now.
Angela’s announcement had been enough for all of them to sit up and takes notice of the girl. Annette seemed almost uncomfortable with the attention as
many people pressed themselves on her. Ambivalently Angela glared at them all, most instantly went back to forming the teams she’d suggested. After a moment the only one left was Niri.
Angela watched as Niri gave the girl some advice before departing, “You’re abilities are still new to you. Don’t over tax yourself, and don’t let the chief drive you too hard either.”
After the throng cleared, but before Annette could leave, Angela pulled her aside, “We need to talk. Annette, I’m really pleased with you and your team, good job. I stand by what I told you before, and I’d like to emphasize it. You hang in here and you will be a prime factor. Probably sooner than you think. Now, go join your team, but keep me informed.” Annette smiled broad gratitude at Angela and scrambled out the door. Angela thought to herself, “I’m going to have make sure Niri is really prepared to test Annette and her team.”
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Chapter 14
Whoa!
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Annette was sitting quietly through a lecture on factor equipment, the instructor was covering material she had already learned during her pre-trainee period. It wasn’t the only class where that was the case. Unfortunately Annette wasn’t bored. What with her own classes, being Tawny’s assistant, and the duties she had somehow picked up from Angela, Annette was a very busy girl. It was a very good thing she was still so far ahead of her class, though she did everything she could to keep the instructors from noticing, after all she had a lot to do.
The pop-pad in her hip pocket would go off at irregular intervals, with more facts and figures on the repairs to Sanctuary, or perhaps more urgently someone needing to speak to the chief or someone in charge.
When it was one of those callers Annette would politely and quietly duck out of class and listen to the caller as they squawked on about the repairs or about their personal theories about the quake. Annette’s job was to listen and promise to pass the information on to the chief. Once or occasionally twice per day, Annette would dutifully make a report to Angela. Most of the time it would be in person between the end of Annette’s breakfast and the beginning of Angela’s the morning briefing.
Things had gone on like this for months, almost a year.
Annette was starting to gain her second wind. She was getting used to her senses being on overdrive, and the responsibilities, and her own body. She had even gotten used to having friends, though her responsibilities left her hanging around the fringes of the group.
Still, they appreciated her, after all at least twice during the year the bonus points she was bringing to the group had been the difference between top ranked floor and wearing the uniforms with everyone else.
They were also quick to come to her for advice and homework help, especially when they caught her pre-reading third-year texts.
Annette awoke with a start to the vibration of her pop-pad. She blinked hard to wet her eyes, she’d fallen asleep with her eyes open. A nervous glance around the room reminded her which class she was in. Carl was ahead of her in the front row demonstrating to the teacher the uses of a piece of disguised factor tech. The pad began to vibrate more vigorously, Annette could hear it as a faint buzz.
She retrieved the pad and checked, it was a live call, not just a data drop. She slowly and quietly pushed out her last row chair and left
the room.
Outside she tapped the screen it lit up revealing Sinclair’s glaring face. “Miss Peterson, I don’t suppose you have any idea how to get a hold of the chief?” Chavez snarled, with an expression on his face akin to someone forced to clean out the stall of an elephant with diarrhea.
Annette was torn between trembling at the knowledge of how much he loathed her and using what little power she had to make him wait, “What is this in reference to?”
“Why in the hell should I tell you about it!”
“Because you need me to link you to her, and I may be able to help you just as well,” Annette fought to keep her trembling out of her voice.
“I need more structural plastics! I want to know why it is that my department is responsible for creating the stuff but is last on the list for using it! How am I supposed to get anything done down here if all of my people are afraid of the ceiling caving in!”