The Nexus Series: Books 1-3 (13 page)

She started to
feel something she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Guilt.

When you’re an
errander, you don’t feel bad about what you’re doing.  Sure, the first few
jobs you feel a little pang of conscience.  But pretty soon you harden
yourself.  Any guilt you may feel is buried under the hardness.  You
need that hardness to survive, to do your job and not get caught.

She’d needed that
hardness a few weeks ago when she’d worked for a client named Robert
Zinn
.

Jill stashed the
picture in the bottom of a box where she wouldn’t have to look at it anymore.

15

NO
one knew how the boss had lost his eye.  And he never told anyone. 
He liked leaving it a mystery.  It would have been easy to get a glass
eye, even a state-of-the-art robotic eye that would partially restore his
vision.  But his black eye-patch added to his mystique.  The boss
loved mystique.  He liked that no one knew much of anything about him
beyond the fact that he was the boss, that he was a full-blooded Korean, that
he was missing an eye, and that he was involved in almost any illegal activity
you could shake a stick at.

He sat at a
cluttered desk.  An old phonograph with a flaring trumpet-shaped speaker
played a muffled classical tune.  He lit a cigarette and blew smoke rings
at the ceiling.

The phone on his
desk rang.  The boss answered it in Korean.

“That errander
girl is here,” a woman’s voice replied.

The boss sat
forward eagerly.  He switched to English:  “Good.  Don’t let her
out of your sight.”

“I’ll be keeping
my eyes on her, of course,” the woman’s voice said.

“I want to be
made aware of the slightest problem,” said the boss.  “That that girl is
trouble.”

“I’ll let you
know the instant anything suspicious happens.”

“I’m counting on
it.”  The boss hung up.  He sat back in his seat, blowing more smoke
rings and wondering how things would turn out.  It was all very interesting. 
Then again, most things the boss was involved in were interesting, to say the
least.

ORIENTATION
was scheduled for eight the next morning.  But Jill woke up at five
without an alarm.  It took a minute to remember where she was, what had
happened.  The surreal feeling was still there.

So was the guilt.

She should be
waking up in jail; instead she was waking up in a warm bed and a nice room and
about to start an important and fairly prestigious job.  She sat up in
bed, her mind involuntarily picturing a fifteen-year-old boy with
shoulder-length red hair.  She’d been dreaming about him.  What was
his name?  She didn’t think she’d caught it on the news...

Jill tried to
shake it off as she stepped out into the hallway.  The lights were
dim.  Everyone else was apparently asleep or on night shift at HQ.

She went into the
black-tiled bathroom.  A leisurely hot shower felt amazing.  Then she
put on comfortable clothes and headed toward HQ.

The elevator
lobby was quiet and empty.  A line of light shone from under Director
Holiday’s office door at the top of the stairs.  Did he always work so
early?  Or had he even stopped working since yesterday?

She crossed the
lobby and peered through the door into HQ.  Even at this time of morning
there was quite a bit of activity.  About half of the cubicles were
occupied.

Jill stepped out
onto the concrete balcony that rimmed HQ, and headed around to the
cafeteria.  She was glad she hadn’t come last night.  Mandy was
right—too many strangers all at once.  She still didn’t feel ready for
that.  It was good to be here early before anyone else had arrived for
breakfast.  Through the glass wall she saw the empty rows of tables. 
It was dark except for a little light from the back, where the kitchen was. 
She could smell bacon frying.

She tried the
door.  It was open.  Muffled sounds of cooking and orders being
loudly given came from the kitchen.  She sat alone with her thoughts at a
table in the dark.

The sounds of the
kitchen grew a little louder, and the dim light a little brighter, when a
swinging door opened.  “Who’s out there?”  It was a loud, demanding
voice.

Jill stood
up.  “Sorry, I guess I’m early.”

“Early? 
Girl, you know what time it is?  If you don’t have to be at work you ought
to be snoring right now!  I know I wish I was.”  A light came
on.  Jill saw a big woman with smooth ebony skin and a ruffled apron.

“Sorry,” Jill
stuttered.  “When should I come back?”

“New, aren’t
you?” the woman said in a softer tone.

Jill nodded.

“You got a name,
child?”

“Jill Branch. 
Listen, I really didn’t mean to intrude.  The door was open, and—”

The big woman
gestured for silence.  “You sit right back down there, honey.  And
don’t mind my complaining.  I’m just a little grumpy, as usual. 
That’s what happens when my people feel like they can take their good, sweet
time instead of getting their work done.”  She scowled exaggeratedly
toward the kitchen.  The next instant she was smiling a perfect pearly
smile down at Jill.  “My name’s Virginia, honey.  Named for the place
I was born, Earthside.  Moved up here when I wasn’t old and fat
yet.”  She boomed a laugh that jiggled her belly beneath her apron. 
“Call me Momma Ginny, all right?”

“Nice to meet
you,” said Jill.  She held out a hand, but apparently Momma Ginny
preferred hugs.  Great big long hugs.

“So nice to have
you here, Miss Jill!  I hope you get to feeling comfortable around here
soon.  Now you just sit yourself right back down, there.  How’s a big
Belgian waffle with strawberries sound, hmm?  And a little whipped cream on
top?  Scrambled eggs and bacon on the side?”

Jill said it
sounded incredible.

“Give us another
minute, honey, and it’s all yours.  Oh, probably more like two or three
minutes, what with all that fooling around going on back there.”  She
strode back into the kitchen, rattling the swinging doors and yelling as she
entered.

Exactly two
minutes later she emerged carrying a big platter with everything
promised.  “You like cream or sugar in your coffee, Miss Jill?”

“Um, I actually
don’t really drink coffee.”

“Don’t really
drink coffee,” Momma Ginny repeated suspiciously.  “I see. 
Well.  All right, then.  A little orange juice, maybe?  Just
squeezed it myself.  Someone’s got to get something done around here.”

“Okay,” said
Jill.

SHE
was almost finished eating by the time the other residents started filing
in.  Dizzie and Mandy, bleary-eyed and in their PJs, were among the
first.  They got their trays and sat down across from Jill.

“Sleep all
right?” asked Dizzie with a sleepy smile.

“Sure,” said
Jill.  “You?”

They
nodded.  “I always sleep like a rock after an evening shift,” said Mandy.

“So,” said
Dizzie, “orientation this morning!”

Jill
nodded.  “Me and the other new girl.”

As she said it,
Amber Phoenix appeared in the cafeteria line.  Most of the others were in
their pajamas, but Amber had showered, dressed perfectly, and done her
makeup.  Her hair looked like she’d just walked out of a salon.

Jill looked away
and tried not to appear irritated.  “How does it work?  Orientation,
I mean.”

“It’ll be
different for you than it was for us,” said Mandy, “since you’re field and
we’re tech.”

“Oh great,”
Dizzie muttered.  She held a fork full of egg suspended in front of her
mouth.  “Corey’s not helping out with orientation, is he?”

“Yeah,” said Jill. 
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

“I hope so,” said
Mandy.  She tried to look as sympathetic as she could.  “Dizzie told
me about...well, the two of you.”

Dizzie finally
forked the eggs into her mouth with an apologetic look in Jill’s
direction.  “There aren’t many secrets around here,” she said with her
mouth full.

“Forget about
it,” said Jill.

Amber came over
with her tray.  “All right if I join you?”

“Okay,” said
Jill.  She’d meant to sound more inviting.

Amber sat down
next to her.  “Ready for orientation?”

“I guess,” said
Jill.  “I’m not really sure what to expect.”

“Me
neither.  I’m kind of nervous.”

“Is that why
you’re hardly eating?” said Dizzie, gesturing at Amber’s sparse tray.

Amber
nodded.  “I don’t know if I can even handle the little food I took.”

Out of nowhere,
Jill felt a twinge of empathy.  “I’m pretty nervous about it too. 
Don’t worry, we’ll survive.”  She caught sight of Corey Stone at a table
across the room.  He was laughing and chatting with a few other guys at
his table, not noticing her.

“Well, Miss
Jill,” boomed Momma Ginny as she approached the table, “I see you already have
a little entourage around here!  Good choice of friends, too,” she said,
putting one hand on Dizzie’s shoulder and another on Mandy’s.  “Two of our
department’s finest!”

“They’ve been
really nice,” said Jill.

“And here’s
another new girl,” said Momma Ginny, making her way around to the other side of
the table.  Amber introduced herself, and found herself suddenly snatched
up into one of Momma Ginny’s hugs.  “You girls come by and see me any
time, you hear?  I’ll be happy to get out of that kitchen and enjoy some
good, civilized company for a change.  You have any boys chasing you and
you need someone to get rid of them, you let me know!”  She laughed
triumphantly and disappeared.

“Good old Momma
Ginny,” laughed Mandy shaking her head.

“I actually did
tell her about a boy who was stalking me one time,” said Dizzie, “some temp who
worked in the cubicle next to mine for a month.  Believe me, she’s as good
as her word.”  She broke into an amazingly accurate Momma Ginny
impression:  “‘Boy, you keep your filthy mitts off that girl, you
hear?  You so much as glance at her the wrong way and I will whip on your
little white hind-parts so you can’t sit down ’til next Christmas, don’t think
I won’t!’”

JILL
and Amber got to Conference Room D a little early.  For a few minutes it
was just the two of them waiting for Holiday and Corey to arrive and get
orientation rolling.  It was more than a little awkward.  At least,
for Jill it was.  Amber seemed fine.  She had no problem starting off
the small talk.

“How was your
first night in your new room?”

“Not bad.  I
didn’t sleep the greatest, but, you know.”

“I hardly slept a
wink!  I’m freaking out that I’m finally here.”

“You’ve been
wanting to join the department for a while?”

“Months.  I
really had to talk Director Holiday into letting me sign on.”

That’s
funny.  He did everything possible to get me to sign on.
  Jill
figured it wouldn’t be smart to say the thought out loud.  “So you weren’t
an errander before, were you?”

“How can you
tell?”

“I just
can.  It seems like most people around here were into something shady
before they got here, but not you.”

“I’m here because
of my dad.  He helped program Sherlock.  Did they tell you about
Sherlock?”

“Yeah, I saw
it...him.  So your dad helped build him?”

“Until he got
cancer.  He died two years ago.  Dad never talked about his work, but
I knew he was involved in something pretty big.  When he got sick, I did
all the snooping I could to figure out what he’d been up to.  Slowly but
surely, I found out about this department.”

“So you’re pretty
good at snooping.”

“Snooping and
martial arts.  Those are my specialties.”

And looking
like Miss Freaking America
.  “So Holiday finally figured you’d be a
good fit.”

“It was either
let me join or I’d tell every newspaper in Anterra about the department.” 
She laughed.  “No, I’m kidding.  I wouldn’t have done that. 
Probably.”

Holiday walked in
with Corey Stone in his wake.  Corey smiled briefly in greeting and sat
next to Amber.  Of course.

“Let’s get right
to it, shall we?” said Holiday with a more-cheerful-than-usual smirk.

The beginning of
orientation consisted of basic household rules:  Respect for department
property, superiors, and peers.  Absolutely no girls in the guys’ dorm or
guys in the girls’ dorm—except on special prearranged and properly supervised
occasions.  “Call us old fashioned if you wish,” said Holiday.  “I’ll
only take it as a compliment.”

Corey
smiled.  “Don’t try to break that rule.  If the resident supervisors
don’t catch you, Sherlock will.  Believe me, I know.”

Amber shook her
head at him.

“Hey,” he said
defensively, “I was new, and I just took a wrong turn.  Totally innocent,
really.”

Holiday cleared
his throat to shut Corey up.  “And,” he continued emphatically,
“absolutely no romantic involvement between fellow department members.  Be
friends.  Get to know each other.  Learn to love each other as
brothers and sisters in arms.  But for heaven’s sake don’t date each
other—or, if you do, keep it a secret from everyone else.  Especially me.”

“Sherlock might
catch you at that one, too,” Amber muttered.

Jill laughed in
spite of herself.

“I’m not going to
bother going over the rest of our residence rules,” said Holiday.  “Read
the department handbook for yourself.  Now, follow me, please.”

THEY
went to the office next door.  Holiday introduced them to Miss White, a
stylish woman with short black hair.  She cordially asked who her first
victim would be.  Jill volunteered.

Miss White led
her back to a small room with a glowing floor and walls.  Jill stood
perfectly still when she was told to, and the floor and walls got brighter and
hummed.

“What’s this
supposed to do?”

“We’re creating a
digital three-dimensional model of you.  We’ll need a very precise
measurement of all your body’s dimensions and joints.”

“What for?”

“For your
uniform, of course.”

“Oh. 
Right.”

“Hold your chin
up a little.  We’ll get another scan of your facial features, just to make
doubly sure.  We don’t want your mask to fit improperly.”

“Mask?”

“Holiday requires
masked helmets during any mission where you’re not undercover.  So what do
you want on yours?”