aDr. Addams,a he whispered urgently. aItas Brad. You have to get out of here. Thereas someone following us. I sawa"a He stopped speaking, in response to the low rumble that began behind him. The canisters were moving. Rumbling. Shaking. Arcon. Volatile and explosive.

aBrad, run,a she screamed, but instead he twisted slowly around to see what was happening behind him, twisting under the flickering lights as she heard laughter and saw the canisters fall, saw the ball of flame explode out toward him, through him as he exploded with it, and she flung herself over the body of Emily Rainer, into the only protection offered by the garbage cans against the wall.

13.

Planetoid Three, Toronto Replica ALEX WAS ALMOST AWAKE WHEN THE TELECOM next to his bed buzzed. He picked it up and saw Rachelas face.

Stricken would be a good word to apply to it.

aWhat?a he asked.

aTrouble,a she said. aBig trouble. Thereas been aa"a murder on campus.a Alex felt the blood leave his face as his hand clutched for the edge of anything to hang on to. aRachel,a he said, and could find nothing else to say.

aThey found her in the tunnels,a she said. aAlexa" her heart wasa"gone. Just gone.a aRachel,a he said again, unable to squeeze out anything else.

aShe was a professor. In Jaguaras department. Emily Rainer,a Rachel said, then she blinked at Alex. aOh, G.o.d. Did you thinka"you didnat think it wasa"oh, G.o.d. Iam sorry.a Alex felt oxygen return to his brain, his heart begin to beat again. She wasnat dead. Not dead. Not murdered. Not too late.

Adrenaline raced around his body, and he let it. aIs Jaguara"okay?a aSort of. She was at the scene of the crime and there was an explosion of some kind. I donat have all the details. Sheas not hurt, I donat think, but sheas being held for questioning.a as.h.i.t,a he said. aFigures. Did she call for an attorney?a aNo. The cop shop called here. She gave my number. Alex, thereas more.a He waited.

aAnother body was found at the scene. Pretty badly burned. They couldnat ID it, which is why they called. To see if it was one of ours. I guess they found a code chip they thought was Planetoid material.a Brad. It would be Brad.

ah.e.l.l,a he said. ah.e.l.l.a He glanced up at the shuttle schedule on his wall. Next one out wasnat until four in the afternoon. Head have to get a special requisition.

aGet Jill on it. Sheas Jaguaras usual legal counsel, and about the only woman I know who isnat fl.u.s.tered by this sort of s.h.i.t. Apprise her of the situation. Tell her Iam getting a special rec and weall leave in an hour.a He hung up on Rachel and called in his seat reserve.

Lieutenant Durk tapped a wooden finger against the table, pressed his face to the computer monitor, and read.

A murder on campus. Dzarny was on his way. Forrest wanted to know how long they should stick around, or if the project could be called complete at this point.

Twitchy man, Durk thought. The murder threw him. Granted, it wasnat in the plans, but it wasnat out of the reach of probability either. And it made sense. She was getting out of hand. Going out of bounds. Something had to be done. Pretty high profile, but it could be covered. Forrest was twitchy about it, though. But then again, head worked research for a lot of years. That tended to make people twitchy.

He understood why. Working with people like their specialist made him want to twitch. If he was naturally inclined that way, he was sure head be nervous. But he wasnat. He sent a response: Stick, but prepare to move out quickly. Await notification of status change.

That was all. For Durk, the most important factor to consider was Dzarny, who was on his way. Durk leaned away from the computer screen and considered it.

Dzarny would arrive by the afternoon. Probably head be busy for a while. Durk would let him take care of business before contacting him. Then theyad talk. Durk would find out Alexas plans and make his accordingly. He knew all his options, and the consequences of each one.

The only thing he didnat know was what the Addams woman would do next. He wished she was a little more predictable, but head have to work around that. He didnat trust her to cooperate, or else head talk to her directly. He considered it again briefly, wondering if shead do it for Dzarnyas sake. No. She wouldnat trust anything the army had to say, and he couldnat blame her. Not even a little bit. If he was in her position, head have a good laugh at any proposition the Pentagon threw at her.

No. Head trust his first instinct. Shead have to come through, whether she wanted to or not.

aLook, Iall say it one more time in English, and then I go to Mertec since youad probably understand that about as well as you understand your mother tongue. I was in the tunnels because I got an anonymous note from someone asking me to meet them. The blood on my hand is Emilyas. I got it trying to press her chest closed.a Jaguar held out her left hand, which was lightly stained. They hadnat let her wash it until they took any number of pointless samples.

A large and rather corpulent man named Keene stared down at her and said, aSure, sister. Camon. Whyad you kill her? And what did you do with the heart?a Jaguar rested her head in her hands. aI ate it,a she muttered.

aWhat?a She brought her face up to stare at him with fiery eyes. aI ate it,a she said. Keeneas eyes widened, the pupils dilating. She held out two fingers and began to growl.

aWhat thea"you some kind of f.u.c.king witch?a he stuttered, backing away. aCut that s.h.i.t outa"hey, Dolaski, get in here, would ya?a Keene backed toward the door and exited, locking her in the interrogation room.

That was better. At least she could get a few minutes alone. Theyad been at her all night, holding her as a material witness in the local cop shop. She knew she could make them either arrest her or release her after a certain point, but she figured she might as well stay here and see if she could learn anything. It might even be safer.

She pulled up the only other chair in the room and rested her feet on it, slumped back as far as she could in the other chair, and closed her eyes. Maybe shead practice sleeping. See if she remembered how.

She was burned and bruised and shocked and splattered with blood. Bruised and charred and wild-eyed from being overtaken by her chant-shape. Her chant-shape, which was keeping her alive, protecting her from whatever sliced Emilyas chest open and dissolved her heart.

She shuddered.

Telekine, esper, Adept. Who was on campus, capable of doing that? Someone working for the army? Telekine, esper, Adept. It had to be a Telekine. She didnat know of any other art that could shred flesh in that precise and layered way. Telekine. Precise. Accurate and fast as lightning.

But who?

It could be anyone. A Telekine could operate from anywhere on campus, could be moving parts of her she didnat even know she had, if they were good enough to get through her closing. Of course, when she walked in her power, she wasnat closed. Just elusive. Slippery as a shadow.

And alive. Still alive, if she could stand the ride. As she began to feel the soft drifting of sleep encompa.s.s her, the door opened, and someone cleared their throat.

aFlu seasonas such a b.i.t.c.h,a she commented.

aFunny,a a familiar voice said, athatas exactly what these fine officers keep saying about you.a She drew herself up in her seat, and let her feet fall hard on the floor. Alex walked across the room and pulled up the chair she had been using, and sat down facing her.

He wondered how she managed to look exhausted and radiant at the same time. It must have been the chant-shape showing in her eyes, in spite of smears of blood and soot and fatigue on her face.

ah.e.l.lo, Alex,a she said, leaning back in her chair, relaxing. aWhatas the matter? Bored with the Planetoids and want a nice fat cop to deal with for a change, or am I your a.s.signment when Iam sentenced to Planetoid Three for murder?a Okay, he thought. At least he knew what mood she was adopting for him. He decided to sidestep the bulls.h.i.t.

aWas Brad in the tunnel with you?a he asked.

He saw her shoulder twitch. aYou should know. You sent him.a aI did,a he confirmed. aNow I have to ID whatas left of him.a aYou must feel like s.h.i.t about that, too,a was her only comment.

She was right. He did.

She picked at a torn nail. aGo away, Alex,a she said.

aWhy, Jaguar?a Her eyes, hooded and closed, told him nothing. She pushed her chair away and stood, turned her back to him, arms crossed at her chest, staring at the wall. aSee Davidson,a she said, aThe Etiquette of Empaths, pages twenty-five forward.a aIn spite of my recent stupidity, what makes you think Iad leave you alone to face that?a She didnat move.

aJaguar,a he said, alook at me.a aNo,a she said. aI want you to leave.a aThen look at me and tell me that.a She turned around and her face twisted into motion, but no words emerged. She made a sound of frustration and turned back to the wall, gave it a kick. He felt some sympathy for her. It was difficult, that truth thing. But right now he would work the advantage.

aI came to tell you two things,a he said. aFirst, the armyas got you listed under Blackout. Youare in the middle of an operation.a She went very still, which was her way of expressing surprise. Then he saw her shoulders lift and fall.. aWhatas it to you?a aThatas the second thing I came to tell you,a he said.

He felt her absorbing his words, knew she read his tone as well. Her body tensed as if for a fight, and she swung around to him, her face painted with soot and blood, hair wild as a solar storm, eyes a holocaust of flame, unwilling to yield to any power except the one she walked in now, clear as the night sky.

Jaguar, as she really was. In her power. Beautiful and dangerous.

I choose you. I choose you.

He stood, pushing his chair over.

aIam not leaving,a he said. aI came here because I should never have let you go.a He walked toward her, and he kept his eyes with hers. She held a hand up as if warding him off, holding him back, but he kept walking.

aStop it,a she hissed at him. aYou donat know. Itas nota"you canat be here.a aJaguar,a he said, aI am here. Where I belong. With you.a The truth. There it was. He had chosen, and felt the relief of that.

aStop it,a she said. aStop it. You canat. You donat know. You are not to think of me that way.a He took one more step, wrapped his hand around hers. aI already do.a She stood poised inside his thought, and he waited to know what shead do next. Push him away. Hit him. She could do anything and it would be fine. Anything, if he could stand here with his hand on hers for one minute more.

She breathed in, and her breath emerged from her as a moan, a fury of longing in her eyes. She moved her hand to his face, exploring it as if shead never seen it before. Then she pulled him to her and kissed him.

I choose you. I choose you.

Her lips were warm, the length of her pressed into his flesh was a fire barely contained. He twined his fingers in her hair and held her here, in this moment, tasting her, tasting the essential power she was walking in, tasting all of who she was, to the bottom of her wild soul.

Like finding the center of the universe and kissing it. Like having it kiss you back.

He knew now what she meant by that.

Then, abruptly, she pulled away and stared at him hard. When she spoke, her voice sizzled like the edge of a star.

aAnd what would you do with all that in your bed?a she asked him.

He opened his mouth to tell her, specifically and in great detail, but never had the chance to speak.

The door opened, and Keene returned with his partner in tow.

aAddams,a he barked, aweare releasing you.a aDammit,a Alex said under his breath. af.u.c.king cops.a She closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her face, swaying as she stood. When she turned her face up, she was herself again. The moment was gone.

aWas it something I said?a she asked brightly.

aYour attorney called. Said wead better. For now,a he said, looking disgusted. aGo to the desk and one of the womenall take you downstairs so you can wash and get the rest of your things.a aWhat a disappointment to be leaving. I so hoped we could continue our discussion of Kafkaas metaphysical approach to pain as it relates to effete inept.i.tude in the criminal justice system.a aYeaha"well, donat leave the city. Got it?a aI got it. Wish I could get rid of it.a She patted Keene on the back and turned to Alex, wiggled a finger at him! aBye-bye now.a He grabbed her arm. aIall go with you.a aYou canat,a she said. aNo men allowed where Iam going.a aThen Iall meet you back at your room. Do you hear me?a She tried to jerk her arm back but he held on. aGo away,a she growled at him.

aNo,a he said sharply. aMeet me back in your rooms. Will you?a She said nothing, but looked as if she wanted to say a lot.

aWill you?a he repeated, and she nodded at him, once. He let her go.

As she swung the door open, he was given a clear view of an attractive man greeting her, putting a sympathetic arm around her, and leading her out the door.

aThat man with Dr. Addams,a he asked Keene, awho would he be?a aThat guy? Some kind of dean or something. Yeah. Ethan Davis. We got nothing on him.a aThatas unfortunate,a Alex said. aIt really is.a Alex went through the grim task of identifying Bradas remains, calling his family and letting them know, making arrangements for transfer of his body after autopsy. Then head gotten into his rented wings and headed back toward campus and Jaguar.

Although he would never convince her of this, Alex thought there was something to be said for using wings instead of wheels. For instance, they made it easier to tell when you were being tailed.

As he skimmed the tops of buildings where he could safely and legally cruise at two hundred and fifty, he saw on his instrument panel that someone was too close behind him. They approached and pulled back, approached and pulled back. He slowed to one fifty, then one hundred.

They slowed with him.

A visual check showed him a current model Eagle, gold. That was a machine made for speed. He slowed just a little further, to seventy-five, hoping the hover capacity on his older Thunderbird would kick in and hold the line. The Eagle actually had an advanced hover, but his reading on this model taught him that if it was pressed, it would stall out.

aSurprise,a he commented to his readout, when it indicated that the Eagle was not landing. In fact, it was putting on speed, and no longer hiding. The chase was on.

He kicked his wings to three hundred and got out of their airs.p.a.ce, but they kept pace, as he knew they would. He gave the situation a momentas thought and a.s.sessed his chances of evasion at about zero. That was all right, since head like to know who was chasing him and what they wanted to tell him, but he wanted to at least give them a little run for their money first.

Just because. Just because he didnat like them much. Just because he considered that what they did was rude, he punched in to four hundred and veered a sharp left to nowhere. It was a random move, and these sorts of people usually didnat deal well with the random. Order was more in their line.

The Eagle faltered behind him, then turned wide, started to catch up.

Alex remembered a cute trick head learned in his early lessons on wings. It was something an ex-prisoner showed him, about looping under an oncoming vehicle. There was a way to do it without dropping your power level, if you justa"ah. That was it.

The Thunderbird about-faced and went careening directly into the path of the Eagle. Head-on, they sped toward each other, and both had a split second of knowing that whichever way they turned, the other might turn the same way, resulting in a sudden dispersal of body parts for all concerned. But Alex was an Adept.

He grinned, pulled right as the Eagle did, then shot under them, headed in the other direction.

That felt good.

He sighed deeply in satisfaction, and in the realization that head have to land sooner or later, at which point someone would pick him up. There was no escaping these boys. He might as well, he supposed, get it over with.

Scanning the groundfield plan, he saw a lot about a mile east, and pulled in to make the landing.

As he got out of his seat, rough hands put him facedown on the ground and kept him there.

ah.e.l.lo, boys,a he said. aWhere to now?a aShut the f.u.c.k up,a one of them said, and he was cuffed, and a blindfold wrapped over his eyes. When the Eagle he knew he was occupying took flight, he heard the ping of a computer-driven speedometer that had been stressed by the quick shift of their recent chase.

aThat ping,a he said. aYou oughta have someone look at that. Sounds like someone who doesnat know how to shift very well stripped the overdrive.a aShut the f.u.c.k up,a the other one said.

aAnything you say,a he replied, and sat silent for the rest of the fairly short trip.

When they landed, roughly he thought, and he felt himself pulled up and out of the vehicle, he asked, aWill Rich be joining us? Or am I important enough to rate his bossa"thatad be Matt Durk, general lieutenant, wouldnat it?a A hand pushed at his back. aShut the f.u.c.k up,a a voice said.

Then he was shoved into a darkened room, onto a seat, and the blindfold was removed.

When the room didnat get much lighter without the blindfold, he blinked. Not totally dark, but shaded. What fools, he thought. Did they really expect him not to know whom he was with, or were they just trying to set an ominous mood?

From a corner, he heard a tapping as of wood against wood. A voice that had been hollowed out by years of the need to stay in the duck-and-cover position spoke to him.

aSupervisor Dzarny,a it said, ayouave been playing games with us.a Alex sighed. aThatas true, Durk. I have.a He heard a low chuckle.

aI know where I am, too. You didnat honestly think Iad miss the most obvious cues to people and place, did you?a aWith your training? I suppose not.a This said with something like fatigue. Whatever he wanted from Alex, it bored him. He had something else on his mind of greater import, Alex suspected. Alex saw his hand rise, and the room empty, except for the two of them.

aHow about we try this?a Alex said. aSince Iam here, why donat you tell me enough so that I donat bug the h.e.l.l out of you, and I tell you enough so that you donat bug the h.e.l.l out of me.a Silence. Then, tap tap tap tap.

aThere is an operation in progress which is of a rather delicate nature. A specialist is involved. We need to complete it, and hope to complete it soon. In order to meet our schedule, all blocks to progress must be removed. Must be removed.a A long silence.

aDo you understand?a Alex said nothing.

More silence, and a sharp, sudden crack. Alex couldnat stop the reflex jump, and knew Durk had seen and enjoyed the moment. Good for him, Alex thought. He knows how to run his show.

aI donat understand,a Alex said carefully. aWhile I have no wish to interfere with Pentagon activities, Iam as you see me. Sitting in the dark. How can I avoid interfering when I donat know which of my actions will create interference?a Tap tap tap.

aLetas say you have options,a Durk suggested. aLimited options. And we want to know which one youall choose.a aTell me what they are.a aYou can stay here with Dr. Addams. Or you can leave. Go back to the Planetoids and let her ran the game on her own.a aGame?a Alex asked. aWhatas the game?a aGo fish,a Durk said.

Alex was silent. Go fish. What the h.e.l.l did that mean? Jaguar had a game with the big boys? That seemed eminently unlikely.