Crow - The Awakening (13 page)

Steven pulled out a textbook and went to log onto the college website. He mistyped the name in his excitement and a conspiracy theorist site came up. "Hey, look at this!" Steven looked at the page. Its design was rather poor, not much more than a long text document with very little formatting. The name was obviously a pseudonym so Steven hacked into the domain registrar and through their privacy controls and was able to put a name to the article. "Hah. They thought they could hide from me. Randy Wollins."

"You're going to be a terror on the internet if you keep doing that." Dmitri said.

"I was curious!" He read Randy's story. "He says the government is spying through people's computers!" Steven grinned. If Randy only knew, he thought to himself.

Dmitri snorted. "The internet is full of that sort of stuff. It's all just stories. After all, would you put your search for your parents on the internet?" Steven nodded, agreeing. He'd never divulge that even anonymously. He's going to have to get used to that. Steven retyped the address and pulled up the college website and dug a textbook out of his backpack. A knock on the library door surprised both of them. Then Steven remembered and rooted around for the gallon of honey.

"Whew, it's cold out there!" the chef exclaimed as he came in, stomping his feet. He was followed by his friend, the computer executive that was trying to recruit Steven to the summer internship.

"Layton! I was thinking you weren't going to make it in this snow
.
" Steven
was elated and
flattered that some of his customers braved icy roads to get his honey. He shook Layton's hand and held up the jar of golden goodness for him.

"For that, the trip is worth it. Plus Bret wanted to visit with you, too." Layton grabbed the jar carefully and put it in the canvas bag that Steven had given him years ago. Bret finished exchanging pleasantries with Dmitri and came over, smiling broadly.

"Bret, you're not going to believe this." Steven pointed to his laptop.

Bret appeared shocked. "Your parents know about that?"

"Better. They bought it for me,"
Steven
beamed.

"Wow!" Bret was thrilled and smiled widely as he sat down and played with the laptop. "Looks like you're starting college classes finally."

"Yeah. I've only waited a year for it." Steven grinned.

"Only a year. You're still starting four years ahead of your age group," Layton scolded, smiling.

"That's really neat, Steven." Bret turned in the chair to face him. "Do you think they'll let you attend our internship?"

Steven frowned. "Probably not yet. They've got some pretty strict rules on how I use the laptop," he sighed.

"That's okay. Baby steps." Bret stood up and reached into his jacket. "Here's next summer's schedule and my contact information, though." Steven received them eagerly. The brochure usually had the latest news on computer developments that Steven normally didn't get otherwise.

"Sweet. Thanks." He opened the magazine and scanned the table of contents. "I really hope to come out there sometime."

"We'd really like to have you. I think you've got a lot to contribute to the work that we do and a very promising career ahead of you." Bret buttoned his jacket up and looked at Layton. "We'd better head out if we're going to avoid more weather, though."

"Thanks! And thanks, Layton. I'll have your next order ready next week." Steven waved and they waved back as they stepped out. Steven was feeling much better and things were looking up for him. He didn't notice a large black shadow speeding across the room behind him to the back entrance as he sat down and resumed his college studies.

Bret and Layton made a couple more recruitment stops on their way back to Seattle. He was able to get a commitment from one of them but the other will require another visit later on. The evening was starting to wane as the final glow in the western sky receded, beginning to give way to the starry night. Layton was talking to Bret about some new dishes he was going to introduce to his patrons when something crossed in front of their car. He swerved and corrected while Bret looked around. "Deer," Layton said. Bret shook his head and was about to respond when he winced in pain, his hands reflexively grabbing his head.

Alarmed, Layton looked at him. "Bret? What's...?" That's as far as he was able to get when something slammed into the car on the passenger side. The entire side caved in, shoving Bret nearly into Layton's lap. Layton struggled to react as the car was shoved to the side violently, narrowly missing a ditch as it careened onto a side mountain road. The car shuddered violently thanks to a completely imploded suspension on the passenger side, wobbling wildly until it came to an ignoble, bumpy halt just out of sight of the highway.

Layton sat there for a moment in shock, staring straight ahead at the trees illuminated by the headlights. Then he saw someone walking calmly but quickly in front of the car, coming from the passenger side and looking straight at him. It was a tall man in a dark cloak who seemed to float on air as much as walk. His face was perfectly white and nearly glossy in the beam of the headlight. Layton saw that his hands were equally white as the man brushed window glass off his shoulder while walking around the car toward him. Layton's heart was in his throat as he reacted in panic, yanking the busted seat belt off as he opened the door and scrambled out of the car. Bret remained in the car holding his head in pain but Layton was in full flight mode now, terror filling him to his finger tips as he ran away from the car and the strange man. He scrambled toward the highway, running so hard that his feet slipped in the gravel.

A black shadow passed him and quite suddenly a large furry creature blocked his path, baring his fangs and growling menacingly. Layton put on the brakes, his feet slipping out from under him as he tried to reverse his course. His entire body tingled in fear as if electrified and quite suddenly his legs felt like they were blocks of heavy lead. As he tried to run away from the creature, he felt like he was running against a strong river. He could hear the monster behind him, getting closer. He tripped, looked back, and screamed as the furry nightmare was almost upon him. Scrambling on his hands and knees, he turned to continue running and suddenly was face to face with a pair of eyes that looked like liquid pools of moonlight. They belonged to the face of a stunningly beautiful woman who stared intensely into his eyes. Suddenly, all thoughts of running faded away as he froze, transfixed by her arresting gaze. She reached up and caressed his face and abruptly consciousness left him, and the oblivion of blackness enveloped him in its cold embrace.

Migalo grabbed the man's foot and dragged him back to the car while Lohet looked in at Bret.

"Status of jammer?" Lohet asked coldly. Penipe looked at a little brass device attached to her belt.

"It's still blocking the golem's signal, but we don't have long." She tweaked a setting on it.

Lohet reached in and grabbed Bret by his neck. Suddenly Bret exploded out of his grasp and through the top of the car, knocking Lohet back. Standing on top of the car, he surveyed the situation. There were three assailants in the immediate vicinity and his connection to his master was disconnected. He went into survival mode and jumped off the car, over Lohet and landed running, attempting to move beyond the jamming of his connection so he could reconnect to the neural network.

Lohet chased after him, the air whipping at him violently. He accelerated past Bret explosively and then stopped suddenly, with the rush of air catching up to him with a gust. Without hesitation, he grabbed Bret's arm and in a single, smooth move Lohet spun his prey around hard and released him back toward the other two. Bret flew through the air fast enough to rip off most of his clothing and create a loud thunderclap. He hit a tree, passing through it in an explosion of splinters and bark and landed on the mountainside behind it, creating fissures in the boulder he impacted. Bret was back on his feet before the broken tree hit the ground and shifted to combat mode, rushing Lohet at a dizzying speed.

Lohet planted his feet and attempted to divert the energy of the attack as Bret reached him. Bret adjusted in an instant and slammed his assailant into the car, crushing the rear fender and sending it farther off the road. Lohet extracted himself from the car as Bret was upon him again, and ducked a punch that created a shockwave as it passed by. The two locked in an embrace, each gauging the other for a moment. Lohet abruptly dropped, pulling Bret over and shoving him upwards with his legs as he hit the ground. Bret went flying up into the air and landed on his feet a few yards away, running back toward Lohet as his feet hit the ground.

Lohet braced himself and as Bret came into range he sidestepped him, grabbed his head, and pushed Bret down. Bret's immense velocity translated downwards as he was shoved into the ground, creating a huge furrow as he came to an abrupt halt. Lohet was on him in an instant, pinning his arms. Bret started resisting him wildly and it was all Lohet could do to keep him restrained.

"Sirel? Try not to fry this one please," Lohet said, remaining focused on his captive. Sirel tittered as she floated down from the night sky, resting on Lohet's shoulders. She reached down and touched Bret and spontaneous arcs of energy created a luminescent blanket over the three of them. What was left of Bret's clothing started smoking. "That's enough," Lohet said without emotion. His own clothing smoldered a little too, but he ignored it as he held out his hand. Penipe was already by his side and she withdrew a cylinder from her equipment pouch and handed it to him. Lohet hit a button on the cylinder and it transformed into a long spike. He felt on the back of Bret's skull with his finger and found a spot, then jabbed the spike into Bret's head at that spot.

Sirel jumped off Lohet's shoulders, pulled a computer from Penipe's pouch, and activated the holographic display, expanding it for all to see. Migalo finished stuffing the unconscious chef back into the car and calmly walked over, looking over Sirel's shoulder at the display.

"There." Lohet pointed. Images passed by rapidly on the display, but he was able to see each one and saw the image of Steven. "Access that file." Sirel narrowed the search to that segment of Bret's memory and they watched what appeared to be a sped up video.

Migalo growled, unable to follow the data. "Do they know who he is?" He frowned, rubbing his eyes.

Lohet sat back on his haunches, shaking his head. "It doesn't appear they do." Penipe and Sirel looked at each other and Penipe retrieved the cylinder and deactivated the display.

"How can this be a coincidence? The Sadari are trying to recruit Steven without even knowing who he is?" Migalo paced impatiently. It was a very unlikely coincidence, but the images in their proxy's head were clear. They were only interested in Steven's clear computing talent. Lohet stood up and looked at the figure laying on the ground. He pulled the spike out of Bret's head. Reaching back, Lohet formed a fist and punched Bret, smashing the skull where the spike had pierced.

"The Sadari also collect prodigies to further the development of their project here. Steven would be a prime target to those ends." Lohet looked around at Migalo. His furry friend grumbled, not entirely convinced.

"Sirel, dispose of the golem." Lohet brushed himself off and stood back.

Sirel knelt down beside Bret and touched his head. The others turned away and shielded their eyes. There was a blindingly bright flash of light and quite suddenly Bret was rendered to a blackened, smoldering husk.

Migalo and Penipe approached the car and looked at Layton. "He needs a head wound here." Penipe pointed. Migalo grabbed Layton's head and slammed it against the door frame hard enough to break the skin and give him a nasty bruise. Penipe looked at the result. "Perfect." She pulled him out and dragged him a few feet from the car while Lohet stuffed the smoking body of Bret back into the car. "I need a boulder." Lohet looked up the mountainside and found a suitable candidate. Ripping off a shred of the roof, he went to it and rubbed it hard against one side of the boulder, staining it with the car's paint. Then he pushed the boulder off the mountain. It rolled and bounced down the slope and across the highway, landing in a ravine not far from the car. Satisfied that would answer the cause of the wreck, he returned to the others.

Sirel walked around the back of the car to the growing puddle of gasoline and ignited it. All four stood back while the car was engulfed in flames. It'll only be a matter of time before emergency crews get there and it's important to make this look like a legitimate accident to avoid any more prying eyes. Satisfied, they all melted back into the forest, leaving the car burning and Layton laying injured on the dirt road.

"It's not as fast as the new one I recently built." Steven typed out a report he was doing for one of his classes on his new laptop while sitting cross legged in the lush, tropical meadow. "But it's nice to be able to enjoy computers without having to sneak around..." he looked up at Asherah who sat close to him as she hummed a ballad they had worked on together over the years, facing him as she patiently watched him work, "...much."

Steven had already tied the new laptop into his wireless network and had set up access to the internet through his tree house system. Being limited to the library and under such heavy hand holding chafed on him, especially since he had been so extensively on the internet already, as well as many intranets. Of course, Dmitri wasn't all that bad, but he was still forced to observe the strict parameters his godparents had set.

Asherah grinned, then giggled as she threw a flower at him. "You are so naughty." Steven picked up the flower and nibbled it as he got contemplative. He was being rather disobedient but had gotten used to it over the years.

In a command window on his laptop Steven was monitoring a fresh search for his parents he had going, parsing through yet another massive database with the veritable army of powerful servers from around the world that he had co-opted for the task. In another window he was typing code for his latest project, a microcomputer the size of a flashdrive. The miniature little computer would give him access to his own private operating system and network regardless what computer he plugged it into. He was able to do all of this in the meadow now thanks to his godparents relaxing just a little on computers.