Gone (15 page)

"Sorry lo bother you." He pushed his glasses back up on his nose and tried to smile at the same time. He bobbed his head and looked around for the town hall.

"It's right there" The girl pointed. Then she said, "My name is Astrid. Do you really think you can get the phones working?"

"Sure. It will take time> though. Right now the signal goes from your phone to the tower, right?" His tone was condescending and he formed his hands into a schematic of a tower with beams radiating toward it, "Then it gets sent on to a satellite, then down to a router. But we can't send signals to the satellite now, so—*

He was interrupted by a shockingly loud cry of pain from inside the church. It made him flinch.

"How do you know we can't reach a satellite?" Astrid asked.

He blinked in surprise and made the smug face he made whenever someone questioned his technological expertise. "I doubt you would understand "

Astrid said."Try me, kid"

To Jack's surprise, she seemed :o follow everything he said. So he went on to explain how he could reprogram a few good desktop computers to serve as a primitive router for the phone system. "It wouldn't be fast. I mean, it couldn't handle more than, say, a dozen calls simultaneously, but it should work at a basic level"

Astrid's little brother seemed to be staring at Jack's hands, which he was now twisting nervously. Jack was anxious being away from Caine. Before they had come down from Coates Academy, Drake Merwin had warned everyone that they should keep talk with the Perdido Beach kids to a minimum.

A warning from Drake was serious.

"Well,! better go" Jack said.

Astrid stopped him. "So you're into computers"

"Yeah. I'm kind of a tech guy"

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"That's young to have those skills"

He laughed dismissively. "Nothing I've been talking about is hard to do, It's not something most people could do, but it's not hard for me"

Jack had never been shy when it came to his tech skills. He'd gotten his first real computer for his fourth Christmas. His parents still told the story of how he had spent fourteen hours on ihe machine that first dav\ pausing only for Nutri-Grain bars and juice boxes.

By the time he was five he could easily install programs and navigate the web. By age six his parents were turning to him for computer help. By eight he had his own website and was acting as his school's unofficial tech support.

At nine. Jack had hacked into the computer system of his local police department to erase a speeding ticket for a friend's father.

His own parents found out and panicked. The next semester he was at Coates Academy, which was known as a place to send smart, difficult children.

But Jack wasn't difficult, and he resented it. In any case, it didn't help him stay out of trouble. On the contrary, there were kids at Coates whom Jack's parents would have called bad influences. Some of them, very bad influences.

And some were jusl bad.

"So, what would be hard for you, Jack?" Astrid asked.

"Almost nothing" he answered truthfully. "But what I would like to do is get some kind
pf
internet working. Here in the ... in whatever this is"

"It seems we're calling it the FAYZ."

"Yeah. Here in the FAYZ. I mean, I'd estimate there are two hundred and twenty-five or so decent computers, based on the number of homes and businesses. The land area is pretty small, so it would be tairly simple to set up Wi-Fi. That's easy And if I had even a pair of old GSs to work with, I think I could stand up a limited local system "

He smiled happily at the thought.

"That would be great. So> tell me, Comp—should I really call you Computer Jack?"

"That's what everyone calls me. Or sometimes just Jack "

"Okay, Jack. What is Caine up to?"

Jack was caught off guard. "What?"

"What's he up to? You're a smart kid, you have some idea "

Jack wanted to leave, but he couldn't figure out how to do it. Astrid moved in and put her land on his arm. He stared down at the hand.

"I know he's up to something" Astrid said. Her little brother trained his big, vacant saucer eyes on Jack. "You know what I think?"

Jack shook his head slowly.

"I think you're a nice person" Astrid said-"I think you're very smart, so people don't always treat you very well They're scared of your talent. And they try to use you"

Jack caught himself nodding in agreement.

"But I don't think that kid Drake is a nice person. He's not. is he?"

Jack held very still. He didn't want to give anything away. He was not as quick at understanding people as he was machines. Mostly people weren't that interesting.

"He's a bully, isn't he? Drake, I mean."

Jack shrugged.

"I thought so. And Caine?"

When Jack didn't answer, Astrid let the question hang there. Jack swallowed and tried to look away, but it wasn't easy.

"Caine" Astrid repeated. "There's something wrong with him, isn't there?"

Computer Jack's resistance crumbled, but not his caution. He lowered his voice to a whisper "He can do things." Jack said. "He can—"

"Jack. There you are"

Jack and Astrid both jumped. It was Diana Ladris. She nodded cordially at Astrid. "I hope your little brother is all right. The way you rushed out of there, I thought maybe he was sick."

"No. No, he's fine."

"He's lucky to have you," Diana said. As she said it, she took Astrid's hand in hers, like she was determined to shake hands. But Jack knew better.

Astrid pulled her hand away.

Diana had a nice smile, but she didn't use it now. Jack wondered if Diana had been able to finish with Astrid. Probably not; it usually took her longer to read a person's power level

The mood of confrontation was broken by the sound of a diesel engine. It was a kid who looked like he might be Mexican, driving a baekhoe down the street.

"Who is that?" Diana asked.

"Edilio," Astrid said.

"What's he doing?"

The boy on the baekhoe began to dig a trench, right in the grass of the plaza, close to the sidewalk where the little girl's body lay under its blanket, avoided by all.

"What's he doing?" Diana repeated.

"I think he's burying the dead" Astrid said softly.

Diana frowned."Cainedidn't lell him to do lhat"

"What does it matter?" Astrid asked."lt needed to be done. In fact, I think Til go and see if I can help. You know, if you think that would be okay with Caine"

Diana didn't smile. She didn't snarl, either, and Jack had seen her do that on more than one occasion, "You seem like a nice girl, Astrid " Diana said. "I'll bet you're one of those brainy, Lisa Simpson types, all fu I of great ideas and worried about saving the planet or whatever. But things have changed. This isn't your old life anymore. It's like ... you know what it's like? It's like you used to live in a really nice neighborhood, and now you live in a really tough neighborhood. You don't look tough, Astrid"

"What caused it? The FAYZ. Do you know?" Astrid demanded, refusing to be intimidated.

Diana laughed. "Aliens. God. A Hidden shift in the space-time continuum. I heard someone call you Astrid the Genius, so you've probably thought of explanations! can't even guess at. It doesn't matter It's happened. Here we are "

"What does Caine want?" Astrid asked.

Jack could not believe Astrid hadn't withered in the face of Diana's confidence. Most people did. Most people couldn't stand up to her. If they did, they were sorry.

Jack thought he saw a flicker of appreciation spark Diana's dark eyes.

"What does Caine want? He wants what he wants. And hell get it" Diana said. "Now* run off to the funeral over there. Stay out of my way. And takecare of your little brother. Jack?"

The sound of his own name snapped Jack out of his trance. "Yes."

"Come."

Jack fell into step behind Diana, ashamed of his instant, doglike obedience.

They marched up the steps of the town hall. Caine, to the surprise of no one who knew him, had taken over the mayor's office. He was behind a massive mahogany desk, rocking slowly from side to side in a tOO-big maroon leather chair.

"Where did you go?" Caine asked.

"I went to get Jack"

Caine's eyes flickered. "And where was Computer Jack?" Diana said, "Nowhere. He was just wandering, lost"

She was covering for him, Jack realized with a shock. "I ran into that girl" Diana said. "The blond with the strange brother"

"Yes?"

"They call her Astrid the Genius. I think she's involved with thai kid, the tire kid."

"His name is Sam " Caine reminded her.

"I think Astrid's someone we need to keep an eye on"

"Did you read her?" Caine asked.

"I got a partial read, so I'm net sure"

Caine spread his hands in exasperation, "Why am I begging for information here? lust tell me"

"She's on about two bars"

"Any idea what her powers may be? Lighter? Speeder? Chameleon? Not another Dekkii, I hope. She was difficult And hopefully not a Reader like you, Diana"

Diana shook her head. "No idea. I'm not even sure she's two bars"

Caine nodded. Then he sighed as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders. "Put her on the list, Jack. Astrid the Genius: two bars. With a question mark "

Jack pulled out his PDA. It no longer got internet, of course, but its other functions still worked. He punched in the security code and opened the file.

The list opened. There were twenty-eight names on it, all Coates kids. In the column after each name was a number: one, two, or three. Only one name had a four after it: Caine Soren.

Jack focused on thumbing in the information.

Astrid. Two bars. Question mark.

He tried not to think about what it meant for the pretty blond girl.

"That went better than I hoped" Caine said to Diana. *l predicted there'd be some local bully we'd have to deal with. And I said there would l>e a natural leader We get the bully working for us, and we keep an eye on the leader until we're ready to deal with him."

"I'll keep an eye on him " Diana said. "He's cute."

"Did you get a reading on him?"

Jack had seen Diana take Sam's hand. So he was amazed when Diana said, "No. I didn't have a chance"

Jack frowned, uncertain if he should remind Diana. But that was stupid. Of course Diana would know if she'd read Sam or not.

"Do it as soon as you can " Caine said. "You saw the way everyone looked at him? And when I asked for nominations, his was the first name mentioned. I don't like it, his being Nurse Temple's son. That's a bad coincidence. Get a read on him. If he has the power, we may not be able to wait to deal with him."

Lana was healed.

But she was weak. Hungry Thirsty.

The thirst was the worst thing. She wasn't sure she could stand it.

But she had been through hell and survived. And that gave her some reason for hope.

The sun was up but not yet touching her with its rays. The gulch was in the shade. Lana knew that her best chance was to make it back to the ranch before the ground grew as hot as a pie fresh from the oven.

"Don't start thinking about food," she rasped. She was heartened to discover that she still had a voice.

She tried to climb straight back up to the road, but two skinned knees and two abraded palms later she admitted that wasn't happening. Even Patrick couldn't make the climb. It was Just too steep.

That left following the ravine until, hopefully; it came out somewhere. It wasn't an easy walk. In most places the ground was hard, but in other places it shifted and slid and landed her on hands and knees.

Each time she fell, it was harder to get back up. Patrick was panting hard, plodding rather than bounding, just as tired and footsore as she was.

"We're in this together, right, boy?" she said.

Brush tore at her legs, rocks bruised her feet. In places there were thickets of thornbush that had to be bypassed. In one place the thorns couldn't be avoided, and she had to work her way through with time-wasting caution, accumulating scratches that burned like Ire on her bare legs.

But once through she laid her hand on the scratches, and the pain ebbed. After ten minutes or so, there was no sign of the scratches.

It was miraculous. Lana was convinced of that. She knew she didn't personally have the power to heal dogs or people.

She'd never done il before. But how the miracle came about, she did not know. Her mind was on more pressing issues: how to scale this sudden rise> or skirt that bramble patch, or where, where, where in this parched landscape she could find water and food.

She wished she'd paid a lot more attention to the lay of the land while driving to and from the ranch. Did this gulch head for the ranch, or did it veer past? Was she almost there? Was she now wandering blindly toward the true desert? Was any* one looking for her?

The walls of the ravine weren't as tall anymore, but they were just as steep, and closer. The gulch was narrowing. That had to be good news. If it was narrowing and becoming shallower, didn't that mean she must b? nearing the end?

She had her eyes down on the ground, watching out for snakes, when Patrick stopped stock-still.

"What is it, boy?" But she saw what it was. There was a wall across the gulch. The wall rose impossibly tall, far higher than the gulch itself, a barrier made of., .of nothing she had ever seen before.

Its sheer size, combined with its utter strangeness in this place, struck fear into her. But it didn't seem to be doing anything. It was just a wall. It was translucent, like watery milk. It shimmered just slightly, as if it might be a video effect. It was absurd. Impossible. A wall where no wall had any business being.

She edged closer, but Patrick refused to come along, "We have to go see what it is, boy," she urged.

Patrick disagreed. He had no interest in seeing what it was.

Up close she could make out faint reflection of herself.

"Probably a good thing I can't see myself any better" she muttered. Her hair was stiff with dried blood. She knew she was filthy. She could see that her clothing was ripped, and not in an artistic, trendy way. just ripped to ribbons in places.