H.A.L.F.: The Makers (7 page)

What galled her was that she should be punished at all. She’d performed her job exactly as requested and delivered two powerful hybrids. Her reward for a job well done was an orange jumpsuit and a windowless, six-by-ten-foot room.

The first day of confinement she lay on her bed, stared at the ceiling and did equations in her head to keep herself from punching the wall and screaming out in anger. The second day she asked for library privileges.

“Nope. We have specific orders that you are not to be allowed library or computer privileges,” the guard had said.

Sturgis tried to use her authoritative voice. “I know my rights. I demand my library privileges.”

The guard just shook his head. “Orders.”

“Who gave the orders?” She had accepted the imprisonment without raising a stink, but denying her the right to access information was a step too far. “I demand to know why I’m here. They didn’t even give me an arraignment. Did you know that? I have the right to –”

“You have the right to shut your trap before I shut it for you.” The guard’s face had become red and he moved closer to the bars that separated them.

“You can’t use force on me. You’ll never get away with it.” She tried to sound sure of herself.

“After what you did? Killing your own men just to test a new chemical weapon. Even the worst criminal in here never did anything like that. You push me too far, I’ll hand you over to the crazy-ass bitches in here and I’ll make sure they know that you killed men under your command just to advance your career. They’ll tear you to pieces, and me and the other guards’ll sit back and watch. So go ahead. Keep talking.”

Sturgis pursed her lips. Her face was hot with anger, but she kept her mouth shut.

Lilly had suffered through many difficult things in her life. Days of work with little food or sleep. Living with only the companionship of her paid staff and a few houseplants. Foregoing a normal life with the love of a companion and the joy of children. Suffering through the constant recriminations by her mother and the death of her beloved father.

But Croft understood her well. He knew the one thing that mattered to her above all else.

Being a Sturgis. All she’d ever wanted was to live up to the legacy of her brilliant father and win the approval of her demanding mother. No matter how many accolades she received or diplomas on her wall, her younger brother, Robert, had simply to live to be the apple of their mother’s eye.

If she learns of this, it may kill her.

Alone in her cell without books, a computer or Sewell to bark orders at, Sturgis had time to think. And time to plan.

On the third day she requested paper and something to write with. At least the guard did not give her an automatic no. It took two more days, but on the fifth day of her confinement, a legal pad and pencil were delivered to her.

Croft probably thinks I’m going to continue my work – work that he’ll later find a way to take from me.

But instead of writing equations, she planned her escape – and her revenge. Day after day, she patiently observed the patterns of the guards and the routines of the prison world in which she lived. She scribbled notes on her pad of paper in a numeric code she’d learned years ago for sending messages.

Croft might have won a battle, but Sturgis had no intention of being dealt out of the game. Not when all that she’d worked for was coming to pass. Not when the world needed her the most.

Once free of the bonds of prison, she’d find Alecto. Together they’d rid the world of Croft and his daughter, Lizzy, heir apparent to become head of the Makers. And together, she and Alecto would continue her cloning project.

But first I need to get out of here.
Sturgis filled the pages of her legal pad with coded notes as she put her genius to work on devising a plan to escape the cage Croft had put her in.

Sewell got Jack through the security checkpoint at Davis-Monthan though how it worked, Jack couldn’t say. Jack kept his mouth shut as much as he could and followed Sewell’s lead. The fact that Jack was wearing street clothes rather than the ubiquitous black uniform caused a bit of discussion, but the lack of resemblance to the ID made the guards hesitate. Sewell explained the clothes due to ‘Steve Harper’ being on cleanup duty and the ID as a crappy picture taken before ‘Steve’ had lost weight and grown his hair out. When the guards still didn’t buy it, Sewell began throwing General Bardsley’s name around. That prompted the guards to move them through.

Once through security, it took about twenty minutes to get out of the building complex. They had to walk from the underground platform, through a labyrinth as confusing as A.H.D.N.A.’s and finally up into the warm, sunny Tucson day.

The sun. Jack feared he’d never see it again. He couldn’t help the grin that came to his face. He was alive. He’d survived his underground ordeal and he was in the world again. It seemed so long since the helicopters doused Tex that he felt like a time traveler. He half expected to look in a mirror and find himself aged and the world changed.

But it all looked the same. It had been only two weeks.
Feels like a lifetime.

They finally got to Sewell’s car. Jack had expected an all-black four-door sedan. Instead Sewell unlocked a Prius.

“Prius? You keep surprising me, Mr. Sewell.”

“What’s wrong with my car?”

“Nothing, man. Not a thing.” Jack got in and was happy to feel the dry sauna heat inside the car after it had sat closed up in the hot Arizona sun. He couldn’t wipe the wide grin from his face.

“You’re smiling, Mr. Wilson. Did I do something else to make you laugh?” Sewell started the car and they were on their way.

“No. I’m just happy to be alive, I guess.”

Sewell smiled then too. “I’m glad of it as well. I was overwrought when she ordered the three of you terminated. You know that if there was anything I could have done, I would have.”

No, Jack didn’t know that. He figured Sewell for an ass-kissing company man who blindly followed orders just so he could keep his job. Maybe Sewell was a cowardly ass-kisser. Maybe he was more. Jack decided he’d let the guy’s future actions determine his final thought on the matter. “It’s okay, Mr. Sewell. I don’t hold the order to have us killed against you. Now Sturgis, on the other hand …”

“Yes, well, I suggest you not bring this up with Anna.”

“You don’t want me to burst the bubble of the person you’re counting on to break Sturgis free?” It left a bad taste in Jack’s mouth to say out loud that he had to help Sturgis.

Sewell kept his eyes on the road.

“You said for me not to tell Anna about her aunt’s plan to kill me. Does Anna know that her aunt is an evil mad scientist with a lab of freakish creations?”

“Anna knows more than she should. But I think it would be difficult for her to accept that her aunt ordered three teenagers to be killed. I need Anna’s help – and yours. I’m hamstrung right now. The keystrokes on my computer are being logged, my phone tapped. If Croft knows I’m helping Commander Sturgis …”

As much as Jack longed to see Sturgis pay for the hell she had brought down on Jack, Erika and Ian, he had to admit that Sewell could be right. From what he’d seen of the Croft guy and what Sewell had told him, it could be that Sturgis was the only one thinking about saving others rather than her own ass.
I can’t forgive her for what she did.
But if she was right about the greys …
Erika, what did you step into?

“Mr. Sewell, tell me this. How long am I supposed to stay with Anna? I’m guessing she’s not going to want a roommate indefinitely. And I’ve got to get home eventually. My mom … I’m sure she’s worried sick about me.”

After a few minutes he said, “I’m very sorry for that inconvenience and worry to your family. You know you can’t go home just yet. I’m sorry.”

“So I’m to lie low and be at your beck and call?”

“I did get you out of A.H.D.N.A. And I told you that you wouldn’t be able to go home.”

Sewell had gotten him out of the underground hell. But what was to keep him from walking out of Anna’s house later and never coming back?

It was as though Sewell could read Jack’s mind. “And in case you’re thinking that you’ll go back home without holding up your end of the bargain, Ann will notify me if you run.”

“And?”

Sewell didn’t immediately answer, perhaps thinking of what he wanted to say. When he did speak, Sewell’s voice was quiet but firm. “I suggest you not press me on this and comply with our agreement.”

Jack did not doubt the resolve in that statement. “Okay, I’m scratching your back. I’ll help this Anna retrieve the spawn of Satan from prison where she belongs. Will you do me a favor in return?”

“I’m amenable to doing a favor, but before I can agree, I must know what it is.”

“My mom. She’s got to be … Sewell, you gotta let her know that I’m alive.”

“I can’t do that, Mr. Wilson.”

“You’ve got to. Look, I can’t … it’s just my mom and me, you see. And if she thinks … Well, I can’t continue breathing oxygen while she thinks I’m dead. Or worse. You’ve gotta do this for me, Sewell.”

Mr. Sewell kept his eyes on the road. He finally glanced over at Jack. “I’ll – I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks. That’s all I’m asking. See what you can do.” Since Sewell was amenable to his first request, Jack pushed for more. “And one more thing. Erika and Ian. Any chance you have a way I can communicate with them?”

“It’s not like we have a cosmic telephone to ring up the greys whenever we feel like it.”

Sewell made it sound ridiculous. But if the greys could fly a spaceship through interstellar space, it seemed likely to Jack that they had a way of receiving messages. Jack decided not to argue with Sewell. “I know it’s not like a telephone, but –”

“I’d love to help you talk to your friends. But even the Makers have their limits. I’m sorry.”

It was worth a try.
Jack would have to find some other way to reach Erika.

Soon they were away from the dusty air base and in the campus area of town. Sewell wove through the side streets and at last pulled up to a small well-kept mid-century bungalow-style home with a small covered porch.

“Here we are,” Sewell announced.

“Looks nice. For a student’s house, I mean.” For any house was what he really thought. It might have been small, but it was the most meticulously maintained, well-groomed house Jack had ever seen.

“Anna is in graduate school. She’s attending the University of Arizona. Getting her master’s degree in biochemistry. And I forgot to mention. The Sturgises are quite wealthy. Not William Croft rich, but still. Money is not an issue for them.”

“I see.” That began to explain how a student could afford such a nice place to live.

Sewell got out of the car and motioned for Jack to come with him. Jack’s heart hammered away in his chest again. For some reason, he felt like he did on the first day in a new school. His hands were clammy and he was suddenly aware that he hadn’t shaved or changed his clothes in two weeks (though he had finally showered at Dr. Randall’s place).
God, I look like a yeti. What is she going to think?

Sewell was already on the porch and knocking on the door when Jack sauntered up behind him. The door opened after only a few seconds.

“Mr. Sewell, how nice to see you again.” The voice was female but strong, fairly loud and in the mid-tones, not an overly high voice like some women have. Anna’s long blonde hair fell in a curtain on either side of her heart-shaped face as she reached out and hugged Sewell. “You look exactly the same as always. Exactly.”

“Well, you know, nothing ever changes in our world. It’s all shuffling papers from pile to pile.”

“Please, come in from the heat.”

Jack followed behind Sewell, and within twenty paces they were in a small kitchen that opened to an eating area and a tiny living room with a beehive fireplace. The place looked like it was professionally decorated with expensive-looking Native American pots and artistic blown-glass art pieces placed neatly on the lighted shelves on either side of the fireplace. Everything had a place, and all of it looked like it was picked out at the same time and positioned with care. It wasn’t the hodgepodge of stuff gathered over many years and strewn about like most people’s houses.

Anna blew a strand of soft, curling blonde hair out of her eyes. “I’m Anna.” She held out a thin, manicured hand to Jack.

Anna’s eyes were the tranquil blue of a deep pool of water and set above cheekbones so high and chiseled they looked sculpted.

Jack was struck speechless by Anna’s unexpected beauty. Her aunt Sturgis was so repugnant to Jack that he’d pictured her niece as a troll. And when Sewell had told Jack that Anna was getting an advanced degree in biochemistry, Jack envisioned a plain-looking thirty-something bookish woman. Anna couldn’t have been more than twenty-two, and she looked like she’d stepped off a magazine cover. Though she wore a simple T-shirt and cutoff blue jean shorts and flip-flops, somehow she exuded sophistication.

Jack realized he was still holding her hand and had said nothing. “Oh, sorry, nice to meet you too. I’m Jack Wilson.”
Crap, was I supposed to use that fake name?

Anna softly laughed. “I know.” She took her hand from his. “I don’t know much about you, but at least I wanted to know the name of my new roommate.” She flashed Jack a smile that was symmetrical and filled with perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth.

She either had some major cosmetic dentistry or she got very fortunate genes.
Jack had suffered through two years of braces and his mouth never achieved half the flawlessness of Anna’s.

While Commander Sturgis’ smile seemed as planned as a NASA mission, Anna’s smile came from her eyes.
She may not be smiling long if she learns the truth about her aunt
.

“Well, Sewell was hush-hush about everything, of course. Top secret, blah, blah, blah.” Anna made a talking motion with her hand. “But I’ll worm the details out of you.”

Sewell let out an uncomfortable chuckle coupled with a cough. “Now, Anna, don’t interrogate your houseguest.”