Laura Jo Phillips (29 page)

“I’m sorry, Darck,” she said.  “If I knew, I would tell you.  I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, you know that.  I just don’t know anything.  Those women treated me like I was their enemy.  I went to my room and closed the door cause there wasn’t anything I could say to change their minds, and honestly, after all of these years, it just doesn’t matter to me any more.”

Darck studied Berta’s face carefully before nodding slowly.  “All right Mother,” he said.  “I believe you.”

“What are you going to do?” Berta asked.

“I’m going to go out and see if I can find any tracks,” Darck replied before he turned and abruptly left the kitchen.  She heard him talking to Garid and Lenny but couldn’t catch anything they were saying.  A moment later the front door slammed shut. 

She wished she could go and lock the door, but there was no lock on it.  She had the run of the compound, but she was still a prisoner, and prisoners did not lock their jailors out.

***

After saying goodnight to Jackson, Clark and Rob, Ellicia locked her door and dropped her purse on the table just inside her apartment.  She went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, and frowned when she remembered she’d promised to clean up the breakfast dishes for the guys.  Oh well, she thought.  This was more important.  A few minutes later she carried her tea to the kitchen table and sat down.  She reached into her pocket and removed the earring, placing it carefully on the table in front of her. 

She picked up her tea and took a sip, her gaze locked on the small earring.  She stared at it for a long time, memorizing it carefully.  The soft cream color of the pearl, the pale peach undertones, the two tiny scratches next to the hole that the gold wire hoop ran through.  When she was sure she had the earring memorized, she turned it over and focused on the other side for a while. 

“Knowing what Hope looks like would help,” she said softly to herself.  But Harlan had left before she’d gotten the chance to ask him, and she didn’t want to wait for him to show up again before doing this.  She took another sip of her tea and then slid the cup towards the middle of the table so that it was out of her way.  She rubbed her hands together nervously, then reached out and picked up the earring, holding it gently between her thumb and forefinger.  She stared at for a moment, then placed it carefully in the palm of her other hand.  She closed her fingers into a fist and closed her eyes. 

The last time Ellicia had felt this nervous about a search was when she was trying to find Lariah two years earlier.  Before that she hadn’t been nervous in years.  It took her longer than usual to empty her mind and relax herself, but she kept working at until she succeeded.  She pictured the earring in her mind and held it there, waiting patiently.

Usually images just popped into her mind fully formed, showing her where an object was and, if it was moving, what direction it was going in.  This was nothing like that at all. 

The image she got was thin and faded, giving her the vague impression of three blurry figures.  They weren’t clear enough for her to see any detail, but she sensed that they were female. 

The figures were walking slowly toward her through a barren landscape, and they were surrounded by a bright yellow light.  She focused harder, trying to see the figures more clearly, but her efforts did no good.  After a while, the figures began to slowly fade and the yellow light dimmed to darkness.  Only when there was nothing at all to see did Ellicia release the vision and open her eyes.

She opened her hand and stared at the earring.  “All right then,” she said softly.  “We’ll just do this a bit at a time.  Whatever it takes.”

She reached for her tea cup, startled at how cold it felt.  A quick glance at the clock explained it.  It was nearly three in the morning.  How had that taken so long? she wondered.  It felt as though only minutes had passed, but it had actually taken several hours.  She wanted to run across the hall and tell the Bearens what she’d learned, but it was far too late. 

She picked up the earring and went to her bedroom where she placed it carefully on her bedside table before setting the alarm clock.  She felt a sense of urgency that she couldn’t explain, and couldn’t ignore. 

Chapter
32

Hope awoke before dawn the next morning.  At first she thought it was still the middle of the night because the rock enclosure and the trees blocked so much of the sky.  A quick glance at her watch assured her that it was indeed time to get up.  She stepped out of the enclosure for a moment to check the sunrise, relieved that there was still plenty of time to light a fire, cook breakfast, and put it out before it was light enough for the smoke to be seen. 

Hope went back to the fireplace and was pleased to discover that her experiment with the green wood the night before had worked.  Beneath the ashes was a small bed of bright orange coals.  She added a few bits of dry brush to restart the fire and then piled wood on that.  Within a few minutes she had a nice fire going.  She put on a pot of water for tea and breakfast, and prepared three cups and three bowls with regens.  Then she headed down to the river to wash her face and brush her teeth.  When she got back Grace was pouring the water into the tea cups and Karma was stirring the regens. 

“It’s so nice here I almost wish we could stay for a couple of days,” Karma said as they settled around the fire to eat.

“I know what you mean,” Hope said.  “It would be nice to pretend we don’t have to do anything but sit around and relax, but the fact is, I think they’re going to be looking for us today, so we’re going to have to keep a close eye on our surroundings.  Any sign of dust in the distance and I think we need to be ready to get out of sight.”

“That’s not going to help much if they’re using something like infra-red to search for us,” Karma pointed out.

“I know,” Hope replied.  “But Berta said she destroyed the infra-red system they’d used on her, so unless they have another one, I think we’ll be okay for a while.  Besides, there’s nothing we can do about it if they use some sort of technology to find us.  We can’t stop it, or get around it, so there’s no sense in worrying about it.”

“Sounds like the best thing we can do is just keep moving as quickly as we can,” Grace said.

“Yes, I agree,” Hope replied.  They both looked to Karma who shrugged, then nodded in agreement. 

“Well, lets get moving then,” Grace said standing up with her empty bowl and turning toward the stream.  Hope and Karma finished eating a minute later and followed after her.

***

“Did you learn anything?” Jackson asked as soon as he opened the door and saw Ellicia.  “I’m sorry Ellicia, that was rude of me.  Come in and have breakfast with us.”

“No, no time,” Ellicia said.  “I did learn something, but it’s not the same as what I usually get.  All I know so far is that Hope is somewhere in the desert, and she’s with a couple of other women.  We need to go talk to the Director.”

While Ellicia spoke, both Rob and Clark joined them in the living room.

“Desert?” Clark asked.  “Aren’t there a number of deserts on this world?”

“Yes, there are,” Ellicia said.  “Hope is in the American Southwest, the Mojave Desert, that much I’m sure of.  It’s a big area and I have no idea where she is exactly, but I know we have to go there.  I’m sure I’ll be able to get more information once we’re closer to her.”

“Then let’s get moving,” Rob said.

“Yes, let’s,” Ellicia said as she turned around and opened the door.  The sense of urgency she’d felt before going to bed had increased dramatically by the time she’d awakened.  She was digging in her purse for her vox before she was in the ground-car, and had the Director on the line before Clark had a chance to pull away from the curb.

“We need to get to the Mojave Desert as fast as possible,” she said as soon as the Director answered his vox.  “Once we’re there, we need access to a ground-car, and maybe an air transport.”

“Where exactly are you going?” the Director asked. 

“I’m not sure,” Ellicia said.  “This is different.  I have an earring that belongs to Hope, but I only got a vague impression of where she is.  I know she’s in the desert, and I know she’s with at least two other women.  I also know that if I can get closer to her, I can get a better reading.”

“All right, when will you be here?” the Director asked.

Ellicia looked up and glanced out the window.  “Ten, fifteen minutes,” she replied. 

“All right, I’ll have a transport start prepping for you now,” the Director said.  “When you get here, come to my office.  I have a few things to discuss with you before you leave.”

“Yes, Sir, but I hope it won’t take long.  I have a feeling that time is not on our side.”

“It won’t take long, Ell,” the Director replied. 

“All right, we’ll see you in a few minutes,” Ellicia said.  She tapped the vox to disconnect, then crossed her arms and sighed. 

“Why are you so tense, Ellicia,” Jackson asked, keeping his voice soft and low in an effort to soothe her.  He sensed her nervousness and her worry, but he didn’t understand it.  She’d had enough success with the earring that they now had a general idea of Hope’s whereabouts.  It wasn’t the same as knowing exactly where she was, but it was far better than knowing nothing at all.

“I don’t know,” she replied.  “I just feel as though we need to hurry.”

“Then we will,” Jackson said.  “We will move as quickly as we can.  What did the Director say?”

“He’s ordering a transport for us, but wants to see us in his office before we leave.”

“Did he say why?” Jackson asked.

“No,” Ellicia replied.  “But I told him we needed to hurry, and he still wants us to stop, so it must be important.”

Chapter
33

“Get in the damn car,” Darck ordered as he reached for the driver’s side door and slid behind the wheel.  Garid got to the back door faster than Lenny, so Lenny was forced to sit in front with Darck.

“What’s the plan, boss?” Lenny asked.

“The plan is to find those damn women, get their minds wiped, and return them to where you two fools pulled them from,” Darck snapped angrily.

Garid had to bite his tongue to keep himself from reminding Darck that he was the fool that had ordered them to pull the women.  

Darck drove out of the compound and turned to the northwest, the direction the footprints outside of the gate had been pointed toward.  Garid shook his head.  There was no way they were going to find those women from a damned ground-car unless the women were deaf.  The engine would be heard at least a couple of miles away.

“Keep your eyes peeled for anything moving out there,” Darck ordered.  “If you see anything the tiniest bit suspicious, I want to know about it.” 

Garid obediently turned to look out the side window.  He was not going to let himself get dragged into an argument with Darck, no matter what.

“Boss,” Lenny said, “Won’t they hear us coming?”

Garid kept his eyes focused on the horizon through the window, not even letting himself shake his head.

“No,” Darck said, surprising Garid.  “I got Blind Sight on this car,” he added proudly.

“Blind Sight?” Lenny asked.  “What’s that, then?”

“Only the best security device there is,” Darck replied boastfully.  “Uncle Stalnek had it installed on my ground-car when he promoted me.”

“But, what is it?” Lenny asked again.

“It’s a Xanti camouflage system,” Darck said.  “Makes this ground-car completely invisible from above, no matter what kind of detection system is used.  Hell, if you were in an VTOL hanging over the roof you wouldn’t be able to see it with your own eyes.  Or hear it.”

“Really?” Lenny asked.

“Yeah, really,” Darck replied.  “If you were standing on the ground, you wouldn’t hear it or see it till you got within about five feet.  The distance depends on the size of the object that’s being camouflaged, so this ground-car would have to be on top of someone before they even knew it was there.”

“Wow,” Lenny said as he reached toward the flashing lights and buttons set into the console.

“Don’t touch that!” Darck yelled, smacking Lenny’s hand away from the unit before he could touch it. 

“Sorry, boss,” Lenny said.

“Just don’t touch the damn thing,” Darck ordered.  “It’s complicated.  If you press the wrong buttons in the wrong order, the damn thing will self destruct.  That’s why I use the power cable to turn it off and on.”

Again Garid bit his tongue.  He was surrounded by morons.  Maybe getting back in good with the Brethren wasn’t such a good idea after all.  Maybe getting kicked to the curb had been a blessing that he hadn’t been able to see.

“Yeah, wow,” Darck said dryly.  “Just keep your damn eyes open.”

“Yes, Sir,” Lenny said, turning to look out the window. 

“You see anything back there, Garid?” Darck demanded.  Garid shook his head. 

“No, Sir,” he said.

“If you was a female dumb enough to set out walking across the damn desert, where would you be, Garid?” Darck asked.

Garid bit back a smile and tried to decide whether it would be better to find the women, or let them get away.  Letting them get away was tempting because of how much trouble Darck would be in.  But, it wouldn’t look so good for him, either.  He reluctantly decided that working with Darck to find the women was in his own best interests.