New Markets - 02 (50 page)

"They came after me, and I've got windows out, sniper rifle holes in a bunch of walls, and hundreds of tiny tranquilizer darts everywhere.  Oh, those darts will probably kill a normal person.  Keep that in mind on the way home."  Then I left his room.

I listened to his exchange with the officer as I proceeded down the hallway.  He decided to stay one more day to keep his family safe.  I smiled grimly.  At least he wouldn't get someone else killed off now.

I left the hospital and jogged home through the rain.  It was coming down lighter now, the main fury of the storm had subsided.

When I arrived home  I ripped off the F.B.I. tape over the front door. 
Hmm, the kidnappers probably recognized me when I attacked the semi, assuming they had a camera up somewhere.  If so, then they know where I live since they already got me here once.  I need to not be here tonight.

I pulled out my normal cell phone and called Tina's cell.  She worked third shift, so she wouldn't have gone into work yet.

She picked up quickly, "Hey Rael."

"Hey Tina.  Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Sure, ask away."

"Mind if I stay at your place tonight?"

"Uhh, I'm about to go to work."

"I know.  I'll tell you later about it, but staying at my own place is dangerous right now."

"Oh, I see now.  Like, come on over.  How long will it take you?"

"I can be there in about ten minutes."

"That's cool, I'll still be here."

"Thanks, be right there."

I hung up and quickly packed a duffle bag with clothes.  I took the cycle out.  While not a joy to ride in the rain, at least I'd have it with me.

I parked in Tina's apartment lot in short order.  I saw the shadows shift near the front window as she moved from it to the front door.

I didn't even get a chance to knock before she opened the door and leapt at me.  I stood and watched her slowly move at me and land a big hug on me.  I gently returned the hug after a moment.

"Glad to see you too."

"So where's Lance staying?"

"Ah, that's a story.  How long until you have to leave?"

"I have to like, jet in a sec.  Sorry.  Feel free to use the spare bedroom or the couch or whatever."

"I appreciate it.  You're done at six?"

"Yeah, just after.  Want me to come get you for a morning workout?  Back to our regular schedule?"

"I ... hmm, sure, why not.  If I'm gone it's because the heroing thing came up.  We're in the midst of a huge problem, but I'm stuck waiting on a guy."

"Okay, I hope you'll still be here then."

"Cool, have a good, well, work shift."

"Yay, thanks."

She grabbed her purse and put on a raincoat.  On the way out she squeezed my arm, stopped and stared at my arm, squeezed it (or tried to) again, made a 'hmph' sound and headed out.

She said, "Be good."

"Hell no."

She laughed and closed the door behind her.

I tried calling Stephanie on her H.E.R.O. phone again, but she still didn't answer.  I left a short message asking her to call me, that we had Gatecrasher and Hellshock to help us tomorrow, and hoped she was okay.

I took a quick shower to wash off any remnants of blood and crashed in the spare bedroom for the night.

Chapter 30 – Turbulent Thursday

Stephanie's Viewpoint

My body twisted and turned violently as a roaring sound woke me.  I curled into a ball and tried to get my bearings, but it took quite a few seconds before I could hover straight and figure out what was occurring.

I looked around; I was way up in the air, well over the cloud cover.  The sun shone brightly.  The metal of the airplane that had passed so close glinted brightly in the morning sun. 
Damnit, it's morning already!  I'm way up in the air, it's no wonder that Rael didn't wake me.

I ran my hands over myself to check for injuries and couldn't find any.  I thought I'd been shot by those tiny needle darts, but only found one stuck in the material of the costume that hadn't gone into me.  The rest were nowhere to be found.

The clouds had thinned out quite a bit overnight.  The storm had continued on to the east, and I could see much of the city below me.  The sun was low in the east, so it had to be early morning.

My phones beeped at me, apparently I had messages.  I carefully took out my personal cell and listened to those first.

The first was from Anne Coyle, a patrol officer with the Metrocity Police Department.  She asked how we wanted to meet up ... for last night.  We'd planned on a date night last night, her with Lance and me with Rael.  I swore. 
She probably thinks we bagged her last night.  I'll have to give her a call to ensure she knows that Lance was kidnapped and still wants to go out.

The second message was from Jim, he found out that the auction is set to close on Saturday.  He mentioned that another brick and a blaster had been added to the auction list.  I looked at the phone, today was Thursday morning at 7:10 a.m.  I'd lost about 14 hours.

The last was from Rael, wondering where I was, and if I were all right.  Obviously he was all right after the fight.

The H.E.R.O. phone had messages from Rael again, Hellshock on behalf of Rael, as well as from Agent Willman that they were going to stop releasing supers from the restricted floor until the kidnapping were resolved.  He mentioned that several more that had been released the prior few days had been kidnapped, so we had even more missing people.  However, Rael also mentioned that we couldn’t act until both Firebane and a brick were available, and that would be sometime in the mid or late morning at best.

My eyes looked back at the top of the phone.  7:15 a.m. 
Oh crap, class starts in fifteen minutes.  Seriously, can I have a normal morning please?  If we have to wait anyway I need to get to school.

I looked around to get my bearings on the major buildings, and then jabbed my knee up and shot toward home.  I quickly checked to make sure I was clean and smelled good.  I changed out the books in my backpack, threw on a short black micro knit dress with some ruffle on the side and a pair of black heels, stuffed my gloves into the backpack and threw the costume in the wash before I flew out the door.

I flew right to the lab building, slowing down more than I did yesterday before landing to ensure I didn't crash, and quickly walked into the building.  I stopped just outside the classroom entrance and turned off the volume on my phones as usual.  The last minute rush of students blinded me with mindviews near the doorway and I couldn't see where to walk.

A hand hooked my elbow and led me into the room.  A few mindviews looked over at us and I saw Trevin pulling me along with him to the back of the room.

I felt a wave of hatred as I walked through the room, and sensed Carey's mental voice.  Fortunately she was at a lab table near the front of the room, and was out of mindview range in a few seconds.

Lab went better than expected.  My study group were at the right rear pair of tables, so four of the mindviews were good friends.  Their thoughts lingered on a conversation Megan apparently had before class about my problem with people, with Megan backing up how I reacted around many people.  Odes had slapped his head when he realized that I’d been the one that collapsed in class the other day.  He’d left immediately when the professor dismissed class early.

Although the noise from all the mental talking was distracting, at least the largest mindviews were only of my friends, plus occasional others that walked closer for a few moments.

The class wasn’t easy by any means; numerous times the number of mindviews overwhelmed my vision.  Trevin had pulled me to be next to him at the beginning of class.  At first I worried that he wanted to play games with me.  A short time into class I realized from his thoughts that he was studying me.  He had picked up from the corridor outside Professor Gently's class yesterday that I began swaying when groups of others came close.

I didn’t even care that he stayed in physical contact with my arm for much of the class.  His mindview stayed larger than the others, and it allowed me to see through his eyes.  Barring the times he stared at my face and hair he was very focused on class.

I believe at times he even forced me to focus.  It was hard to tell, for I couldn’t always tell if things I did were due to me, or him making me do it.  Whatever the case, I wasn’t a bumbling fool due to the telepathy, and that’s all that mattered.

I waited until the twenty five other students left the lab room at the end of the class.  My school friends all stayed behind with me, barring Carey.  From the look she gave me before leaving the lab room I didn't think I'd be able to call her a friend any longer.

Kell, Trevin and the others were still too excited about my being a super to leave the room immediately.

Kell asked, "You're making Zilgard's class, right?"

I smiled at him, "Yeah."

We headed upstairs to the classroom.  I stopped outside and noticed Professor Zilgard walking out toward me.  He stared directly at me as he walked.

Kell and Odes glanced at each other and chimed, "Ruh roh."

The Professor said, "Excuse us, gentlemen.  Stephanie, I spoke with Professor Gently yesterday afternoon.  He brought up your problem with classrooms, and the new study.  Did you want to sit out and scan my mind after class again today?"

I'm sure I looked surprised as I said, "Wow, really?  I was just hoping to sit in the hall over here and watch class through Megan's eyes."

I pulled Megan's mindview close and spoken mentally to her for a moment,
That is okay, right, Megan?  I can look through your eyes for class?

Megan was already watching the professor and I, she nodded and carefully thought,
Sure thing, hon.  We can do the talking thing again, right?

Sure, although I didn't realize that chatting kind of drains me over time, but we've only got this class left today.

Megan thought,
Way cool.

I pushed her mindview away and looked back at Professor Zilgard.

He was studying my now-glowing eyes.  "Very interesting effect, you know.  Yes, I'm fine with you being out here.  I'd chat some more, but I need to start the lecture."

I nodded and thanked him.  Then I went to find a spot to the left of the door.  The room behind his whiteboard was in use, and I ended up having the mindviews of two professors, along with four or more students, depending on people walking through the halls or in the halls above or below me.  This had to be the worst hall position for using mindviews that I'd seen so far.

Pulling Megan's mindview up close helped me focus, although it took some mental effort to keep it pulled up close.  The two of us chatted occasionally during class, sometimes clearing up a topic that wasn't clear to one or the other.

When class finished the mental voices reiterated the questions of the previous day.  Most students in the genetics and biology classes now knew that Psystar was hanging around outside the classrooms during class - and that I was taking notes.  It raised a lot of questions in their minds, although to this point most of them were afraid to come forward and speak to me.

Again I found myself writing notes even after class was over.  I had so much more - and better - information and clarity on each class by seeing what the Professor and Megan were thinking that I had trouble writing it all down.  That was even with an increased writing speed, since my wrist no longer felt fatigued after a lot of handwriting.