Spanners - The Fountain of Youth (15 page)

Phage looked at Phoe
, and his eyes glowed red for a moment.

“I still have powers, but I’m not gonna do any more harm; I’ve sworn this,” said Phage. “Until I die, I’m gonna do what I can to make amends for my past sins.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Phoe. “What will make it right?”

“Delivering you to Adam’s gonna make it right with him,” said Phage. “As for the rest, I’m a killer, and that’s all I know how to do. So I’m gonna spend the rest of my days smiting as many sinners as I can. No innocents, only sinners. Your island was just a start, and furthermore
, I—”

Phage motioned
for Phoe to be quiet and looked into the darkness. Once again there was the sound of a fight, only this time there were just the noises of punches thrown and landed; there was no shriek afterward. There was the sound of Geryon clicking, and Phage listened and seemed to understand.

“We
’ve got to go,” said Phage, yanking Phoe up.

“What’s out there?”

“A spanner, out to get you,” said Phage. “Geryon’ll hold him off, but not for long. This guy’ll be here soon and he’s
fast
.”

Phage threw dirt on the fire and there was no more light. Clouds had covered the moon so it was completely dark, and there was no sound except for Geryon’s continued clicks. Phoe could hear the fight clearly, and it sounded like Geryon was losing.

/***/

They ran through the night towards a neighboring village, and Phage broke into a truck and hotwired it. Phoe got in the cab and saw the owner of the car run out with a rifle, cursing in Spanish. The owner kept cursing and pointing the weapon at Phage, but then suddenly stopped, dropped his gun, mouthed the word
Diablo
and made the sign of the cross across his chest. Phoe looked back and saw that Geryon had stepped into the back of the truck and was peering straight at the man.

“Translate for me,” Phage said to Phoe, digging into his pocket. “Tell the man I’m gonna take his truck and give him three times its price, because I ain’t a thief.”

Phoe translated and Phage threw a thick wad of bills at the man, who took the money cautiously.

“Now tell him we’re not gonna hurt him, but there’s a kid following us who will,” said Phage. “This boy is very dangerous.”

Phoe translated and the man nodded, and then asked her a question.

“He wants to know who this boy is,” said Phoe.

“I don’t know,” said Phage. “But I’d advise him to hide. If this kid comes anywhere near him, he’s as good as dead. The boy ain’t
el Diablo
, but he’s close.”

/***/

They sped overland through the desert, bouncing up and down over the gravel road. Phage had turned off the lights and Geryon seemed to be guiding him. Geryon was standing in the truck bed behind them and would occasionally crouch down into the cab and let off a few clicks into Phage’s ear.

“We’re headed to a safe house of sorts,” said Phage to Phoe. “It wasn’t on my itinerary, but plans change. If we get there, we’ll be fine.”

Geryon leaned into the cab and clicked a few more times.

“The guy
who’s after you is probably a blur-class spanner, and he’s real fast,” said Phage. “He’s without a vehicle but he’s keeping pace with us, somewhere to our left.”

Phoe looked out past Phage through the window, but all she could see was darkness. They drove for a few more seconds and then
boom!
The truck shook with an incredible impact. After the truck stabilized again, Geryon poked his head into the cab again and clicked angrily.

“No!” said Phage to Geryon. “We need more time!”

Geryon clicked again and stood back up in the bed of the truck.

“The b
lur just hit our car because he missed,” said Phage. “He’s trying to steal you out of the cab. Geryon wants to fight, but we can’t take him on, not out here.”

Boom!
The truck shook with another impact, only this time a blurry black hand crashed through the glass and grabbed at Phoe. She tried to pull the fingers off, but they were impossible to get a hold of; the hand vibrated so much that it didn’t seem as if it was really there. The blur’s arm was pulling her out of the window and she couldn’t beat it away.

“Geryon!” yelled Phage. “Hold on to her!”

Geryon’s hand reached through the cab and got a hold of Phoe’s upper body, wrapping his hands around her like a seat belt. A few moments later, Phage slammed on the brakes and Phoe went flying forward. She would have smashed her head into the windshield were it not for Geryon gripping her body like a straitjacket.

The hand lost its grip and flew into the darkness. Phoe saw a dark figure go forward
; Phage turned on the headlights, and then the brights. She saw a vibrating man directly ahead of them in the beams, getting up and dusting himself off.

“We’re almost at the safe house, Geryon,” whispered Phage. “No fighting; just stun him and we’ll be ok
ay.”

The figure charged at them and accelerated much like a motorcycle would. It jumped at the glass and Phoe heard a deafening
boom
and saw a ripple of folded air hit the man square in the chest. The man went flying backwards off and to the left, and Phage hit the gas pedal.

“Geryon’s sound waves can rip a hole through a wall, but he pr
obably only got a piece of the blur,” said Phage. “The safe house is a few minutes away, and your kidnapper won’t be able to get in, but whoever he is, he’ll be waiting for us when we get out.”

/***/

The safe house wasn’t inviting from the outside. It had four long, fenced walls, ten feet high and two hundred feet long, and they were electrified with rolled barbed wire on top and gunned turrets on each corner. Phage parked at the front and then got out with Geryon. A wiry old man with a shock of smooth white hair, perhaps sixty, stood behind one of the turret guns that had fire coming from its tip. When the old man pointed the gun at the truck, Geryon clicked and squealed and knelt down behind the cab.

“We come in peace,” said Phage. “No need to
light us up, Kerké.”

“The world’s greatest mass murderer and his Frankenstein brother march into our safe house, and I’m supposed to just
let them in
?” said Kerké.

Phoe listened to Kerké’s voice and realized that Kerké was a woman.

“I don’t blame you for being suspicious,” said Phage. “But as you know, I’ve seen the error of my ways, and you of all people should understand the power of
rebirth
.”

“Adam sent
a message that you were for real, and I trust him,” said Kerké. “But you still carry diseases, willing or not, and the inhabitants of this house don’t have the best immune systems.”

“I promise I’ll do my best to keep any coughs to myself,” said Phage. “And you can do what you need to do to keep me away from the
prodigies
. Hell, kill me if you feel it’s necessary; I’m mortal now. But we’ve got a blur-class spanner out there hoping to capture our cargo, and we need to keep her safe until we can take her to Adam.”

“And who would that cargo be?”

Phage motioned Phoe to get out, and when Phoe did, Kerké dropped her flamethrower immediately. Kerké smiled at Phoe and then looked at Phage.

“Never thought I’d see her with my own eyes,” said Kerké.

Kerké came down from her perch and opened the door to the compound and motioned for them to drive in. She told Phage to stop and came up close to Phoe and looked at her admiringly. Kerké smiled at Phoe for a few moments, and then frowned again when she looked at Phage.

“I know the importance of what you’re doing, Phage, and I know the power of this girl you’ve brought with you,” said Kerké. “But both you and Geryon should be aware that I only have one job now
: I’m sworn to protect the prodigies inside this compound. If either you or Geryon do
anything
to threaten what I’m sworn to protect, I’ll torch you both in your sleep.”

Phage smiled, but Geryon let out a whimper
, and Phoe could tell that he was terrified.

/***/

Kerké led them to a small dormitory and they all slept well; it was the first time in days that they rested with shelter around them. They woke up in the morning to the sound of high-pitched singing from one of the adjoining buildings.

Phoe exited her dormitory with Phage; Geryon stayed in the room because he didn’t like the sun. The interior of the compound was like a small suburban community
: clean, modern and a world apart from the outside. The roads were paved and lined with soft grass and little picket fences. It was like a neighborhood filled with small cottages, and each house had small doors and was colored with bright shades of red, green and pink. There were drawings on the walls— children’s drawings of puppies, flowers and clouds. Phoe inspected them closer and was shocked at the skill put into each illustration; each painting was done in a different style: sometimes impressionistic, sometimes surreal and sometimes as detailed as a painting from the Renaissance. One picture of a blue pony had been made with a series of more than a million dots.

A small child burst out of one of the doors and came to hug Kerké before hiding behind her legs
and staring up at Phage. Phoe couldn’t quite see the boy as he peeked from behind Kerké, but the kid seemed to be smiling.

“Stay away from them
, Isaac,” said Kerké. “They’re sick.”

“She’s right
, bro,” said Phage. “I’m feeling a little under the weather.”

“With what?” said the kid.

“Common cold,” said Phage.

“Which cold?” asked the kid.

Phage smiled and looked at the kid, and then looked at Kerké for approval to answer. Kerké nodded yes.

“Rhinovirus C, strain L3, came about twenty years ago,” said Phage.

“Marie developed a vaccine to that,” said the child, coming out from behind the Kerké’s legs. “We’re going to release it to the humans next year, but we’ll give it to you now, if that’s okay; it’ll make you feel better.”

Phoe noticed the kid looked odd. Though he had the body of a five year old, his face was that of an older man, perhaps forty; he even had a mustache.

/***/

Kerké took the vaccine from Marie, another child with a five-year-old face and an adult’s body. This girl’s face was beautiful;
it was the face of a twenty-four year old, but it still looked odd on her undeveloped frame. Kerké blocked the child from coming near Phage, and then administered the vaccine to Phage’s arm herself.

“
Prodigy-class spanners stay young, but live until eighty years old or so,” explained Phage to Phoe. “So they have a child’s ability to learn and to absorb for their whole lives. They’re weak in body, but their minds are just as sharp as a mayfly’s. Mid-three-hundred IQs, but they live a whole life so they can get traction when they develop stuff.”

“And they’re known to regular humans?” asked Phoe.

“Yeah, only a small number though,” said Kerké. “A few governments give them this place in exchange for developing innovations, books, philosophies, medicines, and just about everything else. A bunch of geniuses and dumb old me, who’s paid to protect ‘em.”

Phoe thought for a moment and then looked at Kerké’s leathery skin.

“What class are you?” asked Phoe.

Before Kerké could answer, another child came in.

“Our leader would like to speak with you all,” said the child.

“All right,” said Kerké
. “But not Phage, he’s sick and—”

“Our leader is particularly interested in speaking with Phage and of learning about his conversion,” said the child. “We’ll be speaking with you all: I understand that the
golem fears the sun and remains in his room, but we’d like to speak with Phage and both phoenīcēs. Your presence is required at once.”

“Then I guess we go,” said Kerké, winking at Phoe.

As she winked, Kerké’s eyes flashed orange.

/***/

They held the meeting like preschoolers were wont to do: sitting cross-legged in a circle. Phage was sitting far from the group like Kerké demanded, but the focus was on him. The leader of the prodigies was a child with a seventy-year-old man’s face. He called himself
Mendel
.

“Please
, Phage, tell me of your conversion,” said Mendel.

“With all due respect
, sir,” said Phage. “I don’t know if we have time. We’ve got to deliver Phoe to Adam, and there’s a man out there plotting to steal her from us.”

“Adam
always
has time, even now,” said Mendel. “And our own Nikola’s fence will deter the blur. Juan’s lackey is a pest, but Kerké will deal with him upon your exit. Now, tell us of your conversion.”

Phage got another nod of approval from Kerké and spoke.

“I’m not much for philosophy,” said Phage. “But as you know, I’ve done bad things. A lot of bad things; and now I’m hoping to make amends in what time I have left on this earth.”