Voice (13 page)

They’re not announcing it on air ahead of time, just in case, but I’m going on at 10am. Any of the major news stations should have it.

Make sure you watch.

If I’m not home and haven’t called by 9pm, assume I’m not coming back. You’re welcome to stay, but then it might not be safe. You know where to hide if you aren’t sure it’s me.

Help yourself to food and entertainment, same as last time.

I’m sorry again that I didn’t do this sooner.

Myles

Jack looked at the clock, back at Jemma, and shrugged. “Breakfast?”

Jemma nodded and retrieved the cereals they’d eaten last time while Jack got the bowls and spoons. He headed back to the refrigerator before she had the chance, grabbing the milk.

“So,” Jack sent, switching to telepathy once his mouth was full, “do we let our families know we’re okay, or do we wait until the company is completely taken down?”

Shaking her head before she’d made a conscious decision, Jemma answered the same way. “I don’t want to involve them at all until I know they’re safe from Josh, until I know we’re all safe from him. I know he never did anything without a guard, that he probably can’t really do much now that they’re falling apart, but I have to keep our families safe.”

“Okay. I agree. Just wanted your thoughts.” He smiled, and they finished their breakfast in silence before moving to the entertainment room.

By the time they arranged themselves on the couch, Jemma leaning against Jack, his arm around her, it was still an hour before the news broadcast.

“I’d like to watch the news anyway while we wait, if you wouldn’t mind. I haven’t been able to see anything about what’s going on.” Jemma looked up at Jack, and he nodded.

“Fair enough.” He reached for the remote on the side table, then handed it to Jemma, running his hand carefully along her arm while she searched for a promising channel, settling on the equivalent of her favorite from back home.

Unlike the drive-throughs, news programs seemed to have already returned to normal.

“I kinda liked the computers,” Jack commented. Jemma nudged him, a smile on her face until she started processing some of the grim reports.

Crime had risen again. It wasn’t, though, as bad as she’d feared. There weren’t riots, and things hadn’t come to a halt as they had with the Event. “The Return,” as this one had been dubbed, had been met with more confusion than fear, on the whole.

The people who hadn’t gotten their voices back, however, were faced with not only being unable to talk, but also with being isolated, shunned, treated as contagious. There were, apparently, discussions of trying to contain them to one hospital, but officials had yet to decide how to transport them from one quarantine to another.

The news changed to sports, and Jemma turned her attention to Jack. “It doesn’t seem right, treating people that way when they have no control over it. I mean, it makes sense to be cautious, but this just feels wrong. Like panic, ignorance, not caution.”

He sent a surge of agreement, his fingers still touching her skin. “I’m not sure they’ll handle us so well, either.” At Jemma’s wave of uncertainty, he sighed. “We’re unknowns when everyone’s already worried. We were directly involved with everything that was going on. If it ever comes out that you were able to read minds, not just Talk, people won’t remember that it was temporary, that it was something forced on you. People panic, people get stupid. That’s probably part of why Myles isn’t using our names. Even if this works well enough to take the company down, he’s still protecting us.”

Jemma looked down, letting her cheek rest against Jack’s chest. She sighed, closing her eyes. “I have to forgive him, don’t I?”

She felt a trickle of amusement and affection, and she looked up to see him smiling softly at her. “Of course you don’t have to. He’s doing everything he can to make things right, though.”

She sighed again, more forcefully this time, almost a huff of breath. “You’re too patient with me.”

He smirked. “Should I be more of a caveman?” He pulled his arm from around her and shifted so he was facing her, hooking his hands near his armpits. “Me Jack. Me need Jemma. Must have now.”

Despite the words and the fact that Jemma’s lips twitched as she fought a laugh, Jack carefully threaded his fingers through her hair and pressed his mouth to hers, the surging emotions quickly distracting her on multiple levels. Objectively, she initially noted that though the effect was weaker than it had been before the Return, the emotion still seemed able to play off itself with a kiss, magnifying more than it did with simpler touches. She wondered whether they were feeling the emotions more strongly during a kiss or whether the barriers were weaker at that point on the body.

Then Jack deepened the kiss, and their emotions spiraled with it, and Jemma didn’t wonder anything else until they broke apart, breathless.

Jack’s hands had drifted to her waist, and his fingers were pressing into her back, his forehead resting against hers, their legs a tangled mess on the couch. As he had after their first kiss, he sucked his lips inward for a moment as if getting one last taste of her. “Okay.” His voice was rough, and he cleared his throat. “Well, I was joking about not being so patient, but that was worth going a little caveman for.” He lifted his head far enough to see her better, eyes moving back and forth between hers, suddenly serious. “If you were okay with it, I mean.”

“Jack.” She put her hand high enough on his chest that one finger could make skin contact with his neck, and she felt his heart racing under her palm. “I know I wasn’t sure at first, and the timing of starting a relationship could’ve been better, but you were in that kiss with me, and I don’t just mean physically. You could feel what I felt. You know exactly how okay with it I was.” She couldn’t quite help a smirk at the hint of pink that crept across his cheeks before she continued. “With all we’ve been through, all we know, I don’t think you need to check with me on every kiss anymore.”

He let go of her waist and raised one hand to her injured arm, running his fingers along where he knew it wouldn’t hurt. “I just don’t want to do anything to push you too far. You’ve already been pushed, and you don’t need anyone else adding to that.”

While Jemma sorted her thoughts, the only sound was the television, which had gone to commercial. “When we were on the train, you mentioned you working from home so I could get a cat. That didn’t scare me, any of the things you could’ve meant by that, all of which it should be too soon for. Everything together with you feels right. It has from the beginning, when you were a stranger Talking in my head, someone I shouldn’t have trusted. Obviously, it might be different if I’m angry or panicking or something, but otherwise, I like being in this kind of a relationship with you.”

“That’s twice you mentioned us being in a relationship. Was that you asking whether I want to go steady?” Jemma’s eyes snapped from where they’d fallen, watching her fingers against his collarbone, back up to his dancing ones. “Because if so, I’m definitely saying yes before you change your mind.”

She leaned forward and kissed him, keeping it brief and then nodding toward the television. “I think it’s about to start.”

They rearranged themselves so they were facing the television once more, getting comfortable just before it switched to an image of the senator in front of a podium.

“Good morning. I’m Senator Myles Pratt. I’m here to speak to you all today because I know who caused the Event.”

A buzz went through the audience, and Jack squeezed Jemma’s shoulder.

“Tricorporation Biochemical Dynamics, more commonly known as Tricorp BioD, engineered the Event as a way to create telepathy for use by the United States government, and it was within our own military files that I found proof of this.”

The buzz grew louder, reporters holding up microphones, and Myles held up his hand until the crowd settled down. Jemma rubbed her arm, glancing at the scrolling ticker and at the logos on the media equipment she could see. This was broadcasting live not just on local stations, but also on national stations. He’d started with the biggest information. Even if they found a way to cut him off now, the damage was done.

“The company denied people their voices and made telepathy possible, then kidnapped people for study. The people they kidnapped were better able to use telepathy. You remember hearing the rumors about them. The rumors were true. These people did not simply create hoax videos and then disappear. They were ripped from their homes, from their families. They were held captive, tested for weeks, months, against their will.”

Myles paused, his knuckles white where they gripped the podium. He looked down at his notes and continued.

“Two of them came to me for help. They had managed to figure out that I was one of the people who had these advanced abilities.” Another rustle moved through the crowd. “Instead of really helping, I panicked. If they could find me, what was to stop Tricorp BioD from finding me as well? I offered only the barest of assistance, and they came to even more harm at the hands of Tricorp BioD, in the name of advancement for our government.”

He looked back up at the cameras, his shoulders back, his eyes bright.

“Despite that harm, despite the lack of help, one of them was still able to find and activate the cure, saving us all from what Tricorp BioD knew would lead to our death.”

Jemma swallowed as the crowd erupted, too loud for Myles to continue over. He made her sound a lot better than she felt.

“I’m trying to make things right,” Myles continued when the roar finally subsided, “but I need your help. We need to take down Tricorp BioD, immediately, and release anyone else who is being held. We need to hold its leaders accountable. We need to ascertain what knowledge our government had of these activities, and we need to hold them responsible, too. We need to make sure Tricorp BioD’s remaining scientists work to cure the few whose voices weren’t returned. Above all, we need systems in place to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

There was cheering and screaming, and there were questions, everything overlapping, nothing coherent. Jemma looked at Jack while the noise died back down. “He does have a way with words, doesn’t he?” Jack nodded.

“I’ll take questions now, one at a time. You, please.” He pointed.

“You said you have proof. Can you produce that?”

The senator shook his head. “At the moment, you’ll need to take it on faith. I’ve a near flawless record, and I’ve just put my entire career on the line for this. Even if everything checks out exactly as I’ve said, I’ve just accused the United States government of being involved in stealing the voices of the entire planet.” He paused. “I suspect I’ve actually just flushed my career rather than put it on the line. I’m counting on being able to confirm the locations I noted in the files. I’ve hired private security to wait near them, to monitor the facilities and make sure they aren’t evacuated during this broadcast. They’ll also be able to make record of any employees who leave.”

Jack whistled. “That was a long list of facilities. That had to cost a lot, even for him.”

“The actual rescues will need to be handled by local or federal government, of course,” Myles continued, “so that we can take the company down properly without fear of their maximizing on any accidental loopholes. I’m hoping some of the guards and other employees of Tricorp BioD will have seen enough of the atrocities committed to be willing to come forward, to give enough testimony that we can proceed.”

Jemma spared a moment to hope that Heidi might come forward, or Dr. Harris, or any of the guards who had ever seemed unsure. It would have to happen quickly in order to free April and any of the others who might still be trapped, if the other facilities hadn’t fallen apart as quickly as the one Jemma was being held in.

The questions continued, the senator handling each one with a ready answer, until finally he interrupted.

“That will be all for today. Thank you so much for your time. Remember that we’re not done here today. We have a lot to do. Go do it.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

Reaction

Revelations

The White House has issued a statement in response to Senator Myles Pratt’s shocking announcement, denying any involvement in activities leading to the Event, as well as denying any involvement in the kidnapping or testing of individuals for purposes of furthering telepathy.

However, they have also confirmed that his story is otherwise true. They have refused to release any details pertaining to the rescue of those still being held, only to confirm that such a rescue is indeed underway, citing mission security as the reason for silence.

Knowing for certain that the Event was engineered, that it had the potential to be deadly, raises more questions than it provides answers. Senator Pratt was able to supply some of the answers we need, and we hope to provide more of them as we’re able, as Tricorporation Biochemical Dynamics is brought into the light.

Jemma glanced over her shoulder to make sure Jack had finished reading the article, then closed the window, switching places with Jack and giving him a chance on Myles’s desktop. She sat back down on the couch, flipping through the channels, watching as people voiced their outrage, their confusion, their fear.