Part 21 (2/2)

Aidan's and Keiko's shock was hard to miss, but they'd spent a good chunk of their lives playing with secrets no one else knew about. They took the news in stride, even if it didn't make them happy.

”I really want you to be lying,” Aidan said. ”But I know you aren't.”

Jael took the case Keiko was holding and opened it, staring down at the secured hyposprays. ”Nanites. You know this is dangerous. We only ever use them in a biotank and only within strict medical parameters. How do we know you're not trying to kill us all before the launch to get us out of the way?”

”Unlike Nathan, I never had any intention of leaving Earth,” Lucas said.

Jael huffed out an angry little laugh. ”Of course you didn't.”

”Look, I've been the least agreeable since Lucas took us out of the Slums,” Jason said, glancing from one group to another. ”I don't like Lucas, and he knows it, but I've seen the source code for this virus and it's good. Better than good. While it won't be able to turn off the tracking signal, it will be able to turn off the kill switch without alerting the World Court. It will save us.”

”We're scattered all over the planet,” Keiko said. ”The Strykers are all working to transport registered humans to the Paris Basin as well as fight off attacks by unregistered humans. It's becoming difficult to do both. Everyone wants a spot on those shuttles and a berth on the Ark.”

Lucas shook his head. ”The logistics will be worked out.”

”Really? Thought of everything, have you?” Jael said. ”I'm not buying it.”

”Then read our minds,” Kerr told her. ”We aren't lying about any of this.”

Jael looked from face to face, seeing only determination in their expressions. ”Drop your s.h.i.+elds.”

First Kerr, then Jason and Quinton, dropped their s.h.i.+elds and power washed through the mental grid. Jael wasn't going to risk her sanity by trying to read the minds of Nathan's children, so she settled with the soldiers who had once been under her medical authority. Sliding into their thoughts, she came across psychic wounds that were half-healed and deeper ones that might not ever heal. When you lived with something for so long, you got used to its being there, even after it was gone.

Like the spark right before an inferno, she didn't realize what she was falling into until Jason's mind seemed to swallow her whole. Even with his s.h.i.+elds down, Jason's power was difficult to quantify. It filled the mental grid around them, his psi signature an imprint Jael had never experienced before.

Oh, Jael said into Jason's mind, her thoughts colored with awe. No wonder the mental grid almost broke.

She sifted through their thoughts and memories, skimming over the conscious and subconscious areas of their minds. Jael struggled to stay focused, the vast power that Jason harbored now difficult to work through. She sent her mind twisting down the anchoring bond that tied him to Quinton, letting her telepathy pool in the back of Quinton's mind, feeling the emptiness in Kerr's.

I can't undo this, Jael said almost apologetically to the three of them.

No, you can't, Quinton agreed, sounding resigned. We're not asking you to.

It will kill you eventually. I can see what Lucas did, but you don't have the s.p.a.ce in both your minds to hold your power in check, Jason.

There's enough, Kerr said. It's why Lucas used Quinton and not me.

They still weren't comfortable with the change, she could read that easily enough. It was permanent, a by-product of a fight that wasn't over yet.

Jael retreated from their minds, but she kept her attention on Jason. ”What are you?”

”A microtelekinetic.” Jason offered her a crooked little smile. ”Anyone want to trade places with me?”

In the silence that followed his words, almost no one knew what to say. Quinton, however, had only one concern. ”Where's Threnody?”

Jael pushed a few thin dreads behind her ear, getting her hair out of her face. ”Alive.”

Quinton headed for the door without another word.

”Where are you going?” Ciari said.

”To get my partner. I doubt you've changed the cells in this place since we left.”

He was gone before anyone could stop him. Lucas looked over at Jason. ”Go with him.”

”If her wounds are extensive enough that she needs my help again, we'd be better off with sticking her into a biotank,” Jason warned before hurrying after Quinton.

Jason found the other man about to run down a team of Strykers standing guard outside Ciari's office. They were refusing to let him pa.s.s. Before things got ugly, Jael came out and joined them, her presence alone guaranteeing their safety.

”I'll take you to Threnody,” Jael said. ”Follow me.”

It didn't take that long to get to where they were holding Threnody, and the Strykers who saw them could only stare. Strangely, they didn't pa.s.s any humans. Even Jael seemed surprised until Lucas's telepathy crawled through their minds. I'm not risking our presence here. The Strykers will do what Ciari says regarding us. The humans a.s.signed here only obey the government. They're guards as much as they are employees of this Syndicate.

What about the bioware nets? Jael asked.

I didn't touch their minds. Your Strykers are keeping them occupied elsewhere.

Lucas disengaged his telepathy, leaving them alone. When they finally reached Threnody's cell, Quinton wished Lucas hadn't left so quickly. He'd have asked the other man to show the same sort of care Threnody had received to Jael.

Quinton stared through the two-way viewing window at where his partner lay, trying to control his temper. ”Open it.”

”What happened here was protocol,” Jael said unapologetically. ”We did what we had to do in order to protect ourselves.”

Quinton shot her a murderous glare and shoved past her once she tapped in the code to open the door. Threnody was lying on her back, the clothes she wore filthy with vomit and bloodstains, an external neurocollar locked around her throat. Blood was dried on her face and in her hair, but Quinton didn't hesitate when he touched a hand to her shoulder.

”Thren.”

”Took you long enough,” she croaked out, but no heat was in her tone.

Jason knelt down on her other side as Threnody opened her eyes. ”Thought I told you not to undo all my hard work?”

She managed a tight smile. ”Couldn't help it.”

Jael leaned over and pressed her thumb to the sensor lock on Threnody's neurocollar. The biometrics read her print and it unlocked. Jael got out of the way so Quinton could carefully pry the restraint off, pulling the bioware-tipped needles out of Threnody's skin and spine as carefully as he could. He tossed the neurocollar aside, hearing it clatter against the floor somewhere behind him.

Jason rested his fingers against the back of Threnody's hand and let his power sink into her body. His vision layered itself to countless degrees of magnification, creating a kind of vertigo that made his stomach heave as he felt the damage in Threnody's body along his own nerves.

”Ribs,” he said clinically. ”They're bruised and cracked, but not broken. Nothing that would account for the blood.”

”You'll need Lucas for that.” Threnody coughed. ”They broke all my s.h.i.+elds. His is the only one I've got left.”

”b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. All right, hold still. You're lucky I got all that practice working on Quinton's face and arms.”

Jason knit bone back together quicker than he had with Quinton. Practice and use was going a long way to showing him how this was supposed to work. It was like building something tangible with his hands, only he was using his mind to reshape cells. Jason didn't have any nanites this time to guide him, but he was beginning to realize he didn't need them.

Threnody finally took in a deep, unlabored breath and turned her hand over to squeeze Jason's. ”Thanks.”

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