Thirst No. 4 (32 page)

I calculate as best I can how much extra speed I need to
add to my grenade. It is really no more than an educated guess. Pulling the pin, I step to the handrail and throw the grenade straight down.

I listen as it falls and note that those below me also seem to be listening. No one rushes for the door, at least not at first. But then there’s a sudden shuffling of feet and I realize they’ve figured out what I’m up to. Far below I hear a door open, followed almost instantly by a loud explosion.

The grenade I dropped was different from the kind Darla used to kill the guards. This one throws off a brutal sphere of hot shrapnel. I’m not surprised when I hear a guy scream as his body is raked by pieces of metal. An unmistakable thud follows and I know he has fallen. But he’s alone, I hear the other two running for their lives.

They appear to be heading for the main elevators. I race back to the elevator I have waiting for me and push the button that will take me to the lobby.

The slow ride down is maddening. If I can reach the bottom ahead of them, they’ll have to go through me to escape.

At the same time, they could try for the roof. They might figure, even if I’ve sabotaged the helicopter, they have people on a tower just a hundred yards away. If they can signal them, they might get picked up before I can arrive and kill them.

Right now, anything is possible.

My elevator finally lands. I rush out into the main lobby and find two Telar guards waiting by the front door. I shoot
them in the head before they know I’m there. I might have just chased them away but they had already shot the human watchman.

Studying the lights on the main elevator board and listening, I estimate my two remaining adversaries have stopped ten floors above me. I have already called for another elevator and have one waiting for me. I suspect the Telar heard me kill the guards and are thinking the roof is now a better bet.

Are the two remaining Source members in touch with their people in the other building? If they are, they will stand a better chance of escaping if their helicopter pilots on the north tower are waiting to lift them off our roof.

The Telar on the tenth floor finally reenter their elevator and head upward. I watch them climb, for a second, before leaping into my own elevator and hitting the top button. Now I’m in the elevator shaft next to theirs. I can hear them talking to each other, a man and a woman, as they rise above me. That’s how I know they haven’t tricked me.

But as I pass the tenth floor, I hear something. Breathing, powerful heartbeats—I’m not sure. It makes me wonder why the couple above me is talking at all. They must know about my hearing. They should be silent.

Then I get it. These Telar are not just old, they’re smart.

The voices I hear in the elevator above me, it’s one cell phone talking to another. But they’re not ordinary cell phones. Those wouldn’t have fooled me for an instant with their poor
sound. No, these are Telar cells, like the kind Matt gave me, their sound quality is perfect.

The two Telar never did leave the tenth floor.

I have been tricked.

I struggle to stop my elevator but it goes up another two floors and I get off on the fourteenth. I run like hell to the stairway and am not surprised to hear them galloping down the stairs ahead of me. But before I can uncork another grenade, they exit the stairway at what I estimate to be the third floor. Hell, they could jump through an office window at that height and survive.

Then the truth finally hits home.

That’s what they’re going to do!

They have me above them and they know exactly where I am.

This is their best chance to get out of this building alive.

I listen as they run to the far side of the tower, away from the stairwells and elevators. I hear them kick in a door. Damn, I totally underestimated them, they’re going to get away.

Unless . . . what?

Unless I get to the ground floor the same time they do.

I rush to the window at the end of the hall. Before I jump, I wait a few seconds for the sound of another window exploding. There it is! On the other side of the building! I hear their weight as they land. They’re outside! I have at most five seconds before they reach the north tower.

Backing up a few steps, I prepare to rush the glass and fall fourteen miserable floors. I can survive such a fall, I’ve done it before. Not that it’s comfortable. I mean, I’m a vampire not a goddamn bat. I can’t fly.

Something makes me hesitate. It’s the idea that they would expose themselves by running between the two buildings, which jumping out a window would force them to do. By dumb luck, due to the layout of the hallways on my floor, I’m unable to glimpse the ground on their side of the building. However, they don’t know that, which makes me wonder why they would expose themselves where I could just pick them off with my rifle.

Yet I heard their window burst open.

I heard the weight of their bodies hitting the ground.

But what if it was the weight of something else I heard landing?

A desk for example. They could have shoved two desks out their window. Now that I think about it, I didn’t hear any running footsteps after they hit the ground.

Then the truth hits me again. A new truth.

They are
still
on the tenth floor.

They
still
haven’t left the building.

Their goal is to get
me
to leave the building.

Smart. Very smart. They almost had me.

Yet two can play their game.

Picking up a desk, I throw it through a nearby window.

To them, they just heard me jump outside and fall fourteen floors.

I just stand there, waiting for them to make a move.

I hear two people enter the tenth-floor elevator.

They push a button and head up.

I run up two floors, before I return to the secondary elevators and call the elevator that took me to the lobby a few minutes ago. When it arrives, I ride it to the top floor. Climbing the stairs that lead to the helipad, I see a Telar helicopter swooping in to make a quick pickup.

Taking aim, I shoot off the tail rotor and the tail fin.

Nasty, trying to steer a copter without either of them.

The copter spins out of control and vanishes over the side.

I approach the two big shots carefully. The bald man with the big head, Mr. Kram, and his daughter, Alia. I know of their relationship from the attack we made on them at the hotel. They’re armed with handguns but they don’t reach for them. The woman’s left arm is bleeding, probably from the grenade I dropped in their path. I gesture to the wound.

“How did you hear it coming?” I ask.

“I felt it coming. It was a good shot,” the man says.

“Thank you,” I say.

Alia stares at me with dread. “We don’t support Haru. We told him not to take you prisoner.”

She’s speaking the truth. I return the favor.

“You’re members of the Source. It was the Source that ordered the creation of X6X6.”

“We never thought it would be used,” Kram says. “Even now, it hasn’t been released.”

“Can you guarantee it won’t be released?”

“No,” he says.

I gesture with my gun. “Then what can I do?”

“Spare my daughter, Alia. She opposed the virus from the start. Haru hates her. She’s only a member of the Source because of me.”

“And because she’s a powerful psychic.”

“She’s a healer at heart,” Kram says.

I study Alia. “Is that true?”

She shrugs. “I do what I can.”

I shake my head. “I have to destroy the Source.”

“Alia will never go back to the Source,” Kram begs. “Not after tonight.”

“What’s so special about tonight?”

“I finally saw the spirits Haru has attached to us,” Alia says.

“You must have known about them,” I say.

“I did. Alia did not,” Kram says. “Please. We’ve heard you can be . . . merciful.”

“I can’t let both of you go,” I say. The truth is, I need one of them alive. “You may live, Alia.”

The man is grateful. “Thank you.” He turns to his daughter. “Go, Alia. Please.”

Alia weeps as she falls in his arms. “No, Papa. I can’t.”

He gently cups his daughter’s face. She has inherited many of his features but not his huge head. With dark lustrous eyes, a mane of black hair, she is truly beautiful. He wipes away her tears.

“It’s for the best,” he says. “The things I’ve done, I deserve this.”

“No.” She looks to me. “Please, for the love of God.”

“Don’t push me, Alia,” I say. “As it is, I want something in return for your life. When we attacked your Link, I glimpsed your minds and saw you have extensive relationships with generals and admirals in NATO. Both of you know the people who command the most powerful missile systems on earth.”

“That’s true,” Kram says.

“I also saw that Haru has retreated to a temple in Egypt with his inner circle. When the time is right, I’m going to mentally contact you, Alia, and ten minutes later I want a barrage of cruise missiles to strike that temple.”

“Impossible,” Kram says. “The remaining members of the Source expect your attack. They’ll be in the Link, and in such a state no physical weapon on earth can harm them. The demons they’re aligned with would instantly know about the danger and would avert it.”

“I’m aware of that. When I mentally contact Alia—and my contact will be some time in the next six hours and it will be crystal clear—it will mean the Source’s Link has been broken and they’re open to attack.”

“I can’t imagine how you’ll break them,” Kram says.

“Let me worry about that. Now, are there any codes or numbers or names you need to pass on to Alia so she can keep her end of the bargain?”

“Yes,” Kram says. “Let me tell her what to do.”

They have a brief whispered conversation in ancient Egyptian. I hear and remember every word. Kram gives his daughter three separate ways to blow up the temple. When he is done, she starts to beg again for his life. I shake my weapon in her face.

“Walk away, Alia,” I say.

Kram kisses her cheek. “Go, darling. Go with love.”

Alia finally appears to accept that her father’s life is over. She hugs him and walks past me toward the door that leads to the stairs and the top floor. I point the rifle at Kram.

“Any last words?” I ask.

“There’s a rumor you met Krishna. Is it true?”

“Yes.”

“Was he who they say he was?”

“I don’t know. I like to think so.”

“Was he wonderful?”

“More wonderful than you could dream.”

The man smiles and closes his eyes. “It’s a good dream to have right now. Thank you for my daughter’s life.”

I raise the rifle to shoot. Just then I hear a click behind me.

The cocking of a hammer on a pistol. I whirl and fire.

The bullet catches Alia in the heart.

She falls to her knees. “Papa,” she whispers.

He rushes to her side but she’s already dead.

There’s nothing I can do to ease his grief except shoot him.

I would if I didn’t need his help.

“Now it’s you I’ll be contacting,” I tell him as I walk toward the helicopter. A moment later, I reattach the ignition chip and fly away.

W
hen I return to IIC’s headquarters, the gang is waiting in my room. Except for Paula and John, they have all come: Matt, Umara, Seymour, and Shanti.

Brutran is with them but I ask her to leave. She stands but holds her ground. “I need to know what happened to the three Source members at the Century Plaza Towers,” she demands.

“I chased them into the south tower and killed them.”

“Our people haven’t recovered their bodies. The Telar still have a presence in the north tower.”

“It doesn’t matter. The Telar we were after are dead.”

“A Telar helicopter landed on the roof of the south tower minutes after you left. What do you know about that?”

“It was probably looking for survivors.”

“Our people say you were talking to a man before you left.”

“I spoke to him before I killed him.”

“You should have returned with the bodies.”

“For confirmation? What physical confirmation do we have that the Marherrs in Geneva are dead?”

“The Cradle gave a unified report on the Marherrs. The Century City operation was carried out by you alone.”

“Because you wisely took my advice and fled the scene, Cindy.”

The woman doesn’t like being called a coward. She gestures to my friends. “Why are these people here?” she asks.

Brutran does her best to pretend she doesn’t know who they are but it is clear to me that she has identified Seymour, Shanti, and Matt.

What is also clear is that Brutran doesn’t recognize Umara for who she really is, but sees her as Mary, Freddy’s girlfriend. The disguise won’t last. When Umara joins me in the next attack on the Telar, Brutran’s going to want to know why. Also, Lark and Jolie and the other kids are going to sense Umara’s power, unless the ancient Telar knows how to cloak herself. Umara does have the advantage of having spent thousands of years involved with mental links.

“To assist me,” I reply.

“In what capacity?” Brutran asks.

“Don’t push me, Cindy, not now. Mentally attacking the Telar, and then chasing after them, has worn me out. It’s enough that these people are my friends and can help. But I
can tell you that Matt and Seymour will be assisting Charlie with the inoculations.”

Brutran doesn’t give up. “And these two?” she asks, pointing to Shanti and Umara.

“They’re none of your business.”

“This is still my firm. You’re not in charge, Alisa.”

“I’m in charge wherever I am. When I decide to leave, you’ll have your firm back. If you still want it.” I stop and stare at her and I cannot tame the heat in my eyes. I pity her but not nearly as much as I hate her. I know she struggles with the best way to kill me should I succeed with destroying the Source.