Fever (5 page)

            “But now it’s down there,” I say. “Or one like it is.”

            “It has to be another,” Jack says. “We’re too far away for it to be anything else.”

            “And is that better?” I demand. “One creature like that is bad enough, but now we know that there are more of them. Even before we get to me.”

            “To you?” Jack shakes his head. “Don’t do this to yourself, Celes.”

            “Why not?” I look down and see all the destruction there. I see the flashing light that says a creature is killing people. “So much of this is my fault, Jack.”

            “It isn’t your fault, it’s Hammond’s.”

            “And who let him live? I did.” I shake my head. “We both know that isn’t the worst of it though. I’ve been thinking about it a lot ever since we met the creature, Jack. What if…”

            “Don’t say it again, Celes,” r., CelesJack says, cutting me off.

            I shake my head. “I
have
to say it. I have to say it because it needs to be said. We need to work out what we’re going to do if I end up like one of those creatures. I mean, am I the beginning stages of whatever process creates those things? Or is it worse than that? Do I come from those things? Am I their future form?”

            “Are we,” Jack corrects me. “Remember, I have some of the same powers.”

            “I know, Jack. I know.”

            “And
I
know that you are nothing like those creatures,” Jack says. “You aren’t one of them. The fact that you have similar abilities… that could be a coincidence.”

            “You of all people don’t believe in coincidences,” I say.

            “I don’t believe that you could ever be one of them either,” Jack shoots back.

            “And
how
do you know?” I can hear the tension in my voice, and I guess Jack can too. He must know how much the thought of ending up as one of those things scares me.

            “I know, because I know what’s in your heart.” Jack pulls the helicopter around in a tight circle as more flashes come at ground level. “I know that whatever happened, you would never do that.”

            I don’t argue with him. Even though I’ve already
done
that, I don’t argue with him. Maybe Jack just guesses what I’m thinking, because somehow, in the midst of keeping the helicopter under control, he manages to reach out to me.

            “Every time you have used your powers, it has been to protect yourself or the people you care about. You’ve had a good reason.”

            “And how do we know that the lizard people don’t have good reasons, at least by their standards?”

            “Lizard people?” Jack raises an eyebrow.

            “I have to call them something. And ‘lizard people’ is a little less scary than ‘big, invulnerable thing that nearly killed us’.”

            “Lizard people it is,” Jack agrees.

            “You know what really scares me, Jack.” It isn’t a question.

            Jack nnow   Jods. “I know.”

            What scares me is that while I’ve had a good reason for every time I used my power, I could also feel the joy of using it. The dark joy that welled up in me while things, people, burned. There’s always a part of me that’s horrified by what my power can do, but there’s another, deeper, hidden part that seems to revel in it.

            I look down at the ground again. “There are people down there, Jack. Every one of those flashes is a person dying.”

            Jack nods, but he looks torn as he does it. “We might already be too late.”

            I shake my head. “We can’t know that unless we go down there.”

            “And if we do, then I could be exposing you to danger when I should be getting you safely to Location Thirteen. Everything I’ve been taught tells me that I should be flying you out of here, Celes. Regrouping with the other Faders. Trying to come up with an effective plan rather than charging in against an enemy we don’t have a way to hurt, let alone stop.”

            Yet he doesn’t fly the helicopter out of here. He doesn’t move us away from the terrible carnage that must be taking place below. Jack might know what the logic of his mission tells us we should be doing, but he’s still a better man than that. I decide to make it easy for him.

            “Jack,” I say, “we aren’t leaving. We aren’t just going to abandon people to die.”

            “Even if it means exposing you to danger? Even if it means that we might not make it to the other Faders in time to warn them about what’s going on?”

            “My guess is that your uncle and your father are already better informed about what is going on than anyone else,” I point out. I shake my head. “Forget Location Thirteen for the moment, Jack. It’s a guess. A vague hope. We don’t know that there is anyone there, let alone anyone with a solution for all this. But we know that there are people down there, and that they are in trouble. I can’t leave them behind, and I think the truth is that you can’t either, or you would already have flown us away from all this.”

            Jack nods. “I guess, if we can help… and maybe it’s an opportunity to find out more about those things.”

            “Maybe,” I say, “but the main priority is to get anyone down there out of trouble.”

            Jack nods, and then smiles to himself.

            “What?” I demand. “What’s so funny?” span>

            “Not funny,” Jack says. “You know before you were asking how I knew you weren’t like one of those things? Well, how many of those do you think would stop to help people? Now strap yourself in, we’re going down.”

SEVEN

J
ack takes the helicopter down, not heading directly for the flashes, but close. That’s a hard one to judge. We need to be close enough to help, but not so close that we’re right on top of any creature like the one that chased us before. In the end, Jack puts us down behind a stand of trees that back onto a small, square, concrete building with a glass front.

            As the rotor blades idle, he leaps into the back of the helicopter, grabbing supplies. The submachine gun is just the start. He even grabs grenades. As for me, he throws a spare gun my way, along with a couple of clips of ammunition.

            “You know how to use it, right?”

            I nod, checking the chamber of the gun before loading and cocking it. I holster it alongside the other pistol Jack gave me. I briefly think about grabbing even more weaponry, but if two pistols aren’t going to be enough to keep me safe, I don’t know what will do the job.

            We hop down from the helicopter, heading around the corner of the building. There are other buildings nearby, set off from the road. They look like office buildings, though the only sign on them is a highly stylized symbol a little like a star in the middle of a series of interlocking rings that remind me a little of the way people draw atoms.

            The flashes of light came from here. I’m sure of it. It’s just a question of where. There are a few more buildings around us, forming a loose, open compound. In theory, the flashes could have come from any one of them.

            “Where…” I begin, but Jack lifts a hand to cut me off. He presses himself flat against the wall of the building, reaching back as he does it to press me to it too. I’m so tight against it that I can feel the roughness of the concrete against the skin of my cheek. Jack is so quiet and focused now, edging forward, the weapon he holds leveled to fire in whatever direction he’s looking from moment to moment.

            A heavy set man in his late fifties rushes from the building opposite us, lumbering across the ground between the buildings. He’s wearing a suit and a lab coat, both stained with something darker. Something almost black. What does it say about my life these days that I recognize the blood stain for what it is instantly?

            For a moment, I think that Jack might shoot him, he’s so ready for action. Certainly he aims at the running man, before pulling his gun down, obviously recognizing that he isn’t an immediate threat. Light flashes, and this time, it doesn’t come from a creature touching anyone. There’s a beam of it, flashing out from the shadows of the building’s entrance, missing the running man by inches. He hits the ground in something that seems to be half a dive and half a stumble. Whatever it is, he ends up down in the dirt, scrambling to get to his feet.

            He looks terrified, and right then, I guess he has every right to be. Even so, the expression on his face is painful to watch. People shouldn’t look that scared of anything. There shouldn’t be things in the world capable of doing that to someone. The trouble is, I know exactly the kind of thing that
could
make someone that scared. I’ve seen them. I’ve been
chased
by them.

            Jack pulls me away from the wall. “Celes, you get him. Make sure that he’s safe. I’ll…”

            “You’ll
what
Jack? Take on one of those things on your own?”

            Jack shakes his head. “No. I’m not going to do that, but I’m fast enough to cause a distraction and still get away.”

            “That thing in the library was
fast,
Jack.”

            He kisses me then, fast and hard. “So am I, and I’m not about to take a risk. I’ll see it coming. You know I will. Just focus on this guy. Get him back to the helicopter, or to any other form of transport if that isn’t an option. Get to Location Thirteen. Complete the mission.”

            Why does that sound like Jack saying goodbye?

            “Jack…” I start to protest, but he’s already moving. He’s running, with that better than human speed he has, making his way out towards the building the man has just come from. I can feel my heart beating hard in my chest at the thought of what might be happening there. One heartbeat, then another. I hear the sound of gunfire, and want to run to Jack, but I know he’s right. I have to help this man. We landed to help people.

            We landed because I talked Jack into it to help people. That thought creeps into me as I start over towards the heavy set man who is only now coming back to his feet. What if Jack is hurt here, or worse? That will be my fault. Even so, I force myself to head over to the man we’re trying to help. see >

            “Come on,” I say. “Let’s get you out of here.”

            “Thank God, you aren’t one of them.” He looks bewildered at the fact I’m here, but he lets me take his arm. Close up, he looks haggard, his greying hair a mess, his shirt torn. His dark eyes dart from spot to spot as though expecting an attack at any moment. Maybe he’s even right about that.

            “One of whom?” I demand.

            “Them,” he says. “
Them
.”

            He points in the direction Jack has run, but I can’t see anything there. I can just see how scared this man is. We need to get him clear of this place before he panics.

            “Come on,” I say. “Let’s get you out of here.”

            He shakes his head. “There’s nowhere safe. Our cars…”

            “We have transport,” I say, pulling him along in one stumbling step, then another. “Is there anyone else here who needs our help?”

            “Anyone else?” the question seems almost to take him by surprise. “No. No, they’re all… they got them.”

            “They killed them?” I ask. It’s a tough question, and one I don’t want to ask someone so obviously terrified, but I know I have to. I can’t stand the thought of leaving someone behind.

            “They took them. Rounded them up like cattle. I… I was the only one to get away.”

            “And is there anyone else in any of the other buildings?” I press him.

            He shakes his head. “No. I just said. They got all of them. The ones they didn’t capture, they… you won’t believe me.”

            “They disintegrated them,” I guess.

            He nods, and then comes to a halt, looking at me with surprise. “How do you know that?”

            “I know a lot of things,” I say, “and it has been a very long day. Now keep moving. Unless you want to be their next victim.”

            That’s harsh and I know it, but Jack is relying on me to get this guy out of there. Worse, the slower he moves, the longer Jacks, tÀnger Jas distraction has to last. That thought is enough to make me practically drag him. He’s a big guy, but I’m strong enough to keep him moving easily, keeping him on course for the helicopter. If we can make it back there-

            There are more shots, a flash of light from inside the building, shouting. It sounds like there’s a full blown battle in there, especially when I hear the dull thud of a grenade detonating. It’s loud as it rattles through the building ahead of me, and in that moment, I have only one thought.
Jack
.

            The first few shots made sense. The first few shots were his distraction. This isn’t a distraction. It can’t be. It’s more than that. I spin the man with me to face me.

            “Listen,” I say. “I need to know everything you can tell me about what is going on in there, and I need you to tell me now.”

            Maybe it’s the look on my face, but he doesn’t argue. “What do you want to know?”

            “What exactly is in there?” I demand. “What is Jack up against? How many, and where in the building are they? What exactly
happened
here?”

            He hesitates.

            “Tell me!”

            “We couldn’t predict what would happen!” That comes out as a startled bleat while he raises his hands as though he thinks I might hit him. “We couldn’t predict the solar behavior. No one could. We couldn’t know what it would do to our equipment, or our experiments.”

            “What experiments?” I ask. “Who exactly are you?”