Harsh Lessons (33 page)

'So, go on Jane, your turn: what’s
your
worry?'

There was no way she could admit she could hear the compressor running, on the trailer which she could
hear
moving, behind them.

'Uh…' w
hat could she say…?
  'I was just thinking… that if they've kidnapped Mr Dennis, and us just to make him give us the codes, that isn't going to work.'

Marcie stared at her.  'No you weren't.  That wasn't what you were thinking.  Now, give.'

Instead, Leeth hugged her, their chains making that difficult even while standing.  'Look, Marcie, can you just trust me that it's only an idea, a scary idea, and I don't think it'd help you concentrate on rescuing us all to share it right now?  And it's just an
idea
.'

Marcie pulled away.  'I guess so.  Yeah, okay.  But whatdya mean, me rescuing us all?'

Leeth saw the idea of Marcie being the hero, saving them all, take root. 
Yeah, if
Marcie
was the one who was special; who rescued everyone….
  'Picking the locks on these cuffs.'

'Police cuffs?  Are you kidding?  I'm good, yeah, but not that good.  They're impossible.'

Leeth grinned.  'But these aren't police cuffs.  They're for… bondage.'

'
Bondage?
  Like… B&D?  S&M? 
That
kind of bondage?'

Leeth nodded.

'I'm not gonna ask how you know that.  But if you know the trick, why don't you just open them?'

'Trick?  There's no trick escape mechanism.  They're not
toys
, Marcie.  But my guess is they'll be easier to open than my padlock.'

In the dim light, she saw the smile blossom on Marcie's face.  'O-
kay!
  Let's get started.  I'll race you!'

It wasn't too hard to get at Marcie's hairpins, and soon both were standing, backs braced against the long metal rail as the truck bumped along, working at their own cuffs.

Sam and Delta were the first to notice what they were doing, whispering excitedly, and the news spread up and then down the truck.  By the time Marcie's lock clicked open, ten minutes later, the whole truck was silent – until a cheer went up as she unlocked the cuff and stepped away from the rail, with a small bow.

Her success spurred Leeth on, and she focused even more sharply on the tiny sounds from the pins inside the locking mechanism, through the cries of “Now me, unlock me!”  Then Leeth grinned at Marcie, the cuff dangling from her left wrist, her own loop of chain rattling against the metal wall of the swaying truck.

A smaller cheer went up.

Things got a little sticky after that, though, as everyone started demanding to be unlocked, right now!

Marcie stamped her foot.  'Shut up!  At ten minutes per lock, it'd take hours to get everyone free, and we don't know how long we've got till we arrive wherever we're going.'

'Okay, but that doesn't mean you can't free a few more,' Tara said.  'We may need numbers on our side when they open the doors.  The more people you free, the better!'

'Really?  You're gonna rush them, are you, Tara?  What if they have guns?  What we
need
is to find a way to open the doors, or signal for help, or stop the truck.  So unless you've got ideas for how to do that, just shut up, everyone, okay?'

Tara didn't shut up, but Marcie and Leeth just ignored her as they began examining the rear doors.  Marcie explained where the electronic lock would be, and how opening it required a special remote control, or else the truck's ID and authorization codes.

Leeth eyed the camera.  She could just leap up and smash it, but that might seem… a bit special.

Behind them, she heard the clatter of a pair of handcuffs dropping to the floor and multiple shocked intakes of breath.  Heavy footsteps trod towards them.  Spinning round, she saw Mark Dennis walking the length of the truck in the gloom.

A few people cheered, but others hushed them: 'He wasn't locked in.  He was faking!'

Silence spread.

'Move away from the doors.  You must be restrained.'
 

Chapter 39 

'Shitme!  It was him all along!' hissed Marcie.  'But that means...'

Leeth felt cold.  She moved a little away from Marcie, towards the man relentlessly approaching.  Something about his lack of expression, his implacable walk….

She'd learned heaps from Dojo.  She was strong, and fast, and deadly.  She summoned the peculiar tingle to her fingertips, ready to cut and slice.

So why am I afraid?
  Why did he make her body scream at her to
run!

Mr Dennis said nothing further, neither slowing nor speeding up, noting her stance but otherwise ignoring it.  As if nothing she could do worried him.

Then Marcie whispered, 'Yes!' and darted forward.

Dennis's arm shot out as Marcie's hand stabbed into a pocket of his trousers.  One large hand around her throat, he lifted her, studying her briefly as her eyes bugged out.  In the darkness, Leeth saw Marcie's thumb scrabbling frantically at a small device she now held in her hand.  Behind her, something heavy
clicked,
and then cold night winds tore at her as road noises flooded in.

Dennis shifted his weight, throwing Marcie to the side as if she weighed nothing, a sickening crack as she slammed into the wall and cried out, to slide bonelessly to the metal floor.

'
Marcie!  No!'
  Her friend's eyes met hers, smiling even as her body lay still from the neck down. 'I rescued you,' Marcie whispered – Leeth seeing the words as much as hearing them. 
'
Get away! 
Run!'

But Mark Dennis loomed over her now, one heavy arm flashing towards her even as the other reached for the swinging door, to pull it shut.

Leeth dropped, diving between his legs and springing straight up again to shove backwards.  Dennis overbalanced and flew from the truck, hands flailing.  Grabbing at the small semi-trailer behind them, he landed instead on the connecting bar.  One hand reached back towards them, large fingers locking solidly on the edge of the doorway.

Leeth stepped forward and kicked the fingers free, hard, hearing bones break.  Amazingly, with just two fingers and his thumb, he held on.

She kicked again, even harder, breaking two more fingers.

Off-balance, Mark Dennis slid from the trailer bar, to hit the road unwinding behind them at a hundred kilometers an hour.  The entire time, his expression didn't change: his eyes stayed fixed on Leeth's, with no indication of surprise, or shock, or anger.  Just watching.  Recording each moment, as he vanished into the night.

She heard the impact of his body on the road, and heard more bones break, hoping he'd fallen under the trailer's wheels.  But it hadn't bounced.  She listened for the sound of squealing brakes, or car horns… but again, there was just the rush of the wind and thrum of the truck’s tires on the road.

Spinning around, she raced to Marcie, who hadn't moved, lying still and broken on the bed of the truck.  Her eyes were open, though her head was at an awful angle.

And she smiled at Leeth.  'I did good, didn't I?'

Tears flooded Leeth's eyes.  She tried to speak but couldn't; just couldn’t.  She nodded, taking Marcie's hand, squeezing it tight.

Marcie didn't squeeze back.

This is my fault.  I should've realized he had the remote control. 
I
should have been the one to see it, to grab it from him.
  Not Marcie.  Not Marcie!  I could have grabbed her, stopped her.  Instead, I just froze.  Like a total coward.

'Don't cry, Jane.'  Marcie's voice was just a whisper.  'It doesn't hurt.'

Leeth wanted to scream.  Then went rigid. 
Keepie!  Keepie can Heal her!

Ms Sorensen called out.  'Does anyone have linkage?  Anyone?  We need an ambulance!'

One of the boys answered.  'I got signal, but it's scrambled.  There must be a jammer in here.'

'If you get… up on roof… Jane, there'll be ID… painted on top,' Marcie whispered.  'Give that to the… authorities, they'll… take control… of truck.  Drive it to… hospital.  Wherever… you want.'

Leeth nodded, through falling tears.  'Oh, Marcie.  You're
still
saving us all!'

Moving to the rear of the truck, with its doors still banging between half-open and shut, she grabbed the edge of one door as it swung nearer.  Then kicked off her high heels and found a tiny toe-hold. 
Mother and Father are going to just
love
this.  Someone's sure to record it. 
At least it's dark.
  For a second she paused.  The climb looked… a little tricky.  And if she slipped?  Everyone else was still chained up.

Or paralyzed.

If she fell, they'd have to wait for some passing driver to report a truck with its doors banging open.  It might take hours before anyone stopped them.  It might not happen till after dawn.  And above, the red light of the watching camera stared down at her.

I’ll just have to be careful.

'What are you doing, you idiot?' shrieked Tara.  'Unlock one of us, first, in case you fall!'

Leeth spun back around, gesturing at the small red LED above the rear doors.  'See up there?  That's a camera, watching.  And we don't know if Mr Dennis was acting alone.  They could be driving us towards a cliff, to dump us in the ocean.  So just shut up, Tara.  I won't fall.'

She spun back around.

I hope.

Balancing on top, bracing herself against the buffeting wind, she read the ID and memorized it: then stood blinking in the rushing night wind like a complete idiot.

Now what?
What had she just achieved?

If she had her glasses, or her Link…

Jaw clenched, she very carefully moved to the back of the truck, crouching down to ride out the bumps and jolts. 
No more mistakes, Leeth.

She swung inside.  Ignoring all the demands, she checked on Marcie.  'Don't talk.  I got the ID.'  She patted Marcie's hand and looked up.  'Can anyone get a signal?  I've memorized the truck's ID.'

No one could.

'Okay.  I'll have to climb back, and pull up someone  who's got an implanted commlink.'

Beth looked to be the lightest of all the people who raised their hands.  But Tara was the loudest.

Leeth turned to her.  'I guess I could
try
, Tara,' she shrugged.  'But you're not as small as Beth.  So long as you know there's a good chance I might drop you, I'm happy to
try
.'

But then it took minutes just to re-find the hairpin before she could even
start
picking Beth's lock.

At one a.m, escorted by police cars and eager news vehicles, the truck coasted to a stop outside the emergency bay of Saint Mary's Hospital, Reno.  Men and women raced in, carefully easing Marcie onto a stretcher and into the hospital, while the Reno PD began unlocking people.

With no money, no link, and no idea how to contact the Department, the best Leeth could manage was to get one of the commlinked kids to call her Aunt Elizabeth, and then watch the shit fly.

The worst, though, was not being allowed in to see or speak to Marcie.  All they said was “her condition was stable.”

The
hardest
thing had been avoiding the media.  Apparently the networks had been running a story, “Dramatic End To Acting School,” about how everyone had burned to death in a millionaire's mansion.  The blaze had started at eleven pm, and the heat had been so intense that firefighters were only just now entering the burned-out wreckage.  Alert for more news, some clever soul, hearing of the mass kidnap, had done a little digging and put two and two together.

So at five a.m “Aunt Elizabeth” arrived to collect Leeth, spiriting away the sought-after “Plucky Teen in Rooftop Rescue.”

In the car, Leeth watched the headlights picking out cats-eyes on the highway as the vehicle drove itself.  Emma leaned back in the driver's seat, eyes shut, like she was tired.

'Oh, Leeth,' she said, finally.

Leeth snapped out of her daze.  'Have you got a link I could use?  I need Uncle to heal Marcie.  You should've seen her, she was
so
brave-'

'Leeth, the Doctor will not be allowed to Heal Marcie.'

'What?  But he's gotta!  She's lying there-'

'He will not be allowed to because it would be very newsworthy.  Because people are suspicious of magical healing.  Because he would need Marcie's father's consent.  Because it would link Dr Harmon to you.  Because it would start a cascading chain of events all leading toward disaster.'  She opened her eyes, and turned to the girl beside her.  'Trust me on this, Leeth.  You're in enough hot water as it is.  The last thing you need right now is to be demonstrating you're so naive that you can't see you're proposing a course of action likely to expose Departmental secrets,
and
with as little chance of achieving what you want as winning the lottery.'

'Huh?  Uncle could heal Marcie!'

'I mean he is unlikely to be permitted to try.  By the Department; by Marcie's family.'

'But we could disguise him so no one knew who he was; and I'm sure I could convince Marcie's dad to let him heal her.'

'And the news media coverage?  It's simply too risky, Leeth.  And how does it help the Department?'

'It helps
Marcie
.  It's the right thing to do.  And we're the good guys, so that's what we should do!'

Dear god
, thought Emma.  'Leeth… look, my advice is not to push for this.  It's extremely unlikely to be approved, and probably unnecessary, too: vertebral nerve bundle reconnection is expensive, not difficult.'

'You said "extremely unlikely."  So it
might
be approved if I ask?'

Emma closed her eyes.  'Leeth, at the very worst, she'll need a cyber spinal unit.  They're effective in almost all cases. Not everything has to be solved with magic.'

'Really?  So you
promise
Marcie'll be alright?'