Hathor Legacy: Burn (8 page)

10
Undone

"Guardians set fire to the house you lived in?" Nadira asked. "How do you know this?"

"They came to the house right before it happened," the woman replied, her chest heaving. "The man and woman were the ones who brought me here to Nova City. They said they were Guard
ians. Tonight a man came with them. He forced us into a back room and they locked the door."

Nadira looked over at Officer Tragg. He stood by the door, his eyes trained on the woman in the bed.

"That can't be possible. Guardians would never do that," he said, his deep voice sounded like a low growl.

"How did the man force you?"

"He did something with his mind. I felt a sharp pain here." She touched her forehead, rubbing her fingers along her hairline. "I couldn't control my body…it felt like something was forcing me to do what he wanted."

"You must be mistaken. He must've used a weapon," Tragg interjected. "Or one of the others did."

Nadira sat on the edge of the bed. As much as she wanted to keep eye contact, she couldn't stop herself from staring at the scar. "What is your name? Where are you from?"

She slid her scarred arm under the covers. "I'm Varyn Renzi from the Cold Towns in the North Country."

"That's over 3200 kilometers from Nova City," Nadira r
emarked. "You said the man and woman brought you here?"

"It was two years ago. I was seventeen. The District Manager called my family to a meeting. This man and woman were there. The DM told them that I'd developed abilities."

"You developed abilities at seventeen? What kind?" Nadira asked. Most abilities showed up in childhood, at least by age seven or eight.

"When I touch things I can feel emotions from the people who touched them. And I can see things that might happen in the f
uture."

"Then why couldn't you see what those people were going to do?" Tragg asked. "Your powers must not be strong."

"They're not," Varyn replied. "When the Guardians brought us here, they said we couldn't be trained. Our abilities were too weak."

"Who else came with you?" Nadira asked.

"Three other trainees came with me."

"Which District Manager?" Officer Tragg asked.

"There's only one for all of the Cold Towns. Denza Lezcov."

"What about your family?" Nadira asked. "Do they know what happened to you?"

Varyn shook her head. "I haven't spoken to them since I left. I was ashamed to tell them what happened."

"It wasn't your fault," Nadira said. "You did nothing wrong."

Varyn wiped away a tear from her cheek. "They wanted me to read thoughts and I couldn't do it. I was too weak."

"Show me your left hand," Nadira requested.

Varyn lifted her left arm out from under the blanket. Most of it was covered by yellow, regen skin. She held out her hand to show her palm, but it too was covered with skin patches.

Nadira examined it, but hesitated to touch her. "Do you have a line in your palm, like a half-moon shape?"

"No. Why?"

"It's nothing," Nadira said. All Guardians had that line. The more developed the power, the deeper the line.

"How did you get out after the fire started?" Tragg asked.

"I broke through a window in the back. Everyone else was screaming and the smoke was coming in and…and the door opened again and the flames came in…" Her fingers gripped the edge of the blanket. "The rest of them are dead, aren't they?"

"Yes," Tragg replied, his tone softer. "You're the only one who got out."

Varyn turned her face away from Nadira, revealing more patches of regen skin by her ear.

"Officer, I'd like to speak to her alone for a few minutes."

"Of course." He left the room.

Nadira eased off the bed and went to the window. Below her, the streets were busy as usual, filled with workers in their grey and brown suits. In this part of the city, there were fewer tourists. Instead of entertainments and shops, there were silvery glass Novacorp office buildings towering over the medi-evac center.

"Varyn," she began, as she returned to the bedside. "What were the names of the Guardians who took you from the Cold Towns?"

She turned towards Nadira. "I don't know their names."

"Can you describe them?"

"No, I can't. What if they find out I told you? You sent the officer away. Are you going to hurt me too?"

"I wouldn't do that, Varyn."

"The Guardians who brought us here hurt us. They said we had to do what they wanted. How do I know you're different?"

How could she prove she could be trusted? "I could open my thoughts to you," Nadira said. "Then you could see for yourself."

"I don't have the strength to read thoughts. I told you that."

There had to be a way for Varyn to trust her. "Tell me what happened after you got to Nova City."

"They took us to the house and there were about five others already there. The Guardians said if we didn't do what they wanted, they'd kill us." Varyn gripped the covers, twisting the fabric between her slender fingers. "No one knew how to get away. But I tried. I told one of the clients what they were doing to us and she must've told someone that I talked."

"Wait--what clients?"

Varyn struggled to sit up, but couldn't shift her body enough. "We were sent to meet-up clubs or to meet with clients privately."

"For what?"

"A lot of the time they wanted to know about business deals and things. They'd want me to tell them if the person could be trusted, or to see how a deal would turn out. Because I can't read thoughts, they'd use me to look into the future. Or for other things."

"What other things?"

"I can't tell you," Varyn whispered. "I can't. Just leave me alone."

"Varyn, can't you trust me? I have to know who brought you here and put you in that house. Please."

"I've seen what they can do. They'll go back to my town and kill my family. Don't you understand? You want to trap me. I won't tell you anything." Varyn closed her eyes and buried her face in her pillow. 

Though she tried to read her, Nadira couldn't come up with very much. Images of a man standing in the shadows, but nothing more. Either Varyn was so afraid that she'd completely shut down, or someone had set up a block in her mind.

But who was powerful enough to force another person to do things against their will? Even the strongest Guardian would have trouble overcoming another person's will. They'd have to know how to undermine them and find their vulnerabilities and their fears.

Nadira left the room. Officer Tragg was waiting in the corridor, his shiny black helmet on the floor next to him. "Did she tell you who brought her here?" he asked. "Or who set the fire?"

"No. She's too afraid."

"Can't you look at her thoughts?" Tragg inclined his head t
owards Varyn's room. "Or we could get one of those Guardian Protectors to read them. They're used to doing interrogations."

"She shouldn't be subjected to anything like that, Sergeant. If someone tries to force her…she's been through enough." Dealing with Varyn would take understanding and patience. Those weren't typical qualities of Protectors.

"Well, she must've been mistaken about the Guardians setting the fire," Tragg said. "But even so, I have to add this to my report. Lt. Lin is going to want an update."

Once he added that bit of information, it would be part of the official record. "Can't you wait until I can get more information from her?"

Tragg hitched his fingers into his utility belt. With his security-issue stunner attached to it, the thick webbing hung low at his waist.  "I'm sorry. If I don't report it, I wouldn't be doing my duty."

"I understand," Nadira said. "I'm going to question her again later when she's rested."

"Contact me when you do. I'll have to be here." Tragg glanced down the hall towards the medic station. "And I think it would be a good idea to have an officer standing by. Just in case the arsonist finds out there's a survivor."

"Can you have someone come over now?"

Tragg nodded and patted a small button on his pocket. "Tragg to security command."

"Command copy," a man's booming voice responded.  "Dax here."

"Note my location. Send an officer here to secure the arson survivor." He scanned the ceiling above the doorway to Varyn's room. "We should activate surveillance cams too."

"They're already active at the entrance to your location. We can set up additional eyes if we need to," Dax said.

Tragg nodded and ran his hand along his square-ish chin. "The LT can make that call. Tragg out." He patted the device again. "Someone will be here directly."

"Sergeant, what happens when she's released from here? Can security take her somewhere to keep her safe?" Nadira asked. 

"I suppose she'll be sent to another Service House. But the thing is, she's not registered in the system as one of those Deshtu people. They scanned her on the way in. She's a regular citizen. And that house that burned wasn't registered either."

"How do the Deshtu get registered?"

"At birth, usually if the parents are. Then when they join a House, they're registered to that location." Tragg folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall. "Whoever set that house up is stealing company profits. Even if they hadn't done the fires, setting up the house is a crime against the corporation."

"And they'll be sent to detention."

"At the least. But probably a penal colony. The company doesn't like losing credits." Tragg stifled a yawn.

"But why are the Deshtu sent to Houses? What's the point?"

"I don't know. Been like that for the past sixty to seventy years. But people are getting nervous. They're going to be afraid to go to a House if it's going to burn down." Tragg glanced back down the corridor.

"And the company runs the Houses?"

"Of course." The Sergeant chuckled, running a hand over the brush-like crop of hair on the top of his head. "Just like everything else."

Heavy footsteps were tramping in their direction. As the sounds grew louder, three officers wearing dark grey uniforms like Tragg's turned the corner by the medic's station.

"Here they are," Tragg said, as he waved them over. "They'll take it from here."

But what would happen after Tragg filed his report? Once Varyn's accusation was made public, all of the Guardians would become suspects.

*****

"You seem distracted. What happened today?" Nadira asked.

"Huh? Oh, I met Karin Luke after my meeting." Jonathan gripped Nadira's hand as they strolled along the waterfront promenade. "She wants to meet you."

"Why? I only go to those company events when I have to. All they want to do is show Guardians off like pets."

Now she was sounding worse than usual. Something must've happened, and he was sure it wasn't just the mention of Karin's name. "What is it?"

"I don't know what you mean." Nadira pulled her hand away and turned towards the water.

Above them, the darkening sky was awash with stars and the moons, Isis and Osiris. It had been his idea to take a walk after their evening meal, now he wondered if that had been a good one. 

"You're annoyed about something," he said.

"Why do you say that?"

Suppressing a groan, Jonathan joined her at the railing. Below them, water lapped against the stone pilings. With no boat traffic, it was unusually tranquil. Through their connection, he felt her begin to relax. 

"Tell me," he said.

Nadira sighed. She was preparing herself. Searching for the right words to tell him what was bothering her.  With the intensity of their bond, at times he could tell what she was thinking. Unfo
rtunately, this was not one of those times.

"I talked to someone at the medi-evac named Varyn Renzi. She's from the Cold Towns and she was brought here to be a Guardian. But instead they took her to a Service House and used her, along with several others."

"Cold Towns?"

"One of the towns up North, past the seaside towns you and I went to. Not many people there develop abilities."

"So who brought her?"

"She won't tell me. But there's something odd about it. She said the District Manager called her to the office to meet two Guard
ians. Then, after they brought her here, they told her she wasn't strong enough and couldn't be trained."

"Guardians don't deal with Service Houses, do they?" he asked.

"No, and to make things worse, she said a Guardian started the fire," Nadira replied. "The executives are going to take that very seriously. But I don't know if the Guardians will. People like her aren't looked at with much respect."

"You mean, she's what you called,
nonaali
?"