Hex (19 page)

“We've found Rachel.”

“You have?” Wraith sounded tense and Raven turned to meet his eyes. “Is she . . . How is she?” he asked, trying to preserve his mask of control.

“Her mind has been severely affected by the testing,” Raven said dispassionately. “But she appears to retain some measure of sanity.”

“Some measure of sanity?” Wraith looked frozen and Raven heard Kez's soft gasp of distress. She felt distanced from both of them, identifying herself with the three disinterested gangers in the back of the flitter rather than with her anxious brother.

“Be thankful she's not brain-dead or flatlined,” she stated. “Her condition is better than I thought it would be.”

•  •  •

Kez tried to stretch his cramped muscles and frowned. Large as the flitter was, the passenger seat was not the most comfortable place he'd been, especially after the long flight. The gangers and Wraith had room in the back to stretch out, even with the packing cases. But, cramped as he was, Kez hesitated to join them. Melek had been antagonistic to his presence on the operation and he didn't want to provoke the gangers into making their disapproval more immediately felt. As it was he tried to make himself comfortable in his seat and alternated between dozing and looking out of the window.

The latter of these two alternatives was easier to accomplish. Raven had been obliged to keep below the speed limit, since they didn't want to attract the attention of the Seccies with a cargo of armaments, and had therefore increased the volume of her rock music to painful levels. Kez suspected that this was also a function of her wish to avoid conversation. Wraith was clearly concerned about Rachel's condition and Raven just as obviously wanted to avoid the issue. However, every now and then the music paused as Raven changed disks and Kez took advantage of one of these breaks to engage her attention.

“You're still not piloting manually?”

“As you see.” Raven shrugged. Her seat was tilted back and her legs stretched out on top of the bank of controls, only one hand resting lightly on a set of controls to her left.

“What would happen if you fell asleep?”

“I'm not certain,” Raven said slowly, and then grinned. “Want to find out?”

“I don't think so.” Kez shook his head but he was smiling as well. Raven's good humor relieved a little of his anxiety about what they were doing. “Are you tired, though? If you are I can take over.” He made the suggestion a little hesitantly, but Raven didn't seem annoyed by it. She shrugged again.

“I'm OK,” she said. “There's not much point in changing places now—we're almost there.”

“We are?”

“Look outside,” Raven suggested, and Kez turned to the window.

It was almost dusk and it was hard for him to make anything out in the dim half-light. Raven seemed to have left the main roadway, and the lights of the buildings that surrounded it were nowhere to be seen; gone also were the running lights of other flitters. But Raven had kept their own lights on and Kez could catch glimpses of the dark countryside, a town or city in the distance lighting up the sky, and below them the black ribbon of a minor road and the streaks of light as skimmers sped by. Up ahead were the darker masses of hills and Raven gestured toward them.

“That's where the lab is. But, according to the transport database, everything on either side of this road is restricted airspace.”

“Isn't there an approach road?” Wraith asked.

“We'd hardly use it if there was,” Raven pointed out. “But no, there's nothing indicated.” She considered. “I expect there is one though, and it'll be in the government databases so their operatives can reach the lab.”

“Pull that database,” Wraith told her. “We don't want to use that road, but we don't want to stumble across it by accident either.”

“Better cut the running lights,” Melek added. “Since this is a covert op, best not to get seen.”

“I can't cut them while we're still over the main roadway,” Raven pointed out, her eyes already defocusing as she connected to the network. “If a Seccie monitor caught us flying without lights they'd order us to halt. But I'll swing off the road in about thirty minutes and cut the lights then. If anyone does catch us entering restricted airspace, we'll send a com message saying we had technical problems.”

“A power loss?” Kez suggested. “That would explain why you'd cut the lights.”

“With any luck the eventuality won't come up,” Wraith said. “Any luck with that road, Raven?”

“Found it,” she stated. “There's an exit from the main roadway. Blink and you'd miss it. Then there's about a kilometer from the turn-off to the outer perimeter of the facility.”

“Break off from the road before you reach it,” Wraith ordered. “Then bring the flitter down behind trees or something. I don't want us to make the run on the lab until later tonight. We can catch a couple of hours sleep while we're waiting.”

•  •  •

Ali lay flat on her back on the bed trying to stay calm. The revelation that Rachel was Revenge had shocked her. She was still trying to come to terms with its significance. The girl's grip on sanity seemed so tenuous that she doubted if even Raven could understand her. But Raven had seemed to know the right things to say to calm her sister down, without arousing Tom and Luciel's suspicions.

Ali sighed. The thought of the two boys was what troubled her most. She was surprised at how confident she was of Raven and Wraith's ability to rescue her. Her only doubts concerned what that escape would mean. She and Revenge were not the only prisoners in the facility. The idea of leaving the others trapped in the lab while she saved her own skin was rapidly becoming unpalatable. Ali could hardly imagine that Raven would take well to her altruistic impulse, but she had to try.

She rolled over to bury her head in the pillow and whispered almost under her breath:

“Raven. Raven, are you there? I have to talk to you.” There was no reply. Ali waited, then repeated herself, but still there was nothing. She felt icy fingers grip her heart and had to force herself not to panic. Raven had said that the link was unbreakable. They'd been steadily in contact for hours with no mention of danger. Nothing could have gone wrong. She paused in her rapid calculations as a new thought hit her. It was only logical really. She could hardly be surprised if Raven proved herself human and succumbed to a human weakness like falling asleep. But this was hardly the best time. She sat up, frowning. Then she blinked in surprise at the sight of a face peering through the glass panel on the door.

It was Luciel. He pushed the door open hesitantly, revealing Tom standing behind him.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“We need to talk to you,” Tom added.

“OK,” Ali agreed, feeling uneasy. She couldn't help the thought that all three of them were under a death sentence that at present only she had a chance of escaping. “What about?”

“You're going to try to escape,” Tom said flatly and Ali started. Luciel was already nodding agreement.

“You're here for Revenge,” he said softly. “I don't know why, but I'm sure that's it.”

“Are you even a Hex at all?” Tom demanded, although he kept his voice low.

“I am a Hex,” Ali admitted, her mind racing as she tried to think of a way to evade the rest of the questions. Where was Raven when she needed her? But the comlink was silent and she had to make the decision of what to tell them on her own. The choice was surprisingly easy. “You're right,” she said. “I am going to break out.”

“You don't have a hope in hell,” Tom said, shaking his head. “There's no
way
you'll manage that.”

“She got in, didn't she?” Luciel said. “If she could get in, and find Revenge, she must have a way to get out.”

“I'll have help,” Ali said softly. “I'm not here on my own. There's a group of people, gangers, who'll be helping me.”

“You mean you and Revenge,” Tom corrected.

“Yes.” Ali nodded.

“Why?” Luciel looked baffled. “Why Revenge? She's brain-fried. What good would she do you?”

“Her brother's one of the gangers,” Ali told him. “And her sister . . .” She broke off abruptly, deciding that it would be a bad idea to mention Raven. She'd probably annoy the other girl enough when Raven found out Ali had told them about the rest of the team, without exacerbating that. Ali knew Raven well enough to realize that she wouldn't take kindly to a betrayal of her identity.

But even without mentioning Raven, Ali was worried that she'd gone too far. They were in a high-security facility and a single word to a scientist would be enough to stop the retrieval before it started. Wraith had kept his team small deliberately, planning to use surprise as his primary weapon. If Ali gave away that element of surprise, the team really wouldn't have a chance.

“You mustn't say a word,” she cautioned hurriedly. “Please?”

Tom and Luciel looked at each other. Luciel was the first to speak.

“We won't say anything, Ali,” he said. “But if you're really escaping . . .”

“We're coming with you,” Tom finished. “And so is everyone else kept prisoner here. You won't be going alone.”

•  •  •

Kez woke with a start as someone shook him. He opened his eyes blearily to see a ghostlike shadow standing over him. Wraith's gray eyes stared at him, his mop of white hair blowing out around his face.

“Time for an equipment check,” he said curtly and Kez nodded, yawning as he sat up. “I need you to explain the functions of those devices of Raven's,” Wraith continued.

“Why can't she do it?” Kez protested, glancing over to where the three gangers sat against the side of the flitter. They looked as if they'd been awake for some time already.

“She's still asleep,” Wraith told him. “I don't want to wake her until I have to. We'll be needing her tonight.”

Kez wondered if that meant
he
wasn't needed. But the fact that Wraith had asked for his assistance suggested he wasn't entirely useless. He got to his feet, pushing away the coat that he'd been sleeping under, and wandered over to the flitter. Raven was stretched out over the front two seats. She looked exhausted, dark shadows under her eyes. He sighed. The success or failure of this operation was essentially resting on Raven. But although they had to put their trust in her she refused to do the same for them. She pushed herself to the limits of endurance rather than rely on anyone but herself.

A hand dropped onto his shoulder, making him jump, and he turned to see one of the gangers standing behind him. It was Jeeva and he was grinning, somewhat to Kez's relief.

“Hey, kid. Does he know you're cruising his sister?” He jerked his head at the flitter. Wraith and the two other gangers were already checking through the equipment.

“I'm not cruising her,” Kez objected, and then shrugged. “And even if I was it wouldn't make any difference. Raven's only interested in one person.”

“Herself, right?” Jeeva slapped Kez's shoulder and gave him a twisted smile. “So, forget about her, kid. Don't waste the effort on the ice queen. C'mon, let's go.”

“Yeah, OK.” Kez fell into step with Jeeva, realizing to his own amazement that he had had a conversation with a ganger without getting flatlined.

•  •  •

Wraith only listened with half an ear to Kez's explanation of the explosive charges, concentrating on checking the artillery he would be taking with him. All three gangers had a combat rifle slung over one shoulder and the ammunition for it, as well as handguns hanging from their belts. Wraith had chosen more specialized weaponry, but like the gangers he was wearing extensive body armor. He glanced over at Kez, frowning slightly. The boy was demonstrating how to activate the frequency oscillator which would cause Raven's devices to explode within five seconds. The boy was dressed simply and his only weapon was the laser pistol that hung from his belt.

Wraith wondered if it was too late to forbid Kez to come with them. He seemed more likely to be a liability to the gangers than any assistance. He glanced toward the front of the flitter where Raven was still asleep. Their plan of action called for Kez to act as her cover. If Wraith pulled him off the mission it would affect her the most. He leaned over the back of the seats and looked at Raven. She must be exhausted to sleep so long and he had almost decided not to wake her when she spoke:

“What is it, Wraith?” she asked, her eyes still shut.

“Kez,” he said quietly, too low for the others to hear him. “He doesn't have the experience for something like this.”

“That didn't seem to worry you too much before.” Raven opened her eyes and considered him. “And it's not as if we had a great many options. We needed to keep the team small, and Kez is a streetkid. He can take care of himself.”

“What if he can't?” Wraith asked. “We need you to get into that computer system, Raven. If something happens to Kez you won't have any backup, and the rest of us will be relying on you alone.”

“I'll get into the system,” Raven assured him. “With or without Kez.” She sat up and stretched, sighing a little. “Wraith, we've gone over this enough times before. If we change our plans now we'll only be endangering ourselves.”

Wraith studied his sister for a few more seconds, but he didn't contradict her. The strategy she was advocating had been his own and he agreed with it. But everything seemed so much colder when it came from Raven. Eventually he acknowledged what she had said with a curt nod. “You'd better get ready,” he told her. “We should be ready to leave within half an hour.”

•  •  •

The flitter approached the perimeter of the facility, only just above ground level. Raven had relinquished the pilot's seat to Kez, who was concentrating determinedly on the difficulties of the course Wraith had dictated. They could see the gray shape of the laboratory buildings in the distance, beyond the electric fencing. Melek was studying this intently as Kez landed the flitter.