Mina Cortez: From Bouquets to Bullets (18 page)

They finally reached the back of the
Archaeology and Recoveries building, then took advantage of the
researchers' preference for fresh air to slip in an open window.
Mina spent a few moments waiting to see if there was any sign
they'd been noticed, then headed for Dr. Kimura's office. They
reached it to find the door open. Inside, Dr. Kimura was alone,
packing up his office.

“Dad, what's going on?” Miko asked, before
Mina could suggest a more subtle approach.

“Amiko?” he responded, startled. “Where have
you been?” he asked, in a tone Mina took as mostly worried. “The
police are looking for you.”

“Yes, yes. I know, Dad. That's not important
right now. We need ...”

“Not important? They've cut off my security
clearance, given me a few days off. Whatever is going on, it's
serious. We need to go straighten this out.” He noticed Mina right
behind his daughter as he grabbed his keys. “You've always been the
good influence. Want to explain?”

“Dad, we can't go to the police. We can't.
That's part of the problem. We need your help.”

“Whatever you've done, I'm sure we can
explain things to them.” He prepared to go, gesturing that they
follow. “There's no getting out of this. Let's go, I'll take you
myself and put in a good—”

“Dad. Please. Stop. Stop and look at me.”

And he did.

“It's not going to work like that,” Miko
explained. “The police aren't safe. There's someone there that's
part of the people who are trying to kill us.”

“Why would someone want to kill you?” he
asked, not sounding entirely convinced, but at least no longer
heading for the door.

“It's tied to Scott's kidnapping.” Mina
stepped in. “Someone thinks we have more information than we do.
She's right, Dr. Kimura. We need your help.”

“If this were coming from anyone but you,
Mina ...” he started.

“It is coming from me. And do you really
think someone would shut off your clearance for traffic violations?
Please, we need help,” Mina answered, in her best no-nonsense
voice.

“You're positive about the police?” He
double-checked.

“Someone was high enough to revoke your
clearance. We got shot at by people not a block from the police
station, and not a word about them has come over police band. Just
us. There might be someone I can call, but ...”

Miko looked pleadingly at her father.
“There's not a lot of time for questions. Please, please just trust
me, Daddy. We don't know where else to go right now.”

“Call your contact,” he conceded. “We are
going to have a very long conversation later, Amiko. Right now ...
let's handle right now. My clearance is revoked, but I can log in
as one of my colleagues.” He hesitated. Mina realized just how
serious of an offense that could be if traced.

“I promise, I just need the computer for a
few seconds. I need to get some information that will be in the
registry to my contact. A lady from the FBI spoke with me, but I
haven't been able to reach her again anywhere I'm sure can't be
traced.”

Dr. Kimura sighed, then went to his desk,
plugging in another doctor's name and password, logging into the
Archaeology and Recoveries departmental system. Then he stepped
away. “Just a few seconds, then you call the lady, and we're going
to get you out of here for a little bit. Then I'm going to go ask
some questions, once I know you two are safe.”

“Dad ...” Miko started.

“I'll be careful. I have a lot of friends and
resources of my own. No buts—get what you need. Then we're getting
you to a recovery zone.”

“Oh ... that's perfect!” Miko responded.

Mina was just sitting down at the computer
when she heard the response and looked up, quizzically.

“Recovery zones, like where the viaduct used
to be, or the hollows under the stadium. Old Seattle. Dad has the
best maps—”

“—
including some I haven't logged yet.
No one should know you're there,” Dr. Kimura agreed. “Or even that
'there' exists.”

Mina nodded, smiling just a touch at her
first reaction's being not to corner herself like that. A good
sign, she figured, that the plan might fly under the radar, at
least for a day or two. Right now, she just wanted to buy some time
and put the Director on the right path, then get herself to safe
ground for a bit.

Turning her attention back to the computer,
she traced the car's plates and registry on campus to Raymond
Harper. What she was not able to find was any cause whatsoever for
him to have a parking pass. Someone rubber-stamped it with no
particular notes about his clearance, and his spot was right near
the main computer labs. He easily could have passed security checks
and gotten to the computer hall without drawing any attention or
appearing on camera, as long as someone could bury some of the
traffic camera information, or if he had stayed on the campus for
more than a day. She couldn't find any notes in the campus registry
on how he linked to the University, or what else he did, but she
was pretty sure that firm evidence putting him near the kidnapping
site would give the Director enough to work with to get some of her
other contacts involved. There were too many circumstances now for
anyone to dismiss it as something a new hire saw near a sandwich
shop.

As soon as she copied the files to Miko's vid
chip alongside her grandfather's files, she logged back out and
borrowed the phone from the office next door to Dr. Kimura's to
call the Director.

“Who's this?” came the response.

“It's me.” she said, not giving a name,
trusting the Director to recognize her voice.

“Where are you?”

“You told me—”

“I did, and it was the best advice at the
time. This is escalating quickly, and the FBI has gotten enough to
get involved. I'm going to come take you and your friend into
protective custody.”

“You know about—”

“You're getting a lot of attention.”

“I'm in serious tr—”

“Yes, and we'll discuss that later. Right
now, we need to get in front of this and pool our resources. I'm
trusting that you wouldn't have come anywhere near Seattle proper
if you hadn't thought you had something important to do. Clever
putting the car on the police's radar, if dangerous. Unfortunately,
leads are disappearing as fast as either of us has been able to put
them in front of people. This isn't just a black market
operation.”

For all that the thought that she still
didn't entirely trust the Director and might start her career with
another black mark bothered her, Mina couldn't help but feel a
little relieved that her leads and information had turned out to be
something important after all.

“Where are you?” the Director repeated. “I'll
be right there, in person, to come get you.”

Mina took a deep breath. She weighed her
misgivings against genuinely being desperate for some help and
direction. She thought of the endorsements in her grandfather's
files. “
Cannot question her commitment,”
he'd said.

“The University. I'll switch my scrambled
tracker on for a few seconds in twenty minutes so you can find me
when you're close.”

“Noted. On my way.” The phone hung up. Mina
wondered if she'd made the right decision.

Chapter
Eighteen

She was pretty sure the call wasn't traced,
but in case someone was listening in, Mina, Miko, and Dr. Kimura
changed locations, moving to the records building. Dr. Kimura
hadn't turned his keys in yet amidst the moving out, so he was able
to get into any of the buildings that connected to his work. They
kept a close eye out for any eyes on them, but at least as far as
Mina could tell, they'd escaped notice for the moment. Dr. Kimura
had been quick to agree to go along with anything suggested by a
source from the FBI, though he insisted that when help showed up,
the girls stay behind him.

After twenty minutes exactly, Mina turned her
tracker on, in AIA scrambler mode. While someone could find her by
it, they'd have to be checking for it right then after it had been
off for quite some time, and she hoped the Director would be close
enough by then to get there first. She was relieved when the next
voice she heard was, indeed, Director Richter.

“Come on out,” she called. “We have four FBI
agents and a secure car waiting right outside. We need to go,
now.”

Mina nodded to the others, and Dr. Kimura
walked out first. When there were no gunshots or other signs of
problems, and he confirmed the presence of badges and FBI jackets,
he waved the girls out of the room they'd hidden down the hall from
the main entryway. The Director urged them all forward quickly.

It was only as they were emerging that the
trouble started. Mina could at first see only two agents through
the doorway. As she came out, she saw the other two, lying on the
ground, unconscious. Three others with guns, two men and a woman,
were also in the area, but under partial cover. Mina looked at the
Director, panicked. As she was about to snap off a comment, she
realized that the Director looked as shocked as she did.

“
Please come out here and keep your
hands visible.” one of the FBI agents said, readying his gun,
keeping it leveled on the Director. Not seeing any alternatives,
the Kimuras started moving towards the group. Mina hesitated,
looking for any other option, but saw none that wouldn't place the
others in more danger.

“Miss Cortez ...” the Director started, in a
warning tone. “Nutcracker, 335,” she finished.

Before the words had processed, Mina found
herself reflexively diving back through the doorway behind her,
sliding across the floor in an arc to find herself behind a stone
staircase. She was just coming to her senses, trying to figure out
what brought that on, when she heard a pop and a high-pitched whine
from beyond the door. She felt dizzy for a moment, but not enough
to keep her off her feet. She raced back out, to find the Director
kneeling on the ground, her cybernetic arm hanging as a dead
weight. Mina's first impression was that she'd been shot in the
arm. Everyone else in the area were looking dizzy and off balance,
but seemed to be coming around. What's more, suddenly, they were
processing in Mina's brain. She was reading stances, assessing
recovery time, picking up on where all the guns were. She let her
reflexes take her, not fighting off first impressions for the first
time in a while.

In a blur of movement, she caught the arm of
the FBI agent who had been nearest the door. She wrenched the arm
around and over her shoulder so when he reflexively pulled the
trigger, he shot one of the other gunmen. Before he could recover,
Mina's fist struck a blow under his chin. Catching him as he fell,
she used him as a shield to block the gunfire of the first of her
opponents to recover their wits. At the second shot, she dropped
the agent and tackled the other one low, coming under his gun. A
grab and twist to his thumb broke the bone and let her steal his
gun. As she was about to point and pull the trigger, the aluminum
taste reminded her that FBI agents have their guns coded to them,
so she threw it at the next nearest man, instead. His shot went
wide as he tried to shield his face. Just enough time for Mina to
cover the gap. This time, after a quick disarm, she was able to
confirm that the gun wasn't coded to the single user.

Her peripheral vision picked up on Miko, who
didn't seem to have been affected by the disorientation the others
were suffering, letting her catch the armed woman off guard. As
Mina was executing a chop to the gunman's throat, she registered
Miko putting her opponent down and taking her gun. Both girls
turned to look to where Dr. Kimura was wrestling with the last of
the gunman who'd showed up. Two guns were pointed, in case. After
all, the Doctor had, to Mina's assessment, suffered the same
disorientation as the others, excepting Miko. He may have been
disoriented by whatever happened, but he had taught Miko most of
her martial arts lessons, and seemed to be handling himself better
than the gunman, at least. He dropped his opponent with a
combination of a knee to the gut, followed by an uppercut.

“You weren't kidding,” he finally said,
looking around, moving to recover the gun of the person with whom
he'd been wrestling.

Miko darted forward to hug her father as Mina
went to check on the Director.

“I'll be fine,” the Director answered. “Check
the agents and start moving. There will be a ton of security
descending on us shortly. Then we need to talk, Miss Cortez.”

“Take Amiko with you,” Dr. Kimura said,
starting to move away from the scene. “I'll lead attention
away.”

“Daddy, no!” Miko started.

He looked directly at her. “I'll be fine,
princess,” he told her, with a smile. “I have friends too. We'll
talk soon,” he promised. “Go with them. Now.”

Miko chose not to argue further, moving back
towards Mina and Director Richter. The Director spent a few moments
looking like she also wanted to argue, but thought better of it on
realizing the risk the doctor was taking on their behalf.

“My arm is dead weight until I reboot it,”
she explained.

Mina confirmed that the two downed FBI agents
were alive and breathing, but unconscious.

“Leave them,” the Director said flatly. “We
need to hurry, and there should be plenty of witnesses soon who
aren't on the take.”

“What was that, anyway?” Mina asked, as she
helped the Director stand and move along with them despite the
heavy, immobile arm.

“That was a short-range EMP built into my
cybernetics. Emergency measures.”

“Okay, but what was the rest of that?”

“Duck and cover command. All of our agents
have them. I gambled that yours was new enough, they wouldn't pick
up on it right away. I had to get some cement between you and the
pulse so you'd have a working chip.”