Rain Saga (20 page)

Just when she was about to slip into unconsciousness, a pair of strong hands grabbed hold of her and with one swift motion, pulled her free.

Luna’s hands flew to her face, tearing furiously at the grimy muck clogging her nostrils as she gasped and choked for breath. She could feel her rescuer’s arms supporting her. Slowly she turned her head and looked up at the masked person who had saved her life.

She swallowed and opened her mouth—her hoarse voice sounding strangely alien to her, “Mark? Is that you?”

She couldn’t see his face, but she guessed he was smiling.

“Yeah, Luna. It’s me.”

Chapter 27

Saul Edgard walked solemnly to the podium and leaned toward the microphone. Directly in front of him stood dozens of reporters.

“Friends,” he began, “I’m standing here today to inform you that the rumors are indeed true. Miss Luna McKelly was kidnapped from her laboratory two nights ago by members of a Swamper radical group masquerading as agents of our own security staff. We have not received any demands from this criminal organization as of yet. And though we at Unitech do not wish to rule out the possibility that Miss McKelly is alive and well, we fear that this is not the case.” He paused briefly and looked over the silent crowd before continuing.

“However, it has been brought to my attention that before her abduction, Miss McKelly did in fact complete her research on the Blister Wart cure. And we believe that this cure shall act as her lasting legacy for years to come.

In light of recent events as well as the growing frequency of violent encounters with various Swamper terrorist cells—first and foremost being the gang headed by a one Leon Vespasien—I am taking it upon myself and the entire Unitech community to put an end to these fanatical sects once and for all. From this day forward a state of war exists between Unitech and the Swampers responsible for these crimes against humanity. Let it be known that we will not stop until it is again safe for our citizens to walk the streets without fear! We will not stop until every last one of these criminals has been brought to justice! We will not stop until we have peace!”

Edgard stopped and the room filled with thunderous applause.

When Edgard had first been informed that Luna had hacked into his personal files, he never would have guessed that he’d be able to silence both her and Leon Vespasien at the same time. Through his threatening holo-recording, the Swamper vigilante had made himself the perfect scapegoat.

Even though his men reported that they had failed to kill Luna, Edgard knew it was probably safe to assume that she was dead—or would be soon enough. And with the meddlesome Vespasien framed for her murder, he knew that the terrorist’s days were numbered as well.

Chapter 28

Landers switched off the holo-vid of Edgard’s speech and turned to the two dozen suit-clad agents assembled around him.

“All right,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back, “does somebody want to explain how a gang of
Swampers
managed to breach our security, assume the identity of our staff, and escape from under our noses with a high-priority asset?”

Landers waited for a few moments then cocked a dark eyebrow at the row of figures standing stiffly at attention.

“Alex!” he barked, addressing the Unitech central AI, “bring up all the information you have on case file number zero-two-two-nine.”

“As you wish, Chief.” Alex replied as a holographic screen materialized between Landers and his agents, displaying all the intel the Agency had managed to piece together during the past forty-eight hours.

“According to our initial reports,” Landers began, taking a step toward the shimmering holo-screen in front of him, “Miss McKelly placed a call to our department approximately five minutes before she dropped off the grid. The agent who received the call immediately dispatched a team to retrieve Miss McKelly. But she was gone before they arrived.”

“Excuse me, sir,” said a tall, thin woman, “but did forensics find anything at the scene?”

Landers nodded. “Yes, they did find blood and hair belonging to Miss McKelly in the parking lot. But nothing to help us in ascertaining the identity of her abductors.”

“What about Alex’s security cameras? Did they pick up anything?”

“No, they didn’t,” Landers sighed. “Apparently the cameras in Research Building 3 and the surrounding parking lots were all out of order. I had some of our men check with the maintenance staff, and they’ve confirmed that the problem had been filed in the computers, and that repairs were scheduled for the morning following Miss McKelly’s disappearance.”

“This all seems a bit
 
...
 
coincidental, sir.” The woman said slowly.

Landers nodded again. “That it does. This is exactly why I’ve called all of you here today.”

A look of realization swept across the agent’s face then quickly faded as she nodded and stepped back into her place in the line.

“I want every one of you working on this case. Something isn’t right here, and I want to know what it is”, Landers said, walking over to a desk covered with neatly organized files containing his written orders for each of the agents in the room. Usually he would have e-mailed them. But with all of the evidence suggesting that whoever was responsible for the kidnapping, had at least managed to gain rudimentary access to their network, he’d opted to do things the old-fashioned way.

The chief reached down and picked up the first file. “Lieutenant Manning!” he called, addressing an agent in his early thirties, “I want you to work with Agent Tagawa. He was on the team that escorted Miss McKelly into the swamp a few weeks back. I want the two of you to go around the Unitech complex and interview anyone—and I mean anyone—who may have had contact with Miss McKelly. Check her apartment … her phone records … everything.”

The blond lieutenant stepped forward to receive his file. “Yes, sir.”

Landers watched the man leave and continued to dispense files to their respective recipients.

Landers trusted his agents to see the investigation through to the end. If there were any chance that Miss McKelly’s abductors could be brought to justice, his agents would find it. The perpetrators would be found and punished to the full extent of the law. Anything less was unacceptable.

Chapter 29

Luna inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with steamy, hot air. Slowly easing herself down on the stainless-steel floor of the shower, she drew her scraped knees to her chest and lowered her chin down to meet them. The steady torrent of hot water continued to pour over her head and shoulders, washing away the mud and blood as heat seeped into her knotted muscles.

It had been nearly an hour since she and Mark had trudged back to the
Second Wind.
Once aboard he had led her down a side passage to one of the ship’s retrofitted locker rooms, and—after making absolutely certain that she was all right—he had left her to clean up in privacy.

That had been more than thirty minutes ago, and she knew that soon he would begin to wonder what was taking so long.

She was clean and warm, but she continued to sit, anxiously chewing her bottom lip. Sooner or later she knew Mark would ask why she hadn’t listened to him.

Finally Luna stood and switched off the water. She pushed the shower’s glass door open and stepped out into the chilly locker room. Shivering, she reached for the towel hanging beside the shower and wrapped its warm, dry fabric around her. She walked over to a long bench near the center of the small room and scrutinized the selection of clothing Mark had laid out for her: One pair of waterproof pants with a matching jacket. A pair of socks and shoes that—as with the other clothes—were several sizes too big for her. One gray tee shirt, and a pair of … boxer shorts?

“Seriously? You’ve
got
to be kidding me,” she said, grimacing. She shot a glance back toward the shower where her own soggy underwear was draped limply over the door. They were still too wet for her to wear, and from the looks of things they would be that way for quite a while. Which meant the boxers were really the only option.

Once she’d dressed, she went and unlocked the door and eased it open.

“Mark? Are you there?” she asked, stepping out into the hallway.

“Yeah. I’m right here.” Mark replied, quickly rising to his feet from where he’d been sitting on the other side of the corridor. “Good to see you’re all right. … I was starting to wonder if I’d need to come in there. What took you so long?”

“Oh … I was just … thinking,” she stammered, wincing at how unconvincing she sounded.

“Thinking?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Well, since you’re finished ‘thinking’, would you be up for breakfast? I don’t have too much of a variety as far as food is concerned. But something is always better than nothing.” Mark spoke casually, offering no indication that he noticed how distraught she was.

She swallowed the lump forming in her throat, “Um … yeah, that would be great … thanks.”

“No problem,” he replied, turning toward a flight of steps leading up through one of the ship’s rusted bulkheads. “The kitchen’s this way.”

Wordlessly she followed him. He was mad at her. He had to be. She just knew it!

She continued to follow him in silence up the short flight of steps, through
The
Second Wind’s
small, retrofitted mess hall to the equally small kitchen where Mark quickly set about preparing breakfast. Luna stopped short of the kitchen and eased into a seat near one of the mess hall’s rectangular windows where she could keep her eye on Mark without being too obvious.

“Do you want a drink?” Mark asked.

Luna jumped. “Huh? Oh, sure … what do you have?” she stammered, trying to act casual.

“I’ve got water, of course, and some tea. … And I
think
there may be a few cans of soda in the back of the fridge.”

“Tea sounds good.”

“All right. Tea it is.”

Mark emerged from the kitchen and set a plate of whole-grain pancakes down on the table along with a steaming mug with
I Love N.Y.
painted on it.

Mark smiled and pulled up a seat across from her. “Dig in!”

“Thanks … again,” she muttered.

She hadn’t noticed how hungry she really was until the first bite. After that, everything was a blur of syrup and silverware.

“Wow, I guess you
were
hungry,” Mark said once she’d eaten every last crumb. Then lowering his voice, he asked, “How long has it been since they fed you?”

Luna stopped in mid chew and cautiously lifted her eyes to meet his. Slowly she swallowed and whispered, “I’m sorry, Mark … really. I ... I never thought things would end up this way. I know I should have listened to you.” Much to her dismay, she began to cry, her tears stinging her battered face. “Please, please don’t be angry with me! It’s not like I was looking for Mr. Edgard’s files—It was an accident! I have no idea how it happened!”

“Whoa! Hey, don’t cry! It’s okay. I’m not mad at you!” Mark said reaching across the table to place a reassuring hand on her trembling shoulder. “I’m just sorry that this had to happen to you, is all. You hear me? I said it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“You—you mean you’re
not
furious with me?” Luna sniffed, hastily wiping her eyes.

“Furious? No! I’m just disappointed that you didn’t listen to me when you had the chance. I was trying to protect you from all of this—from the truth about Unitech, Edgard … everything. But being angry with you over it won’t change anything now. What’s happened has happened, and nothing can change that. All you can do now is just keep moving forward.” He smiled reassuringly then withdrew his hand and leaned back in his seat.

Luna sniffed and nervously ran her hands through her damp hair, feeling like an idiot. When her hands reached the back of her skull, she found that her hair was sticky and warm.

What in the world?

Perplexed, she looked at her hand and sucked in a short, startled breath. Her fingers were covered in blood!

Luna gaped at the red liquid coating her fingers, then reached up to touch the back of her head a second time.

“What the … Luna, you’re bleeding!” Mark exclaimed.

Doing her best to keep from losing her breakfast, she sat stock-still as nausea and dizziness began to set in.

“Here, let me take a look at that,” Mark ordered, rising and nearly knocking his chair over.

Luna carefully did as she was told and twisted around in the chair, wincing as Mark’s hands brushed aside the bloodied mess of hair covering the wound.

“Sorry,” he replied, examining the wound with extra caution. “How’s that? Better?”

Luna shrugged. It still hurt, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

“How bad is it?” She asked, doing her best not to pull away.

“Pretty bad. But it’s nothing a shot of bio-aid won’t fix. You just sit tight while I grab a med kit.
 
And don’t go passing out on me, okay?”

“Okay,” she repeated, silently hoping she
wouldn’t
.

She had never passed out before, but there was always a first time for everything. Which was why she was so glad when Mark finally returned with the med kit. At least there would be someone to catch her if she lost consciousness.

“Ah! Subject Luna! It is truly a pleasure to see you again!” a synthesized voice called to her as Mark stepped into the room, startling her.

“Ed?” she asked, “where are you?”

Sure it was a ridiculous question, considering that Edward could
technically
be anywhere he pleased—as long as his program was housed inside the
Second Wind’s
central computer system. But the events of the last forty-eight hours had left her discombobulated.

“He’s in the ship’s systems.” Mark answered.

“Why hasn’t he said anything until now?”

“I would have loved to have greeted you, Subject Luna.” Ed cut in, “But I’m afraid that in all the excitement, Master Mark forgot to transfer me from his armor. Though I wished to check on your condition, I was incapacitated.”

Mark set the stainless steel med kit down on the table beside Luna. “Yeah, yeah. Just scan her already, Ed. I want a complete bio-reading on any infections you come across.”