Three Worlds 01 - Seduce Me In Dreams (36 page)

Fallon reached deep into the darkness of the man‟s unconscious brain, rerouting disturbed and protective wiring until he was forcing him awake. The intruder gasped hard for breath through his swollen throat, trying to grab at it but finding his arms pinned to the floor along with every other part of him.

“I am going to ask you some very simple questions,” Ravenna announced to him, “and you are going to answer whether you want to or not. If you resist, it will hurt you. I really,
really
hope you resist,” she said darkly.

She didn‟t acknowledge Ender‟s grin across the way from her. He might think this was something to be laughed off, but she didn‟t. She‟d be damned if she‟d see her Chosen Ones lose what they had worked so hard for these past few weeks. And there was no way she would let them take Bronse away from her, either. This JuJuren had come after him for the last time. Now he would pay the price for what he‟d been doing. This, she thought, was about to be the very first mission that the Chosen Ones would engage in.

“What‟s your name?” she asked first.

“Drumm Easley,” Fallon answered for him as soon as the thought ripped through the man‟s mind.

“Drumm, did former Admiral JuJuren hire you?” Rave asked him.

“Yes,” Fallon replied, “they planned it a week ago.”

“What the hell is this?” Easley demanded in a panic as Fallon spoke the answers he was trying to hide.

“Where is JuJuren now?” Rave asked coldly.

“Tari.” Fallon lifted two fingers to his temple, a telling sign that the headache he got when he read resistant minds was quickly starting. “Not the stations, but on the planet itself.”

“The old hometown,” Justice said to Ender dryly. “Good thing Ender and I know our way around.” She gave the arms master a wolfish grin.

“Where on Tari?”

“I‟m not telling!” Easley squawked, his frantic eyes jolting up to Fallon‟s. “He‟ll kill me!”

“Not if we kill him first,” Bronse said.

Ravenna looked up to meet his eyes, seeing the determination that had settled there. She knew in that very instant that they were on exactly the same page.

They were all going to go and stop JuJuren once and for all.

“He‟s at a place called Prime and Lights. Or that‟s where they met up anyway. Several times, in fact,” Fallon informed them.

“Prime and Lights is the name of a bar in one of the higher-end hotels on the upper territory coastline,” Ender said. “Hot damn, I‟ll bet he‟s staying at the hotel.”

“He doesn‟t know a room number,” Fallon said wearily.

“We don‟t need one,” Bronse remarked. “We can flash his picture to the desk or we can stake out the place.”

“Or we can spring Trick from downtime and he can hack into the guest records,” Justice suggested.

“Better idea,” Bronse agreed.

“I‟m game!” Vivi piped up. “Let‟s kick his ass!”

“It‟s not going to be that easy,” Lasher said wisely. “If JuJuren can get someone in here, knowing in only three days where Bronse moved to, it means he still has a network here in the IM. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make an unauthorized access into this station? This man‟s a soldier.” He indicated their prisoner. “There‟s no telling how many more of these types JuJuren has surrounded himself with. There are too many variables. We just don‟t know enough.”

“We have no choice,” Bronse said. “If we call in security before JuJuren is brought to justice, this whole setup is blown. We all know that no one can protect these kids like we can. No one is better for this job. I won‟t let JuJuren rob me of—”

He looked up and met Ravenna‟s eyes.

The understanding that he would do anything, go to any lengths to stay with her, hit him like a sucker punch. The time for excuses and outside explanations had just come to a crashing halt. As he stared into those expressive and knowing eyes of hers, he realized that nothing else mattered to him more than she did. As angry as he was at her for holding out on him, as betrayed as he had felt in that moment, it was all insignificant.

“I agree.” Lasher filled in the unspoken moment for him. “Whatever it is you did to rivet his attention onto you, the only way to shut it off is to get JuJuren. But we can‟t walk up on the situation thinking it‟s going to be easy. That‟s how people get themselves killed.”

“All we need is one shot,” Ravenna said, her voice so strangely dispassionate that it was making everyone else uncomfortable. “We follow every lead to the next and then the next, and we won‟t come back until he‟s captured or dead.” She clenched her fist, tipping her chin down just slightly. The prisoner on the floor suddenly soared into the air. He let out a hoarse screech of pure fear, his eyes wide as he faced a truly awesome power that he would never be able to understand. With a mere thought, she sent him flying across the room and crashing into the rear wall. She held him pinned there, only the finesse of her well-practiced ability keeping her from crushing the life out of him.

“Holy shit,” Justice said with impressed awe.

“I didn‟t know she could do that,” Ender whispered none too softly to the pilot.

“It‟s news to me too.”

Ravenna didn‟t notice the byplay. She was focused on the man trapped against her living room wall. “You would have killed Bronse and every person in this house to get what you wanted,” she pointed out. “But know this. One word from me and Fallon could erase your mind of everything you know yourself to be. He could steal it all away, leave you as numb and stupid as a newborn baby. It would serve you right.”

“Rave …,” Fallon said with obvious discomfort.

“Don‟t worry,” she absently calmed him, though it was clear that the tenderhearted Ravenna was nowhere to be found in that moment. “I‟ll let him remain whole. For now.” She turned to glare at her victim. “But if you make so much as a single sound, blink so much as a crooked eye, he‟ll wipe you clean. Do you understand me?”

Easley nodded, sheer terror etched deep into his every feature.

Just like that, she shut her power off and let him come crashing down to the floor in a limp, shuddering heap. Ender didn‟t need direction from her or from Bronse to go up to the soldier and begin to tie him up. But Ravenna wasn‟t through. She turned to Vivienne.

“Scramble him.”

Vivienne was used to obeying every order that Ravenna gave, so she didn‟t hesitate to move forward.

“Wait!” Bronse stepped into her path, looking at Ravenna and trying to find the woman he knew in the cold masque that her face wore. “What does that mean?”

“The brain is nothing but electrical impulses,” Vivi said. “I control anything and everything that works with a current. If I scramble him, it means I send his whole brain out of whack. It lasts a few days. Basically makes him harmless.”

“If Fallon can erase memories and thoughts, why not simply erase what he knows about his mission?” Lasher asked. “Then nothing will be at risk.”

“Fallon cannot control it like that. Erasure happens in huge gaps, not specific details,”

Ravenna explained. “Perhaps one day, when he‟s older and stronger, it will be different, but for now it‟s our limitation. Consider it an all or nothing option.”

“It‟s not an option I care for,” Bronse said firmly. “Scrambling is more temporary and less harmful. Right, Vivi?”

“Right.”

“You know there‟s a good chance that the IM will throw your ass in jail if you take the Chosen Ones off the station,” Masin reminded his friend as he saw the inevitable washing up on the group.

Bronse thought about it for a long serious moment.

“Only if we fail,” he said.

“Bronse, they‟re trusting us to take care of these people. If you break that trust, you risk everything for all of us. Aren‟t you at least going to ask us what we want to do?”

“Fine. You all can stay behind and I‟ll go alone with Ravenna. Clearly she can kick ass all over the place just fine by herself.”

“Enough! Get your head out of your ass, Chapel!” Lasher barked at his commander.

“Can‟t you see that she‟s not right?” He gestured to Ravenna and her dispassionate demeanor.

“Don‟t let this get out of control when you can still do it the right way!”

“It‟s the telekinesis,” Kith spoke up at last. “It takes a huge part of her to use it, and it leaves behind a residual chemical in her brain. Almost like a drug. It cuts away at her ability to feel emotions and make moral choices.”

“Stop talking about me like I‟m not standing right here!” Ravenna lashed out at her brother.

“Is it true?” Bronse demanded of her. “Is that what‟s happening to you?”

“I want JuJuren! I want this threat to your life over with! Isn‟t that moral enough for you?” she demanded.

Bronse walked up to her, never even hesitating in spite of what he had seen her do. He didn‟t know much about her powers, but he did know Ravenna. He knew that this flat affect laced liberally with bursts of rage was nothing like her.

He reached to touch her, ignoring her when she tried to shake him off. Slowly he pulled her into his embrace, hugging her resistant body close as he looked around the room at the others and tried to think more calmly.

“Let‟s just think a minute,” he told himself as well as the others.

“There‟s always Chaser,” Lasher suggested.

Chaser. He was with the justice department and he was someone Bronse could trust. He could call him and have him sit on the assassin without letting Spec Ops know there had been an intruder. But then what? JuJuren would just send someone else, and right now he had

information that could let him catch Bronse once and for all.

“Chaser can connect with tactical and Spec Ops,” Bronse said suddenly. “They can create a mission together. We can get them to assign us a real mission.” He found himself talking to Ravenna, looking down into her immobile face. “We can get them to officially send us and the Chosen Ones out after JuJuren.”

“No. They won‟t let us go when we‟re so new,” she said. “I won‟t let you take this chance away from me. I want him gone.”

“It‟s the perfect test run,” Bronse argued. “We don‟t even need any special powers or abilities to get him at this point. This team could take down JuJuren doing what it has always done long before you all came into the picture. If we get Chaser to create this m ission and design it specifically for us, then we won‟t be burning any bridges here and we‟ll still get what we want.”

“No. They‟ll just take you away. They‟ll separate us.” Finally emotion crept into her voice, her despair creasing across her face as she reached out to touch his bare chest with shaking fingertips. The tremors were like something he would expect to see on someone withdrawing from a drug. Now he could see why she hadn‟t wanted to use her powers to save herself. With such a strong chemical flooding her brain, interfering with her judgment of right and wrong, she could spiral into committing any number of acts that went against everything she believed in.

“We won‟t let that happen. Even if it takes using Devan to charm them into thinking our way, that‟s what we‟ll do,” Bronse said softly. “But let‟s get Chaser to try first. He‟s much more convincing and much better placed than you might think. But we have to do this quickly. The minute JuJuren realizes he failed, he‟s going to bolt. We have to call Chaser now.”

“And they‟d put together an operation that fast?” she asked doubtfully. “They won‟t let JuJuren get away?”

“Have faith,” Bronse told her, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “There‟s a reason why I‟ve thought that the IM was the best of the best. Let me prove it to you.”

“And if you can‟t? If it doesn‟t work?” she said doubtfully.

“It will work,” Lasher spoke up. “Instead of letting this incident tear us all apart, we‟ll make it work in our favor and prove how cohesive we can really be. Granted, I‟d rather you all went through all of your training before taking you out on a mission, but we‟ve already proven we can work together. We‟ll go in and do our thing, and you guys can come along as a sort of safety net. We‟ll have you there to track and catch JuJuren if he somehow manages to get away from the initial action.”

“The only thing is, the kids will have to stay home,” said Bronse.

“I know that,” Ravenna said quietly, searching his face, then Lasher‟s. “Okay,” she said at last. “I‟ll trust you.”

“It‟s irresponsible to send them out on a mission when they haven‟t even been trained,”

Greays was saying, his aged face creased with disapproval. “What are you thinking, Abingdon?”

“I‟m thinking we have one of our own out there turned against us. This new source that dropped in my lap last night is as fresh as they get. Last night he infiltrated this station with orders to kill one of us.” Chase very smoothly omitted saying who the target had been. “If JuJuren can still get that close inside of this outfit, then he‟s even more of a danger than we first thought. He has a lot of top-secret information in his head, and he‟s going to start using it if we give him half a chance. With my new intel I know exactly where he is. All I need is the best of the best to extract and bring him back here, where he won‟t do any more harm. That means involving Bronse and his crew.”

“There are other ETF teams,” Greays argued. “I need Bronse‟s crew here protecting our assets.”