After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) (16 page)

"I see you're finally awake. Your activities in Las Vegas really drained you, didn't they? It made it easy for my agents to put an end to this nonsense." President Stevens sat across the room from her on a metal chair.

Two men stood next to him. To his right was a tall young man Paivi recognized from previous visions. He was also at their fateful meeting in Vancouver. On the president's left was an imposing man with dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a dark blue military uniform covered with colorful badges and medals. A nametag attached to it read Kobayashi. His face was hard to read. He eyed her warily and his mouth was pressed in a firm line. In his hand he held a small, black handgun.

President Stevens' assistant didn't look nearly as comfortable. He shifted from one foot to another. Beads of sweat gathered on his upper lip.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Stevens said. His voice said otherwise.

"You do realize I could get out of here in a heartbeat, right?" Paivi sneered and rattled the handcuffs that held her hands behind her back. She took in the surroundings. They were in a concrete room with no decoration. There were two windows, both covered with heavy iron bars. There was no light coming through. The sun had already set. Behind Stevens and his friends was the only door. She sucked in a deep breath feeling for the energy. It was there, but it was weak. She tried to push it to the surface, but it didn't respond.

"We've seen how you handle things, Miss Anderson, is it?" Stevens cracked his knuckles. "You killed over a hundred of our finest men and women today. Are you proud of that? Proud of being a murderer?"

Paivi's head snapped up and her rage returned. "Are you proud of being a murderer, Wendell? Do your friends here know about how you planned to murder us? Gas us and bury us out in that desert?" She eyed them each accusingly, her eyes blazing. "Maybe you're all in on it. I think it's a little stupid to be discussing who the bigger murderer is. I did what I had to do to save people. The soldiers got in the way. I didn't hunt them down like dogs and try to kill them without a choice. Your soldiers and ATC agents knew exactly what they were getting into."

"You will call me President Stevens," he demanded, his face growing red.

"I don't think so." Paivi could feel the energy coming to life. It still wasn't at full power, but if she could just get a charge from one of the others, she'd be unstoppable. "The word president should be saved for someone who thinks only of ways he or she can better this country. Not destroy it with the help of the Chinese for your own gain."

"You know nothing about the ways of the world. You're just a teenager." Stevens scoffed.

"Where are my friends?" Paivi leaned back in the chair, forcing herself to keep calm. "I think we'll be on our way. And if you three honestly believe you're going to stop me, you've signed your own death certificates. Just so we're clear."

"Oh, I hardly think so." Stevens folded his arms across his chest. "We've got your friends in another location, specifically so you can't pull one of your little stunts. Understand this, as we speak, they all have guns trained on their heads. If you so much as break out of those cuffs, I let the ATC know to kill them. Every. Single. One."

Paivi was silent. Her heart sank to her toes.

"I believe your mother is there, along with my old college roommate, Peter Farmington. Funny, how you found yourself friends with the one person I hate more than you. Having you both under my control makes this one of the happiest days of my life."

"Let's be honest, you don't hate me. You fear me." She pushed the energy she did have into her eyes. She could feel the heat as they blazed with fire. "I'm your worst nightmare."

Stevens blanched. Blood drained from his face, leaving it a pasty white.

"Not anymore. Now you'll be my greatest weapon. You're going back to Washington, D.C. with me." Stevens rose from his seat. "Get Air Force One ready, Michael. We leave in twenty minutes."

"What?" Paivi pulled at her restraints, longing to blast them to oblivion and Stevens and his friends along with it. "Why are you taking me there?"

"It appears I'm losing support. You're going to help me get it back. And if you don't help me, you're friends and family are finished, do you understand?" Stevens rose from his seat and turned on his heel. He flung the door open and disappeared into the hallway. The general did the same. Stevens' assistant tossed her a pitying glance as he backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Paivi was alone. She rattled the chair and her restraints in rage. She'd give anything to melt them and walk out of here. But she had no way of saving the others. She would not be responsible for the deaths of the ones she loved. Stevens might be able to chain her up physically, but later, she would escape mentally to warn the others.

She had let them all down. She was foolish to have thought she could take on the entire U.S. military with the help of the EOS escapees. Those former prisoners weren't ready for that. She wondered how many had died in Las Vegas. She hoped the ones that survived could hide until this was all over.

Paivi sighed and looked down at her feet. She was still dressed in her standard issue EOS uniform. Her skin was darkened with dirt and soot from the explosions. Her body still ached deep down. She was able to forget it for a moment while Stevens distracted her, but now it returned with a vengeance.

She didn't have much time to think of something.

She decided that if anyone was going to die, she would.

But not just yet.

She still had to figure out how to save the others.

Chapter 22

Paivi allowed herself to be led up the steps of Air Force One. She took a glance at the surroundings. Flat desert. Not too far in the distance was a fence topped with barbed wire. The terrain looked familiar, more like the desert near Mexicali than near the EOS camp. Some of the vehicles had letters painted on them. NAF. Underneath it read El Centro. Paivi committed it to memory. Someone would know what that meant.

A nudge pushed Paivi forward onto the plane.

Martin. Stevens' assistant had been assigned with babysitting her. He had introduced himself, though she wasn't sure why. It's not like they were going to be friends.

He led her into a bedroom and told her to lie on the bed for takeoff. He strapped himself into a seat in the room. She was silent. She looked at him, but he looked away. Using her mind, she pushed some of her weakened energy out across the small space between and pushed it into his mind.

It was impenetrable.

Martin looked up at her. "Please don't do that."

Paivi's eyes widened in shock. He was one of them.

"How did you manage to escape this?" She nodded down to her clothing.

"I was lucky enough to have friends in the right places, I guess." Martin shrugged his shoulders.

Paivi narrowed her eyes at him. "So you've done nothing? What about your family and friends?"

The plane roared as it took off. Paivi rolled on the bed as the airplane tilted.

"The ones I care about are safe," he answered.

"What about the rest? What about people like us? You just sat there and did nothing?" Paivi's eyes were like daggers.

Martin's eyes burned into her, anger spreading across his face like a wave. "Don't you think I've thought about that? That I am here helping a man who would just as soon have me dead?" He shook his head. "You are a stupid idealistic child. This is all about survival. If I try to save others, I die. It defeats the whole purpose. I will survive this. You probably will not."

Paivi said nothing and turned away from him.

"As soon as the captain turns off the seat belt sign, Stevens wants you to clean up. We can't waltz into Washington with you looking like that." Martin grabbed a magazine from a side table and opened it. “And I would guess you’re hungry. Let me have the flight attendant bring you something to eat.” He picked up a phone next to his seat and pressed a button before speaking into it. “Bring a meal. Thanks.”

The mention of food caused Paivi’s stomach to twist in pain. She couldn’t remember the last meal she’d had. As upset as she was, the need for food overwhelmed her. It was all she could think about. She envisioned a large pizza or a cheeseburger. But after eating at the camp, she’d be happy with just about anything.

It seemed like an eternity until the seat belt signal dinged. There was a knock at the door. It opened and a flight attendant, dressed in a blue suit, placed a tray covered with a silver lid onto a side table. “Here you are, Martin.”

Martin mumbled his thanks and unbuckled his belt. He grabbed Paivi's arm and pulled her up gently from the bed. "Now, I have to take the handcuffs off. I don't have to remind you of Stevens' promise."

She bit her tongue. Paivi would give anything to attack them now, although she would surely die with them. She doubted any of them would survive a plane crash from this height. The prospect of dinner and a shower was enticing. It had been a long time since she'd been clean or full. She rubbed her wrists, which were ringed in ugly red marks from the handcuffs.

Martin placed the tray on the bed.

Paivi lifted the lid, her hand shaking. The smell of cooked meat hit her nostrils and she almost cried out in pain. A grilled chicken breast sat on a bed of lettuce. Paivi grabbed one of the small water bottles on the tray and opened it quickly, guzzling it down in nearly one gulp.

Picking up the fork and knife, she cut into the chicken and put a piece into her mouth. For months she had had nothing but the thin soup or meager sandwiches at the camp. The chicken tasted so foreign to her. She took a few bites before devouring the salad. She dropped the fork and shoved it into her mouth by hand.

 Martin looked at her, his nose wrinkled.

She shoved the tray away, half the chicken breast sat on the plate. She opened the second bottle of water and sucked it down.

“What, you’ve never seen a starving person eat? Not pretty, is it?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Why didn’t you eat the rest of the chicken?” Martin asked.

“It won’t fit. See, when you don’t get to eat much, your stomach shrinks. If I eat all that, I’ll throw up all over this place.” She flashed a wicked smile.

Martin cringed. “I think it’s time for your shower.”

Martin opened the door to a large bathroom. "If you can control yourself, maybe I can leave the handcuffs off when you're finished. There's a set of clothes for you in there, as well as everything else you might want or need."

She stepped in and he shut the door behind her.

Bright lights glared down from above a mirror, giving Paivi the first chance to look at herself. She didn't recognize the face in front of her. Her cheeks and forehead were streaked with soot and dirt. She showed her teeth to the mirror and cringed. They were dingy and coated with filth. Her light brown hair stuck up in all directions. It had grown in a little more, but still looked like a boy's haircut.

Paivi perused the collection of toiletries on the counter. Toothbrush. Toothpaste. A razor. Shampoo. Shower gel. They looked foreign to her. She grabbed the toothpaste and squeezed out some onto the new toothbrush. She brushed again and again until her gums bled. Finally, she was satisfied. A clean smile radiated out from her dirty face.

She turned to the tiled shower and marveled how such a nice bathroom could be on an airplane. She opened the glass door and turned on the faucet. Hot water streamed out, filling the small space with steam. Paivi stripped off her EOS prisoner uniform. It was torn and covered with dirt and dried blood.

Paivi hadn't seen herself naked for a long time. The parts of her body that had been hidden from the sun were painfully white, while her arms, legs, and face were another color entirely. They didn't even look like they belonged together. She threw the rags into a pile in the corner and stepped into the shower.