H.A.L.F.: The Makers (20 page)

As if she could read his mind, Anna said, “I know this probably seems overly paranoid to you, doesn’t it, Jack?”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d say overly, but –”

Thomas’ voice was defensive. “You have no idea what we’re dealing with.”

“Actually, I think he has some idea. Mr. Wilson spent a few weeks underground. The real underground with our aunt Lilly.”

Thomas raised his left eyebrow. “And lived to tell about it. Impressive.”

“Yes, well, I don’t think he’s feeling very lucky about the whole thing. He’s sort of stuck with our craziness for a while until we spring Aunt Lilly from prison.”

Thomas laughed a wry laugh. “You? And him?” He laughed some more. “Sis, you’re good, but not even you can infiltrate a federal military prison.”

Jack hadn’t thought of it that way. He was just trying to get through each day without thinking too hard about all he’d lost or what danger was around the corner. But hearing Thomas put it like that made it sound colossally crazy and doomed to fail.

“Well, I hope I’ll have your help, too,” Anna said.

He shook his head. “You know I don’t leave here. I’m no good to you out there.”

“I know that. I’m not expecting you to go with me. That’s why I’ve got Jack here. But we need you to do reconnaissance. Lend us your hacking genius when needed.”

Thomas stopped laughing. “Oh. Well, I can do that.”

“Yes, I know you can. And Jack and I won’t be alone. That’s why we’re here. We need to pick up someone essential to the success of our plan.”

Thomas sneered. “If you’re looking for Iron Man, he’s more of a West Coast guy. You could have picked him up on your way to Miramar.”

“This isn’t a joke, Thomas. We need Alecto.”

“You know you’ll never make it past the stupid doorman let alone Croft’s personal security system and guards, don’t you?”

Jack shifted on his seat. Thomas’ doubt was infectious.

“We have to. And that’s why we came here. I need your help.”

Thomas’ eyes were wide and he shook his head vigorously. “No. You can’t ask this of me. And you can’t do this. It’s too risky.”

“Thomas, look at me.”

He pulled his knees into his chest. Thomas wrapped his arms around his bony knees and muttered, “No, you can’t do this. No, you can’t. I won’t.” His eyes were fixed forward.

Anna got up and knelt in front of him. She put her hands on his. “Thomas, stay with me and listen. Thomas.” She pulled his hands away and held them in her own. She raised her voice. “Thomas, listen. We have to stop them. If we don’t, they’ll kill Aunt Lilly and it’s just a matter of time before Croft orders us – all of us Sturgises – killed as well. Thomas, I need you. Help me become this.”

Anna put Thomas’ hand on the gold butterfly necklace she wore around her neck. His long, thin finger traced the outline of the butterfly and tears filled his eyes. A single tear streaked Anna’s cheek.

Thomas’ eyes met Anna’s. “I don’t … I can’t lose you. Without you, I’ll –”

“I know,” she said. “And I can’t lose you, either. But don’t you see? Alecto answers to our aunt Lilly. And Croft put Lizzy in charge of reprogramming. I know Lizzy. She’s not as persuasive as she thinks she is. I doubt she’s gotten Alecto to turn on Aunt Lilly. And with Alecto on our side, we can fight back. I’m not going to sit and wait for Croft to decide he’s had enough of arguing with Father and order us all killed like he did the Elliots. Father will push him too far. You know he will, Thomas.”

Jack was confused. Anna had led him to believe that she was on an altruistic mission to liberate Alecto and her aunt so they could steal the antiviral away from Croft and make it available to all instead of only those with enough money to secure their place in the New World Order. But now she was focused on saving the Sturgises’ butts.
Is she a savior or a self-centered mercenary?

“You got me this to remind me that I’m beautiful, no matter what Mother says. And that I’m strong, even though Father treats me like a stupid, pathetic girl. Well, it works. I know I’m strong now. But you are too, Thomas. And I need you now more than ever.”

Thomas wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve and sniffed. When they’d first come in, Thomas’ gaunt features and exhausted eyes made him look nearly thirty rather than twenty-two like Anna. But now he looked like a young child, his eyes wide and teary, his body folded into a ball. Anna seemed sure that they needed Thomas’ help, but at the moment the guy looked like he couldn’t get himself dressed in the morning let alone help them liberate Alecto.

Thomas nodded slowly.

Anna smiled, took his hand in hers and kissed it. “You don’t need to leave your apartment. Everything I need you to do, you can do from here.”

There was nothing for Jack to do but watch Anna comfort her twin brother. They were engrossed in each other, and it was like Jack wasn’t there.

His muscles were taut with boredom. He’d spent weeks cooped up in a ten-foot cell and five days stuck in a car. He wanted to march out the door and run to the nearest exit and keep going. But Sewell’s threats clung to his mind like mold to a shower curtain. He stretched his arms overhead and yawned loudly.

Anna stood and dusted off her pants legs. “Okay, now that we’re all on the same page, we need to work out a plan for how to get inside Croft’s penthouse and liberate Alecto. Thomas, we need specs on that building, ears inside Croft’s place, and earbuds so we can hear you when we’re inside. Can you start working on that?”

Thomas nodded. He went to his chair, wheeled himself in and took the helm of his computer station. His tears were gone. Within minutes, Thomas was in a zone. He read screens and clicked at a frenzied pace. It made Jack dizzy to watch him.

“He’s gone to us for a while,” Anna said. She wore a small smile as she watched him. “He’s a genius with computers. Numbers are his friends. But people are a complete mystery to him.”

“You asked him for earbuds – for when we’re inside. You don’t think we’re going to just break into that guy’s house, do you?”

Anna laughed. “Sure. Why not?”

She really is crazy.
But Jack didn’t have a better plan.

“Lighten up, Jack. I was joking. Well, sort of. We are going to break in, but no, we’re not doing that today. You and I are going on a stakeout. Thomas will work on recon. I figure it will take a few days before we know what we’re dealing with in there. Then we’ll come up with a plan for how we’re going to break into the house of the leader of the Makers and steal back from him his most precious treasure.”

Jack was only slightly appeased. Given the number of men with guns Croft had brought with him to A.H.D.N.A., he imagined a nearly impenetrable fortress of guards around Alecto.

“You think it can’t be done?” Anna apparently couldn’t take the extreme mess anymore and picked up spent soda cans and take-out boxes.

“You really believe it can? Or are you sending us on a suicide mission?” Jack remembered the pills in Anna’s medicine cabinet. Pills that his mom had once taken for depression. Maybe Anna had no intention of surviving this.

Anna walked around the half-wall separating the small living room from the kitchen. She rifled through a cabinet and shook out a fresh trash bag, where she deposited the trash she’d picked up. She came back into the living room and tossed empty boxes, paper plates and dirty plastic utensils into the bag. “Honestly? I’d say we have less than a fifty percent chance of success.”

Jack shook his head. “Not very good odds.” He caught her hand as she reached for an empty soda can. “Anna, why are you doing this? Really.”

She stopped cleaning and looked back into his eyes. “Because no one else will.”

“I don’t understand why you’d risk your life to get Alecto away from Croft just so you can get your aunt out of jail. I don’t mean to be crass, but your life is – well, you’re so much more … I don’t see why you’d sacrifice yourself this way for her.”

Anna’s eyes grew dark. Jack released her hand and shrank back from her.

“I’ve told you things, but you still don’t see. I’ll be happy to have her out of there. But I’m not doing this for her. This is bigger than Aunt Lilly or the Sturgis family. Something big is coming. And we know Croft doesn’t have an altruistic cell in his body. Alecto was created to help the people, not him. My aunt Lilly may not be perfect. Hell, she may even be a bit crazy. I concede that. But I know one thing about her. She has a single-minded obsession with saving the human race from extinction. And that’s our end game, Jack. Isn’t that worth a little risk?”

Of course his answer was yes. And Jack wanted to trust Anna. He wanted to believe that all the pain he was causing his mom wasn’t in vain, that he was doing something more than being a pawn in a loony rich family’s game.

But what he thought – or believed – was of little consequence at this point. He was in deep.
Go big or go home.

“If lives are at stake, don’t you think we’ve got better things to do than play maid?” Jack asked.

Anna dropped the half-full bag of trash. Her lips curled into a wry smile. She hugged Thomas around the shoulders. He didn’t acknowledge her presence, but she talked to him anyway. “We’re going on stakeout duty. See you later.” She searched the piles of papers on his desk, found a pen and scratched out a note that she placed on top of the stack to his left. “Come on, Jack. I need caffeine.”

Jack followed Anna out the door and into the brisk New York day.

It seemed like hours that they ran through the dark halls. Erika was weighted down with guns and ammo, all of which was far heavier than she’d ever imagined it would be.

Finally they entered a hall that looked much like all the others but was also familiar to her.

Dr. Randall stopped before a door. “Xenos, could you please try to open this door?”

It took a while for her to catch up to where Dr. Randall stood. He too was winded and was bent forward, trying to catch his breath. Xenos quietly approached. She looked down at the gun and then to Erika with a pleading look on her face.

Xenos held the gun out to Erika. “I cannot open the door with this in my hand.”

Erika took Xenos’ gun, now holding a rifle in each hand. “I feel like I belong in a
Mad Max
movie.”

“
Mad Max
?” Dr. Randall asked.

Erika forgot that Dr. Randall had lived most of his life in a lab. He was as bad as Xenos or Tex at getting references to popular culture. “Never mind,” she said.

Xenos waved her arms, but the door stayed closed. “I do not have access.” Her voice was very matter-of-fact.

“Then we need to find another way in,” Erika said. She handed the gun back to Xenos.

Dr. Randall pulled the vapor torch out of his pocket. “Stand clear and cover your eyes.”

Xenos stepped behind Erika and covered her eyes with her dainty hands like a child hiding their eyes from a scary scene in a movie. Erika didn’t bother covering her eyes. She wanted to see the torch in action.

“Here goes.” Dr. Randall pushed the button and waited. There was no fire. Not even a spark. He shook the metal torch and tried again. But it was no good. “A dud,” he muttered. He flung the useless hunk of metal to the ground.

Erika dug the torch he’d handed her out of her pocket. “Try this one.”

Dr. Randall pushed the red button, and this time sparks sizzled. A flame of orange light erupted from the top of the handheld light cannon, but it was no light saber. The column of flame was only about six inches long and sputtered and spat. But Dr. Randall worked quickly with the thin flame. It made short work of the ancient steel doors. In less than five minutes, Dr. Randall had cut a rectangle large enough for them to fit through. But it was five minutes filled with Erika looking behind them, her shoulders tense, her rifle ready to shoot any Conexus that appeared in the hall.

Dr. Randall gently pushed on the door and the large chunk of steel he’d cut crashed to the floor. Dust filled the air. Her lungs already burned merely from the effort of breathing. She didn’t need dust too. She coughed and hacked.

“So much for a stealthy entrance,” she said. She followed Dr. Randall as he stepped slowly through the hole he’d made. “Come on, Xenos.”

The frightened Infractus followed closely behind Erika. If Erika had stopped quickly, Xenos would have run into her.

The room they entered was more brightly lit than the hall they’d left. The bluish white lights ringed the ceiling as well as the floor. There were two stone tables that looked as though they emerged from the stone floor, as if they had grown up from the floor like a tree grows from the forest floor. Each table had a large overhead light above it, but neither of the lights were on.

Erika cautiously entered the room, her gun up and ready to fire. She scanned the room with her eyes. There were no Conexus inside. But the room felt familiar. She’d lain on one of those stone tables. Yes, and Ian was on the other the first time, when they gave them the virus. A chill ran up her spine and she shuddered.

She kept herself tight on the heels of Dr. Randall. “Do you see what we need?” She wasn’t sure why she was whispering.

Dr. Randall whispered back, “It will likely be refrigerated.”

Erika recalled the jolt of the icy liquid shooting through her fiery veins and knew that Dr. Randall was right. But there wasn’t anything that remotely looked like a refrigerator. The walls were smooth plaster. There were a few alcoves that had been formed in the wall, but there was nothing in them. They pushed and pulled at the smooth walls. Erika found a small indentation with her hands, pressed it, and a cabinet door opened. It had looked just like another part of the wall.

“No knobs or pulls,” he said. “I guess no need. They probably open them with their mind anyway.” Dr. Randall’s voice was filled with the same kind of fascination a child had when discovering some great wonder.

Erika was not fascinated in the least. To her, the Conexus were no more than murderers and terrorists. She couldn’t bring herself to respect their technology when it was used to hurt rather than help others.

“Hey, Xenos, can you help us look for a refrigerator?”