Lafferty, Mur (11 page)

They can't kill me. The burns on her hands and her face stung, and her throat ached. They can hurt me, but now I have hostages. The samurai’s katana lay beside her where it had bounced off her neck. She wrapped a hand around it and levered herself off the floor.

She glared at the Librarian and slid the tip of the katana under White Lightning's chin. Tattoo Devil, his samurai and Heretic moved slightly with her as she walked forward.

"Listen, you failed. I'm not dead, now I have three heroes," she said.

"Now let me out of here."

Timson remained motionless, grimacing. The Librarian sighed and took a key ring from her pocket and unlocked the door. "The problem with the Academy is that no one knows when she’s been beaten."

Keepsie moved forward, dragging her four hostages behind her. “I didn’t actually think that would work.”

Emergency lighting illuminated the hall every ten feet. Other doors, identical to the door she was exiting, lined the hallway.

She paused and turned to look at the Librarian. "Hey, can I have those keys, please?"

The Librarian smirked at her.

She pressed the katana into White Lightning’s chin, wondering if he were invincible. "Look, I could be a bitch and demand them, reminding you of my hostages, but you were nice to me so I thought I'd be nice to you.”

The Librarian shook her head and opened her mouth.

“Oh for the love of God!” Keepsie said. She stomped back and grabbed the keys from the Librarian, pushing the surprised woman back as she did so.

“I’m tired of arguing with you people. You keep trying to hurt me afterward.”

Keepsie got one last look of Timson writhing on the floor and closed the door and left them, running down the hallway. The heroes trailed behind her helplessly, like kites.

"Where the hell are the exits in this place?" she mumbled, seeing no end to the hall. There was a turn to the right up ahead, so she headed for that.

One of the doors opened and Tattoo Devil’s sidekick, Cage, exited.

Keepsie nearly ran into her and stopped short. She yelled in surprise and lurched forward, reaching for Keepsie's katana.

She stopped inches from the weapon and her body went rigid. Keepsie laughed.

"You seriously didn’t think that would work, did you?" she asked. "But dammit, I wish one of you could tell me how to get out of here."

She took a step forward and Cage turned and fell into the odd gliding pace beside White Lightning, Heretic, Tattoo Devil and the samurai. They bumped together but otherwise moved without incident. Keepsie stopped when she heard a voice from inside a room.

"Keepsie? Is that you?"

The room Cage had exited was dark, but Keepsie recognized Michelle’s voice. Keepsie turned on the light and her friend winced. Michelle was tied to a chair and had a swollen eye and bloodied lip. She stared at Keepsie as if she were a ghost.

"I thought you were dead. Jesus, what happened?" Michelle said.

Keepsie used the tip of the katana to cut through Michelle’s ropes. "Not a good time for explanations. Do you know where the others are?"

"I think Peter is on the floor above this one," Michelle said, staring at Keepsie's burns.

Michelle led them down the hall. They spotted an EXIT sign, but Keepsie heard a shout behind them. A girl, about 15, appeared in front of them to block their way.

"You're not getting out of here," she said. Her eyes were wide and her hands shook.

“Aw, come on, kid, if you knew what had-“

“Stop, Blink,” came a voice from behind them. The Librarian ran up behind them, glaring at the girl.

“Who’s Blink?” Michelle whispered to Keepsie. “I didn’t know there was a new one.”

“And that’s the weirdest thing to have happened today?”

“Let them go,” the Librarian said to Blink.

“But-they have White Lightning!” the girl said.

“And they’ll take you too, if you cross them. This is one woman you are powerless around.”

The girl looked on the verge of tears. “How do you know?”

“Idiot,” the Librarian said. “How do I know anything?”

Blink scowled at Keepsie. "You're going to have to let them go at some point. And when you do, they're going to be pissed."

Keepsie grimaced. "Yeah, I expect they'll be mad enough to kill me. Don't worry about me, Blink, I can take care of myself as soon as I get some aloe."

She dragged her prisoners to the elevator and pushed the up button.

Blink disappeared again.

"The kid was right, though," Michelle said. "We can't take these guys with us forever."

The elevator arrived with a ding, and Michelle stepped aboard. Keepsie stayed outside, a smile spreading across her face.

"Are you coming?" Michelle asked.

"I want to try something." Keepsie stepped into the elevator and kept right inside the doors. Her hostages stayed behind her, but outside the elevator.

"Push the button."

The doors closed, and Keepsie and Michelle left Cage, White Lightning, Heretic, Tattoo Devil and the samurai frozen and outside the elevator.

Michelle laughed. "That’s awesome! What's going to happen now?"

"I have no idea," Keepsie said. "I've never done that before. Never had a chance to."

"But Keepsie, you don't have any hostages anymore," Michelle said.

Keepsie made a face. "Crap."

The elevator opened to an identical hallway to the one they had left.

Michelle ran ahead of Keepsie, peeking through the windows on the doors.

"You sure they're here?" Keepsie asked.

"No, but Peter stopped here. It's a good place to start -oh here he is!"

She stopped at a door near the corner and motioned for Keepsie to give her the keys.

The door was unlocked, though, and they opened it to find Peter being untied by Clever Jack.

"Oh, hi. I was just coming to get you guys," Clever Jack said. "I found Peter first."

Peter looked very much the worse for wear. He had lost his suit coat and his white shirt, and his undershirt was spotted with blood. A bruise on his face kept one eye shut. When Clever Jack untied his hands, Keepsie winced at the mess that was his left hand. He opened his good eye and it widened when he saw Keepsie.

"Man, Peter, you’ve been through hell, haven’t you?" she said.

He coughed dryly. "You're alive."

"Yeah, funny story, I'll tell you when we're safe." Keepsie said. Peter nodded, his good eye still wide.

“Let’s go,” said Clever Jack.

Keepsie and Michelle hissed when they saw Peter's bloody hand. He grimaced as Clever Jack helped him to his feet.

Keepsie appraised him. "Well. You look like shit.” "Jesus, Keepsie, that’s nice." Michelle said. She paused. "But really, Pete, you do look like shit."

Peter snorted and coughed out a laugh. He looked at Keepsie's bright red skin and said, "You look positively ready for the inaugural ball, yourself."

"Glad you're OK. Relatively, you know."

Peter opened his mouth, but Clever Jack interrupted him. "Let's leave the tearful reunions until later, kids. We have more daring rescues to do.

There's your friends and of course, Doodad. But first-" he didn’t finish, but instead strode off toward the elevators, leaving Peter with Keepsie and Michelle, all attempting to catch up.

"So how are we going to do this daring rescue?" Keepsie said.

Clever Jack closed his eyes and stabbed at the elevator buttons. The second floor button lit up and he grunted. "Huh. That's not what I expected."

"Why are we going up?" Michelle asked. "I thought all the cells were downstairs."

"So did I," Clever Jack said. "But this is where we need to go, apparently."

"Your power is impressive," Peter said. "That is, if this works."

Clever Jack looked at him with narrowed eyes. "I got you out, didn't I?"

Peter made a placating gesture, and Clever Jack smiled. "Although you were pretty clever. The Crane went running past me in the hallway, blood all over his wings, not a care in the world except getting clean. How did you know about his little problem?"

"My power is weak, but useful at times," Peter said, focusing his gaze on the rising numbers above the elevator door.

They arrived at the second floor. Clever Jack stuck his head out of the elevator and motioned for them to follow him into the hall. The hallway was deserted, but well-lit and much more welcoming than the lower levels. Frames containing caricatures looking like a Hero Hall of Fame lined the walls and moonlight shone from the windows at the end of the hall.

Clever Jack turned left down the hall and walked with a purposeful gait.

Keepsie, Peter, and Michelle followed, casting nervous looks around them.

"Nine is my lucky number," Clever Jack said, counting the doors as he walked. When he got to the ninth door, he paused and motioned the others out of the way. They flattened themselves against the wall, and Clever Jack opened the door.

He stared inside for a moment. "Hey Keepsie, do you know this guy?"

Keepsie peeked inside the room. It was an elaborate office containing an oak desk, bookshelves, and a visitor's chair, which was occupied by the only person in the room.

"Jason," she blurted. Her uncooperative customer stared at her. "What the hell are you doing here? You left."

Jason’s brown eyes were very wide. "I don't know. Cops showed up at my place and brought me here to ask me questions about you and the bar. I met with Timson and then she said to wait here.”

Clever Jack leaned into Keepsie and whispered, "What's his power?"

"Elevator control," Keepsie said out loud.

"Oh, excellent," Clever Jack said. "We can use you."

Jason looked terrified. "I don't know."

Keepsie stepped forward and leaned into Jason. "Check us out, Jason.

Look at what the heroes did to me and Peter." Peter stepped into the doorway, his face stony, and Jason gasped.

"I have it on good authority that they have been torturing Ian as well,"

Peter said. "We need to free them, Jason. Clever Jack thinks you could help us.

Will you?"

Jason nodded. "But, what can I do?"

Clever Jack grinned the smile that was starting to make Keepsie uneasy.

"The most secure cells are only accessible by elevator key card."

"Oh. Well I can help with that," Jason said. "I thought you needed me to fight or something." He snickered nervously, raising his thin arms.

Clever Jack motioned for them to follow. "Not even a little bit." The four of them followed Clever Jack back to the elevators.

"Any idea where the others are?" Clever Jack asked.

"I think Ian is in the eighth basement," Peter said. “Barry and Tomas, I have no idea.” "Eighth basement sounds about right. Take us there," Clever Jack told Jason. Jason pushed the button marked "B8."

"That's it?" Keepsie said.

"What did you expect?" Jason asked. "I can get us there without stopping anywhere else."

"I thought Clever Jack's power would keep us from running into heroes,"

Peter said.

"Only an idiot doesn't use the tools that fall into his hands," Clever Jack said. "If I were hunting, I could probably find a deer that had broken its neck in a fall, but it's much easier to just rely on a clear shot with a gun."

The elevator descended, with no interruptions, to the eighth basement floor. When the door opened, Clever Jack looked at them. "Keepsie, I need you to come with me. The rest of you wait here. Keep the elevator here. If someone comes down the hall who isn't us, take the elevator to the topmost floor and wait for me."

"Wait, how will you get there?" Jason called after him.

"Luck," Clever Jack said.

Clever Jack paid Keepsie no attention as she followed him. He looked at every door, placing his hand on each one, shaking his head, and moving on.

“Jack, why me? I’m not really useful in a fight.”

Jack didn’t look at her. “I need the device now, Keepsie. I need it to free the rest of our friends.”

“So you can’t just luck your way into their cells?”

“What did I just tell you about tools? I need that tool to open the cell quickly before anyone finds us.”

Keepsie fingered the ball in her pocket and hesitated. Jack sighed. “Do you want Ian out or not?”

She handed it to him, a sense of powerlessness coming over her as she lost her final bargaining chip.

Jack took it, a look of reverence on his face. “Thank you.”

He crouched down and put it on the concrete floor and spun it, just so.

As it whirled around, it began to open, unhinging and revealing a small cavity inside where a handful of small, blue pills lay resting on some cotton.

“That’s it?” Keepsie said.

“Don’t discount it, you have no idea what these are. What they can do,”

Jack said. He reached into the cavity and pulled a pill out. He dry-swallowed it and waited.

Keepsie stepped back, not knowing what to expect. Clever Jack closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them, focusing intently on one of the doors. It was large and metal with a keypad containing several symbols on it. Keepsie had no idea what the symbols meant, but Clever Jack went to the pad and punched in a long code. A light came on over the keypad, bright red. Jack smiled and keyed in another code. The light began to blink.

“Finally.”

Jack bent down and picked up the device. It shut at his touch, and he slipped it into his jeans pocket.

“This is all I needed. I’ll get the rest. You go back to the elevator now.”

Keepsie watched the red light blink. “Is Ian in there?”