Operation Hydra (22 page)

“Do you have to touch me with that thing to hurt me?” Trey taunted. “Not much of a weapon, is it?”

“What do you want?” the guard demanded.

Grinning, Trey pointed his pistol at the guard, firing mere inches above the man’s shoulder. The guard yelped and dropped to his knees, his weapon skittering out of reach.

“Not much of a guard, either.” Trey grabbed the back of his collar and pressed the pulse pistol to his temple. “Up.
Slowly.”

“Why are you doing this? Dr. Hydran has very powerful friends. You don’t want to cross him.”

“Dr. Hydran isn’t holding a gun to your head. Where should we take them, Krysta?”

Krysta gave Dro Tar a little push, not sure how long they needed to maintain the charade. The first two guards were starting to recover from Trey’s attack. “Collect their equalizers,” she directed Dro Tar. “Let’s take them to one of the treatment chambers. We can use Jon here to unlock the doors. He’s got Red clearance. Don’t you, Jon?”

She’d endured Jon’s leering gaze since she’d developed breasts. Did Trey remember that Jon was one of the men who had held her in the treatment chamber the day they met?
Probably not.
A lot had happened that day. But she remembered. She remembered his hurtful hands biting into her arms and his lustful gaze enjoying the spectacle.

Jon automatically took a step toward her, but Trey’s fingers tightened in his hair.

“He’ll kill you this time, Krysta.” Jon’s voice was low and threatening. “Don’t think he won’t. I just hope he finally lets me —”

She cut off his words with violent backhanded slap, throwing her whole body into the blow. “He isn’t in a position to
let
you do anything! Hydran has no power over me.”

Jon swiped his bloodied nose with his sleeve and didn’t say a word.

“You’re lucky she hit you,” Trey said as they started down the corridor.

“And why is that?”

“Because if she hadn’t, I would’ve. And I hit a whole lot harder.”

The comment made Krysta smile and automatically reach out for Belle. She was used to sharing triumphs, however minor with her twin. Suppressed and unresponsive, Belle’s signal waited. Belle was alive, but that’s all Krysta was able to ascertain.

Determination stirred within Krysta, like smoldering embers ignited by the night wind. She knew Hydran was gone, but it wasn’t enough. They must get Belle out today and she would never sleep beneath this dome again.

Prompted by Trey’s pulse pistol in the middle of his back, Jon scanned open each door until they reached the treatment chambers situated between wards A and B. Trey urged the two lesser guards into the chamber and then dragged Jon into the observation booth. This was Hydran’s domain. They should be safe from surveillance.

“How many staff members are on duty?” Trey asked.

“There were six orderlies at check in,” Dro Tar volunteered. “There are generally four guards per ward and Hydran has three bodyguards, but at least two orderlies and four guards left with him, from what I’ve been able to gather.”

“From what you’ve gathered?”
Jon challenged. “You’re a spy? What is this? What’s going on?”

As much as she wanted to torment Jon, things would be much easier if he cooperated. Hydran had no power over her. And she was about to prove it.

“Show him.” She looked at Trey and then Dro Tar. “Show him why Hydran ran.”

Dro Tar glanced at Trey. After he nodded, she vigorously rubbed her eyes, dislodging the contacts and revealing her swirling hazel eyes.

Gaping like a beached fish, Jon stared at Dro Tar’s eyes. “She’s… but Dr. Hydran said…”

“Yeah, Hydran said a lot of things.” Krysta stalked toward the guard. “I don’t have a genetic abnormality. None of the occupants do. We’re about to be rescued, and Hydran was so pleased by the realization that he abandoned the Center and everything in it. That includes you, Jon.”

“What do you want?” His gaze darted repeatedly to Trey.

“Deactivate the grid,” she said simply.

“Why?” The word burst from his mouth, propelled by disbelief.

“Because she told you to.”
Trey reinforced Krysta’s demand with a nudge from the pulse pistol.

The swirling intensity of Trey’s amber gaze connected with hers for a moment before he turned his attention back to Jon. Krysta felt her heartbeat flutter. When had he taken off his contacts? Color drained from Jon’s face, making the smear of blood all the more apparent. She wanted to laugh, but she contained her pleasure to a smile.

“Does Dr. Hydran
know
who you are?” Fear made Jon’s tone brittle.

“It doesn’t matter. He has no right to do this to anyone. You help us now and it will be taken into consideration when your role in this travesty is judged.”

She would have offered him immunity, Krysta realized. Trey was right. He hit harder.

“I can’t do it from here.”

Trey looked at her. “Can he?”

“Probably not.”
Her gaze swung to Jon.
“The control center between wards C and D?”

Jon nodded.

“Dro Tar, guard the guards,” Trey said. “As soon as the grid goes down, Gerr will start transporting in with reinforcements.”

“No problem, boss.” She took off her hat and tossed it across the room, scrubbing her hair with her fingers, not stopping until it stood out at every conceivable angle. With a contented sigh, she sank into a chair and switched on the intercom.

“Looks like we’re stuck with each other, boys, so you can either laugh at my jokes or listen to me sing. Which is it gonna be?”

The two guards stared at each other in bewilderment.

“Well, I’m not in the mood to sing.” She propped her boots on the control console and locked her hands behind her head. “A man is sitting in a bar beside this ten-inch piano player. A couple minutes later a woman walks in followed by a million ducks. The man says, ‘So, what’s with the ducks?’ The woman shoots him a look and says, ‘What? Can’t you guess? I asked that stupid Mystic for a million bucks. Did you really want a ten-inch pianist?’”

Dro Tar’s uproarious laughter followed them out into the corridor. That was certainly a means of torture Krysta had never thought of before. Jon’s steps lagged as they crossed the courtyard. Trey renewed his motivation with the pulse pistol.

“Who is in the control center?” she asked.

“Liam and Phillip.”

“Who’s the most senior officer?” Trey asked.

“Believe it or not, Jon is.” Krysta motioned toward their reluctant companion. “He’s one of Hydran’s elite. Or at least he was.
Odd that he wasn’t included in the relocation.”

A full scan of Jon’s body admitted them to the high security building between wards C and D. Krysta felt her heart gallop. She’d never been in this part of the Center before. Soon she’d see Saebin again, know that her friend was safe and well.

“The general doesn’t like me,” Jon admitted as they made their way along the gleaming, white corridor. “I’m sure he told Dr. Hydran not to include me. Eleven years of faithful service and this is the thanks I get.”

“Do you know the general’s real name?” Krysta clenched her fists. His petulance was eroding her calm. “Do you know what
he’s ‘the general’
of?”

“He retired from the Intercontinental Army. I haven’t a clue who or what he’s affiliated with now. I’ve never heard him called anything other than the general.”

“Do you have a clear image of this man in your mind?” Krysta asked.

“Not really. I’ve seen him from a distance, but he avoids everyone but Hydran. Why?”

“I’m going to touch your forehead.”

“Why? What are you going to do?” His eyes rounded and his nostrils flared.

Trey aimed the pistol at his chest. “Just hold still.”

Fighting back a smile, Krysta took far longer than necessary to absorb the image. If she knew how to cause mental discomfort, she’d have made it sting like hell. Fear dilated his pupils and made his chin quiver. It was
almost
enough.

She moved her hand back and his breath hiss out. “Are you done?”

“For now.”
All she’d been able to retrieve was a shadowy impression.

They reached the control center.

“All right.”
Trey stepped up behind Jon and pressed the gun to the center of his back. “Krysta, stay out of sight. Now, you, open the privacy panel.”

She stayed well back from the threshold as Jon scanned open the door. Two short bursts from Trey’s weapon almost immediately followed Jon’s muttered greeting, and then Trey motioned her inside. Trey held the gun on Jon while he dragged the unconscious men off to one side of the small room.

Slipping in behind the wide control panel, Jon went to work. Trey stood in back of him, an ever-present reminder to stay on task. Jon used a silent alarm to order the staff from the premises. Stunned and horrified, Krysta watched, on multiple vidscreens, as the staff quickly ended their tasks and filed from the building like lemmings.

“Why do they think they’re leaving?” She was almost afraid to ask. “What was this system designed for?”

“Fire.
An explosion in one of the labs.”
Jon’s fingers worked the control console.

“And the occupants?
We’d just be left inside to die?”

He didn’t respond. They both knew the answer.
Hydran has no power over me.
She kept silently repeating the phrase, drawing strength from the simple truth. Hydran was out of her life. The rest was logistics!

“Okay.” Jon looked up from the controls. “I’ll take the last four guards out with me. All you have to do is turn it off. I’ve deactivated all scanner and code protocols. As soon as you flip the switch most everything will become simple motion sensors.” He looked from Trey to Krysta, his gaze inscrutable. “Do you realize what you’re getting yourself into? Ward D hasn’t been unlocked in years.”

“Wait,” Krysta cried.
“Stasis chambers.
Where is Belle?”

“If he’s got someone in stasis, they’re in ward D. All the interesting technology is there.” He paused, his dark gaze searching her face. “If I take the grid down, how are you going to control them? Their implants share a power source with the grid.”

Krysta looked away. He obviously knew more about ward D than they did.

“You’re being suspiciously helpful all of a sudden,” Trey pointed out.

“I’m just showing Dr. Hydran the same loyalty he showed me. You said my cooperation would be taken into consideration, so I’m cooperating.”

“Well, Krysta. What do you think of his sudden change of heart?” Trey was obviously unwilling to leave him alone in the control room. “Shall we exploit his knowledge to our mutual advantage?”

“I don’t see that we have any choice. But I don’t trust him. I want the rest of Hydran’s people out and I want someone with him at all times.”

“Agreed.”

“I don’t expect you to trust me. I don’t care if you trust me,” Jon’s voice wavered, “but I have a wife and two children. I can’t go to a penal colony; it would kill them.”

He should have stuck with straight bartering. Krysta respected the clean concept of something for something. But she felt no pity for this lecherous bastard. “You should have thought about your family when you offered yourself for eleven years of faithful service to a man like Dr. Hydran.”

“You said implants,” Trey reminded him. “What did you mean?”

“Dr. Hydran and the general have been experimenting with an implant that amplifies each person’s abilities. Problem is without power, without a continual signal to the implant, the person becomes very… unpredictable, violent even.”

“And you think this will happen if we bring the grid down?” Krysta rubbed at the tension rapidly building at the nape of her neck. She didn’t want to think of Saebin connected with ward D, didn’t want to consider that her sweet-tempered friend had been given one of these implants.

“I know it will,” Jon said. “It’s just a matter of how you deal with it when it does.”

“What are the options?” She moved until the wall was at her back, supporting her. Each word he spoke felt like marble-size hail pelting her body.

“Evacuate wards A through C before you drop the grid. You can utilize the lobby and the employee access doors with the grid intact.”

Krysta cleared her throat before she spoke, making sure her voice sounded strong and steady. “Can Commander Barrel send someone down for these two or should we move them to the treatment chamber where Dro Tar has the others?”

Trey nudged one with the toe of his boot and shrugged. “There’re out pretty good. It would probably be easier to have Lyrik send someone to carry them. We’ll hold all four in the brig on the
Tempest
until the evacuation is complete.”

Opening his audiocom, Trey contacted the
Tempest
, instructing Gerr to transport as many armed crewmembers as he could manage to the shuttle lot beyond the dome.

“How secure is the treatment chamber?” Trey switched back to Earthish.

“The guards can’t get out, if that’s what you’re asking. Why?” Krysta responded curiously.

“I need Dro Tar to open the front door.”

He switched channels on the audiocom and paused. It was Dro Tar’s voice, but her words sounded like gibberish.

“Knock, knock,” Dro Tar was saying.

“Who’s there,” two male voices grumbled in unison.

“Midas,” Dro Tar prompted cheerfully.

“Midas who?”

“Midas well relax, you’re gonna be here awhile.”

She laughed so loudly that Trey had to pull his audiocom away from his ear. “Dro Tar, report.”

“What can I do for you, Commander?”

“Your guards have been given an official reprieve from your humor.”

“Oh, how tragic.”
She treated him to a musical laugh. “I was just getting warmed up.”

“Go to the lobby and open the door for Lyrik’s crewmembers.”

“All of them?”

Trey just rolled his eyes.
“After you show your guests their new escort, report here to me.”

“Will do.
Dro Tar out.”