AfterLife (27 page)

“Also, we’re not sending you and Wes in alone. We’ll send a
few other members from the area to assist you. I want there to be enough of you
to secure Wes’s brother without incident, but we can’t have a whole army there
drawing unwanted attention. The last thing we want is local antemort law
enforcement getting stuck in the crossfire.”

“Do you know who will be helping us yet?” Meri sat back on
the couch and folded her arms, her face expressionless. She appeared to be
accepting their instructions at face value, but Wes knew she was carefully
considering every word the Ancestors gave her as she evaluated the situation.

Anne Marie flipped through screens on her tablet by sliding
her finger across the face. “We haven’t decided yet. The other Ancestors and I
are looking at all available pairs to see who will be best for this particular
situation. We should be able to get them assembled and a rendezvous set up
soon. Oscar will get back with you once the final decisions are made.”

“Thanks, Anne Marie. We’ll wait for word from him. I’ll do
my best to prepare Wes for tonight. None of us is really prepared for this kind
of situation, but Wes is still new to being a Mortui.”

“That’s a good idea, Meri. I’m sure any preparation will be
advantageous. Let me know if you need anything else from us once you get the
mission plan. Best of luck with your brother, Wes. I’ll talk to you two later.”

The image of Anne Marie disappeared from the screen as the
call disconnected. Meri closed the laptop and stood up. Her lips were pressed
tightly together and her forehead was scrunched in thought. Wes watched as she
stood in one place for a second and then walked around the table to stare out
the window on the far side of the room. It was obvious from her posture that
she didn’t like the rescue plan outlined by the Ancestors, and even he could
see the red flags confirming it was a trap.

Finally Meri spoke. “Okay, you’ll have to do exactly as I
say for this to work. First and foremost, we need to play their game. They’re
using your brother as bait and the only way to save him is to go into the trap
to get him.

“Jez talked about Seth, the man who’s in charge of them. I
wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one who devised this plan, along with whoever
the AfterLife infiltrator is. From what I’ve heard about him, he’ll want to
pull you into sync and destroy you one on one. My question for you is, do you
think you can fight him if he does?”

For months Wes and Ken had been running mock virtual fight
simulations in and out of sync in the event that something like this might
happen. Wes also knew the challenge of fighting someone with decades of
experience with this type of encounter would be one he probably wouldn’t win.
He’d come close a few times, but he’d never bested Ken. “I may be able to defend
myself for awhile, but I don’t know if I can defeat him in sync. I don’t know
what he’s capable of doing or creating.”

“No, neither do I,” Meri said.

“What’s your plan? How long do you think I would need to
hold him in sync for you to do whatever you have in mind?”

“I can’t answer that because I don’t know. Don’t forget time
is different in sync. You could end up fighting epic battles that last
centuries but only be in sync for a few minutes, or you could go in for what
seems like a few minutes while hours pass in real time.” Meri sat down again in
the chair next to Wes. “I’m not trying to scare you, but I need to be straight
with you. Someone wants you gone. Both you and your brother’s lives are at
risk. There are probably very few scenarios where we all walk away. You might
go in and save Lyall without being severed, but then again you might not. We
could all end up being severed while the Atumra assimilates Lyall.”

Meri’s honesty was actually comforting. He’d already
considered the fact that they were going in blind and had only a limited chance
of success, but that didn’t decrease his desire to continue. Faced with a
choice, he would rescue his brother even if it meant being severed himself. His
main concern was to save Lyall before someone turned him into a Mortui.

“I know, Meri. I’ve thought of all that, too. Even so, it’s
something I have to do.”

“I know that. It’s something we both have to do. There are
things going on here that are bigger than you or Lyall, and I have every
intention of being a part of it.” Meri walked over to Wes and put her arms
around his shoulders, gently hugging him. “There is the possibility that
everything will work out exactly how we want it to. Let’s focus on that and
what we need to do to make sure we’re successful.”

Wes turned toward Meri. “So, what’s your plan?”

“I only have the idea of a plan now. I’ll need to make a few
phone calls, but I hope to organize some additional backup of our own. If one
of the Ancestors is the Atumra plant, I don’t know if we can really trust anyone
they send to help us.”

Meri spent most of the rest of the day on the phone. Wes’s
instructions were to go into meditation and prepare for the possibility of
being in sync with Jezebel’s superior, Seth. Instead, he found himself roaming
his re-created theme park without purpose. After a few hours, he opted just to
wait in the real world until it was time to face the inevitable.

 Sunset came and went. Wes stood at the living room window
and stared at the street below. It was a nice night – too nice of an evening
for a dangerous mission. It should be raining or snowing, or at the very least
there should be thunder and lightning, he thought, but it looked like just
another quiet night. Nothing to alert anyone about the seriousness of what
might be coming.

Meri emerged from her bedroom. “Ready? It’s time to meet the
team the Ancestors have set up for us. We’re rendezvousing at a diner near Navy
Pier.”

“Do you know who’s going with us? Have you worked with any
of them?”

“I’ve only met two of them before. You’d think I would have
crossed paths with the others at the Hub or something, but I haven’t. One
couple is coming from out of town. There will be six all together. With the two
of us, that’s eight.”

It seemed like a very small group to Wes. If he had been planning
the raid himself he would have assigned at least a couple dozen people to
accompany them. “Is that going to be enough?”

“It’s about what I expected. We have enough information to
get into the building; that won’t be difficult. If they have as few people as
there are in the Hub under normal circumstances, it should be enough for a
rescue operation. That’s the thing though, I have a gut feeling there will be
more there than we expect, and I’m fairly confident they know we’re coming.”
She went to a small chest that sat at the side of the couch in the living room
and opened it to pull out a couple of metallic black gun-like weapons. “These
are Electrical Disabling Darts for Incapacitation Emitters, or EDDIEs, as we
like to call them. They’re now standard issue for AfterLife members thanks to
our new direction to counter the Atumra. They work similar to a Taser except
the darts are each individually charged instead of the power coming from the
gun itself. They’re nothing new, the Atumra have them, too, but they don’t know
that we know that they know we’re coming.” She smiled at the confusion of the
wording. “They think they’ve bamboozled us, or at least I hope they think that.
They’re not expecting much of a fight.” Meri handed one of the EDDIEs to Wes
and then handed him a holster so he could hide it under his coat.

“Nice.” Wes turned the EDDIE around in his hands, examining
it. “How does it work?”

“Well,” Meri said, performing a brief demonstration as she
talked, “Mortuis use electrical impulses to move and control their bodies.
These darts disrupt those impulses by causing muscles to tense up, and thus
incapacitating them. It doesn’t hurt though.” Meri aimed hers at Wes and fired.

Instantly, Wes found himself on the floor. He had no control
over his body as he tensed up into a ball on the carpet. He didn’t feel pain,
but the loss of control over his body became a source of frustration. Meri
reached down and pulled the dart from his shoulder which immediately returned
the control of his muscles. The shiny, silver-looking dart was no larger than a
bullet, except it had a sharp end that penetrated into the muscle. “Thanks for
the demonstration,” he muttered from the floor.

“You see how useful it can be? A regular bullet would tear
right though you, but since you can’t feel anything it wouldn’t stop you. These
will stop you for a bit, that’s for sure.” She returned to the chest and pulled
out a few other things Wes couldn’t see and placed them in her pocket. “Be
careful if you’re ever hit by one of these darts. Mortuis have been known to
rip apart muscles in an attempt to free themselves from its effects. Also, the
dart doesn’t last that long, but it can penetrate up to six layers of thick
clothing and can be recharged in the holster if you’re able to get it back. I
guess you could say it’s our green initiative.”

Wes stood up and attached his holster and his EDDIE
underneath his coat. Meri handed him a small bundle of replacement darts
wrapped in a small fabric bag that he put in his pocket. “The gun only holds
15, which should be enough, but you never know.” She gave Wes a considering
look, then moved to the small, square dining room table and collected her phone
and keys before walking to the door of the apartment and opening it. “Ready? I
think it’s time to go now.”

Wes followed Meri out and checked the door to make sure it
was locked, a habit from his days among the living. He didn’t really care if
someone broke in to rob them; there wasn’t anything here he had an attachment
to, but it was good to keep up appearances. “Who did you call? You said there
were some people you wanted to call for backup.” They spoke softly as they
walked down the hallway to the elevator. If anyone was listening they wouldn’t
be able to make out the words.

“I’ve got a few friends coming to help us out. I don’t want
to give you any more information than that in case you eventually do sync with
this Seth character. I don’t want him to know who or how many people are coming
to help us. You’ll just have to trust that I’ve taken precautions to help
ensure we have that positive outcome we’re going to have.”

 “Thanks for everything, Meri,” Wes said once they were on
the elevator and it began its descent toward the lobby. “It means a lot to me
that I have people I can count on. It’s a good feeling.”

Meri leaned in and hugged Wes, then looked up at him and
gave him an over-exaggerated grin that exposed her teeth. “I appreciate you
too, Wes. You’ve definitely added some spice to my existence. It’s completely
my pleasure to be going with you to save your brother.”

They went the rest of the way to the rendezvous point
without speaking. Meri held Wes’s arm like she had the day before, both of them
comfortable with the closeness. Wes thought they probably looked like any
couple out for a leisurely walk in the evening. The more he chose to let people
in, the more he discovered he liked having others to rely on. There was
something about Meri that made Wes believe he could trust her, and so he did.
He trusted her with both his own life and his brother’s.

M
eri led the
way into the diner when they arrived. “Just sit anywhere,” a passing waitress
said and Meri nodded. Wes remembered a visit to this particular diner years
before for a lunch with some work associates. It had since been remodeled and
updated. The interior now looked more like a hospital cafeteria and not the
sleek, contemporary look the designer was no doubt attempting to achieve.
Despite the institutionalized atmosphere, the place was fairly busy.

Once inside, Meri scanned the room to see if she recognized
any of the patrons as AfterLife members. Wes also examined the room looking for
anyone wearing something that had the AfterLife emblem on it, but before he got
very far Meri began walking toward a very large booth. The booth was situated
in a corner at the rear of the diner and four people were already gathered at
it. There was room for a few more. Meri approached and Wes followed one step
behind.

“Are they who we’re looking for?” Wes asked.

“I’m not sure,” Meri said, half turning to direct her
response back at Wes, “but they’re the only people in here without kids, a pile
of school books on the table, or who look like tourists. Just a guess but we’ll
find out in a moment.”

Wes nodded even though Meri couldn’t see him. Her logic was
sound. He would have missed most of the clues Meri had pointed out if he’d had
been the one to decide which table to approach.

At the table Meri smiled at the four adults sitting there.
“Hi, I think—” Meri said and then cut herself off without finishing the
statement.

“Therefore, you are,” answered one of the men sitting at the
table.

“Oh, good,” Meri said. She turned back to Wes, “I thought
they were who we were looking for.”

The four people scooted in and Meri and Wes took a seat at
the table with them.

“I’m Meri and this is Wes,” Meri said, introducing them.

“I’m Charlie,” the man who’d completed the password phrase
said, grinning at them. His hair was salt and peppered and he appeared to be in
his early 40s. “This is my companion, Simon,” he said, motioning to the guy
sitting next to him. Simon looked about Wes’s age with dirty wash-water blond
hair. Standing, he was probably half a foot shorter than Wes, but looked like
his antemort life was spent at the gym. It was possibly the result of steroid
use, Wes thought, since he looked bigger than he should have been naturally.

“I’m Chloe,” said the only girl sitting at the table. “We
came down from Madison.” She placed her hand out palm side up toward her
partner as if presenting him for an entrance on a stage. “Caleb called us from
the Hub and thought we might have something to add to this little operation.”
She smiled, revealing teeth that looked almost too perfect to be real. She
could have passed for a college student with her highlighted burgundy hair and
perfect skin. Wes couldn’t help but smile back at her. Based on first
impressions he liked Chloe, although he didn’t know how stealthy she would be
in her black knee-high boots that sported 3 inch heels.