Cry For Tomorrow (10 page)

When I’d first sighted the agent getting from the hover-craft, I’d thought his hazy, grey appearance was just a side-effect of Jennie’s camouflage, but with him standing only a few feet away, it was now apparent that he was truly grey. When he moved his head, the long hair he wore tied in a pony-tail rippled in shades of silver and grey, his jacket was nearly-black leather, and even the pants and shirt visible under it were a dull silver-grey. I was totally surprised when I realized that the face I was staring into was that of a younger man in his early twenties.

I was jerked back to myself when I felt the soft growl quivering through the dog’s body. I tightened my hold on her in warning, but it was too late. The grey agent’s head snapped around and he was staring into the thick shrubbery. He was close enough now that I could see the sunlight glinting from the dark pupils of his grey eyes and smell the odor of tobacco that still clung to his clothes. Afraid to stir even a leaf, I so very slowly stooped and wrapped both of my arms around the dog as I pressed my face into her soft fur.

Dusty’s heart beat fiercely and her anxious panting throbbed against my ear but she did not growl or even whimper for the eternity that the agent paused, listening for the sound he had most surely heard, to recur. And when I thought I would surely faint from holding my breath, the grey agent shook his head indecisively and turned away. Striding purposefully away from the house, he crossed the lawn to prowl along the side of the hedge as if seeking signs of our passage.

“I’m sure I heard a sound when I came out on the porch,” grumbled the blond agent again, “but I guess they must’ve ducked through the shrubbery and gotten away.” He shook his head and his voice trailed off. But, even as he began walking in the direction of the street and the dull black hover-craft parked at the curb, his eyes persistently searched the shrubbery along the front of the house.

“Right, I’m not sensing anything either. Maybe we can catch up to them on the street,” mumbled the grey agent. He cast a quick glance at the place we had disappeared before turning away and following his comrade.

A few minutes later, the flitter was humming away.

“Wow! I thought they had us for sure when the dog growled,” gasped Kelly as she stepped from the circle of Jen’s camouflage. “By the way, Sis, where did you get that dog?”

“Well, we sort of found each other last night on my way home from Rosa’s,” I told her as the chameleon effect completely faded and we walked clear of the soft fog that was all that remained, “and I like her and intend to keep her around as long as she wants to stay,” I stated firmly in case anyone had intentions of trying to talk me out of it.

Completely unconcerned with our conversation, Dusty left us behind and began ranging ahead, sniffing curiously at the place where the agent had been standing and the crushed cigarette butt lying in the gully before bobbing off to check out the shrubbery that separated the yard from the sidewalk.

“
Now
can we go somewhere else, pll-eease?” Jon pleaded plaintively. “Cause I
really
don’t wanna be here if one of those mean guys comes back again.”

“You betcha’, Jon-boy.” I ruffled one hand through his soft brown hair as I studied the quiet street before turning to Jennie. “I know we need to get someplace safe, but I would feel better if we could, maybe, find a couple of the boys before we head back to the apartment. This whole thing is getting way too weird for me and I would really like to get their opinions.”

“Yeah, me too, but Jake and Zack are all the way across town at Ace’s warehouse, so I guess it better be Carl—he’s only a few blocks away at the University,” Jen decided as we started walking along the sidewalk.

We had just turned the corner onto Vine Street and were moving past a row of empty buildings when Dusty’s nose came up and she jerked to a stop. With the hair bristling at her shoulders, the dog lowered her head and growled through her bared teeth.

The dog’s warning was sufficient.

“
Sssh
s
hsh!
” I hissed at the younger children as Jen and I dragged them into the only cover available. The alley between the two closest buildings was really narrow but it should be deep enough to hide us. I crouched down at the mouth of the alley with Dusty at my side and waited.

“What did you hear, girl?” I dared whisper in the dog’s ear in hopes of keeping her calm. I hadn’t seen what had alerted her but I knew that the agents had a reputation for being tenacious and refusing to give up until they had their subject in custody. I didn’t intend to risk walking into their hands if I could help it.

We didn’t have long to wait. When we failed to make an immediate appearance the agents lost patience. Stepping clear of the dark, concealing shadows that masked the damaged foyer of the next building, the two agents slid along the side of the wall toward the mouth of the alley we were hiding in.

I dragged Dusty deeper into the alley hoping we couldn’t be seen from the street. My heart hammered against my ribs as I watched the pair of long shadows creep along the sidewalk until they were blocking all light from the mouth of the alley. There were small, involuntary gasps of fear from the huddle of children behind me.

The stand-off was broken when a low snarl rippled from Dusty’s throat. She lunged, trying to break from my grip to attack the men stalking us, but I locked my fist in her collar and dragged her deeper into the shadows of the alley.

“
Stop!
You are under arrest—all of you!” the agent shouted.”Come out of there now! If you surrender peacefully, I promise you won’t be hurt! We just want to talk to you about the murder of the people living at Fourteen-Twenty Oak Street this morning.”

The mountain of darkness looming over us was as unnerving as the booming voice threatening us. The harsh command, bouncing against the walls of the buildings, had my knees shaking and cold shivers of fear running up and down my spine, but I wasn’t ashamed. The agents were well known for their brutality and we all had good reason to be afraid, but in spite of my fear, there was a small part of my mind that dared to sneer in contempt,
This agent is either very sure that we’re unarmed and harmless, or he’s a fool to confront armed killers like this.

Jen and I exchanged quick looks. We knew that the word of the agents could not be trusted under any circumstance, and we had no intention of giving up without a fight. “
Go deeper, maybe there’s a way out at the back of the alley. Hurry!”
Jennie hissed at the younger children.

We were doing our best to drag them past the assortment of trash and broken furniture jammed into the narrow alley when Merry went down under our feet. I tried to avoid her, but I was just too close behind her when she fell, and I couldn’t keep from tripping.

I threw myself sideways to keep from falling on the frail little girl and hit the wall of the building. Rolling to one side, I tried to stay on my feet but the large, long-legged dog didn’t have enough room to jump clear. Dusty’s legs and leash were trapped between the child’s flailing limbs and the two rolled, entangling me in spite of my best efforts.

Jennie and Kelly had been a couple of steps ahead of the collision and managed to keep themselves and Jon clear of the pile-up.

“Kelly, take Jon and go to the end of the alley. I’m going to try to help Halie,” ordered Jennie.

I was frantically working to disentangle Merry and the dog, when I heard the crashing of the agents forcing their way into the alley behind us. “Let’s
go!
” Jennie jerked my arm. I turned, and found myself looking into the black muzzle of a taser gun.

“Stay right there and don’t move!”

The hair at the back of my neck prickled as I waited for the inevitable. Every muscle in my body was tensed, ready to act if chance presented. It took every ounce of my willpower to force myself to stand still.

The agent was so close now that I could smell the garlic on his breath, and even in this poor light, I could see the ripples in his short-cropped blond hair, and every wrinkle and scar on the bulldoggish face sneering down at us. His shoulders were so wide that they almost touched the sides of the narrow alley. I recognized the weapon he was pointing at my face as one of the electronic stun guns commonly used by the police and military to subdue criminals. Through the narrow space between his side and the wall, I could see the grey agent waiting at the mouth of the alley, his taser also pointed in our direction.

I knew that as long as the tasers were set on stun they wouldn’t kill us, but it most certainly would hurt and disable. My hope that Kelly and Jon had escaped down the alley was dashed when I heard Jon’s soft, tremulous voice.

“W-we couldn’t g-get out. The alley’s a dead end,” he whispered.

“That’s okay, just stay close to me,” I whispered back.

“Okay, that’s more like it. Now, real slow and easy, you all start coming toward me,” ordered the agent as he slowly started backing out of the alley. I could swear that he never once blinked either of those cold black eyes locked on us.

Jennie and I exchanged nervous glances as we each took hold of the small hands reaching for ours. Merry had scraped both of her knees when she’d fallen but she bravely blinked back her tears when I tugged at her hand and clung to my side as we moved toward the mouth of the alley.

“Halie,” hissed Kelly as she slid in close behind my shoulder. “What are you doing? If we go out there, they’re going to take us in!”

“We don’t have any choice,” I whispered, “yet.”

“Back up, sergeant, let’s give them a little space,” the agent growled. The insignia on his pocket and his manner implied that he held more rank than the grey agent.

As they reached the mouth of the alley, both agents backed away, giving us room to emerge into the open. We had no option but to obey their order, but Jennie and I weren’t ready to give up yet. Exchanging covert nods, we began moving away from each other. Jennie gently nudged the younger children, urging them to slide along the wall a few feet while I tried to divert the agents’ full attention to me.

“Now, I want you to know that you young people have nothing to fear from us. I am Captain Sanders of the Allied Military Service, and this here is Sergeant Rainor,” declared the blond agent as he paced back and forth before us. He reached one hand down and rumpled little Jon’s hair as if he found him cute. Jon jerked his head away and scowled angrily at the offender.

“Now, I understand that there is some confusion as to who murdered your friends back there and we do realize that you, in all probability, had nothing to do with that. And, just to put your minds at rest, I am giving you my personal word that the Military had nothing to do with it either. We do, however, suspect that this was the work of rogue agents employed by the Company.” He cast a sly grin at his subordinate. “It is true that they have, well, that they have been known to get a little
rough
when they don’t get the answers they want, but,” he cast his beady eyes from one captive to the next, “
our
agency does not condone such methods, or resort to committing deeds of such a deplorable nature.” He stopped pacing and his eyes jumped from Jen’s face and back to mine again as he tried to determine which of us was dominant.

I finally couldn’t help myself. “If you’re such a damned big-shot, working for the military and all, then why aren’t you doing something about what happened to our friends instead of harassing us? We’re just a bunch of innocent kids.”

The grey agent, the one called Rainor, had the grace to duck his head in shame. “There is nothing we can do about what happened at this time. Not openly, anyways.”

As if confident that he had identified the dominant personality now, Sanders locked his eyes on my face and moved so that he was directly in front of me. “That little stunt of yours back at the house tells me that you’re that psi the Company has been looking for.” He pointed the muzzle of the taser at me.

“Why would anyone be looking for me?” I answered angrily. “My friends were killed and I didn’t even get there until after they’d all been murdered!” The aura of danger radiating from the black-clad agent had my whole body quivering. The hair on the back of my arms and neck was bristling, and my telekinetic energy was building in response to the threat.

“Well, actually, we tend to keep a real close eye—and ear,” Sanders chuckled arrogantly and gave Rainor a conspiratorial wink, “on our competition in the Company.”

“Now, we know that they were sent to that house by a tip they got on a young psi that pretty much matches your description, but I guess you don’t know anything about that, now do you?”

Sanders tried to get me to look him directly in the eyes, but I moved aside, feigning concern for the small child and dog that had persistently returned to cling to my side. Bending close to straighten the little girl’s jacket, I whispered in her ear, “Take Dusty and go to Kelly.”

I was not fooled by the agent’s tone of concern and friendship. The hot breath of this man looming over me was making my skin crawl and I was very much aware of the many atrocities committed by agents just like these in the name of national security.

Merry patted the snarling dog I was holding between us and slowly slipped her little hand under the collar. When I was sure the child had a good grip, I released mine and took a step away, letting Merry quietly drag the dog closer to Kelly. Lost in his own arrogance, Sanders was paying little attention to the children’s constant shifting and shuffling.

I couldn’t help noticing Rainor’s reaction. It was as if his training and skill at dealing with people was closer to the surface rather than buried under the crude arrogance displayed by the other agent. His eyes were on the younger children slipping away to the outer limits of their control. Jennie stepped into his line of sight, trying to draw his attention away from them but I knew it was too late.

“Ex-excuse me sir, but—” the grey agent tried to interrupt his superior.

“Stand down, Rainor, don’t you see I’m busy? Why, I was just about to explain to this little girl how lucky she is to have such a patriotic daddy that he’d be willing to sacrifice his very own child for the good of her government.” Sanders reached a hand out and tried to touch my arm, but I quickly side-stepped out of his reach, and several feet further away from the others.