Hathor Legacy: Burn (32 page)

39
Burn Order

The last thing Nadira had expected to see were two men in grey suits standing in front of her apartment building. When the tran
sport stopped in front of the entrance, she waited a moment before exiting. She recognized them as the two Guardians who'd come to the shuttle terminal that day. Stephen and Terek.

Now what? Adrenaline pumped through her as she watched them from behind the tinted glass. As far as she knew, Mikal's helpers had been rounded up. Not that he'd had many, but they'd all been Protectors.

If she had to fight these two, she'd have to be ready. Protectors were generally more aggressive, if the situation called for it. Overall, she was more powerful, but that could be a disadvantage when the weak could overpower the strong.

Terek's attention was on the transport. He pointed in her dire
ction, and Stephen turned to look. Now they both were watching and waiting. She'd have to get out sooner or later. Or she could leave. No. What if Jonathan came home? Or was he already inside? Reaching into her consciousness, she tried to pick up his energy. Where was he?

Warmth spread up through her chest and across her face. Could she communicate with him in thoughts? Straining to send him a message, she closed her eyes and dug her fingers into the spongy seat cushions.

Jon, where are you? Are you all right?

No answer. Well, she'd have to assume the warmth of his e
nergy feedback was a good sign. Okay. Time to get out.

"Open the door," she ordered.

The door slid back and she took her time climbing out, her eyes never leaving the two men across from her. Her adrenaline rush had become a storm of energy, firing pings of heat up and down her body. She knew they could pick up on it.

But instead of approaching, they both remained by the front door. Stephen held out his hands in greeting, followed by Terek.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement on her left. Someone walking down the street. She'd have to find out what was going on now, before the person ended up between her and the two men.

She held out her hands in response. "Why are you here?"

"We were sent by Elder Azure to find you," Stephen replied. "She's calling a Gathering of the remaining Elders and wants you to attend." He was still holding his hands out, palms up.

"Where is she?" Nadira asked. The pedestrian was coming closer. She saw the movement, and could hear the footsteps gro
wing louder against the stone sidewalk.

"The Elder is staying with Elder Lange. She would like you to return with us. I'll open my thoughts to you." He closed his eyes.

Louder footsteps. It was a woman, her heels clicking like a miner's pick digging into a cavern wall. Click…click…click…she passed between Nadira and the Protectors, and kept walking.

Waiting until the footsteps receded, she read Stephen's thoughts. Images of Azure and Lange appeared in her mind. They were standing in front of a window and surrounded by bright sunlight.

"Will you accompany us now, Sentry Leader?" Terek asked, dropping his arms to his sides. "I promise you, there is no danger."

Nadira wiped beads of sweat off her forehead and released the breath she'd been holding. It would take a little while for her to relax, but she'd have to show them she meant no harm to them e
ither. After everything that had happened, they might have been just as concerned about her intentions.

"Give me a few moments. I want to go inside my apartment."

"Of course," Stephen said. "We'll wait out here."

Before she left, she'd leave a message for Jonathan. He might still be at the medi-evac with Karin. But at least when he got back he'd know where she'd gone.

*****

When Jonathan returned to the apartment he expected to find Nadira there, but it was empty. The living area was lit by the re
ddish-gold late afternoon sun, a contrast to the bright, early morning sunlight that had filled the room when he'd left.

He'd spent the day following up, from stopping by the co
nstruction site, to visiting Karin, to meeting Lani Zakry at her apartment in the Palatine. On the way, he'd passed by Matt's apartment building, the blown out glass and twisted girders still in evidence on the floor where his apartment used to be.

Jon checked the messages on Nadira's very old and outdated com unit. At least once they moved they'd be able to get something more up-to-date. She hadn't been happy about the orders she'd been given, but he'd been relieved. Not that the apartment wasn't cozy, but it was small and cramped. And as much as he reassured her that the lack of luxuries didn't matter to him, he was happy they'd be living someplace with more conveniences.

"Jon, Azure wants me to meet with her and the other Elders. I'll be back later." Her voice stirred him, as it always did, making him wish she were there with him right now. Her typical message: to the point with no excess information. He'd find out more later.

"Next message from Sgt. Tomas Tragg, North Country Ba
rracks," the computerized voice announced.

Security? What was wrong now? After Nadira had exposed Mikal, there had been an endless round of security messages and meetings. Things had only started to quiet down in the past couple of days.

"Sentry Leader Nadira. It's Tragg--I mean, Tomas. I saw you were promoted. Just checking in. You'll see it on the news alerts. They found that Guardian--his name is Brant? His aircar went down near the Cold Towns. He was hurt but he'll be okay. Some malfunction they think. You never know with those things. I'm by the sea, and it's boring as hell. Can't wait to get back to Nova City. Did that friend of yours come back?" He chuckled. "He must be crazy if he stays away too long. Well, I gotta go. I've got duty. Not exciting, but it'll do for now. I'll be checking in on you, Sentry Leader. Tragg out."

Tomas? He sounded friendly enough. Jonathan stared at the unit as though he could see the man who'd left the message. Nadira had mentioned how Tragg had helped her. But she'd called him Sgt. Tragg, not Tomas.

Jonathan's stomach growled. He should've eaten while he was out. Rubbing his stomach, he headed out to the kitchen. His other box of snacks was stashed in the cabinet. Nadira hadn't found the first one, and she hadn't had time to look for the second one.

Reaching into the cabinet he pushed boxes and tins out of the way to get to the small, brightly colored box in the corner. He pulled it out and tore off the top.

Tomas, huh? Jon was glad the Sergeant had been there to help her, especially since he hadn't been. With three fingers he reached into the box and grabbed enough chips to shove into his mouth.
Yes, Tomas, that friend of hers is back now. You can stand down.

*****

"Where are the other Elders?" Nadira asked, as she followed Azure into the house.

"It's a long story, my dear," Azure replied as she gestured for Nadira to sit down on one of the long couches facing the window. "Right now there's only Lange, Petra and myself. The others have decided to step down."

"But why?" Nadira asked. "They're needed now."

Azure settled herself in a chair in front of the window. "After what happened, can you blame them? Confined to your home and watched by Protectors and security officers? No one could co
mmunicate with anyone else. We didn't know what would become of us."

At least Azure didn't look as though she'd been harmed. She wore her usual multi-colored vest, but instead of a suit she wore a simple, dark blue, v-neck top and full pants. Her flat shoes were encrusted with blue crystals, the most adornment Nadira had ever seen her wear.

"What happened that day you went to see Dakar?" Nadira asked.

"I never got to see him. Mikal stopped me. He had two Prote
ctors there, and then he called more. I wasn't in the mood to fight them, but I thought about it." Azure folded her hands in her lap. "It was unthinkable that I would have to fight them. Nothing like that has happened since the Corporate Wars."

"But why did Jen go along with it? She's to blame as much as Mikal." If she hadn't defended her brother, he wouldn't have had the backing of the company.

"She was afraid not to. Their father went through the same thing. Sickness, then he became paranoid and started threatening people. She didn't want to believe it was happening again to her brother," Azure said.

The front door opened and Lange entered. His expression brightened when he saw Nadira. "I'm glad to see you here!" It only took two long strides to bring him across the room.

She stood up and pressed her cheek against his. "Elder Lange. It's good to see you."

"Same here, Nadira," he said. "I was worried when you left me at the terminal. But I see you were able to accomplish everything you wanted." As usual he wore a light blue workshirt over dark pants. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and went back to close the door.

"How was Maji?" Azure asked. "Still annoyed?"

Lange chuckled. "She usually is when it comes to Guardians. She's fine. She just got back to the city this morning."

"I've been trying to reach her," Nadira said. "Jen said she was taken to detention?"

"For a few hours. They should've known better than to deal with the Kasema like that. Their leaders were very wise to keep them separate from us," Azure said. "Lange, when is Petra co
ming? She was supposed to be here by now."

The Elder shook his head. "I don't know. She didn't seem very enthusiastic to come when I talked to her."

"Her personal feelings don't matter. We have to decide." Azure gripped the arm rests of her chair. "It's bad enough that the others have abandoned us."

"Most of them are friends of Mikal's family. They had to step down." Lange shoved his hands into his pockets. "Besides, we'd better get used to things being this way."

"What way?" Nadira asked. Both of them were averting their eyes, as though they were afraid to respond. "What's going on?"

Azure motioned to the screen built into the wall next to her chair. "You'd better show her."

"Display news alerts," Lange called.

The screen glowed blue for a moment before it displayed a still of Chair Santos, his full face caught with his mouth open and his brows furroughed. Underneath the "news alert" banner flashed red.

"Play priority alert," Lange requested.

"Citizens, I want to announce that the arsonists have been ca
ptured." Santos said, his head shaking in emphasis. "Thanks to the work of company security and the Guardians, we have apprehended the ringleaders of these terrible crimes. Our city is safe again."

"What about the trafficking?" Nadira asked.

"We have determined that criminals from outside of the company instigated these atrocities, and they will be punished. Guardian Elders have been cleared of all wrongdoing. I am also announcing a reorganization of the Nova City Board of Directors. Board Member Jen Montaigne will be on special assignment."

"The trafficking was not mentioned," Azure replied.

"Guardian Elders will also be reorganizing and will meet with me regarding our continued partnership. When we work together, Novacorp grows stronger." Santos intoned. The picture dissolved and returned to the alerts screen.

"What did all that mean?" Nadira asked. "Jen is being r
emoved?"

"She'll remain on the board, but I doubt she'll ever become Chair." Azure stood up and stretched her arms out. "I'm tired. I've been sitting around for too long."

"The reorg sorts everything out," Lange said. "Now they can pretend none of it happened. But there is one thing. We have to reduce the number of Elders to four. And all four must agree on any decisions."

"Four? Who's the fourth person?" Nadira asked.

"My dear, that is a silly question. You are the fourth Elder. That's why I had you brought here." Azure smoothed out her vest. "Santos has agreed to it. Normally, they have no say over our people, but in this case I wanted him to know what we'd decided." She nodded to Lange.

"It must be this way to show we can take charge of things. We have to rebuild trust among everyone," Elder Lange added. "Mikal had only ten to twelve Protectors on his side, but that was enough. We have to do this, or the company will step in and remove the Elders permanently."

"They almost did," Nadira said. "You all would've been sent away and Mikal would've had control. Novacorp helped that to happen."

"I know. But that won't happen again," Azure said. "What you said, about helping the Deshtu and connecting everyone--you were right. That's why you must join us."

"Elder Dakar has given up." Lange went to the window and looked out. "It's up to us now. His time is over."

Azure sucked her teeth. "I never thought he could be ove
rwhelmed by someone like Mikal."

"What will happen to Mikal?" Nadira asked.

"The company wants Mikal to be taken to Nova Base Nine. They'll have an official hearing, but the decision has already been made." Lange's back was turned to them.