Hybrid Zone Recognition (21 page)

I turned to face Adam. The movement forced him to drop his arms to his sides. Putting both my hands squarely on his chest, I said softly, “Adam.” When he didn’t respond to my verbal query, I switched to the nonverbal. Along with his name, I tried to convey my need for him to look at me.
Adam.

He shifted his eyes to mine, and I wasted no time making my point.

Leave Pike alone
. When his eyebrows knitted together in a frown, I argued what to me seemed obvious.
I don’t belong to you.
That only deepened his frown.
I don’t belong to Pike either,
I added quickly.
And I’m certainly not going to belong to someone because they won me in a fight.

That seemed to get his attention. His eyebrows went back to their respective homes, leaving me staring into his bright emerald eyes. My courage, that had been fully present just a moment ago, left me high and dry. I swallowed at the sudden dryness in my throat. All this testosterone filled closeness was seriously cutting into my juju.

I looked down, freeing myself from his gaze, and absently began to trace the letters on his shirt. Without the distraction of his eyes, I was better able to concentrate, and I could tell that not all of the tension had subsided.

Think, I growled to myself. I had told Olivia that I would try to work with this. I didn’t want to fail her again and be subjected to her schoolmarm looks of disapproval. They were beyond annoying.

So, what did his alphaness need? The realization of what he needed suddenly became clear—to feel more important than Pike. That was completely childish, doable, but childish.

I recognized that it was also childish to be flattered by having two guys vying for my attention. But try as hard as I might to deny it, I couldn’t. So, here was a side of myself I’d never known. I felt empowered somehow. I had some measure of control over this man…beast? Probably more beast than man present at the moment.

I decided, by right of winging it, to test my new found power over him. On completely new territory without the slightest hint of knowing what I was doing, I leaned in and whispered,
Adam, who did I choose to help me with breakfast, and who am I standing really close to right now?

I felt the last of the tension drain from him and ventured a look up. I was immediately ensconced in his eyes again. If not careful, a girl could get lost in those eyes. Wouldn’t really take much at all.

Gathering what courage I could, I said, “We should call everyone to eat before the food gets cold.”

My prompting effectively ended the intimacy that had developed between us. He sighed and brushed a rebellious strand of hair behind my ear. Then he let his hand drop and backed away from me.

Whew, crisis averted. Did Olivia have to do this all the time?

I was startled by Adam’s sudden whistle. He followed it with a shout of “Breakfast!”

“Warn a girl next time, will ya?” I said with my hands still covering my ears.

He smiled mischievously as he walked to the other side of the island. There he went again with the happiness at my discomfort. We were going to have to do something about that.

Everyone served themselves and gathered at the table between the kitchen and living areas. As the meal wound down, Miranda leaned back in her chair with a satisfied look on her face and exaggeratedly rubbed circles across her stomach with her hand.

“That was a deliciously fat laden meal. I should work out,” she remarked with faked indifference.

“You most definitely should,” I agreed, already knowing what she intended.

She flashed fangs and claws and just as quickly they disappeared. I chuckled and Cedars shook his head in amusement.

Adam, always the reasonable one, said, “You shouldn’t waste your energy. You’ll have to refuel again soon.”

“I know,” Miranda said excitedly. “Isn’t it great!”

Her enthusiastic reply garnered laughs all around. Even Adam couldn’t help but smile.

During the ensuing discussion that triggered, I turned to Adam. “Is it okay if I ask you some questions that have been bothering me?”

“Ask away,” he said.

“What happened with the situation at the Agency?”

“You’re referring to the impending hybridization event?”

“That and why, if you belong to a totally different organization, were you involved with them to begin with?”

He shifted in his seat and signaled Juarez for his attention.

Juarez answered with a “Yo.”

“Get her up to speed on the current hybrid proliferation crisis,” Adam told him.

Juarez set down the coffee cup he’d been holding and scooted his chair closer to the table. “As soon as you told us the solution, in the SubV,” he paused, waiting for my acknowledgment.

I nodded slowly. I dimly recalled the conversation.

“I passed it down the chain right then. The latest report puts it at a week for total containment.”

A week? I drummed my nails on the table as I reviewed my life over the last four days. It wasn’t hard to form the conclusion that a lot could happen in a week. “That seems like longer than necessary. Why so long?”

“The re-program for the nanobots is already done. It’s just a matter of gathering everyone that was exposed.”

I thought about the bacterial growth rates mentioned in the report and did some silent calculations. “If it takes another week, I think you will have missed your window of opportunity to maintain concealment.”

The table quieted as a result of my evaluation.

“You’re sure?” Juarez countered.

Why did everyone always ask me that? A quick sigh exited my lips as my fingertips gave up their pounding of the table and tried to ease the building tension between my eyes.

“Macy works in the gray,” Miranda quipped. “It’s the land of possibly, probably and most likely.”

Yes, thank you. I leaned forward putting my elbows on the table. “There are too many variables to control outside of the lab.” They couldn’t even control it in the lab, but I didn’t say that out loud. Then it clicked. “The Consortium was behind the breach?”

“We’ve traced the initial breach to Hollins himself,” Adam provided. “It seems he was wholly vested in the Consortium’s dream of worldwide hybridization.”

Apparently. Fortunately, we’d never have to worry about him being a source again.

“It’s really not that hard a dream to accomplish, if you can get your hands on the necessary bacteria. Bacteria in general can reproduce in the millions in a matter of hours. You’ve got some sort of super nanobot bacteria on the loose. The longer it takes the greater the risk of exposure. It may already be too late. And the moment someone not affiliated with the Agency sprouts fangs or claws it will be in every conceivable news outlet before the day is through.”

Juarez turned to Adam who didn’t look surprised at all by my conclusion.

“Make the call,” Adam said.

Juarez pushed back from the table and disappeared into a room off the living area.

“Where’s he going?” I asked.

“I’d already come to the same conclusion you have and set up contingency plans to manage the fallout. There was one last ditch attempt I wanted to try. He left to initiate that.” He began tapping his fingers on the table. “At this point, I think maintaining our concealment is just a wish. I think the best scenario places us in a position of managing the revelation.”

So, I’d become a hybrid just in time to enjoy all hell breaking loose. My life just kept getting better and better.

“And the reason for your involvement with the Agency?” I asked.

“You,” Adam answered unashamedly. “I’m the Operations Director for the Organization. I needed your skills for my operations.”

The table went silent again at his statement. I didn’t think that went over the way he’d intended.

Quickly realizing his mistake, he added. “For the team, people.”

Embarrassed looks were exchanged all around. Except for Pike. He looked more disgusted than embarrassed.

“What I meant was,” Adam said, pausing to spear each of them with a look, “that Director Garrison was already aware of you and intent on bringing you in. To have you suddenly disappear would have aroused suspicions. I spun it so that you would be under our supervision.”

“So, you were already associated with the Agency?”

“We maintain a façade of working for them,” Adam nodded.

“But why didn’t you just bring me directly into the Organization? Why wait until Garrison was interested in me?”

“It was a consensus,” Olivia supplied. “And, the Agency needed you to clean up their mess.”

Adam leaned back in his chair, throwing one arm across the back of mine. He regarded Olivia with a smirk on his face. He was obviously content to let her field this round of questioning.

“And?” I pressed her.

She folded her hands neatly on the table and pegged me with a superior look. “And, there was some concern that you might not handle the existence of us so well. Considering your performance last night, I think our fears were well founded.”

She meant her fear was well founded.

I picked up my fork and started drawing shapes in my leftover gravy. Just because I yelled at them didn’t mean I couldn’t handle the revelation of their existence.

“Am I wrong in thinking you wouldn’t be here now if not for the blood transfusion?” she asked with confidence.

I felt Adam stiffen beside me, and I placed my free hand on his thigh and gently patted his leg. As Adam relaxed under my touch, I became tenser. She had me. If I hadn’t been made one of them, I wasn’t sure if I’d still be here. But that was a moot point now. For better or worse, I was now a hybrid.

I glanced back at Olivia. Her face was set in stone. She wanted assurance that I wasn’t going to turn tail and abandon them. In her own way, she was testing me.

To tell the truth, until that very moment, I hadn’t thought about it. But as I looked around the room, I realized I didn’t want to leave. I wouldn’t say I had enjoyed the last few days, but as a scientist, my thirst for knowledge was hard to ignore. And their school was a tall glass of cold water sitting right in front of me. Not to mention, they’d already shanghaied my best friend.

“In my defense,” I began, “I have been through an awful lot in the last few days. I believe I enlightened you to a few of them last night. And, I might add, it was without the benefits of the hybridization you already have or any prior experience with all the special ops stuff.”

I placed the fork neatly on the plate and clasped my hands in front of me. Looking up, I waited for her response.

“We know your transition did not occur in the most desirable scenario,” she allowed. “But, you are one of us now, and whether you will choose to honor that responsibility is still a source of concern.”

“You think honoring that responsibility means joining the team?” I asked her.

“Yes,” she said forcibly.

I debated that silently for a moment.

“Do you believe in destiny?” she asked.

“No.” My answer was immediate. Was this all some grand design that we were left to play out? I had no idea. “I believe in choices and consequences,” I explained. “Opportunities taken and those missed.”

It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Even Miranda was holding her tongue. No small feat, I assure you.

“I don’t know if my hybridization was due to choice or chance or some grand design, but for better or worse, I am what I am now. I don’t see any way to go but forward.”

“And if forward involves going back to school?”

She wasn’t letting up one little bit. I felt like I was in the principal’s office again. She must be one heck of a director for the school. But I was determined not to squirm in front of her.

Meeting her gaze, I answered her the best I could. “I don’t know what forward means as far as the school and superhero gig goes. I’m withdrawing my no vote and submitting a wait and see vote.” Seeing the uncertainty in her eyes, I offered, “That’s the best I can do right now.”

She held my eyes a few moments more, then looked down in defeat. “Your best was good enough before. Let’s hope it is again.”

What kind of scale was she using? My best may result in worldwide hybridization.

I looked across the table at Miranda. She had a huge smile plastered on her face. I twisted my head sideways and asked, “What?”

“We’re going to be college coeds together,” she sang for the table, eliciting grins and a few chuckles.

I sat back in my chair and laid my head back to rest on Adam’s arm. How many turns could my life take in the course of a week? It was only the first part of the day. I could be on a spaceship to Mars by lunchtime.

Chapter 14

T
he sudden pounding coming from
the direction of the living room captured everyone’s attention. Juarez burst through the door, exclaiming loudly, “We’ve got company!”

The room sprang to life. Chairs scraped loudly against the floor as everyone rapidly stood. Pike, Olivia and Cedars raced towards the stairs.

“How long?” Adam demanded of Juarez.

“Twenty, thirty minutes at the most.”

Adam rounded the table and stopped before an innocuous looking old hutch. “How many and point of entry?”

“East by land. More than we can fight and hope to win.”

“Set the timer for fifteen,” Adam instructed and Juarez disappeared again.

Opening the doors to the hutch, Adam moved aside a serving dish. He typed something on a keypad that had been hidden behind the dish, and the back panel slid open to reveal an array of screens. He pushed the remaining items in the hutch to the corners and began tapping on the screens. I wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing, but I did see the word delete pop up a number of times.

While he was absorbed with that, Miranda came to stand by me. She clasped my hand and looked back and forth between Adam and the stairs. Fear was easily visible in her now amber eyes.

I carefully extracted my hand from her clawed one and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” I told her as I watched Adam. “He’s pretty good at this sort of thing.”

“You know this first hand?”

“Oh, yeah,” I replied with a nod of my head.

The others emerged from the stairs outfitted for a small war. Cedars had changed entirely. He looked like some sort of commando. He was carrying several small camouflage packs, one of which he handed to me. He helped Miranda slip on another one.

“Olivia,” Adam called.

She approached him, and he strapped a watch on her wrist. “You, Pike, and Juarez will retreat the way we came in. Pick up the SubV and head in the opposite direction. When you are sure you’re clear, head to Deep River.” He tapped the watch. “This contains all the necessary info.”

She nodded and walked back around the table where she engulfed me in a hug. “Don’t let me down,” she whispered, and then she sprinted for the door.

“I think Macy should come with us,” Pike said.

I turned to him in surprise.

“Macy stays with me,” Adam warned.

Dang straight I do.

“She’ll have a better chance—”

He didn’t get to finish the comment. Adam had him gripped by the throat and slammed into a wall in less than a second.

“Macy stays with me,” Adam growled.

Was Pike crazy? Adam looked ready to kill him.

I walked over and placed my hand on Adam’s back.
Let him go, Adam.

He flung Pike in the general direction of the door, following him only with his eyes.

After he regained his footing, Pike grinned and saluted me. “See you soon,
Beautiful
.
”

The way he said it left cold chills running down my back. Maybe I should have let Adam kill him.

“It’s not an option. Yet,” Adam spoke quietly, answering my silent thought.

This was about something more than me. It had to be. I stepped away from Adam and slipped on the pack Cedars had given me.

“We go west?” Cedars asked Adam.

“We go west,” Adam confirmed.

Juarez bounded into the room again and skidded to a stop in front of Adam. “T minus fifteen and counting.” He was sort of quivering. Too much coffee perhaps?

“You’re with Olivia and Pike,” Adam said, pointing to the mudroom. Juarez turned to go when Adam stopped him. “Juarez.”

“Yeah, Cap?”

Adam‘s face reflected the indecision he was feeling. “Keep your guard up,” he warned.

“Will do,” Juarez said thoughtfully, as if the two of them had just come to some unspoken understanding. “Will do,” he said again. He made it to the door in two leaping steps. “Good luck,” he called over his shoulder as he disappeared.

Adam stared at the door where Juarez had been. I couldn’t help but feel his unease. I thought for a moment he might go after them, but he finally turned back to the hutch and finished whatever he was doing there.

“So, Greer,” he said, backing away from the hutch. “How are your ATV skills?”

Four wheelers? I could do some four wheeling. Finally, I got to do something that didn’t scare the bejesus out of me.

“Let’s go,” Adam said as he faced us. He caught the pack Cedars tossed him, and we filed out the backdoor and down the steps where we jogged to a shed about thirty yards from the house. He entered a code, and the door whooshed open to reveal anything but a shabby old shed.

I stepped inside onto a pristine concrete floor. “I am noticing the very conspicuous absence of dirt and hay,” I said.

Adam, who had disappeared around a corner, huffed at my comment.

The inside of the pretend shed was stocked with all kinds of high tech gadgets. One whole wall was devoted to weapons of some kind or another. I heard Miranda arguing with Cedars and ventured in the direction the others had gone.

As soon as I turned the corner, I saw the glass kennels. Inside of the glass kennels were motorcycle four wheeler looking somethings.

I closed my eyes and hung my head. I should have known better. I should have known simply by the mischievous smile on Adam’s face when he asked me about ATVs.

“Where do you people come up with this stuff?” I moaned.

Adam turned his grinning face to me as he opened the kennel door. “After you,” he said and did a little bow.

I looked to my right to find Cedars in the midst of coaxing Miranda into his stall. She didn’t look happy about it either.

Adam cleared his throat, and I took the necessary steps into the kennel. Once inside, I stood there staring down at the thing. How was I supposed to get on it? It was too low to the floor. And it had about fifty little wheels instead of the normal size four wheels. This just wasn’t right.

Adam stepped in front of me and straddled the machine. It immediately lifted off the floor and rose until it met his backside. Grabbing the handle bars he sat down and looked at me while a blue bubble enveloped him.

He was floating in the air, on this unnatural excuse for an ATV, encased in a giant blue bubble. That wasn’t unnatural at all.

“No helmet?” I asked lamely.

“Not necessary,” was his only reply. When I still made no move to climb on, he added, “We are in a bit of a hurry.”

Cocky. Arrogant. Mr. Know It All. Some day he was going to be the one thrown into unfamiliar situations without any learning curve. Some day. But obviously, not today.

Sighing loudly, I grabbed his shoulder and swung my leg over the seat behind him. I scooted up as close as I could get to him, eyeing the blue bubble warily as it swallowed me as well. I pushed against it with my finger. It offered only brief resistance before my finger plunged through it.

“What is this stuff?”

“Shielding. Something our lab techs cooked up. Don’t ask me to explain. Physics is not my specialty.”

It wasn’t mine either. I could work an equation like nobody’s business. Memorize whole complex systems? Piece of cake. But something about the right hand rule and optics gave me fits. I could do it, but unlike so much for me, it was hard work.

“Hold on tight,” he encouraged.

Oh, I planned on it. I wrapped my arms around him and held tight, pressing my face between his shoulder blades.

Ready
, he checked.

As I’ll ever be.

He pulled his legs in and leaned forward slightly. The machine responded by moving forward, and he maneuvered it out of kennel and towards the door of the shed.

Miranda and Cedars had just cleared the shed, and she looked back at me. I offered her a totally fake smile, and she turned back around and planted her head in Cedars back. Then they took off fast. Way too fast!

Don’t scream
, Adam said.

What? Those were never good words to hear at any time.

Adam leaned sharply forward, and we zoomed out of the shed and into the woods that surrounded the house. It was a good thing he had warned me not to scream. I had to forcefully keep my mouth shut as the sudden acceleration hit my stomach.

Readjusting to his more forward position, I leaned into his back and tightened my grip. If he’d been sitting up, I wouldn’t have been able to see a thing. Like this, however, I had a clear view of the trees hurtling towards us. I squeezed my eyes shut tight. That only served to heighten my fear of hitting the onrushing trees, and I quickly snapped them back open.

We were going uphill now. A loud explosion occurred somewhere behind us, causing the trees to rain down leaves and other little bits on us. To my surprise, the debris bounced off our blue bubble. I could feel the wind, but the leaves couldn’t get through. Physics?

The house?
I asked.

The house,
he confirmed.

Won’t that let them know we were definitely there?

They already knew that. I couldn’t leave anything for them to find.

Little bits of gray ash started floating down around us. I hoped we hadn’t just started a forest fire.

Flashing red dots on the panel located between the handle bars drew my attention. I thought it signaled we were being followed. Adam weaved us in and out of the trees, which were almost a blur now. I had no idea how fast we were going or how he was managing not to smack us into something. But whatever move he made, the red dots kept up with us.

To my right, Cedars brought his ATV level with ours. “We’re not losing them,” he yelled.

“We need to split up,” Adam answered.

I looked at Miranda. She was staring at me and holding on to Cedars for dear life. Maybe this would rid her of the superhero bug.

“Roger that,” Cedars acknowledged and veered off to the right.

I watched them disappear quickly over another ridge and then turned my attention back to the screen. Two more red pinpoints broke off and joined four already following us. They must be after us or just me. At least Miranda would be okay.

Do you smell that?
He asked.

I inhaled deeply. Smoke.
Did we set the woods on fire?

No, it’s coming from upwind.

Alarm bells went off in my head.
We’re being herded.

Adam slowed the bike to a crawl. He swiveled his head from side to side, searching for a way out. When he spun the bike around, we were able to see the smoke closing behind us. We weren’t totally surrounded yet, but it wouldn’t be long. We’d flown right into a trap.

I could sense the intensity of Adam’s emotions, both fear and anger, as he sought for escape. But I knew it was me they wanted.

Adam—

No,
he said before I could finish.

If it’s me they want—

No,
he said more forcibly.
I will not give you up.

I could just jump off. Separate myself from him.

Macy! You will do no such thing!

I hadn’t meant for him to hear that. His anger felt like claws raking against my brain.
Okay, okay!
I exclaimed, quickly abandoning the idea. What else then? The red pinpoints were getting closer, and smoke was starting to fill the air.
Can we drive through the fire?

Not without risking blowing ourselves up. There’s no jumping over either,
he growled. He was already accelerating as he said,
But we might be able to make it across before the loop closes.

We rocketed through the trees. We were going so fast that tears were being forced from my eyes. That didn’t keep me from staring at the approaching twin walls of fire as we raced to the gap. It was going to be close. I watched as long as I dared, and at the last moment, I tucked in tight to Adam.

Hang on!
Adam yelled.

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I gripped him so hard he’d probably have bruises. I felt the heat sheath us like a glove, followed by a loud whoosh. I turned back to look just in time to see the flames shoot high as the gap closed behind us. We had made it.

Relief washed over me, and I pressed my face into Adam’s back. He didn’t slow our pace, and the heat faded rapidly, leaving us drenched and filthy. It seemed to be my normal state these days.

My arms ached from my grip on Adam, so I loosened them as he continued to blaze a path through the woods. Glancing at the screen, I noted there were no more pinpoints of red following us.

There’s no one following us now,
I informed Adam
.

I’m aware,
he shot back, not acting relieved at all.

Where are we going?

Deep River,
he replied gruffly.

I guess that was supposed to mean something.
We’ll be driving for a while?

Yep.

First time I’d heard him use that word. Clearly, he was concerned about something. I thought I knew what it was. It might help if he got it off his chest.

How did the Consortium know where to find us?
I ventured softly.

Good. Question.

I got a brief taste of the strain those words embodied before he began putting up the wall between us.

Undeterred by his reluctance, I pressed on.
You think one of the team is a traitor?

I know one of the team is a traitor.
There was no hiding the pain of betrayal in his voice
.

I thought about the members of our team. There was only one person I thought capable of betrayal.
You’re sure it’s one of them?
Then I realized what I’d asked. This must be what people said when they didn’t want to accept an unwelcome truth.

Yeah, I’m sure.

I wanted him to explain how he knew, but I didn’t want to push him any farther. He’d already tightened the wall between us again.

You want to know why,
he accused angrily.

It was just stress, I told myself. It was not me he was angry with.
I trust you, Adam. If you say it’s one of them, then it is.
My money was on Pike.

I felt his chest rumble as he growled in frustration. After a few moments of tense silence, he launched into his explanation.

We’ve had a series of security breaches over the last year. I’ve narrowed it down to Pike, Olivia and Juarez as the only common denominators related to the breaches. I even went as far as to stage a mock operation with only the three involved. It’s one of them.