Shadows to Light (Shadows of Justice 5) (12 page)

Cali shook her head. "He was an ass."

"Big fish, small pond." Mira shrugged. "It worked out. You, Nathan, and Jameson are all safe now."

"I wish we could say the same for you."

"It's my father who's in jeopardy."

"Mira, I'm not sure your father is much more than a pawn being used to trap you."

She shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. He's been aggravating the healer orders for years, beyond just the local community north of here. His opinions combined with his talent, offended a lot of people. He insisted on taking risks to help patients, despite how those risks might bring the healer community into the public view. They pushed him out and started spouting the safety motto."

Mira didn't like the hard look Cali was giving her, as if she was blind to the obvious. "What?"

"Don't they tell you anything?"

"Anything beyond 'the world is a scary place, stay home'?
No, not really."

"But surely your father tried to teach you more." Cali sighed. "You know, I grew up kind of like you, apart from the rest of the world. It's not easy to have a desire to help and be scolded – or worse – for doing what feels right."

She had a point, as much as Mira hated to admit it. The little she knew of the Guardians, she knew it was a male dominated society and the clans often lived in seclusion. Yet Cali clearly had full access to all kinds of records. Healers were taught to recognize the different biometrics of Guardians as the pact between them went back forever. While her curiosity was piqued and plenty of questions begged to be asked, she had the feeling Cali wouldn't let her get away with the distraction.

What intellectual leap did Cali want her to take?

She chewed on her lip while she read the text one more time. Reviewed the footage with an eye on that blue light that sheltered her from the explosion.

What had she done to protect herself? Where had that protective energy come from?

She backtracked to the point where her father had let her siphon off a bit of his pain. Watching the tension ease from his shoulders made her feel better about her small efforts.

"He was working on an anticoagulant serum.
Something that would be stable long term in a projectile – a bullet. Something like that would mean a victim could bleed out before or even during treatment. Can you imagine the effect in a battle?"

"Devastating."

"That's putting it mildly."

"I'll let Gideon know."

"Thanks. Please let him know it's not something my father would willingly do. He was all about preserving life." She slumped into a chair. None of this was her idea of a good time. Leave the research and development, the war mongering, the spy games to people who knew what they were doing.

"Cali, I'm sorry, but I can't make it make sense. Give me a cancer patient. I can fix that."

"You can cure
cancer
?"

Mira smiled at the other woman's astounded expression. She looked like a poster child for shock and awe. "Consider it graduate level work. Most of us can stem the tide in early stages. The least talented of healers can manage pain and symptoms better than current therapies in advanced cases."

"Well." Cali's dark eyes glinted with temper. "I have serious issues with whoever oversees education and public service ideals in your community, but that can wait. Do you want my theory about what I've discovered about healers? Your dad in particular?"

Mira nodded. Maybe something Cali had to say would snap all this into place. Maybe it would give her the nugget of information to put her on Luke's trail.

"I think your dad is from a very powerful line of healers. Based on the ridiculous neglect your community has shown their history, I'd say he has powerful enemies too. Someone might even be purposely suppressing your history. What I've got is mostly guesswork, but looking at your dad's professional record, I think his enemies tried to get rid of him. When he kept landing on his feet, they tried to push him into a crisis that would bring on a blue bubble moment."

Mira choked on a laugh that felt suspiciously like panic. "We can't call it anything different?" She rolled to her feet and started pacing for fear she'd curl up into a ball again.

Cali winked. "Hey, it fits. But I don't think your dad had that moment. Can you recall what you were thinking in the lab, just before you changed? For lack of a better term."

"Yes." Mira shivered a bit at the memory. "I was thinking about safety or a safe haven. Jameson shouted, Luke did something and then the flash and heat were insane. I thought I'd die.
Was sure of it. Then I decided I wanted to live. And I felt like I just sort of curled up inside myself."

"And something inside you must have flexed outward to fulfill that survival instinct."

She shrugged. "Makes as much sense as anything else."

"Gideon is thinking whoever didn't get what they wanted from your dad is now looking to you for whatever you'd rather call that blue bubble. You're a powerful person, Mira."

Mira felt tears welling. She didn't feel powerful, she felt dense.

"Do you know the first blue bubble healer's name?"

"You know I don't." But she had a terrible feeling she knew what Cali was about to say.

"Her name was Miranda."

Mira's knees buckled. Could it be true? She didn't know which she wanted more, denial or confirmation of everything Cali was implying. "It's just a name."

Cali snorted, clearly disagreeing. "Whether your parents know all that," she waved at the monitor, "and named you intentionally or not doesn't really matter. Whoever your father's enemies are, it's most likely they now have you lumped in with him."

"That's crazy. Our community disagrees about a lot of things, but we don't sabotage each other."

"Really?
You don't think it's sabotage to take away a healer's gift because they were out there trying to help someone?"

Mira silently conceded the terrifying point.

"Theoretically, controlling you gives your father's enemies what they want. If they succeed in stripping away your gift, you're not a threat. If you go all blue on them in the process, they have a shiny new toy."

"That's a horrible thing to say."

"Yes it is. But, Mira, I think it might very well be the reality. If most healers can cure cancer, what do you think you
specifically
can do now that you survived that explosion and saved Jameson too?"

Even with the intellectual and medical advancements of the day, Mira didn't have words for what Cali was suggesting.

Cali seemed to understand her distress. "I'm not sure what will convince you. I've translated some additional texts, the deeper secrets of the healer orders. I'm going to give you some time to read up while I tell Gideon what your dad was working on."

Mira gaped at her. "How did you translate a dead language?"

"A little blood, a little sweat, a little time." Cali winked again. "We've all got gifts. Want any company?"

Mira understood Cali referred to Jameson. She owed him an apology. "Sure. Thanks, Cali."

"You're welcome. It's good to be in the city this time of year. I'm glad Gideon called. Didn't realize I missed it so much."

Then she was out the door and Mira was alone with a wealth of information she'd never seen before.

* * *

Jameson hated that she'd tossed him out of the room right along with the others, but Slick
Micky assured him she was safe and she couldn't run away. Resigned to giving her room to think and sort out some of this with Cali, he joined Callahan and Burkhardt for a workout.

"This place is incredible," he said when they walked into the gym.

Callahan shot him a look. "Thought you'd been here before."

Jameson tried to shrug it off, but Callahan reached out and pulled him into a headlock.

"I know the smuggler has a stealth suit. Just as I know you managed to lose one somewhere along the way."

Jameson twisted, tried to trip up his CO and missed, counting himself lucky when Callahan dropped him on the mat rather than the cement floor.

"Come on." He reached out a hand, but Jameson wasn't dumb enough to take it.

He rolled away, getting to his feet and leaving some room between them.

"So what did this enforcer do?"

Jameson tried to describe it. "He went in like he was going to break the guy's neck." Jameson moved his arm around an invisible opponent accordingly. "But then he rolled his hand or something. The guy went down, completely silent, completely dead, but the neck was
in tact."

"Better than burning to death," Nathan said.

Jameson agreed. "And nothing to suggest foul play, unless they have enough remains to realize the guy didn't inhale any smoke."

"Neither did you, from the sound of it."

"I had plenty, thanks."

"Maybe Mira knows the move."

"Probably. She sure as hell knows which nerve the move affects."

Callahan nodded and motioned Nathan forward. Jameson watched them spar for a bit,
then moved off to a nearby treadmill. Looking around he thought he might be in the wrong business. Slick Micky had one sweet little empire going here.

Maybe he should retire and help out with smuggler security. Or if not here, then some other company in town. The smuggler was connected to everything and everyone owed him a favor.

The military had been good to him, he'd seen every nasty corner of the world and a few of the nicer locations along the way. It might be nice to stay in one place for a while and travel when and where he wanted to travel.

He adjusted the incline and gradually increased his speed until his quads were burning. Hitting that runner's high felt almost as good as running in the mountains as his breath sawed in and out of his lungs.

A few less orders and a more predictable schedule might be nice. And when a Soldier started thinking seriously along those lines it was time to get out, but the idea of real retirement made him pause.

"I warmed him up. Now it's your turn," Nathan said, pointing to the mat. "He's in a vicious mood."

Of course now that he'd clocked a couple hard miles the CO wanted a crack at him. "He's not the only one," Jameson muttered.

This whole operation sucked.
Boring observation detail, blatant attacks from bizarre-o people who were supposed to heal others. Worse, on a personal level he'd found the one woman who mattered and now she'd changed into something – someone – he wasn't sure he could have.

Callahan took advantage of Jameson's daydreaming to plant a kick to his abs, stealing his breath.

Jameson recovered quick enough, grateful the CO wasn't going all out as he blocked a jab and the knee strike that followed.

They circled, lashed out, backed off, and repeated the cycle. Jameson heard the occasional cheer and realized they'd drawn a crowd.

He saw the roundhouse kick coming at his jaw and ducked, feeling the whoosh of air as Callahan's foot passed over his head. He rolled, but as he came to his feet, one of the spectators grabbed him from behind.

Self-defense, sparring, he was up for the multi-tasking. He threw his head back, connecting with the attacker's nose and got clear before Callahan could close in and use his gut as a punching bag.

They grappled again and he finally slid under Callahan's guard and took him to the mat.

"You win," Callahan said through gritted teeth, double tapping the mat. "Get off me."

Jameson popped up to his feet, feeling great. The workout, the resulting endorphins were just what he needed. But the shine dulled a bit when he saw Callahan cradling his shoulder. "You okay?"

The other man nodded.

"Hey Jameson!" Cali brought him a towel. "She wants to see you."

He perked up. "Where is she?"

"Same place we left her. That'll be her guest suite while she's here."

"Thanks." He didn't bother wondering where he was bunking. He intended to convince her to let him be her personal security guard twenty-four/seven.

When Jameson was out of earshot, Cali looked up at Nathan and Gideon. "Did he pass?"

"He barely broke a sweat," Nathan said, gingerly assessing his crushed nose.

Gideon agreed. "He's got no idea." He rubbed the shoulder. "Thinks I was going easy."

"Thought you had a couple definite knockout strikes, but he didn't go down," Nathan added. "How's my nose look?"

"Let's just say I hope Mira's in a mood to fix it." She gave him a very careful kiss on his lips and wrapped her arms around his waist. "So I was right?"

"I'd say so." Gideon's scowl was back and worse than before. "Whatever happened in that lab changed him too."

Cali told him about the anticoagulant formula Mira found in the lab. "So how does this change your mission?"

"It doesn't." Gideon rolled his shoulder and winced. "Her father still needs rescued. Once I send this up the line, I don't expect
Montalbano will be allowed to sell that formula."