Sucker Punch (5 page)

So that ruled out asking for another exit, even though Vi was pretty sure Afoniki had several.

“We still need to track down the other person….”

“Other person?”

Vi couldn't put her finger on just why the question felt menacing. She really wished she weren't standing on the transparent floor. She turned enough to see him, while still moving toward the escalator. Not that it represented safety. There could be crazy, bad guy traps on it, too. Electrocution. Metal teeth. She blinked. Or maybe she was just really tired.

“Yeah, your double was with someone. Just someone not someone's…double.” Yeah, she was really tired. “I guess it could have been someone's double, but not someone that someone recognized as someone's…double.” She wished she could make herself stop talking.

Joe had his usual lack of expression on his face, but she sensed he wished it, too. Vi clamped her lips shut. Felt more words try to punch their way out. She had one foot on the escalator when the two men in drab appeared at the top. On the upside, the sight of them killed the babbling impulse.

V
i's
sudden lack of coherency was troubling. And confusing. Most unlike her.

She is scared.

What does she fear?
Joe had not seen her show fear, even when he believed he would have to shoot her. She was the bravest human he had ever met. And the most—he cut off that thought as unprofitable.

It.

Oh.
He paused, studying her.
This does not look like fear.
Or what he thought fear would look like on her face. She appeared exhausted. And she did not seem to care for the transparent floor. If he were honest, he did not care for it either.

She had to move aside as the two MITSC agents descended. They had a certain…

…
flair…

Joe could only agree, though with reluctance. He knew he lacked flair. Why this bothered him more than his current lack of information was also not clear.

They should not have it. They should blend in, merge.

So why aren't they?

And what do they know? Or not know?
Lurch finished, instead of postulating why they were showing their flair.

The two men descended at the same rate that Vi and Joe had, but it felt longer and more…more. Joe noted that Afoniki had risen to his feet, taking his time, as if this were theater and he followed a script. Afoniki didn't move toward the two men. And they didn't move toward him when they reached ground level. What did they know? And if they knew—did they have the tools to contain it? To remove the threat? That he wished they did know how to contain it—well, wishing did not make things so. This he had learned during his time in this place. And the other places he and Lurch had hunted.

No one wanted to be the one to break the silence, but in it, Joe sensed the power struggle playing out as gazes clashed and wills were tested.

For himself, Joe found it easy to not speak, since he did not know what to say, or what question to ask. It was possible the MITSC were following the same trail they were, that they had talked to the officers at the MEC, but their purpose in coming here was unclear. The air in the room was thick with testosterone and menace. The clash of strong men against a strong man. Predictably, it was Vi who broke the stalemate.

“We were just leaving,” she said, pointedly to the men blocking the escalator.

“Your purpose in being here?” one of them asked.

Joe thought it was the one on the right.

“Not your business,” Vi shot back.

“What is, er, their business?” Afoniki inquired, strolling a few steps closer. His thin mouth curved a bit, but his expression never altered that Joe could ascertain. Prior to this meeting, he'd only watched him through the screens in interrogation. He'd believed those screens had removed some of the man's humanity. He did not think this anymore. This was a man who'd never had humanity. He was as without conscience as the ‘it' they hunted. The thought of combining two such evils was…not a happy thought.

Could this man give up his autonomy? Is it strong enough to subdue him?

That is an interesting question.
Lurch sounded intrigued, somewhat curious.

Is it in him?
Joe realized the nanite had not said. The time must surely have passed, lost in the arrival of the MITSC.

Inconclusive.

What did that mean?
Joe had questions. Vi would have more questions. If they could manage to exit their current situation still functioning. He better understood the earth phrase “touch and go.” And Vi's more earthy
crapeau on a cracker.

The two men did not clear the escalator. They did extract their badges, using same technique of flash and stash. Afoniki held up a hand.

“I'm afraid I wasn't able to see them.” He strolled closer and held out a hand.

Vi made a small movement, quickly checked. The two men paused, then held up the badges once more. Something in their stances that…suggested Afoniki read from a distance.

“Smith and, er, Smith. And what department…?”

“A classified department.” This time the other Smith spoke.

Vi gave him a Look. Afoniki's brows rose. He shrugged.

“Fair enough.” He went to a beverage setup close by and poured himself something. This time he did not offer anyone anything. He turned to face them, lifting the glass and sipping from it as his gaze studied the two men, then tracked to Joe and Vi. If ‘it' had infested Afoniki, then it had found fertile ground for its evil. Joe sensed something feral in the cooled air. The fine hairs on his body rose.

Could these two make a major crime figure and two police detectives disappear?

They think they can.
Lurch felt more than usually ironic.

The silence stretched—and snapped when their communication tech shrilled. Even the two MITSC jerked at the sound. Afoniki appeared to tense.

“It is the Captain,” Joe said. The air changed, though Joe was not certain if it was for better or for worse.

Vi tapped her device. “Captain Uncle?”

The two Smiths exchanged looks. Joe thought he sensed uncertainty from them. It was one thing to make a couple of detectives go missing, but when one of them was related to most of the police force and beyond….

Vi's side of the conversation was not overly informative, until she looked at her timing device. “Yeah, we're heading in right now. Be there in ten. Or less.”

Afoniki set down his glass and moved toward Vi, sending the tension scale rising again.

“You forgot your card, Detective.” He held out a white square that Joe knew was a business card. Normally not something to fear, but ‘it' could use even this innocuous electronic device to wreak havoc if it had been infested with drones.

With an almost imperceptible pause, Vi took the square. Joe noted that her fingers did not touch Afoniki's. That reduced the risk, but did not eliminate it.

“Can't blame a girl for trying,” she said, lightly, turning away before Afoniki could respond. She strode up to the two Smiths. Their pause was very perceptible, but they finally stepped aside, one to the left, the other to the right. Vi angled to avoid brushing against them as she stepped on. A move Joe mimicked. As they were lifted up, Joe looked back, wondering if they'd ever see Afoniki again. That he did not mind, did not overly trouble Joe. He saw the two Smiths watching him and looked away. But he carried the look in their eyes with him as he followed Vi out.

“
W
ere
they here for us or him?” Vi asked, still holding the card away from her like it was dirty laundry.

“I am not sure,” Joe admitted. “Though…” he paused, then added slowly, “if it were just about us, they could have waited until we came out again or—”

“So they probably wanted to see why we were in there. Or they were after Afoniki, too.” She blew out a sigh. “If we knew why they were tracking the…” She stopped and glanced around, as if she suspected the MITSC was listening in. Which they could be.

“It has killed more than once while here on Earth,” Joe admitted. “It is what brought us here.” Fortunately, she was not looking at him and didn't see him him shift from one foot to the other.

She does not need to know.
Lurch's tone felt complicated. Joe felt the same internal complications in his feelings.

When—if she finds out, she will be angry and rightly so.
The nanite said nothing.
How long—how much do you think they know?

If they are following same path we are, then they know just enough to get themselves killed.

Or worse.

Once more the nanite did not speak, though Joe felt its tacit agreement. If it decided to take up residence in an MITSC agent, well, it would not be good for them.

Vi held up the card. “What do we do with this?”

“Let me scan it,” Joe said, carefully taking the white square from Vi.

Vi looked skeptical. And curious. Lurch probed it most carefully with drones and declared it free of traps and viruses. Joe wanted to be relieved, but it was not possible with so much still unresolved.

“It's uncontaminated.”

Vi smiled, able to be relieved because she did not know enough as yet. Then her smile faded.

“Then why did he give it to us?” She took the card back. “Bubba Boudreaux is a city councilman. Afoniki's warehouse is—used to be in his district.” She frowned. “Why would Afoniki give me his card?”

“Could he have been Afoniki's companion during the visit to the MEC?” Joe asked.

Vi looked skeptical. “That's a stretch. A councilman visiting a drug dealer with the head of a crime syndicate? More likely it was one of Afoniki's bodyguards.” She taped the card against her other hand. “It's a message of some kind.” She sighed and rubbed her head. “Let's get out of the heat.”

They slid into their respective sides of the skimmer, silent as they waited for cool air to filter in.

“That was a timely call from the Captain,” Joe said, breaking the silence.

“Wasn't it though?” Vi looked mischievous.

Joe wondered how she'd managed it, but did not ask. The MITSC had been alone with the skimmer long enough to plant a listening device on the hull.
Can you scan us?
he asked Lurch.

Certainly. I have nothing else of importance to do right now.

Its tone verged on caustic. Joe had, he admitted though only to himself, somewhat overestimated how many simultaneous tasks the nanite could do.

It is not the number, but the kind. It has set traps for me everywhere.

Trying to use up your resources?

It is what I am also trying to do to it, though less obviously.

You need assistance.

There was a long pause.
It is not ready.

Joe didn't press the issue, though he was not certain any of them could survive until Wynken was recovered.

Another silence formed. Finally Vi broke this one. “So?”

The single word encompassed many questions. He gave a slight shake of his head. She made a face, but did not press the issue.

“We'll probably end up with more paperwork from losing the vic than if we'd made it to the morgue. Wish they'd grabbed him there.” She muttered something uncomplimentary about the origins of the MITSC.

Joe had a sense she hoped they were listening.

“And the Captain?” Joe lifted them off, sending the skimmer cautiously between two uncomfortably close city blocks. He could not tell if their collision thrusters were offline or settling for what was. This section of the city would have felt the full force of the storm. It would be unusual if much more than the thrusters hadn't been damaged.

“Captain Uncle won't be happy, but he wasn't before the storm, so whatever.”

They had planted a bug, a listening device while we were inside,
Lurch spoke in his head finally,
but I have given it a malfunction that should puzzle them.

Will they become more aggressive?

It is not completely offline. They would, I believe, expect you to look for a device and attempt to disable it. They will attempt to repair it remotely. That should keep them busy for a while.

It would look suspicious if we weren't suspicious
.
Clever.

I am, on occasion, clever.

The nanite felt rather pleased with itself. Joe grinned and caught Vi looking at him.

“Well?

“Our communications are once more secure,” he reassured her.

“So what's the scoop? What did we find out?”

If you both would agree, I will tap into the skimmer's speaker system and deliver my report to you both so as to save time.

Joe did not think Vi would object. Her curiosity appeared to be on full boil. “Lurch is going to use the speaker system.” He glanced at her. “To save time.”

Her eyes widened a bit, but she nodded, looking around, as if she expected the nanite to make a physical appearance.

“Hi, Lurch.” She glanced at Joe. “What?”

He smiled and shook his head.

“Test. Test.”

The voice did not sound like the one inside his head. It was disconcerting, but he should have expected it. Joe's voice did not sound like his when played back on sound recording devices. Joe steered a slow path in the direction of headquarters. He was not anxious to face the Captain without their body.

“So what's the scoop?” Vi asked.

“I was unable to safely breach the tracking device. It was heavily protected.”

“By it?” Vi asked.

“Not all of it,” the nanite admitted. “But some of the protections appeared to be more recent in origin.”

“So Afoniki is the host?” she pressed him.

A hesitation. “I am not certain. Despite the protections, I was able to monitor his vital signs without breaching the alarms. He reacted with extreme unease to your questions. He did believe he had not visited the MEC. His responses show strong belief in that. His uncertainty appeared later.”

Vi frowned. “So if it's in there, why would he be reacting?”

“Afoniki is a very powerful individual. It is possible that it has been unable to secure its possession of him. Or…” Lurch's recital paused, as if he were thinking.

“Or,” Vi prompted.

“He was infected with non-sentient drones.”

Vi gave a shudder. “Creepy. So your bad ‘it' went in long enough for a look around and do some memory wiping, but decided not to stay? I would have thought Afoniki would be its match made in hot places.”

“Perhaps it did not like the legal monitoring. It may have even foreseen the threat the ankle bracelet posed from me,” Lurch said. “It is clever.”

“Compounding our difficulty in finding it,” Joe grumbled. They needed it to make a mistake. He'd hoped this was it.

“So when Afoniki gave us the card…” Vi prompted, her brows creased.

“I would postulate that the arrival of the MITSC troubled him.”

Vi nodded thoughtfully. “If anyone is as good—or better—at making people disappear, it would be the boys in not-black. And no one would hunt that hard for Afoniki, not even his own people. But why that card? I mean, I get he wouldn't ask us for protection, but Bubba? He's more likely to disavow any knowledge of him.”

“It is possible the card triggered a remnant of memory. Or it could be an attempt to throw us off the real trail.”

“We are hardly
on
the trail, real or imagined,” Vi grumbled. “He probably is trying to mess us over.”

“That would be my suspicion, but there was an element of fear present in his responses there at the end. I do not believe he is a man who fears lightly.”

“I would concur with that assessment,” Joe said, noting Vi nodding out of the corner of his eye.

“So Afoniki could be fighting back—against it or its drones?”

“That is a possibility,” Lurch admitted.

“Or…” Vi's voice trailed off.

Joe waited a few seconds before he prompted, “Or?”

“It could have been Nod.”

Joe didn't speak. Neither did Lurch.

“I know you both think it's gone, but what if it isn't? Is there some way you could, I don't know, tell?”

Another pause. Finally Lurch broke the silence.

“I have never tried to—overwhelm a host and wipe out their personality, so I cannot answer your question.”

“Would Wynken know?” When Lurch didn't respond quickly, she added, “I know it's a tough question to ask, but I think Wynken would, well, want you to. If they were…close. I'd want to know if it were one of my family. Do you have a way to ask him—it?”

“I will inquire. In the meantime, I believe the next step is to talk to the councilman.”

Joe was not certain if Lurch was deflecting or proposing the real next step.

“He won't be on any sort of tracking.”

“No,” the nanite agreed. “You will need to use traditional methods of interrogation.”

“Because it is so easy to tell when a politician is lying.”

“Is it?” Joe looked at Vi.

“If they're talking, they're lying, at least most of the ones in this city,” she said. “And Bubba's rep is even worse than usual. The thing is, how could your it get from the MEC to Bubba? I still don't think he was there.”

“What if it rode out inside Afoniki?” Joe asked. “It it studied him, concluded he was not a productive host, its next step would be to find someone else.”

“I can kind of see why it would prefer the scummy politician to the scummy criminal. Best of both worlds.”

“I do believe the ankle bracelet to have been the tipping force, though it might be attempting a double bluff.”

Vi rubbed her temple as if it ached. “Is that why you were worried about breaching the bracelet? You think it might actually be there, but hiding?”

“Anything is possible. If it probed Afoniki, there would be signs left of that activity.” It paused. “We are fairly certain it altered Afoniki's memory, even if we are not certain it moved in. If it left drones, it would have the ability to exert some level of remote control, but I do not know how much, since it is also something I would not do.”

“Or it's hiding in plain sight.” Vi's lips tightened, but she didn't argue the point. “For two…entities desperate to find each other, you both seem to spend a lot of time trying not to find each other.”

Lurch chuckled. “A fair point. But we are both seeking for a meeting in a venue conducive to our own survival and the demise of the other. It is a complicated…dance.” He tone sobered. “And I am more concerned about collateral damage than it is.”

“A fair point.” Vi gazed ahead, frowning. “So I guess we use the same tack, that we're looking at a contamination issue from his meeting with Afoniki. It's wafer thin, will be tricky play, if he is the big, bad IT. Or even if he isn't. He won't be happy Afoniki sent us his way.”

“Afoniki, who may be in the custody of MITSC and on track to disappearing forever,” Joe murmured.

“Or who may be frying the Smiths right now,” Vi pointed out. Tired traced deep lines in her face.

She needed rest. Or she needed a Lurch. It had kept Joe going well past human endurance.

It would make her a target.

She is already a target because she is with us.

She angled so she could look at Joe. “Did you two have a plan when you beamed in here? Or were you—are you winging it?”

“Lurch always has a plan,” Joe protested, though his tone lacked deep conviction. Vi tipped her head to the side and widened her eyes. “On occasion, winging it IS a plan.”

“You have to know I have questions,” she said, reluctantly, “Lots of them. I should have asked them before…not sure why I didn't. Okay, I do know. I didn't want to know, but…I think I need to know. Even though I don't.”

She sagged back, staring out the front screen, so that he could not see her eyes.

He sensed he knew the questions. He had them, too. Perhaps because he also had not asked because he had also feared the answers….

V
i wanted
to stop and get a handle on all of this. She wanted to keep moving fast enough to outrun it. And she wanted to bury her head in the sand and pretend none of it had happened. All of this wanting made her headache worse. That and being tired to her toenails. She kind of envied Joe his infestation. As soon as they'd gotten airborne, Joe's tired had faded like water drops in the heat. She stared at Joe a bit morosely, listening to their discussion—but not with all her brain—as Lurch explained why it had taken him so long to process all the data. That was disturbing, too. It was possible the nanite was outgunned by the evil it, or at least very evenly matched. It was certainly above her renumeration grade. She couldn't see how she was anything but a drag on the ticket at this point.

“So how worried are we that the MITSC know or suspect, about it, I mean.” It was a worry. If it knew it had been outed to the MITSC, who knew what it might do? She rubbed a particularly sore spot between her brows.

“I am…worried,” Lurch admitted.

“If it's in Afoniki and it gets in their brains, either permanently or just a quick visit, then it would know what they know, and it would know what it all means, even if the men in drab don't or didn't know what we were talking about.” This was not a happy thought, and Vi was not happy to have had it. And figuring out her own sentence—after producing it—made her head want to go fetal, along with the rest of her. Lurch's nonanswer was an answer that sent an icy chill down her back. She hesitated, but she had to ask it. They needed all hands on deck. “What about Wynken? I mean, I know it was bad, what happened, but if it doesn't step up, then Blynken and Nod died for nothing, right? And it's been there. Wouldn't it kind of know what to expect? And you know, be of help.” From where she sat, they needed help. And so did she.