The Deviant Underground (Time Bandit) (30 page)

Once in the room, Kathryn took her shower first and slipped into bed. The heavy curtains on the windows blocked out the streetlights, and the room was perfectly dark except for the sliver of light coming from underneath the bathroom door. Kathryn blinked in the darkness. She felt strangely nervous, full of anticipation, yet too tired to move. The soft bed was comfortable, and sleep slowly overtook her. A million miles away, she heard the bathroom light shut off and the door open. A few seconds later, Susan's warm body pressed up against hers. “Can I sleep with you tonight?” she whispered. “I don't want to be alone.”

In response, Kathryn grabbed her hand and pulled Susan's arm around her. Susan's full breasts brushed up against Kathryn's naked back. It was incredibly sensual, but Kathryn was too tired to have sex. Susan sighed into Kathryn's neck and said quietly, “Good night, Kathryn.”

“Night, Susan,” She mumbled before blissfully falling off to sleep.

The clock on the nightstand read 12:10 when Kathryn first opened her eyes. The room was still dark, and she stumbled on the way to the bathroom. When she returned, she pulled the curtains apart, and the bright summer sun cheerily lit up the room. Susan squinted but didn’t open her eyes. “What time is it?” she croaked.

“A little after twelve, DC time.”

She groaned and rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head to block the sun. Kathryn grabbed a cigarette and stood quietly at the window smoking and contemplating what may lay ahead. There were several possibilities. On the extreme one hand, they could drive out there and find nothing—an empty field. On the extreme other hand, they could find Charge dead. Kathryn shuddered at the thought of it. Firmly in the middle stood finding something, some kind of structure, either empty or with people inside of it but no Charge. They could also find a structure there and find Charge alive inside of it. It was that last possibility she was holding on to.

If he’s there, what kind of state could he be in, and why would he be there? If it's a hospital, is he sick? If it's a prison, why would he be there?
As far as Kathryn knew, Charge was a law-abiding citizen, apart from being an undocumented deviant, but certainly, he wouldn't do anything to draw attention to his status, would he? Different scenarios played out in Kathryn's head.
What if he was forced to out himself in some way? And if that happened, how did he get caught, and why take him to a facility outside of DC? Certainly there were deviant institutions and prisons in New York.
Kathryn shuddered again. She lit another cigarette to help steady her emotions.
And if he is in some kind of institution, how do we get him out?
Kathryn had argued to Jonathan that she could just go in and teleport him out, but it just now occurred to her that in doing so, she would reveal herself if other people were around. Was she ready for that? She thought for a moment before realizing that she would do anything to make sure that Charge got home safely, even if it meant turning herself into a wanted criminal. She had to laugh at how easily she made that decision. That was a far cry from the person she used to be—one who lived in fear of being outted.
Everything has changed now. And I owe it to Charge to find out what happened to him and to bring him back.

Motivated by her own pep-talk, Kathryn stubbed out her cigarette. “Get up, Susan,” she said to her still sleeping friend. “It's time to go.”

***

After a quick pit stop at a nearby greasy spoon for some lunch, Susan and Kathryn headed west on route 50. The city quickly fell away, and it was replaced by a verdant landscape. The various shades of green were shocking to Kathryn and reminded her of St. Louis. LA was so dry that in the woods around the cabin, the predominant color was brown or at best, yellow. But this part of the country was exploding in rich, lush color. Kathryn would have admired it more if she could have gotten rid of the pit in the bottom of her stomach. With every mile closer to the unknown, her anticipation grew.

Kathryn was driving, and Susan was monitoring her GPS device. “What do we do once we get there?” Kathryn wondered aloud.

“Well, the first thing we do is call Jonathan and report back what we have found,” Susan answered. “If we find anything at all. Remember, we could go all the way out here just to find nothing.”

“There's something,” Kathryn said firmly. “Whether or not Charge is there, I don't know. But there
is
something.”

“Probably so,” Susan agreed. “Pia has never been wrong. But the something may not necessarily be something that Jonathan wants us to check out.”

“Of course, we have to check it out!” Kathryn’s emotions were on edge. She fought to get control of them. “We can't come this far just to do nothing and turn back around.”

Susan shrugged and looked out the window. The tall trees cast deep shadows on the car as they whizzed by. “It’s not our call. It's Jonathan's.”

“Do you always do everything Jonathan tells you to do?” The question came out more snidely than Kathryn had meant it to.

Fortunately, it didn't seem to bother Susan because she simply turned to her in wide-eyed innocence and said, “Of course.” Kathryn let that answer be the end of the conversation.

They continued on, the landscape alternating between wooded areas and cultivated clearings. It also grew more hilly as they headed west. Kathryn’s heart pounded. In the back of her head, she replayed all of the tips and tricks that Susan and Charge had taught her—how to stand against an opponent, where the weak spots on the body are, how to block a punch that is thrown at you, etc. She didn't know if she would need to use them, but it made her feel a bit better knowing that she remembered them. Plus, it gave her something to concentrate on other than the sinking feeling in her stomach. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. Her body felt tense.

“Nervous?”

Kathryn glanced at Susan, who was watching her steadily. “Yeah, a little.” She forced herself to lean back in the seat and tried to look relaxed. She hoped it worked. The car crested over the top of a hill and plummeted into a shady grove. The trees were thick all around them, blocking out the sun completely.

Susan studied the GPS. “Just a few more miles,” she said while pressing several buttons. “Then there should be an exit onto a state road.” Kathryn nodded in response, and they continued on in silence. Several minutes later, Kathryn saw the turn-off. If she hadn’t been looking for it, she would have passed it. There was no sign or any other marker. In fact, it looked abandoned. The tires bumped over the broken pavement and weeds, and she had to slow down in order to negotiate over the neglected road.

“Are you sure we're going the right way?”

Susan studied the GPS device for a second and then nodded. “Yes, it says that it should be up here to the right.” Kathryn drove for a few more minutes and then pulled off to the side of the road and stopped. She turned off the car and got out. The summer air was warm and wet. She peered down the broken road. It stretched on for several miles, lonely and desolate. On either side of them the hill made a vertical climb, dense with trees and other vegetation. The only sounds were the singing birds and the familiar rustle of small forest animals.

Kathryn stretched out her arms dramatically. “Well? What now?”

Susan frowned down at the device in her hand. “It's supposed to be here, or at least somewhere around here.”

Kathryn put her hands on her hips and thought for a moment. “Hold on. I'll be right back.” She teleported several miles down the road, seeing nothing but the same dense forest and rising hills. The road seemed to have been cut through the hill a long time ago and hadn't been used since. She returned to the car.

“Anything?” Susan looked hopeful.

“Nope, nothing but more of the same.”

They stood quietly for a few moments. Kathryn was not willing to give up so easily. She wondered if she should attempt to teleport into the ground. The thought of it made her a bit wary.

“What about up there?” Susan pointed up. They could barely see the top of the hill from where they were standing.

“I don't know,” Kathryn said skeptically. “I guess I could take a look. There might not be any place to set down, though. As least not without slamming into a tree.”

“Try it anyway,” Susan urged.

Kathryn looked up the almost vertical line of trees. She didn't think there was a clearing up there, but if not, she figured she could just return down to the car without touching down. She teleported up the side of the hill, marveling at how the forestry dropped away under her feet. The hill was even taller than she had expected, but as she rose, she saw nothing but tightly packed green. The shock she felt when she finally broke the treeline and saw the field almost caused her to rematerialize in thin air, several feet above the ground. She saw a shady spot partially hidden and touched down there.

“Damn. Pia was right.” Kathryn's stood amazed as she gazed at the huge industrial building. It was nestled in a valley, perfectly protected from the road by the terrain. It was several stories high and made of grey concrete, with very few windows. In fact, the only windows present were on the top floor, most notably at the corners. That, plus the fact that the building was surrounded by barbed wire that stretched several feet into the air, gave the building an ominous feel. Just looking at it sent chills down Kathryn's spine. She instinctively moved back into the forest. There was a person patrolling the edges of the massive courtyard. A dog sniffed the ground along the fence as it walked along. It looked like the person was carrying a rifle. Kathryn’s heart jumped into her throat.
Charge has to be in there. He has to be.

She teleported back down to the car. Susan read the expression on her face. “What is it? What did you see?”

“You have to see for yourself.” She took Susan's hand and teleported back up to the same spot.

“Oh. My. God.” Susan stood in disbelief.

“Step back. Step back.” Kathryn pulled her further into the forest. “There is a dog down there and a guy with a gun.”

Susan took a few steps back, never taking her eyes off of the building. “What do you think it is?”

“I have no idea.” Kathryn focused again on the sharp barbs of the wire as they glistened in the sun. “I just wonder if that fence is meant to keep people out or to keep people in.”

Susan said nothing and continued to look. After a few moments of silence, she said, “We have to tell Jonathan.”

“Okay, but let's go back down to the car to do it.” The chills would not leave Kathryn's spine. She was shivering despite the warm weather.

“Okay.” Kathryn grabbed Susan's hand and teleported them both back to the car. They got back inside, and Susan reached for her phone. As she dialed the numbers, Kathryn turned on the engine and pulled back onto the road. “Hey, where are you going?” Susan asked.

“Back down to the main road. I don't want our car to alert anybody.” Kathryn sped back toward I-50 as fast as she dared. “This point is less than two miles from the main highway. I can teleport us from there.”

Susan nodded in agreement. “Good idea.” Kathryn heard the phone pick up. “Jonathan, we found it.”

***

Kathryn was in disagreement with Jonathan's plan, but she was forced to go along. “Why can't I just teleport through the building and take a look around? No one would know!” she had argued.

Jonathan's counterargument was that they couldn’t be sure that the fortress didn’t have a mechanism for detecting her. “Infra-red, high speed motion detectors—there could be anything. So we must wait until dark.”

“Why dark if they have those things anyway?”

“Because at least if you do get detected, the number of guards and workers on staff should be fewer, considering it will be the middle of the night. Then at least you’ll have a chance to get away safely,” Jonathan had retorted.

So Kathryn and Susan found a diner just off of I-50, ordered cup after cup of coffee, and waited. While there, they tried to strategize their approach. “I think I should go in first alone,” Kathryn offered. “I can go through all the rooms to see which one Charge is in, and then we can make our plan of attack from there.”

“How do you know he's there?” Susan asked.

“He's there.” Kathryn took a drag from her fourth cigarette, finally crushing it out in the ashtray with the other three. “I know it.”

“So let's say that he is, then what?”

“Well, if he's alone, then I could just bring him out. We get in the car, go home, end of story.”

“Yeah, but what if he's not alone?” Susan gripped her coffee cup.

“Then I come back for you, and we go in together.” Kathryn pushed her cup away from her. Three were enough for now. She was starting to feel jittery. “Ready to fight if we have to.”

“Okay, but . . .” she paused, then slowly continued. “What if he's not there?”

Kathryn looked out of the window at the fading sun. It was slowly beginning to slip past the horizon, turning the sky brilliant shades of orange and red. “Then we investigate why the place gave Pia a weird vibe. And we find someone who knows something that’s useful to us, and we make him tell us.”

She smiled slightly. “Okay. That sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Thirty One

It was well after dark when Susan and Kathryn finally left the diner. Kathryn was happy to leave; the waitress had begun to look at them funny. Kathryn imagined that they did make a suspicious pair—two women, smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, and talking in hushed tones for several hours. She was glad they paid in cash. They pulled back onto the highway and drove to a location suggested by Jonathan. It was a rest stop going east back to DC about three miles from the fortress. It was the perfect spot for a quick getaway. Kathryn pulled to a dimly lit spot, and they got out of the car.