The Fire In My Eyes (35 page)

I frowned. Excessive didn't sound like Ripley. “What do you mean?”

“He'll kill the geek,” Shade said. “Blow the lab. Can't take chances. Well, no chances besides giving you two a chance to take care of it first.”

Nikki's frown matched mine. “So if we fail, this kid's going to get killed?”

Absynthe nodded. Her expression was studiously neutral. “Probably him and a bunch more. Take out the kid, the device, and probably several rooms around him.”

Nikki looked at me. I nodded. I didn't want to let someone die just because he was too smart. Trashing his project and modifying his memories would probably ruin his college career, but at least he'd be alive. “Is there more?” I asked.

“We suspect someone else already knows,” Shade said. He let out a frustrated sigh and paced back and forth. “The gangs are being propped up by someone else. Probably the feds. They've always wanted the city. If we've got too many people down in the city, they'll be able to sneak around in our backyard. Maybe it isn't the feds, but they're my first suspect.”

“You mean the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation?” I asked.

“BPI, red-eyes, feds, whatever you want to call them,” Shade said. He slapped a hand against the wall. “They're at the top of my list. They've got the motive to do this, and doing it this way gives them a way to deny being involved.”

“Who else could it be?” Absynthe asked.

Shade started ticking off candidates on his fingers. “The Illuminati. They'd have to send agents from Europe, but if it's important enough, they'd do it. I'm sure they know about it. Their intelligence is world class.”

“Illuminati?” I asked. “Are you serious? They exist?”

Shade glared at me and Absynthe laughed. “Is that a serious question?” he asked. “You still haven't read through everything yet?”

Nikki giggled and I felt my cheeks burn. “I've been busy.”

Absynthe took pity on me. “We suspect they aren't the historical Illuminati, but they're certainly as mysterious as all the rumors and conspiracy theories say they are. Luckily, they're a European-based organization, and they've always been on relatively cordial terms with us. We don't bother them and they don't bother us. For the most part.”

“My next suspect is the Kaze,” Shade said. He glared at me. “Since I'm sure you have no idea who they are, Parker, they're from Japan. You do not want to fuck with them. Period. They go right for the throat and they don't pull punches. They will kill you, not twist you. Serious danger. If you run into one of them, run like hell and scream for help.”

I nodded. “Seems like a long trip for them. Would they bother?”

“They've got deep cover agents spread all over the world. Fucking Jap tourists,” Shade said. “Their intelligence is nearly as good as the Illuminati. I'm serious when I say run and scream. We probably won't make it back in time, but maybe we'll find your bodies.”

“Who else?” Nikki asked.

“Maybe the gangs from the city trying to get a flank attack in. Or maybe the Mexican-based cartel from the southwest. They're the only regional group that actually stands up to the feds. I don't think they'd get involved up here, but hell if I know what they're thinking. After the South American cartels got smashed two years ago, a lot of the survivors have been moving north to try and re-establish power. Pedro doesn't really have the time to deal with this sort of thing, but they might be getting ambitious.” Shade chuckled, but cut off when Absynthe gave him a dirty look.

“So how will we know what we're facing there?” Three pairs of eyes turned back to me, all wide and surprised. I held my hands up. “No, I know, it's the color. I figured that out. I just don't know offhand what color is what, or why.”

Shade buried his face in his hands. “I hate being a mentor. I really hate being a mentor.”

Absynthe put an arm around his shoulders. “It's not that bad.”

I looked at Nikki. She was giggling again. “I guess that's another question I should have read about already, right?”

“I don't know why you haven't read everything available to us by now,” she said.

“I try not to spend too much time at the computer,” I said. “Plus, whenever I get a chance to read, someone always shows up. Max is convinced I'm reading slash fiction because I slam the laptop lid down whenever he walks in.”

“Slash fiction?” Nikki asked.

“You don't want to know.”

Shade and Absynthe had recovered. “All right, color theory,” Shade said. “Since one of you needs remedial training, you both get to suffer. Parker, I swear, if you keep making me waste time like this, I'm going to make you waste time healing every bone in your body after I break them.”

Absynthe gave him another dirty look, then looked to me. “Kevin, you know that your eyes glow when you use your psionic power. Do you understand why?”

“Some sort of psionic energy bleed effect, right?” I had read some of the available information, just not enough of it. “From what I remember, the energy comes from our bodies. The vitreous humor in our eyes glows when we use the power. No one knows exactly why since no one has volunteered to have their eyes cut open while using their power.”

Shade clapped slowly. “Wonderful. He read something. I'm amazed he's literate.”

“Good. And what about the color?” Absynthe pressed. She glanced at Nikki. “Do you want to explain it?”

Nikki nodded. “It isn't the type of power you're using or how you're using it. It's also not a genetic trait. The accepted theory is that it's based on who awakened your power. You inherit their color.”

“Close enough,” Shade said.

“What did I get wrong?” Nikki asked.

“It's based on training as well,” Shade said. “You inherit the color from the awakening, but after that, it's all repetition.”

“What he means is that the more you train, the more ingrained that color gets,” Absynthe said. “The color can change over time, but it usually happens early. If it happens later, it's usually because of a significant life-changing event. Sometimes it can happen after a mindtwist, too. That's what our studies have turned up and it seems to be similar to what other groups have reported finding as well.”

“Makes it easy to see if you've been going behind our backs,” Shade added. He smirked at me. “If you've been getting corrupted by someone other than us, it's impossible to hide it. We'll start asking some uncomfortable questions at that point. Uncomfortable for you, at least.”

“What about if you learned something on your own?” I asked. “Like, if you tried something that you hadn't been taught? What color would that show, your native color or a different one?”

Shade and Absynthe looked at each other. I felt Nikki's gaze on me as well. I had created that miniature rose and I hadn't used anything Shade had taught me. The energy I had used to create it had been both green and blue.

Shade finally looked back at me, a flicker of green light fading from his eyes. They had been telepathically communicating about that question. I wondered why. “The observed color for self-taught technique is blue,” Shade said. “It fades quickly into your natural color once you've been trained. Why?”

I shrugged. “I tried something once that made my eyes go blue. That explains it.” It could also explain what I had seen in Washington. Had Star's group taught themselves how to use their powers? If it was one person teaching others from how they had taught themselves, would they all stay blue?

“I see,” he said. Something in the way he said it was wrong. There had to be more to it than just that. I needed to check out what was available in the Establishment database. Either Star and her group were completely self-taught, or there was a shade of blue that was an established organization. They were hiding something either way.

“So what color belongs to those groups you mentioned before, then?” I asked.

Absynthe answered the question, leaving Shade to brood silently. “Yellow for the Illuminati. Dark orange for the Kaze. Scarlet for the Bureau. Violet for the Mexican group, as far as I can recall. I've never met one. Have you, Shade?”

Shade shook his head. “No. Violet's what I've heard. Lighter than the gangbangers down in the city. Don't confuse the two.”

Nikki tele'd a message to me. “He's acting strange. Why?”

I tele'd her back. “I think he's suspicious. Blue eyes?”

“Something you two don't want us to hear about?” Shade asked.

I shook my head. Nosy bastard. “Nothing special.”

“It's rude to telepath someone in front of others.”

“Doesn't stop you from doing it.”

Shade lifted a hand in front of his face and flexed his fingers. “Operational security. You've got no secrets you should be hiding from us.”

Nikki stepped in before I could respond. “Getting back to the assignment. We've got a week, right?”

“Until next Thursday,” Absynthe said. “The student there's scheduled to go public on Friday. The two of us are leaving tomorrow morning, so if you have any questions or plans, now is the time.”

“What sort of support will we have?” Nikki asked.

“None,” Shade said. “I thought we went over this. You two are on your own. If you get into trouble, scream your heads off and try to stay alive until someone can get up here from the city. Maybe Alistair will come rescue you if he's so inclined.”

“So you're seriously sending us into a situation where we could be attacked by fully trained agents from hostile organizations?” I asked. “I thought you said that you weren't going to send trainees into hostile situations.”

“Openly hostile,” Absynthe corrected me. “We have no conclusive evidence of anything. You're going there to collect information and take action if the situation warrants it. If you're confronted, attacked, or it's otherwise dangerous at all? Get out. Let Alistair decide how to handle it. He's your contact point for this assignment.”

“So we let him know what we find out?” I asked.

“That's what she just said,” Shade said.

Nikki tapped a finger against her chin. “I think we'll need to do a dry run and check out the campus. Doing it at some time during the week would be best, we can just blend in as students up there. After that, we'll go in at night.”

“When do you want to go up there?” I asked her.

“Monday, after Comparative Ethics,” she said.

“Don't you have class after that?”

“I can afford to skip it,” she said. “Especially for something more important. I've got my priorities straight.”

I let that slip right by. “I think we've got a plan, then.”

On Monday, we trekked across Troy. By the time we reached the top of the massive staircase leading up to the campus, we were out of breath. Neither of us had judged the distance properly. Nikki demanded a short rest and I didn't argue. I needed one just as badly.

After we recovered, we held hands and wandered the campus, trying to look inconspicuous. I had privately wondered if we'd fit in or not. Shade had been wrong. No one gave me a second glance. A few people glanced curiously at Nikki, who wore sunglasses similar to what Absynthe and Shade wore. I could see a slight green glow reflected onto her cheeks, but it was nearly impossible to see in the sunlight.

“Kev?” she murmured. “Go left.”

“Right,” I said.

“No, left,” she said. I rolled my eyes and led her in that direction, skirting around a football field. The other direction seemed to lead deeper into the campus. I wondered why we were heading away, when she answered my unasked question. “We're being watched.”

“Shit,” I said. “Where?”

“From that tall building, I think,” she said. “It feels like they're trying to focus on me. I'm trying to lose them.” She paused, then squeezed my hand. “No good. They're very interested in me.”

I looked around. Any serious use of psionics would be noticed. I dragged her to a nearby building. A quick psionic suggestion would take care of anyone who protested our presence. As I pushed the door open, Nikki stumbled and hissed. “You all right?” I asked her.

“Whoever it is, they're all over me,” she said, staggering over to a bench set against the wall and covering her eyes. “Burning through my defenses.”

“How?” I asked, sitting next to her and taking her hand again. She squeezed hard enough to hurt. “Shade told me it was nearly impossible to break mental defenses!”

She hissed out another breath. “Nearly impossible because it's so damn inefficient! He's burning tons of power, it's blatantly obvious, but he's hidden and no one will see him! I can't hide! He can find me anywhere!”

No one was around to see us either. I lowered my head, closed my eyes, and tapped into my power. My Sight resolved and I focused on Nikki, trying to figure out where the attack was coming from. It took three heartbeats for the line to come into focus, a thin connection between her and her attacker. I traced it back to the man, and immediately felt his interest as he noticed my power. His psionic signature on my Sight was blazing, bright and strong.

A mental attack was an entirely different concept from using telepathy as a means of communication. I assumed that simply pouring psionic energy into our connection would overwhelm him, and I visualized myself striking at the attacker with a sledgehammer. My power surged and I could feel the pulse riding the connection between the two of us. From the other end, I felt a glimmer of shock, a hasty attempt at defense, and then the attacker's consciousness winked out.

Nikki gasped. “Did you do that?”

I rubbed my temples, which were throbbing for the first time in months. “I think so?”

“I could see it in my mind,” she said, then drew her knees up to her chest and shivered. “He was stabbing at my defenses. Stalking me. It didn't matter where I turned. He was there. I couldn't escape. He'd find me no matter what. He kept carving away at me, at my defenses, at everything that makes me who I am. He wanted to get in and take control.”

She shuddered violently before continuing. “Then you showed up, just appeared behind him and clubbed him with a giant glowing club, right across the back of the head. Red sparks all over the place. He was gone. You saved me.”

“I did my best,” I said.