The Reckoning (Unbounded Series #4) (8 page)

I sat in the high-backed chair next to Mari, the soft, black padding cradling my tense body. Keene settled next to me on my right at the end. Across the table from us, between Stella and Cort, Ritter drew my attention. His hair was wet from his shower and parted on the left side, the strands curving around to graze a mole on his right cheek. He’d shaved since I’d last seen him in the training room. He wore all black, and even his broad shoulders and muscled torso didn’t hide the bulges of dangerous weapons hidden in special pockets of his clothing. His eyes looked black in the artificial light of the room, locking onto mine, and a sense of rightness asserted itself in my mind. I lifted my brows slightly, acknowledging the connection that ran between us.

“I just got off the phone with the president,” Ava announced from her seat at the head of the table, drawing my attention from Ritter. “He’s not happy that I won’t give him the particulars of the plutonium transportation, but the leaders of the other Renegade cells agreed that we cannot risk him calling for any action that may alert the Emporium. The papers state that the plutonium is reactor grade and not just weapons grade. That’s a significant added risk. In an accident with the plutonium, the radiation would kill any mortals within miles and endanger the operation. However, I have given the president the names we found in the documents, and he will be discreetly investigating those. If we are successful with the plutonium recovery, he believes he’ll be able to permanently remove those people from office and perhaps have them jailed. We have identified twenty-two people so far, but he is still going through them.” She paused for effect. “Needless to say, getting rid of these political leaders will help our cause immensely, but without the proof offered by the plutonium, it’s highly doubtful we’ll succeed. Everything is riding on getting our hands on the plutonium.”

“So we’re going to Iran?” I asked. “Or Lebanon?”

Ava shook her head. “We thought so at first. The documents you photographed identified the plutonium as being produced in Venezuela, but we had no idea of the location, and given what happened the last time at Desoto’s, we can’t risk going back in to check his other files. However, we’ve had a break.” She looked at Stella, who sat kitty-corner to Ava, gesturing for her to continue.

Stella brought up a photograph of a dark-skinned man on our monitors, this time using the keyboard that was built into her place at the table instead of her neural headset. “This is Shadrach Azima, who was born in Iran four hundred years ago but has been working in Italy with our Renegades there for the past century. He’s a healer, and he’s made a lot of friends in Iran using his ability, so he was, of course, briefed about what’s happening.”

She paused as his picture slid to the side of the screen and a map of Venezuela appeared. “In comparing the names of the Iranian officials involved, he believes the plutonium is being made here.” The map enlarged, and a dot appeared in the northeast of the country. “It’s about thirty miles west of Guayana City in an old steel plant near the Orinoco River. By the way, that’s Guayana City in Venezuela, not to be confused with the nearby Republic of Guyana. We believe the factory is operating with full approval of government officials, which isn’t a real surprise since we know Iran has been courting South America to get around UN sanctions. We also know that Venezuelan authorities have been anxious to increase their nuclear infrastructure, which is probably what they’ve negotiated from the deal.”

Ritter frowned. “The Russians could be involved as well, at least as far as a nuclear power station. They’ve been open about their aid to Venezuela in that respect.”

“Maybe.” Cort leaned back in his chair and tented his hands over his stomach. “Though I doubt they’re aware of the end destination of any plutonium produced in Venezuela.” He gestured to the map on the screen. “With all the fuel reserves in Venezuela, it’s doubtful that those in charge are concerned about nuclear power. It’s clearly weapons they want.”

“That’s understandable,” Jace said. He was also leaning back in his chair on Mari’s other side, with one foot up on the table. “I mean, that’s the only way to be considered one of the big boys, right?”

“At any rate,” Ava said, “there are complications in having the factory located so close to a highly populated city.”

“How many people are we talking about?” I asked.

“About a million.” Stella sighed and shook her head. “But the location is a definite advantage because getting into Venezuela without raising alarms will be far easier than in Syria, though I’m working on a route there as a backup. We have allies in Israel, who have more than eight million reasons to help us.”

Ritter leaned forward, touching his screen to zoom in on Guayana City. As the area magnified on all our monitors, he said, “I’m assuming there’s an airport nearby?”

“Yes. The flight plans are already filed,” Stella answered. “By the time we get there, we should have clearance to land.” There was no annoyance in her tone, but sometimes I wondered how she put up with those of us who processed information so much more slowly than she did.

Ritter’s eyes went to Ava. “When do we leave?”

“You’ll need to be at the airport by nine. That will get you to Guayana City by this evening. You’ll have Erin, Mari, Jace, Stella, and of course Shadrach will meet you there. He’s familiar with the area and the factory.” She paused before adding, “I know you could use also Cort and Dimitri, but I think I’ll need both of them to paint a picture for the president and his people about what’s involved in plutonium production and the possible effect on mortals. With plutonium involved, I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending you without Dimitri, but Shadrach is also a healer.” She looked at Dimitri, who stood against the wall behind Stella, his arms folded across his broad chest. I knew he shared in making the important decisions for our group, though most of their discussions were private and Ava always took the lead in our meetings.

“I did work briefly with Shadrach in Africa fifty years ago,” Dimitri said, “and he is one of the best. I’m sure he’ll be able to take care of anything that may arise.” Since we all considered Dimitri the best Unbounded healer, his confidence was reassuring.

I could see from Ava’s unshielded thoughts that she would like to take Mari with her as well, but Mari was too inexperienced at combat to send in on any operation alone, and Ava couldn’t channel her ability like I could, so Mari would be of more use to us. “We’ll stay in regular contact, of course,” Ava added, “and Stella should be able to learn anything you need to know by way of satellite. Once the plutonium is secure, we’ll make sure the president is given the location of the plant. This can’t be allowed to happen again.”

“Can’t we blow it up?” Jace asked, pulling his foot from the table. “Make sure they won’t use it again?”

Cort cleared his throat. “Too dangerous. Plutonium originates in nuclear reactors, produced by the capture of extra neutrons by uranium, and then undergoes a series of decays to get what they need for a nuclear weapon. We have no idea what sort of byproducts they’re storing, or what else they’re producing. I doubt they have extraordinary safety measures in place, so it’s possible they’ve already contaminated the area for miles around. They’ll probably need to send in experts to clean it all up. ”

“Our focus is on the plutonium they’re sending to Iran,” Ava said. “This is the immediate concern. The government will have to deal with the long-term repercussions of Venezuela’s participation in this whole thing.”

“I’m assuming Chris will be flying us to Guayana City?” Ritter had something in his hand and rubbed a thumb over it. His gaze flicked to me, and I wondered what he held.

“Wait a minute,” I said as his question about Chris penetrated my thoughts. “Are we going to have to transport the plutonium?” Because I didn’t want my mortal brother anywhere near it. He wouldn’t be able to heal as we could.

Ava shook her head. “We’re hoping to secure it in the country and have it picked up, but if we do have to fly it out, the containers should be safe enough.”

I felt sick. So much could go wrong, especially where the Emporium was concerned. “Cort could fly us instead.” Chris wouldn’t be happy if he learned I was trying to cut him out of the op, but I’d risk his wrath if it meant protecting him.

“Much as I’d like to come along,” Cort said, “Chris is the better pilot.”

I stifled irritation. You’d think someone who’d lived half a millennium could have concentrated a bit more on his flying lessons if he was going to take the time in the first place to learn.

“We’ll be fine,” Jace said, his face confident. “We’ll make sure we won’t have to transport anything.” He winked and gratitude flooded me.
I’ll always have him,
I thought. And it would be a long time before we lost Chris and the kids to the disease of mortality.

Ava slapped a hand on the table, interrupting my introspection. “Okay, everyone, meeting’s over. Pack your gear. Shut the door on your way out. Erin, Dimitri, and I have some business to attend to before the flight.”

She meant the snake. I stifled a shudder. It was time to see what was happening inside that box.

“I’M GOING TO CHECK ON
Jeane,” Cort said, a little too eagerly. No doubt excited to learn firsthand about nulls. I was glad he was unaware of my own little science project.

Jace snorted. “Better make sure she hasn’t thrown herself at Marco. If she weren’t so drop-dead gorgeous, she’d be a big pain in the ass.”

Cort laughed. “Oh, come on. She was only teasing you about running away to the Bahamas.”

“Her hands were a little too familiar to be all tease,” Jace countered. “I know a come on when I see it. Not that I’m fooling myself it’s me she wants. I think she’s just a bit stir-crazy after being locked up for so long.” He turned to Mari and Stella. “Let’s get some grub while we talk about what gear to bring to Guayana City. I need to build up my strength with a double helping of Nina’s omelets.”

Keene followed the others to the door, his eyes running between me and Ava, as if calculating what might be wrong. I didn’t know how I felt about working with him on this trip. Though I’d made my choice between him and Ritter, I still experienced a lot of discomfort in Keene’s presence. I shouldn’t because he’d never asked for anything I wasn’t willing to give. Unlike Ritter who wanted it all.

Ava held Keene’s gaze and something seemed to pass between them that puzzled me. His gaze jerked away as he hurried from the room.

Ritter had stood but made no move toward the door. “I’d like to stay,” he said quietly.

Ava tilted her head, studying him for a long moment. “All right.”

Standing, Ava came around the left side of the table to where I sat in the second seat. “Come closer, Ritter,” she said. “Something’s going on with Erin, and before she goes to Venezuela, we have to be sure it won’t jeopardize the mission.”

Ritter showed no surprise. “I agree.”

My gaze snapped to his, realizing that he’d felt my unusual drain in Austin. But was it his own ability that told him I was a weaker opponent, or was there some other connection growing between us? Because these days it seemed I could feel him more than ever.

“We’re going to open the containment box in Erin’s mind,” Ava continued. “We want to see if there’s a notable difference in the construct Delia left inside her. There is a slight possibility that Delia can control Erin through it, so it’s probably a good thing you’re here. Your job is to make sure Erin doesn’t act on any commands Delia might have implanted. Dimitri will observe her on a healer’s level, while I observe from inside.”

Nodding, Ritter stood behind my chair, his face immobile but his surface emotions glowing with concern. I didn’t believe he’d hurt me, but I hoped if something happened, he’d do what was necessary to keep everyone safe.

I reached out to him, slipping past his barriers.
It’s okay,
I put into his mind. He nodded as I added,
But close your shield tightly just in case.

Dimitri sat beside me and took one of my hands that were pressed against the top of the table. His touch immediately soothed and relaxed me. I stared into the healer’s face. He had dark hair, a narrow nose, a trim mustache, and brown eyes—calming eyes with a wide oval shape that I’d inherited from him, my biological father. I’d long ago come to terms with how he and Ava had used my parent’s infertility to create me, and in fact I was deeply grateful. Without Dimitri’s genetic material, I would have been seven generations removed from Ava, which meant no chance of carrying the active Unbounded gene. No chance of ever Changing. But they had interfered, giving me not only life, but a chance at near immortality. My existence was uncertain now, that was true, but it was also exhilarating.

His calm pervaded my body. I took a slow, deep breath and let it out again. Though Ritter was behind me and I couldn’t see him, his life force was a glowing beacon to me despite his strong mental shield. I would know it anywhere.

“Ready?” Ava asked, slipping into the chair next to me and taking my other hand.

I nodded and opened my mind to her.