Our Secondary Base, the Beta site it was called was in a huge frigging cave buried under a mountain. Looking around as I got out of the helicopter that had delivered me I recalled the conversation in the Colonel’s office the day before yesterday.

“Keyes, Xaing, as you know we’re planning expansion of our facilities and even have things in place for an even safer facility to back this one up as the influx of emerged rises.” Harris told us both. “Keyes, you’ve seen the new facility and I’ll follow your recommendations for someone to — oversee the construction.”

I passed looks at both of them and had this horrible sinking feeling in my stomach as they blandly returned my looks. “Why do I think I’m getting another whammie here?” I questioned then hastily tacked on, “Sirs.”

Probably because you’re smart enough to realize who Keyes recommended for the job, Master Sergeant.” Colonel Harris answered with a straight face.

“But, sir,” I countered, knowing I’d already lost the battle but still willing to fight it just because I could, “I don’t know the first thing about construction, I wouldn’t know if something was built well or not and that’s the honest truth. You both know what a hopeless klutz I am with construction, tools, and things like that.”

“We aren’t asking you to build the place, Xiang.” The colonel chuckled, actually chuckled at my horrified, outraged expression. “All we want you to do is make sure the new facilities fit our needs, and those you are well acquainted with.”

“Consider it more of a quality control position.” Kris soothed before I could get in another word. “You’ll basically be there as a consultant to tell the work crews if they’ve done something wrong, or haven’t done something that should be done. You won’t have to actually supervise the construction, just watch and guide the people doing the work. Now does that sound all that difficult?”

“No.” I answered carefully. “Which is what worries me here. How do you think the people on a construction crew are going to take being told what to do by a slip of a girl who obviously doesn’t know the real difference between a claw hammer and a rubber mallet?”

“Because.” The colonel answered in the tone that meant he was done with nonsense, period. “Everyone there will be informed that you are in overall command of the operation regardless of your actual rank, and that you are number three in the pecking order of the Center. If that isn’t enough clout, you can always call on either myself or Keyes here.”

“Can I say no to this?” I questioned.

“You could,” he shrugged, “but it wouldn’t do you any good. The orders are cut, the notifications sent, and you’re flying out in two days. That should give you enough time to get the gist of what’s going on there and get your head around the fact that it’s your responsibility to see that the new facility is capable of handling the newly emerged and veteran teams. You know what all that requires, so fuss and fume all you like, just do it on your time, not the Centers.”

I’d been sooo had. And I knew it. With a sigh, I nodded. “Yes sir, understood. I take it pertinent information will be waiting in my office once I get back there?”

“It’s already on your computer, Xiang.”

Why wasn’t I surprised?

I’d gotten my goodbyes said, made sure Ariel was doing her homework and attending her psych sessions with Doc Tipps, and more importantly would continue doing so while I was gone, packed and was on the plane heading to Colorado to do a another job I really didn’t want, but was also kind of looking forward to.

I know that sounds like a contradiction. What can I say? I’m kind of a contradiction myself after all. I was also wearing the dress uniform appropriate for a Master Sergeant in the US Army. The one with skirt and short heels. It wasn’t the most uncomfortable thing I’d ever worn, but it still felt odd, especially with all the saluting and stuff I had to handle — both getting and giving. The colonel, bless his little black heart, had simply told me that if I was outranked I needed to salute, and if someone saluted me, I should return it. My arm was already tired.

And I was getting a lot of speculative looks from the regular troops travelling with me. For one, I looked like a sixteen year old girl playing army. For another, I was a really HOT sixteen year old girl playing army. Oh yeah, one more thing with all this. These people were directly under my command. Joy of joys. Not a squad, mind you. That would have been bad enough even though I was used to that by now, but I had a whole damned platoon on my hands.

And now it was time to introduce myself, and tell them what their job was going to be.

Gathering my courage, I unstrapped from my seat, which was kind of a relief, the bench seats in a military transport aren’t all that comfortable, and moved towards the front of the cabin, or whatever it’s called. Feeling everyone’s eyes following me was actually something that didn’t bother me any longer, which was kind of weird in itself but not something to dwell on at the moment.

“Okay everyone!” I spoke into a microphone that one of them obligingly handed me and watched as all of them gave me curious to wary looks. “Listen up.”

When I had their attention, I nodded remembering not to smile and waved those who had started to stiffen to some form of attention down. “As you were, as you were, I’m no stuck up officer who needs people stroking her ego, so relax and just pay attention when I talk or give an order. Got that?”

Some of them looked a little surprised, others grinned, and others gave me speculative looks. I let them size me up for a few seconds, returning their regard with what I hoped was a cooly collected calm then nodded.

“Some of you already know me, most of you don’t.” I started. “I’m Master Sergeant Lucinda Xiang, and before any of you new people wonder out loud if I’m for real just ask Cpl. Donahue or anyone in his squad about me. I’m most definitely for real, and will expect you all to obey any orders I give. If you feel I’m wrong, that’s your right, but don’t question me about my decisions in public, air them privately with me even if it’s just whispering to me that you think I’ve screwed up. I will listen if there’s time for that and if not we’ll talk later.”

I waited for them to digest that and let them talk among themselves for a few seconds before starting again. “You’ve all been briefed about who and what I am, correct? If not read your briefings and trust me, I’ll be having talks with those of you who haven’t done that yet. Our job is going to be tough enough without anyone being ignorant of what is and what isn’t in our mission purview.”

Okay, I’d been reading a lot, and studying, and talking with Leon Donahue and my squad members, and the colonel, and… Well, you get the idea. I was young, looked it, and knew I had to convince these soldiers that I was capable of doing the job before anything else could happen.

“You all should know about the ‘emerged’ by now, right?” I looked and everyone showed they did in some way. “I’m one of them, as you should know already, and there are more popping up all the time. Our job is to get to them before they do too much damage or get snatched by some bunch of bad guys. Our area of responsibility is basically the Pacific Northwest along with Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Lots of ground there, I know, but we’re still spread pretty thin at the moment. When we get alerted about an emergence you are the people who get sent to retrieve them. I’ll expect you to be as gentle as possible, but at times force will be needed. Follow the general guidelines in your preliminary briefings and things should go fine. Most of the time.”

“Fuck up with this, and trust me I will be kicking ass like you never thought possible, people.” I told them with an evil little grin that faded into an expression of determination that I’ve been told is more than a bit intimidating. “If you think I can’t, dream on. I’m new at this, but I’ve been trained by the best, have been on missions, and have run the gamut of possibilities that could come up on jobs like the ones you’ll be thrown into. I’ve done it, all of it, even the messy things.”

“If anyone doesn’t want to believe her,” Donahue spoke up after a stretching of silence that had lasted an eternity of several seconds, “I’ll tell you right now that the Sarge has not only seen the elephant, she’s killed it a few times. When older, more experienced and so—called tougher people were crapping their drawers over what she faced down. I’ve seen it, so any of you got problems with my Sergeant, I’ll be talking with you. Real close and personal.”

He’d called me his sergeant. I’d never heard him talk that way to anyone about me, but the rest of my squad voiced quiet agreement with him while I simply watched for a few seconds then cleared my throat. “Thanks, Donahue. Now to the rest of you. You got a problem with me, bring it to me or I probably won’t be able to keep him from ‘educating’ you. Trust me, he’s very good at that.”

I gave them all a bland look, nodded and moved away from the front. “That’s all for now. I will be talking with each of you individually as soon as possible.”

“That a promise or a threat, Sarge?” One of the new people, a heavyset Spec 1 questioned with a grin.

“Either way you like — Savinsky.” I answered after doing a quick run through of the names and faces of my people from my own briefings. “But I don’t make threats.”

The rest of the trip was fairly quiet. For them. Me? I had specifications to go over, already in place personnel to read up on, and even found a little time to worry about being up to the job I’d been handed. Though I was careful not to let that show as I casually read the information on my laptop.

Beta site was in Colorado, very close to Colorado Springs which I’d actually visited once or twice as my old self. It was an old NORAD facility that had been mothballed during a financial crunch and had never been reactivated. Until Homeland security took it over and gave it to the Center. And little me got to oversee the installation of the amenities that would make it a home for at least fifty students and a lot more staff.

Staff that I’d get to Vet until Daniel got up to speed and could take over the place. I so much enjoyed my fantasies of Colonel Harris and Kris slowly roasting over a nice open fire.

After that I actually felt better.

I barely saw any of Colorado Springs once we’d landed. First I was supervising the unloading of our equipment and getting my own emerged team together so we could travel to our destination as a group. Yes, I had other kids with me, given some of the things we’d be doing in Colorado and the surrounding environs. What? You thought that soldiers, no matter how well trained were going to be left with picking up newly emerged kids on their own, or that I was going to be the only ‘Child of the Tainted Waters’ on hand to make sure they were successful?

Johnny Harris, no relation to the Colonel, and our precog/telepath/empath sniffed the cool air and watched several helicopters landing very close to where we all waited. “This is going to be an interesting month or so, Luce.”

I gave him a sour look that he returned steadily with his clear grey eyes while the wind played with his only halfway tamed sandy hair and he shrugged. Johnny wasn’t as powerful as Dani — Danielle Marks — but he often had insights that were uncanny even for a precognitive, like seeing further into the future than Dani could even if what he felt was less clear.

“I won’t ask you to define ‘interesting’ just now, Johnny.” I answered with a sigh. “Unless you feel like it’s some kind of emergency I really should know about.”

“Nah, nothing but an observation, Luce.” He responded while grinning at me. “But I do know that you’ll do fine here. Better than fine, in fact.”

“That’s comforting.” I grumbled but smiled back at him.

“That one’s our ride.” Kelly Guiterrriez, our finder/tracker announced while pointing out one of the helicopters just landing. Kelly was a petite Hispanic girl who pretty much managed to look both like one hot little Latina, and a shy little girl who’d much rather be reading some novel than being out in public. Her big brown eyes were so soulful that over half the guys at the Center were not so secretly in some sort of love with her. A fact she managed to blithely ignore most of the time.

The last member of that small group, Laramie Jones, simply watched things while hugging her coat tightly around her slim, athletic form and trying not to shiver. Laramie, who knows why she chose that name because she came from Mississippi, was an African/American girl who narrowly missed looking like Diana Ross in her heyday. I knew who the singer was because my parents had liked her music and had more than a few videos of her performing. Oh, Laramie had been a not so lily white cracker with a black girl friend before the change and had spent a lot of time in psych counseling afterwards just getting used to her new self. She was our healer and a good one. I was more than happy to have her along.

A helmeted figure wearing an air force flight suit jumped out of the chopper Kelly had pointed out, saw us, and waved us over. I picked up my briefcase and carry bag while saying. “Okay, kids, here we go.”

More saluting. The one waiting on us was a warrant officer, but he didn’t make a big deal out of things, just got us and our stuff aboard made sure we were strapped in and had our intercoms on, then went back to the business of helping fly the thing.

Things were a bit better once we reached Beta site. At least once inside I didn’t have to constantly worry about saluting people unless I got saluted first. I guess word had gotten around that I was third in the chain of command regardless of my actual rank. Just like Kris and Colonel Harris said it had. Not that I didn’t get my share of disbelieving looks from the delegation awaiting my arrival in spite of that. I’d even gotten used to that part of things since I’d been ram-rodded into being a Master Sergeant and overall third in the Center’s still tenuous chain of command.

A siren interrupted the introductions even before they got started and one of the ubiquitous black SUVs screeched to a halt in the hanger bay as armed guards and medics rushed to meet it. I glanced to Johnny who made hurry gestures towards the commotion.

“What’s going on here?” I questioned while moving towards the hub-bub.

“We have another new emergence arriving.” Answered a stick of a man wearing Major’s insignia and a nametag telling me his name was Martin Shu, the overall commander of the military contingent of the site.

“Bad one? I snapped out while still approaching the mess of armed and ready guards, hovering medical people and a still tightly closed SUV.

“Routine, I understand.” Shu shrugged.

“The why all the ruckus?” I questioned.

“Some of these — kids, go berserk with no warning.” He told me with a shrug. I just have standing orders given that proper precautions be taken when a new one is brought in.”

Johnny sidled up to me and whispered. “She’s terrified, Luce. These guys ripped her away from home without one word about why.”

“STOP!” I shouted at everyone in the vicinity. “Everyone but my people get out of the area, NOW!”

“Now wait a minute here, young lady…” Shu started but I interrupted him with a savage glare and barely managed to keep from grabbing his shirt and pulling him into range for a nice solid punch in the face.

“No, Major, you back off, and do it right now I happen to be one of ‘these kids’ that you seem to have been treating like some kind of plague carriers and your methods have this one so terrified she is about to go ballistic on you. Now get the Hell out my way and let me and my people deal with this cocked up mess before it turns into a real disaster.”

The armed soldiers were looking to Shu for orders and I was out of patience. I moved them away myself. Just a few yards, and made sure their weapons were all unloaded before returning my attention to the Major as Laramie and Johnny opened the doors of the SUV. “You and I are going to go over the proper methods of approaching a newly emerged as soon as things settle down, Major.”

“This is insubordination, Master Sergeant.” The man huffed and started drawing himself up for a tirade I neither had time or patience to deal with.

“Call the president to complain about it, if you like.” I snarled at him. “I have his number if you need it. But for now, get the Fuck out of my face and way.”

I didn’t spare the man a second glance as I climbed into the vehicle to join my team members. Laramie spared me a quick look then went back to soothing and healing some burn marks I recognized as after effects of a tasering. There were a lot of them. “Got her calmed down, boss, and I’m sucking up the pain for her.”

I nodded then shot a look to Johnny. “First or second stage?”

“Second.” he responded while stroking the poor girl’s forehead gently. Great. Not only had the poor kid emerged, but she’d already been through the physical transformation before the goon squad snatched her, and none too gently from what I could see of things.

“Powers?”

“Air related, and fairly strong.” He answered. “She tried to ride a wind to get away from these guys. After they’d tasered her.”

“Yeah, I can see some re-education in pickup techniques is high on the priorities list around here.” I muttered while moving to not only get a look at the poor girl but let her see me. Kneeling beside the gurney she was strapped to, I let out a long, heavy sigh and gave her a smile I wasn’t sure she recognized or not. “Hey. I’m Luce, the gorgeous chocolate skinned gal hovering over you like a mother hen is Laramie, and this guy whispering sweet words of comfort to you is Johnny. We aren’t going to hurt you, but you have to calm down a little, okay?”

“You just came and, and kidnapped me!” The girl, wild eyed, with some of the brightest red hair I’d ever seen stared at me out of half maddened steel blue eyes.

“No, honey, we didn’t.” I answered as gently as I could while Johnny still worked to calm the girl down. He was telepathic, and had some empathy, which made him a rare triple threat, so to speak, but each power was also weaker than it would have been in someone with only one or two of them. “My team and I just got off the plane here, and you’re safe with us. We’ll take care of you and I’ll explain what’s going on with you. I know it’s a pretty crappy thing to just say right now, but my first priority is you being calm enough to listen when I do tell you. Can you do that for me? Please? Stop fighting so hard now, you’re safe with us, I swear it.”

I took the time to give the driver and front seat passenger an expressionless glance and motion with my head for them to get out before returning my attention to the new girl. My hair had escaped the bonds of the beret I’d been wearing and was stroking, hugging, and generally doing soothing things to her.

“She’s asleep.” Laramie leaned back with a sigh of relief. Larmie’s style of healing takes more guts than I think I’d have. I watched the angry burn marks of a tasering she hadn’t gone through slowly fade from her chocolate colored skin and nodded.

“Then let’s get her somewhere safe.” I told the others then grimaced. “I don’t suppose either one of you knows how one of these things work?”

Both gave the gurney a look and Laramie nodded. “Yeah, isn’t that tough. Let’s get her to where she can get some real medical attention, I couldn’t get everything fixed that’s wrong with her in here.”

“Let’s do it.” I told them.

Once outside the vehicle I noted in some amusement that Kelly had picked up a loose SMG and was practically daring anyone to even think about approaching. Little girl like her waving an automatic weapon around, and confident enough with it that the surrounding soldiers knew she was competent with the thing. Now that was a picture I wish I could have gotten for later.

I waved the medical people up and at their hesitation, Kelly lowered her appropriated weapon and smiled at them. The first to move forward was wearing a lab coat over her simple but stylish dress, and didn’t seem all that bothered by the fracas itself. She muttered something like. “Dr Anna Somerville.” And immediately started examining the new girl.

I definitely heard her cursing someone and saying aloud. “About damned time someone who knows what they’re doing with these poor kids showed up around here.”

“Containment.” I ordered the second and third people to arrive. “With med facilities nearby.”

“Got it, Miss.” The first one answered while his partner went to the head of the gurney and started slowly moving it towards one of the open doorways that seemed miles away.

On the way past, I peremptorily motioned for the Major to join us. Once he had I asked in deceptively quiet tones. “You do have adequate, and humane containment facilities in place, right?”

“Of course we do.” He started to bluster again but I just waved him silent.

“You better be right on this one, Major Shu.” I growled. “I’ll be having a talk with you once we get this poor girl settled in. Got it?”

“Well, we got here.” I told Kris over my secure phone. “And I already have a problem to deal with.”

“I heard.” Her voice as a little grim, but I kind of expected that. “Shu called Colonel Harris about an hour ago about you.”

“I told him to call the president if he wanted.” I answered with a sigh. “Not the best way to get started here, was it?”

“Not that bad.” Kris let some amusement show. “People around here are starting to call you The Dragoness, you know that? You took control of a potentially nasty situation, got it settled down, and proved beyond a doubt that you’re the boss over there. All in less than fifteen minutes, too. I’d say it didn’t turn out too badly.”

“Maybe not.” I grumbled. “The kid they brought in is still in iffy condition, they pretty well brutalized her to get her here at all. I don’t know if it was ignorance, deliberate maliciousness, out right fear, or a combination of those things, but I am going to find out.

Which raises the question of just how in the hell did untrained teams end up being trusted with pickups out here?” I raised my voice enough to show my anger over that one.

“Your job to find out on that one.” Kris told me.

“Oh, I intend to do just that.” I growled in response. “If this kind of thing was deliberately malicious, I guarantee someone is going to wish they were never born.”

“Our Dragoness has spoken.” Kris gave a mirthless chuckle over the phone. “And those nearby will tremble because of it.”

“What is this Dragoness shit?” I finally asked her.

“Well, let’s see…” She paused then launched into the explanation. “One, you’re very powerful. Two, you’re very scary when you get going with that power, or just on a tear over something like you are now. Three, what you can do, powers wise, and on a personal level often seems like magic to a lot of people. Four, you are VERY protective of the people you choose to associate with and take care of. Which pretty much includes everyone working for the Center, by the way. The only thing lacking is that you don’t breathe fire.”

“You’d change your mind about that if you could see me right now.” I ruefully answered.

“Handle it, Luce.” She told me quite seriously. “It’s part of what you’re there for, getting that place fit for other emerged kids.”

“I will.” I promised. How, I wasn’t exactly sure of, but I knew I couldn’t allow the kind of things I’d witnessed earlier to happen again in a place I was working out of.

“I know that Master Sergeant.” She told me then softened her voice a bit. “Colonel Harris and I both have a great deal of confidence in you. We know you won’t disappoint us.”

I closed the connection after a bit more inconsequential conversation, hoping their faith in me was justified.

I felt as much as heard Johnny approach me from the side as I watched the still unconscious girl through the observation window of her containment cell. He stood with me in silence for a few breaths then started giving me information he knew I’d be asking for. “She was Gerald Nakamura, fourth generation Japanese/American. Straight A student, star halfback and high jumper, popular guy and good looking, the girls really loved him from what I’ve been able to find so far.”

“What happened when she emerged?”

“Not much, really.” Johnny shrugged. “Jerry’s family was out of town visiting friends when his first emergence happened, some damage to the house and contents, but that has been blamed on some freakish winds in the area. He didn’t hurt anyone, was just really scared about what was happening.”

“Okay.” I kept watching the ex jock and waited for more.

“Second emergence came at night, when he was sleeping.” Johnny went on, so she was pretty well knocked out for the next twenty-four hours. Things got a little exciting when she woke up, screaming, running, winds doing funny things in the area, but she still hadn’t hurt anyone seriously until the pick up team showed up. That part you’ve seen already.”

“Yeah, idiots.” I shook my head. “Let me know when she wakes up, I have a meeting with someone right now.”

“Luce.” He stopped me for a moment and gently put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You did good. Don’t let anyone tell you different, okay?”

“Not a chance in Hell of that happening, Jon-jon.” I used the nickname his friends called him by and left him to watch over our newest charge.

I knew I probably had an office somewhere in this maze, but didn’t want to take the time to find it, track Shu down, and get him there. So I went to his office instead. After grabbing some luckless corporal and telling him where I wanted to go.

“Thanks, Chavez.” I smiled at the poor guy, who’d been crapping his pants all the way up to Shu’s office, which overlooked the immense ground floor receiving area. And wonder of wonders, my office was right next to his. “Go back to what you were doing, I’ll be fine from here.”

“You’re welcome, Sarge.” The guy nodded then scurried off as if he were some fat juicy mouse under the scrutiny of a skinny, hungry cat. To be fair I don’t suppose the expression on my face during that walk was something that would have inspired warm, happy feelings in most people.

I did knock before entering the major’s office, and waited at least two seconds before opening the door and walking right in.

The woman seated at the desk, more of a girl than a woman given how young she looked gave me the wary eye and nodded. “Can I help you, Master Sergeant…?”

“Xiang.” I provided then just walked towards the door behind her desk. “He’s expecting me. He is here, right?”

“Yes, sergeant, he is.” She answered and keyed the intercom on her desk. “Sir, I have a Master Sergeant Xiang to see you?”

At a muffled response from the inner office she jerked her head up, gave me a long, hard and not so friendly stare then tilted her head towards the door I was already in front of. “Go on in.”

“Thanks, Rowan.” I gave her a real smile, after all I did appreciate someone doing their job the right way and with a first name like Rowan, the girl deserved a few breaks here and there. “I’ll go easy on him, if I can. But just in case, you might want to turn that intercom off?”

She goggled, actually goggled at me as I opened the door and entered Shu’s office.

The man was going through things on his computer and didn’t even look up as I entered. “It is customary to salute a superior officer, sergeant.”

“Cut the crap, major.” I told him while seating myself — uninvited, of course — in a comfortable leather chair to the side of his desk. “You know who and what I am, and my position in this facility.”

If I’d had the least bit of respect for the man I would have saluted him, but nothing I’d seen or heard so far gave me one bit of inclination to do that. Though there were hints that he actually was deserving of some respect I grudgingly had to admit to myself as my initial anger began to dissipate.

“Called the president yet?” I asked as he shut down what he’d been working on and took the time to give me a twelve megaton glare. I ignored that and went on. “I know you’ve already spoken with Colonel Harris.”

“What do you want from me, Sergeant?” He questioned. “Besides undermining my authority here, that is.”

“I have no intention of taking your job from you, major.” I answered with a shrug. “And I suppose some form of apology is in order for what went on in the receiving area earlier. But before I even think of giving something like that I need to know a few things.”

“If I have answers, you’ll have them.” He told me simply then waited to see what I’d do next. Okay, points to him on that one.

“Was it you who came up with the idea of sending out untrained collection teams to pick up newly emerged teens?”

“No.” He wasn’t going to offer more so I pressed the issue.

“Who then?”

“Our security Chief.” He was not going to make this easy at all.

“And that would be?” I kept on patiently on the outside while coming to a not so slow boil inside at his deliberate unwillingness to give me answers longer than a few words. I already knew who the man was through my own briefings but it wouldn’t hurt to let Shu think I didn’t have all the cards in this exchange.

“Captain Shaugnessy.”

“Well please get Captain Shaugnessy up here.” I gave him a cold smile. “Now.”

He looked at me for a few moments, obviously surprised that I’d used the P word, then nodded and keyed his intercom. “Rowan, page Captain Shaugnessy to my office ASAP, would you?”

I gave him a smile and leaned back in my chair. “Okay, major, first off, I’m not the bad bitch come to upset every apple cart I see. You’re an engineer, not combat or anti-terrorist and from what I’ve been looking at you’re doing a good job here when it’s within your purview. Like I said, I won’t stop that, I’m a big fan of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Your people are doing a great job on this place and you’ll have my commendations on that once I can get some hard data to back up what I’ve seen and heard so far. The containment facilities are better than we have at the original center, by the way. Nice work on those.”

He nodded his thanks, somewhat less inclined to hate my guts right away but still not sure I wasn’t just setting him up for a long, hard fall. Okay, I may have been doing that, but if someone is innocent, the fall isn’t that bad and they hopefully land on a nice pile of foam like those stuntmen who jump/fall/are thrown off the top of buildings in the movies. It doesn’t always work that way, I know, but one can hope, right?

“Look at it this way, major.” I told him. “I’m like the mama bear who sees her cubs playing with something she considers to be very dangerous, like a human, and I react to protect my cubs even if the human involved meant no harm. I’ve seen way too many kids die or cause others to die, because of something stupid happening that could have been avoided. Like the way this new one was treated. I was more intent on saving her, and everyone else in the general area, than on being polite. That’s one of my jobs and I’m good at it. People skills, I sometimes lack in, but I’m learning.”

“No wonder they made you a Master Sergeant.” He sat back and actually chuckled. “Don’t sell yourself short on the people skills either, Sergeant. You just set your priorities and get the job done, I see that well enough. Okay, truce?”

“Works for me.” I nodded and grinned. “Now tell me about your security chief.”

While Shu filled me in I finally took the time to look out the wall sized window in his office. What I could see of the facility was very impressive. The first thing one noticed was the huge, and I mean really humongous, vault like doors that opened to the outside world. Imagine the biggest safe you’ve ever seen in your life then multiply that by a factor of at least one hundred and you might get the idea. Well the place had been originally designed to withstand a direct hit during a nuclear attack, after all.

Off to one side was a hanger bay where the Cougars that had brought is here were parked. Those, if you don’t know, are small, fast helicopters used for rapid deployment or simple travel. The jets were hangered at the local air force base about five miles away.

There was also a very large motor pool that stretched for acres into the surrounding cavern. There were repair facilities, parking areas, offices, and a wide range of vehicles down there. I saw motorcycles, and what I was sure were more than a few APCs there. With several tractor trailer rigs and just about anything else between size wise. Impressive.

And that was only part of the picture. There were lower levels, reached by stairs, ramps, and elevators that were for offices, housing, recreational facilities, labs, and a complete, well stocked and staffed hospital. I’d personally seen that last because the containment cells were placed close to that one.

Overall the setup was both impressive and intimidating. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to come into something like this and know you had to revamp, modernize, and make sure everything was structurally sound.

Okay, more points for Major Shu there. And I had to admit that my introduction hadn’t been one of the best I’d ever managed. The man was quite obviously very good at what he did, and I started to think he deserved a higher rank than Major and more respect than I’d given him so far as I watched things and listened to him tell me about his security chief.

The Captain was taking his own sweet time about answering the major’s summons. We passed the time with general conversation about the facility, Shu’s pride in his people and the job they were doing, and some of his own views on the people the place was being designed to house.

“I don’t have a stick up my butt about you ‘emerged’ people, you know.” He told me with a shrug and rueful smile. “Though I do have to admit that the thought of teenagers with the kinds of power I’ve heard about, and seen on occasion is more than a bit frightening.”

“Tell me about it.” I nodded with a sigh of my own. “Major, I’ve seen the good, the bad, the indifferent, and the really, really ugly in that regard. I don’t blame you at all for your concern. I’ve personally had to kill more than one of us just to keep breathing myself, or to make sure people I was responsible for stayed alive. It isn’t fun, but with the current situation it’s necessary way too often. That’s why I reacted so badly when that kid was brought in the way she was. We lose too many of them as it is without driving them to do things that are going to get them killed and a lot of innocent people hurt in the process.”

“Shame that someone your age has to go through that kind of thing.” He shook his head.

“Someone has to, Major.” I answered a little tiredly. “Overall, the ones I’ve saved make up for the bad stuff.”

“Just what is your power, if you don’t mind me asking?” He shifted subjects while watching my hair play with things from my government issue hand bag.

“The animated hair is what they call a secondary power.” I grinned as one strand reached out to pick up a glass while another poured water from a nearby pitcher into it then brought the glass to my hand. “Handy, sometimes annoying, but not all that impressive when you get right down to things.”

“Being an engineer, I think I’d disagree with that assessment.” He answered while I took a sip of the water.

“Maybe so.” I grinned and set the glass on a coaster on the table in front of me. “My main power is something called probability manipulation. That’s a term they hung on it because no one really understands what it is I do or how I do it. Within a certain range, I can literally change reality as long as it’s usually in small bits. Like the way I moved your troops away from that SUV earlier. Fortunately, I can’t change the past, and wouldn’t if I could, that’s just too scary all around to consider at all. The best way I can describe it is that when I look at something, or someone, with my power, I see it in ways that other people don’t. I see the linkages to reality that it has, and how those links interact. If I want to change it I see some kind of thing the science types call a glyph and change that. It’s something I do without a lot of thought needed for the execution, but trust me I generally put a lot of thought into the act itself. At times it scares me to death to be honest.”

“Rightly so.” Shu leaned back in his chair and gave me a long, penetrating look. “That’s almost like being a god from the sound of it.”

“Not really.” I grimaced. “I have a line of sight and range limitation. About a hundred yards is the farthest I’m able to reach and I have to actually see what I’m altering with my normal vision. Plus, using the ability too much exhausts me to the point of physical collapse. So happily, I can’t wave a hand and change the whole world, just the small bits close to me, and even then it’s exhausting. I worried, still do at times, that I’m some kind of monster that would be better dead for the good of humanity as a whole. But then I start thinking about the other side of it, the good I’ve already managed to do. I freed a twelve year old girl from mental bondage to a very bad person not too long ago. I’ve saved lives, and kept a lot of innocents from harm. So I suppose I’m not a complete monster after all.”

“When fighting monsters, beware that you don’t become one yourself.” He quietly said with what sounded like a quote.

“That’s about it.” I agreed then asked. “That was a quote, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, though I mangled it, from a nineteenth century German philosopher named Nietze. You might want to read his works. I think they could help you put things into a different perspective and one you would be able to live with during the bad times and the good.”

“I’ll look him up.” I promised. “Sounds like an interesting man.”

“That he was.” Shu nodded then frowned and keyed his intercom. “Rowan, has Captain Shaugnessy responded yet?”

“Not yet, sir.” The young woman responded. “I’ve tried his office, his cell, and everything else I can think of. His office says he’s off base and won’t be back until this evening but I’m still trying to reach him.”

“All right, Rowan.” Shu answered. “Leave him a message that the new base commander is waiting for him. See if that speeds things up some.”

“Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time right now.” I rose and this time saluted him. “I know you have things to do, and I’ve been neglecting some of my own duties while we talked here, enjoyable as that turned out to be. I need to get my own office set up and running and make sure the rest of my team is going to arrive tomorrow as planned. Should you hear from the Captain, please send him to my office, or have him come to yours and call me, I’ll be available.”

He took my gesture as it was intended and snapped a salute in return. “I think it’s going to be a pleasure working with you, Master Sergeant, once we get used to each other’s little quirks that is.”

Little quirks. Oh yeah, I had those. In abundance.

My office was — well, almost embarrassing. There was a bronze plaque on the outer door that simply read BASE COMMANDER, but once past that it was something that had me in near shock.

I’d seen large offices before, but this one made some houses I’d been in seem small and cramped. The outer office, yes my own was behind this one — somewhere, was painted in subdued but still vibrant earth tones, had couches, chairs, tables, and telephones scattered all through it, live plants, and a receptionist behind a sleek, modern desk with a built in computer terminal.

There were other desks arranged behind the first one, evidently for staff I hadn’t gotten around to approving, or who were just off for the day and one even larger one just in front of a set of double doors that I somehow knew led to the inner office.

The receptionist, blonde and sleek as her desk greeted me with a smile. “Welcome home Commander, how was your trip?”

“Thanks.” I answered still looking around and feeling as if I’d goofed and entered forbidden territory instead of just walked into my own office. “The trip was about what you’d expect, long, boring, and good to be done with.”

“They usually are when it’s business.” The young woman smiled and crinkled her violet eyes in a way that had MY blood racing so I could imagine what it did to the guys she greeted that way. “I’m Captain Lacy Hume, and I’m actually your Chief of Staff. I was just making sure all the desks for staff were set up right.”

“If you say they are,” I shrugged and smiled back, “I think I’ll take your word for it just now, Lacy.”

“That’s good to know.” She laughed and waved to the double doors. “Well, come on and I’ll show you the inner sanctum if you’re done gawking out here.”

Gawking. Was I doing that? Oh you’d better believe I was.

“Oh I’m not near done gawking.” I grinned but nodded. “Let’s go see the place where I’ll be acting like I know what I’m doing here, then.”

“From what I’ve heard, Ma’am.” Lacy gave me a serious look. “You already know what you’re doing and have very firmly shown that to more than a few people here in a way that leaves no doubt of your abilities to handle — umm -- situations.”

I wasn’t going to argue that one at all. So I nodded and waved for her to lead me into the office that I would really be working out of.

My own desk was polished oak and large enough to be a self respecting dining room table. But it had to be that big with all the monitors and communication gear on and inside it. There were more couches, coffee tables, and end tables along with comfortable looking chairs spaced comfortably around the place for informal meetings, I gathered.

Lacy pointed out amenities for me. “This door leads to a bathroom and wardrobe, with a small bedroom to the side. She opened it and I saw the tub/shower enclosure then nodded for her to continue. “Wet bar here. With a small refrigerator, ice maker, and sink.”

She gave me an odd look as I checked the bar and I looked up with a wry grin. “Lacy, don’t worry, if it’s alcoholic I won’t touch it. I know better than that, believe me. I would prefer a selection of juices, carbonated soft drinks, and teas in this thing if that’s possible.”

“I’ll have it stocked for you by morning, Ma’am.” She responded with a sunny smile for me. “Do you drink coffee?”

“Rarely.” I answered while giving the coffee maker and service a look. “One cup in the morning and that’s usually enough to have me bouncing off walls till lunch time.”

“I’ll keep that in mind then.” She answered.

“Good enough.” I sighed and waved her to a chair. “Okay, Lacy, let’s have a little talk here so we can get this over with and move on to the important things.”

She sat down and gave me an expectant, if slightly nervous look while I seated myself in a chair set at an angle beside the one she had chosen.

“I’m not real big on the formalities, as you noticed already.” I started. “And I know I look like I’m way too young to be in this office, let alone calling it mine. But I am here, and my job is to see that this base is up to snuff for the people who will be coming to live here later. I’ll do that job and try to keep from underfoot regarding the day to day operation out front. To be honest, I’m not comfortable with all this ostentation and probably never will be. But I’ll deal with it, if you’ll work with me here and we’ll get through all the awkward stuff so we can get to the jobs both of us have to do. Deal?”

“Deal.” She answered with a quick nod. “I can see that Colonel Harris was right about you, Ma’am. You are one of the good ones and I’ll take good care of you while you’re here. You can count on it.”

“Would you rather I called you Captain Hume? I can do that if it makes you more comfortable.”

“Just call me whatever you’re comfortable with doing, Ma’am.” She grinned. “As long as we get the job done labels don’t matter all that much, do they?”

“No, I guess they don’t, Lacy.” I grinned back. I was thinking that I was going to like my Chief of Staff from first impressions. “Well, I suppose you have things to still get done and I know I do, so if there isn’t anything else just now I suggest we get to it.”

“Very good, Ma’am.” She answered then added. “I’ve arranged for you get a full tour of the facility tomorrow at 0700 if that is convenient?”

“It works, thank you.” I told her with an internal sigh. I’d be getting along on a lot less sleep than I was used to doing while here, I could see that. “Also, if Captain Shaugnessy should decide to grace us with his presence while you’re still on duty, call me immediately, please.”

“Of course, Ma’am.”

As she left me to my own devices I muttered to myself. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

Then I proceeded to play with all the neat goodies on my desk. Just to see how they all worked, you understand. So sue me. Once a geek, always a geek.

At least I didn’t spin around in the office chair behind my desk.

But I was tempted.

My office, it turns out, was so palatial because it had been set up for a high ranking officer. A very high ranking officer. Like up in the rarified area that was on first name terms with the president kind of thing. The red phone within easy reach of my chair — once I’d adjusted it for myself -- gave almost ominous glimmerings of things to come and was trying hard to tell me I was up there as well. I did my best to ignore those thoughts. I did have a direct line to the president’s office, and the number in my secure cell, but first names? Come on. I knew who he was, sure, but I wouldn’t even be old enough to vote for another couple of years.

Well, first things first. I keyed the intercom, after a few fumbles that would have been comic if I hadn’t been so nervous. “Lacy?”

“Yes, Ma’am?” Her voice flowed like fine silk out of the speaker and I had to remind myself that I was girl now.

“Issue an order to stop the pickups of new emergences by any troops but the ones I brought in with me, please. If I need to sign anything bring it in and I’ll do that, but the order needs to get out ASAP.”

“The order has been sent out, Ma’am.” She responded within seconds. “I had it prepared, mostly, just had to change the wording a bit to fit what you wanted.”

“Thanks.” I was impressed. Again. “If anyone takes exception to it, just send them to me and I’ll handle it.”

“Very good, Ma’am. Will there be anything else?”

“Yes, locate Corporal Leonard Donahue and get him up here, please.”

“On it, Ma’am.”

Satisfied with those two things I started going through security files, specifically looking for anything regarding the emerged teens who had already been brought in to this facility.

After a few minutes of searching I found what I wanted. But they were heavily encrypted. I knew my way around a computer, but this was beyond me.

I took my cell and hit my speed dial.

“Keys.” Came the answer after one ring.

“Kris, Luce here. I need a computer guru I know and can trust out here, like yesterday.”

“Found something interesting already have you?” She asked.

“Seven files regarding pickups.” I said with a frown she couldn’t see. “Not counting the one that was brought in today. They’re heavily encrypted and I need to see what’s in them without asking the in place security people here or anyone else on the staff. I think seven people have just been disappeared from this place but I need to see those files to really find out. This feels wrong to me, really wrong.”

“I’ll send Lulu along with Claire and Sam.” She told me without a pause to even think. “You need them tonight?”

“Yeah, I think I do.” I said quietly.

“I’ll have them there in a few hours, Luce.”

“Good, thanks.”

“Keep us posted on things.”

“You can count on that, Kris.”

“Okay, got some people to piss off here, thanks to you, but they’ll be there as soon as I can hustle them aboard a jet and get them flown out to you.”

“Good enough.” I answered. “I’ll handle the pouting and stuff when they get here.”

“Okay, later.”

Once the connection closed, I sat back for a few seconds and stared at the screen of my computer. I idly checked links from these files and found one. It was well hidden, but went to a laptop registered to — guess who? My still absent Chief of Security.

“Ma’am.” My reveries were interrupted when Lacy called from the outer office. “Cpl. Donahue is here.”

“Send him on back, Lacy.” I answered.

The door opened and Leon entered wearing a bemused grin. “Niiice digs, Sarge.”

“What can I say?” I said with a shrug. “The office was designed for some high mucky muck general or admiral, not for a simple staff sergeant.”

“Should I salute you or not?” He asked.

“Not.” I growled then sighed. Non coms and below didn’t salute each other. It would have wasted way too much time for one thing. “I’m still enlisted after all.”

“But you are base commander, Sarge.” He pointed out.

“Oh, crap.” I shook my head. “In private, or among our own troops, no way. Out in the general public I suppose you should, just to get everyone around here used to me being the boss.”

“Works for me.” He grinned.

“We have a problem already, Leon.” I told him then gave him some very specific instructions to pass along to my platoon regarding a certain Chief of Security. “Just get him here when he shows up, Leon. Be polite, but get him here.”

“You got it, Sarge.”

“How are the troops settling in?”

“Oh like usual. Soldiers tend to make themselves at home wherever we land, Sarge.” He told me with a shrug. “No problems so far.”

“Good to hear.” I grinned. “Start scheduling individual interviews for me with them, Leon. You can coordinate that with my Chief of Staff outside.”

“Boss, sometimes you’re scary and sometimes you’re SCARY.” Leon chuckled. “You said that like having some Captain doing your grunt work is normal for you.”

“Well, it is right now.” I winked. “I promise I won’t let it spoil me. Too much.”

He turned to leave and I had another thought, kicking myself that it hadn’t occurred to me earlier. “Leon, post a guard, only our people, on the new girl in containment. No one goes in or takes her anywhere without my approval, and even then I want at least one of you guys with them at all times.”

“Will do, Sarge.” He nodded. “Thinking someone might try to pull a snatch on her?”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” I nodded then waved him away. “Get with it, Leon. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Seven hours later I was still going through files, and still worrying at the elusive missing teens. Hospital and containment records showed that they had been here. One only for a few hours, the others for varying lengths of time all the way up to several weeks. Then they were transferred out to some undisclosed destination. End of trail.

Until Lulu arrived to crack the encryptions on those private files.

No one had seen Shaugnessy yet either.

“Ma’am?” Lacy’s voice came over the intercom. “I have some people out here to see you, one says to tell you that Lulu has arrived.”

“Thanks, send them in.” I answered then winced when I looked at the time. “Go get some sleep, Lacy. It’s been a long day.”

“All right Ma’am.” She responded then asked. “Would you like for me to have the mess hall send something up for you and your friends. You haven’t eaten all day.”

“That would be great, thanks.” I told her. “Good night, Lacy.”

“Good night, Ma’am.”

“Well lookie here!” A low melodious voice like melted chocolate interrupted my relief as Lulu, trailed by Claire and Sam entered my office. “Little Ms. Base Commander hard at work in her little ol’ office!”

“Hi, Lulu.” I let out a sigh. She was very good at getting into computers, information systems of any kind, and networks. She also tended to be obnoxious as all get out. “Welcome to Colorado.”

“Ya’ll better have a reeaallly nasty problem here, girlfriend.” Lulu was now a mix of African American and white, with the look of one of those Caribbean lovelies you see on posters advertising vacations. Complete with the dreadlocks in her thick blonde hair. At least she didn’t tie beads into it. “Because mama here had a pigeon all set up for de pluckin in Total War tonight.”

“If he was any good, as pigeons go, I told her while trying not to grit my teeth. “He’ll be waiting for when you have time to pluck him. And please, please drop the ‘gritty black girl, Jamaican thing for now. I’m tired and irritated enough as it is.”

“Whatever you say, boss.” Lulu shrugged but appeared a bit miffed. “I gotta keep up the image, you know.”

“Okay, just — not in here — tonight. Please?” I asked while closing my eyes to fight down a nascent headache.

Lulu had been whiter than new snow before her emergence and transition. She went from a skinny, short little computer nerd to being a flat out gorgeous, six foot tall, willowy amazon with coffee and cream skin (flawless, too. Sometimes I really hated her just for that, especially when I had to use the acne cream) with long blonde hair done in aforementioned dreadlocks who was STILL a computer nerd. But no computer system, password or encryption had stopped her for more than ten seconds since she transitioned. They were calling her an infokinetic for lack of a better term for what she could do.

“Rough day, huh?” She asked with some sympathy showing on her face.

“In a word, yes.” I grimaced and waved at my computer monitor. “Look the system over, feel it out, search the files I’ve marked and tell me what you think is going on with them.”

She did that for a few seconds, then for another few seconds, then looked up with a quiet whistle from between her teeth. “Ohh, mon, dese files dey be strong encrypted.”

“English, Lulu, English.”

“It was English.” She grinned then told me. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide this particular folder, then covered it with at least six different encryptions — all passworded up the wazoo, and set to delete the whole shooting match if one step is wrong. I don’t suppose you have the computer this all was set up from do you?”

“Not yet.” I told her. “It and its owner are currently AWOL. But I have people looking for both of them.”

“Nuttin’ evah easy, Mon.” She muttered then winced at the glare I gave her. “Sorry.”

“Do what you can, Lulu.” I told her wearily. Looking at an exhausted appearing Claire and Sam I waved to the adjoining door. “Cots set up in there, use ‘em and we’ll get you set up with billets — rooms tomorrow.”

“You go rest some too, hon.” Lulu set a hand gently into my back and gave a slight push towards where the other two had gone. “This is going to take awhile and having you glaring, pacing, and -- glaring isn’t going to help my concentration at all.”

“Yeah.” I nodded taking another look at the time. “Thanks for getting out here so fast.”

“We all do what we do.” Lulu answered with a shrug. “Get some sleep, I’ll wake you when I get through this stuff.”

I almost stumbled into the adjoining, and now crowded little bedroom as she started muttering. “Sweet system, Really sweet. Now you nasty little critters don’t go running to hide on mama, I want to pet you, whisper sweet nothings at you, then rip you out of there and lock you up so I can play with you later…”

Did I say that Lulu can really be annoying at times? But she is the best there is at what she does.

“Well, boss I can tell you one ting fer sure heah.” Lulu shook me awake and I let out a little groan. Whether it was at the accent or being awakened after only an hour of sleep I’ll let you figure out.

“What’s that?

“De person who own dis computer you so hot for not de one, honey.”

“Lulu. I’m very short on sleep here, my temper isn’t in the best of condition at the moment, and I’m trying really hard not to start strangling you right now. Say that again so I can understand it please?”

“Whoever this computer you’re looking for belongs to didn’t set this stuff up.” She answered with a little pout at my lack of appreciation for her attempt at cultural awareness. “Somebody back doored the system to fiddle with the orders that are hidden in those files. I haven’t cracked all the encryptions yet, have to be really careful with those or everything will go blooey on us, and I’m tracking from the back door set up. But again it’s slow going because there isn’t supposed to be any data going that direction right now. I have to hide my probes inside the current instead of as an extra little packet of data.”

“You’re sure the guy that one belongs to isn’t guilty?” I questioned just to make sure.

“I compared passwords, encryptions and all that, the owner uses the standard mil-spec encryptions and his passwords aren’t at all like the ones I’m messing with in these files. If he is guilty, he’s a lot better than I am, and I don’t think anyone alive is that, but you never know. Anyway, I’d lay really long odds that it isn’t the same person. The foot prints are too different.”

“Great.” I grumbled. Back to out of the box and forget square one. But that still leaves the question of just where the Hell my Chief of Security is and why he wasn’t present for the formal change of command bullshit.”

“You’re welcome, by the way.” Lulu put in with an arch of one elegant eyebrow.

“Yeah, thanks hon.” I nodded and gave her a smile. “You’re doing good, better than good. Sorry, I just haven’t had a lot of rest since — day before yesterday, I think.”

“So make some calls, give some orders, then sleep some more.” She told me then glanced to the coffee nook knowing how that brew affected me. “Or have some coffee.”

“Let — me - think…” I sighed while staring at the coffee maker. “Tired and stupid, or Hyped up bouncing off walls and still stupid. Nap time, I think.”

“Good choice, boss.” Lulu agreed.

“Right after I call a few people.” I tiredly agreed.

0530 came way too soon for yours truly, but I had other responsibilities besides tracking down a wayward Security Chief even if that was currently priority one. Giving an envious look to still blissfully sleeping Claire and Sam I quietly went into the bathroom to shower, get dressed in a clean uniform — dress blues again dammit, and generally make myself presentable. After the past couple of days that was a real chore let me tell you.

Makeup and I still had a more or less passing acquaintance, but I finally managed to get a look that wasn’t contemporary zombie or slut in an army suit. At least my hair did itself. This time into a neat bun that stayed off my neck and given the amount of hair I had that was a small miracle in itself.

“Morning, boss.” Lulu greeted me with altogether too much cheer when I finally emerged into the office. I nodded before rummaging through the refrigerator for something I could drink without getting an overload of caffeine. Settling on Coke, I popped the top of the can and took several slow sips before moving over to see what my computer guru had found.

“Morning, Lulu. Anything new?”

“Two passwords and two encryptions left to crack.” She told me and it was easy to tell she was really enjoying herself. “Plus I got a lot of really fine code from the ones I’ve already cracked. Someone is very, very good, boss. And really sneaky paranoid. I just about lost the whole shooting match a while ago when I tripped over a well hidden snake in the grass kind of ICE.”

“Ice?” I questioned.

“I. C. E. it’s all caps.” She responded. “Intruder Countermeasure Encoding. It’s something designed to protect systems or special files and can really get nasty at times.”

“Yeah, I know what it is, Lulu.” I sighed. “I was a computer geek too, you know. Anything else?”

“Still working my way down the trail from that back door, goes all over the place, the person has used no less than fifteen nodes to muddy the track. Another hour or two and I should be able to at least localize where the code originated.” She answered with an apologetic shrug. “I’m telling you, boss, I’ve never seen someone this good before unless I looked at my stuff. This is a challenge.”

“I’ll have the mess hall send you some sandwiches.” I told her as I moved towards the door for the outer office.

“No need.” Lulu waved to a couple of well ravaged trays on a nearby table. “Your Chief of Staff sent the food and I made use of it.”

“I see that.” With a shake of my head I opened the door. “Just clean the crumbs off my desk when you’re done, okay?”

She didn’t answer, having dived back into the job she had come to do.

It was 6:15 AM, or 0615 in military time, and there were already people working in the outer office. Lacy was at her desk and stood to attention while loudly calling. “Ten Hut!”

I gave everyone a blank look for a second then recalled the protocols I was supposed to be observing and waved them down. “As you were, people.”

“Any word on Captain Shaugnessy?” I asked Lacy as I reached her desk.

“Not yet, Ma’am.” The young woman looked so crisp and svelte I was almost jealous, okay I was jealous, but mostly because she was wide awake and I was still getting my ‘wide awake and ready for another wonderful day’ thing going. “We have parties out searching for him now, and have been tracing his movements from just before he went off base. His office says he’d found something ‘interesting’ and went to investigate it.”

“Hmm, that sounds ominous given his lack of communication.” My headache was trying to come back and I told it to go away or I’d sic Laramie on it. That didn’t work, so I settled for ignoring it till it got bored and hopefully would go bother someone else. “Any other updates for me right now?”

“Dr. Somerville wants to see you immediately.” Lacy informed me and I recalled the well dressed woman in the white lab coat at the aborted Change of Command thing, and that she was the Chief Medical officer of the site. “And Major Shu requests a meeting when it’s convenient.”

“Try to fit Shu in this afternoon sometime.” I answered. “I’m going to go eat something then will be down in Medical to see what Dr. Somerville wants.”

“Very good, Ma’am.” Lacy nodded and signaled two security types. “Your escort is ready, and don’t forget the scheduled tour at 0700.”

“Right.” I answered thinking that breakfast had been a nice idea. “Have the Mess Hall send something I can chew on the move down to Medical for me, and I’ll start there then.”

“Very good, Ma’am.” Lacy answered and was already picking up her phone.

I gathered up my escort, a pair of really intimidating looking guys in ACUs (Army Combat Uniforms) and left my office with what felt suspiciously like an internal sigh of relief.

I stopped at the containment cell holding our new emerged first and was gratified to see one of the soldiers who had come in with me on watch at the entrance. He noticed my approach and snapped to attention while giving a crisp salute.

“At ease, Savinsky.” I told him and took a look through the armor glass window at the still unconscious kid. “What’s with the salute? I’m your sergeant not… Oh, yeah. Right. I sighed and tapped my name tag which now proudly proclaimed that I was Base Commander. “Appearances.”

“Exactly Ma’am.” But he gave me a wink and grin. “And a fine Base Commander you’ve been already, if I may say so. We’re all proud of you, Ma’am.”

“Thanks.” I answered. “That’s just because I haven’t been here long enough to screw something up, though.”

He didn’t believe that from his expression but didn’t say anything in response.

“Has she regained consciousness yet?” I questioned.

“Once.” An unfamiliar, feminine voice answered and I turned to see the doctor I’d sort of met in passing the day before standing off to the side. “The poor girl had internal injuries on top the mess that shows. It’s a good thing your healer got to her when she did.”

“Dr. Somerville, I gather.” I nodded at her and tried on a smile. I could see that she wasn’t happy with something. She briefly returned it, then glowered.

“Anna Somerville, Chief of Staff for the Hospital.” She nodded. “We really need to talk, Ma’am. Privately.”

“I suppose your office is closer than mine, so lead the way, Dr.” I answered.

“These children that have brought in here,” She started without preamble once we’d seated ourselves in her office, “were brutalized well beyond simple subdual techniques.”

“I noticed.” With a scowl, I recalled the condition ‘Gerald’ had been in when she arrived. “Orders have been given that should keep that from happening again, I can tell you that much already. If it does happen again, someone is going to spend time in here, then a lot more behind bars if the circumstances don’t justify what they did.”

“I believe you.” She nodded then gave me a speculative look.

“I know I’m awful young looking to be in the position I have here.” I shrugged. “Hell, I’m too young to be anywhere but high school to be honest. I know that, but I’m also one of the few people around who understand the dynamics of what happens when some poor kid emerges and transitions while being in a position to do something to mitigate the suffering. So I do it. Someone has to.”

“I noticed.” She actually chuckled at repeating a line I’d just used. “It’s a good thing, Shu is a good man, but out of his depth when dealing with people like…”

“Me?” I grinned to take away the embarrassment she was obviously feeling about that near gaffe. “I found that out, but he freely admits the fact and I think is happy to be going back to being an engineer. I don’t think he was all that comfortable being in overall command of this place.”

“You’re no high school girl.” Somerville gave me a close look and shook her head. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you’d been an adult before you changed.”

“I’ve had to learn a lot of hard lessons in the past few months, Doctor.” I let out a sigh. “Sometimes growing up sneaks up on a person. In my case, it stormed the gates and took the castle without much opposition before I even knew it was there. I had to grow up fast or I wouldn’t have survived some of things I’ve already had to do.”

With a sympathetic nod, she gave me a sad little smile. “I’ve read your jacket, Ma’am. At least the parts that aren’t classified above my clearance level. Impressive if I may tell you that without being insulting.”

“Like I said, I do what I have to do.” I shrugged. “I’m not going to say it’s been easy and I don’t see things getting any easier in the foreseeable future either. Like anything else, some people are capable of doing what’s needed and those get tapped to do it. I’m just one of those people is all.”

“I saw some of that yesterday.” She nodded. “And am beginning to see more right now. You up to the job?”

“I’d better be.” I told her while giving her a level look. “Because there isn’t anyone else to do it just now.”

“I like your attitude, Ma’am.” She told me. “I think working with you is going to be mostly a pleasure.”

“I get the feeling there’s more than just a welcome and sizing up going on here, Doctor.” I leaned back in my chair and waited for her response.

“The guards you’ve set outside that girl’s — cell.”

“It is a cell, Doctor.” I told her. “But it’s as much for her protection as anyone else’s, same with the guards at the door. She’s not a prisoner but could be very dangerous until she fully wakes and gets a handle on what’s happened to her. “I’ve spent my share of time in one, so has my immediate superior officer. You don’t have any idea just how happy I’ll be when we can get her out of there.”

“She really needs someone in there with her at all times.” Somerville flatly told me. “And the guards you’ve posted aren’t allowing that.”

“My fault there.” I nodded. “I gave very specific orders that no one was to be allowed in there or to take her out without my personal okay. I still think that’s the safest course of action just now. I apologize for the inconvenience and will arrange for someone to be allowed to sit with her if you like, but one of my people will be with them all the time. I can’t tell you how potentially dangerous that girl is to someone not knowledgeable about what she is and the things she could do if she panics.”

“I can work with that, Ma’am. But she is also my patient and I don’t like the restrictions on access to her right now.”

“I know, I know.” I waved that aside for a moment. “I’ll give orders to allow you in for any length of time you feel is needed, but one of my people will be in there with you. Or any other person you send in — again with my approval. I’m sorry, but this one isn’t just going to vanish into the night if I can help it. Or hurt someone by accident.”

“I have a roster worked up for you to look at in that case.” She handed me a sheaf of printouts. “I would trust the people on that list with MY life and all of them are outraged by the way these children have been treated then spirited away without so much as a hint about where they’re being sent.”

“Yeah, that last is something I’m looking into now. Very closely.”

“Good.” Was the only answer she had to that one.

“Xiang.” I answered my phone as I was leaving the Med Center.

“We found Shaugnessy, Sarge.” Leon informed me then added. “It’s not good.”

“How ‘not good’ is it?”

“He’s dead, Sarge.”

Oh crap.

I met Donahue along with several others from the platoon I was more and more starting to think of as my people in a tunnel leading off from the main cavern and stopped when I saw the large plastic bag on a gurney. “Where did you find him?”

“Hikers found him about twenty miles into the mountains.” Leon answered grimly. “Big cat or something mauled him pretty good and he’d been there long enough for the scavengers to have gotten started. It ain’t pretty Sarge.”

“Get him to the Med Center and put him in one of the closed off containment cells.” Make sure no one else gets a look until I get there or Dr. Somerville does.”

“You got it, Sarge.” The man nodded and waved the others along. “You heard the lady, boys and girls, get the lead out.”

I had to go through the central switchboard to reach Anna Somerville. I reminded myself to get her personal number on my speed dial as soon as I could.

“Dr. Somerville’s office.” A way too perky female voice answered on the second ring.

“This is Lucinda Xiang.” I interrupted the polite offer of doing something to help me. “Get the Doctor on the line now, please.”

“Of course.” The voice responded a bit nervously. “One moment Ma’am, she’s in conference and I’ll have to pull her out of it.”

“Fine. I’ll wait.”

I was already on my way when she picked up a minute later. “What can I do for you, Ma’am?”

Meet me at containment cell — “ I checked the map my phone was showing me then finished. “A-14 as soon as possible. We have a situation.”

“Another one?”

“Not what you think, Doctor.” I tersely replied. “Just get there if you aren’t saving someone’s life right now.”

“Five minutes.”

I closed the conversation and made another call. “Laramie, get the team together and down to containment cell A-14. Claire and Sam are probably still in my office, and try to pull Lulu away from my computer for at least a few minutes. I need all of us in one place where we can talk without being listened to.”

I increased my pace until I was beside Leon. “Leon, get the platoon together, quietly in the hanger bay, and have them ready to move. If someone asks just say that I have some exercises planned.”

“On it, Sarge.” He nodded and made a call on his own secure phone. In less than a minute, he closed the connection and told me. “Ten minutes.”

We reached the containment cell and I used my key card, yes I already had one, and a code to go with it, to open the door. I’d picked this one because it had no windows, being designed to hold photokinetics or the rare light sensitive emergent. Now I needed Lulu to make sure the surveillance cameras were rigged to show nothing but an empty room.

Doctor Somerville arrived, a little out of breath, and stared at the unusual gathering waiting at the open door to the cell. “Okay, what’s going on that made you call me out of a staff conference?”

“If anyone asks,” I answered, “we have a new emergence that didn’t go well and needed you for consultation.”

“That one, I take it?” She gave the body bag a look and sighed.

“Yes, that one.” I looked up to see my team, all of them hurrying down the hallway to join us. “Hang on a few, Doctor and I’ll get you filled in on the details.

Lulu.” I ordered without greeting the bunch of new arrivals. “I need the security cams and audio pickups disabled in this cell. If you can rig them to show and register an empty room that would be best. Otherwise, just shut them down.”

She nodded, grinned, and moved to a panel beside the door. “Dis be easy, girl.”

Ten seconds later she looked up from what she had been doing and nodded. “Cameras and microphones won’t be picking up nuttin but blank walls an empty room now.”

I ignored the still imperfect Caribbean lilt and nodded to the soldiers. “Get him inside. Then post an unobtrusive guard at the door to keep the curious out.”

Once the gurney was in the room I waved for everyone else to enter and closed the door. Anna was giving me worried looks and the others just gave me speculative ones until I moved over and unzipped the body bag. “My errant Chief of Security has finally gotten here.”

“Oh my…” Was all Somerville could say for a few seconds and the others just watched her and me. “What happened?”

“He was murdered.” I simply answered. “My guys found his body up in the mountains about an hour ago. He’d been there for awhile, but that isn’t where he was killed. I need for you to look at the body and see if you can find anything out for us.”

“I’m not a pathologist.” She protested. “You need…”

“I need for you to take a look just now.” I interrupted her. “Sorry, Doctor but as things are falling out right now, I don’t know who to trust with information so I’m keeping those in the know to a minimum. Please do what you can.”

Giving me a worried look she moved to the body. “So why are you trusting me?”

“I have to trust someone right now, Doctor.”

“Why me?”

“Because of your outrage at how the kids being brought here were treated, for one thing.” I told her, not bothering to mention that Jon-jon was reading her then and there. “That’s a good enough start for trustworthiness for me, and I have to start somewhere, don’t I?”

“True enough.” She nodded while opening a cabinet and pulling out a surgical gown, mask and gloves. “Let me get started then.”

“Laramie.” I waved the healer forward. “I know you can’t do much, but see if you can find anything useful, too.”

“Kelly, see if you can a read on some of the things that are still with the body.” I instructed our token reader.

While they worked, I pulled the rest off to the side. “Okay, we have multiple problems here right now. First, I have a dead Chief of Security who had a compromised laptop that we still haven’t located. Second, at least seven emerged have been here, but were taken somewhere else that no one seems to know anything about. Third, someone either gave or faked an order that made sure those kids were so traumatized they weren’t able to protest when they were taken away and we really need to find who that is and fast. It has to be someone on site here.

So all this,” I waved to the body. “is to remain Need to Know until I say otherwise.”

“Luce.” Laramie moved to join us. “I know one thing for sure right now about the guy.”

I gave her a questioning look and noted that she appeared a little queasy.

“His mind was tampered with.” She told us. “There is some physical brain damage that isn’t from a blow to the head, which is one of the things that killed him. It feels like someone just went in there and rearranged some things to suit them. He probably didn’t even realize he was going contrary to Center regs and betraying everything he was supposed to protect.”

“A dominator.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to stay calm.

“Yeah.” She answered with the same grim expression I knew I was wearing.

Shit, this day was just getting better and better. Not.

Worse, it was just getting started.

“It was a blow to the head initially.” Somerville confirmed once she had finished her own examination and cleaned up. “But whoever did this wanted to make sure and used a small caliber weapon, to finish the job. Forensics would give us a better idea of just what was used, but it’s obvious he wasn’t killed in the mountains. There is grit in the head wounds that isn’t something you usually find in an outside environment. I found a few metal filings in it and they aren’t from the weapon, they were machined. The rips and tears are post mortem, animals got to him once his body was dumped. I also found this in a crease in his clothing.”

It was a blue fiber about an eighth of an inch long. I looked at and wondered. “Looks like some cheap rugs I’ve seen.”

“Probably.” She agreed. “Can I have the forensics lab at least look at this? They don’t need to know where I got it, but should be able to tell us something about it regardless.”

“Do it.” I answered. “Wait, though. Kelly.”

The girl nodded even if she did look a bit pale, and held out her hand. I gestured for the Doctor to give it to her. Once that was done the Hispanic girl briefly closed her eyes, drew in a breath then handed the fiber back to the Doctor. “Nothing. I get vague impressions of an enclosed space, not small, but not huge either, somewhere east of here. That’s it.”

“It’s more than we had a minute ago.” I gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“If you don’t need anything else.” Even Lulu was subdued for a change as she quietly told me. “I should get back to what I was doing. The cams and mics in here are locked down and won’t show a thing normal observers don’t expect to see. They won’t until I unlock them, either.”

“Go.” I told her and couldn’t blame her for the slight relief betrayed by a lessening of the tension in her shoulders as she left.

Jon-jon looked at the Doctor, then glanced at me with a subtle sign to let me know he’d scanned and come up clean. I gave her a long look and nodded. “Okay, get that thing to forensics and let me know what they come up with the minute you find out.”

“You better believe I will.” She answered then stopped beside me for a few seconds. “Look, I don’t blame you for the paranoia just now, but did notice a change in your demeanor a while ago. If you have someone who can probe my mind, have them do it if you haven’t already. Far as I know I’ve got nothing to hide and if I do, I damned sure want to know about it, all right?”

“If it’s any help, you seem to be clean.” I answered with an apologetic look. “Keep me posted on what you find and if you have a forensic pathologist around you feel like you can trust, send them to me and I’ll get them vetted for this.”

“Just find who did this, Lucinda.” She told me, dropping the Ma’am but that didn’t bother me at all.

“It’s Luce. And I will, Doctor.”

“I know.” She gave my arm a little squeeze and sighed. “And my name is Anna, not Doctor.”

Once Doctor Somerville, Anna, had left I turned to my team. “Jon-jon, I want you to hang around the troops that were doing pickups before we got here. Scan them for anything that looks wrong no matter how minute it is. Then you’re going to a meeting with me later to scope out the former base commander. The ones you find something off on, I want to see in my office, but just let me know and I’ll issue an order to get them up there, don’t tell them yourself. Then we can dig, try to repair the damage and whatever. Laramie, I want you with me when I’m talking with them. You too, Jon-jon.”

Both nodded their understanding as I turned to Leon. “Find out who, and I mean everyone, who was on any of those pickup teams. Talk with them, sound them out, see if you can get something without being suspiciously fishing for something.”

“I’ll just ask them for advice.” My corporal grinned. “Soldiers just LOVE giving advice to another one on something they’ve done, and they like to talk out of duty-time about things too if they aren’t classified. Looks like I’ll be spending some time in the unlisted club for awhile, Sarge.”

“Have a beer for me, Leon.” I grinned and gave him a wink. “Until I get old enough that’s as close as I’ll be getting to having one.”

“Claire, I want you to suss out anything at all about anyone who tries getting into this cell or the one where ‘Gerald’ is being held. So that’s going to keep you down here a lot. Sorry. Try making friends with some of the medical personnel. It never hurts to have friends there, and you might get some useful information while you’re doing it.”

Clair, a really beautiful East Indian girl grinned in response and nodded. “Can I play with the ones I like?”

“Sure.” I sighed. Teenagers. If we aren’t focused on something else we all tend to have sex on the mind. Especially those of us who have emerged and transitioned. But I can’t fuss too much, because my own bedtime fantasies involved a certain, creepy but nice boy who was able to talk to dead people.

“Oh shit!” I would have slapped my forehead if I didn’t already have a headache.

The others looked at me and I shook my head in disappointment with myself. “I just thought of a resource I hadn’t called in for all this.”

“Keys.” Kris answered on the first ring.

“Kris, I need Sean out here as soon as you can get him here.” I told her, knowing she knew who was calling.

“Somebody you need to talk with is dead, I take it?”

“Yeah, my Chief of Security.” I answered. “And if the bastards behind this are cleaning up behind them and getting rid of loose ends I have the feeling that there are going to be more. We have a dominator involved in this mess over here.”

Her response isn’t something I’m going to repeat.

“My feelings exactly, Kris.” I broke into her cursing and added. “You haven’t said anything I didn’t so far either, and I really got inventive when I was cussing. I even impressed the lifers in my platoon.”

She actually laughed at that one. “Our Dragoness at work again. Okay, I’ll have Sean on a jet headed your way in about two hours tops. I’ll just need to check the stairwells is all.”

“Awww, he misses me.” I purred.

“I think that’s a pretty good assessment.” Kris giggled. Do you have any idea how disconcerting it is to have your superior officer giggle? Never mind. You get the idea. “When he finds out where he’s going I’m just getting out of the way.”

“Tell him he’s going to work for his fun this time around.” I answered. “I don’t have time to play bedroom games until we figure this frigging mess out.”

“I’ll have him there by — Noon, your time.” She promised.

“Good enough.”

“Anything else?”

“I’m sending you all the info I have, and the speculations my team and I have come up with.” I told her. “That should give you a pretty clear idea of what I’m doing over here. Sorry I won’t be able to vet the paint jobs in the individual rooms just yet.”

“Just get this worked out.” She told me. “You can terrorize the building crews later.”

“Yup, business before fun.” I shot back. “Kris, this is really bad. We’ve been penetrated on a level we never considered.”

“You’re doing everything right, hon.” She answered. “Just keep at it, and if you need more big guns give me a shout. You have priority just now so you’ll get whatever you have to have to get this taken care of.”

“What I really need is someone who can build mental shields for people that would stand up to a dominator.”

“Wish we had one of those, Luce.” She said and I could hear the heavy sigh even if she didn’t do it into the phone. “We haven’t had to deal with one of those until now.”

“I know.” I grumbled. “I get to write the damned manual on this one.”

“Rank, privileges, obligations.”

“I know, I know, and even though I love you like a sister, fuck off.”

She laughed. “Good to see the situation hasn’t overwhelmed you. I’ll get Ray to help me with your last suggestion later.”

She would, too. In fact, I intended to do the same thing once Sean arrived. If things allowed it. Remember me talking about teenagers and their hormones?

“I had another nightmare, Auntie Luce.” Ariel told me over the phone.

My heart and gut twisted more than a bit at that. I’d always been there to hug and soothe her after one of those, but now I was a little over a thousand miles away. “I’m sorry, honey, want to talk about it?”

I saw HIM again, Auntie Luce.” She answered with real fear in her voice. “He told me I’d never get away from him.”

“Honey.” I softly answered, being sure to stroke her with at least my voice. “He’s dead and the only power he has over you is in your memories. I made sure he would never hurt you or anyone else again a long time ago.”

“But he said he’d never go away.” Her voice trembled and I almost threw everything I was doing out the window to go and comfort her.

“He’s gone, baby.” I firmly told her. “I made sure of that. He won’t ever be able to hurt you again if you don’t let him. And you aren’t going to do that, are you?”

“I don’t want to.” She answered with a quiver in her sweet little voice. “But I can’t make him go away.”

“Yes you can.” I told her, trying not to cry while I did. “Just look at him and tell him to go away, he doesn’t have any power over you now because you have someone who loves you very much ready to kick his sorry ass all the way to Hell and lock the gate once he’s there.”

“Can you do that?” She questioned with the innocent trust a twelve year old gives someone she cares for.

“Oh yeah, baby.” I answered. “I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again to keep him from touching you at all. No matter how many times I have to do it, I’m going to keep you safe. I promise.”

“I love you Auntie Luce.” She answered and just about broke my heart. “I’ll do my best. Promise.”

“That’s all anyone could ask, sweetie.” I told her. “One of these days you’ll be able to look the bastard in the face and tell him to go to Hell. I know it. I love you, too, honey.”

God. I so wanted to kill that sonuvabitch again. And again, and again. Hell was way too good for him.

“Xiang.” I answered my phone before it had even finished the first ring.

“Got the lab results on that piece of fiber we got off the victim.” Anna Somerville’s voice informed me. “Not much help there, I’m afraid. Common carpet fiber used in about twelve different makes of vehicle. But it does prove that he was moved after he was killed.”

“Yeah. Well, I guess we have to take what we can get right now, thanks.”

“Wish I had more to tell you.”

“Me, too.” I shrugged then realized she couldn’t see that. “Thanks again, and tell your lab people I appreciate the effort.”

Another dead end. Whoever was doing this was working very hard to erase any trace of what they were doing, or barring that, muddy the trail so badly no one would be able to follow it.

“How did he die?” I asked while looking at the body of a med tech laid out in the morgue.

Sean, who arrived and was surprisingly business-like answered almost dreamily. “His handler had no more use for him and was afraid he would give too much away once he was questioned. He was killed in the private recreation area.”

In the sense-surround theater, that meant. The guy had gone in looking for a little virtual nookie and found a thin blade inserted between the vertebrae of his neck at the junction with his back bones. It had been painless, but he knew he was dying as it happened. And couldn’t even call for help given the paralysis the injury inflicted on him.

“Who was it?” I asked, pretty sure there would be no really useful information from the question but needing to ask regardless.

“He doesn’t know.” Sean told me in the stoned out voice he always had when talking with the dead. “The person always contacted him with paper notes that he destroyed once he’d read the instructions.”

“Okay, Sean. Come back now.” I told him.

“He didn’t really know anything.” Sean told me once he’d shaken himself back into the realm of the living. “The knowledge should be there but it’s all blank.”

“Dominator.” I told him in explanation. “It’s likely he never really knew what was going on at all, just did what he’d been programmed to do like some puppet in a show.”

“How are we going to beat that?” He questioned with real fear in his eyes. And it was for me, bless him.

“I don’t know yet.” I honestly told him. “But I’m working on it.”

I kept Jon-jon and Laramie extra busy for the next few days, checking all the pickup teams who had been bringing kids in, their commanders, and Major Shu not to mention others. To a man or woman, the pickup teams had been tampered with mentally. Fixing that damage took time and effort we could ill afford to spend given the situation, but it had to be done.

The conclusions that led to were more than disturbing. They were frigging terrifying.

“Well, now we know who was letting in whoever took the kids.” I let out a tired sigh and accepted the soft drink Anna passed me with a grateful nod. “I won’t put that in his records, though. Poor sap couldn’t help doing what he did, he wasn’t given a choice at all.”

“I appreciate that, Luce.” Dr. Somerville — Anna, nodded. “Richardson was one of the good ones except for that.”

“He probably didn’t even know what he was doing, Anna.” I softly told her. “A dominator can make people do things, then tell them to just forget or that it never happened. They will, or in the last case, far as they’re concerned, it didn’t happen. Hard to fight something like that even if you know it’s coming.”

“So how do you intend to fight it?” She questioned showing that she understood as well as I did that a confrontation with the still unknown dominator was in my future. My coming had upset a lot of carefully set up dupes and plans. He or she couldn’t allow that to continue given the situation. Whether the unknown bad guy stopped or not at this site, they knew we were tracking them and wouldn’t stop until one side or the other was neutralized. I’d become the prime target from the moment I’d stepped off that Cougar in the hanger bay and we both knew it.

“Truthfully?” I shrugged. “So far I haven’t got a clue. But I have a good team backing me up here and we’re working on some contingency plans for just that.”

“I hope you come up with something workable, Luce.” She answered levelly. “I’d hate to see you dead, or worse, on the other side.”

“Yeah, me too.” My expression was pretty grim for a few seconds then I forced myself to lighten up and grin. “Besides, I kind of like breathing, and definitely want to keep things the way they are with me and everyone else. I’d make one really nasty villain so one of the contingency plans is to take me out of the picture if I do get taken.”

“You make one helluva scary good guy, too.” She forced a chuckle. “Are you sure you’re really a teenager?”

“Well, I got drummed out the union awhile back because I refused to go gaga over boy bands and really girly stuff, but yeah, I’m definitely a teenager.”

“But you’re no kid.”

“No.” I answered a little sadly and shook my head. “I stopped being a kid one day that seems like it was a very long time ago.”

“I’ve tracked the backtrail to somewhere in Southwest Arizona.” Lulu told me while rubbing her face with one hand and massaging her neck with the other. “That’s as close as I’ve been able to get, but it’s the real location. Whoever is doing their net security and hacking is good. Really good. I’d say it’s another emerged with talents like mine and whoever it is has been at longer than me.”

“Well that gives us a smaller search area.” I let out a sigh and rubbed my own forehead. Jon-jon and Laramie had been working with me on ways to beat a dominator in a head to head face off. And our best bet was still to have a sniper ready to take one or both of us out. I felt as if my brain had been sandpapered and knew I looked like crap. “I’ll get some covert teams out there to start a grid search of the area but that’s still a lot of ground to cover.”

“Ma’am.” Lacy’s voice came through the intercom. “Major Shu is here.”

“Very good, Lacy, send him in.” I gestured for Jon-jon, Laramie and Lulu to retreat into the adjoining bath/bedroom area and settled myself back in my chair to wait for what would happen next. Something in the back of my mind was screaming that trouble was close, like sitting on my shoulder and making faces at me close.

Shu entered the office, gave me a salute that I returned, then greeted me. “You look like shit.”

“Yeah, been a long week.” I nodded and waved him to a chair. “How goes the battle of the tunnels, caves, and whatever else?”

“We’re actually ahead of schedule on new construction and the refurbishing.” He told me with no little pride.

“Good.” I gave him a smile and accepted the reports he passed over the desk to me. “Coffee?”

“Don’t mind if I do, thanks.” He reached for the silver coffee service and froze for a moment then gave me a regretful look. “You know, I really hate doing this, but you’ve just been too good at your job, Ma’am.”

“Have I?” I questioned as he drew a sidearm he shouldn’t have been allowed to bring into my office and pointed it at me. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“Yes, I’m afraid he does.” Lacy’s voice came from the door to the outer office that she had just come through. “I need you out of the way, permanently, and I need someone to take the fall for taking you out. So…”

“I always did think you looked to damned young to be a captain.” I told her while still staring down the business end of Shu’s weapon. “I had hoped I was wrong, but I see I wasn’t. I hate being right so often.”

“Well, look at it this way.” She shrugged, confident in her control of Shu and I felt prickly little fingers reaching into my own mind but with Jon-jon’s help was able to shake off most of the growing cobwebs. “You won't have to worry about things like that any longer. I would have loved to work with you, but you’re just too dangerous to leave running around loose and I couldn’t ever be fully certain that you would be under control. I’m truly sorry things had to work out this way, but some things are bigger than either one of us.”

“Justifications do help, don’t they?” I looked at her while willfully ignoring Shu and the weapon he had aimed at my head. “At least they make you feel a little less dirty, right?”

“You should talk.” She sneered. “You have more blood on your hands than I would in years and you’ve only been running around ‘doing good’ for a few months. Finish her, Shu.”

I sensed, as much as saw the man’s finger begin to squeeze the trigger even though he was trying to fight the compulsion. Regretfully, I closed my eyes for a moment and nodded. “That’s probably true.”

The gunshot was deafening within the confines of the office.

I carefully safed my weapon once I was sure she was dead, then popped the mag and set both carefully on my desk as Shu collapsed and the others charged out of the next room.

I managed to give Lacy’s body, and her ruined face a dispassionate look and tonelessly asked. “Somebody take out the trash, would you?”

“You should have gone with the sniper, honey.” Laramie, rubbing my tense shoulders, told me while Jon-jon and Lulu started dragging the corpse of my Chief of Staff out of the office.

“Never foist your dirty work off on someone else if you’re capable of doing it.” I answered, then closed my eyes and lowered my head into my hands. “See to the major, I’ll be all right in a minute.”

That was a lie. Laramie knew it, I knew it, but I couldn’t give in and fall apart yet. There were still things to do.

I could only sit back in my chair and groan while people cleaned up the mess I’d made on the carpet. The fact that the mess was the blood and brains of my former Chief of Staff was something I was doing my best not to dwell on at the moment.

Numbly, I took my weapon, a very nice Berreta 9mm, once again made sure the safety was on and thumbed another round into to magazine to replace the one that had saved my life by taking another. Once that was finished, I replaced the weapon in the clip that held it under my desk. Okay, call me paranoid, but that had just saved my ass and I’m not going to argue the legalities of keeping a holdout weapon in my office.

Major Shu was coming around, with groans of his own to go with mine, and Laramie, my team’s healer came back to me and shook her head. “Girl, you need to let me really look at you here.”

“It’s just a headache, and reaction.” I protested.

“Another headache,” Laramie shook her head and I had a brief flash of admiration for her lovely chocolate colored skin, “Out of how many since you got here?”

“Every day.” I answered. “The pressure of the job, the… Dammit! She was trying to bend me from the moment I got here!”

The ‘she’ I mentioned was Captain Lacy Hume, my one time Chief of Staff and a dominator working for an opposition we still hadn’t really found. A dominator, for those of you paying attention here, can literally make someone do whatever the dom wants them to and can either make the poor schmuck forget about doing it, or just make it seem like nothing had happened at all. Lacy Hume had compromised more people in Beta site, the still being completed backup for the Center, than I could count and had either arranged two murders or done them herself since I’d arrived two weeks earlier to take overall (temporary, thank goodness) command of the facility. Right under my nose and the very sensitive noses of my whole team. While cheerfully and efficiently fulfilling her duties as Chief of Staff.

The perfect position to suborn someone, anyone, and unless a very bright, or lucky person noticed some small mistakes, one that was beyond and above suspicion.

Laramie made soothing noises while taking my head in both hands and closing her eyes. “You didn’t know, neither did anyone else. I sussed it when she told you she could never be sure you’d stay under her control. She’d been trying to take you but hadn’t been able to.”

“Why not?” I winced as her fingers, mental not physical, probed a particularly tender spot. “I didn’t actively resist her attempts. Hell, I didn’t even realize she was trying to dominate me.”

“Your brain physiology is a little odd.” Laramie answered. “Probably because of your probability warping, and the rest? Maybe because you’re one stubborn, opinionated, strong willed bitch?”

“Yeah, I love you, too, Laramie.” I sighed as some of the dull throb faded. “Keep doing that, it feels really good.”

“I’m healing some damage to your frontal lobes.” She informed me. “You fought the intrusions but didn’t get out of it for free.”

“The headaches.” I sighed as more of the pain faded.

“Yes, Ma’am!” Laramie grinned as I started to ream her out for that one and put a gentle finger against my mouth before I could say anything. “I don’t know how you did it, and it’s going to drive the science types nuts because they probably won’t be able to either, but you resisted a dominator for two solid weeks when she was almost right beside you the whole time.”

“I had help.”

“Johnny?” Laramie actually smiled when she mentioned his name. Not a humorous smile, but more the girl friend or planning to be girl friend type of smile one girl gives another when talking about a guy she likes. “He didn’t keep it from happening. You did.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“Because,” she grinned again, “I’m healing two weeks of cumulative damage in here, and I don’t feel Jon-jons presence at all.”

“Great.” I groaned again, seeing my glorious future as a lab rat right in front of me. The science types weren’t going to let go of this one no matter how long it took to solve how I’d managed to do it.

“There!” She gave a satisfied nod. “All fixed. Now I’m going to go take some Tylenol.”

“What happened?” A groggy male voice questioned as Laramie left the room.

“Nothing you could do anything about, if you even remember any of it.” I told Shu as we both gave the other slightly dazed looks. “Oh, I need another Chief of Staff. Any recommendations?”

Major Gregory Fitzhugh, my new — and quite thoroughly checked out — Chief of Staff called me on the intercom. “Ma’am? Major Shu to see you.”

“Good, send him in, Greg. Hold anything else until I’m finished with him.”

“Very good, Ma’am.” The guy was efficient, and relatively personable in most cases, but I still expected to hear and even see the traitorous Lacy Hume when he called or entered my office. Oh, the damage that girl managed to accomplish. It was staggering, and worse, had been happening right under my nose for several weeks.

Once Shu had entered and saluted me, I waved him to a chair. “Have a seat, Major.”

Once he’d done that I held up a sheaf of papers and gave him a questioning look. “Just what the hell is this?”

“A request for transfer, Ma’am.” He responded a bit stiffly.

“I can see that.” With a frown I set the papers down and looked directly into his eyes. “What I would like to know here is the why? What makes you feel as if you need to leave?”

“I didn’t think the base commander would either trust me or want me around after what happened the other night.”

“Martin, Martin.” I sighed and shook my head. “Do you even remember what happened the night Captain Hume was killed?”

“Not all that clearly.” He admitted then shook his own head. “But I do remember pointing a loaded weapon at my base commander. With intent to kill you.”

“Let me make this very clear, Martin.” I refused to look away from him and wouldn’t allow his own eyes to leave me through what I was learning to be something called ‘presence’ and force of personality. “That was NOT you. It was Lacy Hume working through you. You didn’t come in with that intent, and you definitely had no intention of harming me before Hume got to you.”

“That makes no difference, Ma’am.” He stiffly answered. “I did it. That is unforgivable.”

“NO.” I actually glared at him for that one. “YOU didn’t do it. Now let me explain a few things about what Lacy Hume really was here, and don’t interrupt until I’m finished.”

He nodded and waited.

“Hume was a particularly nasty kind of emerged.” I started out slowly, gathering my thoughts and working out the best way to tell someone who didn’t really understand any of us weirdly powered teens. “One called a dominator. Her power allowed her to literally push into anyone’s mind, rearrange things once she had, and leave commands that whoever she worked on had to follow whether they would be inclined to that sort of thing or not.”

He nodded. “So I’ve been told, but it is still…”

“No interruptions, major, remember?” I stopped him and he let out a sigh while nodding.

“You didn’t do anything, and I did see you trying to fight the compulsion. You can’t blame yourself for something like that, especially when even the people who know about the emerged can’t anticipate what kind of powers are going to appear or how they’ll work when they do. Besides, I’ve been paying attention to the other things you do around here and even though I’m not an engineer, can see that you’re doing far more than a good job. I don’t want to lose you, and don’t intend to do that. If you still have difficulties with what Hume did to you, and she got to well over a hundred people that we’ve found just now so you’re far from being alone in that, I know a few people I could call to help you get through it if you like. But I can’t be happy about transferring you over something that wasn’t your fault.”

“Well, if that’s the way you feel…”

“It is.” I grinned and picked up the transfer request. “Now should I wait till you leave to tear this up?”

“Do it now.” He smiled back and shook his head. “You know, even after our first real talk, I had my doubts about you here. You are so young and obviously not military at all. But those are gone now. Anyone asks me about you, I’ll quite freely tell them you’re one of the best commanding officers I’ve ever served with.”

“I appreciate that.” I was actually blushing and was glad I didn’t have a pale complexion that would really show that. “Now, is there anything else?”

“Well,” he nodded, “I do have some questions about the lighting in the living quarters you might be able to help with.”

“I’ll have a look and see if I can come up with something constructive to tell you, unless you have the specific specs handy?”

“No, just want you to take a look and let me know how it feels. I tried to simulate actual sunlight as much as possible since the whole place is underground.”

“I’ll take a look then, but from everything else I’ve seen I’m pretty sure I’m going to be impressed.”

“Please let me know either way, Ma’am.” He rose to leave. “With your permission?”

“Go. Get to work.” I waved him towards the door and had a thought. “Oh, Martin, if you’re comfortable with the idea, at least in private, my name is Luce.”

“I’ll remember that — Luce.” He answered with a grin and waved as he left.

Ahh, I love it when a crisis is resolved so easily. I really hadn’t wanted him transferring. One thing I’d already learned was when you have good people do whatever you have to do to keep them around and happy.

Limon, Colorado was a small town, at least compared to Colorado Springs and surrounds that rested on the plains east of the base. Fortunately, the place had a surfeit of SUVs and other related vehicles so our six four wheel drive Suburbans weren’t all that out of place even if they were the ubiquitous black that seemed to be the only color the Center had other than military camouflage. I made a mental note to try and get some in different colors just so they wouldn’t stand out so much.

“Xiang.” I answered my phone while watching the target area for any sign of movement that would betray that our presence was known. Lulu had traced some things and the unassuming warehouse and smaller outbuildings surrounded by a simple chain link fence is where some of that, along with plain old detective work from others, had led us.

We believed this place to be where Shaugnessy had been killed, and hoped that his still missing laptop might be there. Given the untimely, and messy death of Lacy Hume, this bunch’s in place agent, we’d had to move fast, faster than I really liked, and weren’t at 100 per cent by the time we’d arrived.

“Teams in position.” Josh Tecumseh, my new security chief informed me. “Ready to move when you give the word, Ma’am.”

“Charlie Team?” I questioned through the communications headset I was wearing.

“On the roof and ready, Sarge.” Leon’s voice came through.

“Delta team at the warehouse shipping doors.” Johnny chimed in. “No evidence that they are aware of us being here, Luce.”

I didn’t much like it, but had split my own team so they could come in from different directions, also giving support to the regular military troops assembled for this action.

Claire was with Leon’s group, Charlie team, to make use of her photokinetic abilities from a position where they would have the most impact — above. Her role was equivalent to someone being ready with a flash-bang. A really big flash-bang.

Sam, our combo Hydro/electro kinetic was with Johnny at the bay doors. Given the setup there had to be ample supplies of both water and electricity for him to make use of in that spot.

Kelly was with Tucumseh’s team, since they would be breaking into the office area and a tracker/token reader could prove useful there.

Laramie and Lulu were with me in the command vehicle. Lulu industriously working to override the building’s security and alarm systems at that moment, while Laramie as our healer was waiting for things to finish so she could pick up, and patch, the pieces.

“Lulu?” I questioned.

“We’re in, boss.” She grinned and in the excitement had forgotten to use her faked Caribbean lilt, thank goodness. “It’s a go.”

“All teams, on my count.” I spoke into the communicator. “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go!”

And all Hell broke loose in Limon, Colorado.

“Alpha Team, move.” I ordered as I exited the SUV with Lulu, Laramie, and four soldiers from my ‘personal guard’ as my original squad was calling themselves and moved towards the front gates of the place. As we did the interior of the central warehouse lit up like a bomb had gone off inside.

The gate guard in a little kiosk beside and just behind the gate was obviously the rent-a-cop variety and totally out of his depth where simply checking IDs wasn’t what needed doing. I did stop him sending out an alarm by simply eliminating the button that would do it. Then I unlocked the gates with a quick jab from my mind into the mechanism making it go into the open position.

“Hold this one right here.” I ordered two of my guys. “No calls out, and business as usual otherwise.”

“Who are you people?” The security guard, young and nervous — understandable in the present circumstances — questioned shakily.

“Homeland Security.” I answered, showing him my badge and ID. “Behave yourself and you’ll get through this just fine. All we’re after here is having a talk with your employers.”

I could see the breached main doors and a broken shipping/receiving dock door as we left the guard station and moved towards the first of the outbuildings. Our job was to check those and make sure no one was either using them for a hiding place or an ambush point.

“Beta Team is inside.” Tecumseh’s voice told me. “Light resistance but that’s it so far. Offices secured.”

“Charlie Team is in and collecting prisoners.” Leon intoned. “Central warehouse secured.”

“Delta Team in and docks secured.” Johnny informed me. “Encountered light resistance, but they’ve largely given up.”

“Roger that, all.” I answered while leading the search of the mainly empty outbuildings. “Stay alert.”

After half an hour of poking among discarded machinery and spider webs, I entered the main building through the front doors to be met by Captain Tecumseh who smartly saluted me. “All secure, Ma’am.”

“Good.” I nodded, and looked down the corridor. “Prisoners?”

“In the central warehouse area, Ma’am.” He took the hint and started leading the way.

We passed several groups of people under guard wearing semi-military uniforms in solid black and I gave them a once over before moving on. If any of them had useful information, Jon-jon would get it out of them. If they tried to break out, the guards had orders to shoot with extreme prejudice. In other words, if one of those people started trouble they were going to be very dead, very fast. I didn’t like giving those kind of orders, but had felt the situation warranted them. It wouldn’t do at all for anyone in this place to escape and warn others in their organization of what had happened.

Besides, with what we suspected these people had done, none of us felt much in the way of sympathy for them.

In the central area, surprisingly clear of the usual racks a normal warehouse would contain I saw two groups of people under guard. One of those was made up of obvious worker types, so it was the other one I moved towards first.

One of those people wearing an expensive suit forced his way forward and glared at me. “Are you charge of these — ruffians?”

“I am.” With a nod I deliberately looked elsewhere, taking in a few things that boded very dire consequences for at least some of our prisoners, but managed to keep the bland expression on my face.

“I demand that you and your people leave the premises at once!” He barked out like someone used to having his orders followed. “This attack, yes, attack is an outrage.”

“Shut up.” I quietly told him.

He stopped, but immediately puffed up and started another tirade. “We have rights…”

“I SAID to shut up.” I gave him a cold, predatory stare. “Until I say otherwise you and your people have no rights. You’re suspected of compromising the security of the United States, and as such can be held without communication with anyone for an indefinite period of time. I’d suggest that you cooperate with us or things will get very unpleasant for you and your people very fast.”

“Found this hidden in concealed cabinet, Luce.” Kelly handed me a military issue laptop that I knew without asking didn’t belong in this place.

“I think your threat level just went off the charts.” I told the gathered prisoners. “If this is what I think it is, you’re not only spies, thieves, and saboteurs, you’re also murderers.”

“Transport will be here in ten, Ma’am.” Tecumseh informed me. “Tech people in fifteen.”

“Good enough.” I gave the gathering a look that would have chilled a snowman. “If any of these people give the least bit of trouble until we can pack them up, shoot them.”

“Luce, I think you need to see this.” Claire waved me over to an out of the way corner. Once there I had to stop and consciously inhale because what I was seeing had caused me to forget to do that for a few seconds.

Oblong, cylindrical coffins, five of them, and two were occupied. By unconscious teen aged girls. “Are they alive?”

“Barely.” Laramie had joined us and was checking the kids without opening the access hatches spaced over the coffin-like monstrosities. “I’m not all that sure what was done to them, but they’re both missing important parts.”

I added kidnapping, endangering minors, and possible vivisection to the list of charges I was gathering. “Do the best you can, Laramie. These get priority transport back to Beta. I’ll see to it.”

After a quick call, I barely held my rage in check as I returned to the group of prisoners I’d confronted minutes earlier. “For you information, what I just saw effectively forfeited any chance you people ever had of a fair trial. If I was a slightly different person you’d all be dead right now. Pray that those two girls over there survive.”

“Got an incoming message from — Arizona!” Lulu informed me as she was going over the mainframe housed in a nearby cubicle. “It says, and I quote “Mission compromised. Eliminate all evidence and close up shop.”

“Can you pinpoint where it originated?” I questioned.

“It’s gone through several blinds and loops, but oh, yeah, I got ‘em dis time, boss!”

“Is an acknowledgement expected?”

“Seems so.” She nodded, but I don’t have the code.

“I think I know who does.” I grimly answered then called. “Jon-jon, over here!”

A few seconds later Johnny shook his head in exasperation. “He’s got the information but is hiding it very well.”

“Just get it, Johnny.” I wearily answered. “Try not to rape his mind too much, but get the codes we need.”

“On it, Luce.” He nodded, grim faced as the rest of us and turned to the suit who had started out protesting at our violation of his rights.

Thirty seconds later we had the codes, they were sent, and the whole system started to shut down. Which kept Lulu very busy for a few minutes.

“Would you really have had those people shot?” Sean asked as he gently massaged my still knotted up shoulders.

“Probably not. But with what we’ve learned over the past few hours, it’s an option I’m still considering.” I returned with a sigh as a particularly hard knot of muscle finally started to relax. “Even if that’s too good for them.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask.” He sighed in response to my tensing up all over again.

“I don’t blame you.” I answered. “I’m going to have nightmares for a long time over this one and it isn’t close to finished yet. The two girls we recovered were lobotomized, and then had other vital organs removed. They didn’t survive coming out of those tanks. There was lab equipment designed to reduce tissue and bone to liquid and genetic mapping devices in there that the science types are still trying to completely figure out. And the files we got out of their mainframe before it melted down are too awful to describe.”

“Why?” He questioned. “Why would they do something like that?”

“To find a cure, according to Langston.” I quietly answered. “A damned ‘cure’ for our ‘condition’.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah, road to Hell and all that.” I answered then changed the subject. “Speaking of… Were you able to contact Hume?”

“Uh huh.” He nodded but his revulsion was so clear it hurt to see it on his face. “That one was a real piece of work I can tell you that much. She warped the minute she changed, hated who and what she became, and started hating everyone and everything else around her. She personally killed Shaugnessy, that med tech, and several others that had been thought to be accidents. And she enjoyed doing it, Luce. She gloried in it.”

“I can see I’m not the only one who needs a long vacation right now.” I turned and gave him a tight hug. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”

“Had to be done.” He said bleakly. “But about all I could get out of her ghost was hatred, and rage that you wouldn’t give in to her and killed her before she could get more ‘revenge’ like she felt she deserved. Believe me when I say this Luce, you did the world in general a really big favor when you killed that bitch.”

“Hey.” I greeted the new girl with a tentative smile. “How you feeling?”

“Better, thanks.” The girl still named Jerry shrugged without much enthusiasm for anything at all, but to give her credit, she’d only been really conscious for several hours. “I guess I owe you some kind of thanks but right now I’m not so sure that keeping me alive was doing me a favor.”

“I know what you mean.” I nodded and carefully seated myself in a chair beside her bed. “Been through the changes, myself. Oh, I’m Luce, by the way.”

“Luce.” She nodded.

“Short for Lucinda.” I shrugged as she continued to stare at me. “Well, the name Evan didn’t fit me after my transition.”

“Transition. Is that what you call it? This?” She gestured to her body and shuddered.

“You’ve been told why and how this happened, right?”

“Yeah, but it still seems so unreal to me.” She shook her head. “One morning I woke up and things just went wrong, all wrong. The next day I woke up like — this and was so afraid, so confused. Then people started chasing me. I didn’t know what to do or why things had happened. All I wanted to do was die, to be honest.”

“But you didn’t.” I firmly told her.

“It would have been a mercy.” With a shudder the tears started running down her cheeks. “Everything I was, wanted to be, anything I had done — gone. I might as well never have existed. At least that way my mother would still be alive and my dad wouldn’t be grieving over losing the rest of his family right now.”

“Yeah.” I softly answered as I gathered her into a hug. “I felt the same way, still do at times, but there is life after the transition. I’m proof of that and I went through a meltdown for the reasons you just mentioned that I hear reached almost epic proportions. But things get better after awhile. You don’t believe that right now, I know. But they do, and will if you’ll let me, and other people help you.”

I couldn’t say anything else just then. Just held her while she cried hard enough to hurt.

I gave the man sitting on the other side of the table a glare that plainly said my patience was close to being gone and my temper was frayed to the point of being dangerous.

Herschel Langston, former administrator of the horrendous facility we had recently taken down stared at me in uncaring bliss. To him I was a child, therefore one to be either talked down to, ignored, or both.

“Langston.” I sighed, letting the frayed edges of my temper show while I simply looked at him as he was some disgusting exhibit in a museum of the depraved. “I may be a snot nosed kid in your opinion, but the important point here is that I am in command of this facility that you are a prisoner in. Yes I’m the head honcho here.”

“I find that hard to believe.” He arrogantly responded.

“I don’t give a flying fuck what you want to believe, Langston.” I answered softly. “But you are a prisoner in a facility I run. As such you are at MY mercy, and god knows I don’t have much of that left in your case.”

“I’m soo impressed.” He glared back and that broke what constraints I had been taking care to maintain. I gave a thought and slammed him against the ceiling, leaving him there while I idly checked my messages.

“Langston.” I conversationally told him as I was going through my messages. “I changed how gravity works, just for you. It was easy, and I could just as easily wipe your sorry ass out of existence with a thought. I wouldn’t even have to wave a hand to do it. Truthfully that would feel really good just now, by the way.”

He spluttered but couldn’t argue the fact that he was pressed tightly to the ceiling as if it was the floor in a high gravity environment.

“Now I could keep you up there indefinitely, all I’d have to do is leave you there and walk away.” I told him in the same tones. Then had the ceiling move to encase his body as if he had been laying there when concrete was poured and hadn’t gotten out of the way before it hardened. “Or I could just leave a man shaped lump in the ceiling. I’m what the boffins call a probability warper. You know what that is you arrogant ass?”

I could see he did and his already pasty face paled.

I gave him a thin smile and put him back in the chair across the table. “Parlor tricks, Langston. I could snuff you out of existence in less than a heartbeat and never worry about what I’d done for a second.

Now get one thing straight.” I calmly told him. “I personally don’t give a fuck if you live or die, though the second option is more to my liking. The only thing that is keeping you alive right now is that you’re potentially useful to me. Understand?”

He nodded, but I felt the need to drive the point home. “Like any tool, if you do what you’re supposed to do I’ll keep you around to make use of what you can do for me. If you stop being useful, your life doesn’t matter to me at all. I’ll just throw you away like any broken tool and forget about you.”

“You’re holding us illegally.” He countered, still not getting it.

“You have no legal rights, Langston.” I answered. “Unless I decide to let you have them. You and your people are here for your own protection if that hasn’t dawned on you.”

He gave me a look of incomprehension so I painted him the picture. “With the list of crimes lodged against you, going to any normal detention or correctional facility would be the same as a death sentence. Even the worst cons take a dim view of traitors and child molesters. And if you keep this moronic resistance going, I’ll send you to Leavenworth and let the inmates there take care of you. Think about that.”

He did and his face went another shade of white. “You can’t do that. It’s…”

“Inhuman?” I questioned quietly. “Why would that surprise you at all? You obviously didn’t think the poor kids you dissected while they were still alive were human, why would I be? I’m no different than they were, after all, so why would I feel things like pain, fear, and stupid human things like that?

To be perfectly honest here.” I grated out through clenched teeth. “I could kill you right now and not care one bit about the disciplinary actions that would bring down on me. And I’ll do it if you don’t get your shit together and start telling me and my people what we want to know.

And you know something?” I grinned at him. “I’d get the equivalent of a slap on the wrist if I did kill you here and now. So make your decision, big man. Answer our questions or die. That simple.”

I stood and moved towards the door leading out of the interrogation room and turned to regard him one more time. “I hope you don’t, actually — answer the questions I mean. Think about that while you’re alone here.”

Five minutes later he was singing like a canary that had seen the cat stalking him and noticed that his cage door was open.

“You know, there are times I really hate myself.” I spoke to the ceiling of my bedroom while Sean gently caressed my bare belly and nuzzled my throat with his warm, sweet lips.

“You do what you have to do, Luce.” He whispered, not at all afraid to speak his mind in private. “Just let go of it for awhile in here, please?”

“Oh, I think I can manage that.” I sighed as his hand moved from my belly to something infinitely more pleasurable that nestled south of that spot. “Show me how some things don’t change no matter how shitty the world seems to get. Please.”

And he did. Oh thank you God, he did. Then did he it again much to my delight.

I just laid on my back with my legs still wrapped possessively around his waist and sighed once he’d finished showing me for the fourth time that night. If someone had told me I’d be hugging tightly to some guy who had just screwed me silly several months ago there would have been a fight. If someone mentioned that now I’d just grin and tell them to mind their own business, I had needs like everyone else.

Even better, I had someone who could and did satisfy those needs that would have been so alien, so unspeakable for me six months earlier. And he satisfied them with an energy and sheer pleasure that caught me up in the whole thing no matter how bitchy I was when we started.

“I love you so much, Sean.” I whispered while holding him inside of me.

“I know.” He whispered and added. “I never thought I’d get used to being a guy, let alone find a girl I could say the same thing that you just did to me, but like you’re so fond of saying… Shit Happens. And every once in awhile it’s good shit. Really good.”

“Yeah, it is.” I answered dreamily then tightened my hold on a very important part of what he was now while giving him an impish grin. “Show me that again?”

He did, bless him.

“This is very disturbing information, Luce.” Kris told me over the phone. “We knew there were other organizations out there opposed to us, but this…”

“Tell me about it.” I grumbled. I’d seen the things she was only getting from vids and descriptions up close and way too personal for my liking. “But we are getting a wealth of information from the people we captured last week.”

“At least they’re cooperating.” Kris sounded a little relieved about that one. “I won’t ask to closely about how you managed to get that to happen.”

Well, let’s just say they all feel the nooses around their necks.” I actually chuckled over that, though it was kind of a mirthless sound. “While they know I have my hand on the lever that could drop the floor out from under them. Once they figured that out they caved in pretty fast. No one out here has much in the way of sympathy for any of them.”

“I can understand that.” She sounded grim, almost as grim as I felt when I really stopped to think about what our prisoners had been doing. “Just don’t let things get out of hand with it, okay?”

“Kris, I wouldn’t kill defenseless prisoners or allow them to be hurt, I hope you know that much about me by now.” I sighed while thinking of just how close I’d come to doing just that.

“Yeah, I know.” She said a little heavily from her end. “Colonel Harris sends his own well done on getting rid of that mole, by the way.”

“She did a lot of damage, but we’re recovering from it.” I answered tiredly. “Got the new codes, security protocols, and sequences in place already, but I really need at least one more telepath and healer out here. Jon-jon and Laramie are wearing themselves out checking and fixing what that bitch did to people before I killed her.”

“I’ll see what I can do for you on that, Luce.”

“All I can ask right now, I guess.” My response sounded tired and I knew it. I was tired, but also couldn’t take time to get a real rest given what had been happening lately.

“You are sounding better than last time we talked.” Kris encouraged. “You finally letting yourself relax off and on?”

“Let’s just say that I’m keeping Sean away from stairwells.” I actually laughed when I said that. “We’ve been doing a lot of that during my off duty time.”

“Good for you.” She laughed too. “For both of you.”

“Okay, back to work for me, I’m afraid.” I told her, as if most of our conversation hadn’t been related to business. “Tell Ariel I’ll call tonight after her study time, if you see her.”

“Will do. And Luce?”

“What?”

“I’ll send you what help I can. This Syndicate business has things pretty scrambled right now and we have rumblings that something is going on at one of their other major facilities but no real information right now. If you’re going to move against that one in Arizona and catch anyone at all, or get any more information, I’m afraid it’s going to have to be soon.”

“I have my planning team working up operational details right now.” I answered, knowing she was right and feeling a sense of urgency to get things finished even though I knew something like that shouldn’t be rushed any more than we doing so if it was going to work out the way we wanted. “We’ll do what we can.”

“That’s all we can ask.” She answered softly. “Call if anything else comes up before our next conference.”

“You know I will.”

Closing the connection I sat back in my chair for a minute and just let my mind go places that I needed but really didn’t have time to indulge in at the moment. Then sat up, called up battle plans, yes, actual battle plans that had been formulated to take that place in Arizona.

I knew that wasn’t going to be either pretty or easy. On anyone involved.

“Hey Auntie Luce!” Ariel’s voice sounded happy, with the underlying note that told me it wasn’t just because I’d called her, though that was a lot of it. “I have a roommate now!”

“Good.” I told her, and was glad. “Who is it?”

“A new girl named Athena.” The girl answered then her voice got quiet. “She’s really quiet and doesn’t talk much, but she’s nice. I think they put her with me because she needs someone close.”

“Really, and what do you think about that?” I asked trying to sound nonchalant about it but if she really was reaching out to help someone else it was a big step, a very big step, in her own recovery process.

“I think,” her voice grew thoughtful, “that I need to start helping instead of just being helped all the time.”

“That’s a good thing, Ariel, a really good thing.” My voice almost hesitated, almost choked up with the feelings that simple statement filled me with. I actually wanted to jump for joy and cheer till my throat wouldn’t be able to make another sound but just allowed my own happiness to get out. “Hearing you say that just makes my day, honey. I’m so proud of you.”

Ariel had been badly abused, mentally, physically, and emotionally for a long time before I’d found and rescued her. She’d been under the influence of what is called a damper — an emerged capable of shutting down people’s brains, completely if they wished. Douglas, the one who had done that to her was dead, another in the list of non-regrets I had since my own change, but he’d damaged her in ways that we still weren’t able to fix. The poor kid still didn’t remember who she’d been, where she was born, who her parents were, or even when she’d changed.

Then there had been Rossi. Slime, pure and simple, that one. He’d enjoyed ‘playing’ with little girls and hurting them physically in other ways. I’d taken care of that one, too. But by then it was nearly too late for poor Ariel.

That she was recovering was something that filled me with more joy than I can describe. Honey, I love you, and you’re doing really well, I’m so glad to hear that.”

“You’re going to be doing something dangerous again, aren’t you?” She questioned with the uncanny ability of a twelve year old to zero in on things they weren’t really supposed to know about.

“What makes you think that, sweetie?”

“I just know, is all.” Came the simple answer.

“All right, I suppose I am.” Letting out a sigh I went on. “But you know me and my job. Trouble just seems to find me, like a stray puppy I fed by accident one time that won’t go away. So yes, I’m going to be doing something dangerous pretty soon. I have to.”

“Just be careful, please?”

“I will, I always am.” I had tears in my eyes from the plaintive tone in her voice but shook that off because I didn’t wish to disturb her any more than she was. “So tell me some more about your new roomie…”

The conversation drifted into what she was doing in classes, the people she was friends with, and some funny little stories involving the inevitable accidents that happen around us emerged as a matter of course. By the time we stopped talking I felt a lot better and was in a better humor than I had been in for days.

“All right, what have we got people?” I questioned the group around the conference table I’d just seated myself at. Noting with a bit of sour amusement that none of them appeared any more rested than I felt.

Colonel Yancy Torrance, 101st Airborne gave me a quick, assessing glance, nodded and flicked a switch that brought up a contour map of our target area. The man had NOT been pleased to discover that he and the troops he’d brought to Colorado had been put under the command of a sixteen year old girl. Once he’d heard some things about me, and why he and his people were here, he’d lightened up. Especially when I specifically told him I wasn’t going to attempt planning something as complex as this kind of raid without a lot of help from those who knew what they were doing.

I watched his grey, crew cut head turn towards the map while he picked up a pointer. “As you’ve all been made aware, our target is just north of Nogales, which puts it very close to the Mexican border. We can be sure that the personnel there have bolt holes in Mexico just for an eventuality like we’re planning here. That complicates things a little, but not as much as they might like.”

I nodded, knowing that the president himself had contacted his Mexican counterpart regarding at least parts of this operation and had been assured that Mexican authorities, military and police, would lend any assistance needed before, during, and following our strike. Only they’d been given a cover story of a raid on a drug cartel in an unspecified area along the border. The way beta site had been penetrated left little doubt that the Mexicans had problems of their own, more so than usual, in that regard. So we were still playing things close to the vest, so to speak with that.

“After that arms and drugs fiasco in El Paso.” Torrance was referring to a huge shipment of mil spec weaponry and over a ton of cocaine that had been intercepted just at the border in Texas a few weeks earlier. One that had slipped past Mexican authorities and had been well on the way to some terrorist organizations within the United States. Being an important person in a section of Homeland Security did have its advantages at times, I admitted to myself while he went on. “Mexico is anxious to show us that they are not only cooperating to stop gun and drug running, but are actively working on their own to stop it from their side of the border. So far they believe the target is another terrorist site and given what is going on down there, I really can’t say that they’re far from wrong. So we can count on help from that side of the border if we need it though it would take some time for that to arrive given we’ve allowed them to believe this is a simple drug raid.”

I nodded and waved for him to go on.

“We have two basic plans formulated for this operation.” He told us and brought up another screen. “One we’re calling Rainfall, which involves air drops at all access points on this side of the border using helicopter borne troops. The advantage with this one is that it would seize all entry and exit points on this side of the border giving us the ability to attack from numerous points at once. The disadvantages are simply that the place is so large that serious opposition and at least some destruction of crucial materials, prisoners, and information would be a given factor.”

Everyone digested that information and its implications for a few seconds and I nodded for the man to continue.

“The second option we’re calling Wormhole.” He used the pointer to indicate discrete areas within the map we’d compiled of the base’s interior. “Simply put, we’d be sending dedicated special teams into specifically important targets inside to neutralize security protocols, protect surviving prisoners, and secure critical data and experiments. That would be followed up by an identical strike to what I outlined in option one.

The insertions would be done through a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) tandem jump consisting of the Commander’s teams and SOF (Special Operations Forces) designated to protect and support them once the insertions were made. Once that is done and the initial objectives are achieved, then first strike teams will hit the access points with support from EW and engineers. A follow on force consisting of APCs and heavy infantry will hit some minutes later to sweep up stragglers, while a cordon will be set up around the perimeter of the target to contain other problems that arise.”

ROE for this operation is the capture of personnel in the facility, we need live prisoners out of this. Anything else we manage would be gravy.” He finished.

“The major disadvantage in Wormhole is simply that we would be putting valuable assets at risk just to get our teams inside the facility and they would have to survive long enough for the major strike forces to relieve them.” He gave me a long, sorrowful look as he said that. Because those ‘valuable assets’ were myself and the emerged teams assembling to participate in the action. Along with the special forces people in there with us.

I interrupted the silence following that. “Colonel, if I may?”

He nodded, waiting to see what I had in mind.

“I do understand, and appreciate your concern for my own teams in all this. On one level that speaks well of you, very well. No soldier wants to see children involved in something of this nature, I understand that.” I took the time to give everyone present a searching look. “Some of you here have seen what my own team and I are capable of, some of you haven’t. But there is a glaring blind spot in your concerns.”

I let them think about that for a moment and Tecumseh quietly cursed. “They have emerged on their side, too.”

“That’s right, Captain.” I answered quietly. “This is a war, no doubts there, but unfortunately it’s a war of children for children and conventional weapons alone aren’t going to win it. You’ve all read the files and reports I’ve distributed and seen the security clearances required to even look at them. I had to up some of yours just so you would be allowed to read the information.”

They all nodded at that without taking their eyes off me. “So you know that the ‘kids’ I have assembled here have seen combat in one form or another, and most of us more than a few times. We’re young, yes, but unfortunately, the ‘children’ in this are going to have to fight the war, at least some of us are. And we know we don’t have any more choice in that than you do.”

“But the worst part of the whole thing is this.” I let my eyes bore into every one of them. “We stopped being kids some time ago. So I say let’s do this, get it over with as quickly and painlessly as possible, then maybe some of us can go back to at least pretending things are the way they used to be. But for now, we have a job to do. Let’s get it done.”

“One more thing before we close this meeting.” Colonel Torrance gave me a respectful nod. “Is that we can’t really trust that our own classified information regarding this operation will stay secure if too many are a party to it. So I’d like to implement non-foreign dissemination only of this material. We can set up a diversionary brou-ha for the south of the border types to play with, say a big drug bust gone crazy, people running all over the place, pulling attention away from what we’re really doing. That way the Federales will still be in place and likely to scoop up anyone we want along with the diverson.”

“Is it fair to exclude the Mexicans like this?” I questioned. “I mean, they have a few problems of their own with emerged, too.”

“Ma’am.” The man let out a sigh. “Though it is no reflection on you, or still on site personnel, this facility, a supposedly Secure one, was penetrated so badly that it’s taken weeks to just get things back into some semblance of secure operations. Given the propensity of criminals to buy off law enforcement down south, do you think our secret would remain one for long if we shared the actual information with Mexican authorities at this stage?”

“Well.” I gave him a long hard look and shook my head. “You’re the expert, that’s why you’re here. I don’t have to like the principle involved, but I do see the point. Any dissension to this?”

There wasn’t any.

“All right. Anything else someone needs to add right now?”

“We could just send a couple of B-2s in to bomb the shit out of the place then go in and pick up the pieces.” Tecumseh offered. “We could get the assets to spot for the bombers and save ourselves a lot of trouble.”

“Prisoners, Captain.” I reminded him. “As tempting as that plan is regarding costs in time and manpower what we want and need out of this are prisoners and information, not dead bodies and rubble. We want to take the place as intact as we possibly can.”

Just like everyone else at that table, I held no illusions about retrieving kidnapped emerged from the train wreck we were planning. I was afraid most of those were already dead, or had been suborned into helping the Syndicate. But we desperately needed to know, with a lot more certainty than we possessed through the satellite facility we’d taken down, just what exactly the Syndicate was up to and how far along they were with it.

I screamed like a little girl. Fortunately the oxygen mask I was wearing really muffled that because I was told that you can hear someone scream during a parachute jump from a long way off. Then I promised myself I would never, ever, EVER again jump out of a perfectly good aircraft if it wasn’t on the ground and not moving. And especially, most definitely, not in the dead of night. At least my comm gear had been turned off at the time.

HALO: High Altitude Low Opening jump. That doesn’t sound all that scary does it? Until you really stop and think about what it means and involves. Then had to do it yourself. The thing was a Special Forces technique for getting teams into important places without attracting a lot of attention — hopefully.

What the act itself involved was kind of like skydiving. But from a very high altitude. At night. Oh, yeah, our parachutes wouldn’t open until the very last second needed to prevent the jumpers from splattering like bugs on a car windshield when they reached the ground. I understood such an approach was almost impossible to detect. But it was NOT fun.

But you know what the worst part of whole things was? I’d volunteered to do it.

But there was an upside to the whole thing. Sort of.

Since I had never even parachuted before this, I found myself harnessed to a Ranger sergeant named Alfonse Ramirez. Who, by the way, was a real hunk who actually seemed to enjoy the stomach wrenching drop.

And people say I’m crazy.

But you know what? It was one of the biggest rushes I’d ever had.

“Oh Hell no. no way,” I shook my head as the simulation finished up and I removed the headset and other contacts on my skin, “am I or my kids going to manage that without a whole lot of training we don’t have time for. Get me those teleporters. If the SOF wants to go in that way, fine. We’ll meet them there.”

Colonel Torrance grinned, and gave me a wink that I just knew was full of mischief I’d never expected the man to show at all. But I’d be damned if I was going go through something like that for real and then expect to be ready for a fight.

The man gave me a long look, shook his head and flatly told me. “That isn’t going to work and you know it. You might be in charge, but it's my job to make sure your people and my people make and survive the jump in one piece so you can do your job once you're on the ground. I insist on having the right to scratch any of your people who don't cut the muster. And if you've got a problem with that, here's the phone, you can call my boss."

My first reaction was to just gut the arrogant bastard, but that one went away really fast. My second was amusement at having a tactic I’d used on unwilling officers myself thrown back at me. My next was a really surprising feeling of actually liking this guy and respecting him for the no nonsense methods he was using while handling unknowns like me and my team members. We were going to do this his way or it wasn’t going to happen. I could not only understand that, I could live with it.

“No need.” I waved the offered phone away and shook my head. “I can see that you’re right and you won’t get any arguments out of me. But I really would like to watch my own team members in their first run through of this simulation if you don’t mind.”

“Little girls like you shouldn’t be that evil.” Torrance glared at me but his grey eyes sparkled.

“Hey, if I got through it, they can.” I shrugged. “Did I pass?”

“Well you didn’t puke, pass out, or panic on the first run through.” He admitted. “Not bad for someone who hasn’t even tried parachuting before. But you have got to lose the girly scream on the way down.”

I couldn’t help it. I just had to laugh at that one.

"You won't be laughing, sunshine, when you find yourself on your back when it comes time for your chute to deploy. Now get with the program or get out of my simulator."

He had a good point, and I got back to the serious business at hand.

I watched my own Gamma team, and others go through the first run through of that same simulation. They all managed to pass the initial test. Oh, Jon-jon and Sean’s screams were a lot more girly than mine had been.

“I think I’m an adrenalin junkie.” I sighed while sitting down after my sixth solo run through of the sim.

“Goes with the territory, Ma’am.” Torrance grinned. “You either can do it or you can’t. Those who can tend to actually like doing it to a point.”

“Whatever.” I waved that aside and sat straight to give him a very serious look. “Am I, and my team, ready to do something like that for real?”

“If I didn’t wash you out during the second or third run throughs,” he said simply, “the rest were just to make sure you were familiarized with the mechanics of the jump well enough not to kill yourselves or someone else. One more run and I think you all would be able to manage.”

“I can live with that.”

“That’s the idea.” He answered simply.

Parasail safely packed and checked by moi. Check.

Reserve chute, ready, and in place. Check.

Altimeter and its connection to the main chute release, connected, and functioning. Check.

Altimeter set to correct altitude for chute release. Check.

Manual bypasses just in case the automatics failed ready and working. Check.

Low light goggles on and functioning. Check. The dimly lit interior of the aircraft we were in appeared bright as a clear day on the beach at the moment.

Jumpsuit tight and on correctly. Seals in place. Check. That was a rather thin, but heavily insulated coverall to make sure that the chameleon cloth ACUs I was wearing didn’t catch the wind of my descent. Which would have been catastrophic. All I had to do was zip it shut once the rest of the checks were complete.

Jump helmet and visor on correctly. Check. My hair was in a tight French braid to keep it from flapping all over the place and didn’t like that at all. I don’t think slapping your hair to make it behave is in any of the manuals I’d read yet. But that's basically what I did with it.

Secure communicator on belt and properly fastened. Check.

Paired nine millimeter pistols strapped safely to my thighs and holsters adequately fastened down. Check.

Additional ammunition safely in sealed pockets in my ACU. Check.

Grenades, two each — smoke, flash bang, frag — at belt and properly secured. Check.

Fanny pack containing emergency first aid and clean water. Check.

K-bar fighting knife in wrist sheath on right side. Check. I’m a lefty, have I ever mentioned that?

The jump master slapped my back to signal that everything was good and I zipped my jumpsuit closed and made sure the zipper was tucked away.

The SOF people, and some of my own team were also checking larger weapons that wouldn’t create a lot of drag on the way down. Submachine guns, blunt, nasty looking combat grade shotguns, and the short barreled, but very accurate M4A1. Those were the successors to the venerable M-16 and were very nasty pieces of ordnance. Still close to the caliber used in the M-16 these weapons fired rounds at a much higher velocity and the rounds were still designed to tumble when they hit a target. I won’t go into the nasty, gory details, but when one of those hit something soft like flesh, muscle, or even bone, the target generally went down and stayed there. The weapon was also equipped with an electronic counter to keep track of rounds fired and rounds remaining. Compact, efficient, and extremely deadly at the ranges we’d be fighting in.

My own weapon other than side arms, the knife and grenades I hoped I wouldn’t need? If you’ve been paying attention to things you’d know this. I was the weapon.

I won’t go into the details of the jump itself. We got the ten minute warning, lined up ass to teakettle into the sticks for the jump, checked the stuff on the person in front of us and waited for the signal. I was giving my gloves a last check as the cabin pressure dropped so when the rear ramp was let down the normal atmospheric pressure maintained up to then didn’t blow us and our equipment all out in a solid mass, and took a deep breath.

“Go!” The forward jumpmaster shouted as the light above the ramp went from red to green. Diving headfirst into nothing isn’t something most people even want to think about. But that’s what we all did and were hitting better than a hundred miles an hour towards the ground that none of us could see within seconds of leaving the aircraft.

My landing was a little rough, but I hadn’t broken or sprained anything. Better, I’d managed to come down a mere 100 yards from the target point. Whether that was good, bad, or indifferent I didn’t know or care at that point. I didn’t have to sneak half a mile or better to reach the spot. That’s all that counted.

Other silent shadows around me were unfastening their chute harnesses and stashing chutes like I was, and I took a few seconds to check the comm and make sure everyone had made it in okay. Those communications were absurdly simple, little blips of static or random seeming electronic noise that would be normal in the area so that no one who wasn’t actively listening for things would notice.

My team and our supporting SOF troops had made it in fine. Once I got out of the jump suit and did a rapid re-check of my equipment I moved as quietly as possible to the insertion point. To find Lulu doing a very quiet happy dance sort of thing in spite of the crouch she was in. The crazy bitch had landed dead on and I just knew she wasn’t going to let any of us forget it in days to come.

Gods save me from computer geeks who found that real stuff could be as much or more exciting that what they find in the virtual world.

Baker and Charlie teams sent their ready signals and I began a slow count to ten. Alpha team, mine, was tasked with taking the data center and its computers along with communications and security systems. That’s why Lulu was with us this trip. Baker team was to secure any prisoners remaining in the holding area, and Charlie team was tasked with blocking access to the rest of the facility from the barracks area and keeping the Syndicate people away from their amory. I didn’t envy them that job at all. There were a LOT of armed troops with at least paramilitary training in those barracks and a daunting number of them had actual military training and combat experience.

Having determined that the insertions were ready, I sent the prearranged signal to Colonel Torrance that would start the diversion some miles to the south and east of us.

Giving my people a nod, I keyed the command to commence the operation.

Sliding down a ventilation shaft and trying to be quiet while you do it is not easy. Even with ropes anchored above to help slow the descent.

Hand signals. Another crash course in how to communicate without letting your enemy hear you. I learned it, and could use them and understand them. Three months or so ago my biggest concern was getting through a day of school without getting stuffed into a trash can or shut up in my locker. Now, I could go back to my old school and DARE those bullying jocks to try anything with me. Without using my powers.

Oh yeah, now I had over a thousand lives hanging on my decisions in a complex of caves and tunnels in southern Arizona. High school toughs? Pffft!.

Click, click click, buzz, click buzz.

Everyone was in position now. God help me, I was the person that was going to start a chain of events that was going to get people killed, probably a lot of them before this was over with, on both sides. Moral issues later. It was time.

I sent the GO command.

My team dropped into the data center through ceiling vents and panels like the mythical Furies working with the baddest ass SO troops in existence.

The guards on site were down before they even realized they were under attack.

I gave the frightened IT types left a glance and told them. “Stay out of the way, answer our questions when we ask them, and you’ll be fine. Screw with us and you’ll be dead.”

No trash cans for these people. If they didn’t cooperate we didn’t have the luxury of letting them get away with it at that point. It was behave or body bags and they knew it.

Oh, maaan, I really hated bullying geeks.

Lulu was at the main console and her fingers were moving faster than a normal person, or a not so normal one like me, could follow. The blissful expression on her so perfectly sculpted face let me know that she was in very intimate contact with the base’s mainframes and was doing her best to get it to roll over and beg for us.

Leon, the corporal who really ran the squad who had started calling themselves my personal bodyguard was going to be awhile forgiving me for not letting him and his squad come with me for this one, but he’d get over it. They weren’t trained for something like this and there had been to time to train them. That was something I'd also made of personal note about changing when there was time.

The SOF people who were trained for things like this unlimbered the weapons they hadn’t already been brandishing and took positions to hold the access points from where we were to the rest of the facility. Fortunately, there weren’t that many.

“Security systems down!” Lulu announced. “Baker and Charlie teams in position and areas are secured.”

I picked up my communicator and gave the full band command. “Go.”

Chopper borne assaults landed and taking surface access points.” My very own computer geek informed us. “Entry points secured, and incursion in progress.”

“Now for the hard part.” I let out a sigh.

The enemy knew they were under attack, and that someone other than them had control of their own internal network. Our job was going to start getting really interesting within minutes.

“One thing to remember, though I shouldn’t have to remind you.” I told the SOF people. “If anyone looking younger than twenty shows up and isn’t trying to get away from someone else, shoot. Don’t bother asking questions, just shoot them. Or let me and my people take care of it. That’s what we’re here for.”

Johnny was listening without physical ears, as telepaths tend to do and stiffened as he pointed to the eastern doors. “There. Emerged coming.”

“Claire, hit the corridor hard as you can.” I told the photokinetic. One of her blasts was like going through a ten megaton flash bang and that could only be to our advantage now. Sam, back up position.”

The electro/Hydro kinetic moved without a word to stand slightly behind and to Claire’s side.

“Trouble from over there.” Jon-jon pointed to another exit. “Can’t read it. So it’s bad.”

“Mine.” I told everyone while moving to stand with the soldiers holding that doorway and doing my best to feel what we’d been warned about then told the regular troops, “Move back, this isn’t something you can fight. But be ready. There is sure to be a follow up on whatever this is.”

“Kelly!” I pointed to the other doorway. “Anything at all moves in there, open fire.”

Kelly Guiterriez nodded with a grin while unslinging her already beloved M4A1 and watched that corridor. Have I mentioned that petite, pretty little Kelly is our gun nut? If it fired a projectile, she could use it and well, with just that important bit of extra oomph. NRA poster child for sure.

Kelly and the squad covering that door opened fire just as a bright flash that should have blinded anyone at all filled another corridor. The one I was watching stayed empty. But someone was there, I felt it.”

Something hit my mind like a brick wall falling on it, followed with hurled mental concrete blocks.

Damn it! A projecting telepath, and a strong one, really strong.

“Give it up little girl.” A smooth, velvety, very masculine voice stroked my mind. “We’ve been watching you sweetheart, so I know how to beat you. Make it easy on yourself and just quit now.”

“If you know me that well.” I grated out mentally and with my voice, “Then you should know that giving up isn’t something I do.”

“He’s got troops coming in.” I managed to let Sergeant Rivera know. “I’ve got the emerged, just keep the troops out.

Alphonse.” I added while talking with him. “The first time, the very first time, I turn away from looking down this corridor, shoot me. Forget the codeword. This guy could steal it and I’d never even know he’d done it.”

“Aye, Ma’am.” He answered. Seals, they never lose the navy, do they?

“Do your best to kill anything, anyone, coming in from this corridor.” I told him. “I’ll take care of the emerged. And if I tell you to fire, whether you see anything or not, do it.”

If I can take care of the guy, I thought regarding the telepath. This one was terrifyingly strong. But there were still things I could do to counter that. If I was lucky the sucker would show himself and get shot.

Did I feel lucky? Dirty Harry would have really been disappointed with me on that one. Anyone waiting for luck to just come help them was an idiot.

So I gave up on the idea that something was going to come out of the blue to help me and started working to make my own luck.

Many thanks to Persephone and Nancy Cole for their input, slapping me when I got something wrong and patience while explaining the details of things like a HALO and current military ordnance. Any mistakes in the previous chapter, this one, and the ones following are all my own.

Maggie

Definition of some terms:
SOF - Special Operations Forces
Stick - Lines paratroops form into in preparation to jump
ACUs - Army Combat Uniform

Though Luce's team is listed as Gamma Team for Center usage, during a combat operation like they're involved in they've been given the Alpha designation because they are basically the lead team during said operation. Apologies for the confusion on that one all.

Gunfire was almost constant as I stared down the hall I knew held a very powerful Telepath though I still wasn’t able to see him and chewed on ideas to make things more difficult for him.

“Goggles!” I heard Lulu shout and got mine in place just after the lights in the data center went out. That was good thinking and I kicked myself for not having it done sooner. Now our attackers were lit and backlit while we were hidden in shadow or even darkness.

“Enfilade.” I whispered to myself. (See? I have been reading those damned tactical manuals.) and ordered. “Sergeant Ramirez, have your people fire down that hallway and to keep up a steady fire that won’t deplete your ammo too fast.”

They were already doing that and I got a look that plainly told me it was nice I’d noticed the opportunity, but to leave that kind of thing to the real professionals. I shrugged, gave him a grin and nodded.

Now for the part I could actually do that hadn’t been done.

I nearly cringed as the keening, cutting sound of a bullet passed by my right ear. From behind. I just had to trust the teams holding the other doors hadn’t been overwhelmed and knew they hadn’t or there would have been a lot more than one round whining past me. I did remind myself that standing upright probably wasn’t the best of ideas just then and dropped into a crouch as another round ripped through the air where my head had been seconds before.

But there was something else to worry about then. I reached out and changed the flooring of the hallway I was facing just a bit. Uneven footing for the bad guys had to be good for us. At least that’s what I thought. And if a few feet got caught in the floor as a result, well, that’s the breaks, right?

The image of an empty hallway wavered and was replaced with one full of troops, a lot of them down or scrambling to find nonexistent cover. My SOF people (why do I just automatically include anyone participating in something I’m involved in as mine? Later inanities, no time for you just now!) were gleefully hosing the revealed targets with fire the moment they appeared.

Hah! I thought. Come out and play big man, now that you’re troops are visible!

Me and my big mouth, even if it was just my mind that had said that.

“Oh, you are good, little girl.” The voice returned and I started feeling pressure on my mind and perceptions as the bloody scene in front of me faded to show a wide field under a warm sun that was filled with green grass and dandelions. Dandelions? Okay, I think my opponent was a little rushed there too, but the scene looked so damned normal.

I lowered the ceiling in the hallway in response to that, even if I couldn’t see the hallway just then I knew it was still there. Go figure, the sky in my vision got a whole lot closer once I’d done that and I felt rather than heard a very distinct cry of pain from my opponent.

As I was waving a hand to get the cloud that had suddenly decided my head would make a fine surrogate for a mountain, the scene dissolved and I again saw the once pristine hallway. Now it looked like a butcher shop in an earthquake.

I really wanted to puke after that, but I’d seen things just as bad, hell, I’d caused things just as bad. Just not on — this scale is all.

Evidently, I’d scored big time on the telepath because the attackers started pulling back. It couldn’t have a thing to do with the withering devastating fire my SOF people were putting out, could it? Oh yeah, I decided that it was real good idea to make friends with these people and keep them as friends.

“Telepath is down.” I informed Ramirez while I blocked the corridor with extrusions of the stone just under the walls we could see. “They’ll have to blast to get through that now.”

I’d essentially plugged the hole that hallway had been. Just by changing things so the part of the hallway closest to us didn’t exist. Big, really big plug there.

Ramirez looked at the now blocked hall, then to me, and shook his head. “Ma’am, remind me to never, ever get you pissed off enough to do something to me.”

“I don’t do that to friends, Alphonse.” I answered then added. “Leave a couple of people to watch this one, there’s bound to be someone around here who can undo what I just did.”

He nodded, grinned and started giving orders. Things were not quite desperate any longer so I started paying attention to the ops chatter on my comm.

“Charlie team is pinned, I repeat, Charlie team is pinned!” An absurdly calm voice informed whoever was listening. “Containment was breached at grid numbers…”

You don’t need all that technical positioning crap here. Team Charlie was in trouble is all you need to understand. Armed soldiers were getting out of the barracks section and had one of my teams in a bad spot.

“Help on the way, Charlie.” Torrance’s voice came through. “Five minutes.”

“Roger that, We’ll be ready.” The response was crisp and I knew that even though Charlie team was probably being cut to bloody ribbons at the moment, they would hit their attackers once the support got there.

“Alpha, status?” Torrance’s voice came through again.

“Holding data center, still secure.” I shot back then added. Alpha leader here. Status?”

“Bravo has secured prisoners and labs.” Kris’ voice, sounding a bit sick but dangerously determined responded. “Hostiles down here.”

That one had floored me. Kris and her team had showed up and I’d expected to hand command over to her. Not.

“You know the sit, you have the planning, use us where you need us.” She’d flatly told me which shot down any idea I’d entertained of getting out of the painful duty of really being in command of a battle group going into real combat. “We’re here to support you, Luce. Do the damned job.”

So I did.

Which brings us back to the really nasty stuff now.

Laramie was working hard, not just on my team members. Evidently the bad guys didn’t care who they hit when firing into the darkness Lulu had brought to the Data Center. There were an awful lot of dead computer techs and more than a few of the ones still breathing were hurt.

“So much for taking care of your employees.” Laramie, her usually rich chocolate complexion looking more like weak chocolate milk now, told me. “The bastards actually targeted these people before Lulu turned the lights off.”

“They don’t want them in our hands.” I gave her shoulder a squeeze while wincing at the pain I knew she was enduring just from that brief contact.

“Yeah, I’m a healer, pure and simple.” Closing her eyes as she began to regain her usual color, she glared at the still open hallways. “But there are some people I would really like to hurt, really hurt right now.”

“Know how you feel, hon.” Giving her shoulder another squeeze I started moving away. “Don’t over extend yourself. If you can’t do something without killing yourself, don’t.”

Laramie’s style of healing took more guts than I think I could ever manage to show. She actually took the injured people’s wounds, broken bones, or whatever, into herself. As in literally feeling their pain and suffering their injuries. Along with the real physical damage. I’d seen bullets extrude from her flesh at times.

No, I don’t think I could ever be that selfless, or brave, as much as admitting that made me feel really small.

Kelly, on the other hand was having a great time. Gun nuts. What can I say?

“Got ‘em pinned down.” She informed me, then slapped another mag into her weapon and fired down the hall to discourage someone from even showing the top of their head. “We got this one, Luce.”

Light exploded into the Data center from another hallway and I heard the distinctly different sounds of rushing water — fire sprinklers, probably — and the crackle of electricity. Claire and Sam were doing their jobs with a grim efficiency that I had to admire though I knew both of them would be very sick when this was done. If they survived it.

Okay, by now you’re probably asking… If I’m a probability warper, why didn’t I just reach out and finish the battle from where I was. Come on, I’m not god. Or a goddess. I have to at least see what I’m changing, and my range isn’t even close to god-like. If some schmuck with a grenade was within a hundred yards of me, sure, I could just change the grenade into a rock or a nerf toy. Or make it explode in his hand. Which I’d done already and let me tell you, that isn’t fun at all, because when I did change some reality I saw it. Up close and as if I was tapping the person on the shoulder to let them know I’d fucked them up.

I knew I was going to be sick when this was over.

The ceiling hit me again.

Which told me that damned telepath was back.

“You’re a lot more dangerous that we’d thought, little girl.” His voice whispered through my mind and showed a hint of real admiration. “But it’s time to put away your toys and go to sleep.”

“This is bullshit.” I told myself as my eyes got heavy and I had to fight to just stay upright and awake while I told him. “I’ve stood off better than you, ass hole. Come up and try to make me do that when I can see you.”

“Oh, that would be no fun at all, little girl.” His sweet soothing voice answered in my mind.

The scene in the hallway I was facing wavered for a moment, still a bloody nasty mess, but different and I tapped Kelly lightly on the shoulder and pointed. “There.”

One round and that was over with. The telepath’s head exploded as the high velocity round hit and that annoyance was gone for good.

What? You thought I was going to walk out there and do something stupidly heroic? Evans’s mama — even if she was my step mother, didn’t raise a damned fool. If I didn’t absolutely have to risk death, there was no way I was going to step right into the grim reaper’s path if I could help it. there is a good reason heros don't hang around once the fighting is done and it isn't because they're happily screwing the maiden they rescued. Think about that one.

That didn’t win the battle. How egocentric do you think I am to even start believing that what I had done with Kelly’s help would have made everyone else stop shooting at people they didn’t recognize as one of their own?

The action was still a bloody, screaming mess like any other battle that had happened in history. People that didn’t deserve it died, people that should have died if the gods were paying attention survived. But we took the facility.

Torrance and I exchanged looks. No congratulations, no jubilation. We’d done the job. That was all. The butcher’s bill had been paid and neither one of us really liked the cost, but both of us knew it was something we couldn’t change.

“Yancy.” I don’t know when we’d reached first name status, but we had, and the Airborne colonel gave me a questioning look as I went on. “Good job. Drinks are on me for everyone.”

He nodded then grinned. “I’ll sneak one to you if I can, Luce.”

“This time I’d take it.” I told him while sighing as I seated myself. “Just don’t send me one of those girly drinks with the umbrella and fruit floating in it if you don’t mind?”

“Straight Scotch, no ice.” He told me and chuckled. “I really want to see you the first time you taste that.”

“You’re contributing to delinquency of a minor here.” I grinned.

“Hell, Luce, I’ve known grown men who aren’t near as adult as you are.” He told me while pouring something into a shot glass and handing it to me. “Drink up.”

I did. My eyes watered, I tried to choke when my throat attempted to close up, and my stomach burned with that cargo of liquid fire for a few seconds.

The fucker laughed at me. Then poured me another one.

 

---

 

“Niiice office.” Kris grinned while giving my official digs in Colorado a slow looking over. “I’m jealous.”

“What can I say? My name was on the door when I got here.” I shrugged while waving her to a seat and getting a diet Pepsi for her and a regular coke — I called it unleaded — then handed her drink over while popping the top of mine. “Besides, it’s kind of nice to have people out there taking care of all the niggling little details without me hanging over their shoulders even by accident.”

She nodded, took a sip of her Pepsi then gave me a serious look. “Colonel Harris is very pleased with how you’ve handled things out here, you know. And I don’t just mean that Syndicate crap.”

“Got good people in the right places, is all.” I shrugged. “I let them do their jobs and only butt in if I think something can be improved on without tearing down everything they’ve already done.”

“That’s what I mean, Luce.” Shaking her head she grinned again. “You’re a natural for this kind of thing, and a certain Airborne Colonel speaks very highly of you, too. You’ve already started winning friends, and respect out in the military community.”

“Nice as that is,” I frowned, “I wish some of the reasons hadn’t happened.”

“Yeah, that’s a mess that isn’t going away any time soon.” She agreed while moving a stray hair with a little flip of one hand to get it out of her face. “This Syndicate is still out there, we know of at least three other facilities they have here in the states if not their precise locations. One of those others is out of action now, but they have more that are still active. I can’t say that I like their methods or goals at all, either.”

“I’m with you on that one.”

“One thing you need to be thinking about right now regarding that is that you’re probably pretty prominent on their threat radar, too.” She grimaced. “You’ve been pretty much personally responsible for setting their operations back by months at least.”

“I’m being careful.” I assured her with a little shudder. “Just please don’t saddle me with obvious bodyguard types right now?”

“You can take care of yourself, Luce.” She answered. “Just be careful when you’re out and about is all.”

My phone, on the desk chirped and I shook my head as I got up to take the call. “Xaing.”

I listened for a minute then let out a sigh I was careful to hide from the mouthpiece. “Martin, if the guy is being such an ass about this he can be replaced.”

“Yes, I know we need the stuff.” I agreed then listened again. “If he insists. Put him through.”

Xiang.” I announced shortly once the connection had changed over. “If you aren’t calling to apologize you’d better have a good reason for taking up my time, Mr. Reynolds.”

“I understand.” Nodding and frowning, I listened a bit more before interrupting. “Reynolds, I don’t want excuses. You contracted with us and you haven’t lived up to the agreement. Either have those light panels here by tomorrow morning or I’ll personally pull your contract and mark you as a liability for other military and civilian contractors. Got it?”

I smiled a little grimly at his response. “If, in future, you don’t feel that my people are as accommodating as you’d like. Don’t call me to bitch about it. Oh, if I see one, ONE extra charge for ‘rush delivery’ or anything else, even if you deliver on my deadline, I’ll have your contract and clearances yanked so fast your nose will bleed. Understand me?”

He did, I closed the connection and grimaced. “Sorry about that. The guy is related to some senator and thinks that should get him special treatment.”

Kris just shook her head in bemused wonder. “The Dragoness speaks. I can see you need some time off here, hon.”

“Have to admit a little down time would be nice.” I answered then shrugged. “But there is still so much to do here, I can’t just…”

“Yes you can, and you will.” She firmly told me. “That’s an order and not just from me. The Colonel has it taken care of. Here are your leave papers. Three days off. Period. Go enjoy the mountains and take Sean with you. No arguments, no leaving numbers where you can be reached, go have some fun and relax.”

“But…”

“Luce,” she quite firmly interrupted, “didn’t you just tell me you had good people here for getting this place up and running on time?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Then stop arguing. The place was getting along before you got here — with a couple of regrettable exceptions that you took care of — and it will survive three days without you playing mother hen.”

“Estes Park?” I questioned while reading the hotel reservations included with the official military paperwork involved in a leave.

“Yup.” Kris grinned. “World class hotel, close to here, lots to do and see, and it’s paid for. Here’s your credit card for the other stuff. Just don’t get too creative with how you use it or go overboard. Enjoy.”

I let a dreamy smile slowly take over my expression. Me, Sean, hotel room, no interruptions for a change…

“Okay, okay.” I leaned back and shook my head. “You win. Vacation time starts as soon as I warn people and can round Sean up.”

“Major Fitzhugh, your chief of staff. Remember him? He’s already been informed and is notifying the appropriate people.” Kris gave me an evil grin. “So get your butt out of this office, get packed and you’ll find Sean waiting at the front gates with your transportation. Now go have a good time.”

“Can I finish my Coke first?”

She almost snorted Pepsi out her nose when I asked that one.

A secluded and secure office somewhere in northern New York State.

Carson glanced out the window, barely appreciating the view of forested hills that to the unimformed went against all visions of New York State then returned his attention to the underling who was presenting him with the information. “So that’s her?”

“Yes sir.”

“Lucinda Evangaline Xiang.” He mused and whispered the name while staring at the grainy photo of an absurdly young looking Asian girl with long black hair and startling green eyes. “Hard to believe she’s that dangerous to us.”

“She tracked down our mole in Hom Sec’s Colorado site, resisted what was one of the most powerful dominators we’ve fielded yet, and personally killed her.” The other man pointed out. “Then she orchestrated the take downs of both a minor lab in Limon, Colorado and the strike that took out section three in Arizona. Which she personally took part in and in so doing also managed to kill a very powerful projecting illusion type telepath. The girl is more than simply dangerous, sir. She is an active, deadly threat to our organization.”

“Why then, does it seem like you’re asking for my personal permission to kill her?”

“Sir,” the man let out a sigh, “Homeland Security knows that you are financing The Syndicate even though they have no solid proof as of yet. If this girl is killed, they’ll come after you proof or not, she appears to be that pivotal in their plans regarding these freaks they call ‘emerged’, and they won’t stop until they have you facing a death sentence for murder.”

“Then add her name and description to those already listed under targets of opportunity.” Carson told the man. “Simms, if you can’t handle something that simple maybe it’s time for me to find a new front man for the Syndicate.”

“I’ll have a detailed plan on your desk in the morning, sir.”

“No you won’t.” Carson shook his head at his underling’s sudden bout of stupidity. “I don’t want to know the details. Let me know when she’s dead, nothing else. Get it done.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now get out of here and do what I pay you so handsomely for.” Carson turned away, ending the interview without theatrics. “I’m expecting a call from my — son, and don’t want to be have any interruptions for that.”

This concludes Children of the Tainted Water. Again, many thanks to Persephone, Nancy Cole, Lillith, and all of you who have been following and commenting on this story.

Maggie