Annihilation - Finding Keepers (Annihilation Series (Book Seven}) Page 2
Jake sprinted home and yelled for Niko to go and get Robby from the city square. He quickly explained what had happened as they ran out of the house. Jake stopped before they arrived and turned back toward home to wait for Niko to return. After what seemed like hours hiding on a side street, he finally saw Niko and two other men carrying Robby. He also noticed three security floaters high over head flowing, obviously watching to see if anyone else appeared. He went out into the crowd and traded his tunic with another young boy whose clothes were in even more tatters than his own. He ran through the milling crowds while dodging the blowing trash, and arrived home just before Niko arrived with Robby.
He stayed by Robby’s bed until Robby regained consciousness. He would occasionally look out and see a security floater high overhead, but it eventually disappeared after a day. There was nothing he could do to help Robby’s pain; drugs were only available for the rich. Robby faded in and out of consciousness for two days. Finally, he opened his eyes.
“Robby, I’m so sorry; it’s all my fault!”
Robby rolled over and winced. He looked at Jake with glassy eyes, “We know the risks we take, Jake. Even if you had come forward, we would have both lost a hand. What did you take from that fat pig to get him so excited?”
Jake opened the small black bag and took out two large gold coins and two single credit coins.
Robby’s eyes grew large, “Wow! There’s a year’s worth of food in each of those coins.”
Jake took one of the gold coins and handed it to Robby, “This one is yours. I’m so sorry.”
Robby took his remaining hand and placed it on Jake’s head, “It’s ok. It was bound to happen eventually. We’ve just been lucky so far. Thank you. I’ll use this for our family.”
Jake was bumped by someone passing and he came back to his senses. He took a step toward the silver screen but then stopped as the memory he tried so hard over the years to forget came crashing in on him. He felt dizzy and moved to sit down on the small wall outside the casino entrance.
It was two weeks after Robby lost his hand that disaster struck. Robby had taken his gold coin to a market and tried to purchase food and new clothes. The merchant pressed a button as Robby was collecting his purchases. A security agent came in and stunned him with a stunner. Ten minutes later the agent that had taken Robby’s hand arrived and confiscated the gold coin. He dragged Robby out the door and threw him on the ground outside the market in a flow of sewage. There in the middle of the street, he pulled his blaster and shot off both of Robby’s arms at the shoulder. He then loaded him on a floater and rolled him into the mud in front of his house and yelled, “This is what a thief gets! Learn from it!” The agent looked slowly around at the trembling crowd, kicked Robby in the ribs, breaking three of them, and left.
Jake ran out, carried Robby inside, and put pieces of his tunic over the open blaster burns. Eighteen days later, Robby walked out on the bridge over the Seachim River, deliberately fell over the rail, and died.
Jake touched the large round object that was hanging under his shirt. He had pulled Robby’s lifeless body from the water and carried it up the bank to the street. He stayed beside him through the night, rocking back and forth on his knees until the next morning, when the body burners came by and forcibly took Robby’s body to be burned. Jake stayed in the street next to the river for two days, in shock for what he had caused to happen to the only brother he ever knew. At nine years old, he didn’t think about what would happen if he, or Robby, tried to use those gold coins. Now Robby was gone.
Jake raised his head and looked at the teleport field just thirty feet in front of him. He looked at the frame above the field and saw Robby sitting on top of it swinging his legs; he still looked ten years old. He could tell Robby wanted to see what he was going to do about the current situation. Jake had prayed countless times to relive those events that lead to Robby’s death, and had sworn that he would come to take Robby’s place if given the chance again. He prayed for years to be taken back to that time to save his brother. Now, a young woman was being blamed for his actions.
Jake sighed heavily and looked up at Robby, who nodded and smiled at him. He wondered why Robby never spoke to him when he appeared, but he sensed that Robby knew what he was thinking. Jake stood, took a deep breath, then turned and walked back into the casino.
Two big men that were standing off to the side of the teleport screen looked at each other, and one began talking furiously on his com. They followed Jake back into the casino.
Jake didn’t see them and wasn’t thinking about any danger. He knew what he had to do and what the consequences would probably be. He walked to the office where he had seen Cynthia taken and knocked on the door. One of the agents that had forcibly removed Cynthia from the casino opened the door.
“You’ve arrested the wrong person. I’m the one you’re trying to find.”
The agent looked him in the eyes and said, “Come in.”
Jake entered the room as the agent stepped aside and closed the door behind him. That’s when he saw Cynthia sitting with her feet up on a desk leaning back in a chair with her hands behind her head. She smiled and said, “Well, Bravo! You’ve actually surprised us all. We never dreamed you would do the right thing.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed. He looked quickly around at the three agents, who were all shaking their heads. One of them said, “I wish I had taken the bet.”
Cynthia smirked and said, “Who would have thunk it?”
Jake took a deep breath and asked, “What’s going on?”
Cynthia put her feet down and stood up, “I am a Stars Realm Searcher and these men are part of a team put together to catch psychics that are taking advantage of the Realm’s casinos. Right now we have teams in more than eight hundred casinos in this quadrant alone, trying to catch you and others like you. The casino management helped bait the trap by only having one gamer set up to pay out tonight. We know your pattern has been to arrive during the evening, and we hoped one of us would get lucky and catch you.”
“How did you know it was me?”
Cynthia tilted her head to the side and smiled, “We didn’t. Anyone who approached that machine tonight was followed. Incidentally, you were not the first one to sit down close to me. However, you were the only one that tried to get me to leave.” Jake looked back at the men barring the exit as Cynthia continued, “Yes, we saw you buy the flowers. By the way, that was a very nice card you wrote, and by not signing it one could assume it came from anyone.”
“Then why didn’t you just arrest me? Why this charade?”
Cynthia came around the desk and sat down on it, “Whenever we go after someone with psychic abilities, we give them a chance to show their character. The punishment for what you’ve done is determined by whether or not you are a hardened criminal. Quite frankly, every one of my teammates refused to bet that you would turn yourself in to prevent a miscarriage of justice. To us, you didn’t seem like one that possessed any character. I had my doubts when you agreed to split the winnings, but we just assumed you sensed the agents approaching.”
“I could have escaped.”
Cynthia stood up smiling, “No you couldn’t have, Jake. While you were collecting your winnings the pit boss put a microdot on the back of your shirt. The teleport field would have refused to allow you to enter. Now we have to determine what to do with you; but first things first.” She turned to the agent at the door and said, “Scan him.”
The agent pulled a small device out of his pocket and held it next to Jake. He moved it around Jake’s head and down his back, “Minimal reading; that’s probably why we haven’t caught him. I’m surprised he could win anything with this limited reading.” The agent started to put the device back in his pocket when Cynthia snapped, “We do this by the book. Complete the process.”
The agent gave a scowl, “With such a minimal reading, a passive scan is just a waste of time.” Cynthia just stared at him as he pushed a button on the device and then pushed another red button on top. The device exploded, sending four pieces out at high velocity and causing everyone in the room to duck for cover.
Cynthia got up from behind the desk she had dove over and looked at the agent, “What just happened?!?”
The agent shook his head as he looked at one of the pieces he picked up, “I don’t know, but the needle is stuck on the maximum number.”
Jake had hit the floor just before the device exploded. He had somehow sensed the danger before it happened. He looked around at the people in the room getting up from the floor and immediately noticed they were stunned at what had they had just witnessed.
Cynthia moved from around the desk and put electronic shackles on Jakes legs. One of the agents left the room saying, “Cynthia, I’m closing the casino.”
She quickly nodded and looked at Jake with fear in her eyes. “Have a three block area around us cleared.” She raised her com and said, “I have a Red Flag emergency. I repeat; a Red Flag emergency. Respond immediately.”
Jake looked around the room and saw the agents all talking on their coms. He looked at Cynthia, “What’s going on? What just happened?”
Cynthia looked at Jake, “I hope your character is as good as you just demonstrated. Jake, you are probably the most dangerous person in this universe; however, we need to make sure before we make a huge mistake.” She pressed her com again, “I repeat, I have a Red Flag Emergency. I need directions for what to do now.”
“I’ll be there momentarily, Searcher.”
A large spider appeared out of a teleport screen in the middle of the room. “Where is he?”
Cynthia nodded toward Jake and the spider moved forward with a device. He held it close to Jake and pressed the handle. It immediately burst into flame and melted. An Algean appeared a moment later out of another silver screen and the spider said, “Don’t scan him!”
“Why not?”
“I just used a proxirose scanner and it melted. You need to move far enough away to make sure you don’t destroy the scanner.”
The Algean nodded and teleported out of the room. Jake heard over the spider’s com, “I’m outside the building; beginning scan.”
There was silence and the Spider looked at Cynthia who had a furrowed brow. After a long moment the spider asked, “Well, what does the scanner read?”
“I have to teleport a new one in.”
The Spider looked at Jake as he said, “Why is that?”
“This one just melted as well.”
Cynthia and the spider looked at Jake. Even he could tell that there was a high level of apprehension and maybe downright fear in their demeanor. The spider lifted his com, “We have found a Red Flag. I repeat; we have found a Red Flag. Please tell us what we should do.”
Chapter Two
Jake was sitting in the control room of a small ship. Cynthia was sitting in the command chair wearing a Searcher’s uniform, staring at the screen on her chair’s arm. They had just teleported aboard from the casino and Jake still had the shackles on his ankles; Cynthia had helped him take his seat. “I don’t know why I had to bring you here,” she said to herself as she stared at her display.
“Can you please tell me what this Red Flag business is all about?”
Cynthia looked up from her display and sighed. “I just don’t know if I should. I’m waiting for someone to tell me what I should do. Please be patient and let me get a grip on what’s going on. I suspect we will be receiving visitors shortly who will explain everything.”
“Are these restraints still necessary? I’m not going anywhere.”
Cynthia asked, “B.C., do you have him locked in?”
Jake heard a voice emanate from the walls, “Absolutely, Cyn.”
Cynthia got up and used her bracelet to break the electronic field of the shackles and they fell away from Jake’s legs. They immediately disappeared.
“Who is B.C.?”
“My ship’s computer. B.C. is a shortened form of Big Cheese. It was one of my father’s favorite terms for big shots and it fits him quite well.”
“I thought a ship’s computer had the same sex as the Searcher?”
“That was true more than eight thousand years ago when computers were bonded and imprinted to the Searcher, but the newest models have cybernetic systems that are pretty much autonomous. They’re built right into the ship already active.”
B.C. said, it allows us to be assigned to different Searchers without having to be reprogrammed.”
Jake looked around and said, “Well, hello B.C.”
“Hello, Jake. Boy, have you stirred up a hornet’s nest. I haven’t seen this much excitement since Cynthia took command.”
Cynthia quickly said, “Not now, B.C. We need to wait for instructions.”
“Why?”
Cynthia struggled for an answer and said, “Because.”
“I hate it when you do that; however, you’re probably right. We are treading in uncertain territory. Anyway, welcome aboard, Jake.”
“Thank you, B.C.”
Suddenly Cynthia’s com activated, “Permission to come aboard, Searcher.”
Cynthia signed, “At last.” She pressed her com key and said, “Permission granted.”
A silver screen appeared and a teenage girl stepped out of the silver screen. She was about five foot six inches tall, weighed about 125 pounds, and Jake thought she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. She had amazing hazel eyes and jet black hair that hung down below her shoulders. She was wearing a rose and blue colored formfitting jumpsuit that made her look regal. Then he recognized her.
She looked around the small bridge and saw Jake, “My, you’re handsome for the fearsome criminal the casinos paint you up to be.” She then looked at Cynthia, “I am Valerie Rose, and I am a member of the Royal Family.” Cynthia bowed and Valerie walked forward and shook their hands.
Jake now started to get nervous. Valerie looked at him and quickly said, “The last thing I need for you to do is get nervous, Jake. Relax; you’re not in any trouble that should concern you.”
Jake answered in a shaky voice, “Easy for you to say. Then why are you here? People go all their lives and never see a member of the Royal Family. If I’m not mistaken, you are next in line for the throne.”
Valerie tilted her head, nodded, and smiled, “Ta-Dahhhh! You’re absolutely right. Give the man a prize! I would still feel much better if you would relax. Some rather dramatic events could take place if you get too nervous, and I’d like to try and avoid those.”
Jake shook his head, “What are you people talking about? All I’ve heard is Red Flag this, Red Flag that, most dangerous person in the universe, don’t get nervous! How could I not be?”
Valerie looked at Cynthia and said in a voice Jake could hear, “I like him. He’s so open and direct. Don’t you think so, Searcher?”
Cynthia was in shock herself from seeing the Princess. She looked at Jake and said to Valerie, “I know a little about what a Red Flag is, but your coming here has me, just like Jake, very nervous.”
Valerie laughed and said, “Both of you need to lighten up. The safest place in the universe, at this moment, is aboard this ship. So relax. It’s everyone else outside this ship that should be nervous. But we are perfectly safe right here, and that’s why I was sent now. To make sure I was safe in the event of an “event”. By the way, would you please move your ship to an empty area between galaxies?”
Cynthia started to speak but heard, “Already on it.”
“Thank you, B.C.”
Valerie walked over to Cynthia’s command chair and looked at the view outside the ship. The closest galaxy looked like a tiny speck of light. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Jake and Cynthia, “Well, maybe now we can talk. Why don’t we move to the galley and have a bite to eat. Anyone else hungry?”
Jake thought about it and realized he had not eaten anything for hours. “Well, I am, Your Majesty.”
“Lead the way, Searcher.”
Cynthia left the bridge and walked the hundred feet to the small kitchen. They each ordered a meal from the ships system and sat down at a small table. Jake was more hungry than he thought; he took a big bite of his sandwich. Cynthia just sat there not eating. Valerie was also eating and noticed Cynthia’s nervousness. “Searcher, I think you need to relax. We have some time to get to know each other and you’d make coffee nervous with the way you’re acting right now.” Cynthia picked up a spoon and started eating. “That’s better,” Valerie said. She looked at Jake and smiled, “Tell me why you went back into that casino, Jake.”
Jake stopped his sandwich half way to his mouth, then put it down. “I’d rather not, Your Highness.”
Valerie leaned back and said, “Jake, I want to share some things with you, but I need to know what kind of person you are before I do. If you want to know what’s going on, I need you to be open and honest with me.”