Chapter 7: In which Geri hears a storm
"I'm fine, Dad." Geri gripped the receiver. "Where are you?"
There was a click, followed by a the buzz of a dial tone in her ear. "I'm sorry," the woman beside her said, in the brisk way that people spoke when the last thing they were was sorry. "But I warned you not to ask that. I'll take you back to your room now. You can speak to your father again tomorrow."
What's the point of talking to him when I can't ask where he is or what we're going to do? Geri thought. But she knew better than to argue, so she let herself be led back to the room.
The cell, as she thought of it. There was a bed and an attached bathroom, but she was locked in. The woman had introduced herself as Claudine Andrews (so Geri thought of her as Miss Andrews) and said she was the housekeeper, not that Geri believed that. What kind of kidnappers had a housekeeper?
Still, at least she was alone in the room, so she pulled off her jacket and slipped the heavy slab of the emergency beacon from under her sweatshirt, shoving it under the mattress. For all the good this has done, she thought. Wildrider's walk-into-the-trap-and-see-where-they-take-you scheme had backfired spectacularly, and they had flown so far that Geri didn't think he had any idea where she was.
For that matter, she didn't have any idea where she was either. Although she had a Braille watch, she hadn't worn it that day, so she didn't know how far away from Santa Clara she was in either hours or miles. After the plane had touched down, one of the men in it had driven her some distance to a building that was at least a few floors tall - she could tell that from the elevator - and she had been handed over to the housekeeper. The only good thing was that she had been allowed to speak to her father.
The door opened. "Come here, please," Miss Andrews said, "There's a doctor to see you."
A doctor? Geri sat down on the bed and wondered just how much more bizarre this would get. "Why do I need a doctor?" she said, struggling to keep her voice calm.
"It's all right, I can examine her here." The voice was a man's, and footsteps came closer. She heard a muffled jingle of metal instruments. "You don't need to be afraid. I'll just make sure you aren't hurt. From what I hear, you've had a rough time of it recently."
Can't you just leave me alone, even if you won't let me go? Geri thought but she knew she needed to pick her battles. Getting upset now wouldn't help; she had to keep calm and wait for a moment when she could either call for help or escape.
Besides, if she was mad at anyone, it was with Wildrider for getting her into that mess and at herself for going along with his lunatic idea. More at herself, though, since wanting Wildrider to be level-headed and responsible was like wanting fire to freeze. So she swallowed hard and hoped nothing too bad would happen. She had felt vulnerable often enough in her life, but this was something new.
"Lift your shirt up a little, please. I'd like to check your heartbeat."
Reluctantly Geri obeyed, hoping the only thing she would feel was a stethescope. She heard the man draw his breath in.
"How did you get all those bruises?" he said.
"Escaping from some kidnappers," Geri said. Being thrown around inside Wildrider would do that, though she supposed it was a little safer than being on a road anywhere near him. A little.
The man didn't say anything more as he told her to breathe in and out, then checked her blood pressure. "The last thing we'll need is a blood sample," he said. "It'll hurt a bit, but we should be done soon."
The last thing Geri needed was people whom she didn't trust (and couldn't get away from) sticking needles into her, but she supposed she had no choice about that either. She wasn't afraid of blood tests - she had had one only a few months back, as part of some study meant to help people with the same kind of blindness as hers - but now she wondered if the man would try to inject her with some drug.
He can do that without bothering to lie about it, she thought and pulled up her sleeve. Might as well get it over with. After that she got a Band-Aid for her arm, a tube of ointment for the bruises, and lunch on a tray.
She hadn't expected to have any appetite, but after a day on the run with nothing to eat except for potato chips and candy bars – Wildrider's ideas of "human fuel" were straight out of commercials – any hot meal would have tasted good. Still, she felt annoyed when Miss Andrews took the tray away and said it was nice to see someone enjoying their food. I'm not enjoying this, I'm just hungry.
"How much longer do I have to be here?" she said, trying to make the question sound polite rather than whiny or challenging.
Something soft was set down on the end of the bed. "These clothes should fit you," Miss Andrews said, "and there's a bathrobe as well. Let me know if there's anything else you need. As for how long you have to stay… well, it shouldn't be longer than a month or two."
A month? Two? Geri's throat tightened and even when she managed to open her mouth, all she could say was, "Why?"
"I haven't been told. If you like, I could arrange for a radio and some audiobooks."
She thinks I'll just sit here and listen to books on tape? Why do I keep meeting crazy people? "What about my dad? Is my dad going to be locked up for two months as well?" Geri knew it was equally crazy to worry about anything else when they might both be killed, but for some reason she kept wondering who would feed her hamster and pay all the bills during that time.
"It won't be for long. Just cooperate with us and you'll both be released at the end of that time."
"You'll just let us go?"
"Why shouldn't we? You can't describe us and you don't know where you are." The door's handle turned and Geri realized she would be alone in another moment.
"Wait," she said suddenly. "You said… you said that if I cooperated with you, we'd be released. I'll cooperate. Just tell me what to do."
"All right," Miss Andrews said. "You seem like a sensible girl, so stay here, let us know if there's anything you need and don't cause us any trouble. That's the only cooperation we want." The door closed and the key turned in the lock again.
Geri fisted her hands to stop her fingers trembling. What does that mean? Why do they want me to stay here for two months? Her kidnappers weren't interested in ransom, not if they had a private plane, at least two cars and a safe place to keep her for months. So what do I have that they want? She couldn't think of anything.
She was awake long into the night, though that gave her enough time to search the place. One advantage of being blind, she thought. Even if they have hidden cameras in here, good luck spying on me in the dark. With the lights off, she explored the bedroom walls and floor with her hands, trying not to feel discouraged when all she found was a thin crack between the doorjamb and one wall.
On impulse, she fished her library card from her pocket and shoved it into the crack, pushing until the card's edge was nearly flush with the wall. She had once listened to a historical novel where a girl who had been kidnapped hid her jewels in a dungeon. Since Geri had no jewels to hide, the library card would have to do, and she remembered that the girl's idea had solved the mystery of her disappearance when the hero was imprisoned in the same dungeon and found the jewels.
But wasn't she dead by then? Never mind, it doesn't matter. I'm not her. I'm going to find some way out… out of a locked windowless room.
Wait, if there's a bathroom, there's got to be a window in there instead. In another few minutes she found it, although she had to stand on an upturned laundry hamper to reach it. The window was narrow and she wasn't sure if it would open fully, but at least she had a way to get out now.
I still need some way to climb down safely. And then what? I don't know where to go or whom I can trust. Her nerves were stretched to their breaking point and she was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. It was the first time she had felt utterly alone in the world. No one nearby whom she could talk to or depend on, no one at all.
She went back into the bedroom and leaned against the door - of course it's still locked, what did you expect? Pressing against it helped, though; at least she could hear a little of what was happening outside. Voices in the distance were too far away to make out anything they said, but there were two or three of them at least. Men. Security guards, maybe? One of them laughed, the sound cut off as a door slammed shut.
Geri let herself slide slowly down and curled up on the floor, listening to the muffled sounds of people moving about - Miss Andrews in the room just next to hers and others on a lower floor. Taps ran and cisterns flushed, but one by one those sounds fell silent as well and there was nothing more for her to hear.
They're all asleep, whoever they are, she thought, and I should rest too. The situation she was in seemed to get stranger all the time, so she needed to marshal all her resources to get out of it.
And I will get out of it. By myself. She couldn't hope for any help from Wildrider - whatever he had got in terms of speed, strength and firepower, he seemed to have missed out on when it came to common sense and attention span. On top of that, he was a Decepticon, so he was probably busy fighting Autobots or blowing up power plants or something. Geri could tell he had picked her up out of the fun of it, rather than through any kind of altruism, so as soon as she started being a problem he would have moved on to his next thrill.
Not that I was much better, she thought just before she finally fell asleep, still huddled beside the door. Hitching a ride with a talking car, playing Knight Rider instead of just going to the police. Well, look where it got me. Won't make that mistake again.
When the people outside spoke, their voices were so quiet that they would not have woken Geri if she had not been sleeping beside the door. She raised her head, wondering for a disoriented moment where she was, before she registered the cramped stiffness in her limbs. Must've been here for hours, she thought just as she heard the people just outside. She nearly moved away before she realized that they were talking to each other.
"That was quick," Miss Andrews said.
"I had the tests done privately. Overnight processing." It was the doctor's voice. "And the results are here, if you need them. It's confirmed."
"Then the rest of your payment is downstairs. I'll take you there."
"You won't need any further treatment for the girl?"
"No. We won't harm her and she'll be released as soon as he dies. That can't be more than…" The voice grew quieter as Miss Andrews walked away, fading into silence.
As soon as he dies? Geri had never felt so afraid, not even when she had walked away from Wildrider and into the house where strangers waited for her. Who dies? My father? She wanted to hit the door and ask what her family had ever done to deserve that.
No, stay calm. If they think I'm difficult to control, they'll tie me up or put drugs in the food or something. It will be over soon – I can't spend another night in this cage without going crazy too – but I have to be calm.
She dragged herself into the bathroom and splashed water on her face, but it didn't make much of a difference. "Do you feel ill?" Miss Andrews said some time later, when she came in with breakfast.
"I'm just tired." Geri had been brought up to speak politely, but sometimes that wasn't easy. "The air feels different in here today… sort of stuffy."
"Oh, that's the storm," Miss Andrews said. "There are clouds moving in from the north and the wind is starting to increase. We'll have a thunderstorm tonight."
Geri liked it when people described things to her, even if they sounded like a weather forecast when doing so. If the storm was severe enough, people would be indoors, shades and curtains drawn, and no one would look out to see her escape. Yes, I'll do it tonight, she thought.
With something like that to look forward to, the day passed slowly. She was let out to make a phone call to her father, but by then she had learned not to say anything other than greeting-card sentiments – hi, how are you, I love you – and while she meant all of them, it was frustrating to be prevented from just talking. Still, at least he was alive, though she didn't know for how much longer.
Miss Andrews brought her dinner that night and left again. Geri ate as much as she could, although she was so nervous that it all tasted like cardboard. Then she got up on the hamper to open the bathroom window.
It wouldn't move, so Geri folded a towel against the window, holding it in place with one arm. She hit the window as hard as she could with a china soapdish.
Glass broke, though the sound was muffled through the layers of towel. Geri wrapped her hands in washcloths and picked shards out of the frame, grateful that the window was narrow enough that she didn't have a lot of work to do there.
Cool air poured in as she cleared all the broken glass away. Machinery worked in the distance – grinds and clanks alternated with heavy metallic scrapes that seemed muffled through sand or gravel – and Geri hoped that was a good thing. At least there were people nearby, though if they all knew she was supposed to be a prisoner, they might simply return her to her cell if they saw her.
But over the sounds of the machines she heard a flag flapping and the hollow, seashell-to-the-ear wail of wind rushing through alleys. Storm on the way all right, she thought and deliberately dropped a large shard of glass from the open window.
The thin splitting sound as it hit the ground took a second too long for her liking; now she knew she was several floors up. She tried not to let that faze her. At least no one had reacted to the glass breaking, so chances were that the bathroom faced on to a secluded part of the property.
She hopped down, broken glass crunching under her sneakers, and went into the bedroom, where she removed the belts from the bathrobe and all the jeans she had been given. Once she had tied all of them together, she stripped the bed and tied the sheet to the makeshift rope as well. Knotting one end of that to the windowframe, she hoped that it was long enough for her to reach the ground - she had no way of knowing.
Time to go, she thought but stood where she was. I've forgotten something, but what? Not clothes; she was wearing her sweatshirt and jeans. Dusty and in need of a good wash though they were, at least they were hers rather than something Miss Andrews had given her to replace her father and her freedom.
Wildrider's emergency beacon. It was still under the mattress where she had left it. Geri told herself not to be stupid – the thing was bulky and heavy and obviously not a whole lot of use. And she should have had more sense than to trust a Decepticon.
But when she had been with him, she had known no one could lay a hand on her, and that had been reassuring. With a sigh she gave in, lifted the mattress and slipped the beacon into the back of her sweatshirt; the bruises at the front still hurt too much.
She pulled herself up to the window, twisted, and sat on the ledge with her legs dangling inside the room. Dragging the rope out, she let it uncoil and blotted her hands against her jeans. Despite the coolness of the air, her skin was slick with sweat.
What if I fall? Too late to worry about that now. Come on, start climbing.
Her hands were trembling again. Geri clenched them and told herself not to be a coward, but that didn't make a difference. The nothingness beneath her was too frightening. Empty air pressed against her back and whispered in her ears, nearly drowning out the thud of her heartbeat.
Just climb, she thought. She had to focus on getting away, calling the police, finding her father before someone killed him. If she just concentrated on that, then she wouldn't think about what would happen if a knot came loose, because she'd never learned all those Girl Scout skills. Or what would happen if she lost her grip--
Thunder rolled out. Geri started, and her whole body began to shiver. She knew then that she couldn't climb down.
Do something instead of just sitting there! If you can't go down, go up!
That was something she hadn't thought of before, and the novelty of it made her fear ebb for the moment she needed to try it. She put a foot on the narrow ledge of the window and pushed herself to a standing position, reaching up as she did so. Her fingers groped along the outside of the building and found a ledge that felt concave.
A gutter. She clenched her hands tightly on it and found toeholds on the top of the windowframe. The muscles in her arms burned and her bruises throbbed, but with an effort she got her elbows and then her legs over the edge as well. Too shaken to stand just yet, she rolled away from the edge of the roof.
But now anyone who broke into her cell would see the rope and think she had climbed down the side of the building, instead of suspecting she was above them. Good, now all I have to do is find a safe way off the roof.
On hands and knees, she searched the roof until she found a maintenance hatch. She got her fingernails under the edge and tugged, but it was locked from the inside. What now? she wondered. She could thump on the hatch and hope someone heard, but what if they just took her back to her cell?
The wind whipped her hair around her face. Geri stumbled to the side of the only shelter she had found, a ventilation unit with a slightly protruding roof, and crouched beneath it. I could be up here for days, she thought, if no one knows where I am--
The sky cracked overhead, earsplittingly loud, and the air had a sharp ozone smell. The echoes of the thunderclap died down slowly, and she didn't hear the maintenance hatch open until it creaked.
Geri froze, then held her breath. Footsteps thudded inside the building as someone climbed up – she recognized the slight hollowness of sounds in a stairwell – and then something dropped against the other side of the ventilation unit. A lock snapped and tools clanked together. Someone's come out to repair something, she thought.
If it's a maintenance worker rather than a security guard, could I ask him for help? Not much of a choice. I can't slip down that hatch without him noticing me.
She felt her way around the ventilation unit, uncertain whether to call out or wait for the new arrival to spot her, though that became a moot point when she tripped over something. She staggered forward and dropped, her outflung hands striking the roof as metal instruments jangled noisily and rolled everywhere. Great, that was a toolbox.
"What the hell?" a man said.
Geri felt a screwdriver under her leg, and she sat up, closing her fingers around its handle just as the man reached her. He slipped his hands under her elbows and drew her up to her feet. "You all right? Where did you come from?"
Can't tell him I was being held prisoner here. It'll sound too unbelievable. "Do you work here?" she said, shoving the screwdriver into her back pocket. She was shivering again, but she told herself that was just because her clothes were damp with sweat and the wind was rushing over her.
"Yeah, but where'd you come from?"
"Could you get me to a phone, please?" Geri said. Ten seconds with 911, that's all I ask. "I'm hurt really bad." She pulled up her sweatshirt just enough for him to see the bruises across her stomach where she had slammed repeatedly against Wildrider's seatbelt.
There was a clink of some other tool hitting the roof. "Sure," the man said. "Come on. I'm Mike, by the way."
"My name's Geri. Oh, and I'm blind," Geri remembered to say. "Just tell me how many steps there are."
Cloth rustled as she felt a faint cool brush of air very close to her face, and she guessed Mike had just waved his hand before her eyes. "The guys are never gonna believe this," he said as he took her arm. "Is this some kinda publicity stunt? Are there cameras set up where I can't see 'em?"
"I wish." Geri let him lead her to the hatch and down the steps to a clanking elevator. "Could you tell me what this place is?"
"Yeah, it's the hostel." They stepped inside the elevator, which began to descend.
"What hostel?" Geri said, running her fingers over the elevator buttons out of long practice, though she couldn't feel any corresponding Braille symbols. I can hardly tell 911 "the hostel" – it's not like saying "the White House".
"For SLS workers. You know, the construction company?"
A construction company? That explained the machines she had heard, but for the first time, Geri began to wonder if she was on some kind of publicity stunt too. Had someone really intended to keep her on the premises of a construction company for two months? It didn't make any sense.
The elevator opened and she took hold of Mike's sleeve as he stepped out. "Where are we going?"
"Lobby." He led her down a corridor, opened a door and headed down another long passage. "You know, if you're hurt there's a nurse's station just--"
"No, I need a phone. Please." Geri was so much on edge that her hearing felt as though it had been sharpened. People talked in nearby rooms, a water cooler gurgled and another elevator close by opened with a ding. After the openness of the roof, the lobby felt as though it was slowly shrinking around her, funneling her into a place where anyone hunting her could close in on her.
A quakelike crash sounded outside, and Geri nearly stumbled as Mike stopped dead. "That wasn't thunder," he said as if to himself.
Geri knew that from the faint vibrations traveling through the floor, the effects of something striking the ground hard enough to make even the foundations of buildings tremble. I have to get out of here. "Mike," she said, struggling not to let her voice shake as well, "where's the phone?"
"Oh. Here." He put a receiver into her hand and then moved away. Venetian blinds slapped lightly together and she guessed he was looking out of a window.
Running footsteps made muffled thuds against the floor some distance away, but Geri could tell they were coming closer. She ran her other hand along the cord to locate the phone.
The door at the other end of the passage flew open, and the hurrying footsteps pounded into the lobby – three or four of them, at least, Geri thought as she found the wall-mounted phone. "The police have been informed," a man said, "but in this weather it might take them--"
Both speech and movement stopped, and she knew he had seen her. She punched the three numbers, but it was already too late.
"Mr Maramis?" Mike said.
"Get that phone away from her!"
The phone dropped. Geri turned and ran in the opposite direction, to the elevator she had heard earlier. She thought they might have caught her anyway, except that a fire alarm began to clang and someone screamed outside. That bought her a second or two more, and even through the chaos she was listening for the whir of the elevator.
She threw herself in the direction of that sound and landed on the floor of the elevator, so terrified that she didn't even feel any pain. Whoever was running towards her didn't reach her before the elevator doors closed again, and Geri staggered up, fumbling at the wall until her fingers brushed the buttons. Press something and move! Which one?
The last row's always for a basement or parking lot, she thought and hit those buttons. The elevator doors whirred open again a few moments later, but that was too soon. I'm just a flight of stairs down, she thought, and those bastards will be here any minute.
She stepped out and stood in what she guessed was another passageway, keeping one hand on the wall. The fire alarm was still clanging, but to her left she heard the muffled growl of an engine fading into the distance. That's an indoor parking lot. She bolted in that direction until her outstretched hands smacked hard against a door, then let herself out.
Behind her the door to a stairwell slammed open and bounced off the wall, but she heard the rain far ahead. That's the entrance to the parking lot. If I can reach it--
Keeping one hand to the wall, she hurried to the left and ran into the car parked there. The impact nearly knocked her down, but she clenched her teeth and ducked around the side of the car. She crouched between its hood and the wall, then crawled towards the entrance, keeping the other parked cars between her and the rest of the lot.
The door to the parking lot flew open and she tried to move faster, ignoring the scrape of the concrete wall against her shoulder and the hard dusty ground under her hands. It sloped upward slightly, so water kept trickling down it, soaking into her jeans. She guessed there were people fanning through the lot and searching for her, though she couldn't hear them over the pounding of her heartbeat.
Her palms felt raw from friction and she was so tired that she thought of hiding under one of the parked cars. What if someone drives it away, though? And how long can I stay there, if the building really is on fire?
Maramis yelled an order at someone. Geri cringed reflexively, but she could tell from his voice that she had covered a lot of distance already and moments later her fingers struck the opposite wall. She was at the other end of the parking lot, so if she could just get out without being seen, she had a chance.
Another car was parked between her and the entrance, which was close – she could tell from the downpour of rain. She crept along the car's side, put her hand on one of the rear wheels and pulled herself to her feet. Her body ached, but a jolt of adrenaline hit her at the thought of finally getting out.
She bolted to the entrance, ignoring the shouts from the other side of the parking lot. The edge of a wall hit her shoulder painfully, but she was outside in the next moment, her sneakers splashing through a huge puddle as rain spilled down her face. Thunder crashed overhead and she couldn't hear anything, so she didn't know where to go.
Just move! she thought and ran forward, straight into another man. "I got her, sir!" he shouted as his hand closed around her arm.
Geri grabbed the screwdriver from her back pocket with her free hand and slashed out desperately. She never knew whether she managed to hurt the man or whether the point of the screwdriver only snagged on his clothes. It was torn out of her fingers in the next moment, and the man released her just long enough to hit her across the face. The blow sent her sprawling. The side of her face was numb, and she tasted blood.
"Try that again and I'll beat the crap out of you," the man said, and even through a haze of pain she could tell that he was leaning over to haul her up.
Taipan Kiryu : Appreciate the review! The Protectobots take the kidnapping of a child very seriously – and now it's personal. Expect to see them again. :)
That's one thing I like about Wildrider. He's outnumbered and outgunned and completely out of his depth, because he doesn't know what the kidnappers want or what kind of resources they'll deploy against him. But none of it makes a difference. He jumps in anyway, does his best and has fun along the way.
Almost makes me sorry about all the slag I'm going to put him through.
herongale: Thanks! That's part of the fun of writing the Stunticons – making things as rough as possible for them and seeing if they can rise to the challenge. One reason I really want to work on another story that pits them against each other.
dfastback68: I've always liked irony and there's quite a bit of that with the Stunticons, such as Breakdown being their scout. So naturally the insane terrorist makes the best companion for a kid on the run, because whatever Wildrider's faults, at least he's not cruel or paranoid or clinically depressed.
And thank you for the compliments on the characterization! The Stunticons are some of the most enjoyable characters I've ever written about, and "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide" was an inspiration for me – along the lines of what not to do. I wanted a heroine who wasn't instantly in love with her Transformer ally and who wouldn't take any bad treatment from him.
I thought the weirdest thing in that episode was the way Powerglide led Astoria around by one hand. They looked like a parent with a small child.
Cybernetic Mango: You got it right – a misunderstanding where innocent people finally end up paying the price.
Fire From Above, No Name Needed : Thank you. :) Good to hear the action works, and there's more of it to come.
Tugera: Thanks for the review! I wish the Protectobots had been given an origin episode – maybe with a moral dilemna, like saving human criminals or injuring a human in their line of duty.
dixiegurl13: Glad you enjoyed the action, and looking forward to your next chapter!
I'm fascinated by gestalt teams – the Protectobots and Aerialbots as well as the 'con combiners. There's something fascinating about characters with very disparate personalities (and faults) being compelled to work together. Especially when they come into conflict with each other as well as with outside forces.
tomorrow4eva : Thanks for reviewing, and that's a good point. What are the Decepticons going to do even if they answer Wildrider's emergency beacon and he's in real trouble? They can't take him back to the base. Only the other Stunticons are likely to ignore Megatron's order, though no one knows where exactly the other Stunticons are… yet.
And deliberately knocking himself out is not by a long shot the last lunatic thing Wildrider's going to do. Though hopefully the driver might not have heard the noise over the sirens screaming and the crashes as cars fight to get out of Wildrider's way.
