Moving through snow wasn't easy, and the falling snow was starting to get thicker. Janice heard Cole say it was going to be a storm. It seemed that he had spent some time in Colorado and knew the weather deep in the mountains. They had trudged along for nearly an hour to get to the right spot. About two hundred yards off was an incline that led down to where the cave entrance was. Janice could see the cave from where they were, but it was rather well camouflaged. She could only see it because she knew what she was looking for.
Heather was still looking distraught. About twenty minutes before she had gasped out, "oh no!" The adults immediately went into full alert looking for what alarmed her. She looked up at them, stricken. "My bracelet broke off!" she cried, and started to look around on the snow.
Janice and Cole's eyes met in a moment of amused understanding. Kids. Regardless of her revved genetics, she was just a kid. Heather wasn't upset about death and mayhem. She was upset she'd lost her bracelet.
"If it's gone then it's gone," Cole told her. "I'll get you another one later, okay Little Bit?" Janice had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at that little endearment.
"But I never take it off," Heather said. "It's got all my charms on it, and now it's gone!" Her eyes narrowed in fury. "THEY made me lose it. They better not come near me!" For a second Janice was a little scared of her. The girl looked absolutely feral at that moment.
"Let's hope they don't see any of us again," Janice said. She took a deep breath. "I have a feeling you two are somewhat immune to the cold, but I'm not. We need to get moving." There was a strange look in Cole's expression, and she knew she'd hit the target. They got moving again, Heather pouting the whole time.
Suddenly Cole stopped, and dropped to one knee. Heather and Janice got down as well, looking at him. Heather started to scan the area, but looked confused. She couldn't see anyone. Janice caught Heather's face, and felt her jaw drop as she saw the girl's eyes. The pupils were twisting, taking over the entire iris as she looked up on the ridges and terraces flanking them. They contracted, then dilated again as she focused on different distances, just like an animal would. In Greek mythology the Manticore was a human-animal hybrid. What had happened to these people?
"Uncle Cole?" Heather whispered. He tapped his temple. She knew what that meant. There was someone "broadcasting" real loud.
"Someone has issues with his mother," he muttered after a second. Heather had to fight back a giggle. Cole closed his eyes and let himself "broadcast" out false emotion. It was the first step to mental manipulation. He couldn't directly affect thoughts unless he knew the mind well, but he could insert emotion to provoke a response. Fear. Loneliness. I'm far from home in a bloody mountain range for a kid. I'm sitting here…I'm sitting here…
Cole's eyes snapped open. He'd wanted to provoke the person into thinking about where he was positioned. He pointed up to a ridge about twenty yards from where the incline to the caves began. He looked at Janice, his eyes boring into her with suspicion.
"They knew where we were going," he said simply. "Where you were leading us to."
"She probably knows where we did training," Janice replied, ignoring the implication. "Exactly where doesn't matter if they're high enough to get a good view."
"A CIA operative just happens to be teaching at my niece's school," Cole said heatedly. He couldn't get her to open her mind at all. Not good. "Just happens to be chaperoning a trip far from her parents. Just happens to be the one with her when some mercenary team goes after her. Just happens to lead her right to an ambush."
Instead of responding, Janice suddenly whipped hard to her left, grabbing Heather and taking them both to the ground. A single shot rang out as they were falling, followed be several more. There was a small clump of rocks they got behind quickly, a few bullets ringing off of the stone.
"Just happens to get shot saving her life," Janice hissed at Cole. Blood was staining her cost. She pulled apart the tear, and was grateful to see that the bullet had grazed her arm, cutting the skin, but not going in. It still hurt like hell though.
He was too angry with himself to reply. He'd lost his focus for a minute to try and crack Janice, and didn't notice more people come up. Now they were pinned in a bad location. He could toss a grenade up to the place where the shots were coming from, but there was too much loose snow. An avalanche could start and bury them all. Damn! He'd gotten out of practice in strategy and tactics.
Janice hoisted her rifle, ignoring the sharp pain in her arm. She peeked over the edge and scanned the ridges, looking for color variations. There were more shots, and then she saw white that didn't match snow. Men, she thought disdainfully. Can't tell the difference between snow white and white. She fired three shots into the patch of mismatched color. The return fire diminished a little.
Cole was watching her, and with his enhanced vision saw the man fall. "Nice shot," he muttered. Not bad at all for a norm. With the enhanced vision, he could see movement, shapes and shadows much more clearly, but color was diminished. The shooters were being very still, but she'd been able to spot them. Not bad at all actually.
"There's going to be way more here in a minute," Janice said. "Any suggestions?"
"We go over the side," Heather said quickly, pointing to the edge. "We'll be in the caves before they can get to us, and we can lose them there."
"It's two hundred feet straight down," Cole vetoed. "Neither of us can do that, and she definitely can't."
Heather smiled at her uncle. "I can catch," she explained. It made no sense to Janice, but Cole looked horrified.
"That kind of strain would cause a stroke or something like that," he snapped.
"The snow is getting heavier," Janice said. "In a few minutes they won't be able to see, but you two can. We'll just wait and hope reinforcements don't get here in time." She wasn't too sure what Heather meant by catching, but Cole wasn't hyped on it at all.
"Will you two get your heads out of your butt and think!" Heather snapped. Cole didn't have to wonder where she got that from. Alicia had snarled that at the sixers more than once on a mission. She had that same "I am the only non-idiot here" expression her mother had perfected. "They're going to be here in a few minutes if we don't get shot first."
"Heather I am not letting you do that," Cole said fiercely. "You're going to kill yourself!"
"It's a risk!" she protested. "It's that or get shot or get cut up and dissected. I'd rather take the risk." She stopped. The wind was blowing in a new sound. Helicopter blades. "Uncle Cole!"
Cole wavered, and then looked hard at Janice. "How much do you weigh?" he asked.
She looked offended, but answered. "Around 130 or so." For a woman six feet tall, that wasn't bad at all. He thought for a second.
"About fifty feet up, just drop us," he ordered his niece. "I can hold the impact on my own."
Heather nodded. "Try to move as little as possible," she said. "Go straight, and don't fight if you change direction. Wait for me to touch down and just go."
"Are you insane?" Janice hissed. "There's no way you're going to make that drop."
Heather smiled coldly. "Check this out," she said, and then ran in a crouch to the edge. She paused for a second and looked behind her. Cole was already following with Janice behind. Heather turned and suddenly jumped over the side in a swan dive.
The freefall was incredible! The wind whistled around Heather as she tumbled towards the ground, tearing back her hood and blowing her hair everywhere. It was like flying with Uncle Cole except there wasn't the annoying plane around them. She engaged her mind, and forced herself to slow. Pain lanced into her head as she slowed herself down, finally hitting the soft snow feet first. She stumbled forward, falling on her hands. She flipped over, and waved at them to come on down. This was going to hurt.
Cole saw her land and wave. The kid did it. She was getting stronger. Janice was crouched beside him, the shock on her face absolutely priceless. Before they could move, there was another barrage of gunfire, and they both went face first into the snow. Cole grabbed Janice's uninjured shoulder, and flipped so that he was lying flat on top of her.
"Don't fight," he said. She wasn't sure what he meant by that. "Let me handle the fall completely. Just hold on. I won't drop you as long as you don't scream."
"How is she going to catch us?" Janice asked, knowing what he was waiting for. In a second the shooting would wane as they reloaded.
"She's telekinetic," he replied. Before she could protest that was impossible, the shooting slowed. "Get ready," he said, wrapping an arm around her back, and launching them off of the side of the cliff. Janice arms were locked around him, her eyes closed. If this was the way it was going to end…what the hell, there were worse ways to die.
