Outside
By Be Boring
Chapter 20: Man In My Dreams
The dark was so solid that Kay didn't dare move from her spot. Curled up in a ball in a corner on the cold stone floor, she clung to her knees and rocked back and forth for both comfort and warmth. The silence that had been never-ending for quite some time now had caused her to start hearing things that weren't really there, and what she imagined was worse than anything that could happen to her in reality. In her mind's eye she could see the Nomlies prowling just outside the door, lurking, waiting for the door to open so they could eat her. She should never have let Zack get to her like he did.
They had been out in the low brush behind Manticore, learning to sneak by each other. Kay had heard Zack coming and pulled him out of his hiding spot. The fight that had followed had caused everyone to come running, including Lydecker and the other adults that were keeping tabs on them out here. Neither one had wanted to give up, and they fought till they were covered with blood. Kay had sent the first soldier to try to separate them flying, and Zack had broken another one's arm. Now men with guns were heading in their direction, but neither one cared. They were too focused on tearing the other to shreds to care. It wasn't until Krit tried to stop the fighting, out of concern for his brother's well-being of course, that the two became frightened. When Krit threw himself into Kay's side to knock her over, she not only stayed on her feet but grabbed his head and started to twist. That was when she had paused, hearing Krit's low whimper of pain and seeing the others around her freeze. Horrified, she had dropped Krit to the ground, knowing that she had been half a second from killing him. The fact that she let him go didn't matter to anyone, she still received punishment.
This was too severe. Lydecker had left Kay in here a couple days at a stretch before, but never five days. Her only way of telling time was when she heard the water turn on. In isolation, the only thing you were given was water, which poured out of an opening in the wall into a tiny bowl that was built into the wall. This came every morning, and it was the only water she'd receive all day. It was certainly no more than a cup, and that started to wear down her body after a few days. Now she barely had the strength to get up and her body temperature was dropping fast. She had never been so tired, but she was afraid that if she fell asleep the Nomlies would get in. Her imagination was running wild with her, but the exhaustion was taking over. She was curled up in a fetal position and was rocking slowly back and forth, praying that she wouldn't fall asleep. She rarely prayed to the Blue Lady, but this was one of those times that she swallowed her pride and grasped at straws for hope just to stay sane.
The light that hit her suddenly terrified her, she was sure the Nomlies had come in. To keep from screaming, she bit down on her lip so hard that she felt blood trickle down her chin. The dark shapes in the doorway were transformed into huge monsters in her mind. She kept her eyes locked on the wall in front of her, not wanting to see what was coming for her.
"On your feet, 358," Lydecker snapped. Kay was jerked out of her private nightmare and back to reality. She had never been more happy to hear his voice. She leapt to her feet and teetered, her strength so badly diminished that she could barely keep her balance. She could sense his satisfaction at this and hated him for it. As she headed for the door where he was directing her, she kept her mind trained on each step. It took most of her effort to keep from stumbling and going down as she walked. Most people seeing a six-year-old child in this condition would have called it child abuse, but at Manticore it was standard operating procedure.
As they were passing one of the few offices in the building, Kay couldn't keep her feet moving any more. Her legs simply crumpled beneath her and she hit the floor like a load of bricks. She was dimly aware of the office door opening slightly, but her attention was taken away from it by the sight of Lydecker standing above her.
"Get back to your feet, soldier!"
Kay couldn't get her feet under her again, the muscles in her legs seemed to have melted. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod to the soldier next to him, who kicked her straight in the gut. Kay held back a groan as the force of the kick rolled her over. She reached out and grabbed the wall in an attempt to use it to help pull her up, but the soldier's foot hit her in the ribs and sent her back to the floor. She felt her head connect with the stone, but had no time to worry about her new head wound as Lydecker clutched the back of her shirt and dragged her to her feet. As he shoved her down the hall, she heard someone speak from behind her so low that she was the only one with the ability to hear it.
"I'm sorry, so sorry."
Kay sat bolt upright in bed, breathing hard and drenched in sweat. Ben sat up next to her.
"Kay? What's wrong?"
She gasped for air and looked desperately at his face. He looked real enough. Oh God, it had just been a dream. She collapsed back onto the bed in relief, still trying to steady her breathing.
"Nothing, nothing. Just a bad dream."
"Are you sure? You look pretty freaked out for that to have just been a dream."
"Well, it was actually a memory, but that's okay. It was a long time ago, I was just sort of reliving it. God, it seemed so real."
Ben rolled so he was above her and gently pushed her damp hair off her face. "Will you be ok?"
She lifted her head off the pillow and kissed him softly, the taste of his lips forcing away her last traces of terror. "A-ok. You know, as long as we're awake..."
He rolled his eyes at her as he moved back from the kiss. "One-track mind. I'm tired."
"Oh, don't be a tease."
Ben grinned down at her. Despite his protests, she could already see in his eyes that she had won him over. "Now since when have I ever been a tease?"
Kay and Brin had come up from working with the horses so they could get something to drink. In spite of how chilly Kay felt out in the breeze, Brin couldn't stop saying how strangely hot it was out there. Kay watched her sister as they drank their water and noticed that her eyes kept moving out to the driveway and staying there, seemingly fascinated. Kay looked out at the driveway and saw Ben talking with Buddy as he took a short break from his work. His t-shirt was soaked with sweat and as he pulled it off Kay noticed Brin's eyes light up strangely.
"Uh, Manticore didn't happen to fix your heat cycles when you were there, did they?"
Brin turned to her with a surprised face. "No, something about the fact that my Progeria had changed something slightly and they couldn't stop the cycles without chancing a relapse of the condition. Why do you ask?" She had hardly finished the question when Kay saw the realization come into her eyes. "Oh shit."
"Yeah, exactly. Want to hide out in my basement?"
"Sounds as good as anything else."
After Kay had locked the basement door behind Brin, she headed for where Ben, Buddy, and now Zack were talking in the driveway.
"Hey guys. My basement's off limits for a while, okay? Brin needs privacy." Both X5s nodded in understanding, but Kay waved off the questioning look she got from Buddy. "You don't want to know, just don't go in my basement."
Ben flashed her a thumbs up. "I know better than to walk into the middle of that basement when you're in it and the same goes for Brin now too. Well, I gotta get back to work. That woodpile isn't going to get any bigger if I leave it alone."
Kay nodded, knowing it was probably best if she stayed in the house to make sure Brin didn't escape the basement. Every X5 was different when they were in heat, and Brin could turn out to be unmanageable. Nah, this is Brin I'm talking about, she'll be fine. She should have paid more attention when a little voice popped up in the back of her head saying 'yeah right.'
Is she ever gonna stop? Brin had been going insane most of the night. It seemed that she didn't have as much control over herself as Kay did when she was in heat. Of course, Kay had a secret fear in her of something like Lydecker happening again, which seemed to give her more control. She finally climbed out of bed and headed for the basement. Ben was sound asleep behind her, so hopefully if she had to go to extremes with Brin, he wouldn't get caught in it. She already had her extremes set up in her mind, but she didn't want to use that plan unless she absolutely had to. In the next instant, she found out she would have to.
The moment the door opened, Brin launched herself at Kay. As soon as the two women hit the ground, Brin jumped up and started for the bedroom where Ben was sleeping.
"I don't think so, honey!" Kay grumbled as she grabbed Brin's arm and dragged her back to the basement. She shut the door behind her once they were both in and took her sister downstairs. The place was a mess! The few chairs and the table that had been set up down here for Kay's heat cycles had been flung all over the place and the bed, which was nailed to the floor, had somehow been turned onto its side. The sheets had small holes in them where Brin had gripped them so tightly that her nails dug through the material, and there was blood on her hands from clenching her fists hard enough for her nails to cut her skin.
"Kay, you can give Ben up just this once! I need him more than you do, dammit!" Brin snarled in anger, swinging a fist at Kay's head. It wasn't that hard to duck, but it made Kay mad.
"I didn't want to ruin any chances of you having a normal friendship, but oh well." Kay took the ripped sheets and tore a strip to blindfold Brin with. Brin didn't really like having it over her eyes, but Kay didn't want her seeing anyone else while she was moving her. She didn't want to take the chance of Brin attacking some farm worker who might figure out what she was.
The walk outside seemed to calm Brin down a little, but Kay knew that if she heard a male voice that she'd be running in that direction. Damn, I didn't want to have to do this, but there's nowhere else to take her and I can't keep her in the basement anymore. She's doing too much damage to herself.
The inside of the house was hot and Brin's body immediately reacted. Kay led her to the closed door that held her extreme, if only she didn't have to do this. Brin would beat herself up about it afterwards and it might ruin any chance of a normal friendship. She opened the door silently and saw him sleeping in the bed, completely oblivious as to what he was about to be doing. Kay reached up and removed Brin's blindfold, then stepped back. Brin's eyes lit up when she saw him and she literally pounced onto the bed.
All he managed to get out was "What the?" before the pheromones she was throwing off began affecting him and he didn't care anymore. Kay left the house before she could regret what she had done. Leaving Brin with Zack was the best thing she could do, he could take care of her needs and she wouldn't be in danger of exposure. She was just worried about what they would be like when the heat was over. Oh well, she'd worry about that later. This at least got Brin off her back.
Ben was sitting up in bed when she came back in. He could see by her expression that something was wrong. He watched her for a moment, then broke the silence that Kay was too ashamed of herself to break on her own.
"You took her to Zack, didn't you?"
Kay couldn't meet his eyes. She knew he had never thought of her as family, but Brin and Zack were his brother and sister. Who knew what he would think of this? She just stood by the window and stared out at the window of Zack's house that she knew to belong to his bedroom. With her enhanced sight she could see the dark figures moving in a way that definitely meant that Brin was getting her needs met. Hell, maybe Zack's needs were being met as well. He certainly didn't seem the type to be getting a lot of action while he was watching over the others. Still, the fact that they were like family to each other made it seem horribly wrong. It wasn't until she felt arms circle her waist that she realized Ben had gotten out of bed.
"You did the right thing."
Kay started to pull out of his grasp. "I'm not so sure."
He tightened his grip on her, turned her face towards him with his fingertips, and kissed her tenderly. That hadn't been the reaction she was expecting from him for setting up something that would be like incest to him. When he finally let her pull her head back from the kiss, his eyes told her that he didn't hate her, in fact, it was quite the opposite.
"There was nothing else you could do short of giving her to a complete stranger that could figure out what she is or giving her to me. I don't think either of those options would have worked out very well. At least you know she's not in danger where she is."
"I can't believe you're taking this so well. I mean, to you they're your family."
"True, but not really. If they were my brother and sister, then wouldn't our relationship be wrong? You did what you could do, and it's probably the same decision I would make if I were in that situation."
"Really?"
"Really. Come back to bed. You could use some sleep."
Laying in the bed with her head resting comfortably against his chest with his arms around her, Kay felt at rest. All thoughts of Zack and Brin were erased from her mind. Nothing could get to her here. His fingers ran through her hair, then down to stroke her shoulder and arm. She felt tiny chills race down her back, but he wasn't doing it in a sexual way. It was more comforting than anything else and that was what he wanted, to put her mind at ease. Well, it was working.
Kay had never been more stunned when she received a phone call from Max telling her that Sandeman had been part of the breeding cult. Not just that, but White was his son! That had nearly sent Kay into shock. She had had Sandeman's grandson living on the farm this entire time. The information that Max now had strange runes appearing on her body was almost as shocking. Max joked about drinking something called "Tattoos From Within", but Kay didn't think it was that funny. She remembered what Lydecker had said about Sandeman using special scientists on her and Max. I don't need to have funny markings all over my body! Maybe Sandeman had made sure she was to start showing these runes at a certain time. Max said Logan had had that same idea, and White had said they talked about the Coming.
"I don't even think these things are done showing up yet! Every ten minutes there's a new one! I'm going to literally be an open book! All I wanted was a normal life, is that too much to ask? I mean, I have a virus designed to kill Logan in me, I have no junk DNA, and now I have foreign writing showing up on my body! You just watch, pretty soon I'm going to grow a second head."
Kay couldn't help but laugh at that. "Don't forget a third foot. How about another ass, that would be fun."
Both girls giggled over that, but Kay could tell Max was more worried about this than she was letting on. She had a right to be, those runes would make her even more of a priority to the Familiars. Now she was basically a walking target. It would just be her luck if those runes wound up saying 'HIT ME, I'M WORTH IT!'
Max launched into the story of how she had found out everything. Kay had to smile at the thought of that C.J. guy trying to convince everyone in Terminal City that he was transgenic. It didn't really surprise her that he was White's brother, both were lunatics. When she hung up, Kay couldn't help feeling a little curious as to why C.J. had been so dead set on protecting Max once he found out who she really was. What if they just locked him up again? I could get him out of there easily. Maybe this time he would actually put us in contact with his father. She shook her head fiercely. That was a stupid idea, she shouldn't even bother. Besides, she wanted to be around when Brin came back out of heat. Kay didn't want her to be alone with the idea that she had screwed her brother, which was most likely how she'd feel. Why did things always have to be so damned complicated?
Kay spent all morning arguing with herself. Part of her wanted to get C.J. away from the Conclave and get the answers she needed, another part wanted to forget him and let those freaks do what they wanted to him. After all, White was his brother, things couldn't turn out too bad for him. Then again, White had had no trouble with killing his wife, what would his brother be to him? Maybe she should go get him. If she was careful and went fast, she could be back before Brin went out of heat and get the information afterwards.
Kay ran and jumped onto her motorcycle before she could change her mind. If she was going to do this she would have to get it over with quickly. She shot out of the driveway before Ben could reach her. She'd be back soon enough and she didn't want to have second thoughts while talking to him. She struggled to keep her mind clear during the entire ride, which was difficult considering the trip was a couple hours. She was starting to get her hopes up, she really wanted to meet Sandeman and get the answers for both her and Max.
Kay now had to find White. She wasn't planning on letting him see her, but maybe if she kept an eye on him he'd give up some information about where C.J. was. How was she supposed to find White? He could be anywhere in the city right now. Ok, she could always try and figure out where they would have stashed C.J. Didn't Max mention that he talked about them saying he was crazy? An asylum! It would be the easiest place to get rid of him without anyone looking for him there. There was no reason why not, so she headed for Jam Pony. She'd have to make sure no one caught sight of her while she was there, particularly Sketchy and Normal. Max had told her about Normal becoming a fierce anti-transgenic, so Sketchy almost surely would have told him about her. Thankfully no one had seen her new hair, so as long as she didn't make her face too visible it wouldn't be a problem.
The place was buzzing with people. Kay even recognized a few X5s from Manticore so she made sure to not let her face be easily seen. Max hadn't been kidding when she said they were running Transgenic Central right under Normal's nose. Kay headed to the payphone and grabbed the telephone book. There were only two asylums in Seattle, one in Sector 4 and another in Sector 9. She made sure to plant the addresses in her memory, she didn't need to get lost. She headed for Sector 4 first. She wasn't even sure C.J. would be in one of them, but it was better than doing nothing.
How was she even going to find C.J. if she didn't know what he looked like? She'd need to be discreet in case he had a cellmate. She couldn't just ask for Sandeman's son, that would be a death wish. What about that snake Max had mentioned he had from the Conclave? Hadn't she said he'd given it a name? George! The Conclave didn't know about that, and any cellmate of his would think she was as loony as he was. She pulled up next to the Sector 4 asylum and looked up at the bars on the windows. How simple. She looked for any sign of movement in any of the rooms and finally spotted a window on the third floor where a shadow briefly passed on the opposite wall.
Kay frowned as she studied the window, it was just a bit out of her reach. She would only need a small boost to get to it. Eventually she just decided to take a good running jump. She backed up about twenty feet and took off running. A few feet away from the wall she shoved off the ground as hard as she could, just barely managing to catch hold of one of the bars. She held onto it as hard as she could and grabbed another bar, then pulled herself up enough so that she could see the people inside. There were two men in straightjackets; one who was bald and wrinkled, the other was in his mid-twenties who definitely had a rather half-hazard appearance.
"Anybody here know George?"
The younger man's eyes shot up off the ground. "George? How do you know about him?"
Kay thought as best as she could. "He says his father made some pretty cool things in a lab. I had something to do with that." Her eyes were trying to hint it to him, but she wasn't sure if he was bright enough to get it. Fortunately, she saw realization dawn in his eyes. He came over to the window so his cellmate couldn't hear them.
"Are you here to get me out?"
"I'm working on it. Back up for a sec."
C.J. carefully backed up and gave her room. Kay pulled a foot up and braced it against one of the bars and grabbed the bar next to it with both hands. She carefully took a deep breath and then pushed with her foot while pulling with her arms. She got the bars to pull a somewhat respectable distance apart, but nothing even she could fit through. She changed tactics and braced both feet against the wall while pulling on the bars. She threw her body weight back as hard as she could, and was stunned when the whole set of bars popped right out of the wall. She easily landed on her feet without a scratch on her, but looked around cautiously. She just hoped nobody had heard that.
She took another running jump at C.J.'s window, and this time C.J. stuck out his arm to help her. Despite his Familiar blood, he apparently didn't have a lot of strength seeing as how she pulled him out of the window so easily. In the split seconds before they hit the ground, Kay wrapped her arms around C.J. and took the hardest part of the landing on herself. As soon as she tore off his straightjacket, he threw his arms around her and squeezed as hard as he could. It may not have been much, but it was enough to make her feel a little squished.
"Thank you so much! I knew someone would get me out after I went back there!"
Kay squirmed her way out of his hold. "You'll be going right back in if you don't help me."
His eyes looked wild at the thought of being locked up again. "Anything! I'll do anything! Just don't put me back in there!"
"Do you know how to contact your father?"
"Dad? Sure, I know how to get a hold of him. He made me a promise after my brother left and they killed my mom. He said he'd go to my dream place."
"And where is that exactly?"
"Kansas City! My favorite movie as a kid was The Wizard of Oz! I always said Kansas was my dream place and I'd go to the city named for it, Kansas City! He'll be there, I'm sure."
"How about aliases? Any idea what he'd use for a fake name?"
"Gijoe."
"What makes you say that?"
"My favorite toy as a kid was a GI Joe. He always called it Gijoe. He made all these plans with me so I'd be able to find him."
"I think I can see where you get your personality. Come on, let's go. We're not going to Kansas City, but we're going to a farm. Is that enough for you?"
C.J. grinned and nodded. When he climbed onto the motorcycle behind her, he squeezed her again too hard. After this, I'm going out and buying a shirt that says I'M WITH STUPID. He held on to her like that for the rest of the ride, which was more than a little uncomfortable.
Ben's face when they pulled in was priceless. "Kay, where were you? Who's this?"
"This is C.J. He's going to be a great help to us. Isn't that right?" She said the last question a little rougher than the rest, making her point to C.J. He nodded almost too enthusiastically, Kay was worried his head just might flop off.
"Is Brin out of it yet?"
"Nope. If you get too close to that house, you can hear them clear as day." He was about to continue when he looked over Kay's shoulder and froze. Kay glanced back and realized that Brin had come out of her and Zack's house, looking rather shaken.
"C.J., I want your ass in that house over there. It's where I had better find you when I come looking for you."
He nodded fervently, apparently not wanting to get on her bad side. After all, she had pulled him out of the third story of a building when he was trying to pull her in. He took off in the direction of the house. Kay just hoped he had never met Ray before and that Ray had never met him. She didn't want them to know they were related.
Ben caught her attention before she ran after Brin. "Maybe I should talk to her. After all, if she's mad she might blame you for taking her there in the first place. You go talk to Zack. I can handle Brin."
Kay nodded and took off towards Zack's house. She hadn't even reached the door when she smelled the sex in the air. They must have really been working it while she was gone. No wonder Brin wasn't in the best of moods. Kay wandered to where the smell was the strongest, the bedroom. Zack was sitting on the bed, staring in a strange, unfocused way at the floor. She opened the only window in the room to hopefully air some of the smell out. She wouldn't be able to talk to him if it stayed this strong. When Zack didn't even seem to acknowledge her presence, Kay took the time to open all the windows in the house. She came back to sit next to him when she was done.
"Are you okay?"
He kept staring at the floor with no emotion on his face, but his voice gave his pain away. "I can't believe I did that. What was I thinking?"
"You couldn't control yourself any more than Brin could. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. Yell at me."
He turned his head to look at her, and she almost wished he hadn't. The pain in his eyes was horrible, she ached for him worse than she could have ever thought she would. "I couldn't yell at you, you did what you thought was best for her. I've seen Brin in heat before, she's most likely the worst with it out of all the girls. She'll tear herself apart if she doesn't get any satisfaction. That's why I always made sure she ended up with a decent guy, because I didn't want to help her out myself. I always thought she'd never be able to think of me as the leader in the same way. I understand it was different this time because now people know about transgenics and their heat cycles, so you couldn't just go to a perfect stranger. Still, I hate that it got to the point where you needed to bring her to me."
"Don't beat yourself up about it. Brin knows you couldn't control yourself. You did her a favor if nothing else. You can't blame yourself for it."
"It's not just that. I know none of us are family, but it still feels wrong. You and Max are the only ones I never thought of as family, for different reasons at first, then the same."
"What do you mean?"
"I was always in love with Max, so I didn't consider her my sister. At first I didn't think of you as my family because I hated you, then because I cared a lot for you. As Adam Thompson I fell in love with you, and even when I got my memory back I still cared a lot for you. Now I don't feel anything like that, but I could never let anything happen to you. I'll never think of you as family, just as a very close friend. Please don't hold that against me."
Kay smiled a little and put her hand on his arm. "I would never do that. Just as you can't expect Brin to hold any of this against you. Can you come up with something to argue against that?"
Zack finally smiled a little for her. "No, I can't really come up with anything at the moment. Just give me a little while to get my thoughts together and I'll give you a call when I do come up with something."
Kay laughed and surprised him and even herself by pulling him to her in a close hug. No matter what he had done to her in the past, he was still special. She knew that if Ben hadn't come along she would probably have become involved with him, but that didn't make her feel awkward around him. He was the first man to get her to open up in any way and he would always be precious for that.
Through a faceful of Kay's hair, Zack whispered, "Go see Brin. Make sure she doesn't hold it against you that you brought her over here." Kay nodded, gave him a final squeeze, then got up to find Brin and Ben. It wasn't too hard, Brin had a very oversexed smell that gave Kay another pang of guilt. What if Brin was too angry to talk to her?
That most certainly wasn't the case. Kay walked into the barn that she could smell Brin went into and got hit right away with her sister, tears streaming down her face. Kay was expecting some sort of attack, but instead Brin hugged her tightly, sobbing quietly.
"He thinks I'm a slut, doesn't he? God, Kay you weren't there. What we did, the way we did it, I feel like some street hooker. How can he ever look at me again without thinking of what we did?"
Kay gave her sister a tight squeeze, then pushed her back a bit so she could look her in the eye. "He won't be able to, but that's just because he'll be worried that you could never respect him again after this."
Brin wiped tears off her face, looking slightly stunned. "Respect him? Of course I respect him! You don't know how many times in the past he's saved my ass. What happened last night wasn't near enough to repay him for all the work he's put into me without anything in return. Why would he be scared I can't respect him?"
Kay smiled gently at her. "For the same reason you're afraid he thinks you're a slut, because that's how most other people would react. Zack isn't most other people, Brin. He really cares about you."
Brin slowly sank down onto a hay bale. "What do I do now? Where are we supposed to go from here?"
Kay reached down and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'd recommend that you go talk to him about that. You two are the only people who can work this thing out."
Brin nodded, then climbed back to her feet with some help from Kay. She wasn't too steady on her feet, but the look on her face told Kay that she wanted to walk up to Zack on her own. She just smiled encouragingly and stepped back to give her room. As soon as Brin exited the barn, Kay found herself being kissed by Ben.
"Sometimes you really impress me. You just know how to be with people."
Kay pulled her face away from his. "Speaking of being with people, I've got a crazy person to deal with. That could take awhile."
Ben smiled and stepped back understandingly. Kay pulled him down to her for one more kiss, then went to her house. As soon as she opened the door, C.J. nearly ran her over in his excitement.
"I got hold of Dad! I've got him on the phone right now!" He waved the telephone in front of Kay's face. She scowled and pulled it away from him.
"How?"
"I used the operator and asked for a Mr. Gijoe in Kansas City. There was only one, and it was him!"
Kay stared down at the phone. How could she trust him? He had ratted out Max to White, who was to say he wouldn't do the same thing to her? She wouldn't know if the person on the other end of the line was Sandeman or not, how could she? Finally, she put the phone up to her ear.
"Who is this?"
"My son tells me you already know my name and have a lot of questions for me. I'm sorry for not being able to answer them sooner, so sorry."
Kay nearly dropped the phone. That voice, the apology. It sounded so familiar it frightened her. Then she remembered her dream. That voice from behind the office door, what if that was Sandeman?
"I need to meet with you. Where's a mutual place we can meet?"
"How about the site where Manticore used to be? The one in Gillette? Will that work?"
"That'll work fine. I want to see you at midnight in two days, do you understand me?"
"I understand perfectly. I will be there."
Kay heard the click on the other end, but didn't hang up her phone for at least another five minutes. Her head was spinning, her questions could finally be answered. This time she was the one who hugged C.J., not the other way around. This might finally be over.