TEAM SPIRIT
Part 3
Gradually, Emma drifted back up from the darkness. With the growing awareness came a dull throb in her skull, a sharper pain in the back of her neck, and a terrible taste in her mouth, like something had crawled under her tongue and died there. It was enough to make her long for the oblivion of sleep. It was chilly, and she wrapped her arms around herself, searching for warmth.
She struggled to grasp the memories that flitted through her head. The club. Loud music, lots of people. She'd gone to meet with a New Mutant, a psionic, like herself. What was the girl's name again? Right, Ariel.
She recalled she'd kept an eye out for Genetic Security agents. If she could read Ariel's plea for help on the open boards, then so could Genomex. While she waited for Ariel to show up, a man --strong face, dark hair, in his thirties-- tried to flirt with her. She'd given him a cursory scan, then dismissed him as another hopeful looking for a pretty girl and taken another sip from her drink. After that, things got fuzzy. Real fuzzy.
Emma forced herself to sit up, biting her lip to keep the groan from getting out. Whatever they served in that club should be forbidden, she thought. She felt worse than when she was sixteen and she and her friend Joanie decided to try out her foster father's Wild Turkey.
Her eyes finally adjusted to the gloom. She'd awoken on a narrow cot, bare mattress, no blanket or sheets. Her room turned out to be some sort of cage, barely seven or eight feet deep and not much wider. Emma's brow bunched. Maybe she'd not been totally wrong in her assessment of the stranger after all: this didn't look like a GSA set-up. So who in hell had taken her? And why?
* * *
"That's weird." Jesse frowned at the screen.
"What is?" Brennan moved closer to look over his friend's shoulder.
"There's been some unregistered traffic going out. See?" He pointed. "But the scanners didn't flag anything on the usual channels we monitor. Maybe Adam did some online research and forgot to log it?" Jesse sounded dubious.
The wheels in Brennan's mind turned while Jesse spoke. Suddenly things clicked. "Emma."
"What?"
"Can you check if Emma accessed the computer today?"
"Emma? She doesn't know how to work the system. Not yet, at least."
"Just do it, all right?"
Jesse shrugged and tapped a few commands onto the keyboard. He sat up when the reply came back. "You're right. Emma exchanged a couple of instant messages with someone named Ariel Spenser. Here's the original call." He read it over. "Looks like a New Mutant. Why would Emma talk to a New Mutant without telling us?"
Brennan straightened. "My guess? Emma decided she would bring her in all by herself. And you taught her just enough about computers to be dangerous. To herself, mostly."
"You think something's gone wrong?"
Brennan nodded. "Think about it. When's the last time you saw Emma? She's disappeared, car's gone so she probably went to the city. And now we find out she's been secretly corresponding with an unknown New Mutant. You do the math."
Jesse swore beneath his breath. "Let's go talk to Adam."
* * *
"She's not replying." Adam moved away from the com-system and let out a sigh. He turned to look at Brennan and Jesse. The lines in his face grew more prominent with worry. "Do either of you have any idea why Emma would do something so foolish as going off to meet a New Mutant without telling anyone?"
The two men exchanged a sheepish look. "We think she was feeling a bit left out." Jesse was the first to speak.
"She wants to help. She asked to train with us, but we, eh, sort of brushed her off," Brennan confessed.
"I see." Adam rubbed his brow. "Do we know the location where she's meeting this New Mutant?"
"Yes." Brennan was relieved that Adam let their role in Emma's disregard of the rules slide. "It's a club, near Jefferson Square. Pretty popular place."
"Good. You and Jesse take the Helix and see if she's still there. If she's not--"
"We'll find out what people have seen. We know the drill, Adam."
"I know, Jesse. But this is Emma we're talking about."
"We'll find her, Adam. We'll get her back." Brennan wasn't sure whom he needed to convince; Adam, or himself.
Adam gave them a tired smile. "Go."
TBC
Part 3
Gradually, Emma drifted back up from the darkness. With the growing awareness came a dull throb in her skull, a sharper pain in the back of her neck, and a terrible taste in her mouth, like something had crawled under her tongue and died there. It was enough to make her long for the oblivion of sleep. It was chilly, and she wrapped her arms around herself, searching for warmth.
She struggled to grasp the memories that flitted through her head. The club. Loud music, lots of people. She'd gone to meet with a New Mutant, a psionic, like herself. What was the girl's name again? Right, Ariel.
She recalled she'd kept an eye out for Genetic Security agents. If she could read Ariel's plea for help on the open boards, then so could Genomex. While she waited for Ariel to show up, a man --strong face, dark hair, in his thirties-- tried to flirt with her. She'd given him a cursory scan, then dismissed him as another hopeful looking for a pretty girl and taken another sip from her drink. After that, things got fuzzy. Real fuzzy.
Emma forced herself to sit up, biting her lip to keep the groan from getting out. Whatever they served in that club should be forbidden, she thought. She felt worse than when she was sixteen and she and her friend Joanie decided to try out her foster father's Wild Turkey.
Her eyes finally adjusted to the gloom. She'd awoken on a narrow cot, bare mattress, no blanket or sheets. Her room turned out to be some sort of cage, barely seven or eight feet deep and not much wider. Emma's brow bunched. Maybe she'd not been totally wrong in her assessment of the stranger after all: this didn't look like a GSA set-up. So who in hell had taken her? And why?
* * *
"That's weird." Jesse frowned at the screen.
"What is?" Brennan moved closer to look over his friend's shoulder.
"There's been some unregistered traffic going out. See?" He pointed. "But the scanners didn't flag anything on the usual channels we monitor. Maybe Adam did some online research and forgot to log it?" Jesse sounded dubious.
The wheels in Brennan's mind turned while Jesse spoke. Suddenly things clicked. "Emma."
"What?"
"Can you check if Emma accessed the computer today?"
"Emma? She doesn't know how to work the system. Not yet, at least."
"Just do it, all right?"
Jesse shrugged and tapped a few commands onto the keyboard. He sat up when the reply came back. "You're right. Emma exchanged a couple of instant messages with someone named Ariel Spenser. Here's the original call." He read it over. "Looks like a New Mutant. Why would Emma talk to a New Mutant without telling us?"
Brennan straightened. "My guess? Emma decided she would bring her in all by herself. And you taught her just enough about computers to be dangerous. To herself, mostly."
"You think something's gone wrong?"
Brennan nodded. "Think about it. When's the last time you saw Emma? She's disappeared, car's gone so she probably went to the city. And now we find out she's been secretly corresponding with an unknown New Mutant. You do the math."
Jesse swore beneath his breath. "Let's go talk to Adam."
* * *
"She's not replying." Adam moved away from the com-system and let out a sigh. He turned to look at Brennan and Jesse. The lines in his face grew more prominent with worry. "Do either of you have any idea why Emma would do something so foolish as going off to meet a New Mutant without telling anyone?"
The two men exchanged a sheepish look. "We think she was feeling a bit left out." Jesse was the first to speak.
"She wants to help. She asked to train with us, but we, eh, sort of brushed her off," Brennan confessed.
"I see." Adam rubbed his brow. "Do we know the location where she's meeting this New Mutant?"
"Yes." Brennan was relieved that Adam let their role in Emma's disregard of the rules slide. "It's a club, near Jefferson Square. Pretty popular place."
"Good. You and Jesse take the Helix and see if she's still there. If she's not--"
"We'll find out what people have seen. We know the drill, Adam."
"I know, Jesse. But this is Emma we're talking about."
"We'll find her, Adam. We'll get her back." Brennan wasn't sure whom he needed to convince; Adam, or himself.
Adam gave them a tired smile. "Go."
TBC