TEAM SPIRIT
Part 5
"Adam?"
"Yes, Jesse?"
"We're at the club where Emma was to meet Ariel Spenser. The car's parked around the corner, but we can't find Emma. Nobody has seen her."
"Actually, they have."
Over the com-link, Adam could hear Brennan approach Jesse. At the same time Brennan's own signal came in.
"I talked to the bouncer. He remembers a girl fitting Emma's description. She left the club in the company of a man. He says she seemed unwell, and the guy told him she was his girlfriend. He didn't see where he took her."
Damn, Adam swore to himself. Not Emma. Not kind, gentle Emma. She was strong, and Eckhart could hurt her bad. If he did... The strange thing was, he still hadn't found any entry of Emma's capture in the Genomex computers. She should have been processed into their database by now. Eckhart was a stickler for keeping records.
"Okay, let's get--"
His eye fell on the screen he had set to monitor Emma's com-link. "Jesse, Brennan, wait a second." He opened a third connection. "Emma? Where are you?"
For a moment there was only static. Then her voice came through. High-pitched, strained with fear. "Adam! Help me!"
Adam stood rooted to the Sanctuary floor.
Next there were confused noises: a man's gruff voice cursing, the sound of a slap, Emma screaming.
"Emma! What's happening?"
The link went dead. Silence reigned in the Sanctuary.
For a long minute, Adam remained frozen, too shocked to think. Do something! his mind screamed at him. He cursed beneath his breath and leapt to action. With a few quick keystrokes he locked on to the ring's satellite signal. A little dot started moving on the screen.
"Adam? Please tell me you got a fix?" The pleading note in Brennan's voice rang clear over the link.
"I did," Adam assured him. "Signal's moving, though. No telling if Emma's still got her ring on." It couldn't be Genomex who caught her, Adam thought while he worked. They knew about the rings; it would have been the first thing they took from her upon capture.
"Brennan, I want you to get the car and go to the location where Emma's signal originated. I'll upload the coordinates in a second. Jesse, take the Helix and follow the trace. I'm hooking you up right now."
"Okay." The reply came in stereo, both men speaking at once.
"What do you want me to do?"
Shalimar's voice beside his ear startled Adam. He turned to look at her. Her eyes, though dark with worry, were more alert than he had seen them in days.
"Back up Brennan? Or Jesse?"
Adam hesitated. "Neither.
"Adam, I'm--"
He held up a hand. "I know. It's just that I have no idea where your help is needed most. I don't want you racing around town exhausting yourself chasing ghosts. Stand by. As soon as I know where we need you, you can go."
Shalimar's eyes flashed yellow but she nodded. "Don't take too long."
* * *
Brennan navigated the Audi expertly through the dark streets of the city. Although Emma had the keys, getting the car started had been easy enough. Getting rid of the mental pictures, which the memory of Emma's scream elicited in his brain, was a lot harder.
His fingers tightened around the wheel. Once he got hold of the sonsabitches that hurt Emma, he'd show them true pain. He wondered if it were possible to skin people using electricity. Sparks flew from the tips of his fingers at the thought, and he forced himself to relax.
He took a left turn, checking the guidance system to see that he was still headed in the right direction. The coordinates that Adam uploaded were somewhere on the waterfront. Probably some kind of abandoned warehouse, Brennan expected. What was it with bad guys and warehouses anyway?
They'd made a mistake, he long ago decided. He and Jesse. When they refused Emma to train with them, they reinforced her notion that they considered her power inferior to theirs. If they hadn't, she might not have gone out on her own to prove them wrong. And even if she had, at least with training she'd have known some defensive techniques. Her mental capabilities were strong, but she needed a little time to access them. Sometimes simple physical prowess was a better defense than any New Mutant power.
He was taking the exit to a deserted industrial area near the harbor when Jesse's call came through.
"I found Emma's ring. I'm in Millennium Park, near the fountain. No sign of Emma."
Adam replied. "That's what I feared. They took it from her and used it to send us on a wild goose chase. Okay, Jesse, Shalimar, you both go to Emma's last known location. We'll take it from there. Brennan, how are you doing?"
"Almost there," he said.
"Wait for Jesse and Shalimar," Adam instructed. "We don't know who we're dealing with."
Brennan hesitated. "Emma may not have that time." He steered the car into a free parking slot between a dented dumpster and a pile of crates. He was a block away from the location. The street was deserted and dark, the street lamps long since broken. "I'm going in."
He could hear Adam's sigh. "Okay. But be careful. We can't afford to lose you too."
Emma's not lost, Brennan didn't say. Instead, he concentrated on making his way through the dark to where he hoped he would find her.
* * *
At last the pain faded enough for Emma's brain to start functioning again. She lay where she'd fallen, in a boneless puddle on the cold, cement floor of her cage. She prodded the inside of her cheek with her tongue where she'd accidentally bitten herself. Her jaw hurt, too, from the cuff she'd received the same instant the governor went off. She couldn't make up her mind where she hurt the worst, on the outside, or the inside.
One thing she knew for sure. She had to get out of here, and fast. Before they killed her. Or worse, executed their plan to ship her off to one of their bordellos for more pain and torture and other things too awful to contemplate.
She didn't dare try to move yet, though. Her nerve endings were still screaming with agony, her body still attempting to recover the severe punishment he had given her.
Emma collected her wits about her and set her mind to work instead. If that sadist could block her mental abilities she should be able to block his mind control over her conversely. She might not be able to access her gift without his permission --the subdermal governor would see to that-- but at least he would no longer be able to turn her body traitor.
If only she could figure out how he'd done it.
She called up the memory of hitting a blank wall with her power, the wall he constructed. Concentrate, she told herself. Again and again she replayed the sensations in her mind, analyzing, searching, using every focusing technique Adam had taught her.
Just as she thought she discovered the first thread to unraveling the mental knitwork, the door opened. Emma stiffened, fearing he had returned to give her more 'lessons', or to take her away.
Quick, quiet footsteps approached. Emma remained motionless, her eyes closed. She knew it was futile to pretend she was unconscious; he would know the instant he tried to access her brain. She'd try to block him if he did. She'd go down fighting. She braced herself to throw up the experimental blockade when a familiar voice called her name in an urgent whisper.
"Emma?"
TBC
Part 5
"Adam?"
"Yes, Jesse?"
"We're at the club where Emma was to meet Ariel Spenser. The car's parked around the corner, but we can't find Emma. Nobody has seen her."
"Actually, they have."
Over the com-link, Adam could hear Brennan approach Jesse. At the same time Brennan's own signal came in.
"I talked to the bouncer. He remembers a girl fitting Emma's description. She left the club in the company of a man. He says she seemed unwell, and the guy told him she was his girlfriend. He didn't see where he took her."
Damn, Adam swore to himself. Not Emma. Not kind, gentle Emma. She was strong, and Eckhart could hurt her bad. If he did... The strange thing was, he still hadn't found any entry of Emma's capture in the Genomex computers. She should have been processed into their database by now. Eckhart was a stickler for keeping records.
"Okay, let's get--"
His eye fell on the screen he had set to monitor Emma's com-link. "Jesse, Brennan, wait a second." He opened a third connection. "Emma? Where are you?"
For a moment there was only static. Then her voice came through. High-pitched, strained with fear. "Adam! Help me!"
Adam stood rooted to the Sanctuary floor.
Next there were confused noises: a man's gruff voice cursing, the sound of a slap, Emma screaming.
"Emma! What's happening?"
The link went dead. Silence reigned in the Sanctuary.
For a long minute, Adam remained frozen, too shocked to think. Do something! his mind screamed at him. He cursed beneath his breath and leapt to action. With a few quick keystrokes he locked on to the ring's satellite signal. A little dot started moving on the screen.
"Adam? Please tell me you got a fix?" The pleading note in Brennan's voice rang clear over the link.
"I did," Adam assured him. "Signal's moving, though. No telling if Emma's still got her ring on." It couldn't be Genomex who caught her, Adam thought while he worked. They knew about the rings; it would have been the first thing they took from her upon capture.
"Brennan, I want you to get the car and go to the location where Emma's signal originated. I'll upload the coordinates in a second. Jesse, take the Helix and follow the trace. I'm hooking you up right now."
"Okay." The reply came in stereo, both men speaking at once.
"What do you want me to do?"
Shalimar's voice beside his ear startled Adam. He turned to look at her. Her eyes, though dark with worry, were more alert than he had seen them in days.
"Back up Brennan? Or Jesse?"
Adam hesitated. "Neither.
"Adam, I'm--"
He held up a hand. "I know. It's just that I have no idea where your help is needed most. I don't want you racing around town exhausting yourself chasing ghosts. Stand by. As soon as I know where we need you, you can go."
Shalimar's eyes flashed yellow but she nodded. "Don't take too long."
* * *
Brennan navigated the Audi expertly through the dark streets of the city. Although Emma had the keys, getting the car started had been easy enough. Getting rid of the mental pictures, which the memory of Emma's scream elicited in his brain, was a lot harder.
His fingers tightened around the wheel. Once he got hold of the sonsabitches that hurt Emma, he'd show them true pain. He wondered if it were possible to skin people using electricity. Sparks flew from the tips of his fingers at the thought, and he forced himself to relax.
He took a left turn, checking the guidance system to see that he was still headed in the right direction. The coordinates that Adam uploaded were somewhere on the waterfront. Probably some kind of abandoned warehouse, Brennan expected. What was it with bad guys and warehouses anyway?
They'd made a mistake, he long ago decided. He and Jesse. When they refused Emma to train with them, they reinforced her notion that they considered her power inferior to theirs. If they hadn't, she might not have gone out on her own to prove them wrong. And even if she had, at least with training she'd have known some defensive techniques. Her mental capabilities were strong, but she needed a little time to access them. Sometimes simple physical prowess was a better defense than any New Mutant power.
He was taking the exit to a deserted industrial area near the harbor when Jesse's call came through.
"I found Emma's ring. I'm in Millennium Park, near the fountain. No sign of Emma."
Adam replied. "That's what I feared. They took it from her and used it to send us on a wild goose chase. Okay, Jesse, Shalimar, you both go to Emma's last known location. We'll take it from there. Brennan, how are you doing?"
"Almost there," he said.
"Wait for Jesse and Shalimar," Adam instructed. "We don't know who we're dealing with."
Brennan hesitated. "Emma may not have that time." He steered the car into a free parking slot between a dented dumpster and a pile of crates. He was a block away from the location. The street was deserted and dark, the street lamps long since broken. "I'm going in."
He could hear Adam's sigh. "Okay. But be careful. We can't afford to lose you too."
Emma's not lost, Brennan didn't say. Instead, he concentrated on making his way through the dark to where he hoped he would find her.
* * *
At last the pain faded enough for Emma's brain to start functioning again. She lay where she'd fallen, in a boneless puddle on the cold, cement floor of her cage. She prodded the inside of her cheek with her tongue where she'd accidentally bitten herself. Her jaw hurt, too, from the cuff she'd received the same instant the governor went off. She couldn't make up her mind where she hurt the worst, on the outside, or the inside.
One thing she knew for sure. She had to get out of here, and fast. Before they killed her. Or worse, executed their plan to ship her off to one of their bordellos for more pain and torture and other things too awful to contemplate.
She didn't dare try to move yet, though. Her nerve endings were still screaming with agony, her body still attempting to recover the severe punishment he had given her.
Emma collected her wits about her and set her mind to work instead. If that sadist could block her mental abilities she should be able to block his mind control over her conversely. She might not be able to access her gift without his permission --the subdermal governor would see to that-- but at least he would no longer be able to turn her body traitor.
If only she could figure out how he'd done it.
She called up the memory of hitting a blank wall with her power, the wall he constructed. Concentrate, she told herself. Again and again she replayed the sensations in her mind, analyzing, searching, using every focusing technique Adam had taught her.
Just as she thought she discovered the first thread to unraveling the mental knitwork, the door opened. Emma stiffened, fearing he had returned to give her more 'lessons', or to take her away.
Quick, quiet footsteps approached. Emma remained motionless, her eyes closed. She knew it was futile to pretend she was unconscious; he would know the instant he tried to access her brain. She'd try to block him if he did. She'd go down fighting. She braced herself to throw up the experimental blockade when a familiar voice called her name in an urgent whisper.
"Emma?"
TBC