Chapter 15: Ties that Bind
Benton was reading to Jonny when they felt the plane bank and start descending. Jonny sat up sharply, looking scared. Benton put an arm around him, trying to comfort him. It was difficult when he was so nervous himself. Bandit seemed torn between barking at the door and comforting Jonny. Benton sympathized, but Jonny went and picked the dog up.
"Quiet, boy," he said, going back to sit against his father's side. Benton scratched the little dog's head. He seemed very confused to be surrounded by bad people that he wasn't allowed to bite or even bark at. How was he supposed to protect his boy if he wasn't allowed to do anything?
They taxied to a halt, and Benton felt Jonny stiffen. He couldn't tell him everything would be all right, because he couldn't make that promise, and he wouldn't lie to his son. He just held him close, providing what comfort he could with his simple presence.
When the plane stopped, Jonny froze. He felt like a stupid little kid, like a coward, but he was really scared of Crandall. His father was too, which made Jonny feel a little better about it, but he'd never felt this way about anyone before. Not even Zin, who was scary enough. No matter what his father said, he knew Hadji wouldn't be this scared, and he'd be better at comforting their father.
Dad was hugging him and Bandit when the door opened and Marcus and Chris walked in. "All right, kid, you're coming with me," Marcus said. "Dr. Quest, you go to the lab with Chris."
His father stood up, so Jonny did, too. He wondered where Crandall was.
"Mr. Crandall said that I could have Jonny with me when I worked."
Marcus shrugged. "I have my orders, Dr. Quest. I take the boy to your quarters, and Chris takes you to your lab. Mr. Crandall isn't here yet, he won't be arriving for at least a few hours, so I'm just going to follow my orders."
Jonny really didn't want to go away with Marcus. He looked nervously up at his dad, but he could see that he wasn't going to argue. There probably wasn't any point, anyway. Marcus was just a stupid minion, and if he was going to follow his orders, they couldn't stop him.
"Okay," Jonny said, stepping forward. "See you later, Dad." Maybe if he seemed agreeable, Marcus wouldn't grab him. He held on tightly to Bandit, though.
"Yes, Jonny, I'll see you soon," his father said. Jonny gave him a smile, and then walked out the door with Marcus. They didn't seem to want to blindfold him here, and Jonny wondered why that was. It made him kind of nervous.
They walked out of the plane into a large hangar where there were a couple of other, smaller planes. Jonny turned his head and looked at the one they were getting off of. It was very ordinary. Marcus gave him a shove.
"Get moving, kid."
Bandit started barking, and Jonny squeezed him and hissed at him to be quiet. He subsided with a perplexed sounding whine. Marcus put a hand on his shoulder and guided him to a door in the side of the hangar. Jonny tried without being obvious about it to see where his father was being taken, and caught a glimpse of him going through a door on the other side of the hangar. Jonny sighed. They had to let him see his dad again, didn't they?
This facility was more decorated than the last one had been. There were pictures on the walls of fruit and landscapes. Jonny looked around, trying to get his bearings. He wanted to remember how to get back to the hangar if he had to. It was the only exit he knew.
They came to a flight of stairs with a metal railing, and Jonny looked around curiously. The hallway stretched past it, but Marcus was guiding him upwards.
"What's down there?" he asked.
"Never you mind that, kid," Marcus said, giving him a shove up to the landing. Jonny's grip slipped, and Bandit squirmed out of his arms. He landed with a yip, but was on his feet facing Marcus instantly, barking like mad.
"Shut up, mutt!" Marcus growled, and aimed a kick at the little dog. Jonny interposed himself quickly, not wanting Bandit to get hurt, and the kick hit him in his right shin, knocking his foot sideways and throwing his balance off. He went down to his knees, jarring his left thigh badly.
Jonny glared up at Marcus, knowing that with the strength of that kick, he could easily have killed Bandit. "Don't you hurt my dog!" he yelled.
"Then pick him up and get moving, you whiny little shit!" Blinking back tears of frustration, Jonny scooped Bandit up and Marcus gave him another shove, knocking him hard against the metal railing, sending pain lancing through his side. Gasping, Jonny managed to hang on to Bandit, but the dog yipped as he gripped him too tightly.
"Sorry, boy," Jonny muttered and started climbing the steps again, every movement making his ribs hurt. He made it to the top of the stairs, but he was breathing hard when he got there.
"This way," Marcus said, putting a hand in the middle of his back and pushing. Jonny bit back a cry as the man's action hurt him. They went down to the fourth door on the right, Marcus put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He wished the man would stop grabbing the shoulder that Crandall had hurt, but he wasn't going to say anything. He wasn't whiny.
Marcus opened the door and Jonny moved forward before the man could give him another shove. Evidently this was their goal, because instead of following him, Marcus shut the door behind him, leaving him alone. Jonny walked forward slowly, looking around. This was a living room, with big windows all along one wall leading to a tropical garden outside. He could see that the garden itself had a high wall around the edges, with barbed wire along the top. The sun was bright outside, and Jonny walked right up to the windows and looked out. He hadn't seen the sun for three days. There were benches out in the garden, but when Jonny tried to open one of the French doors, he found that they were locked.
Sighing, he turned around and let Bandit down. The little dog wanted to explore as much as Jonny did. Moving quickly hurt, though, so Jonny meandered through the space. There was an overstuffed couch of blue corduroy, and two chairs covered in blue and red and green plaid fabric. They faced a television that had a VCR, a DVD player and a PS2 attached to it. There was a big stereo system next to it, and speakers around the room. Jonny's glance froze when he looked to the wall next to the door he'd entered by. There was a picture of his mother and father that he knew had always hung on his father's office wall, and next to it the two school photos from last year with him and Hadji grinning toothily. He walked slowly over and looked up at them. Those were the same frames. These were the actual pictures off his father's wall.
Looking around more closely, he saw a lot of things from their house. The pile of games next to the PlayStation were the games Jonny had at home, and, he picked up Final Fantasy X and saw the scratch on the case that had happened when he and Hadji took it with them on a trip to California the previous year. There were two doors off this room into other parts of the suite and Jonny went through to look hesitantly. In the kitchen, Bandit's own bowls were sitting side by side next to the fridge, and Bandit was sniffing at the food distrustfully.
On the fridge, Jonny saw that his last report card was prominently displayed using the same magnets from home, the little plastic ones his mother had used for his schoolwork when he was little. One said, "Super!" and the other said, "Great Job!" Jonny snatched the report card and the magnets down, tucking them into the pockets of his shorts.
Opening the fridge, he saw that it was well stocked with cut vegetables, fruit cups and juices, and even a few sodas. Root beer, his favorite. He slammed the door shut and left the kitchen to look through the other door.
There was a long hallway with doors leading off it to the right. Jonny looked through the first door and saw that it was a huge bathroom with a wide tub, double sinks and fluffy rugs.
The next room made Jonny stare in shock. It was his stuff, on the walls, on the bedside table. He walked around, stunned. His roller blades were sitting on the ground by the dresser, and on the top stood the photos of his mom, his dad and Hadji. Conspicuously absent was the one of him and Race at Disneyworld when he was nine, and the picture his father took a couple of months back of all three kids and Race in the mountains.
Morbidly curious, Jonny pulled the drawer open and saw his own socks and underpants. Each drawer below contained more of his clothes, one entire drawer was full of black t-shirts. Jonny stood up and went out. The next room was also a bedroom, much like his, but it was empty of personal things. Jonny backed out and went on to the last room. It was bigger and had its own television and a king-sized bed. The medley of photos on this dresser was familiar, but there were absences here, too. Jonny had noticed a pattern. There were no pictures of anybody who wasn't dead or here, except for Hadji. Jonny went back to his own room and looked again.
The picture of Grandpa Doug wasn't there either. It was like they were editing everyone out of his life except his father and Hadji. But Hadji wasn't here. . . He went back to the empty room again and stared around, imagining Hadji's stuff there, getting angrier as he thought about it.
Those creeps, they were going to snatch Hadji, too. He didn't want them to get hold of his brother. What would they do if they had both of them? Would they hit Hadji too, or just keep on with him till – till he was dead, and then switch?
Jonny went back out into the living room and sat down. His chest ached, and so did his leg. His face was stiff, and he could barely open his left eye. These people needed to be . . . to be . . . Bandit came running out of the kitchen and jumped up onto the couch next to him. "They need to be dog food, don't they, Bandit?" he said, scratching the little dog's ears.
He had to remember to tell his father that Marcus had tried to kick Bandit.
Benton had spent the day working hard on miniaturization methods. He'd looked over the various failures George, his predecessor in this job, had left behind, and decided that one of them had potential if taken in a different direction. By mid-evening, he'd made quite reasonable progress and was wondering when he'd be permitted to return to Jonny. And if he'd be permitted to return to Jonny.
Crandall came in at seven-thirty and watched him for a few minutes, then glanced through the work he'd done. "Well, Dr. Quest, it appears that you've been most diligent. I'm quite impressed."
"Thank you," Benton said in very neutral tones. Should he ask about Jonny? He decided not, it would probably annoy the man, and that was the last thing he wanted to do when he was seeming happy with him.
"I suppose it's time for you to knock off. I'll have the kitchen send you up a light supper. Does that suit?"
"Thank you," Benton said again. "Where are my quarters?"
"Chris will take you to them."
Benton nodded. "What time do you want me to start in the morning?" he asked.
"Nine sounds good to me. Chris will guide you here." Crandall smiled. "I'll see you in the morning, then, Dr. Quest. Good night."
"Yes, good night."
Benton left the lab and found that Chris was waiting for him. The walk to his quarters was a long one, and Benton hoped devoutly that he'd find Jonny there already. He didn't want to think about having to pitch a fuss to find out where he'd been taken.
When they reached the door, Benton saw that Marcus was standing guard outside it. Didn't those two ever sleep? He walked in the door and looked around the dark room, flipping on the light. It was a large, well-proportioned space, tastefully decorated, and clearly meant as more permanent living quarters than those they'd had before. That Jonny had been here was made manifest by little pile of food wrappers and soda cans on the coffee table. Bandit ran up and greeted him happily, and Benton squatted to scratch the dog.
"Jonny?" he called softly. Receiving no reply, he set off to see if he could find the boy. There were gardens outside the windows across from the door, a natural pull for Jonny, but he found that the door was locked. There were two doors off this main living space, and Benton tried the one on his right first. There was a long hallway, probably to the bedrooms. The first door was a bathroom, no surprise there. The next appeared to be Jonny's room, from the various items around the room. Benton was disturbed to see Jonny's own posters on the walls. Jonny, however, was not present.
The next room was empty, both of boy and personal belongings, so Benton went on to the last room. There he found Jonny, fast asleep in the middle of the king-sized bed. There was a plate on the bedside table and two more soda cans, as well as a small pile of food wrappers, including a Ho-Ho wrapper. He looked very peaceful, and Benton hadn't the heart to disturb him. He walked over and kissed the boy on the forehead, then picked up the plate and headed back into the living area. When was Crandall going to have someone bring him a meal?
A beep sounded from the room opposite the bedrooms, so Benton opened the door on a kitchen. Bandit's dog bowls were the first thing he noticed, and he wondered where the food had come from. It didn't look familiar. There was a flashing light on the wall next to the refrigerator, so Benton went over and studied the panel. It seemed to be a door of some kind, but Benton couldn't figure out how to open it. Frustrated, he tapped the light. "Hello!"
The door opened with the sound of a small latch releasing, and Benton gazed in surprise at the interior. Pulling the tray out, he looked at the device. It appeared to be a dumbwaiter of some kind. He shut the door again, and the light went out. There was food for two people here, but Benton, noticing the peanut butter and jelly jars on the counter, their lids to the side, guessed that Jonny had gotten his own dinner. He put the tray down on the table in the corner and sat down. Then he shook his head. He got up and took the tray to the bedroom. One could become too rule-bound, he thought. Sitting down on the bed next to Jonny, he ate the pasta and vegetables he had been sent.
When he was done, he looked at the second plate. The smell of the food hadn't even made Jonny stir, so he must not be hungry. Benton, however, was still hungry, so he ate nearly all of the second helping. The day had been stressful for him as well, and the earlier he went to sleep, the earlier he could get up and spend time with Jonny. He set the alarm beside the bed for five-thirty, and, after covering Jonny up, climbed into bed himself.
Rachel would be quite peeved with him for sleeping so much in his clothes, and allowing Jonny to sleep in his clothes. But at the moment, he didn't much care. He reached over and stroked Jonny's hair, then fell asleep.
Race, finally back in control of himself, returned to I-1's main building with Phil. "The kids are in the room next to my office," he said. "I'm going to check on the satellite mapping."
Nodding, Race took the stairs two at a time, running up to find the kids. Opening the door, he saw the two of them working hard on their laptops, so focused on their tasks that they didn't hear the door open. Estella was sitting nearby in a chair, a book in her hand.
Seeing Hadji made Race's control crumble, and, much to his horror, he found that his eyes were suddenly hot with tears. He shut the door quietly before either of the kids noticed him and went into Phil's office and sat down in one of the easy chairs, burying his face in his hands. A moment later he heard the door open and he looked up, petrified that one of the kids had heard him and followed.
It was Estella. He dropped his head back into his hands and let the tears flow. She pulled a chair over next to his and sat down, putting a hand on his back. "Race, what is it?"
Race shook his head and didn't answer, unable to speak past the sobs rising in his throat. Estella pulled him into her arms and sat with him, letting him cry, not speaking. Race was grateful. The platitudes that so many people thought were necessary in situations like this would have made him want to throw things. Everything was not going to be all right.
After a while, he managed to bring himself back under control, and he pulled away. She kept a hand on his shoulder and gazed at him with concern evident in her eyes. "He – they – are they dead?"
"No, we don't think so," Race said quietly. "They left the facility alive, at any rate."
"What was the evidence you were looking at? That you couldn't show Hadji?"
Race closed his eyes. "Video footage of what went on in that place."
Estella's eyes widened. "'What went on. . .' Race, you're scaring me. What do you mean? What did you see?"
"Jonny – You know they use the kids to control the parents, right?" Estella nodded. "Well, what we found was the evidence the doctor at the site had put together to discredit the fellow in charge of Jonny and Benton. Apparently, he's too rough for their standards."
Estella blinked and tilted her head. "Too rough? I got the impression that knocking kids around was a standard part of their method of operations."
"Maybe so, but – Stell, he almost died. The bastard popped some of his stitches and then didn't see that he got medical attention. He lost two liters of blood before anybody realized how badly he was off."
"My God. . .but he's okay?"
"That all depends on your definition. He's gotten pretty thoroughly knocked around." Race shook his head. "And it wasn't because Benton wasn't cooperating. I listened to him talking calmly about ways to do things that made the hair on my neck stand up, but when they started asking him to talk about me and about Jessie and you, things got a little hairy."
"About us?" Estella asked, drawing back a little. "Why?"
"I guess they figured out I was in charge of looking for Benton and Jonny, and they wanted to know what I could do, and maybe what could be done to distract me."
"Race, are we in any danger?"
"Quite possibly. Corvin's offered to let us use one of the suites upstairs till this is all over," Race said, giving her a sympathetic pat on the hand in response to her grimace. "That's the other thing, they're threatening to take Hadji, too."
She nodded. "The kids are worried, Race. You've got to go see them."
"I know, but they can't see me like this. I don't want to scare them."
"Here, let me . . ." She stood up and went to the sink in the corner of the office and got some paper towels wet. "Wash your face, Race, and you'll be presentable."
He wiped his face down. "Thanks, Stell, I appreciate it."
"Dr. Quest is doing what they're asking of him?"
"He hasn't much choice, really, Stell." Race shuddered. "What that bastard's already done to Jonny – he's been hitting him across the face. I don't know what I wouldn't do if they had Jessie."
"Don't let's talk about it," Estella said, a sick look on her face. "Come on, Race."
They went back into the room with the kids, and Race walked up behind Hadji. "How's it going?" he asked.
"Race!" Hadji jumped up and gave him a hug. "I am glad you are back. I have gotten past the obstacle, and I can now tell quite a lot about how the corporation had inserted its people into the computers belonging to the United States government. Unfortunately, this gets us no farther towards locating Jonny or my father."
"That's not really what we're doing, Hadji," Jessie said, looking up from her computer. "We're just trying to trace the – what is the point of what we're doing, Dad?"
Race took a deep breath. "Well, you're helping I-1 figure out the extent of the organization, and how thoroughly they've infiltrated our computer systems."
"And we are keeping out of trouble," Hadji added. "Is that not right, Race?"
"The more we know about the corporation, the safer we can keep Jonny and Benton when we get them back," Race said. "And you, Hadji."
"Right!" said Jessie. "You can count on us." She did a double take. "Wait, what do you mean, Dad? What about Hadji?"
"Very good, Race," Hadji said giving him a wry look. "They were following me, Jessie, from camp."
"Has anyone had anything to eat yet, Stell?" Race asked.
"Actually, no. What time is it?" She looked at her watch. "Oh, maybe we should break for dinner."
"But, Mom," Jessie exclaimed, "we're getting so much done!"
"And you'll do a much better job on a full stomach," Race said firmly. "Come on Ponchita, Hadji. Let's get going. There's a cafeteria downstairs."
Jessie got up reluctantly, but Hadji shook his head. "Let me get just one thing finished, Race, and then I will come. I know where the cafeteria is."
Race pursed his lips. "No more than ten minutes, Hadji, okay?" The boy nodded, and Race put an arm around Jessie's shoulders, leading her out of the room.
"Dad, what was the evidence you were looking at?" Jessie asked when they were out in the hallway. "Can't you tell me, even if you can't tell Hadji?"
"No, sweetheart," Race said.
"Don't ask him, Jessie," Estella said. "It's not fair if he's not supposed to talk about it."
Jessie let out a big sigh. "But you're sure that they're okay?"
"Yup," Race said. "Pretty sure."
They got their food and settle down at a table. After a few minutes, Race checked his watch. Hadji was late, but he thought he'd give the boy a little leeway. The circumstances were pretty unusual. When another fifteen minutes had passed, however, Race got up and went to see what was keeping him, leaving Jessie with Estella.
As he approached the room, he heard Hadji speaking agitatedly. He paused outside, but he could hear no other voices. Hadji was saying, "It cannot be true." Race opened the door and saw that Hadji was speaking into his cell phone. He saw Race enter and gestured him forward urgently, but held his finger up to his lips. "Where do you want me to meet the plane?" Hadji asked. Race's eyes widened. What was this? "I see. Yes, I understand. Thank you."
When Hadji had turned off the phone, Race grabbed him by the shoulders. "What was that all about?"
"It was the corporation!" Hadji exclaimed. "It was a woman called Maggie. She said that my father and brother miss me and want me to join them."
Race felt the bottom drop out of his stomach and he wished he hadn't eaten so much meat loaf. "That's not true, Hadji."
"They said that I-1 killed Jonny's mother, that she was a distraction to Dr. Quest and did not approve of his work for the government."
"What?" Race exclaimed. "No, Hadji, that's just not so!"
"But, could it be true? Is it not possible?"
"No, Hadji, it's not," Race said firmly. "She was killed by Alexandra Jorgensen, who was trying to kill both of them."
"I have heard that story, but I-1 did the investigation. Is it not possible that I-1 could have hired her to kill Jonny's mother and then covered it up?"
"If I-1 killed Jonny's mother to prevent her from distracting him, it was the stupidest thing they could have done!" Race said. "It sent Benton into a depression that lasted for three years. He was only just coming out of it when you joined the family."
"It does seem counterproductive," Hadji agreed, the lines in his forehead smoothing out. He looked down at his cell phone. "Smashing this against the wall would be pointless, I suppose." He sighed. "Sometimes I wish I was like Jonny."
"How so?"
"Jonny would smash it anyway," Hadji said.
"You could smash it, Hadji, if it would make you feel better," Race suggested.
Hadji shook his head. "No, they have this number." He tucked the phone away into his pocket.
Race grinned ironically at him. "Of course, you do realize that Jonny would realize that fact an instant after he smashed it, and be furious with himself."
"That is true. Why do they want me, Race?" Hadji asked. "And why now?"
Race sat down and gave Hadji a sympathetic look. "I'd guess that they made the mistake a lot of people make about you."
"They do not think I am a part of the family," Hadji said, grimacing.
"Well. . ."
"Why are people so blind? Is there something about me that makes them believe that Dr. Quest would not care for me?"
"No, Hadji. People can just be pretty stupid."
"I am tired of being introduced as Dr. Quest's assistant or as Jonny's friend."
Race was taken aback. "Hadji, you don't think we mean to belittle the relationship by that, do you?"
"No, of course not," Hadji replied. "But –" The boy broke off, looking down, and Race was shocked to see little spots appear on his shirt as he started to cry. "I have lost my father and my brother, and I do not think anyone but you and Jessie and Estella realizes it."
Race pulled Hadji into his arms and hugged him fiercely, letting him cry against his chest. "Well, I can tell you, Hadji, Corvin knows. We've purposely kept it quiet, otherwise, but maybe that needs to change. If that's what you want."
Hadji didn't reply, but he gradually stopped crying. "Are you hungry, kid?" Race asked after a few minutes.
"If my faith permitted it, I could eat a whole cow."
"Well, Jessie and Stell probably wonder what hole we've fallen into. Let's go."
