Chapter 5
In the infirmary, Grace lay on one of the beds as Tanya conducted some scans and the other ducks stood nearby. Grace was still awake, but she appeared weak and drained for once.
After a few minutes, Tanya studied the readings from her scans.
"Well, the good news is you still seem able to generate power. It's just happening at a slower pace. How do you feel?"
"A little better. I think I just need to rest."
"Well, you said this was the biggest thing you've ever attempted before," Tanya said.
"Guess I'm learning my limitations, but I'm glad the dome is complete."
"Thank you for that, Grace," Wildwing said as he stepped closer. "It was good of you to do that for Anaheim."
"Well, you won't need me anymore now that it's in place," she said with a faint smile, though she spoke with a tinge of sadness. "I'll understand if you want me to go once I've recovered."
"That's not why we had you put it up," Duke insisted. "Of course, you should stay."
"I agree," Wildwing said. "Your secret is safe here. And we may need your help if we're ever going to reveal what these other outsiders are doing."
About eight hours later in New Haven, Chase Farrow dialed the secretary on his office phone at OtherEarth, Inc.
"Janice, make sure no one disturbs me for the next hour."
He ended the call and rose from his chair. Walking to his office door and opening it, he saw Vivian Rykks in her office doorway across the hall.
"No new clients?" she asked.
Chase smiled.
"Not today, but they'll come. They always do."
Vivan nodded, returning his smug expression with one of her own. Chase put a Do Not Disturb sign on his door and said,
"And when they arrive, I'll have to be ready to meet their needs."
"I was just thinking the same thing," Vivian said as she put a similar sign on her own door and closed it, moving back inside her office.
After shutting his door, Chase moved to the couch in his office and settled comfortably into it. He closed his eyes and waited.
Back in Anaheim, Nosedive and Grace stood just inside the doors of the Pond, looking out at the city. Grace was too afraid of being seen to leave the Pond again, and on his way out to the mall, Nosedive had found her standing by the doors. He looked up at the sky where the protective dome remained invisible.
"So what happens when the other humans try to steal energy from Anaheim now? Do they get it from the dome instead?"
"No, it's not right that they should be able to steal power at all, no matter where they're drawing it from. So if they try to draw power from Anaheim now. They're going to get a rather unpleasant shock."
"Like they won't get anything?"
"The dome prevents them from taking any energy from Anaheim, but I meant like an actual painful shock," Grace said with a smile. "Not enough to physically harm them really. But it'll definitely sting."
"Cool," Nosedive said with a grin. "Can you tell if it's already happening?"
Grace closed her eyes, and she nodded.
"Right now, a couple of them are getting to experience our defenses firsthand."
In his office, Chase began yelling as he landed on the floor of his office, writhing in pain until he opened his eyes. The pain slowly began to leave him, and he rose uninjured except for the memory of that horrible pulsing jolt, like an electrical current rushing through his limbs. What had happened?
He straightened his expensive tie and pulled open his office door to see some of his colleagues had gathered in the hall. Vivian opened the door to her office just a moment later, and her appearance seemed disheveled and her face pale.
"Where did you try to draw from?" he asked her quickly.
"The same place we've been using. But I didn't gain anything, and something attacked me."
"Mason," Chase said, turning to one of the others in the hall. "Try to pull power from our draw site."
One of the men in the hall appeared reluctant to follow the request, but Chase seized his arm and drew him inside the office. He thrust him to the couch and repeated the command.
"We have to know why it's not working. Now try it!"
The others gathered inside the office to watch, and Mason drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. But then he cried out, and he huddled into a ball, falling from the couch.
Chase grabbed his shoulders, but he instantly released Mason as he felt a bit of the stinging pain strike his hands. Mason opened his eyes and stumbled to his feet angrily a second later.
"And why did I have to do that?" he grumbled.
"We're being blocked," Chase said. "We had to know for sure."
"Blocked? How is that possible?" Vivian exclaimed.
"I don't know, but it's happening!" Chase shouted back before he turned away to calm himself. "This cannot be an accident. Someone is keeping us out of there."
"The second site still works," Russ Ogulby said, folding his arms. "I just drew power from there an hour ago."
"Then we draw from there," Mason said, brushing himself off while still casting an annoyed look at Chase.
"For how long?" Chase asked. "It may be a small problem that we have to draw from other locations, but this the first time we've been blocked. It means that someone has learned how we gain our power."
Their expressions revealed that they suddenly understood his concern now.
"You expect them to tell someone?" Vivian asked.
"We can deny whatever accusations they bring against us. The bigger issue is that if they've learned to block us once, they may start blocking us in other locations."
"We'd have nowhere to harvest power from," Mason said.
Chase grew quiet in thought as he walked around his office, and finally, he stood behind his desk.
"We have to know what's going on at this site. I'm going out there."
They looked at him in surprise.
"You think that's a good idea?" Mason asked. "If they know what we've been doing…"
"I'll take one of the defenders with me. They won't dare attack us. And maybe I'll find this threat and squash it before this goes any farther."
"I'll go with you," Vivian said. "I want to see what's going on there."
Chase nodded.
"We should fill up on power before we go. We'll wait and leave tomorrow."
As Grace stood with Nosedive, her eyes suddenly opened wide, and she turned and began to hurry back to the locker room and the elevator.
"What is it?" Nosedive asked as he followed her.
"I have to talk to your brother. Come on!"
