Lexicon

"Mission City, huh?" Jace's inadvertent rescuer asked as the vehicle pulled away from the curb and towards the highway on-ramp that had only been a few yards away. Jace hadn't even noticed it. "Well, I can get you as far as North Edwards. Cap'd have my ass if I went back to the City."

"You've been there?" Jace gave what he hoped was a casual glance at the sideview mirror, and was relieved to see that the dark car hadn't followed.

"Yeah," The driver said shortly, changing lanes. "Big ol' mess. Especially with that spin job the spooks have been putting on it. I'd get run out on a rail if I showed myself there right now. And I'm onna the good guys."

"Joint civilian and military experiment gone wrong," Jace remembered from the articles, "Lots of ... accidents going on that day."

"Experiment my ass." The driver snorted, offering a hand to his passenger. "Rob Epps. Air Force."

"Jace," He kept it brief, and went back to watching the miles fly by. "You're military. Why tell me anything, and why pick me up?"

"Officially we look like the bad guys here. People got hurt. People got killed– and not just in Mission City. You looked like you were about to drop. We got a bad enough rep without adding 'abandoning folks in need' added to it."

"Abandoned..." He was alone– no one could help him. They wouldn't abandon him. "I wouldn't say abandoned, so much as misled." Jace sighed, staring straight ahead. Who wouldn't abandon him? Danielle?

"Oh?" There was a sidelong suspicious glance.

"I haven't been able to find out any real information on what happened in Mission City. Just the official story, and maybe the occasional vague rumor." It had all been worded so carefully. Witness accounts had been almost coached. Jace's hand tightened on the door handle. "It all seems fake. It's all wrong."

The car slowed almost imperceptibly, and Jace heard a slight ticking noise that reminded him of something. Coils. Engines wearing down. There was something wrong with the car? Rob didn't appear to notice.

"You know," Epps was saying, "That's what I told 'em people would think. It wasn't a good idea. You going to go investigate now, and find out what happened to a friend– or family? Not gonna find much of anything left there. They took all the junk away."

Jace frowned, hearing the engine change pitch. The soft crackle of something...

"How far to the next town or rest stop?"

"I was serious 'bout giving you a ride, man." Rob said, "I'm serious."

"How far?" Jace persisted, "If it's more than a couple of miles–"

"Ten." Epps gestured to the briefly lit sign announcing the next area. "Can't take the company of a soldier anymore?"

"Not that. Your car's about to stop."

"What? No. I just got it checked out before I left." There was a stiff cough from the engine, and the rumble ceased. "What the–"

Epps coasted the car carefully to the side of the nearly deserted highway.

"How the hell did you know?"

"Sounds." Jace shrugged uncomfortably. How had he known? He didn't know that much about cars... "Sounded like something giving out."

"Man... I hope it's just the battery."

"If we were a little closer to the rest area, it'd be easier to get to a phone." Jace rubbed the bridge of his nose.

The engine was still stubbornly refusing to make a sound when the driver turned the key, and pleaded with it to start. Jace shook his head. Trying to get the soft roar out of his ears with no success.

"S'all right." Rob's grin was almost invisible in the dark of the car, "I got a cell. I wanna pop the hood, and see if it's just the battery cables coming loose again. Got a flashlight– Sounds like you know somethin' about cars."

Jace followed the other man's lead, and hopped out to stare at the suddenly ominous white hood. There was smoke slipping out of the cracks.

Epps raised the hood, and jumped back as flames shot out of the engine compartment.

"Shit!"

The smell of burning oil, ozone and wire casing hit Jace hard.

Burning wires snapped with the remains of energy as he attempted to get up one more time. Missile damage was difficult to shake off– but his friend was more of a mess than he was–

A wave of nausea grabbed Jace. He managed to stagger away from the vehicle into the low shrubs in the ditch before what remained in his stomach made a second appearance. Epps was saying something, but Jace couldn't make out what it was. His body was too busy sending him into spasms as the cool night breeze blew more of the smoke in his direction.

The acrid smell invaded his senses, familiar and deadly– there had been many times he'd been around this odor, and it always involved pain and death–

"Hey–" There was a hand on his shoulder, steadying him before he pitched forward. "You ok there?"

Jace nodded mutely, wiping his face with his other sleeve. This was almost embarrassing. Why had he reacted like this--

"I called for a tow, and to tell my captain I'm gonna be late." The light blinded Jace for a moment as Epps studied him. "Better sit down. You're still not lookin' so good."

Again, Jace could only follow the suggestion, wobbling his way to a place upwind of the smouldering vehicle. The slightest hint of the smell was making the bile rise again. In the dark, he could still hear Epps swearing as he carefully pulled possessions out of the car.

It didn't take long, and soon the big man was sitting next to him again.

"At least there ain't anyone trying to kill us in this desert." Epps flipped his phone open and shut again, "You never said why you were so bent on gettin' to Mission City. Family there?"

"No." Jace shook his head. "I was there. But I don't remember."

"Huh." Epps frowned, "Probably better that way."

"You'd think." Jace watched a set of lights on the highway coming closer. He'd almost be glad to see the dark cars right now. It would at least mean that they'd get away from this dirt, and the smell of burning plastic. "I don't even know who I am, really."

"So Jace isn't your name?" The low light didn't hide the confusion.

"It's what she called me when I woke up." Trust. He had to trust someone, and at the moment, Epps seemed as though he might listen, and not turn him in. "Said she was my sister. And the spooks that were hanging around called me that too. Couldn't find anything on Sector Seven– so I don't even know if they're really government, or–"

"They're supposed to be disbanded, damnit." Epps let out a string of curses. "I'll have to tell Cap when I get back to base."

A set of headlights slowed down as they approached the dead car. As far as Jace could see it was black and white, not just plain black. The driver was not visible from this angle, but something about it made him nervous. It's a cop car. He realized as the lights started flashing.

"Great– maybe this guy can get 'em to come out a little faster." Epps stood. "Hey officer!"

The radio inside the car produced a loud burst of static, almost pure noise, and Jace stood quickly. That sound...

Epps had noticed it as well.

"Jace, you might wanna make for the ditch or something. Don't know if this one's noticed you–"

... it made sense. There was a familiar pattern to it. Great chunks of it were missing, but Jace could hear the message. Not only hear, but understand.

"...subject static located... capture immanent "

"commencing..."

"permission to interrogate..."

"What..." Jace felt his eyes widening as he stared at the new vehicle. Two voices. A conversation. A radio. "Epps, that's not a cop, it's..."

"Damnit, Jace, run." Epps was turning, "Don't know what it wants, but I ain't got a big enough gun with me. Let's go, man."

The other man grabbed Jace's arm, and dragged him away from the road, towards the foothills. The engine revved, almost sounding angry as the car turned to pull off of the road and towards them, lights clearly illuminating their path.

Brush. Sand. Rock. And more rock. There wasn't going to be anywhere to hide, but if whoever was in the car was going to get out and pursue on foot–

"Jace!"

"Leaving the road..." The voice said, "Will have to transform in order to pursue–"

"Idiot– do not reveal yourself. There are signals converging on your location. Return to–"

Jace didn't hear the rest, as he was dragged through a few low-lying shrubs, and into some rough cover behind an outcropping.

"What's it doin', man..." Epps sounded nervous as he peered over the rock at the still idling cruiser. "I'm tired of these things. I get off of leave and they come right back at me."

"Didn't you hear it?" Jace rubbed at his sore arm. Twice in one day– probably bruised. "He was ordered to retreat."

"The hell?" Epps spared him a glance, "You nuts, man? It's waiting for something."

"Someone else is coming–" Jace told him, peering over the wall as the cruiser pulled out, and took off down the highway at an insane speed. "It was over the radio– pretty loud."

"All I was hearin' was static."Epps complained, standing up. "How'd you hear it?"

Jace shook his head as the faint rumble of vehicles moving down the highway came closer.

"You don't even know what that was, do you?" Epps shook his head, "If you were in Mission City, you'd have seen 'em, and heard 'em. No way you should forget that so easily. They're what really happened. And there's no way you should be able to understand 'em."