Chapter 5

Steve sat quietly, waiting for what might be coming next...and wishing he had an ear like Jaime's. He was hooded - had been since they'd put him in the car (with Russ) but his senses told him he was now in an attic. They'd gone up several flights of stairs (with a gun pressed firmly to his back) and ended up here. Even through the thick hood, the smells of dust and mildew told Steve he was in an attic...and the stairs they'd taken to get there told him he was too high up to jump out a window...even if he could see to find one.

Their captors didn't seem to know he was bionic, as Steve was tied to a chair with 'normal' rope (albeit very tightly...and his left arm was already going numb). The gunman who'd forced him up the stairs was still watching him - or at least in the room. Steve had heard chair legs scrape the wooden floor when the man sat down. He could break his bonds, throw off the hood and (by virtue of his bionics) try to take the man by surprise...but it was more likely he'd be shot and even if he managed to pull off his own escape, Steve didn't know where Russ was or how badly he might be hurt and there was no way he was leaving him behind!

Steve shifted in his chair, still weighing his options...and heard the click of the guard cocking his gun. ''Don't even think about moving,'' the man sneered. Steve slumped down a bit, feigning (temporary) defeat. He was still taking stock of his own body (and the situation as a whole).

Steve's head was pounding, both from being knocked out and from the 'bounce back' effect that had caused him to slam into the passenger door (after colliding with Jaime in the back seat) when Russ had skidding into the tree. After they'd been rear-ended in an attempt to force them them off the road, Russ had attempted a U-turn to head back in the opposite direction and throw off their pursuers...but the narrowness of the road and the proximity of the other car had sent them into a skid. Rather than collide with the terrorists, he had braked as smoothly as possible and slid off the road and into the tree. The actual impact had been somewhat gentle but - even wearing seat belts - they'd been jostled back and forth violently as the car left the road. Russ had a good-sized goose egg on his forehead and his nose had been bloodied when they'd first hit the ditch and he'd pitched forward into the steering wheel.

Steve had helped Jaime from the car and then he and Russ (without needing to consult or even think about it) headed in the direction of where they could hear the terrorists entering the woods. He hadn't fought being taken - and neither had Russ - since the sooner their captors took them out of the forest, the further they'd be from the terrorists' actual target: Jaime. They'd asked about her just after he and Russ had been put into the car but they weren't given time to answer before being hooded...and knocked out. Hopefully, Jaime had done exactly as he'd told her - run in the opposite direction and kept on running. Was she safe? She hadn't looked altogether steady on her feet and was very, very pale - but she'd broken into a good solid run. Steve could only hope that she'd managed to get away and was now safely wrapped in a blanket in the back of a Rescue vehicle.

As if reading Steve's mind, the gunman was suddenly standing over him, looming very close. ''Where is the girl?'' he demanded. ''How is she able to do the things she does?''

Steve remained silent. From interrogating the group who'd been rounded up after the hospital siege, he knew the terrorists had been after Rudy's research on the miniaturization of nuclear power packs. They didn't appear to know about the existence of actual bionic implants in human subjects...and if Steve could play his cards right, maybe they wouldn't find out. (He just wished he knew what 'cards' he was going to play...)

Crack! What felt like the butt of the gun slammed into Steve's face. ''I asked you a question!'' his tormentor thundered. ''Where is the girl?''

Jaime still had no idea where she was. She heard footsteps coming through the trees but in her confusion she didn't know if they belonged to Rescue...or to potential captors. They were coming from opposite directions, heading straight for her. She was trapped!Jaime gathered her strength, wobbling just a little as she crouched down...and then leaped high into a tree, nearly missing the aimed-for branch and swinging her body over safely just as the footsteps reached her...and then retreated.