A/N: To the reviewer who asked why I chose Turkey as the setting (or at least a setting) for this story: there are two reasons. The first is that I tend to include countries/places I've been to in my stories, and Turkey is one such (one of my favorite countries, as a matter of fact); as for the second reason, well – you'll just have to wait and see. Suffice it to say that the folks who've been making trouble for poor Cat didn't pick the location for their base at random.
Disclaimer: As ever, don't own.
The morning call to prayer, broadcast over loudspeakers from a distant minaret, roused Cat from a sleep so deep and dreamless as to be not far removed from death. She stretched her still aching limbs carefully and turned her stiff neck from side to side; it appeared she was alone in the little bedroom.
Rousing herself, she followed the noise of squawking chickens into the front yard. The rancher's house opened onto the square of a tiny village a few kilometers north of the city of Kelainai. Her host – his name, he had told Cat just before she drifted off to sleep the evening before, was Akalp – was busy drawing water from a fountain made from a converted Roman-era stone sarcophagus; when he spotted Cat, he held up a hand in greeting. Across the dusty road, in the courtyard of the mosque-cum-school that was the centerpiece of village life, children played tag and called to one another in excited voices. It was a scene of almost idyllic beauty; for the first time since the terrible night of her abduction, Cat found herself smiling.
"How are you feeling?" asked Akalp as he approached with water bucket in hand.
"Much better, thank you. I am hungry, though – but I don't want to impose," she added hurriedly. "You've already been so kind."
"No need to thank me," replied the rancher in a gruff tone. "I could hardly leave you to die in the road, after all. Come on – my wife should have breakfast ready soon."
Behind his back, Cat's grin grew wider. She liked this man – he maintained a rough, distant exterior, but she could sense a core of compassion beneath it.
Then her grin swiftly faded. What if I've put him and his family in danger just by being here?
She hurried to catch up. "As soon as I've eaten, I'll be on my way. What's the easiest way to get to-" she scanned the atlas stored in her mind for the nearest large city with an international airport – "Antalya?"
"Train or bus from Kelainai." Then, more gently: "You need not feel obliged to run. If those men come seeking for you, there are places we can conceal you. I know these hills better than any man alive."
"I couldn't ask that of you. And besides – " despite herself, her voice quivered- "I really want to go home."
"Where is your home?"
"California."
He raised his eyebrows. "How on Earth did you find yourself here, then?"
"It's…complicated." She paused. "What can you tell me about that…'automobile factory' where you found me?"
"Very little, I fear. It was only completed a few months ago. They refuse to hire local workers, and they keep to themselves. To tell the truth, I don't think they're making cars there at all."
"What makes you say that?"
His voice lowered; he looked swiftly from side to side to make sure they were unobserved. "One night – when I was unable to sleep – I went for a walk out into the hills, and…I saw a light. No ordinary light, either. No lamp cast it; it was as if it were made from the flickering of millions of fireflies, all gathered together in one great cloud. It hung around the factory and never moved. And there were sounds, too – a high-pitched whirring noise, like some great drill, and the clanging of steel on stone. I would have taken a closer look, but there were men circling the factory, with dogs and guns, and I was afraid to be seen."
Cat thought for a moment. Whatever these mysterious malefactors were up to, it must surely be related to her recent discovery. They needed energy, and lots of it- but for what end? One thing was sure – they mustn't be allowed to go through with their plans. If the mindset of her interrogator was any indication, their success would mean the end of freedom for mankind – maybe the end of mankind itself.
Two conflicting desires warred within her. She was lonely, no question about it; she missed her family, her friends, her school. As beautiful as this place was, it was foreign to her, and she to it. Home seemed like such an appealing prospect that it made her heart ache.
And yet…could she really turn her back on the threat that was obviously lurking here? Was her personal safety really worth allowing this evil plot, whatever it was, to grow unchecked like a festering sore? Hard though it was for her to accept the thought, it might actually be for the best that she had been abducted and brought here; now she had a chance to make a difference, to strike back against the arrogant clique that had decided it was their right to crush mankind under their boot heel. They would certainly never expect her to return – not after she had just so narrowly escaped. And when all was said and done, her newfound brilliance gave her a responsibility. She no longer had the luxury of thinking only of herself; she had the capacity for far greater things now. The world needed her.
There was only one thing to do, then – stay and fight. But first, she must let her friends know that she was safe.
"May I use your phone?" she asked. Hers had been confiscated when she was abducted. "It's a long-distance call – I hope that's all right."
"Be my guest."
It took long minutes and several frustrated connections before she was put through to the Shapiros' home.
"Mrs. Shapiro! It's Cat! Yeah, it's great to hear your voice too. Could you put Robbie on?"
She could scarcely believe what she heard next.
"He's coming here?" she shrieked into the receiver.
This could be a disaster. All thoughts of a counteroffensive against her captors were shoved into the background. First things first: she must get to Robbie and the gang and warn them to return home, before they themselves became targets.
With a hurried cry of "Goodbye! Thanks for everything!", she blew past a startled Akalp and sprinted into the distance.
/
Jade and Beck walked through the city in the fading daylight, carrying bags laden with takeout – hot lamb sandwiches with roasted peppers, the delicious scent of which mingled with the odor from the orange blossoms that lined the avenue. It was all they could do to keep themselves from tearing into the food right then and there and leaving nothing for their friends back at the hotel, shameful though that would have been.
"I'll say one thing for this country – they know how to cook," said Jade. "But what's the deal with serving scorching hot tea at noon in the summer? That's just…freaky."
"Oh, you're just mad because you got your tongue burned and you had to go a whole afternoon without insulting Tori," Beck teased. Jade gave him an elbow to the ribs, which only made him grin more broadly.
They turned off the broad avenue into a narrow, dingy alley, filled with trash cans and masked in twilight shadow. After a moment, Jade said slowly: "Tell me honestly, Beck. Do you think Cat is still alive?"
Beck's smile was swiftly exchanged for a look of fierce determination. "Yes. Yes, I really do. And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better, I swear to you. Whoever took her must have done so for a reason – probably to get some knowledge out of her. Killing her would just be shooting themselves in the foot."
"I want to believe you. But – God, I'm so scared for her." The tears began to sting Jade's eyes, and she quickly turned away to hide her face. Beck put a comforting arm around her shoulder.
"It's yourselves you should be scared for," came a disembodied voice from the darkness.
They whirled. At the same moment, a powerful fist struck Beck across the jaw. He fell backwards; the containers he held spilled open.
Jade didn't even have time to scream before the faceless assailant seized her in a chokehold. She felt a steel knifepoint pressed against the small of her back.
"Let her go!" Beck yelled.
"You're not really in a position to give orders, are you, pretty boy?" As the man pushed Jade forward into the light, the reason for his sneering emphasis on the last two words became apparent: his face was horribly scarred.
"You see this? This is your friend Caterina's handiwork. Thanks to her, I'm going to have small children fleeing from me in terror for the rest of my life."
"If Cat did that to you," gasped Jade, "I'm betting you had it coming."
"Dear God, I'm so very tired of little girls mocking me." He tightened his hold, cutting off Jade's voice. "Now, here's what's going to happen. Beck – that is your name, isn't it? – you're going to go to your hotel and wait with your friends until Caterina contacts you. She's a smart girl – she'll figure out where you are soon enough. When you hear from her, you'll tell her that I have her best friend, and if she ever wants to see her alive again, she'd better come meet me. Alone. The shore of Lake Marsyas. Two days from now. 7:00 A.M. Not a minute later. Is that understood?"
"If you hurt Jade, you're dead," spat Beck.
"That is not relevant to this conversation. Now, I won't ask again: do you understand what I am telling you to do?"
At last, Beck sighed: "Yes."
"Good boy."
With Jade still in his clutches, he vanished into the shadows, as Beck cried out in impotent rage.
/
The panicked Canadian boy ran through the foyer of his hotel like a whirlwind, pushed past the startled bellhops, and, not bothering to wait for the elevator, sprinted up the stairs to the fifth floor.
"Guys!" he cried as he burst into the suite he and his friends shared. "They took Jade! We have to-"
He froze in his tracks.
Cat Valentine stood in the middle of the room.
"We have to get her back," Cat said simply. "And, rest assured, we will."