"Can you jam 'em?" Calen called out.

          Mac nodded. "I'll try." The Adept focused a part of his audio behind them and concentrated on the sound of their feet for localization. From there he pinpointed their electronics and with a single thought, distorted their carrier signals. "I think I did it.."

          "Think?" Calen dodged around milling people, all going about their normal, sleeper lives.

          Mac wasn't as graceful and managed a few "escus je" here and there. He glanced back at the Agents. In Mac's vision, their Eurostar guard uniforms were gone, replaced by black suits. I wonder if sleepers see the same thing as before? Or do they see the suits?

          He came up short down a darkened hallway to his right. Empty, dark windows stared back at him. This looked to be either an abandoned branch of the terminal, or a renovation in progress. Scaffolding, paint buckets and various debris littered the floors. The only light came from the way he'd come.

          Of Calen, there was no sign.

          "Nicholas?" he hissed.

          Someone grabbed his arm and slapped hand over his mouth then yanked him into a darkened doorway to the left. He was pressed against the doorway's alcove. Mac could see Calen clearly in the dark. The VE released him and looked back down the hall. "If they've made us, we could be in some deep shit."

          Mac groaned inwardly. If they've made us, we're all dead - and Calen's death certificate is revoked.

          "We can't let them report back. Shit, shit, shit. I've got nothing with me."

          "I've got things..." he gestured to his head. "In here. But you know that now. I'm unsure how to use them."

          "Great," muttered Calen.

          "Oh for crying out loud..." Mac hissed. "You know their weaknesses. Teach me. Can we fight them?"

          The VE reached behind his back and pulled out an impressive looking weapon. "I've got this, but if I fire it, and there are more agents around, they're going to spot its signature a mile away."

          Mac reached behind him with his left hand and retrieved his own gun. "I have this."

          Calen shook his head, his gaze returning to the end of the hallway. "Same problem. Signature." He frowned. "As for weaknesses - I'd say they're over formalized." He shrugged and looked back at Mac. "They're going to go by the book and try to apprehend two suspected deviants. They know they're being jammed..."

          "And that means...?"

          Calen looked at Mac and his eyes widened. "Shit."

          "What?"

          "Which means one of them is going to look for another line of communication while the other distracts us."

          Mac turned and listened for the approaching footfalls. "You're right - there's only one coming."

          The VE nodded. "Can you find the other one with your scanners? And lock the payphones in the terminal. If they're here pulling guard duty, they're not real bright."

          Mac did as Calen suggested. He connected to the local grid network and cut power to all the payphones within a mile radius. To locate the Agents, the Adept tracked their hardware signatures - the port he'd jammed earlier. Within seconds Mac had his location. He was near the beginning of the hallway, just turning down. The other one had turned and was heading back up along where the train had been - in the direction of the escalators. "I've located him. Payphones are down."

          "Good," Calen held up his gun in his right hand. "I'm going to pull this one away and you track the other one. They can't be allowed to contact their superiors, Mac. At any cost."

          Mac held his own gun at the ready. His heart thundered in his chest as he sync'd his optics. He saw the grid overlaid with his vision of Calen.

          The VE dashed out into the open, then ran down another hallway across the way. Mac pressed himself into the darkened doorway as the sounds of the Agent's shoes neared. Mac held his breath as the agent paused, turned in the direction Calen had taken, then fired off a shot. It whizzed and pinged, slamming against the corner wall of the hallway. He then took off down the same hallway Calen had dashed into.

          Mac took off as fast as he could. He had pushed his body more than he ever had this time, and he stumbled once. As he neared the hallway's entrance, two shots echoed from where he'd seen Calen enter.

          Mac paused. Calen? Damn...if only he had his uplink. I would know if he was all right.

          No time... The grid showed the other Agent now stepping on the escalator.

          As Mac emerged into the main Terminal his optics zeroed in on the Agent maneuvering past tourists and passengers as the escalator ascended. Then something else touched on the edges of his sensors. Tucking the gun back into his pants behind his hooded jacket, the Adept shifted a secondary system to the disturbance.

          Something on the second level parking lot with unusual Radio Frequency activity. Damn...I've disabled all the other means of communication in and out - but there seems to be a car or something up there with it's own communication, much like a police radio. He unconsciously attempted to jam it, but was unable to do little more than scramble the signal. The emanations were strange, not the usual frequencies used outside of Military channels. Strange...some sort of encryption I've never seen before.

          Either way, he couldn't let the Agent get to whatever that was.

          Standing in the center of a sea of people in the terminal, another grid came to him, a layout of this part of the Eurostar Station. He looked for and found a quicker way up to the parking lot. Blinking away the grid, Mac spotted the elevators and with as much speed as he could muster, given the obstacles of people placed in his way, ran to the elevator and ducked in.

          As the small car closed he looked up at the security camera inside and with the same action used on Calen's shades, short-circuited it. I could get used to this. He pulled his gun from his back and held it between his hands as he pressed himself against the right of the elevator's door.

          When the car stopped, he counted to three and then whirled to his left and down on one knee. There was no one there. A cursory scan of the surrounding area showed he was the only one in the parking lot. There was no other sound except the sound of his panting breaths and pounding heart.

          And the radio.

          Mac stood on shaky legs and zeroed in on a non-descriptive sedan nearby. He could hear voices talking, a cacophony of noises inside his head. He also heard the approach of footsteps and immediately ducked down behind a car.

          A voice in precise French said, "Stand up."

          Wrong car.

          Mac directed his Magick-Eye to the grid. The Agent stood directly behind him, gun drawn and pointed at Mac's head. The Adept rose slowly, lowering his gun. He felt the weapon wrenched from his grasp. "Slower - place your hands behind your head."

          Teleport! Use the Correspondence Rote! As he moved his hands behind him, Mac called up the Rote Trent had helped him create - the one the Adept had used himself so many times to get his own ass out of a sticky situation.

          A shift of paten leather shoe on sandy concrete. He accessed the parking lot security camera again and saw the Agent step forward. In one hand was the gun, pointed directly at Mac's head. As the Agent brought the other hand up, something within his grasp glowed just as Calen's shades had. Primium. Not good. He couldn't tell if they were hand-cuffs. Either way, he was not going to stick around and find out. Mac was about to activate the Rote when...

          ...the elevator opened, emptying a dozen or so of what looked like Girl Scouts into the parking lot.

          Shit! He couldn't do it - not in front of Sleepers. He felt the cold touch of something metal on his right wrist...

          The sound of more footsteps and then.

          Pupth!

          Thud.

          Nothing happened as the sound of the children echoed away toward a waiting bus. Mac tried to slow his breathing as he looked again at his Magick-Eye - but there was no need as Nicholas' winded voice said behind him, "I think...you can...put your hands down now."

          Mac turned slowly. The Agent lay just behind him, headless. Some of the gray matter, blood and bone had spattered against his back and Calen's front. Mac put a hand to his mouth as he sidestepped away, then looked at Calen. "I suppose he's dead, huh?"

          "Well, given that you were standing in his brains, I'd say...that was a yes."

          The VE stood at an odd angle and he was bent over, panting slightly, the other guard's pistol in his hand. So that's what he used to blow this guy's brains out with. Mac had never seen the soldier winded before. Calen lowered his gun and pressed his left hand into his left side. The black tee shirt appeared to be soaked with sweat.

          Calen abruptly swayed and dropped the gun. It landed beside the one the Agent had taken from Mac. The VE winced and clamped his right hand to his left side. Mac watched as blood gushed over his fingers and dripped in a steady stream onto the parking lot floor.

          "You're injured..."

          "Yeah..." Calen managed a weak chuckle. "Just a flesh wound." The soldier swayed and Mac stepped to the VE. He put his left arm under Calen's right shoulder as he slumped forward, the last of his strength obviously fading.

          "Flesh wound hell...Nicholas...you've been shot."

          "Not the first time..." Calen coughed. He had blood on his lips.

          The Adept eased the VE down into a sitting position, out of sight of the elevator. He leaned Calen's back against the door of a car, then moved to the wounded side. Mac moved the VE's hands away, and lifted the tee shirt.

          Blood oozed quickly from a single hole below his lowest rib. Narrowing his eyes, Mac scanned his internal organs. A single slug lay buried inside Calen's kidney. This is not good - he's got internal bleeding, and I have nothing to treat him with. He quickly removed his hooded pullover, folded it and pressed it into the soldier's side. "I'm going to have to risk contacting Huang, Calen. This is bad and we're not anywhere near a..."

          "Med kit," Calen said as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the car. "In the hotel room...under my bed." He opened his pain-filled eyes and looked at Mac. "It's my own fault...I let myself...get distracted." He coughed and more blood came to his lips. Blood ran in a river over Calen's pants and onto the concrete.

          There was no time to drive Calen to the hotel - he'd bleed to death before he got there. Luckily Mac had been in Calen's room not long ago, and the memory was fresh. He only hoped there wasn't a maid in there when he arrived.

          The Adept gathered the VE's gun and placed it in the soldier's hands. He touched Calen's shoulder and waited until his eyes focused on him. "Don't talk - I'm going to go get the kit." He stood and took a single step back from Calen. He called up the proper Rote.

          "We should take a car to..."

          Looking around furtively to make sure no one was watching, Mac teleported. He knew from watching Trent all those times that Calen would see him fade away, as if becoming transparent. Mac saw Calen's eyes widen at the same time he saw Calen's room and his unmade bed and scattered equipment. He waited until the full image of the surprised VE vanished and the room became solid before moving to the bed and pulling out a silver, oblong shaped box. This has got to be it. With the med kit in hand, Mac then grabbed Calen's Nokia and uplink and shoved them in his pocket.

          Again once the Rote was activated, the room dissolved and he saw the garage again, the car and Calen leaned against it - his eyes closed. Once the bedroom dissolved, Mac leaned down and opened the kit beside Calen.

          "Shouldna...done that..." the VE said groggily. "S'not right...breaks down the barriers..." his words became an incomprehensible mumble.

          On the lid of the kit were several ailments listed. He paused at the one entitled SEVERE TRAUMA - apply appropriate size bandage (#BR715) with a liberal dose of NNHP to speed healing. Sounded simple enough - but what about the bullet? I have to get the bullet out. "Well, Mr. Calen - you can slap the cuffs on me later. I'm afraid my Deviant magick is all that's going to save your ass right now."

          Calen mumbled again, but Mac felt the VE's gaze on him as he balled his left hand into a fist. He turned inward to his Magick-Eye and locked on target to the bullet in Calen's kidney. "This might hurt...I don't know." Something solid materialized inside of his balled fist. Blood oozed from between Mac's fingers and spilled on the floor.

          He turned his fist and opened his hand, palm up. There in the center of a small, palm sized puddle of Calen's blood, lay the bullet.

          "Gah...." Calen's eyes widened.

          The radio in the Agent's car began to beep. DEVIANT ACTIVITY DETECTED - DEVIANT ACTIVITY DETECTED.

          Mac looked over at the car with a furrowed brow and using the same focus he'd used that morning on Calen's shades, shorted out the radio. Sparks and smoke came from the hood and filled the cab.

          Dropping the bullet into the medkit, Mac wiped his bloodied hands on his jeans. Within the kit rested several sizes of bandages and a small bottle labeled NNHP. On a side pocket were several syringes - scanning their content - Mac found antibiotic, vaccine, antivenin and blood loss. He grabbed the NNHP and moved his hooded pullover from the VE's side. He applied the NNHP liberaly over the wound per the directions. Blood coated his hands and he distractedly wiped it on his tee-shirt as he grabbed the best-sized bandage. He was only mildly surprised when the material adhered to Calen's side like a second skin.

          Calen groaned. "Got to get away...from it. Scanners are gonna pick up your activities..."

          "I already fried it Calen," Mac wiped his hands again on his jeans. They were stained red. Nothing I can do about them until I can use water and soap. He wiped at his forehead with the back of his left hand. Sweat dripped into his eyes. It was already damn hot. He widened each of Calen's eyes and peered in, much in the way Oz had done to him only a few days ago...

          Had it only been a short time since this kid kicked my ass? And now look at us.

          Calen's focus was returning, but the blood loss wasn't going to make their situation any better. Calen had been right in that they needed to get out of there. He was sure his teleporting had set off alarms as well, just perhaps not as noisy. Technocrats would be on their way.

          The Adept grabbed the syringe for blood loss. He popped the cover of the needle off with the thumb of his left hand then shot a small CC out of the top of the needle to relieve air-bubbles. He jabbed it into Calen's arm.

          The VE winced, but nodded. "That'll help."

          Mac tossed the syringe and the packaging from the bandage back into the kit. "Anything else?"

          "Let's get the hell out of here before more come to check on the alarm."

          I agree. Mac closed the med kit and then slipped his left arm back under Calen's right shoulder and helped the wounded soldier to stand. "I...can...walk."

          Mac watched Calen steady himself against the car. He reached down and grabbed his blood-soaked hooded pullover. With a secondary Rote, he sent the VE's blood from the concrete into the medkit. Can't risk leaving anything behind that would ID him. "You sure?"

          To Mac's amazement, the VE stood up straight - though the ruse didn't last long. "You just...concentrate on a car..."

          Mac turned and looked past the Agent's smoking sedan. He didn't know which one he could manipulate - most cars came with alarms these days. He needed to find one he could unlock. With an overall broadcast to the immediate facility, a car in the back near the exit flashed its lights and beeped its horn.

          "C'mon," with Med kit under one arm and jacket in the other hand, Mac jogged to the... he stopped in front of the car. A fiat?

          Oh great.

          His own opinion seemed to be that of Calen's as well. "A Fiat?" the VE said as he ambled up. He'd made it on his own but he'd also used the hood and door of every car between there and here.

          Mac said something unintelligible and went around to the passenger's door. He shoved the med kit and jacket into the practically non-existent back seat then moved to help Calen get there a little faster. I've just had a close call at being captured by an Agent - I do not want another one for bravado.

          Calen eased down and into the passenger's side. He gave a raspy chuckle. "I'm going to need to eat a lot after this."

          "Eat?" Mac said as he slid into the driver's chair and closed the door. "Why? Is that part of the healing process?"

          Calen nodded. "More nanites...repairing. But they need fuel."

          With a shrug, Mac put his right hand over the ignition. "Let's hope this works."

          Calen arched an eyebrow. "Oh no..."

          Mac gave the VE a withering look as he reached behind him and pulled his gun out. With the butt end he smashed away the silver cover. He pulled two wires down and touched them together. The engine came to life. He pulled his seat belt over and winked at Calen. "A little trick my brother taught me."

          "Which one?"

          "The Engineer," he grinned as he put it in reverse and backed out. He grinned at Calen. "Not bad for a guy who's had two hours of sleep."

          "Well...at least that won't attract too much attention." He straightened up as Mac turned the car to the exit. "I feel blind and deaf - it's been so long since I've been without my gear."

          The Adept eased the Fiat out to the parking garage's edge. He called up a map and laid a line over the grid to where he needed to go to get back to the hotel. Before easing into traffic, he pulled the uplink and communicator from his jean's pocket and handed them to Calen.

          Calen raised an eyebrow.

          "Thought you might want them back."

          "You've been carrying these around and you didn't...arrghh..."

          "Hey look - first priority was to get you patched."

          Calen set the uplink to his ear and taped a few keys on the communicator.

          Mac muttered. "I've only had them since I teleported."

          The VE put up a hand. "Let's not talk about your activities. That's what I'm looking into now." He eyes unfocused as Mac turned to his right. "No one's scrambled yet." He gave a relieved sigh. "Just reported a minor deviant blip. Hasn't gotten priority yet." He grunted. "Won't until the guards fail to show up. And then it might be a problem."

          Mac glanced at the VE, whose eyes were slightly unfocused, though he wasn't sure if it was from the uplink or the blood loss. "You probably saved my life back there."

          "Yeah, well, if you hadn't gotten the med kit and the... " he paused. "However you did it," he shrugged. "I'm willing to call it even."

          Mac nodded. "Even." He stopped at the light, then turned the car right. The Parc loomed before them. "Let's just hope Huang's not too put out."

          Calen chuckled. "What's she going to do - report us?" He winced.

          "You know, I had the pleasure of meeting a really good Euthanatos doctor recently - patched me up good from a beating I took a couple of days ago. She could..."

          "No." He shook his head violently, then grabbed his temples. "Shouldna done that.."

          Mac laughed. Yeah, I know what that's like. He pulled the car into the parking lot of the Parc and found a parking space near the back wall. "You Technocrats..." He shut the car off.

          "I think you mean," he looked at Mac thoughtfully. "us Technocrats. You've got more iterator hardware in your head than any half dozen agents I could name. And Huang couldn't have done all of that...not what I scanned...not even with Union surgical procedures. Not in three days." He coughed and winced.

          Mac opened his door. "Let's get you upstairs to your room."

          The Aept's head filled with confused thoughts as he helped Nicholas manage the short walk to the elevator. The VE held onto the side bars and leaned into the corner.

          Mac stood with his arms crossed, facing Calen. He stared at the floor as he spoke. "I asked those same questions - when I saw the list of things the Avalon Group was offering me. I knew enough about the components to be reasonably certain there would be no possible way I could use most of them." He looked up at Calen. "Until Huang told me I already possessed the prep work necessary. It was only a matter of plug n play."

          Calen's eyes narrowed.

          Mac continued. "So, though I'm not happy about it, I have to agree with you. From what I understand, what's in here," he pointed to his temple. "is my Father's work. I guess when I heard you make the comment - I just lost it. I don't like being compared to him."

          The elevator opened and Mac held the button while the Engineer eased out on his own two feet.

          Calen kept a constant hand on the wall as he walked and spoke. "Your father really is a reknowned scientist within the Union, the comment was actually something of a compliment."

          Mac snorted. "Yeah, wouldn't anyone admire someone who shoved tracking devices and inhibitors up their son's nose?"

          Calen paused and narrowed his eyes at Mac. The VE's color had returned, but he still moved shakily. He gave a raspy chuckle. "Mr. Cooper, haven't you been listening to me? Your father is a methodical, brilliant scientist. He plans out what he wants and gets it. From all accounts, those particular pieces of hardware were shoddily installed, and not particularly advanced to boot."

          The hallway seemed smaller suddenly, as if the walls were moving in. A young couple approached on their way to the elevator. Mac kept his bloodied hands tucked away, but there was little he could do to hide the blood on his shirt. Luckily the couple seemed oblivious as they turned down the hall. He looked at Calen. "Wh-what are you saying?"

          With a sigh, the VE said, "I'm saying that I did some checking up on your father, and by his own accounts and journals, as well as Union records, your father has barely even thought about you since your mother died. He wasn't responsible for either of those items I knocked lose."

          Barely thought of you...

          Mac shook his head slowly as he tried to process all that Calen was saying. He was so tired. Drained. Spent. And he was shaking. "But this must have been done after...and he sent those agents - the ones that killed Mauori..."

          Calen shook his head. "Neither was his work. I've confirmed that your brother, Richard, was behind the devices," the VE gave Mac a sardonic grin, "which you obviously don't remember. I've no hard evidence for who was behind your botched recruitment attempt, but given the poor manner in which it was planned and carried out, I can guarantee it wasn't your father. And his records seem to back this up."

          Mac started to speak, but when Calen slumped against the wall, he reached out for the Engineer. He knew the kid was weak from loss of blood and the long speech had obviously tired him. Neither of them spoke again as they entered Calen's room. It was just as Mac had left it.

          Mac moved to the bathroom as Calen ordered room service. The blood was under his nails, in his skin, and on his forehead where he'd wiped away the sweat. With time and vigorous scrubbing, Mac was able to remove most of it - yet his hands still looked as if they had a red tint. He avoided looking at himself in the mirror; a quick glance had revealed too much. Pale skin, deep sunk eyes, tousled hair and blood smeared shirt. He needed to get a shower and sleep.

          Damn...they were all suppose to meet downstairs to go over their mission objectives. He dried his hands and stepped out of the bathroom.

          "Good grief..."

          The room was full of food, three carts of it. Calen sat at one of the tables, a sizeable helping of bacon, eggs, steak and orange juice before him. The food resting on the other tables were still covered with silver domes to keep them hot. He sat down on the bed and watched in surprise as the kid put away food.

          The VE paused when he noticed Mac. He gestured to the tables. "Want some?" he mumbled around a mouthfull.

          Mac's stomach twisted. The thought of food made him nauseated, though he knew he needed to eat something. He just wanted to sleep. Stifling a yawn, he said, "What about the meeting this morning? It's already past eleven."

          Calen only shrugged. He did not stop eating. "Huang wants us, she'll get us."

          Mac pursed his lips. That's what I'm afraid of. "You..sense anything about our little escapade?"

          Grabbing a napkin, the VE wiped his hands and pulled his communicator from his pocket. It was then Mac noticed Calen's hands were pristine clean and his clothes were different. He glanced at the closet. The ionic uniform was gone. "No...nothing yet," the VE set his communicator down and looked at Mac. He must have noticed the Adept staring at his hands. He held them up. "Antiseptic tube. Dissolves blood. Had to use it on that mess you left in the medkit. Want to try it?"

          Mac put up a hand. "No...no thankyou." Something that dissolves blood - and he wants to put it on his hands? Geez..

          "You can go now," Calen said.

          Mac blinked and looked at the VE. "What...?"

          "You can go. You're falling asleep sitting up. You can go. I don't need a nurse-maid. Especially not an Adept."

          Ah. He nodded and stood. No, I'm not sleeping. My mind won't let go of what you told me. I can't understand what my brother has to do with me? And if it is Richard, then perhaps my father isn't the monster I've created in my mind.

          He wanted to question Calen further - dig deeper into what it was the VE had found in his brother's notes. But neither of them were in any real condition to carry on a valid conversation. Besides...one thing'll lead to another and one of us will inevitably piss of the other.

          No...sleep is what I need. Food is what he needs.

          With a nod to Calen, Mac opened the door and left. I'll just head back to the room. If Arden's there, I'll ask her if the group met. If not, maybe I'll catch a few minutes rest.

          But that was not to be. As he neared the elevators, one of them opened and out strode a very angry, irritated, and upset Laura Huang. Her gaze locked on his and he stood frozen to the spot. Automatically his optics scanned her - nanites present. It was her.

          Her gaze shifted to his shirt and her eyes widened as she stopped only three inches in front of him. "What..." she pointed at his chest with a long, manicured nail, "is that?"

          "Uhm..." he swallowed hard, feeling as if he were in first grade again and the teacher had discovered it was he that corrupted her hard drive. I'd only been trying to find my grades. "Blood..."

          Her dark eyes found his. "What the hell did you two do?"

          "Well, you see..." he began, then heard a door open behind him. Laura sidestepped to the left. She pointed to someone behind Mac, but he knew who. He didn't need the hotel's security cameras to tell him Calen had heard Huang's voice and looked into the hall. "You...back inside." She looked up at Mac, then reached up and grabbed the long shock of bleached hair that usually hung over his eyes, "come with me."

          "Owch..." Mac leaned down as the angry VE pulled him back to Calen's room by the hair. This is not going to be pretty...

(written with Blake Sorenson)

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