Absolute (Discipline Book 1) Page 24

  When he returned to himself, seconds later, he spoke, faking what he hoped was a tone that would be about right. Subdued, and a little sleepy seeming.

  "I understand." That was all. Adding anything else would probably give him away instantly. His own brain was filling that in, flashing the words up for him to read. Inside his head.

  Micha didn't seem happy about his words, just resigned. Like it wasn't a great thing that she was doing. Then again, it wasn't.

  Worse, Ben probably would have thought she was playing with him if his chest wasn't on fire like it was. Even the pounding there could have been fear, or shock. Possibly betrayal. He didn't know what that felt like on a personal level. The system had done that to him, killing his dad, but this was different. Micha was his friend.

  Not his best friend, or someone that he had actually thought that he could trust, but she was the only person that he'd ever done anything sexual with. Well, who was actually more than a VR image.

  She stepped back and found her clothing, putting it on quickly.

  "At least you didn't ejaculate. That gets messy. In case you're wondering, yes, I do think that you're ugly. Boring as all fuck, too. I'm sure you would have fit in here perfectly, if this thing hadn't suddenly come up. All work and no thought. You can't beat the government, Ben. We're everywhere." She stared into his face, as he lie there, waiting for something to happen. For some sign that would let him know what it is he needed to do. That didn't come, exactly, but Micha seemed to have a plan for him.

  "Stay here. At three-thirty get up and make certain you are ready for the trip. You can't talk to anyone without me being there, and even then you'll behave as if you're fully prepared for the mission. I need to go and find Clyde." Then she smiled at him, her face cheery. "My other slave, here. On the great side for you I have to have sex with you both every few days so you can't escape. It took some work to convince the others that he was the spy. Thankfully I was able to get him to think the right things for the record. We're going to take you all down. Stupid terrorists."

  Then, without warning, she moved on him, an overhand blow hitting him in the upper stomach. There were words in his head, warning him it was coming and showing where the force was going to go. Telling him not to move.

  It was a lot harder than it seemed, since he started gasping from it and had to fight not to curl up, or clutch at his face, trying to breathe. It wouldn't have helped anyway. Instead he just felt like he was in pain and dying. Unmoving on his bed.

  "Don't worry, there's more of that waiting for you. I'll probably need to kill you soon, so think about that while you lie here. After all, we can't let all those psychics actually be worth something. That would be far too dangerous. Stay. Like a good boy." Her smile was mean looking then, and waves of real hatred came off of her.

  It was intense, but he noticed it, though she didn't seem to be feeling anything from him yet. That had happened before however. Ben stayed, like he was told, his breathing still fast and shallow. He was going to have a bruise from that one blow, already. Worse, he was nearly certain she'd pulled back on it a lot. Otherwise it might have killed him.

  After her slippers were on her feet, and he felt her click into place in his head, having gotten out of the null field range, Ben sighed. Going anywhere wasn't an option, he didn't think. Unless he could make it too hard to track him, mentally. He got up, and dressed, willing the world to turn into a brightly colored moving picture. One made up of lines and blobs that all meant different things. Then he tried to think about what needed to be done.

  A message would have to take place, so that his location didn't shift too much. Lying back down, he focused, keeping the lines in place, while he did it. Trying to find Glenda. Which of course wasn't working at all, since his psychic abilities were turned off by the gamma state he was in. His mind was clear, even as he was nearly ready to hyperventilate. What he had to do, was focus so cleanly and hard that he could touch his mentor's mind, without giving away what he was doing to Micha, who pretty much had to be at least half aware of what he was doing, if she were smart. Unless she figured that her little drug thing was so powerful that there was no way for him to even resist.

  His chest still burned, but that part, what he suspected was the new gland working overtime to neutralize the poison in his system, was calming down. Just below that had turned into an ache, but there was no time to clutch himself and moan, unfortunately.

  Even if that did sound like a great plan.

  Instead he relaxed his mind, and tried to recall being in the room with the others. The ball suddenly was in front of him, growing larger as he tried to meditate. He recalled the struggle and how he felt, as he finally succeeded a bit. Then, when he was at about the deepest level he was going to go that way, he reached out for Glenda. Making certain he didn't think of the tiny woman that had betrayed him. Just in case that signaled her about his intentions.

  Naturally Ben hit a wall. One of red brick that was being built inside Glenda's head. A very solid one too, compared to most of the others he'd seen her working with. After a few seconds of pushing at it he was pretty certain that he wasn't up to breaking through it, or finding a way around. His powers just weren't strong enough for that. So he adapted and tried to find someone else who could help him. Working through the others, one by one. First Carlos, since they'd communicated that way before. Then he tried Ali when that didn't work. They were both actually using a variation of the Gamma trick that he just had, having worked on it in the last day, to see if it would help anything.

  As far as Ben could see, it really worked well. They had thoughts, and he could tell roughly where they were. Off to his left, near the center of the compound. Finally, he had to run through a mental checklist. He knew that Micha could trap men by having sex with them. She was good looking enough to probably get most of them to do it too. She'd said that Clyde was her other slave, and there might be just one, but that couldn't be trusted. She was a spy after all. Lying had to be part of that game.

  It was also kind of possible that she could have trapped women that way, if they were intimate. That would be less likely, though not impossible. Really, that pretty much left Lissa as the only person that he could likely trust that way. If she weren't just a secret spy too. Sighing, he concentrated, relaxed and hoped that him trying to touch her mind wouldn't leave the lady screaming. The thing there was that she was too close to him. That got him to blink. She was still inside his null field. He could feel the others however. Probably not as strongly as all that, but it could be why he hadn't been able to get in touch with anyone else.

  On the good side he realized there probably weren't cameras in his room. If so they weren't being monitored all the time. If that had been happening, he would have been rescued already. Micha didn't feel like she was being beaten or lured into a trap. Not from what he was picking up from her.

  "So think. If you can't use fancy powers and don't have a pad or phone, what do you do?" For some strange reason the idea of writing a letter came to mind. No one did that anymore, but it had a feeling of charm to it, inside his head. "Right. Block everything out again, and go find Glenda in person."

  It was scary to even think of it, since leaving could get Micha to come after him. That would probably end in his death, because he really was going to tell on her, and nothing else would actually stop him from doing it. Blocking as hard as he could, in the brightly cheery and slightly manic feeling gamma brainwave state, he tried to spring up, to run to where protection was. That was blocked from him, by his legs hurting too much. Grinning, and not feeling any kind of happiness, he moved anyway. Slowly. Painstakingly.

  Ben tried to stick to the shadows, following the green line that appeared on the ground as a guide. If Micha was out and about, he didn't see her, thankfully. He didn't see anyone, until he was nearly to where he thought Glenda had been. Down in the main underground office space.

  When he heard the voice Ben jumped, and spun rapidly. That got a giggle from Mags
.

  "Hey. I couldn't sleep. You either?" Her voice was calmer than it had been, and she moved in to take his hand, which got a step back taken.

  "Things are going on. I might need my abilities, so don't touch me? Big things... Micha..." It was really hard to talk about. Not because of mind control drugs either. Shaking his head, he just rushed into it, hoping someone would eventually at least check his story out. "She's a spy. She produced some kind of chemical that tried to take me over while we had sex. I think the genetic changes that were made to me helped to fight that off, but I need to report that before she finds out that I'm missing." She knew the plan after all.

  Ben really expected Mags to either doubt him, or end up being against him too. Really, for half a second he just got ready to be killed, but instead she waved, not touching him. It made his head hurt, being that close to her, but she didn't shy away from it, so Ben didn't either.

  "This way. We need to get that checked. Micha... Damn. I was just starting to warm up to her. Here..." They dashed then, going faster than was comfortable for him.

  It wasn't about Ben though, or even his pain. Unlike him, Mags didn't need a magic code to get into the locked bunker. She did it by simply banging on the door, loudly, until someone came to open it. That, thankfully, was Glenda.

  "Do you need something?" Her voice was a bit dry, but not upset seeming. Even if they were bothering her just when she was probably at her busiest.

  Mags nodded.

  "Ben found a spy. One that I didn't know about. The hard way too, from what it sounds like. Let us in?" It was a question, but they were pulled inside and locked in place almost instantly. Then Glenda turned on them, her face more serious than it had been.

  "Who? I thought we had them all."

  Ben felt his mouth tightening, but he spoke, and tried not to seem weak.

  "Micha. She said that she'd turned Clyde, and tried to use some kind of bio-generated hormone or chemical on me. For mind control? It seems like it was supposed to work pretty well. She left me alone, but my body fought it off. Which isn't fun, by the way. We'd been having sex, which was weird, since she came on to me pretty hard. I'd picked up that she didn't like me that much, but I figured she just wanted to make sure I'd be there for her." He lifted his shirt, and looked at his middle. It was still a bit chubby seeming, but not as much as it once had been. There was a nice bruise where the small fist had hit him. "She did this while I was supposed to be paralyzed. She didn't freak out when I gasped and wheezed, so that might mean something. I didn't move otherwise, since I'd been told not to."

  If it made sense to Glenda, he couldn't tell. She watched both he and Mags very closely then, and finally nodded.

  "Well. Crud. We need to report this. The mission will have to be scrubbed. Damn it. There's no time for this. Which is probably the point. We're finally moving in a real fashion, so she's trying to head us off. Preventing us from being successful right at the start. As far as she knows. Fine. You two come with me. We need to get readings on both of you again. This way." She mumbled as she moved, but did it while nearly running into the deeper complex. That took time, since there were doors in the way. It was still hard for Ben to keep up with the other two.

  Mags did it without much trouble at all.

  As soon as they got into a side room, an alarm sounded. Then the small space they were in, which was empty except a single metal desk and three old composite chairs, started to fill up with people.

  "We have a breach. We've had one for a while now. Michelle Holmes. We need to locate her and isolate before she knows that we're doing anything. First we need to check these two. Randy, we need the portable drain gear. Kyle, come up with a secondary plan. Nothing that Micha knew about can be used in any way. Move! We don't have time to play here, people."

  He was pushed into one of the chairs, while several people ran out of the room. Two of them stayed outside, but near the door. Both were large and had the same kind of muscle that Glenda did. That was clearly to prevent Mags from escaping if she were a bad guy, Ben figured. It certainly wasn't about keeping him in. If that was the goal, they would have just shut the door and locked it. It wasn't like he was fighting his way out. Not with this crowd.

  The measures taken were a little harsh seeming, since it involved half an hour of being yelled at by strangers, while Glenda left the room, and a small black unit was pointed at his head. There was no sign that it was working or anything, but it probably was. Mags, next to him, had the same basic set up, though she appeared to be very calm. That was probably due to the fact that the people there weren't really thinking that they were spies as well.

  Ben was staying in the state that blocked things out, hoping it would make him more or less invisible to Micha. As long as she didn't just go to his cabin to check on him. Mags however wouldn't be watched like that, and would, Ben thought, get it if she were being scrutinized that way. From what he'd been told it hurt when they did that with each other, at least if they were in close proximity. What he was doing didn't seem to bother the techs running the equipment however.

  In fact, they stopped asking him any questions at all after about ten minutes. Mags was grilled much longer than that. Finally, Randy, who had coppery red hair and light skin, as well as a body that would have looked about right on an Olympic swimmer, smiled at them.

  "Cleared. Good. Now we just have to check everyone else here. I'll get someone in for you." He didn't seem to know who to contact, but no one came, and they were just left there, sitting. With the door open, since they weren't threats. Even the two large guards had moved out when told.

  Ben looked at it and shook his head.

  "So that's either a trap, and we're supposed to get caught going for the hidden files on the server, or they trust us. I mean, I'm not a threat. I didn't think Micha was one either. I mean, I knew she wasn't attracted to me, and even thinks I'm kind of ugly, but..." He rubbed his middle then. He was a good guy. That should have counted for something.

  Next to him Mags just shook her head.

  "Don't let it get to you. She fooled all of us and you just got here. This kind of crap... I'd quit, if the corporation didn't own the rights to my genetics now. We're all kind of stuck here. They can legally have us recalled if we leave." She wrinkled her nose, and smiled at him. "That means forcefully kidnapped and detained. You probably didn't notice it, given how clever they are, but when you got here you signed some things that pretty much makes you a slave for the next twenty years. Non-disclosure agreements and things about intellectual properties."

  That didn't sound familiar to him at all, but he had put his name on a few screens, using his finger print. It has probably been then. No one read all of that kind of stuff however. You saw so much of it all the time online that it was easy to just tab a thumb on the reader and move to the next screen.

  Not that it mattered to him.

  Though he tilted his head and glanced at the dark haired, rather thin, woman.

  "Probably. Corporation though? Which one? Cymed? I've never heard of that outside of this place. Even the things I found on the hidden web was sketchy about what this place and group, were called. Really, it didn't have much of anything like that."

  Mags stretched and stood, pacing a bit, when she plunked back down into her chair, there was a wicked grin on her face.

  "Monsanto. You've heard of them? They're one of the big four corporations. The ones that own the rest." Her face was a bit blank, as if that would be a big bombshell for him and she knew it.

  Ben had heard the name before, but only just barely.

  "Okay. I wonder. If a federal agent comes in here, to spy, and has genetics work done, under an agreement like that, can they prevent her from leaving?" That didn't sound likely to him. The government wouldn't like it, and that was enough to stop it from happening.

  Mags looked up, like she heard someone coming. If so they were too quiet for Ben. So it wasn't a huge shock when Glenda came in at a near run. Silently, which showed a lo
t more control over her body than Ben had.

  "This way. We have Micha on the monitors. She went straight to Clyde's cabin it looks like, and has been in there ever since. We don't have any real way to contain her right now. Really, we have to scrap the mission. There's just too big of a chance that we can't get past the set up. That leaves our person in the field stuck. Do either of you have any ideas?" Her face was a bit hard, but the words were genuine sounding. Like they were so stuck that the crazy woman and him were the best ideas they had.

  Which wasn't going to work well.

  Still, words floated behind his eyes, presenting an idea. One that sounded silly to him, but might work. Or get someone captured or killed. Given that death was the alternate plan of last resort anyway, Ben spoke.

  "We could still go in. Clark and I. Instead of going to the spa, we just get a van, and sit back. Then after Carlos finds the person, we lift them both up into the air and float them to safety. Or... If I move away from Clark, I can possibly contact the person telepathically, and just get them outside long enough to do that with. No one expects flying people. We'd need to do it at night, but that way no one goes in. Then we trash the hub, because these assholes pissed me off. Secret agents all over the place. I mean, really." He crossed his arms, which was very nearly angry seeming. It hurt too, since the center of his body had been damaged by that one blow. Not enough to cripple him forever, but he was going to stiffen up for a few days.

  Glenda stared at him, and it was a look that spoke of several things. Desperation, mild hunger, and possibly nervousness. Also worry. That one hit her several seconds later, but it was real enough. It was written all over her face. Which was a bit pale at the moment, probably from all the sudden tension.

  Ben waited for her to explain just how foolish and stupid his plan was. Probably not a good one at all, now that he thought about it. They were going to go and try to get someone to walk outside, in order to levitate them away. Sure. That was a good trick. He didn't even know if it was possible, using Clark's powers. It had too many giant holes in it to be sensible.