෴Raz෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Waiting Room

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Raz sat in the waiting room, tapping his toe on the polished concrete floor to the sound of the clock and watching a news segment to avoid checking the time.

“—ground reports continue to show a growing instability in the region surrounding the expanding central African zone. This is the fifth such zone to appear, but the first in an area without sufficient military force to keep the zone from expanding. We have the well-known physicist, Dr. Nicolette Stilt joining us from inside one of the zone research facilities here in the United States. Dr. Stilt, can you tell us about—”

This again. So sick of hearing about these things. Every slow news day it's all they talk about. Any minute they’ll cut to one of those little rat monsters coming through.

Raz looked down from the news anchor on the screen and tuned her out in favor of considering his own situation. He wondered what time it was.

Don’t do it. You just looked at the clock.

He stood up to pace and stretch, while deliberately avoiding looking anywhere near the clock. It hung there in the waiting room, ticking loudly at him. High on the wall like a refugee from an old public school, stolen away and mounted here, an equally uncaring industrial room. Walking around the room exposed him to a draft from an air vent and the faint scent of commercial antiseptic.

What the hell is taking so long? I’m the last one here, and this place has been closed for at least forty-five minutes.

Thinking of time was a mistake. Raz caught himself and avoided glancing at the clock.

Don’t you dare check that clock again until it’s been at least five minutes.

Out the second-story window, the last rays of sunlight slipped behind the horizon of trees and city skyline. Tucked away in a dim corner of the room was a small lemon balm plant. Raz walked over and inhaled, enjoying the nostalgic scent. He looked more closely and saw the yellowing dry leaves.

“Hey, little guy. I guess I’m not the only one feeling a little neglected here.”

He carried the small pot over to the drinking fountain and carefully wetted the potting soil. He picked off the dead leaves and pressed them into the soil before placing it in the center of the window ledge to catch the day’s last rays of sunlight.

“Well, at least one of us is getting what we need.”

The news anchor’s voice caught his attention again. “—we’re told your time is limited, why don’t we get your thoughts on the recent African zone expansion first?”

The screen shifted to the woman on the video conference; her simple outfit and brown hair pulled into a ponytail a stark contrast from the stylishly coiffed and heavily made-up anchorwoman.

His phone beeped. Raz glanced at the clock on the phone. Four minutes had passed.

Damn it, stop that. Watching the clock isn’t helping.

After telling himself not to read it, he pulled up the messaging app.

“Of course it’d be Walker.” his voice tinged with weary disgust.

Ur out, job as good as mine.

Motherf— How does he even know about it?

The next message came in.

Stephenson retirement w/be announced Mon.

board voted. U don’t have what it takes.

Damn it Clive. You said I had more time.

Another message came in.

Hope U’ve enjoyed ur little fill in time.

Closest U’ll evr get to a director seat.

A third message beeped.

Btw, u know who my dad plays golf with?

1 way or another, u & ur team r done.

We’ll see about that. All I need is any Ability, and it's you that's done.

Raz scowled and shoved the phone back into his pocket. Thoughts of his team withering under a management disaster like Walker filled him with worry.

He glanced out into the evening sky, scanning the horizon, brows furrowed.

Sorry about all this dad, I know you never wanted me to do this, but I can't let him happen to my people. I hope you’ll understand, wherever you are.

He forced his attention back to the screen to escape his other thoughts.

“Thank you, Lisa, I appreciate the chance to get some of this information out there. I think what everyone should know is that when these zones expand, that expansion is in near-perfect correlation with the expansion of the size of the anomaly itself. The exact border of an anomaly zone is hard to determine without precision instruments. However, with those instruments, we’ve been able to—”

She flicked her head to the side. A faint chattering and thumping sound was audible in the background. The view changed to a split-screen to include the video conferencing screen and the newsdesk, zooming out to show the anchorman next to Lisa.

The man leaned forward with an exaggerated expression of concern. “Dr. Stilt, is everything all right there?”

Dr. Stilt nodded a bit too fast. “Y-Yes, that means another entity came through. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t always a little nerve-wracking.” Her carefree expression faltered, and her mouth tightened. She swallowed and put a smile on her face that Raz didn’t believe. “The good news is, I can identify all the military hardware on-site when it’s in use by how it sounds down here in the bunker.”

The anchorwoman clasped her hands together. “Can you tell us about the military presence there at this point?”

Dr. Stilt glanced off camera. She nodded sideways and looked back to the camera. “I could, but I just got approval to switch us to an exterior live camera operator. Do you want a view of the portal itself so you can see what's happening out there?”

Both anchors nodded eagerly, eyes wide with excitement. Raz thought the nods and expressions seemed a bit too overdone and fake.

Why do they even bother to act so excited about things we’ve been seeing for years?

A courtyard appeared on the screen. Looking downward into the center of the enclosure, a small disc of distortion and static floated a few feet off the ground. The grass beneath was healthy and vibrant, but colored in malignant dark shades of red and purple. Around the distortion in space, high ferrocrete walls had been erected to form a complete enclosure. The lower part of those walls had been clad in heavy armor plating. The armor plate was decorated with a patchwork of damage—bullet splash—dimples and divot marks from heavier impacts—discoloration and other heat scars.

Roughly forty feet above the surface of the courtyard, arranged like elevated stadium bleachers, a ring of soldiers streamed a barrage of fire into the courtyard below. Crew-served heavy weapons backed up the soldiers.

The camera view jerked over to the barricades. Set up around the upper courtyard, they created rings of defensive positions for soldiers. Gunfire from dozens of rifles filled the air with bursts of noise. Soldiers shouted back and forth. The creature vaguely resembling a reptilian rabbit moved around in a panic.

The rabbit-sized creature gave up trying to climb the steel-clad walls and turned around with a hiss. Its body shook with several more hits. It moved fast, the trail of missed bullet impacts around and behind it raising a small cloud of dust. Alternately leaping into the air and skittering across the ground like an insect as it tried to evade the painful rifle fire. It took several more hits and opened its large mouth. Snake-like fangs unfolded as it opened its mouth wide, like the unhinged jaws of a large snake. A high-pitched hissing scream, loud enough to cause distortion in the audio feed burst from the small lizard-rabbit.

A louder, deeper report sounded from a heavy weapon. The creature shuddered as a large projectile tore into its hindquarters. It wheezed once and went still. The rifle fire petered off to the sounds of orders to cease fire. Soldiers stood up and relaxed. Most of them took a few steps back from the lip of the front barricade, stretching or going over weapon checks. The camera looked around at the soldiers celebrating another victory.

A soldier shouted in alarm.

The camera jerked back to the portal. Another creature had come through. Bigger than the first, this one sniffed the dead lizard rabbit and then bit into it. A few seconds later bloody gel oozed from the many small holes in the corpse. The new arrival slurped at its liquefied predecessor.

A single soldier opened fire while the rest scrambled into position. The creature jumped, startled, then skittered from one side of the small courtyard to the other. Finding no escape, it coiled back on its haunches and leaped up at the soldier.

The lizard-rabbit cleared the edge, striking the chest of the soldier that was shooting. Its hind legs scrabbling at the concrete lip to get over it. The soldier straight-armed it back into the pit. The camera panned back down to the pit to try and spot the creature. A growing dark blur with fangs on the screen was the last thing before a test pattern with the words “Technical difficulties.” appeared.

Dr. Stilt’s voice narrated over the test pattern. “So, um, the portal doesn’t actually look like that. It’s just nothing. The camera won't show it.”

Muted sounds of rifle fire underpinned the sound of her voice. “In person, it's hard to see. If you look at it, your eyes try to move away. It's like seeing your own blind spot. I’ve heard that soldiers who manage to stare at it for too long—” the signal went to a low static whine.

“Uh-oh, it looks like there might be some technical difficulties on her end. Thank you so much Dr. Stilt, I hope we can reach out to you again soon and go further in-depth into this fascinating topic.” The anchorman said as he looked over at his co-anchor.

“That’s right. Thank you again, Doctor Nicolette Stilt, and we hope to talk to you again soon.” The anchorwoman turned to another camera. “And now, let us go to our in-studio expert panel. Dr. Thicke? ”

Raz looked away from the screen and checked the time again before chastising himself for doing so. He shook his head and walked over to the reception window.

The glass slid open at his approach. The receptionist looked up from her screen and gave him a professional, if somewhat stiff smile. She spoke up before he said anything.

“I am so sorry about the wait, Mr. Owens, the lab seems to have some technical problems. I’ll be happy to go back and ask them for an update.” She leaned forward and whispered, “I think the main analysis machine might be acting up. When I peeked in the back last time, they had it all opened up going through a recalibration cycle. We automatically send in results, but when someone actually read yours, we realized that the machine must have a problem.”

He glanced past her at the door to the lab. “What was the result?”

Her eyes widened, her gaze shifting away before looking back at him with intense eye contact. “Oh no Mr. Owens, I didn’t mean to imply that I saw the results. As she spoke she slowly pushed the paper she’d been reading out of his sight under the lip of the reception window.

Well, that's a lie. She’s not nearly as good at it as most of the salespeople I meet.

“So you don’t know what my test said?”

“Of course not! That's not allowed. That would violate your privacy rights. I mean, they told me that the result was impossible, so obviously, the machine is having an issue,” she said.

Raz looked at her. Everything from the stiff defensive posture she’d taken, to the overly intense eye contact and the additional clause to her denial, told him that she had indeed seen his test results, and that she wouldn't be admitting it.

He sighed, “Well ok then. I'd be interested in knowing what the first result was, even if it’s weird. Either way, if you don’t mind, I’d really appreciate it if you could see how things are going back there.”

She popped out of the chair, looking relieved to be on the familiar ground of customer service again. Her gaze flicked back at the paper she’d moved out of his sight before she looked at him. “I’ll just walk back and see what's going on. Maybe I can get you an estimate of how much longer the wait will be.” She smiled and headed through the door to the lab. He heard the sound of her loud heels recede down the hall.

As soon as she was out of sight he leaned over the counter and grabbed the paper she’d been reading and trying to hide from him. As he suspected, it was his test results. The printout looked like every other enhancement slot test result he’d ever seen, except for the result itself.

That high score in all affinities is great, but not so rare, so what’s the problem?

He scanned down the page further.

Oh shit. No wonder they didn't want to tell me. What the hell do you do with a slot score of -1?

He could hear the clacking of her loud high heels getting louder. He started to return the paper and noticed the handwriting at the bottom. As the steps got to the door, he glanced at the message scrawled there. ‘Weird test result, stall him as long as possible!’

The footsteps stopped, and the door opened as he slid the paper back into position. His pulse accelerated.

Stall me? But why?

Thoughts raced through his mind, but he plastered a polite, neutral smile on his face.

Just pretend she’s another vendor trying to sell the new acting director a shit sandwich. Smile, nod, politely decline, and gtfo.

She came through the door smiling, looking at him and glancing down at the sheet of paper below the counter. He didn't see any change in her expression and hoped that meant that he’d put the paper in the same spot.

“Mr. Owens, I’m very sorry to say that the equipment is experiencing a minor, but significant issue, and we’re waiting for the manufacturer’s representative to be here soon with a portable testing unit. That machine can both be used to calibrate our machine, but also can give you an instant result and get you on your way,” she said.

He looked at the time on his phone again and frowned. “Maybe I should just come back tomorrow and get those results. I have places to be this evening. I had planned to see my mother off at the airport. That ship has sailed, if I can mix up my metaphors,” he said.

The receptionist laughed hard, leaning over and setting her ID lanyard swinging. The laughter rang false to Raz, too much of it, and too loud. Her expression turned serious.

You are trying to sell me something. The question is what?

“Sir, I can understand your impatience. You’ve been here longer than planned. However, it is part of my job to clarify that should you leave the office, so much as step out that door, we’re required by law to destroy your samples. We also have to delete the test results, and you’d have to pay for another test if you came back.”

She had an expression that Raz suspected she meant to look sympathetic, but gave him the vibe that she was simply condescending to him. “Ever since they showed that some people with abilities can perfectly impersonate others, health and personal data has to be extremely well protected. It's the law and there isn't much I can do about it.”

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Fine, I’ll give it a little more time.” He returned to his seat and thought of his team under Walker’s axe.

Walker is exactly the kind of jerk to get promoted and look around for people to fire just to feel important. This inconvenience is worth it to stop him from messing with all those people’s lives.

A door behind the receptionist opened. Raz got to his feet hoping someone was coming for him. He slumped back into the chair disappointed as the scrubs-clad employee used the key card on her neck lanyard to leave the office area via the employee exit behind the reception desk without so much as a glance at him. With a sigh he returned his attention to the screen.

“-thing that no one seems to have an answer for, is why are they here, why they are growing? Why now, why here?” The balding sociologist sat back, looking smug as though this question were an irrefutable argument in and of itself.

Raz shook his head at the screen. The expert commentary had devolved from an intellectual inquiry into personal attacks and hyperbole. He predicted the discussion would get political next, so he stood up and moved to a seat closer to the receptionist, as far from the screen as he could get. As he changed seats, he noticed the receptionist was on the phone with her chair turned around so she was facing away from him. He sat down in the closest chair and eavesdropped on the conversation.

“-I know! I’m really sorry honey, I thought I would be home on time. We had a crazy thing happen in the lab. I shouldn't say too much now, but let's just say that something they kept telling us to keep an eye out for finally happened.” She rocked her chair back and forth as someone on the other end replied.

A moment later. “No, I’m serious. It's an impossible test result. We get a reminder from corporate every month that any weird results need to be reported immediately, and then they tell us what to do. What? no, they told us to stall the guy until the advanced testing team arrives. But don’t worry, they should be here soon.” She giggled. “No, I’ll be home soon and then I’ll make it up to you, don’t you worry about it. Oh, and best of all, we’ll all be getting a fat bonus for finding and reporting the result. I think they might even bring cash. It sounded like they are coming to get the results and give us our bonuses right away.” She tittered and listened to the reply. “Damn right. I’m feeling like we should go downtown and hit that Brazilian Steakhouse you like so much.”

Raz had heard enough. He got to his feet and headed straight for the door.

As he reached the door, he heard the phone slam down. “Wait! Mr. Owens, The results are almost ready.”

He looked back, forcing a casual expression. “No worries, I have places to be. I’ll come in to get tested another time.”

“But sir, the testing fee will have to be paid again in full. Surely it’s worth just another few minutes to avoid having to pay that kind of money again?” She looked down at her desk and then stabbed at something there.

Loud clicks and thumps sounded from the door. Raz pulled on the handle. The door didn’t move. He looked into the gap around the door and spotted several deadbolts sticking out of the frame and into the heavy door. He yanked again and didn’t feel it even shift.

Raz glared at the receptionist. She sat there with a triumphant expression. “Mr. Owens, I must insist that you wait for the test results! Our company policy—

He forced a smile. “Ok, you win. I’ll stay a while longer.”

Well shit. Dad was sure right about this. Something is seriously fucked up here. You don’t lock customers in. Gotta find a way out before whatever bad thing is coming my way gets here. Okay, play it cool.

He shrugged. “What can I say. I’m hungry.” He walked back to the reception desk.

Her stance was tight and defensive, Raz thought she looked wary of him. “I’m,” she swallowed. “I’m sure it won't be too much longer. I can check again if you want an update.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Raz casually leaned against his side of the reception desk.

She sat back down in her office chair a few feet from the desk and smiled at him. Raz couldn’t help notice that her smile looked fake, somehow forced now.

“Were you talking about that place downtown where they bring out the swords with all the meat on them?” he asked.

Her shoulders relaxed, and she set her hands down on the desk. “Yeah, it’s great. My boyfriend loves all you can eat places.”

Raz nodded and forced an enthusiastic expression. “Oh yeah, I went there last year with my mom for the anniversary of my dad-, well never mind that. But oh my god, they just kept bringing more food! I thought I would die if they didn’t stop, and my mom couldn’t stop laughing at me.”

She rolled the chair back up to the desk. “That is so funny! That is almost what happened to us the first time. They have these little tokens, and as long as you have it turned one way, they keep coming around and offering you more food. If you need a break, then you turn it over.”

Raz leaned forward. “What was your favorite thing there?” He lowered his voice to almost a whisper as though telling a secret. “My mom said I’m a cliche guy, but my favorite was these little pieces of tender, seasoned beef with bacon wrapped around them.” She leaned in to hear him. He smiled, “I could not get enough of those things. What did you like the most?”

She thought about it. “The garlic sliced pork was my favorite, it was so good I just loved th— No!” she yelled as he snatched the ID badge and yanked it off her neck lanyard.

“You don’t lock me in!” His voice was cold with all trace of his carefree attitude gone.

He spun and stalked over to the door. The keycard reader beeped and a red light flashed but nothing else happened.

She was on the phone “I need security up here to the 200 suite right now! We have a deranged patient threatening employees!” She did something at the desk and Raz could hear a similar series of clicks from the door leading out of the waiting room into the lab area. He rushed over to it and tried the door. Immovable.

Raz looked past the reception desk, behind the receptionist on the phone at the door the other employee had left through. Looking around the waiting room once more for options, he walked back to the reception desk and climbed over it. She rolled her chair back away from the window when he got close.

Raz ignored her and ran for the door. The card reader beeped and a green light blinked. He yanked the door open and walked through it.

“No! Don’t leave!” she cried out.

The situation had gotten far out of hand. Raz bolted down the hall. He reached the door to the stairs just as the elevator bell rang. He opened the door and slipped through. His steps clanged and echoed down the steel staircase in the small stairwell as he hurried down.

On the ground floor, he peeked at the manned security desk by the front entrance and headed toward the back of the building.

Come on, there has to be an employee entrance back here.

There was. A door marked “Employees only” with a release button next to it. He hit the button and stepped outside. Once the door closed, he threw the key card into a nearby hedge and ran to his car.

In his car, Raz looked around the lot for anything else out of the ordinary. At the front of the building, two vehicles that had all the hallmarks of unmarked police trucks had stopped. Four men got out and walked into the building. His instincts screamed at him to run.

Raz turned off the car’s daytime running lights, started his car and eased it toward the rear exit of the lot. He only let himself relax once he was on the road and several miles away.

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

෴Fidel෴

෴Hutch෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Acquisitions

෴෴෴෴෴෴

A gray truck with a police-style light bar on top of the cab came up behind a mid-size sedan on a busy avenue heading northbound out of the city. Two men sat in the truck, their faces lit only by the dim glow of the instrument panel. The driver was a brawny man with slicked-back brown hair and prominent Slavic features. The man in the passenger seat was fit but on the slender side, with a clean-shaven head. Both stared at the car in front of them, while keeping an eye on the other vehicles nearby. They both wore clothing so typical and average it could act as social urban camouflage.

The man in the passenger seat grabbed a microphone. “We have eyes on the target. Rear vehicle in place. We got a two-lane road in less than three miles. Get the front and side bracketing vehicles in place now!”

He set the mic back down and glanced over at the driver of the pickup with a grin. “These are the days I’m glad to have a five-point harness. I guess you don’t need one. I’m guessing you could snap a seatbelt if you had to.”

The driver nodded. “Yah.” His thick eastern European accent made itself clear in a single word. “Maybe I could break belt. Does not mean belt is bad idea. There is still” He paused. “Inertnost, ah, impuls? Momentum? Is Newton’s law. I buckle up. No wanting police attention either, and car crashes are unpred-” He stumbled over the word. “events where many things are happening that are difficult to guess the outcomes of.”

The clean-shaven man smiled and clicked his tongue. “Inertia, and unpredictable. What do you think of the new look?” He pointed at his face.

Fidel glanced at him and then did a double-take. “Every time is strange. Never will I be used to this. But, is good look, strong. What I call you today?”

The clean-shaven man looked at his reflection in the vanity mirror. “Let's go with Henry, I like the sound of that.”

The driver nodded “Ok Henry. Yes, I wear belt because is better than not wearing belt.”

Henry made a clicking sound with his mouth and flashed a thumbs up. “Damn right. It’s just good sense. That's one reason I like you, Fidel, you haven’t let your abilities go right to your head.”

Fidel touched his head and furrowed his dark eyebrows.

Henry looked at Fidel’s confused expression and realized he was about to have to explain the idiom. “It means you have not allowed your enhanced capabilities to remove your good judgment in other areas.”

“Ahh, yes. This I have seen too much of, both here and at home. There is no one so tough that nothing can harm them,” Fidel said.

The radio crackled to life. “Frontal unit in place. One side bracket unit in place. We’re good to go for the hit.”

Henry checked a small high-tech spray gun in the holster on the door and then looked over at Fidel. “All right my man, it’s showtime.” He keyed the radio mic. “Front, slow down, ready for the hit.”

The black SUV in front of the target vehicle slowed down. Fidel slowed as well but allowed the truck to make a solid impact on the sedan ahead.

Henry pulled out the special squirt gun and the two men waited for the driver of the sedan to come to them.