The Sound of Wind

**

  That night Maggie called him to let him know that Thoth would be staying with her, and that she had a list of organizations that had sided with Vitaly. It was small, made up of a few minor, independent groups; but as they knew, small groups could cause a lot of damage. The ones who didn’t join had made the decision based on what had happened to the Dragon and the groups that went after the Agency, as they didn’t want to incur the wrath of whoever had taken down those organizations.

  However, the four organizations that had joined Vitaly made up for their lack of numbers with a fervent enthusiasm. They were excited at the opportunity to rise above the rest, both powered people and normal people alike. Two of those groups had been contacted by Vitaly’s right-hand man, Chase, over the course of Monday, with instructions. One group was to poison India and China’s water supplies on Friday the 13th, while the other was to erase as much financial data as they could get their hands on. Hugo thanked Maggie for the information and the locations of each group and then called Clem and CJ.

  They didn’t answer at first, but soon CJ returned his call. “What’s up boss?” Hugo relayed what he’d learned. “Geez, what jerks! We got something similar from the dude named Chase. Hold on one second. Ok, Clem wants to know where you are, he needs some information and he wants to just, geez Clem, take it from your tasty brains. I’m just quoting him at this point.”

  Hugo chuckled, “We’re in the workroom on the 3rd floor.”

  “Got it, I’ll be there in a jiff!” As promised, CJ showed up several minutes later.

  Clem appeared beside her after she turned solid again. “I want to know what abilities those two organizations have. I think I can," Clem seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "persuade them not to act. Just think about them, that’ll be faster.” Hugo ran through the Agency database in his head, trying to keep his search down to just the two groups. Clem’s grin widened when he’d finished, “Fantastic, not a single person who can oppose me. This won’t take more than 10 minutes. Oh hey, Dr. McFadden, how are you feeling?”

  Crysta smiled sweetly, “Just fine. Hugo told me what happened, and I’d really like to thank you both. You saved me.”

  “You bet we did! We were sooo awesome, you should have seen it! Well next time!” CJ grinned.

  Clem nodded, “It was my pleasure, Dr. McFadden.” He returned his attention to Hugo, “We’ll take care of this and then call you back. We got Vitaly’s cell number from Chase. We’re thinking we can head over to Gideon Enterprises, have them trace it, and then we’ll know where he is.”

  “Sounds good. Just be careful. Give me a call if you need a hand.”

  “Of course. Well, if you’ll excuse us. CJ, let’s go,” Clem disappeared, CJ gave them a little wave, and then she turned into electricity and was gone.

  Hugo turned to find Crysta pinching her lower lip between her teeth, “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head, “Nothing. I just…are we going to win? We don’t even know what Vitaly can do. And if he’s that monster I saw in my nightmare…” She trailed off, slipping her hand into his as she stared at the floor.

  “I don’t know, but we have to try. But you’re right, if we fail, we need a backup plan. We can’t let Patrick blow up Boris.” Hugo scratched the back of his head while he considered his options. “Can you call Charles? Tell him, Friday, if the Moscow branch sees me driving to Boris’ place that they have to shoot me. Everyone knows Vitaly is alive now, so it should be harder for him to try anything once his allies are gone. The ones he recruited won’t act on their own, they’re too small to.”

  “Oh no,” Crysta said firmly, squeezing his hand, “I am in no way ever telling Charles to shoot you. Ever.” Hugo smiled, giving her a light kiss, but she was not having it, “No. I won’t.” He kissed her again. “Don’t think this is going to work on me.” He pulled her closer to him and kissed her again. She looked up at him, her face stern, “You suck.”

  He just smiled, “Phrase it however you like, then.”

  She looked determined, her mouth set, “That’s better.” She pulled away from him to fish out her phone, “Hello, Charles? How are you doing?” She nodded, absently squeezing Hugo’s hand. “Yes, you’re welcome. I’m glad you’re all safe. And no, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I have a favor to ask.” She tilted her head, “Mmmm, Friday. Patrick, you remember Patrick, right?” She nodded, “Yes, the shape-changer. We know he’s going to be driving up to Boris’ place at-” She looked at Hugo.

  “3:34 pm.”

  “3:34 on Friday. He plans on blowing Boris up.” She sighed, “Yes, it is your concern, because Boris has a contingency plan that will launch a nuclear strike on Seattle, which will then set off a world war.” She sighed again, “I know that because we’ve been doing our own research into Vitaly, and it’s his plan. And yes he’s that precise.” She smiled triumphantly at Hugo and he just raised his eyebrows at her. “Can we count on you then if we’re unable to take care of it ourselves?” She smiled, “Good. And no I can’t discuss that with you. Thank you Charles. Goodbye.” She flipped the phone closed and pushed it into her jacket pocket, “See, much better.”

  He kissed her again, “You win.”