Ultraviolet Gene book 1: The Lost Children

  Unable to convey his gratitude telepathically, Jet mentally thanked her anyway.

  * * *

  Ellie knelt, her knees shaking too badly to stand any longer, and peered downstairs through the wooden posts that lined the upstairs hallway. Casey, she said, mentally. Matty. One of you, please hear me. After hearing men shouting threats back and forth, she'd given into her curiosity and crept out of the bedroom. Now she was wondering if that had been a good idea. But if she hadn't, that man might have shot Jet's father.

  I'm here, said Casey. What's wrong?

  Everything, Ellie told him. Whatever you do, do not come out of Jet's room.

  Why? asked Casey. He sounded frightened. What's going on?

  Downstairs, the man whose hand she had moved with telekinesis had dropped his gun in surprise, but the other men were quick. Jet's father looked up and met Ellie's gaze, just for a moment – what in the world did he think of this situation? – and in that instant one of the other goons tackled him to the floor. His gun fell with a clatter. Ellie felt guilty, now she'd gotten an ally disarmed – but then she remembered that he might be dead instead.

  The leader turned to her. "You," he said. "Ellen Shiflett."

  Ellie's stomach churned. She didn't remember any of the faces from her incarceration in that weird hospital room, but she recognized the voice. She didn't answer.

  "I know it's you," said the man. "Come downstairs right now, or the doctor dies."

  Ellie got to her feet. Her head felt better than it had before, but it was still pounding out a sore beat. Holding onto the railing to keep steady, she made her way downstairs.

  Casey, she said. Get out of here now. Go back to the church. Those men are back.

  No! cried Casey. I've got to come get you out of there.

  No, listen, said Ellie. Jet and his dad are down here and they're threatening to kill his dad if I don't cooperate, and I think they think that Jet is the one who disappeared from here last night, so you need to get out of here now. Go wake Matty. I'll keep in touch.

  Casey didn't respond immediately. Okay, he said. I grabbed my stuff and I'm going. Call me back soon!

  Ellie reached the bottom of the stairs, where one of the men immediately grabbed her and herded her up against the wall next to Jet.

  "Jet, I..." she began, but the man shoved a hand over her mouth before she could finish her apology. They trussed her up with tape, the same as him. She soon found she had a gun to her head as well.

  "Ashby, stop this," said Jet's father, still held by one of the men. "If we were ever friends..."

  "We were friends once," said Ashby, "but that was a long time ago. Now, let me make the rules clear. If your son teleports, you die. If the girl uses telekinesis, you die." He turned back towards his captives. "Did you catch that?" His tone of voice reminded Ellie of a kindergarten teacher.

  Left with no other choice, both Jet and Ellie nodded.

  "Now," he said, "tie up the doctor, too."

  "Sir?" one of the other men asked.

  "I know it's irregular," Ashby said, "but this is a special case. He works for the BSU, too. If we kill him here, they'll launch an investigation. Now that he’s cooperating there’s no need."

  Reluctantly, Jet's father joined his son and Ellie by the wall and submitted to being taped.

  Ellie. Matty's voice echoed in her head while the men were working on securing the doctor. What's wrong? Casey's freaking out.

  The men who took me the first time came back, said Ellie. But I don't think they knew I was here. They think Jet's a teleporter, so maybe they could track Casey coming and going from here.

  That would explain a lot, like how they got you the first time, and why there were weird-looking men standing around when I went home.

  Yeah.

  But look, we have to get you away from them.

  Ashby was giving orders, and Ellie was trying to listen, but she found it near impossible to focus on both his words and Matty's. "Bring them outside one at a time," he said. "You. Clean that up." He pointed to his fallen comrade.

  You can't come now, Ellie said. They'll kill Jet's dad if I pull anything, and if they figure out Jet's not one of us, they'll probably kill him too.

  Then what do we do? Matty asked.

  Wait for an opening, Ellie said, as one of the men escorted Jet's father outside. I guess. I don't know. I'm scared.

  I'm scared, too.

  Ellie watched the man come back, this time for Jet. He jabbed his gun into Jet's back; Jet stumbled and began his march outside, leaving her to go last.

  I'll keep you informed, Ellie said. It's all I can do right now. Maybe with you waiting in the wings we can mount a rescue effort.

  I'll do all I can, Matty said.

  Now it was her turn to be pushed outside, into the waiting van, white with tinted windows. It was hard to focus on what was in front of her; she had left her water bottle on Jet's sister's nightstand and her body was still weak and dehydrated – and hungry, now that the nausea was wearing off. Her stomach growled.

  Without her hands free, she needed assistance from one of the BSU men to climb into the van. He shoved her into the backseat, next to Jet, and buckled her in before climbing into the seat in front of her.

  * * *

  After Casey returned to the church and apprised Matty of the goings on, Matty had jumped up and insisted on his own telepathic call to Ellie. There wasn't much he could contribute to the conversation, so Casey wandered back over to the group of glowing rocks. Three of them were still untouched. Out of boredom, he reached for the one between the red rock and the green rock, but found he couldn't quite touch it. The same thing happened when he tried to touch Matty's rock, the red one.

  He gave up and went back to the blue, his own. Being near it put a pleasant airiness into his head, which was so often filled with the thoughts of others. He let Ellie's words flow past his brain, only vaguely picking up the details she was sharing. She'd said it all to him earlier, anyway.

  We've gotta come after you at some point, Matty was saying.

  We're now in a moving car, Matty, Ellie said, so you probably aren't coming right now. And I need you to be careful. They threatened to kill Jet and his dad if we pull anything. They already tried to shoot his dad, but they missed.

  They missed?

  I may have used my powers to move the guy's hand, and it hit one of the other men.

  Casey pondered that for a minute. Does... does that mean you killed him? he asked.

  I am doing everything I can to not think about that, said Ellie.

  Okay, said Matty. Call again if you get somewhere, okay?

  I will, Ellie promised.

  Matty called for Casey and he looked over. "Yeah?"

  "Do you think you can teleport back to that room where you found Ellie?"

  "I... maybe," Casey said, though the thought of going back there made his stomach do backflips. "I haven't tried."

  "Could you?" asked Matty. "It might be our way in to get them out."

  Casey took a breath. Matty was asking a lot of him. But Ellie was in trouble – and so was Jet. Jet was his only friend, and even though he sometimes made Casey feel like such a baby, he was important. He was the first person to whom Casey had told his secret, and he hadn't reacted like everyone else who had called him a liar. And Jet's dad, Casey had only briefly met him, but he seemed like a good person, even if he wasn't home that often. And even though he never was around, he'd still said it was all right for Casey to hang about all the time like he did.

  "I'll try," Casey said, finally.

  "Thanks, kid," Matty said. "Sorry to ask this of you. I feel like this mess is my fault."

  "I'm the one who suggested we got to Jet's," Casey pointed out.

  "Yeah, I know, but I'm the one who ignored that girl's warning not to leave."

  Casey nodded. "But even so," he said. "We were running out of water."

  "Feels like a crappy excuse now," said Matty. He scratched his hea
d. "Do you want to take me with you?"

  "Um," said Casey. "Okay. Let's go together." Much less scary that way.

  He approached Matty and held onto his arm, then shut his eyes.

  It was easier than he thought it'd be; a moment later they were welcomed by the sterile white glare of the lights in the little room. It was empty, save them, but someone had been in here to clean up after Ellie had left. The gurney was empty of sheets and the thing that had supported the heart monitor and IV bag was gone.

  "Man," breathed Matty. "They had her in here? This sucks." Casey could only agree. The room was tiny, oppressive.

  Matty walked over to the door and pressed his hand to it. There wasn't a viewing window.

  How are you? asked Casey, to Ellie. It's just me. He left Matty out of it, not because he didn't trust him, but because he didn't want Matty to panic anymore. Even though Jet hadn't told him outright, Casey knew about his anxiety disorder – and he was pretty sure Jet knew he knew. When he was flustered, Jet couldn't hide his feelings or his fear, and the fear would seep into Casey and he'd feel it too. Given this, he wanted Matty calm.

  We're still driving, said Ellie. What's up?

  Just wanted to check in, said Casey. I’m pretty nervous.

  Same here, Ellie said. I’ll let you know when anything happens.

  Is Jet okay?

  I’m right next to him. He’s probably about as scared as I am, but he’s not hurt.

  Good. Talk to you later.

  Matty reached to the door handle and very slowly turned it. It held tight. Door’s locked, he reported.

  No reason it wouldn’t be, I guess, said Casey. Ellie could unlock it.

  Yeah she could, said Matty. Or we could teleport to the other side of the door.

  Casey swallowed. No, I think that’s a bad idea. We don’t know who’s there, and if they see us, we give ourselves away. That might make it harder to help Jet and Ellie.

  Yeah, okay, said Matty. You’re right. Let’s get back to the church.

  There they were, a moment later. Casey relaxed. Now he didn’t have to worry about being walked in on. He was so tired. It must be nearly morning in London and he’d barely slept. "But what do we do now?"

  Matty bit his lip, and then raised his eyebrows. "I have an idea."

  "What?" Casey asked.

  "It's crazy," said Matty, "but it might work."

  "What are you…" Casey began, but Matty was already yelling.

  "HEY!" he shouted. "MYSTERIOUS GIRL WHO WON’T TELL ME HER NAME!" He ran towards the stones. "HOW ABOUT YOU REAPPEAR?" He echoed his sentiments in the telepathic channel, broadcasting it everywhere it could go. Casey had found that you could tell how widespread a message would be by how echoey it was in your head. A private message to someone felt much closer, like you were hearing it through headphones.

  "Are you sure this’ll work?" asked Casey. He yawned.

  "I don’t have any better ideas," said Matty, "and I can’t just sit here knowing we got others in trouble."

  Casey lay back on the pew and tried to shut out the sounds of Matty’s yelling. He wanted nothing more than to get some sleep, even though now was not the time.

  His mind did drift off for a bit, but then Matty’s voice cut into his brain and he sat back up. Casey. Look.

  Casey sat up and looked towards the circle of stones. There stood a girl, short with brown skin. She folded her arms across her chest.

  "That was undignified," she said.

  "Doesn’t matter," said Matty. "You’re here now."

  "What do you want?"

  "My friends were captured by agents," said Matty. "And I think you can tell me where we need to go to get them away."

  The girl huffed. "I told you it wasn’t safe to leave. The echoes from the event haven’t subsided. Your movements can still be tracked. You’ve got to wait another day or two."

  Matty paced back and forth. "Yeah, but what about Ellie? She’s a telekinetic. They took her once, she managed to summon Casey to rescue her. Now they have her again, and they have another friend of ours too."

  The girl smirked. "I take it this other friend isn’t like the rest of you?"

  Casey stood up. "That doesn’t matter," he said.

  The girl covered her mouth as she laughed. "It's nice you're such a hero, but you haven’t been through what I have. You don’t want to mess with those guys."

  "We have to," said Matty. "Tell us where to find them."

  The girl shook her head. "You’ll just get captured. I can afford for them to have a telekinetic, but two teleporters coming into their headquarters…"

  Casey watched the girl as she debated with Matty. Her thoughts belied her calm exterior demeanor. He narrowed his eyes to increase his focus. What lay in that mind?

  Casey almost fell backwards with the force of it. Reading other people’s minds was like getting little pulses of emotion, fragments of feelings that he could piece together to form thoughts. This girl’s mind was filled with strobe lights and rainbows, not soft and gentle but harsh, grating. It was like a spider web that shone brighter than the sun. And then as suddenly as he'd gotten in, she had control again and pushed him out – but at the very last second he did see the image of an office, high up off the ground, with a view of the Thames out the back window.

  When he regained his senses, the girl was staring at him, one hand to her temple.

  "What's going on?" asked Matty.

  "Nothing," said the girl, and turned back to him. But as she spoke with Matty, her voice came into Casey's mind. How much did you see?

  Not much, Casey said. A room. Is that the place?

  Don't go, she told him. They'll use the others as leverage and you'll never leave.

  I will not leave my friends there, said Casey.

  The girl didn't respond.

  We are going, said Casey. Two teleporters in their offices whether you like it or not.

  If you're going, she said, finally, take a better look. Don't teleport into the wrong place, or worse, a wall. That'll end you real quickly.

  Casey wasn't ready for the information overload of the girl sending him an image on purpose, but though he staggered, he found his footing and focused on the picture in his head: an office with mahogany furniture and dark carpeting, an unremarkable painting of Big Ben and the Thames river on the wall, and the view out the window of a skyline that Casey found very familiar.

  When he regained his senses, the girl was gone. But in his head, he heard her say You might want to let the others know you can read their minds. They won't like it when they find out you've been learning all their secrets.

  Casey turned pink. He hadn't spent enough time with Matty and Ellie to glean much other than their fear of the whole crazy situation, and besides, he didn't go looking for secrets on purpose.

  Matty sighed, and walked over to Casey. "Well, I tried."

  Casey stretched his shoulders backward, then straightened his posture with resolve. "I think I know where we're going."

  Matty blinked at him. "What?"

  "I bargained with her telepathically," said Casey.

  "What?" Matty said again, his eyes wide. "You don't have to do that."

  Casey shook his head. "I wanted to."

  "Okay," said Matty. "Okay. But let's wait for Ellie to call back before we go. I don't want to cause a ruckus until it's absolutely necessary."

  * * *

  Ellie thought the van would never stop, and sitting in the back of the van with no window next to her made her dizzy. She could see out the front, a little, and it occurred to her that this must be the worst possible way to see Europe. Finally, finally, they pulled into an underground parking garage. The driver swiped a badge to open the gates and they descended a few floor before finally choosing a spot near the elevator.

  She looked to her left, at Jet, who met her gaze, but with duct tape over their mouths, neither could do anything but make worried eyes at the other. She remembered Jet saying that his mother and sister
weren't in town, but he hadn't mentioned when they were due back.

  When the van came to a halt, the men jumped out; one slid the door open and there was another agent ready to reach in, undo Ellie's safety belt, and bring her outside. She tried to look behind at the other two, but the man shoved her forward.

  "Take them up," Ashby said quietly, "one at a time, to my office. The passcode is..." he lowered his voice to confer it, and though Ellie did her best she couldn't make out the whispered sequence of numbers.

  She shivered as they got into the elevator. She'd only gone to school on Friday with a hooded sweatshirt for warmth, as the winters in Southern California were mild at worst. At some point, probably when they'd hooked her up to the IV, her hoodie had been taken away, and now she had no defense against the cold damp London night. The man pushed a button on the keypad – 5. As the elevator began its creaky ascent, she found her nose itched, and twitched it best she could to make it go away. Her captor glanced at her, but said nothing.

  Hey, Casey, she said.

  After a moment he responded. Hi. Anything new?

  Yes, said Ellie. We're here. It's a big office building or something. I'm in an elevator now.

  Okay, said Casey. Ellie detected some impatience in his voice – was it because of her? She was doing the best she could. We have a plan, Casey continued. We think we know where you are.

  Ellie was surprised to hear it. That's good, she said. But I'm worried about what they'll do to Jet's dad – or to Jet, if they find out he's not one of us. They're taking us to the leader's office for now.

  Tell me what it looks like when you get there, said Casey. That way we'll know not to go in that room.

  Will do.

  The elevator opened into a small lobby which boasted a soft forest green carpet, austere wood paneling, and black leather sofas. Blissfully, the heating was on in here. Double doors of frosted glass, protected by a keypad and card reader, blocked her view of the rest of the floor, though her captor quickly went to unlock them. She watched as he typed in the code, but either he was used to this or knew she was looking, for he covered the pad with his other hand while he entered the numbers. Damn it, Ellie thought, wrinkling her nose. Nothing she could think of to get them out of here was working, not that she had any particularly good ideas. The doors opened to a hallway furnished much the same way as the lobby; they passed several offices on their way. Ellie read the placards next to each door, which were situated above electronic locks identical to the one from before. Geraldine Long, Rupert King, Lin Wu, Adam Cooper – maybe that was Jet's dad – and then there they were at Donald Ashby.