Jak Koke: Stranger souls

He moved his spirit into the body of one of the orks, trying to be as gentle as possible with the spirit of the metahuman. The body jerked slightly as he took control quickly. "Excuse me, Nadja," he said, using the ork's voice. "It is Lethe, and I'm reluctantly using this guard's body because it is imperative that I speak with you now."

The other guard drew a weapon.

"Lethe?"

"Yes, it is urgent, and I don't have much time. I don't want to accidentally destroy this body as I did the last."

Abruptly, Nadja turned toward her guest. "I'm sorry for this interruption, Rai'kun-sama. It was not anticipated or expected. However, I must speak with this spirit. Will you excuse me for a few moments? We will continue the discussion of your claim at that time."

The man stood and bowed to her. She returned the bow precisely.

When he had stepped out and closed the door, Nadja turned to Lethe. "What do you want?"

"Ryan Mercury has failed," he said. "We succeeded in getting the Dragon Heart, but he has succumbed to a desire for its power. He has decided to keep the item and has given up on his mission."

Nadja sank into her chair at the words. Stunned.

"You are the only one who might be able to persuade him to carry out Dunkelzahn's instructions," Lethe went on. "To complete his mission."

"Me?"

"He loves you."

She nodded, but said nothing. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before pushing to her feet. "Okay, Lethe," she said. "I will intervene. Something happened to Ryan in Aztlan. I don't know what it was, but I'm sure it was Roxborough who did it to him. He's just not the same. He may never be the same. But the mission Dunkelzahn entrusted to

him is crucial. I would be failing them both if I didn't try to help."

"Thank you," Lethe said, then exited the body of the security guard. The ork's spirit stayed, but the body fainted from the transition. After a minute, he was back to normal. Lethe was pleased.

Then Nadja was talking to her secretary, connecting through to Jane-in-the-box. Making emergency travel plans.

Lethe watched her for a few minutes. He felt a deep affection for Nadja. She had a pure spirit, one of the only such metahumans he'd encountered.

Lethe hoped that she was persuasive enough to influence Ryan Mercury. Which would be greater, he wondered, Ryan's love for Nadja or for his newfound power?

16 August 2057

Ryan had finally gotten to sleep when Jane came through with the news that the border patrols were thinning near LaGrande. It was time to move.

The late afternoon sun shone down hot and bright into the ash canyon where they'd been hiding out. The whitish gray walls had heated up over the course of the day, and the temperature was becoming almost unbearable. But Ryan was so exhausted that he'd slept a little despite the heat.

"Let's roll," came Axler's voice.

Ryan rubbed his eyes and sat up in the seat of the helicopter, snapping his vertebrae into line. "I'll help you get the camouflage netting off," he said.

"Already done."

Dhin powered up the rotors and they lifted off, headed back toward the compound above Hells Canyon. He vectored out and cranked up the jets to maximum velocity. Soon they were sailing across the border. Jane's plan had worked; they'd evaded the Tir border patrol through patience and proper intelligence.

A few minutes after they'd crossed into Salish-Shidhe territory, Ryan's wristphone beeped. It was Jane, and for a second he wondered why she wasn't using the communications relay in the helo.

"I needed to speak to you privately," she said. "It's about the Dragon Heart."

He brought the phone to his mouth. "What about it?"

"I hear you've decided not to carry out Dunkelzahn's mission."

"Has Lethe been talking to you? I-"

"Is it true?" Jane's tone was accusatory.

"Not exactly," Ryan said. "I just want to think about it first."

"What's to think about? You've always done the dragon's bidding. That's what you do. That's why he chose you." "Maybe I need more now," said Ryan. "Like what?" "I need a reason."

"A reason for what?" Jane's tone was sarcastic and grating. "To save the world?"

"A reason to risk my life for someone else's plan. A plan, I might add, that I know nothing about."

"You have to trust Dunkelzahn."

"Well, I don't anymore," Ryan said. "I don't trust anyone."

"So you're committed to this new course?"

"I'm keeping the Dragon Heart, Jane," Ryan said. "It was willed to me, and I can use it effectively against whatever enemies Dunkelzahn had. I'm going to track down whoever killed him, and bring them to justice."

"I'm afraid," Jane said, "that I will have to intervene."

Ryan laughed aloud. "Am I supposed to be scared?" But the line was dead before the words were even out of his mouth.

Slitch! Ryan thought. What can she do to me anyhow? He wanted this whole run to be over, and he needed rest. Soon they'd be on the ground again. Maybe then he could find a proper bed and get some sleep.

Burnout stood with Slaver and La Sangre, hard mountain rock beneath their feet. From their vantage slightly upslope and a few hundred meters away, Burnout had a clear view of the whole compound. Assets, Inc. It was a small airstrip cut into the eastern cliff above Hells Canyon. The only buildings were a dilapidated hangar made of rusted sheet metal, an attached mobile home that looked like it dated back to before the turn of the century, and four smaller storage sheds.

Cyclone fencing surrounded the compound, but it was only necessary on the two flat sides. The other two were bounded by cliffs, one straight up and the other straight down, nearly two full kilometers to the bottom of the canyon.

They had been waiting for only thirty minutes since dropping down from the Aztechnology helicopter a few kilometers away. The 'copter's rigger had been instructed to stay out of sight until called upon.

"See anyone?" Slaver asked.

Burnout shook his head. He hadn't seen signs of anybody, and La Sangre's astral reconnaissance had come up dry as well. They were already gone. And Burnout couldn't help but think that all this wouldn't have been necessary if Slaver had only let him make his move back in Washington.

Ryan Mercury would be dead now. Mission accomplished.

He heard something then, in the distance, a low rhythmic harmonic. It grew louder and louder until he recognized it as a helicopter. "Someone is coming," he said.

" 'Bout fragging time," Slaver said. "Told you they'd come."

Burnout saw the helo at the same time as he felt the magic. Like a yearning force, like water to his parched throat.

Something on that helicopter was powerful, and Burnout wanted it. He felt the strength of it grow as the helo crested the cliff below the compound, rising up from the canyon, pivoting and touching down on the tarmac.

It drew him in like a mana vortex, a gritty knife edge that cut to his very heart. He knew he had to have it; no choice. Whatever it was, he must get it for himself. Perhaps it could restore his magic, perhaps not, but either way he would remain incomplete without it.

"Where are you going?" Slaver asked. "Frag, I can't take you anywhere."

Burnout turned, feeling the hatred tingling at his extremities. Hovering like a hidden beast just outside his awareness. Waiting to pounce. He realized then that he'd already taken several steps down the slope toward the compound.

"I'm going in for a closer look," he said.

"Not yet," Slaver said. "We wait until I get a positive ID. Too many of them right now anyhow."

Burnout shrugged and continued his descent.

La Sangre straightened, its flayed nostrils flaring, causing even more foul-smelling blood to drip from it. The spirit seemed to sense something was amiss.