Tom Dowd - Burning Bright

"And the spell?"

Kyle flashed the spirit a mental image of me spell. "This one. The same as before."

Kyle turned toward the doctor. "In the meantime, and with your permission, I'd like to leave two elementals here to guard Mitch."

"That's fine, as long as they stay in this room and don't disturb the other patients."

Kyle laughed. "No, these two are pretty calm." He turned and shifted his perceptions until they synchronized with the harmonics of the elemental metaplane of water.

"Elliot, Richard," he said, and two water elementals came into existence before him. "Guard the boy in the bed and this room. Allow no one and no magics into this room without the permission of Doctor Douglas."

The two spirits looked at the doctor, and then back at Kyle.

"Got it," said the first.

"If I have to," said the second.

Kyle turned to Seeks-the-Moon. "Go ahead."

Seeks-me-Moon bowed and disappeared. The two spirits also faded away, back into astral space.

Kyle turned toward Dr. Douglas. "Do you have a syringe?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Behind on your medication?"

Kyle smiled, but shook his head. "No, but I'd like to get a ritual sample from him." He gestured to the body. "Just in case."

The doctor pulled a small case from the test cart still parked in the corner of the room and handed it to him. "Here. A blood sample kit"

Kyle unlatched the case and removed the pistol-gripped sampler, pulling clear the self-sterilizing protective cap.

"How much will you take?"

“I don't need much," he said, bending closer and laying his hand on the boy's arm. Again he focused his magical power to infuse the blood sample he was about to take with enough secondary energy to allow it to remain fresh for some time. He placed the tip of the sampler against the arm and moved it until the sensors indicated he was above a suitable vein. Kyle pulled the trigger and simultaneously released the energy of his ad hoc spell. The small ampoule at the rear of the grip quickly filled, and Kyle could sense that it had taken the power he'd fed it. He set the gun down, removed the ampoule, and placed it inside the protective container the sampler pouch provided.

"You have my personal telecom numbers," he told the doctor. "If anything changes, call me immediately." Then he left, heading for the hospital lobby.

The building was quiet, the morning rounds just beginning. Just as Kyle was coming out of the elevator on the ground floor, he heard some commotion down one of the corridors. Following the noise, he was led straight to the administrative information center, the computer heart of the facility.

The disturbance was coming from inside the main computer room, where the staff monitored the hospital's various systems. Before Kyle could enter, one of the facility's private guards, flanked by a Knight Errant officer, stopped him. Knight Errant had been assisting with hospital security ever since Mitchell Truman had been transferred here. "What's going on?" Kyle asked them. The hospital guard merely looked at him, but the Knight Errant officer recognized Kyle. His name patch said Leventhal.

"It looks to me like a decker, sir," the man said, while the hospital guard shot him a cold look.

Kyle tried to get a better view into the room, but couldn't see much.

"The computer system's internal security programs noted a load anomaly a few minutes ago," the Knight Errant guard explained. "They've been trying to figure out what's going on, but it looks like someone's decked into the computer from outside and is searching the database."

"Admittance records?" asked Kyle.

"Seems that way, sir."

Kyle sighed. If this was related to Mitchell Truman's presence, it was more than probable that whoever was cracking the computer had found his admittance records and knew he was here. "We probably shouldn't move him again," Kyle told the officer. "But let's at least change his room once the decker is either out, dumped, or they finally get smart enough to crash the system. This way whoever it is won't know Mitchell's exact whereabouts in the building. It might give us a few minutes."

The officer nodded. "I'll pass your recommendations on to Lieutenant Facile."

Kyle smiled. "You do that." He turned and walked slowly from the lobby, lost in thought. He was in luck, almost immediately able to find a taxi back to the hotel.

Back in his suite, and finally able to get some sleep, Kyle was soon dreaming of thunderstorms.

There were two messages awaiting Kyle when he woke nearly eight hours later. He didn't remember leaving a Do Not Disturb notice on anything but the door, but considering how much better he felt, he felt no need to complain. The first message was from Beth. She wanted him to call. He did, using his pocket telecom. The Fuchi logo appeared, floating and barely opaque, visible in his field of vision thanks to his display-link cyberware.

Kyle felt strangely uneasy calling her at work. It still felt wrong for her to be doing this job, but he'd lost the option of doing anything about it years ago. He felt a twinge as he connected into Fuchi America's internal communications network and then was routed to Beth. She picked up immediately. Her hair was styled differently then when they'd had dinner a day ago. He barely recognized her.

"John Mikayama's office, Elizabeth Breman speaking," she said crisply.

“Hoi,” be said.

She paused when she saw his face. "Hoi. Are you all right."

"Sure,” he said, surprised at the question. "Why wouldn't it be?"

She pursed her lips. "I got a little worried when you didn't call."

"Sorry. I know this won't surprise you, but things got more complicated then I'd expected."

Beth nodded, glanced at something Kyle couldn't see, and then spoke again. "You're right. It doesn't surprise me. But did you get a chance to speak to Ellen?"

"No," Kyle said slowly. "But I will."

Beth looked away again. "I haven't been able to reach her. I tried all day yesterday."

"How long has it been since you've talked to her?"

“Two days."

"You've checked with her friends?"

She shook her head. "I don't know any of them-if she has any."

I'll stop by and see her today. Is she still at her old address?"

Beth nodded.

"Don't worry. I'll call you as soon as I find out anything."

"Thanks," she said.

Kyle reached for the Disconnect, but paused for one last thought "By the way, I like your hair."

She smiled self-consciously and reached up to smooth a nonexistent disarray. "No you don't. You're still a terrible liar." The screen jumped to black.

Checking the time, which was just after midday, Kyle thought the odds of Ellen being home were minute. Then he suddenly remembered that she didn't work-wasn't able to yet, according to the psych evaluations-and was living on settlement money the government had distributed from the seized Universal Brotherhood coffers. It was a good bet she'd be there.

The second message was, somewhat surprisingly, from Dave Strevich at the FBI. Considering their last conversation, Kyle was almost reluctant to return the call. But he did.

"Dave Strevich," the burly man said as he made the connection. “Teller! Sure took your fraggin' time getting back to me."

Kyle shrugged. "Man's gotta sleep."

"Really? Well, that explains it" Strevich held up his hand, indicating that Kyle shouldn't speak, and then tapped a few commands into his telecom keyboard. After a moment, Kyle heard a series of three low beeps come from Strevich's console. The older man nodded. "Good. We're clear."

"No bugs, eh?" said Kyle, and was surprised by the way his friend's eyes hardened just for a moment before he laughed forcibly.

"No, nobody's listening in."

"What's going on?" Kyle asked him.