The gray person looked up from the screaming, writhing clone when it heard another voice shouting Nev’s name. It was not the telepathic communication of one of its brethren, but the voice of a ‘real’ person.
The humming fell silent, and the gray person motioned to its assistants. {Go.}
Nev collapsed against the chair with a ragged sigh, his neck and wrists blistered and bleeding.
{It still does not work. Even though he is whole we still cannot possess him.}
It reached down and undid Nev’s bindings, dragging the half-conscious clone to a small door and out into another corridor that ran perpendicular to the other. It stopped in front of another, smaller door and keyed it, pushing Nev inside.
{Perhaps it will not work with clones, so we will attempt it with a person.}
~*~
Mich ran towards the door from which the screams were coming. As she neared the screams fell silent, and Mich ran even faster.
As she reached out for the entrance something at the edge of her vision shot out, catching her under the chin and sending her sprawling. The back of her head hit the hard ground, sending shock waves of pain and numbness through her body. Her sword slipped from her hand as she rolled onto her stomach, trying to get her limbs under her so she could regain her balance. A hard, unyielding object slammed into her ribs, sending the breath shooting from her lungs.
Multiple hands and arms grabbed her, dragging her through the door into a brightly lit room. She caught a glimpse of a hideous metal chair before another door opened, this time back into unpenetrable blackness. She heard the soft rumble of yet another door before she was shoved through it.
The bruise on the back of Mich’s head throbbed painfully as she lay on the cold, smooth floor, allowing her lungs the few minutes they’d need to start functioning properly again. She rolled onto her knees and tried to get her bearings, holding herself still in the near-perfect darkness. After her own ragged breathing returned to normal she became aware of another sound—the whimpering of a small child or an animal.
“Who’s there?” Mich whispered warily. The tiny crack in the door allowed an infinitesimal amount of light in, enough for Mich to make out the walls and ceiling, but nothing more.
The whimpering stopped. “No more . . . please . . . ” a hoarse voice whispered.
“Nev,” Mich said, lunging forward. She scrambled over to him, using his voice to home in on his position. Her grasping fingers found his arm, but as she touched him he screamed and pulled away.
“Nev, it’s me! Mich! Easy, darlin’,” she said, using Nev’s preferred term of endearment.
“Mich?” Nev relaxed, allowing her to pull him into a sitting position. He reached up, his fingers brushing her face. “Mich? Is it really you?”
“Yes, Nev, it is. What did they do to you? Are you hurt?”
“My . . . my . . . ” he stammered. Mich ran her hands gently down his arms and sides—as they touched his wrists he hissed in pain.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “Does it hurt anywhere else?”
“My neck,” he whispered. “Mich, they put me in the chair and they—”
She reached out and gently stroked his hair. “Sssh, I know, Nev. I heard. But I’m here and no one’s going to hurt you anymore. I won’t let them.” She held Nev as he clung to her, shaking.
“Nev, why did they stop? Why are you back in here?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “But they still can’t take over my body . . . ” He trailed off; suddenly his fingers dug painfully into her arm and panic surged through his voice. “I-It said they were going to try it with a real person! Mich, they’re gonna try to-to . . . Mich, they want you!”
“Nev, that’s sill—” Mich was interrupted by the rumble of the door; the small room was suddenly flooded with brilliant light that made its two inmates grimace and shield their eyes.
“Nev, are those—”
“Gray people,” Nev growled. Despite his fear he turned, shielding Mich with his body. “You can’t have her, you hear me? You do what you want to me but leave her alone!”
The three figures standing at the threshold did not answer; two of them moved forward and seized Mich, who didn’t resist.
“I’ll go willingly on one condition,” she said. “You let Nev go and never hurt him again.”
“Mich, no!” Nev howled.
“Shut up!” she hissed. “Do we have a deal?” she asked the gray person standing nearest the door.
It regarded her silently from the depths of its hood. {Agreed.}
“NO!” Nev shrieked, lunging forward. Mich broke free from the creatures holding her and hurled Nev to the floor.
“You stay there, Nev! I’m doing this so you’ll be safe!” She turned to the gray people. “I’m ready.”
~*~
Hatch pressed himself up against the wall as a nearby door opened. He and Nabu watched tensely as a ghostly form exited, followed by Mich.
“What the hell is she doin’?” Hatch whispered as she and the ghostly human shapes disappeared behind a door at the end of the corridor.
“I do not know,” Nabu answered. “It seems that she is going willingly.”
Hatch snorted. “Not likely. Come on.”
The two Mike clones crept to the door from which Mich had emerged. “Wonder how we’re gonna get in,” Hatch muttered.
Nabu stepped in front of his twin and examined the small keypad for a few moments. He handed his rapier to Hatch and smashed his fist into the keypad, shattering it. The door creaked, groaned, then opened.
“It always seems to work for Mich,” Nabu said simply.
The Mike clones poked their heads into the dark room, their weapons at the ready.
“You hear that?” Hatch whispered. “Sounds like . . . someone cryin’.”
Nabu, who was practically immune to fear, edged his way into the room. “Who is there?” he asked, his deep voice resounding off the narrow walls.
“N-Na?” a small, tentative voice asked. “That you?”
“Yes,” the stoic clone replied. “Nev?” A heartbeat later the air was crushed from his lungs by a pair of narrow arms that snagged around him and wouldn’t let go.
“Man am I glad to see you guys!” He broke the embrace and suddenly lunged for the door, nearly plowing into Hatch. “Mich! You guys! Mich! Th-they took her!”
Hatch reached out and grasped Nev’s arm. “It’s okay, Nev. We saw. We gotta think of some way to get her outta here. Come on, boss man, hold it together.”
Nev stopped. “What did you call me?”
Hatch gave Nev a sidelong glance. “You’re still the boss, Nev. Just ‘cause we’re here doesn’t change that.”
Nev ran a hand through his hair. “Well, thanks, Hatch . . . but I’m out of ideas, man. You’re lucky I’m not stark ravin’ mad right now.”
“I may have the solution.” Nabu reached into his pockets and held out four small objects. “I confiscated these from Nameh after he and MM returned from that explosives convention. Apparently these are some of the most powerful compact explosives around.”
Hatch gave his twin a lazy grin. “You know, I love the way your mind works. All right, here’s what we do . . . ”
~*~
Mich watched nervously as the ghostly beings strapped her arms and legs to the metal framework, then looped a tight metal collar around her neck. She had no intention of submitting to the creatures—she planned to use her powers to break free as soon as possible, but she had to wait for the right moment.
{Just relax. It will be over soon.}
“Doesn’t exactly set my mind at ease. Just tell me one thing—why? Why did you come back for Nev? Why couldn’t you just leave him alone?”
{We want to be real, like you. The clone’s form is . . . desirable . . . to ‘real’ people—and yours is, too.} The being said no more as it made the final adjustments. As a low humming filled Mich’s ears she felt a burning in her wrists, and then in her neck.
If you’re gonna go, Mich, you gotta go now!
Before she could break free the metal collar suddenly closed around her throat, choking off her air as it seared the skin around her throat. She tried to scream but couldn’t draw in a breath.
Nev . . . Nev . . . now I understand . . . was her last coherent thought before the raw, red heat was swallowed up by blackness.
On to Chapter Eleven
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