2007 Alliances Old, Alliances New126

2007

“Adam did it again, Jesse. He did that weird thing of kissing me on the top of my head. He doesn’t do that to Shalimar.”

Emma was seated by the Meditation Pool, speaking softly and assuming a pose of deep relaxation, but she was angered and annoyed.

Jesse sat down on the floor across from her.

“What brought it on this time?”

“He insisted upon ‘examining’ me. He enjoys ‘examining’ me a lot more than I am comfortable with, but what am I supposed to say to him?” She did not want her emotions easily read by casual observation. “Great, All-Knowing Adam, I question the need for these frequent ‘exams’ and have the queasy feeling your motivation is other than paternal.”

Jesse rolled his eyes. He had doubts about Adam as well. “You could make the telempathic suggestion that you smelled bad, Jesse said, half-jokingly.

“He’d know I was intruding, and then he’d star asking and asking why I would do such a thing. Jesse, sooner or later this is all going to come out and it won’t be pretty or pleasant. I can’t begin to guess what Adam will say or do when that happens.”

“Sounds like you need time away.”

“As soon as possible, before I do any damage.”

Jesse lightly smacked himself in the forehead. “Ah! I just remembered! I need several boards and some spare parts, and I’ll just have to go make the rounds of computer and electronic stores to get exactly what I need! There. That was easy. What’s your excuse? Shoes? Can the lovely Emma ever have too many pairs of shoes? He’ll believe that.”

Emma closed her eyes, feigning deep thought. “No. I think I’ll say something a little more serious this time. I have wanted to take classes.”

“Adam and Brennan are gone, making an antacid and Twinkie run. We only have to tell tales to Mother Shalimar.” Jesse smiled.

“Won’t take me long to pack.” Emma sprang to her feet and went bounding off to her room to change clothes and pack.

Minutes later, they awoke Shalimar from a nap, and explained themselves to her.

“Tell Adam I’m going shopping for electronic geek stuff and Emma wanted to check out colleges, so I offered to drive her. We’ll be gone a few days.”

Shalimar stretched, still not fully awake.

“Just be careful to stay in widely separated places so he doesn’t get suspicious. He’s forbidden us to have any kind of relationship with one another.” Shalimar wasn’t smiling. This was no joke, but an inflexible, immutable rule of Adam’s

“We’ll be careful not to do anything to upset Adam,” Emma said. “He has a lot on his mind, and needs nothing more to worry about.”

“Drive carefully.’ Shalimar yawned. “I’ll tell Adam where you’ve gone. I need to complete this nap.” Shalimar’s feline genetic material found expression in many ways. On fine summer days, she was found of leaving Sanctuary to take naps in the sun.

Outside, it was early autumn, with many leaves gone to bright colors, with most still on the trees. The days remained warm, but the evenings were chilly.

“Hey, there’s another one!” Emma said, pointing to a newly-arrived, half-rusted Camaro in the Sanctuary parking area. “How many of these heaps do you think Brennan’s going to drag in here?”

“As many as his allowance and the available space allows,” Jesse said, unlocking the trunk of his car. “That’s the shabbiest one so far. He probably paid more to have it towed here than he paid for the car.”

“Adam would have a fit if he knew about all this steel. There shouldn’t be a parking lot out here.” Emma giggled softly.

“Oh, Brennan can do no wrong. Just ask Adam. Brennan could bulldoze the trees and turn the property into a rest home for aged and decrepit Camaros, say one hundred fifty or so, and Adam would smile and tell me to park my car somewhere else. Jesse loaded their suitcases into the trunk. “And now, off to the real world.”

“My, my, I detect an attitude!” Emma smiled, eyes wide at the vehemence of Jesse’s comment.

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it? I didn’t exaggerate much.”

“The sad part is that it is true. I don’t understand why Brennan is his favorite. He’s a lot of trouble.”

“That’s the key. He is trouble. He requires watching and supervision. If you do your tasks reliably, without fuss, you may as well be invisible. Or nonexistent.”

Emma did visit colleges and Jesse did purchase a collection of boards and other electronics. When their day was ended, however, they retreated to an apartment and life they shared about which Adam knew nothing.

Adam had made clear his disapproval of any relationship between them other than as team members. His unwelcome intrusion into their personal lives led Jesse to lease a modest apartment in a bland neighborhood filled with utilitarian apartments and lower middle class homes on tiny lots.

The people who lived here typically did not linger long. Except for some elderly people who had lived in the neighborhood for decades, most residents were transient dwellers on their way to something better, including a large proportion of college students. Still others were on their way down, clinging to what remained of their respectability. In any case, few troubled to get to know one another. Emma and Jesse were able to remain anonymous and unnoticed.

Jesse dedicated one of the two bedrooms to his computers and to the assembly of electronics which he did not share with Adam, devices he used to help keep his hidden life unseen.

Jesse involved himself deeply in the assembly of devices he did not share with Adam. Rather than work on them furtively in Sanctuary, he built them here where he would not be interrupted by the duties of Mutant X. But this left Emma with little to do.

“Jesse, how would you like to take some time away from your work and drive over to what’s left of Genomex? I hear any mutant who want to can see Eckhart in a stasis pod.”

A handful of mutants still working there made it known that the individuals still remaining in stasis were available for viewing by others like themselves. These were humans known to have worked against mutants. Most infamous of these, the one most mutants came to see and stare at was Mason Eckhart, formerly director of the GSA, and the subject of mutant nightmares.

Their nemesis frozen safely in place, mutants could come and stand over Eckhart and feel superior, as if they were standing above a declawed, defanged beast trapped in a deep pit.

“No, thanks. I saw enough of him walking about and breathing.”

“I want to see him frozen in place with my eyes. I won’t believe it completely until I see it.”

“Well, go ahead, but if you could stop for groceries, that would be useful.”

“Will do.”

Security was lax. Emma walked in through the front door, asked directions of the receptionist, and followed yellow arrows on the walls to the stasis exhibition area.

The smiling, smirkily insincere portrait of Dr Harrison in the reception area was disturbing, bringing back memories of Emma’s dealings with the traitorous botanist. Harrison might run was left of Genomex, but he had no GSA to enforce his wishes.

Shalimar had been present when Eckhart was seized and podded by Gabriel Ashlocke and Dr Harrison. Her description of Mason Eckhart secured in a stasis pod had been accurate and complete but Emma still was unprepared. Unmoving, his eyes open and staring, he looked oddly neither dead nor alive. Emma was struck by how small and unthreatening he appeared.

Surely he must have been larger? Has he somehow shrunk during stasis? Eckhart could walk into a room and menace everyone there with a look, a tilt of the head. He exhaled malevolence. This fellow here just doesn’t look threatening.

Eckhart’s agents had pursued her through the streets, chasing her like a criminal. When she was finally captured and corralled by the GSA, they herded her into an outdoor pen with about a dozen others. Forcibly implanted with subdermal governors, Emma had not known such humiliation and degradation before or since. What kind of mind was arrogant enough to conceive of penning up people like stray dogs?

Emma circled Eckhart’s stasis pod like an animal making certain a predator was dead, and harmless. She sat down on the pod itself, allowing close, careful, thorough scrutiny of the man without the fear engendered during living encounters.

His captors had secured him in the pod with his unvarying black pinstripe suit and black shirt. Emma noted the oddly cut, carefully fitted black leather gloves and for the first time got a good look at the loosely fitted, slightly wrinkled biopolymer partly covered by the gloves, and extending out of sight up into the sleeves. Emma wondered if the shirt had sleeves. The plastic faux skin must have been miserably hot to wear. Like most people, Emma could not imagine a life spent never touching anything or anyone. The unnatural looking white hair was tidily in place. Believed to be a wig, or more likely, many wigs, not was absolutely certain, not even Adam.

With the satisfaction of a cat cornering a mouse, Emma leaned forward and whispered over Eckhart’s still form, “Locked away from the world, down in there, you cannot hold me prisoner, control me, or induce pain. You cannot do anything to me, or to anyone.”

Emma was startled to hear Eckhart reply inside her head.

Surely you have a purpose for being here other than taunting me, Ms deLauro.

She leaned farther forward on the pod unit, the better to see his face, even though it was locked and frozen in place, and even less revealing of Eckhart than it had been in full life. What's it like to be trapped in the place where you imprisoned so many others?

Here? It's cold. Numbly cold.

Did you enjoy putting people in pods, Eckhart? Is that what you lived for, to lock people away? Did you enjoy it?

No. Not at all. I've had to do a lot of distasteful things. Putting people into pods was one of them.

Emma was no stranger to Eckhart’s arrogance, but she wasn’t hearing that now. She paused a moment. Had she detected regret in his answer?

But you did it anyway, didn't you? Dozens and dozens of people like me., and dozens of ordinary humans as well. Who gave you the right?

The authority to confine people in stasis came from the parent agency of the GSA. Did you think I was acting on my own? That the GSA was my own private army, acting on my whims? The alternative to stasis was execution. I was in fact criticized for podding instead of killing the most dangerous of mutants, the ones who were insane or out of control. If I was the monster you imagine me to be, I would have pulled the plug on Ashlocke’s pod as soon as Adam wasn’t here to protect him, and I would not now be in stasis.

Eckhart, if you aren't a monster, what are you?

Someone paying the price for Adam's unwise ambitions and unholy perversion of science. Just as you are paying a price. Adam is amoral. He cares about things which amuse him, or which feed his curiosity. He does not much concern himself with who gets hurt.

Eckhart, talking about the hurt and pain of other people? As stunning as Emma found the notion, her nagging questions about Adam would not go away. She and Jesse discussed them, but could never find answers.

Emma felt vague, queasy disloyalty, but plunged ahead and asked the question anyway.

What about Adam?

Do I discern a flicker of doubt about Adam? A questioning? That is good. There is a lot to question about Adam, and a lot of blank pages that need to be filled. Even I could not find all the answers.

Emma hesitated to continue, but anger and confusion won out over restraint.

I’ll tell you what I don’t like. I don't like the way Adam uses me like a tool, or the way he sends us into desperate situations while he sits in the safety of Sanctuary giving orders. We risk our lives while he never so much as breaks a sweat.

That is not the way of good generals, Ms deLauro. Something has happened, hasn't it? You'll have to tell me what it is. My news sources are sadly limited at present.

This is crazy, Emma reflected. I am about to confide in Eckhart. Mason Eckhart, inhuman oddity.

We're getting hurt. Adam patches us back together like machines, and does not seem to care about us. We have special abilities, but we heal no faster than anyone else. He pushed us to take chances, to go back before the pain goes away.

Adam cares only for Adam.

And you? How are you better? Making our lives miserable because we're different?

Ms deLauro, the truth is far more complicated than that. It isn't that you're 'different', it's that each mutant carries the potential for the long-term destruction of humanity, with your tendency towards disease and early death. Every human on earth carries at least three or four mutations in their genetic material, and those are naturally occurring changed, not deliberate intrusions by a Breedlove or Adam.

The new mutants have qualities which make them superior to ordinary humans. If mutated DNA spreads unchecked through the population, humanity will suffer slow extinction. All we have ever been, known, made, or done will come to an end. What do you think I've been trying to prevent?

I suppose I never thought much about your motivations. I always thought you hated us for obscure reasons of your own.

No, Ms deLauro. I harbor no special hatred of mutants. My goal was to spare humanity a genetic plague.

Adam calls you a sociopath. He used to know you, so I believe his evaluation. You and Adam were part of the same program, weren't you? How can your hands be clean if Adam's aren't?

My hands. . . are not clean. They are covered with blood. Most of the induced mutations, including your own, were performed years before I joined Genomex. I am not formally trained in the life sciences beyond basic biology. I was in fact brought in when Paul Breedlove realized the program had the potential to get out of control, and that Adam could get out of control as well. I have spent my adult life cleaning up the mess Breedlove and Adam made. So many lives, so much destruction and chaos.

You rounded us up like animals, and penned us in cages. Have you ever been in a cage?

I have lived within the confines of a polymer skin for almost twenty years. The doctors insist I will never break free of that ‘cage’, so yes, I do know something about being trapped.

That. . . must be difficult. Emma had never considered Eckhart a victim of the Genomex program, but realized for the first time the implications of his condition.

Would you have come along quietly had I issued polite invitations? I think not. With the exception of the emotionally unstable, the plan was never for permanent podding.

No?

Emphatically no. The plan was to make phenotypic, and more importantly, genotypic fixes of individuals, who would then be allowed to return to society with our blessings and good wishes to live lives of ordinary humans.

And if they could not be 'fixed'?

We would offer them sterilization and release, or re-podding in hope of better repair techniques in the future.

That isn't what Adam says.

I do not doubt it. Adam says a good many things. Why would I lie to you now? I'm just this side of life in stasis and in no position to harm or threaten you.

I need to know the truth.

Keep listening, then. Everyone needs to know the truth.

How can I believe you?

Eckhart, never at a loss for words, did not immediately reply, but thought for a moment.

You could 'read' me. Then you would know the truth. There is no way I could deceive you.

I could.

I could, but your mind is not a place I want to go. The prospect is distasteful and more than a little scary.

Ms deLauro, I am podded, I cannot harm you. I command no one here. Are you afraid of what you might discover?

A little.

A lot. The possibility that you are telling me the truth is disturbing. I’m used to thinking that anything you say must be deceptive and manipulative, and is not to be trusted. To learn otherwise is to turn my world around.

Lies are more worthy of your fears.

'Reading' you would not be a precision process. There will be 'leakage', and I will learn things you would not choose to share. You may not like some of the things I will learn about you.

I have less to hide than you imagine. I accept the necessity of an intrusion. Any discomfort I feel from loss of privacy will be more than balanced by your learning the truth about Adam, and taking that truth with you. Possibly this is the only opportunity I will have of telling anyone on ‘your side’ what I know about the work Breedlove and Adam did. Adam will not tell you. If I am to be frozen here, someone must know the truth.

I’m still surprised you would open yourself to me. You have been known for your concern and guarding of personal details. No one really knows much about you. I must admit, I am suspicious.

For a moment, consider the possibility that nothing is operating here other than the obvious. Ms deLauro, you are the telempath. I am the mere human, defenseless against your kind.

I know.

Please. . . proceed. . . before I reconsider.

Emma closed her eyes, covering them with both hands to eliminate distractions. She concentrated upon forming a firm link with Eckhart, allowing rapid, complete transfer of memories.

These memories were not merely the recollections of the Eckhart Emma knew in the present, but those of a much younger man, little like the formal, cynical Eckhart, but a thoroughly human young man who cared very much about several people and who made no secret of his concern, an ordinary looking young man who had not yet been irreparably damaged and changed into a physical and emotional oddity, a serious and conscientious young man who nevertheless did smile and smile sincerely.

She shuddered as Eckhart’s memories of Adam struck with the physical force of a strong wind: people, events, confrontations, all as Eckhart recalled them. Intense, overwhelming emotions, Eckhart’s emotions, flooded through Emma’s mind, a torrent of feeling and humanity.

Mason Eckhart was the coldest, grimmest individual Emma knew. Re-living his unexpected and forceful emotions stunned and shocked Emma as she acquired the sum of all he knew about Adam and the experiments in genetics. Almost as Eckhart had lived it firsthand, Emma experienced the ‘accident’ apparently induced by Adam, that left Eckhart more dead than alive, and knew his deep terror when Breedlove explained the implications of his crippled immune system. Adam was interwoven through all of this, and not in the way Adam recounted those days to Emma and the others.

The datastream halted abruptly, inducing a severe and sudden headache. Emma bent over in pain, massaging her forehead as Eckhart’s memories unwound and lodged in her mind, settling in to become much like recollections of her own.

Ms deLauro, where are you?

Contact had broken sharply, as if she had bolted and run from the room. Despite his eyes being wide open, Emma had not understood until this moment they were unfocused and unseeing.

She opened her eyes slowly. I’m here. I have not gone anywhere. The memory transfer was painful when it stopped. Give me a moment while my head clears and I can think again.

How could I have been so blind? How could we all have been so blind and foolish?

I had no idea things were that way. I had no idea about Adam.

Hardly anyone is left who knows the whole of the truth. Ms deLauro, do you believe me? I did not mask anything to make myself appear better than I am.

I do believe you. I know about Breedlove’s murder now. You knew I’d discover that, along with everything else.

Thank you for believing.

I saw Breedlove’s murder through your eyes. I know you ordered it, even if someone else did the killing.

I deny none of it, Ms deLauro. Since you have my memory of the murder, you also must have in mind the motivation. Had Paul Breedlove made his public announcement, paranoia and hysteria would have followed. Anyone displaying unusual talents would have been suspect, and at risk from the ignorant. Just consider the irrationality people have shown over bioengineered tomatoes with a prolonged shelf life and otherwise deficient staple crops modified to produce all essential amino acids. Tomatoes and rice sit passively on your dinner plate. They don’t walk and talk like a mutant. I believe a lot of innocent people, mutant and human alike, would have been injured and murdered had I not stopped Paul.

I’ve been on the receiving end of peoples’ irrationality. I agree with you.

I have never claimed saintliness.

I’m overwhelmed by your memories of Adam. Emma paused and massaged her forehead. The memories were still settling into place. There is so much to absorb, so much different from the way Adam tells the tale. I don’t like the way he has manipulated all of us by claiming he didn’t know what was being done with his research. If anyone is a sociopath, it’s Adam. I don’t like being deceived.

No one does. Do not be hard on yourself, because Adam can be charming and persuasive. He fooled me for years. Adam is an intelligent man, but he hides elements of the charlatan behind legitimate science and technology.

Emma stood up, and walked deliberately towards the head of the pod, where it linked to a maintenance unit controlling individual requirements. She studied the controls briefly, found most of them arcane and confusing, then found what she was looking for.

She tore off the clear plastic cap over the emergency controls, installed to prevent their accidental use. Without hesitation she touched the upper screen which said, “Emergency de-stasis. Activate ONLY under expected or prolonged power loss.”

Ms deLauro, did you just pull the plug on me? Eckhart sounded sad and disappointed. I feel so peculiar. Numb. I don't feel the cold anymore. I don’t feel anything.

There aren't any instructions here for a normal de-podding, so I activated emergency de-stasis.

You?

Me. I've listened to Adam and believed him. There was so much he never

told us. Certainly I never knew about Adam and your wife. They both. . . betrayed you. And Adam was your friend.

Once.

I won’t tell anyone else. I wasn’t meant to know. No one else needs to know.

Thank you.

How do you feel now?

Nothing. Nothing’s there. No sense of anyone’s presence. Did I damage him bringing him out of stasis? Did I kill him?

Vague panic seeped through Emma’s mind. Fifteen minutes ago, I would have been pleased to kill him. Now, I’m horrified at the possibility. This is crazy-making.

Emma rose from the stasis pod, and stood over Eckhart’s body, ready to run to avoid discovery if she was sure she had killed him. She watched carefully, absorbed in finding any sign of continuing life. When the plastic pod cover automatically released with an audible click of the lock mechanism disengaging, Emma jumped backward. Realizing what it was, she lifted up the surprisingly thick and heavy cover, and swung it fully open. Eckhart looked inert and still, not dead, but not alive, either.

What have I done? Shouldn’t alarms be ringing somewhere now that I’ve done this? Shouldn’t guys in lab coats be here any time, probably including creepy Dr Harrison? Just how sloppy has this place become?

Mason Eckhart's head twitched, his eyes fluttered, then opened and blinked. Then they focused upon Emma.

You look different.

“Can you move?” Emma asked audibly.

I think so.

Slowly, with difficulty and obvious distress, Eckhart drew himself to a seated position.

“Speaking is difficult.”

“We have to get out of here. I’ll hold you steady.” Emma offered him her hand.

Eckhart hesitated for a moment, then extended a gloved hand to hers when he assessed how weak and unsteady he was.

“Where is Ashlocke?” Eckhart asked.

“Fortunately, he’s dead.”

“What happened to him?”

“His body’s own flaws caught up with him. Adam actually tried to save him.”

“Adam…has so little sense. Where are we going?”

“A safe place Adam doesn’t know about. Jesse’s there. You have to talk to him. He’s had doubts about Adam longer than I have.”

Eckhart struggled to rise on his own, steadying himself with Emma’s hand as he nearly fell. His coordination improved slowly as he emerged from the pod, and took each step. By the time they reached an outside door, Eckhart nearly ceased relying upon Emma to steady him.

“The exterior doors are all alarmed. At least, they used to be.” Eckhart reached inside his jacket, removed a keycard, and swiped it.

The lock released.

“Someone got sloppy.”

They stepped out into the daylight.

“It’s autumn.” Eckhart was astonished. “I’ve lost several months.”

“You had no idea?”

“None. In stasis, I could think with clarity and focus, but there was no time-sense.”

“My car isn’t far.”

“Good. I don’t believe I’ll be able to get very far. You were able to drive onto the property?”

“Yeah. Ashlocke released all the mutants from stasis. The remaining. . . humans were put on view for mutants to see.”

“Is anyone is charge any longer? Someone should be noticing what you’ve done.”

“Dr Harrison? Does that sound possible?”

“Yes. Malevolent miscreant.”

Emma turned towards Eckhart, sensing deep fury directed towards Dr Harrison. There was little to be found in his face.

They reached the car. Eckhart grasped the roofline as Emma unlocked the passenger door.

“He’s the one who betrayed you to Ashlocke, isn’t he?”

“He is. I should have seen it coming. I blame myself. I’m going down fast, Ms deLauro.”

She opened the door, and steadied him as he struggled to enter the car.

“Can I do anything?” Emma asked.

“Just get us away from here.”

Eckhart buckled himself in securely, and almost immediately fell asleep, waking sometimes in traffic, and then sleeping once more.

There were two flights of stairs to climb to the apartment. Three-quarters of the ascent behind him, Mason Eckhart stopped and braced himself against the wall. He had hardly spoken during the drive.

Emma halted a step above, turning to him with a questioning look, but saying nothing.

“I'll be fine. I was dizzy for a moment. I am very, very tired.” Eckhart sounded exhausted.

Emma smiled. “Well, you haven't eaten for months.”

“True.”

Emma reached out her hand. “I can help you the rest of the way.” She was not sure what she saw in his eyes, but she sensed a welter of emotion unbetrayed in his face. Fear. Fear of her. Extraordinary pride. Self-loathing for what he considered weakness. A deep, overwhelming sense of loss, very personal, very guarded. “Please. Justify taking my hand for practical reasons, if you must. If any of my neighbors pop out into the corridor, they will remember seeing you.”

He said nothing, but nodded, grasping her hand, and continuing on up the stairway.

“Jesse will be. . . startled to see you. Jesse will be stunned to see you. It might be best if I did the talking.”

“Very sensible.”

Reaching the door, Emma removed a key from a coat pocket, and turned it in the lock.

“Just a simple lock?”

“Yes, but electronically, Jesse has shielded the unit from the sensors Adam has. He has also rigged the comlinks to indicate the positions of both of us elsewhere, in different places.”

“Why are you hiding from Adam?”

“He has forbidden us to be together.”

“Arrogant of him. And not surprising.” A fleeting look of distaste crossed Eckhart’s face. Emma realized that by watching carefully, she found it possible to read Eckhart.

She opened the door, entering first, sensing through Eckhart's glove a slight tremor, indicating just how taxing ordinary effort was for him.

“Jesse?” She closed the door behind them, throwing the deadbolt with one hand and holding on to Eckhart with the other.

The room was ordinary, the walls bare, the furniture new, cheap, and bland, dominated by beiges and browns.

“Do you need help with the groceries?” Jesse Kilmartin did not look up from the laserprinted pages he held until entering the modest living room. His unguarded smile of greeting for Emma fled at the sight of slightly rumpled Mason Eckhart within the walls of his home, leaning against Emma, not twelve feet away.

Jesse tensed, ready to defend himself and Emma against this man.

Emma spoke softly and calmly. “Jesse. He has not harmed me. He is not a threat to us. I chose to bring him here.”

“That's hard to believe.” Jesse set the printout on a cheap, plastic-topped end table.

“Mr Kilmartin, as unlikely and outrageous as it sounds, it is true.” Eckhart turned to Emma. “May I sit on your sofa?”

“Of course.” She steadied him the few steps to the dark brown sofa, where he sat down slowly, in some distress.

Jesse followed every move Eckhart made, searching for a trick or a ruse.

“I think I'm going to have to lie down.” Eckhart eased himself onto the coarse fabric cushions. “The contradictory fact about emerging from prolonged stasis is the extreme need for genuine. . . sleep after months in the twilight between death and life. I intend no harm to either of you. I may, in fact, be able to help you both.”

His eyes closed. A shudder coursed through the length of Eckhart's body, and with that, he lapsed into a deep and profound sleep.

Emma turned to Jesse, speaking just above a whisper. “I know how this looks, but everything is fine. He did not do anything to me.”

Jesse came to stand beside Emma, kissing her softly on the forehead. “Emma, that is Mason Eckhart, isn't it?”

She nodded. “I broke him out of stasis myself. I believe what he says. I want you to listen to him later. You have to listen to him.”

Jesse shook his head, and pointed to Eckhart’s immobile form. “I'm more than a little uncomfortable being in the same building with Eckhart. Having him napping in my living room makes me want to bolt and run far away. Or kill him while I can.”

Emma shook her head. “I 'read' him, Jesse. There are things he knows that you need to know.”

“You’ve been inside his head? He allowed you to 'read' him?” Jesse asked.

“He invited me. We have a lot to re-think. Your misgivings about Adam are justified. More than justified. There is so much about Adam that isn’t very good. He has lied to us. He has misrepresented himself.”

“But Emma, no matter what Adam has done, that is Eckhart. He sent his creeps after you. He podded up many of our friends. He is not a nice man.”

“He doesn't claim to be. Listen to him when he wakes up. This is a complicated story. Once you sort it out, things are different than what we've been told.”

Jesse sighed. “Black is white, and white is black, and the answer is through the looking-glass?”

“Something like that. Something that different. I know I cannot go on with what I used to believe was real.”

“More pragmatically, what are we going to do with Eckhart?”

“For now, we're going to let him sleep. He could not stay awake in the car, and I had to help him up the stairs.” Emma turned and removed an afghan from the back of a chair, and gently draped it over Eckhart's sleeping form, now drawn up into a nearly fetal position. Then she carefully removed his glasses, setting them safely aside.

Jesse watched in disbelief, hands on his hips, shaking his head. Emma turned to face him, saw his bewildered expression, smiled, and nodded towards the hallway.

“Let's take this discussion to your study,” she said.

“I'm not comfortable turning my back on this man, not after everything he’s done. Can you blame me?”

“Come on, Jesse.”

He followed her into the smaller of the two bedrooms. Nearly all the space was taken up with computers and other electronic gear. There was only one office chair, so they sat together on the floor.

“If I had not seen you with Eckhart just now, I would not believe it. Kindness and concern for Eckhart? He deserves another kind of treatment from people like you and me.”

“I understand, Jesse, really, I do. When you've heard him out, you won't think I'm so crazy.”

“I'm afraid he's using you somehow. He’s capable of doing anything.”

“Not this time. That's very hard to do with someone like me. I generally affect other people.”

“I know. But coming from my kind of family, I knew all sorts of brilliant, ruthless, manipulative men --and a few women-- who allowed very little to stand in the way of their ambitions. From what I've seen of Eckhart, he belongs in the front rank of such men, except that they dealt in money and property, and Eckhart deals in people and lives. Most of these guys cared about something besides themselves--a son, a daughter, a dog, a racehorse. Eckhart's the coldest man I've seen. He doesn’t seem human. Watching you in the living room just now was spooky.”

Emma sighed. “The act of 'reading' someone else's memories is not like transferring specific data files. It's sloppy. Eckhart allowed me to know his memories of Adam, but he also shared personal memories involving Adam, painful memories. He wasn’t always like this, and he never wanted to be the way he is now. I promised him I'd tell no one his personal memories, and I won't, but Eckhart's had his heart sliced out and stomped on. He’s lost so much. Jesse, I feel sorry for him. He's pitiful.” Tears welled in her eyes as she re-lived Eckhart's memories.

“You’re sure he isn’t lying somehow? Fooling you is next to impossible, but this is Eckhart.”

“Certain.”

“This really got to you, didn’t it?”

“Emma nodded. “He used to be somebody else. He was never charming, but once upon a time, he was human. There were people he cared about and who cared about him.”

Jesse hugged her. “That's what makes you special, Emma. You have. . .an open heart.”

“It's not always easy. Taking on the emotions and memories of others can be ugly.”

“I can see. I’ve seen you pay the price for knowing too much about someone.”

Emma shook her head. “But not in this case. Eckhart’s not a monster. I would prefer to know how someone became…as he is than to believe some people are born that way, cold, aloof, detached. There’s still a human buried deep inside of him, Jesse.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it. Adam describes Eckhart as always being pretty much like that, as if he takes evil pills every morning.”

“Adam’s at the heart of all this.”

“I will believe your evaluation until I have a good reason to change my mind. But we have some major problems to solve beyond my expertise, unless Eckhart has the answers himself. What are we going to feed him? What about his infamous plastic faux skin? Isn’t that supposed to be changed at least once every twenty-four hours? And his blood? The last Adam knew, Eckhart required transfusions, a lot of them, because his body makes no red or white blood cells. This isn't like bringing home a puppy.”

“I could not leave him there, not after I knew what happened to him,” Emma said, defending her actions.

“No. But we have challenges here, and we have to get back to Sanctuary tomorrow. If we stay any longer, Adam will have a lot of questions. You know how he is.” Jesse rolled his eyes.

“We've talked about this before. When we go back, I think this should be for the last time. We have to break with Adam for good.”

“Do you think that time has come?” Jesse asked.

“Knowing what I do, I will be uncomfortable being with Adam.”

“We aren’t going to be able to walk up to Adam, and tell him that we’re quitting Mutant X and have him wish us well. He thinks of Mutant X as a lifetime commitment. Adam will see quitting as disloyalty, unforgivable disloyalty.”

“We’ve talked around this before. We don’t tell him. We walk out and never come back.”

“We haven’t worked out the fine points of how we could live safely away from Adam and all of his contacts. Adam has resources he doesn’t tell anyone about.”

“Adam will go crazy,” Emma sighed.

Jesse did not sleep well. In the middle of the night he rose and padded quietly to the living room to see if Mason Eckhart really was sleeping on his sofa.

The light was dim, but Eckhart was there, and soundly asleep. He had not moved in hours, still drawn up in a fetal curl. Jesse pondered for a moment whether Eckhart had died, and briefly wondered how he would get rid of a body.

I had never considered that Eckhart sleeps like other people. How could anyone that paranoid allow themselves sleep? And where has he been sleeping? Did he sleep under his desk? Roll a cot into his office? And who did he trust to watch for him while he slept? He never seemed to trust anyone.

Eckhart looked small and insignificant on the dark sofa. More than anything, he looked vulnerable. Jesse intellectually believed Emma was convinced of the need to listen to Eckhart. He found the change in Emma’s attitudes disturbing, too swift and too drastic, although Adam had lately given no shortage of reasons for doubt.

This is the man who terrorized us for so long? The stuff of stories? The bogeyman Adam spoke of daily?

Jesse found himself in the middle ground of not believing Adam or Eckhart, and at that moment, if he could have had his wishes, Jesse would have preferred to be done with them both. The issues involved would not go away, however, even if the individuals were gone.

An irrational thought came to Jesse. He had never had a better opportunity to destroy Eckhart, who had made him and Emma miserable many times over. The thought passed, and Jesse returned to bed and restless sleep.

Near daylight, Jesse woke once again. Quietly as he could, Jesse made his way to the living room. This time, he found the sofa empty. For a moment, he thought Eckhart had bolted.

“Good morning, Mr Kilmartin.”

Jesse startled at the sound of Eckhart's voice, and knew Eckhart had seen him flinch, since he was backlit by the hall nightlight. He had the awkward sense that Eckhart had once again gained an unspoken advantage from his habit of surprise. Jesse collected whatever poise and balance he possessed at this hour and tried to sound unruffled.

“Good morning. I don't know quite how to address you.”

Eckhart stood by the farther of two windows, a black silhouette crowned by odd white hair made faintly visible by the glow of the sodium vapor streetlights illuminating the neighborhood.

“It is awkward, isn't it? And ironic.”

Any guard Jesse let down due to Emma’s assurances was fully restored. Eckhart sounded alert and…arrogant, the Eckhart he knew, calculating, cold, predatory, demanding the greatest caution and care. Jesse became fully wakeful, ready to defend himself.

'I'm not armed, Mr Kilmartin. You could go granite, and smash me with no trouble. I am very much at your mercy. When I was put in stasis, they troubled themselves to disarm me. Fortunately, they took little else. Careless of them.”

“I won’t lie to you. I'm not comfortable having you around.”

“No one ever is.”

Jesse wasn’t sure. Had he detected the faintest hint of regret?

“Do you have any family that could take you in?” Even as he asked the question, Jesse did not believe in it. He asked the question ritually, reflexively, something he would ask of a normal people with the expectation of a normal answer.

“My son is living in a dormitory, and not taking guests. He's a little younger than you.”

Jesse was momentarily confused. The possibility of Eckhart having a connection to another human being had never occurred to Jesse. Eckhart gave every impression of being other-than-human, a creature hatched or decanted or cobbled together like Frankenstein's monster in a subbasement of Genomex. For a man who dedicated himself to the containment and control of mutant anomalies, he himself presented a more anomalous appearance and demeanor than any of the Genomex mutants.

The impression was not accidental, but deliberately cultivated by Eckhart since he found it so effective in handling people.

The possibility that Eckhart had parents never crossed Jesse’s mind, and the data point that somehow, sometime he sired a son was no less than stunning, with all that implied.

Jesse seated himself in a chair by the nearer window. “I don't know what to do with you.”

Outside, the sky was now light, and the pale light clearly disclosed Eckhart's smirk, which made Jesse cringe inwardly. That smirk never meant anything good before.

“Would you feel any better if I admitted this conversation is no less difficult for me?”

Jesse shook his head. “I don't know quite what you mean.”

“I'm sorry. I'm not used to explaining myself to people. I'm not used to being with people. This is the first night in nearly eighteen years I've slept somewhere other than a sterile room or in my nearly sterile quarters at Genomex.”

From anyone else, Jesse would accept the statement as sincere. From this man, he did not know what to conclude.

“You don't expect me to trust you, do you?” Jesse asked.

“Given our history, no.”

“I want to know what you told Emma which convinced her. And I want you to know I find her change of heart hard to believe. “

“Your misgivings are perfectly reasonable. I would be surprised if you did consider the possibility that I tampered with Ms deLauro. She 'read' my memories of Adam. In that sense, there was nothing told, because nothing was selected or edited. She now knows the truth of Adam to the limits of my memories and rationality. If she’s wrong, it can only be if I have lied to myself about nearly everything. Don't you believe her?”

“I don't want her hurt or used.”

“I did not ask her to release me from stasis. I did not even know what she was doing. My first thought was that she was cutting power to the unit, killing me. I have no plans of hurting or using Ms deLauro. I owe too much to her.”

Gratitude? From Eckhart? To one of us?

“Tell me about Adam. Emma insisted I must hear what you have to say about him. You hate him, don't you?”

“Yes. With every damaged cell in my body.”

Eckhart’s vehemence surprised even Jesse.

“You were friends.”

“For a long while.”

“What happened?”

“Adam is not what he seems. He is to everyone what he believes he must be to gain his greatest utility and advantage. Has he told you how sick all of you are, or that your sickness can only worsen over time?”

“We had to discover that for ourselves.”

“I’m not surprised. Breedlove created the first mutant by himself at the end of the 1960s. Gabriel Ashlocke was a disaster. Breedlove had the good sense to replicated this work with great caution, and greater success in the next ten years, creating a relative handful of mutants. These are the individuals who are the parents of grown or nearly grown children today.”

“The work goes back that far?”

“It does. Adam joined the company in 1978. Shortly afterward, despite the problems Breedlove’s mutants were already displaying, the creation of mutants accelerated.”

“I came in late to Genomex in the mid 1980s, but from what I saw, Breedlove and Adam fed each other's ambitions. They pushed each other's work into areas research groups elsewhere would not explore because of ethical constraints.

After more disastrous mutants were created in the early 1980s, one would think they would stop their work, but they did not. Adam pushed for additional experimentation on humans. They continued on and officially created over one thousand of you, lying to your parents about the nature of the experiments, making the thousandth mutant no healthier than the twentieth. I consider that criminal.”

“It is, if it's true.”

“I did say “officially” create. Breedlove’s medical empire extended well beyond Genomex. I suspect there may be thousands more mutants. The ‘Children of Genomex may be only a fraction of the whole.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“Except for brief excursions, the Genomex complex has been the entire scope of my world since the accident. Nights I explored every office, every lab, every broom closet, every tunnel, and every archive. I found the original consent forms signed by the parents of the children of Genomex. The forms changed slightly over the years, but none of them reflected the drastic or random character of the experimentation being done, even though it was known to Breedlove and Adam, well before I joined the company. Adam even drafted the language in these forms. I found his notes and signatures on forms sent to printers.”

“Can you show me these forms?” Jesse asked.

“The building which housed them was gutted in a fire.”

“Convenient.” Jesse made no attempt to hide his sarcasm.

“But the hardbound notebooks used to document this unholy work were all microfilmed, as were the volumes of computer generated data. The microfilm archives are maintained in a unused salt mine sitting partly under Lake Erie, where they will kept anywhere from fifty to one hundred years. They aren’t going anywhere. A number of corporations keep records there.”

“How would anyone ever retrieve something like that?”

“A private company operates storage in the salt mine. I have the account number written on a card sewn into my clothes. I have access anytime I desire with that account

number.”

“Useful. You thought ahead.”

“Knowledge really is power, Mr Kilmartin. The interesting thing about Adam is that there is so little information about him. I commissioned three separate, independent agencies to investigate Adam.

Before he turns up in college, Adam does not seem to exist. He does not seem to have been born anywhere or to have attended school anywhere. Adam simply presents himself one day to begin college, a precocious adolescent. These agencies produced three reports which are utterly dissimilar and cannot all be true. One even indicated that Adam is not human, but created, an android. In all the time you've known Adam, how much has he told you about his life before college?”

Jesse reflected for a moment. “I can't recall anything.”

“That's more than a little peculiar, don't you think?”

Jesse nodded his head in agreement, then said, “But what do we know about you?”

“My life is traceable in public records back to my birth. That information may still be replicated at Genomex.”

“What else do you want me to know about Adam?”

“Has he told you that he invented the subdermal governors and the stasis pods?”

“Yes, but he took his time getting around to it. What do you believe Adam is trying to do? If you know, why don't you tell me?”

“Adam’s ultimate intentions are as obscure as his origin. I'm certain he's using Mutant X to achieve his goals. Haven't you ever wondered why he did not recruit individuals who already had technical training, who could be of great assistance to him? I was able to find and recruit such people, not by the ones and twos but by the dozen. We had the same list. Instead, Adam gathered people with an emotional dependence upon him, or people who lacked connections elsewhere. Or a thug like Brennan, wanted by several police departments, who would be motivated to stay in Adam’s good graces for protection.”

Jesse had wondered about Adam’s selection of team members, especially as he became acquainted with more of the mutant underground, which did not lack for intelligent, skilled people. Yet Adam had not recruited from their ranks but selected individuals personally loyal to Adam, as opposed to those having loyalty to a cause. Jesse was perturbed by Adam’s expectation of unquestioning compliance with his wishes, much like the leader of a cult. Jesse was uncomfortable with the demand to do things he did not understand.

The sun was just up past distant rooftops, and Jesse’s face was clearly visible. Eckhart watched him carefully.

“I can see that this has troubled you. Good. If you have begun to doubt, you have commenced thinking. Adam would have you believe he gathered you all out of the goodness of his heart. Do not be fooled, and do not allow him to steal anything dear to you.”

Eckhart's eyes flicked briefly from Jesse to the hallway and bedroom where Emma still slept. The gesture was so quick and subtle that Jesse did not process the implied warning immediately, and once the moment passed, he felt awkward going back and confirming Eckhart's meaning.

Emma? Does he mean Emma? What else could he have meant? And why is he warning me? Why does he bother?

“As to the problem of what to do with me, I have a solution, but I have no intention of activating it without your knowledge and coordination. I owe Ms deLauro my life. My sense of honor–-whether you believe I have such does not matter to me—demands my protection of her, and you.”

Jesse was confused. Putting together Eckhart’s apparently contradictory fragments was difficult business, and he could not be sure what he thought of the man. The only certainty was that he was far more complicated than Jesse ever imagined.

“What do you have in mind?”

“I have superiors in Washington. No doubt they have been looking for me since I was put in stasis. There is a transponder tucked away underneath my skin, but by now, if it is still active, the signal is weak. The storage room prevented the signal from getting out, or an armed party would have been there inside of twenty-four hours when no one heard from me.”

“I had no idea.”

A whole other dimension to the GSA that none of us ever considered. Adam must have known. Was he keeping us focused on hating Eckhart?

“Surely you did not think I acted independently? I suppose you did…I need to send email or contact these people by phone. They will be wherever I want to meet them inside of two hours. I need to be careful of how I contact them, because if their priorities or leadership have changed in the past months I am not sure I will be able to protect you.”

“Good Morning,” Emma said, wrapped in a pink bathrobe and wearing a pair of pink bunny slippers. “I’m glad to see you strong enough to stand.” She entered the living room and sat down on the floor beside Jesse’s chair.

“I’m feeling much better, Ms DeLauro, and thinking with much greater clarity.”

“Eckhart tells me he has superiors in Washington who will be very curious about what has become of him.”

Emma seemed surprised. “Superiors?”

“Of course. The GSA is –or was— part of the federal government. I’ve had a chance to examine my pockets and the inner linings of my clothes to see what remained safely with me. My captors were sloppy; all they did was disarm me. I still have every critical account number, every critical phone number, every critical email address I need. They even left behind cash, a personal bank card, and an ATM card. Just the right email or coded phone call, and I can summon a small. . . army inside of two hours.”

“A small army?” Emma asked, stunned.

“An elite force, highly trained and equipped with an array of technical capabilities. The Genomex site is miserably vulnerable and difficult to defend. It sprawls over acres, and has too many points of access. I encouraged Breedlove to relocate years ago, but he liked being able to look out over the water. They will retake Genomex, probably using the plan I developed myself.”

“You?”

“My time at West Point put to good use.” Eckhart watched their reactions, smiling slightly. “Did you think I graduated from Satan’s Academy for Archfiends? You seem so surprised to learn anything positive about me. You probably imagine I amuse myself by tormenting kittens and puppies.”

“No,” Jesse protested weakly, but he had in fact wondered what Eckhart found amusing, if anything.

“It doesn’t matter,” Eckhart said.

“To me it does,” Emma said. “Who are these people in Washington?”

“A coalition of several federal agencies, allied with a multinational agency. Between them, they have broad enforcement mandates. I want to initiate their arrival properly. If I can first talk to the woman who coordinates this group, I will be able to convince her to give you considerable protections from Adam, but if something has happened to her, then I can promise nothing, and want neither of you traceable to the phone call.”

“Why would we need protection?” Emma asked.

“From Adam. If you choose to break with him, and live free of him, I can offer some assistance, but staying free of him will not be easy. He will not be pleased with you. Have you ever seen Adam truly angry?”

“No.”

“Adam is accustomed to getting his way. He can be highly emotional, explosively so. When you return to Sanctuary, take great care with what you do and say around him. Any hint of contact with me will elicit strong suspicions and accusations of long-term duplicity.”

“What about hiding from you?” Jesse asked.

Anyone else would have displayed anger. Emma watched Eckhart, and saw only a dim flicker pass through the shaded eyes. She decided he knew exactly how people perceived him.

“On my honor –which I know does not mean anything to you— if you and Ms deLauro wish to go your own way, I will make no attempt to follow, and no one will know her part in releasing me from stasis.”

“How will you explain your release?” Jesse asked.

“If I must, I’ll lie.”

Jesse turned towards Emma. “With that interesting comment, if half of what he says is true, we have a lot to learn about Adam.”

“Whatever he says, he believes in the truth of it. Jesse, I think it’s time for us to break with Adam,” Emma said.

“Can you really see yourself doing that? What other home have you had?”

“I cannot comfortably serve with Adam any longer. I think you need to get away from him more than I do.”

“Meaning?”

“Because you were part of Mutant X before Brennan. Because you have technical capabilities Brennan will never acquire because he lacks the discipline and the smarts to learn them. Just the same, he’s somehow Adam’s favorite. I know that grates on your nerves. Watching it grates on mine.”

“Adam favors a marginally literate street thug over you?” Eckhart asked, astonished.

Anger in her voice, Emma answered for him. “Yes, he does, even if Jesse won’t admit it. Adam takes Jesse for granted. Good old reliable Jesse. Adam assumes Jesse’s technical expertise will always be available to him, on demand.”

“That must be infuriating. But I’ve seen Adam make odd choices before. Perhaps in Brennan Mulwray, Adam resonates with a kindred criminal personality.” Eckhart smirked, pleased with himself.

Jesse was not pleased with Emma’s phrasing, but wasn’t going to say anything with Eckhart standing there. He looked to Eckhart. “What do you have to say about our breaking with Adam?”

“I know what I would do in your position, but your lives are your own. The decision is yours, not mine.”

Emma spoke. “My intention is to return one last time to Sanctuary. There are a few irreplaceable things I have not yet carried out of there.”

“Do you have another place to live?” Eckhart asked.

“We’re not going to tell you where we’ll be going,” Jesse said sharply.

“Jesse…” Emma chided.

“I wasn’t asking the where, Mr Kilmartin. I don’t want to know the where. I was asking the whether.”

“This furniture is rented junk. All we really have to move are the hard drives and a suitcase or two of personal items.”

“Wise.”

The sun was fully risen now; the colors of sunrise faded from the sky. Eckhart left the window and returned to the sofa.

“I will call April from a pay phone…that would be safest for everyone.”

“You’re going to stand out in this neighborhood. Jesse, let him borrow a long coat of yours. Nobody wears suits in this neighborhood. I’m going to get dressed and drive Eckhart to a phone.”

“I’ll start pulling hard drives.”

Emma drove Eckhart to a drive-up pay phone. But before pulling in beside the phone, she said, “ I thought you’d be angry with Jesse. He does not trust you.”

“He has no reason to trust me, and an extensive history justifying his suspicions. I would be no less suspicious in his position. He is concerned about you, and is quite protective. I believe he thinks I have done something to you.”

“He does, although the reverse is much more likely.”

“You have capabilities and talents in reserve, don’t you?” Eckhart said.

“Are you guessing or do you know?”

“A little of both. Of all of Adam’s people, I always believed you were the most dangerous. I do not want to be on the receiving end of those talents.”

Emma laughed. “Adam has no idea I’m holding back. You’re more observant than he is.”

“Of course. My survival is rooted in my ability to observe people and events with great care.”

“I expected you to blow up at Jesse several times. I don’t have that kind of patience with him.”

“A display of emotion would not have changed his mind. Showing anger would have only antagonized Mr Kilmartin, and I do not want that. I want him on my side. I learned a long while ago too to pick my battles.”

“I wish I could do that,” Emma said. “I just react to whatever people say.”

“You can learn.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Ms deLauro, you are intelligent and insightful. Don’t underestimate you capabilities.” He hesitated for a moment. “If I can talk to April, I am confident she will help you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hiding from Adam will be nearly impossible given the way so much of what we do is tracked electronically. You’ve seen Adam tap into all manner of supposedly private records. He’ll savage you once he smells betrayal. Consider what he did to me when I became inconvenient.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“April and I go way back. She trusts my judgment. If I want to hire you and Mr Kilmartin, she’ll bless it. Consider the possibilities. No running. A relatively normal life without looking over your shoulder.”

“Shalimar is still a friend.”

“I will not ask you to turn on a friend. What shall I tell April? To expect the two of you on this foray?”

Emma hesitated. “What if I cannot convince Jesse?”

“I won’t mention names. If you’re not there when I meet April, I’ll say plans changed. She’s been in this business a lot longer than I have. She knows better than to ask after information not offered.”

Emma pulled the car up the last few feet to the phone.

Eckhart removed a business card secreted inside the lining of his jacket, and began punching numbers after dropping in the correct coinage.

“Good Morning, April. I hope I did not wake you.”

Emma watched, fascinated. Eckhart actually smiled when he talked to this woman.

“Yes, this is Mason. Back from the dead. Again.”

“The messages you’ve been getting were frauds, probably concocted by Dr Harrison. I’ve been in one of my own stasis pods for months.”

“What I need from you now? A few dozen of your finest to take back Genomex from the bad guys.”

“And one more thing: blanket protection for two people, no names, no questions asked.”

“Very good. I will be there.”

Eckhart hung up the phone. “We dare not dawdle. April is always on time or early.”

“What did she say?”

“I’m getting everything I wanted, and probably more. If you are going to convince Mr Kilmartin, you must get back and do so. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Ninety five minutes later, Mason Eckhart, Emma, and Jesse stood beside their parked car at the edge of a general aviation airport, a few dozen yards from the two story cinderblock structure serving as its tower.

Facing into the east –-away from the prevailing wind— Eckhart searched the mid-morning sky for signs.

“I hope we’re not doing something foolish, Emma,” Jesse said.

“You still can get in your car and go, Mr Kilmartin. “You’re not my prisoner, and not compelled to remain here with me.”

“I don’t want to become your prisoner, either.”

“I only want the two of you with me willingly, freely.” Eckhart turned about and faced Emma. “Ms deLauro, do you sense any menace, malice, or deception on my part directed towards you or the justifiably cautious Mr Kilmartin?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Visions of ill-intent?”

“Not towards us…but towards a fellow at Genomex. Dr Harrison. I wouldn’t want to be Dr Harrison.”

“The man who betrayed me. Dr Harrison. He is thoroughly deserving of my bad intentions. I should have taken care of him when I first noted him undermining and challenging my authority.” He turned to Jesse. “Try to believe.”

“I’m convinced Adam cannot be trusted. You have to earn my trust.”

“Fair enough.” Eckhart returned to scanning the skies. “There.” He pointed to a bright light low in the heavens, hard to see against the blue sky.

“These people of yours are on time.”

“Punctuality is one of April’s great virtues. She has many admirable qualities. She is an old Cold Warrior.”

The bright light resolved into a pair of brilliant landing lights. Behind them, a fainter light emerged, then another. By the time the first Gulfstream 4 reached the taxiway to the tower/terminal, another was visibly descending, a whole constellation of landing lights low in the eastern sky.

“This is from one phone call?” Jesse asked.

“One phone call to just the right person,” Eckhart said, walking through the open gateway onto the pavement, the better to be seen by the crew of the first Gulfstream. He turned and waved Emma and Jesse to join him. They followed slowly.

The Gulfstream carried no markings save for its number and an American flag on its tail. The crew taxied up to within a few yards of the chain link fence, then shut down the whining engines, with the sound of the second identical jet screaming down the runway, applying reverse thrust for braking.

The door of the first plane opened, and a red-haired woman emerged, dressed in black and teal. She carried a steel case, and held a leather portfolio under one arm. She sprinted towards them.

Emma and Jesse had only seen her like in movies. The teal portion of her clothing was clearly Kevlar body armor. She wore a headset radio an automatic and a teal baseball cap with the front embroidered with a row of bright feathers with “Chief” written beneath. She was not a young woman, though she carried her years lightly, with dignity, style, and no small amount of mischief in her eyes. Dark auburn hair was pulled back from her face in a ponytail.

Behind her, the balance of the passengers of her plane unloaded weapons and gear.

“I rode as fast as I could, Mason. The cavalry is here.” April smiled, a smile full of intelligence, humor, and hell-raising.

“This is impressive. Thank you, April.”

April broke eye contact long enough to inspect Emma and Jesse. Emma was certain she was recognized.

The GSA must have photos of us.

“I thought I’d lost you. Routine confirmations kept coming in daily and my subordinates did not question them, until they ceased about twelve days ago. When I reviewed them, I knew none of them were from you. Are you still wearing your transponder?”

“Yes. I would have noted the surgery required to remove it.”

“We could not detect it up even when we were over the numbers.”

“The batteries must have failed a long time ago. I was. . . stored in a room preventing any transmission from getting out. Before proceeding, these are the people whom I request you protect as you would me.”

April once again inspected Emma and Jesse. “Done.”

“This is April Dancer, one of my superiors, and dead-shot.” He turned back towards April. “Teal Kevlar, April? How did you find such a thing?”

“I had ‘em custom made for my entire team. Bad guys never wear teal.” She smiled. “My lieutenant should be bringing along one for you. I’m sure the same outfit would gladly do black pinstripe for you, if you wished. Oh, I brought you presents.” She held up the steel case, and tapped on it. “A special feast, just for you, some blood, bio-polymer to last for a few days, and some other little treats, all for you. And a medical team to put it to best use, too.”

“Thank you, April.” Eckhart sounded as civil and sincere as Emma could recall.

“How long since you’ve eaten anything?” April asked.

“Months. Late spring.”

“I was afraid of that.”

She set down the case on the pavement and opened it. “The first course of dinner is served.” She handed Eckhart an opaque plastic tube of about 100 milliliters in volume. “Simple sugars, vitamins, electrolytes, essential amino acids, and I’m told it tastes good, but I cannot vouch for that. Don’t let the stubborn streak of formality in your soul stop you from eating in front of us.” She returned to the case, and pulled a headset radio still wrapped in plastic from a pocket, and handed it to Eckhart. “These batteries work. We’re on Channel C-8.”

Eckhart put on the headset, and adjusted the earpiece and microphone. “Very thoughtful.” He commenced consuming the semi-liquid contents.

“Details matter.”

“Events turn upon attention to detail,” Eckhart added.

April opened the portfolio, shouting over the din of jet engines as the Gulfstream fleet assembled along the fence line and armed men in teal Kevlar gathered behind her.

Emma and Jesse, more than a little awed by events, kept silent and watched.

“This is the plan you drew up for an assault on Genomex, should that ever be required. This is your most recent update from seven months ago. Everyone has studied a copy of it. Do you know of any changes to the facility? Anything to invalidate the plan?”

Eckhart shook his head. “I have no way of knowing what kind of security is in place. My impression on the way out of the building was that things had become lax.”

“Perhaps someone has made our task easy.”

A tall Asian man came to stand beside April. “Ms Dancer.”

“Mr Morimoto, this is Mason Eckhart.”

Morimoto grinned, and handed Eckhart a set of teal body armor. Then he opened a second steel case on the pavement as Eckhart donned the armor.

“Your weapon, Ms Dancer,” Morimoto said.

“Thank you.”

“And yours, Mr Eckhart.”

“Thank you.”

The last of the eight Gulfstream 4s shut down engines beside the fence.

“The medical team is lagging about twenty-seven minutes behind us. They required more time to prepare. I wanted them capable of dealing with whatever condition we found you. Are you ready?”

“I am, but…” Eckhart was briefly puzzled.

“Fear not. The remounts should be along shortly.” Even before April completed her sentence, the sound of rotors intruded.

April stepped past Eckhart to Emma and Jesse. “The safest place for you is to go with us, but stay with the helicopter when we touch down. Do not leave it until you are told it is safe to do so.”

Jesse nodded mutely.

“They look like sweet kids, Mason,” April said.

“They can be.” Eckhart smirked, and made eye contact with Jesse, knowing he had heard the exchange.

“Will you tell me someday how they are involved with you, and all of this? I could make some guesses, but with you the fine points can be surprising.”

“Someday. It is a good story.”

The first of the helicopters roared into view.”

“Black helicopters, April?”

“Absolutely. I’m borrowing them from an agency I can’t even name, not even to you.”

“The conspiracy fans will be pleased. Details will be on the Internet in hours.”

“Using black helicopters insures that anyone observing this operation carefully and describing it with veracity will be dismissed as a conspiracy loon.”

“Brilliant. What about the neighborhood?”

“The local police have been told there is a chlorine release from Genomex.”

“Chlorine isn’t stored there, and never has been.”

“Doesn’t matter. The nearest houses have been evacuated and everybody else warned to stay indoors. The access streets have been blocked off. We’ll go in low over the water. I needed something frightening but plausible, something which the police would use to justify keeping away the TV trucks. This way, news coverage will consist of stock shots of videotape made years ago with the usual corporations-as-the-handmaidens-of-Satan and chemicals-are-evil story. Some regulatory agency will slam Genomex with a fine, but having a free hand here to operate is worth paying a fine and admitting to an environmental sin, don’t you agree?”

“Of course, April.”

A fleet of black helicopters dropped down out of the sky, assembling in a line behind April’s small army.

Concern crossed April’s face. “Mason, are you up to this or do you need to wait for the doctors.? You look like hell.”

“You are not going into Genomex without me. I can hold myself together a little longer.”

“As I thought. But I wanted to give you that option. Turn on your radio.”

“Ready.”

April switched on her set, turned to the proper channel, monitored now by the helicopter crews and the armed men and women behind her. The giddy look vanished from her face. She waved to Eckhart, Emma, and Jesse to follow her to the nearest helicopter, speaking into her microphone, “Mount up.”

The helicopters were quickly boarded, and took off together like a great flock of crows. They first turned south, and once over the water, descending as low as their pilots dared, a hundred yards out from the shoreline.

April put her hand over her microphone, and turned to Eckhart. “I brought the best I have, Mason.”

“Thank you.”

“How did they do this to you? No one steal a march on Mason Eckhart.”

“Ashlocke corrupted one of my GSA agents from stasis, and convinced her to release him. I was betrayed by Dr Harrison, who allied himself with Ashlocke.”

“Is Ashlocke still there?” April asked. “Even Breedlove and Adam were terrified of Ashlocke’s capabilities. Putting him in stasis was a mistake. Something more final should have been done.”

“No,” Emma answered for him. “Ashlocke’s dead. He was very ill.”

“That’s a relief. Adam was a fool for wanting to keep Ashlocke alive for ‘future study’. Future study! Hah, Adam’s ego knows no limits.”

“I’m told he attempted to save Ashlocke right to the end.”

“Foolish. I hate traitors,” April said. “Who was your agent?”

“Morgan Fortier.”

“I don’t remember much about her, but she wasn’t marginal. You had no reason to doubt her?”

“None.”

I will give priority to finding Morgan Fortier and Ken Harrison. Each sub-team has separate goals and objectives. They’ll land in different parts of Genomex. You and I are going through the front door.”

Eckhart nodded understanding.

Genomex came into view. April uncovered her microphone. “Strike hard. Strike home.”

The assault was anticlimactic. Ashlocke had disbanded the armed security force, believing he required no help from humans or mutants.

The receptionists at the front office were stunned to see their old boss come through the front door, armed, with a paramilitary force at his back.

Office workers were ordered from their desks and out onto the lakefront access road. Security cameras revealed no one else present save technical people, a reduced maintenance staff, cafeteria workers, and very few others. Everyone was taken from their work areas and gathered outside and forbidden to use their cell phones.

“Very quick. Very clean. I’m glad we did not have to flex any muscle.” April looked relieved. “I’m glad Ashlocke wasn’t here to welcome us.”

“There should be a great many more people here,” Eckhart said.

“Someone has probably done ‘housecleaning’. Some people likely did not care for the new regime, sent out their resumes, and moved on. In any case, I strongly advise you eliminate your old staff completely, and start over. I would include the kitchen staff right down to the guys who change out the fluorescent lights. You have no way of knowing how deeply rot has penetrated.”

“I will assume the worst. There are only two staff members I wish to retain.”

“Oh?”

“Laura Varady. Psychologist. She’s one of the longest-term employees, but I don’t see her here.”

“And the other?” April asked.

“Dr Rebekah Steyn. Chemist. She’s been here fifteen years.”

“The name is familiar,” April said. “There was an incident last spring with Adam invading the facility. Isn’t she the one who had to go to an emergency room?”

“Yes? She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Adam has personal issues with her. He turned Mulwray loose, and she was throw several yards by a ‘lightning bolt’. I don’t see Dr Steyn here, either.”

“Maybe we’ll still find them here, Mason. And if we don’t, we’ll find someone who does know where they are…and Fortier and Harrison as well.”

Another group of employees was herded onto the access road in front of the plant.

Emma and Jesse were escorted from their helicopter to Eckhart, chiefly to maintain their distinction from the Genomex employees.

He turned to them. “If either of you know of any sins or good works committed by any of these people, now is the time to tell me.”

“Straczynsky, is that the last of them?” April radioed to the agent leading the bewildered looking autoclave room workers.

“There is no one else left alive inside the complex. We have checked with thermal imaging, Ms Dancer.”

“Very good. Get this bunch in a line, and start them walking towards the cafeteria. Mr Eckhart is looking for two of his people.”

April turned to Eckhart. “While my guys are going that—Mason, I officially return Genomex to you.”

Emma and Jesse, standing nearby, scarcely believed what they saw next.

Eckhart bowed low from the waist, took up April’s right hand and lightly kissed it. “And I thank you , Lady-General Dancer.” He smiled, and released her hand.

April was deeply amused. “Mason, one of the things I’ve always liked about you is your ability to surprise.”

“I work at it.”

“You succeed. I’m leaving Morimoto with you, along with three dozen agents to form a temporary core of a resurgent GSA. I’ll help you all I can with rapid recruitment. An hour or so behind your medical team, I have a security crew which will change all the keycard modes, thumbprint settings, and iris scanners before dark. I don’t need to tell you to be careful.”

“No.”

“And, you’re going to have to craft a press release to sedate the media covering the ‘chlorine’ event and ‘layoff’ of workers. Perhaps two press releases. I have confidence in your ability to deflect media and public concerns away from real events.”

“I already have some ideas and weasel words in mind.”

“Good. Let’s inspect the staff, shall we?”

The employees were herded one direction while Eckhart and April slowly walked the other. Most of the employees had no idea what was happening, but the sight of Eckhart and the armed men distressed them all. The employees believed what they had been told about Eckhart taking an extended leave of absence, and his return in this fashion unveiled that lie. Some of the women –and a few of the men—were crying.

Eckhart knew most of them. “Some of these are good people, a handful the best in the world at what they do.”

April shook her head. “No doubt. But you have no way of knowing their loyalties. Get rid of them all, Mason. Provide a generous severance package and wish them well. Assist them in finding new employment, preferably in distant cities. You don’t need to be vindictive, but you must be thorough.”

“You are correct, of course.”

A small, dark-haired woman broke out of the line and ran towards Eckhart.

“Mr Eckhart.” She then lowered her voice. “I feared you were dead. They told us a story about your taking a leave of absence but I know better.”

“Who is this, Mason?” April asked.

“Dr Samihah Shah. Please, Dr Shah, continue.”

“I went to the hospital after she paged me from your office. She said Gabriel Ashlocke had done something to her, and that he had taken you. She was bleeding.”

“But where is she now?”

“I don’t know. I went back to the hospital the next day and she was gone. Her home phone was disconnected. I went to her condominium and found other people living there. Very bad things have happened.”

“April, Dr Shah is one of those people I was describing to you…the best in the world at what they do. On the strength of my word, could you get Dr Shah and her three sons out of the city tonight, and relocate her to a position worthy of her talent and loyalty?”

“Absolutely, Mason. Dr Shah, I’m going to have two of the biggest guys I’ve got escort you back to my helicopter. They’re actually well-mannered, decent men. Please look miserable so everyone who remembers will be convinced you’ve been arrested, or worse. I assure you, that is not the case. I will have you and your family in a safe place by sundown.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, Dr Shah,” Eckhart said.

“I could do no less. You’ve treated me well, and Rebekah was my friend.”

Two imposing men presented themselves to April. “Gentlemen, please escort Dr Shah to my helicopter. She deserves our special protection, but you must make it look as if she is being arrested. Put on a good show, but be gentle. Once you’re out of sight of the crowd, please help Dr Shah in any way she asks.”

The men nodded, and appeared to all but carry off the slightly made Dr Shah, who wore an appropriately dejected look.

“I’m going to have to return to Washington soon. Call me this evening and tell me what the doctors say. Is there anything else I need to do for you?”

“Yes,” Eckhart began. “I need you to take out the garbage.” Eckhart was focused upon someone in the moving line.

“Garbage?” April noted the look in Eckhart’s eyes.

“Dr Harrison.” Eckhart pointed out Dr Harrison in the line of workers.

April directed Morimoto to pull Dr Harrison out of the line. “Bring that one here to us.”

Morimoto dragged the less than willing Dr Harrison before April and Eckhart.

“You’ve bet on the wrong horse, Dr Harrison,” April said, purring.

“Where is Dr Varady?”

Dr Harrison smirked. “She had to be committed to an asylum. She began behaving quite oddly.”

“Mason, they probably fed her psychotropics. Get a team working on finding her and breaking her out.”

“Where’s Rebekah Steyn?” Eckhart demanded.

Dr Harrison smirked. “Ah, dear Rebekah. Gabriel was a little rough with her. I’m told she was hemorrhaging when the EMTs took her away.”

“What happened to her?”

“I don’t know. She never came back here. But Mason, aren’t you glad to see me?”

“You’ve taught me an important lesson, Dr Harrison, never to be lenient again.”

“Mr Morimoto, see that he is placed in restraints. He’s going back with us.”

“Don’t tell me what you do with him, just do something.”

“I will take the trash out for you. Which rubbish heap did you have in mind? ‘Take it out’ over the lake and leave dinner for the fishes?”

“I do not care. I never want to see Dr Harrison again.”

“Your wish, Mason, my pleasure.” April nodded to her agent.

“Please get Dr Harrison away from me, Mr Morimoto,” Eckhart said.

“What a miserable little toad of a man,” April said.

“You defame toads.”

Eckhart whispered to April, “No matter what you do with Harrison, alter the permanent records to show that he quit, so his heirs won’t receive payment under any circumstances.”

“Good idea.” April nodded. “I require a moment with Morimoto and Straczynsky.”

Eckhart stopped, and waited for Emma and Jesse to catch up with him. He removed his headset radio.

“We’ve managed a bloodless coup.” Eckhart looked pleased. “I don’t believe anyone suffered more than a bruise, or a loss of dignity.” He nodded in the direction of Dr Harrison, being led away by several of April’s agents.

“I’m impressed,” Emma said.

“This is only the beginning. I am going to rebuild the organization, with greater emphasis upon enforcement. I am offering you both positions here, as my assistants.”

“Why?” Jesse asked.

“Fair question. I do like your directness. Because, as odd as it might strike you, I like you both, and I trust you. You would be serving the best interests of your own kind as well, helping them avoid serving manipulators like Ashlocke and Adam, and help them live normal lives without fear.”

“I believe him, Jesse.”

“Thank you, Ms deLauro.”

“Are you going to kiss my hand?” Emma asked.

“Would you like me to?” Eckhart looked amused.

“Yes.”

“Mr Kilmartin, I shall not presume to act without your approval.”

“Go ahead.” Jesse shrugged, not wholly pleased, but at a loss to make any other response.

Eckhart bowed low to Emma, gently picked up her right had, and kissed it. “You have saved my life, and possibly the lives of uncounted millions. I thank you with all the sincerity in my heart..”

April watched it all. “Mason, your reversion to charm is a promising sign.”

Emma blushed. “No one’s ever kissed by hand before.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Eckhart turned to Jesse. “Mr Kilmartin, my offer was a serious one. I wanted you along on this foray so that you would know this struggle is not mine alone. I need a technical man who can be honest with me and not use weasel words.” He turned to Emma. “And I need a lieutenant who can ferret out future traitors. This is not make-work. This is important. No one, least of all me, will ever take either of you for granted here.”

“Would we wear governors?” Jesse asked.

“No. If you chose to leave my service, I would hope you would be civilized, and tell me.”

“I want to do it, Jesse.”

“Without governors, you will always be free to act and free to leave.”

Jesse shrugged. “I’ll try it. I’m not convinced. But we require one last trip to Sanctuary. We are late now. Adam will be curious what kept us. He will ask questions.”

“Be careful how you answer them, especially if he finds out what happened here today.” He turned towards April. “April, meet my new assistants.”

“Do they have names? I need names to issue paychecks.”

“Names to follow. Could one of your helicopters drop these good people at their car?”

“Of course. I need to leave now, and your doctors are probably waiting for a ride. I also need to get Dr Shah out of here and collect her kids.”

Eckhart stripped off the teal Kevlar, and handed it to April.

“You don’t want to keep this?” April asked. “I thought it looked good on you.”

“Not my color,” he laughed.

“You don’t have a color. You only wear black. Do you have a secure place to sleep tonight?”

“No one appears to have entered my quarters in all these months. That should be healthy enough. The air filters can be changed out tomorrow.”

“Good. Mason, take care of yourself, and don’t lose this place again. Give my doctors enough time for a thorough exam. You don’t want them to miss anything critical.”

“Thanks once more, April.”

Jesse spoke. “We’ll be back tomorrow, or even tonight.”

“Be wary of Adam. You cannot be careful enough.”

April handed Eckhart the steel suitcase. “Don’t lose this, either.”

Eckhart turned and entered Genomex by himself, and made his way to his office. His months-old access codes still operated; they would have to be changed.

The office was dark and silent. All the electronics were turned off. Eckhart turned up the lights, and brought all systems computers back online, returning everything to typical operation until the room was filled with a comforting, familiar electronic hum.

A thin layer of dust covered the desktop glass. Disgusted by the filth, he took care not to touch it, even with a gloved hand. He did not bother turning on his computer, assuming it to be trashed or corrupted. Instead, he sat down in his familiar chair, and searched for an envelope secured to opaque underside of the hydrofluoric acid-etched glass desktop…and found it. With that comforting discovery, he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment of stillness and quiet.

For a moment after Jesse turned off the ignition, he and Emma sat in the dark silence, making no move to leave the car. The only sound was of the wind in the pine trees and their own breathing.

“Telling one lie to people who trust you,” Jesse began, “is bad enough, but to deceive them so many ways makes me uncomfortable. I’ve never done anything like this. I’ve always tried to be direct and straightforward with people…and I like it when I get that back from them. That’s why I like computers.”

“We knew coming back here would not be easy. We knew we would have to deceive them. Let’s get it over with. Sitting here and thinking about things won’t get them done. We either go and lie to Adam, Shalimar, and Brennan, or we go inside and stay, and be the faithful followers of a man we don’t believe in anymore who has lied to us and deceived us all along.”

“Adam I don’t care about so much, but Shalimar’s going to be hurt when she knows what we’ve done, and didn’t trust her enough to confide in her.”

“We can’t take that chance. I think she’d run straight to Adam.”

“I think you’re right, Emma. I just wish you weren’t.”

“I know.”

Jesse sighed, and unlocked the car door.

The trunk was nearly filled with their personal belongings from the apartment. For the sake of appearances, Jesse carried in his suitcase, which in truth was nearly empty, as was Emma’s. He also carried a bag containing some of his computer and electronics purchases, items promised to Adam that he could easily abandon at Sanctuary. Emma carried the college catalogues and brochures, which she also intended to leave behind to lend credibility to the notion that she might return.

“What will we do if Adam figures out what we are doing?” Emma asked. “Any ideas?”

“He shouldn’t be able to do that, but he figures out all kinds of things he shouldn’t know. Sometimes, I think a lot of what he says is BS, but I don’t want to bother arguing with him.”

They entered Sanctuary, leaving their luggage and packages just inside the entrance. They followed the muted sound of conversation, finding Adam, Brennan, and Shalimar watching a recording of a news program.

Adam offered his best avuncular smile in greeting. Once upon a time, Emma had found that smile reassuring, a certainty in a world hurtling towards entropy. This time, however, she saw Adam for a moment through Mason Eckhart’s eyes, through the filter of the moment when he was certain of Adam’s betrayal. The memory was searing and sharp, and immeasurably sad since that betrayal led to losing his wife and children, and any hope of living an adult life compensating for an upbringing laden with loss and abandonment. Emma re-lived the moment almost as vividly as a personal memory.

Seen in this context, Emma found Adam’s smile mocking and insincere.

You are a fraud. Perhaps someday I will tell you I know exactly what you are and what you have done, but not tonight. Tonight, I will smile and be Sweet Emma. How do you live with yourself?

“Where have you two been?” Adam asked. “Have you listened to any news broadcasts?”

You’d like an hour-by-hour accounting of everything we did, wouldn’t you? Snoop. Emma struggled to contain her anger.

“We listened to music on the drive back,” Jesse replied.

“You missed a lot,” Shalimar said, smirking. “Guess what thawed out?”

Emma and Jesse mustered their best impressions of appearing unenlightened.

Jesse shrugged. “Tell me.”

Adam looked half-amused. “Somebody defrosted Eckhart. He’s back at Genomex.”

Brennan looked up from the copy of Sports Illustrated he was leafing through. “It’s all over the local news.”

“Eckhart? He always avoided cameras,” Jesse said. There weren’t any camera trucks there today.

“Well, no, not about Eckhart,” Adam began to explain. “The local news is full of the story about a ‘chlorine leak’ at Genomex. The problem is, chlorine gas was never kept at Genomex all the years I worked there and there is no reason that should change. Oh, somebody may have had a ‘lecture bottle’ sized cylinder for preparing solutions, but if one of those was emptied outside, that would not begin to justify evacuating the neighborhood. A few hundred people were chased from their homes to escape the peril of chlorine gas that doesn’t exist. Venting it outside where the tank sits shouldn’t be a problem.”

“What is stored there?” Jesse asked.

“Nitrogen. There is a huge tank two stories high. But nitrogen gas is inert; that’s why it’s useful. The hazard it presents is asphyxiation by displacing oxygen, mostly in enclosed places, indoors or in reaction vessels.”

“Adam thinks it’s all a lie,” Brennan said, smug as if he’d thought of it himself, smiling and proud. He unwrapped a Moon Pie as his reward.

“Don’t you believe there was an accident?” Emma asked.

“No,” Adam replied. “I believe something happened today at the Genomex site, but it didn’t involve a ruptured gas tank.”

“What does this have to do with Eckhart?” Jesse asked, wearing a convincing mask of puzzlement.

“He made a telephoned statement to the press about the ‘chlorine leak’. All the stations have been playing it for hours.” Adam rolled his eyes. “I think I have it memorized. Eckhart is a master of language. He put together exactly the perfect blend of concern, remorse, and promises of sinning no more to convince anyone he really gave a damn. If Eckhart thought blanketing the entire city with toxic levels of chlorine gas would stop mutants, he’d do it, and issue nearly the same press release as an explanation.”

“How can you be sure this wasn’t recorded months ago?” Emma asked.

“Well, I can’t. But why bother? No, the only explanation is that someone freed Eckhart from stasis, and in order to do so, they had to make certain no one saw what they were doing. The threat of a leak of chlorine cleared out the nearest neighbors and the local police sealed off access by the press. Very clever.”

Shalimar tossed her unkempt mane of shaggy blonde hair. “I can’t understand who would bother to thaw out Eckhart.” Her bare shoulders and midriff looked chilled. “Who would care about him?”

Adam laughed. “I doubt if the concern was personal, Shalimar. Don’t forget that the GSA was part of American intelligence. The defrosting wasn’t about freeing Mason Eckhart; this was about recovering lost turf. I was impressed with how sincere he sounded. He’s one of the most convincing liars I have ever known. Now I think I know how effective his company pep talk following Breedlove’s murder must have been, based on what I heard today and descriptions of the ‘pep rally’ from insiders.” Adam smiled smugly.

Jesse’s heart turned icy and leaden. Of course. After all the years Adam worked at Genomex, there would be people who could provide back channel details only an employee would know. Perhaps…someone there today recognized Emma or me or both of us, and Adam will know we were somehow associated with the retaking of Genomex. We could be one email or phone call away from disaster. We’ve got to get out of here.

“So, if Eckhart’s back, what does this mean for all of us?” Emma asked.

Jesse was impressed with the poise and collected calm Emma had schooled into her voice, knowing she must understand the implications of Adam’s statement.

“The hunt begins all over again. Eckhart won’t stop his fanatical campaign against mutants until he dies. His hatred of mutants and me is all that keeps him alive. What a hollow little man. He’s obsessed. He’s probably insane.” Adam spoke with utter conviction.

“I’ve never understood why he hates us so much.” Emma sounded perfectly, thoroughly sincere. “What did mutants ever do to Eckhart?”

Careful, Emma. Pile it too high and deep, and there could be trouble. Adam knows us too well. We’ve spoken freely and honestly to him all this time.

Adam shrugged. “Eckhart is one of those sad little people who don’t want anything to change, even if it’s a change for the better.” Adam sounded condescending. “And he hates me.” Days before, Emma and Jesse would have believed it all.

I don’t believe you, Adam. And I know you know better.

Emma wore a mild smile even as she damned Adam silently.

“I feel sorry for Eckhart,” Emma said, and meant it, though not for the reasons Adam assumed.

“Don’t waste thought on Mason Eckhart,” Adam said. “He’s not worth anyone’s time.”

“I don’t want to waste any more time talking about Eckhart. I want to see what you bought.” Shalimar said, grinning.

“I didn’t do any shopping,” Emma replied, shaking her head.

“No shopping?” Shalimar was stunned.

“I was too busy looking at schools.” Emma sounded earnest.

“Poor girl. A trip out into the world with no shopping!”

Adam smiled at Shalimar, then crossed the floor to stand beside Emma.

“Emma, you can go ahead with this plan of yours to take formal courses, but the truth is I could direct you in just about any area of study on an informal basis that would be more focused and challenging than anything offered by the local colleges.”

Months before, Emma would have reacted to Adam’s tone as warm and concerned, but now she instead heard condescension, and arrogance in the way he believed himself superior in fields far removed from his expertise and specialty, and what he thought Emma would find challenging.

Adam kissed the top of Emma’s head.

Emma exerted every possible aspect of self control she possessed not to flinch at Adam’s unsought and unwelcome touch, and not to wield an emotional flare at him in response. She hoped that Shalimar was not watching too closely; just as animals could sometimes see past deceptions that would fool humans, Shalimar might just discern something about Emma which was not right, which was just wrong.

Shalimar bounced up from where she was sitting, wearing her trying-too-hard smile and stalked over towards Emma and Jesse.

“I just can’t believe you didn’t do any shopping.”

Jesse was livid over the kiss. He had forgotten himself, displaying his displeasure openly. Shalimar’s silly comment dragged him back to the need for deception.

“I thought the idea of taking formal coursework was silly, too, Adam, but after I thought about it some more, I’m considering an actual degree in electrical engineering with specialty concentration in avionics.” Jesse managed his best I’m-earnest-but-harmless smile, except that he now felt anything but harmless.

Shalimar’s nostrils flared slightly; Emma recognized that she was carefully scenting them. Then Shalimar did something else: raising her upper lip, she took in the volatiles wafting off of Jesse and Emma, flehming as some animals could when using her vomeronasal organ.

Emma and Adam were the only people who knew she possessed this unhuman sensory capability. Emma knew if she noticed what Shalimar was doing, Adam would as well.

“Jesse, whatever you want to know about avionics, I can teach you.”

Adam was smiling, but Jesse could hear the edge in Adam’s voice and knew he had succeeded in annoying him. From Adam’s consternation at the uncommon experience of being questioned, Jesse knew Adam had a long night of indigestion stretching before him, and he was pleased with himself for being the cause of Adam’s discomfort. Jesse wished he could do more to distress Adam.

Brennan closed his copy of Sports Illustrated and tossed it aside. “Avionics?”

“The electronics, Brennan,” Jesse said casually. “In an aircraft.”

Jesse watched Adam’s face as it more and more reflected the turmoil in his stomach.

Paybacks are hell.

“Brennan, do you have plans for the balance of the evening?” Adam asked.

“Me? No.”

“Would you go out to the twenty-four hour drugstore and get me a few packs of antacids? I feel a long night coming on.”

“Oh. Sure.” Brennan shuffled out.

“Well,” Emma began, “I’m tired. I’m going to shower and turn in for the night.”

Shalimar was still smiling. “I just can’t believe you didn’t do any shopping. Not even a pair of shoes?”

“No…not even a pair of shoes.”

Emma did as she said, retreating to her quarters. Adam wandered off to his lab workshop to fill the time until Brennan returned with relief. Shalimar and Jesse were left alone.

“What are you two up to, Jesse? Emma’s scent is all over you.” Shalimar once again wore her trying-too-hard smile, this time with a sisterly interpretation.

“Shal, we’ve been in a closed car together for hours. What do you expect?” Jesse managed his best air of innocence.

“How long do you think you can fool Adam? He won’t be happy with you when he finds out. You know his rules.”

“And you should know how intrusive non-ferals find your talk about scent. It’s rude, and it reminds people of how you are different.” Jesse hated lying to Shalimar, so he chose to instead divert the conversation.

Shalimar was taken aback at Jesse’s objections, since he typically was so accepting of anything she said.

“Well…Jesse…I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. Don’t put such trust in your animal senses. I’m going to shower and turn in, too. It’s been a long day.”

Shalimar smiled her trying-too-hard smile once more. “Good night.”

She waited until she heard Jesse’s door close and then padded off towards Adam’s workshop, disturbed by what she had scented.

“Adam…can you talk?”

“Sure…anything to take my mind off my stomach sounds like a good idea. I hope Brennan doesn’t dawdle over the martial arts magazines.”

Shalimar closed the workshop door behind her. “There’s something funny going on with Emma and Jesse.”

“You noticed it, too. Uppity Jesse.” Adam looked disgusted, but he was actually in gastric distress.

“No, there’s more than that. They reek of each other’s scent.” Shalimar smirked.

“That’s interesting. I noticed you flehming.” Adam looked up from the pile of electronic junk he had been tinkering with. “I’ll have to have a talk with both of them tomorrow.”

“Well, there’s something more about Emma. I know how crazy this sounds but I swear I scented the faintest whiff of Eckhart about her.”

“Eckhart?”

“He doesn’t smell like anyone else. He’s very distinctive.”

“Well, it makes sense that he would be unique…the combination of his pre-digested diet, odd profile of gut flora surviving his antibiotics, and volatile monomers from the biopolymer skin…but it doesn’t make sense that our Emma would be anywhere near Eckhart. She loathes him. She always has. He’s given her good reasons to loathe him.”

“I’m as certain about this as I can be, Adam.”

“Between that and Eckhart’s reappearance today…too much coincidence. I don’t think this will keep until morning. Go and get Emma, Shalimar. I want to examine her and be certain that this is our Emma…and that she hasn’t been tampered with.”

“Are you sure? What am I supposed to tell her? She won’t be pleased. She’s been sort of touchy lately. Haven’t you noticed?”

“I have, but that’s too bad,” Adam said. “Tell her I insist. I’ll meet her in the examination room.”

Shalimar found Emma damp and dripping from her shower, all traces of others now washed down the drain.

“Adam wants to examine you, Emma.”

“He wants to do what? Tonight? Now? I’m exhausted. I have a headache.”

“I don’t think he’s going to take ‘no’, Emma. Just come along and get this over with.”

“I’m really not happy. This is more than a little intrusive.”

And I’m not happy about the way you allow Adam to order you about, although I’m sure it spares you the effort of thinking for yourself.

Emma wrapped her dripping red hair with a dry towel and put on her pink bunny slippers, then followed Shalimar to the examination room, protesting loudly enough to attract Jesse’s attention. He trailed along behind the two women, saying nothing but listening. Emma glanced back once to be certain he was following.

Adam smiled at Emma, an unconvincing smile superimposed over his indigestions.

Emma did not return his smile. “Adam, I am not happy about this. I am tired, crabby, and wet.”

Adam just kept smiling. “Take off the bathrobe, and get up into the examination chair.”

Emma crossed her arms. “No. I’m wet and if I take this off I’ll just have on my nightie and I’ll freeze.”

“Don’t argue with me, Emma.” Adam’s voice held the raw edge of a threat.

Jesse walked through the doorway. “Adam, why do you always examine the women half-naked but Brennan and I get to keep our clothes on?” Jesse did his best to appear harmless, to imply that the question was nowhere near as loaded with meaning and implications as it actually was.

Shalimar turned to face Jesse, stunned by the comment. She said nothing but years of being used by men marked her. Always she had excluded Adam from this class of users, but Jesse was sure he saw doubt flicker through her eyes.

Good. Even Shalimar can learn.

Emma climbed into the exam chair, bathrobe, pink bunny slippers and towel secured about her head.

“I’m not playing, Adam. Take it or leave it.”

“This isn’t a game, Emma.”

“No, it isn’t, Adam.”

Adam proceeded with the exam without further protest but he did not appear pleased, and he appeared even less pleased when the scan was complete. Emma was Emma, with no hint or suggestion of tampering.

“Well?” Emma challenged.

“Emma, I had to be sure that you were you.”

Emma did not turn her head but fixed her eyes upon Shalimar, and glowered at the feral, letting her know who she blamed for this late evening indignity.

“Are you satisfied?” Emma asked. ‘Can I leave now?” She was already sitting upright, legs swung over the edge.

“Yes.”

Emma slid down to the floor and stalked off to her room, bunny slippers slapping on the hard floor.

Jesse turned to leave.

“Jesse, what is going on here?” Adam asked.

“With what?” Jesse asked, all innocence.

“Emma.”

“I don’t know. PMS?” Jesse wore his highly useful look of earnest harmlessness. And Adam believed him, and thought no more about Jesse, who turned away and walked off to his room, amused with how easy it was to fool the supposed ‘smartest man in the world’. Marginalized and taken for granted, Jesse perfected the look of naïve innocence. If Adam was going to habitually underestimate him, Jesse was going to put Adam’s poor judgment to work against him.

Shalimar turned to Adam. “Well?”

“She’s perfectly normal. This is our Emma.”

“Well, maybe it’s PMS.”

Back in their rooms, Emma and Jesse selected and packed the last of their possessions to take with them from Sanctuary. Brennan eventually returned from the drugstore, with antacids and martial arts magazines.

Jesse stayed awake, stealth fully checking every hour until Adam finally stopped playing with his electronic junk and went to bed. Sanctuary fell silent. Emma was dressed and waiting when he knocked ever so softly, and only twice.

Very quietly, they left Sanctuary, making three trips to Jesse’s car, filling the back seat before finally leaving their old lives behind them forever.

They did not say anything until they had put the access road to Sanctuary behind them and had reached the highway.

Emma watched behind them, searching the darkness for the mindset of the hunter.

“No one followed us out of there, Jesse.”

“No one expected us to leave. Adam’s suspicious, but he thinks sweet little Emma and good old reliable Jesse will wake tomorrow in Sanctuary, and be prepared to be Adam’s puppets. He was probably going to sit us down and talk at us for a few hours, one of those endless Daddy Adam monologues.”

“Adam will throw a fit in the morning.”

“Good. Brennan will have to get him more antacids. Do you still want to return to Genomex?”

“Yes,” Emma said with certainty. “If he goes against his word, or tries to implant us with governors, I will have an unpleasant surprise for him.”

“I’m not convinced it’s the best thing, but you’ve been inside Eckhart’s head, so I will try this.”

They drove on through he darkness saying little more. They reached the gatehouse two hours before dawn.

April’s agents staffed the gatehouse, heavily armed, and looking haggard from lack of sleep.

Jesse left the car, and entered the guardhouse.

“We have no identification which you would recognize, but Mr Eckhart is expecting us.”

“We’ll have to check.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t expect you to do otherwise.”

A few minutes passed by. Jesse realized that at this hour, Eckhart might actually be asleep.

The agent hung up the phone. “Mr Eckhart recognizes your names and described you both perfectly well, but he wants two of us to follow you to the front entrance. Until he personally recognizes you, precautions are necessary.”

“I would expect him to be careful,” Jesse said.

“Don’t take it personally.”

“I’m not.”

“Good.”

Jesse returned to the car and waiting Emma.

“Well?”

“We’re going to meet Eckhart at the front entrance. Two of April’s agents are going to follow us just to be sure we’re really us.” Jesse re-buckled his seat belt.

“This doesn’t feel real to me yet,” Emma said. “Having our personal stuff crammed into this car, driving about in the middle of the night to a friendly meeting with Mason Eckhart…”

“This will take some getting used to. I wonder if Eckhart is surprised we came back?”

“I don’t think he believes anything he cannot see, touch, or otherwise be sure of.”

“That makes sense. Emma, don’t do anything these guys could interpret as going for a weapon or any kind of aggressive move. They’re armed as heavily as they were earlier, but now they’re tired and they aren’t thinking clearly.”

Jesse parked as close as he could to the front door. Jesse and Emma did not linger in the car, but stood outside it and waited for the agents to escort them inside.

Eckhart waited within, flanked by another pair of agents.

“These are the people I was expecting. Thank you.” With a nod, he dismissed the agents from the guardhouse.

“Good morning, Ms deLauro, Mr Kilmartin.” Eckhart’s tone was as inflexibly formal as either Jesse or Emma could recall. Safely returned to his familiar Genomex domain, he had shed some humanity, and reverted to his no-nonsense persona.

The agents who had flanked him returned to the reception area.

“What now?” Jesse asked.

“I assume you are accepting my offer?” Eckhart asked.

“Well, we’re here,” Jesse said.

“Jesse…yes, we do accept,” Emma said.

Emma discerned a fleeting look of amusement on Eckhart’s face.

“You’ll need these.” He pulled a pair of unlabeled keycards from a pocket and handed one to each. “They will open any Genomex door until 18.00 tonight –6 PM—but by then, you will be issued others. You have not been singled out for special treatment; mine isn’t good past that time, either.”

“Everything we own is sitting outside in my car,” Jesse said.

“The car and contents are safe here. In the short term, the very short term, I’ve set up living quarters for you and for April’s people on Genomex property. Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to live here. I’m going to lease space in nearby apartment buildings shortly, but of course, you may make any arrangements you please. Also for the short term, I’m going to have catered meals brought in to further simplify everyone’s life. They won’t be elegant, but no one’s been unhappy so far. Do either of you have any special dietary concerns, health or religious?”

“No.”

“Good. I did not think it wise to have people coming and going at all hours, not until I’m more sure of having control. Was there any problem in leaving Sanctuary?”

“Adam was suspicious,” Jesse said. “We don’t know why; we tried to figure it out on the drive here.”

“Shalimar sniffed around us. Something she scented sent her running to Adam. I hate it when she does that.”

“The why of it probably does not matter now. You’re here, you’re safe. But I suppose we should be watchful for Adam. Knowing him as I do, I expect him to come hunting for you both.”

“After everything that’s happened, it’s strange to think of Genomex as being safe,” Jesse said.

“Life is strange, Mr Kilmartin.”

Emma watched Eckhart carefully. The comment was addressed to Jesse, but she knew she’d need to explain to Jesse that Eckhart had said something significant and revelatory.

“What did April’s doctors say?” Emma asked.

She correctly anticipated he would be surprised by the question.

“All of the news is good. Stasis appears to have been a positive experience. Many of my personal…functions…effected some measure of repair or enhancement. This was unexpected. I may be able to dispense with blood transfusions, which I would gladly avoid. The risk of disease is so great for me.” Caught off guard, he had probably said more than he wished.

He isn’t used to anyone asking after his well-being. Does anyone but April give a damn about him?

“I would like to meet with you after lunch and begin some real work. In the meantime, if you could retrieve short-term luggage from your car, I can show you your temporary quarters.”

“I’ll get it,” Jesse said, turning and leaving Emma in the lobby with Eckhart.

“I am glad you’re both here,” Eckhart said, slightly but noticeably less formal.

What did it cost you to make that admission? Emma realized that Eckhart would never be able to be completely formal with her again. She knew too many personal details. She sensed that he felt somewhat vulnerable around her, but not quite to the degree of fear she detected the day before. And something else, tentative, not quite formed: he wanted to like her and Jesse as well.

“I’m glad we had a choice between running away from Adam and coming here.”

“Something happened, didn’t it?” Eckhart asked.

For someone who maintained such exquisitely careful and painstaking control of his own emotions, Eckhart was a skilled and thorough observer of other people. Emma was impressed.

“Shalimar. Shalimar scented something specific on me. Probably Jesse. Possibly you. Adam put me through a horrible exam last night. I’m not sure he believed I was truly myself.”

“Don’t worry about Adam. Adam isn’t here.”

No, Adam’s not here. And I am pleased with that. Adam is not here, and will never rule my life again. Adam is not here to tell me what to and what to think, who to like, and who to hate.

“Should Adam try to invade this place, I am prepared to make his visit short and uncomfortable. I’m fed up with Adam’s little invasions of Genomex. The last one involved Mulwray blasting an unarmed female PhD. I watched from a monitor in my office. When she didn’t move, I thought she was dead. That isn’t going to happen in the future.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m thinking of offering every employee the option of going about armed after thorough training.”

“A water pistol would be just as effective against Brennan,” Emma laughed.

“So it would.”

When the sun rose over Genomex and over Sanctuary, Adam woke early, turning over a technical matter in his mind. He knew Jesse would know more about it than he did, although Adam would never let Jesse know that.

Adam punched in the intercom code to Jesse’s room, and received no response.

Only the dead can sleep through an intrusion like that, he reflected. Can Jesse, innocent Jesse, be brazen enough to be spending the night with Emma, defying my rules?

Next, Adam entered the code for Emma’s room, not really knowing what he would say if she responded. Receiving no answer from her, Adam stomped out, almost breaking into a run.

He punched in the security override code for Jesse’s door, and swept into the room. Jesse’s bed was rumpled, but not slept in. Adam pulled open several drawers; he knew where Jesse kept sets of expensive precision tools. The tools were gone, and Adam knew that wherever the tools were, so too was Jesse.

Emma’s room was just as empty. Adam found her jewelry gone, and knew Emma was also gone for good.

At least, she’s gone until I can catch up with her and drag her back here. Until I haul them both back here. No one’s ever done this to me.

Adam stormed out of Emma’s room and pounded on Shalimar’s and then Brennan’s doors in succession. They poked their heads out, still looking sleepy.

“Council of war. Now.” Adam’s stomach was beginning to churn.

“What’s going on, Adam?” Shalimar asked. She was wearing a fluffy, shapeless pink bathrobe which was one of the few items of clothing which kept her comfortably warm enough in this chilly place.

“Emma and Jesse are gone. Jesse’s electronics tools are gone, and so is Emma’s jewelry. They’re gone. They’ve run away. I should have listened to you, Shalimar.”

“Where would they go?” Brennan asked. “Why would they go?”

“I think Eckhart got to them. I don’t know how, but I cannot imagine them just leaving. They’ve got to be at Genomex.”

“I know what I scented on her, Adam, but Emma hates Eckhart.” Shalimar felt hurt at the possibility of Jesse and Emma running off without a word to her, and annoyance at Adam making Mason Eckhart the root of all he did not like. Adam’s fixation upon Eckhart had left them unready and unprepared to deal with any other threat. They had merely been lucky that Gabriel Ashlocke died without doing much damage.

Adam did not calm down. “Well, it’s the only clue I’ve got unless one of you knows something useful I’m unaware of.”

Shalimar shook her head.

“Jesse hasn’t said anything to me,