“What?” Ariadne’s eyebrows arched up and she sat back in her chair, stunned.
Reed seemed to seethe with pent up energy in the corner, every word coming out as though he were about to explode. “They’re dead. The whole compound was destroyed.”
J.J. seemed to maintain a detached, ironic tone. “Did their government wipe them out? Because that’s not cool.”
“No,” Reed said, staring at J.J. in disbelief. “That would not be ‘cool’,” he said, mocking the techie. “But indicators do not point to the Indian government.”
“Omega?” I asked, and traded a look with Ariadne.
“Don’t know,” Reed said, “but it doesn’t sound like their game. I don’t know if you knew this, but about six months ago in China—”
“Right.” Ariadne seemed to awaken, leaning forward. “That Chinese government facility that was destroyed.”
“Taking three hundred plus metas along with it,” Reed agreed. “This hasn’t been a good year for the meta population. We’re down by nearly eight hundred in the last few months, and there were only about three thousand of us to begin with.”
“Why would you put all your metas in one place?” J.J. mused aloud. “I mean, it just seems like an invitation to get them wiped out.”
“No one thought we were in any danger of extermination until now,” Reed said with a little acrimony. “Our reports out of China were vague; there was even a hint it could have been the Chinese government behind the whole thing.” He blinked and turned his head toward the wall. “Doesn’t look like it now, though. Looks pretty much like an outside job.”
“So someone’s wiping out metas?” Ariadne asked, sitting back again. “I mean, if China was an isolated incident, you might be able to write it off as an isolated occurrence, but…” She looked at Reed. “How did you get this information?”
“I just talked with my superiors in Italy,” Reed said. “They were…hesitant to give me much over an open communication source like a cell phone, but…anyway, I got the basics and gave them an update.” He shook his head. “The good guys seem to be in a spiral here. Feels like we’re fighting blind. I sense they know something about the troubles you’re experiencing, but I’ll need to call from the secure line at my apartment to get the full updates.”
Ariadne stared at Reed. “Why don’t you go do that?”
Reed smiled. “Because my apartment is in Milwaukee.”
“Damn,” I said. “How the hell do you keep up with your HQ when you’re on the road?”
“Well,” he began, “we had cell phones that we thought were unbreakable – until about six months ago, when we caught an Omega spy in Florence who had a copy of our encryption protocol on him.”
“They’re starting to seem rather adept at this sort of penetration,” Ariadne said. “They’ve compromised us as well; Andromeda claims we have a traitor in our midst.”
Reed nodded. “Doesn’t surprise me. Omega is very slick, and they’ve got more than a few teeps on their side to deploy for these purposes.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, confused. “What’s a teep?”
“TP,” Ariadne said, drumming her fingernails on the desk. “Telepath. Mind readers. How many do they have?”
“No idea,” Reed said with a shrug. “No names, no certainty; just whispers, rumors that they use them for spying.”
“Oh wow,” J.J. said. “So we’ve got people walking around reading our minds?” He twitched. “Ah…can I have some time off until we get this resolved? I mean…I’ve got information that they really shouldn’t have, after all. I could work from home.”
I looked at him seriously. “Is it about your unhealthy relationship with your cat?”
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open, making him look even more ridiculous than his glasses and haircut already did. “How did you know about my cat?” He blinked. “Are you the mind reader?” He whimpered. “It was only the once, I swear.”
I let out an exhalation. “You’re covered in cat hair…” I looked at him in pity. “…and ew. Ew. A thousand times, ewww.”
Ariadne stared at J.J. as he wilted in his chair, then turned back to Reed. “Why don’t you let us fly you to Milwaukee? We could use your organization’s assistance and whatever information they have, if they’re willing to provide it.”
Reed considered her offer for about a second. “I’ll take you up on that. Flight time is a hell of a lot better than a six-hour drive each way. I’m sure they’ll be willing to render some help because I’ve been told to cooperate with you; it’s just a question of how much. I mean, it’s pretty obvious we’ve got some common enemies here.”
“Though they’re becoming more uncommon by the minute,” J.J. said.
“Nice,” I said with a glare. “Did you come up with that one all by yourself, Catman?”
“Go ahead, Reed,” Ariadne said, picking up her phone. “I’ll have a chopper spun up and ready to fly within the hour.” She looked to J.J. and then to me. “I think we’re done here, unless either of you has anything else to cover?”
“I’m good,” J.J. said. “But seriously, can I work from home?”
“No,” Ariadne said and started to dial numbers. “And Sienna?” She caught my gaze as I was standing. “Try and stay out of trouble,” she said as gently as she could manage.
I followed J.J. and Reed out the door, and watched techno-hipster make his way through the maze of cubicles. Parks and Bastian were engaged in a conversation, Clary lurking next to them, trying to act like he was involved in it as they both studiously ignored him. Eve stood behind them at a distance, coolly watching. When I emerged from the office she walked toward me. I locked eyes with her and she with me. The scarring on her head and face had faded since last I saw her, although she looked odd without hair. She made a move to shoulder check me out of the way so she could enter Ariadne’s office, but I evaded her with quick footwork and gave her a cold look in return. She let a cruel smile show, flashed at me along with a pointed finger that she proceeded to wag. “What do you want us to do with this one?” she asked Ariadne, and kept her finger aimed at me.
“Leave her be,” Ariadne said. “Can you come in and shut the door?”
“You want us to come in, too?” Clary called from his place next to Parks and Bastian, craning his head and leaning to look in the open door of Ariadne’s office. Bastian shook his head, eyes closed, and Parks let out a sigh. Clary didn’t notice. Eve, for her part, remained still, back against the doorframe.
“No,” Ariadne said. “I just need to talk to Eve.”
She walked into Ariadne’s office and shut the door behind her. “What?” Clary said, responding to something either Parks or Bastian had said that I didn’t hear. “Ohhhh.” The big man nodded, and a wide smile crept over his face. “Right.”
“What the hell is wrong with that guy?” Reed asked me as I followed him toward the elevator bank. He tossed his thumb over his shoulder toward Clary with a perplexed-bordering-on-irritated look on his face.
“A lot,” I said, not looking back. “What do you think of this India thing?”
“I’m fine, by the way,” Reed said, pushing the button for the elevator. “In case you were wondering.”
I looked him up and down. “You seem to be doing better than me, that’s for sure. Very slick.” I held up my hands. “No need to get all snooty; if there’s one of us standing here that looks like they’re not doing well, I don’t think it’s you.” I waved my hand up and down to encompass him from head to foot.
He cracked a smile. “You’re tough. I’m sure you’ve faced worse.”
I let out a breath. “Doesn’t feel like it today. Today makes me wish I’d taken you up on that offer to visit your employer.” He started to say something but I waved him off. “Don’t say it. I’m not that serious about it.”
“So what happened?” The elevator dinged and he indicated I should go first. The mirrored back wall of the elevator gave me a look at myself. I was smudged with dirt from top to bottom, my nose had blood underneath it, and there were a few scrapes visible on my face that I hadn’t realized were there. Nothing too deep, but enough that blood was visible beneath them. They’d all be gone by morning.