Lightning Game (GhostWalkers 17)

“Whitney has no idea what you’re capable of. We do. We are not affiliated with him.”

“Yet you’re obviously enhanced both genetically and psychically.” She wasn’t going to beat around the bush. “As far as I know, only Whitney is experimenting on human beings, and he’s doing that covertly. So, where did you come from?”

Sean sighed. “We would like to break camp soon and get to our destination. You could come with us willingly, or we will have to drug you again and carry you.”

“I’m not about to trade one prison for another. You tell me what’s going on before I make that decision. Otherwise you’ll have to drug me, and when I’m awake, all bets are off.”

Little fiery taps beat in her head. She dug her fingers into her thigh to keep from following the beat. She knew that the last time, one of the guards had suddenly watched her fingers and she had to force herself to stop midmessage. It was an obsessive-compulsive habit she’d developed in isolation, counting out rhythms on her thighs. Now it helped her cope, but if any of the others felt that light tapping in their mind, they might associate it with the tapping on her thigh and know she was receiving or sending messages.

Rubin wanted her to slap her body loudly when she was bitten by a bug. Or at least make a big deal about it in some way. They were going to shoot a transmitter into her bloodstream, one that wouldn’t transmit in the normal way. It would be undetected and the energy in her body wouldn’t devour it. She was already at capacity with these men and she could tell they put off very little energy, the way Rubin and Diego did. They would suddenly have flares of violent energy that swarmed to her, and then just as suddenly they would dissipate, sometimes before they reached her.

“Who were the men helping?” Sean asked.

She blinked. “Does it matter?”

“They were … unexpected. Let’s just say no one thought we would have casualties.”

“Because you underestimated what someone on their own turf can do. They know the country and they’re good in the woods. The best.” She let her admiration show. It was genuine and he would recognize that.

“Again, who are they?”

“If I gave you that information, you’d have two of your soldiers round up someone they love and hold a gun to their head so they’ll leave you alone. You aren’t innocent, Sean. I overhead that some old man was killed just because you wanted to use his property. And then there’s kidnapping.”

“I’m sorry you had to hear that. Yes, some hard decisions are necessary for the protection of my men. I have to put them first. Just as we made the decision to acquire you. It was put to a vote, but ultimately, I had to agree and plan the mission. You are very good in the woods yourself.”

Again, Jonquille felt his respect for her. She pushed down the part where he had to make hard decisions. She didn’t want to think too much about what that meant to the people he decided to kill. “Where are you taking me if not to Whitney’s? More experiments?”

He looked genuinely shocked. “Is that what you think? No. Absolutely not. We need your help. You won’t be hurt. I give you my word as an officer in the Air Force.”

She tapped very gently, using the lightning sequence to give Rubin Sean’s name and rank in the Air Force. He appeared to think he was acting on active duty.

“Are you under orders?”

Sean looked around at the others and then slowly shook his head. “No, we took our leave at the same time and only have a short window to get this done.”

“If you would tell me, I might be able to determine whether or not I can help.”

“We know you can,” Sean said, his voice filled with conviction. “It’s a matter of whether you will agree to or not.”

“Why make it a huge mystery?” she challenged.

“Because we sound like we’re nutty if we talk about it. It’s easier to show you. I’m telling you we don’t want you hurt in any way. We aren’t going to use you for experiments. We aren’t going to turn you over to Whitney whether you help or not. He isn’t a part of this.”

“And the person who enhanced you?”

Sean rubbed his chest as if it ached. “Dr. Oliver Chandler was hired by Whitney to think up futuristic weapons. Believe me, he’s very good at it. Whitney and he were talking about harnessing lightning, and Whitney showed Chandler some of the experiments the doc had tried using you. Chandler was intrigued and began to obsess over developing a lightning weapon. At the same time, he noticed the soldiers Whitney surrounded himself with.”