THE FIRST INTIMATION that they may be in for a rocky ride came later that night, when Harvey and Downey led them—at Alien’s behest—to the quarters where they would sleep while they were staying in Raw. The baron had assumed they would stay with an open-ended invitation that could be construed as either friendly or a threat: there was a possibility that he had no intention of letting them leave.
Once they were alone in the comfortable quarters, they discussed what they had seen. Krysty’s feeling that she had encountered another mutie with seeing power was echoed by the unease felt by both Doc and Mildred. And when Dean told them of what he had seen at the furnace, Mildred was quick to add this to the way Jenna had dismissively talked of her as a black.
It seemed certain that the real problem would be Jenna rather than Alien. How much did the baron’s wife sway him, and how much of the loyalty of the sec force belonged to her rather than her husband?
“If there is old tech from the whitecoats, and she has her hands on it, then I shudder to think…” Doc mused, shaking his head and causing his mane of white hair to cloud his features.
“Play along for now, find out the real score, then get the hell out,” J.B. said, polishing his spectacles.
“It’s the only way,” Ryan agreed. “Besides, I don’t see as we have other options at the moment. Until we know the layout here, we can’t break for it. And they’re not putting us under immediate danger. If they felt like that, then we would have bought the farm by now.”
“That woman, though…” Krysty shuddered.
Jak was pacing the floor. “Closed in. Feel like in trap here. Nowhere run.”
Ryan agreed. “But that’s why we need to bide our time. Mebbe scout around.”
“Mebbe,” the albino whispered.
ALTHOUGH THERE WAS no differentiation between day and night this far below ground, there did appear to be some consensus on what constituted day and night, as it wasn’t too long before the tunnels and basements that comprised the ville subsided into a silence broken only by the insomniac, and those whose tasks kept them working through the night.
The companions had fallen to sleep, the rigors of the past twenty-four hours having taken their toll. Ryan and Krysty were entwined beneath blankets, and Mildred and J.B. also slept close together. Doc was mumbling in his sleep, whimpering and turning in a turmoil of nightmare.
But at least he was sleeping, Dean wasn’t. Not any longer. A gentle rustling, a soft padded footfall was enough to wake the light-sleeping youth.
Dean didn’t move. If this was an intruder, then the young Cawdor wouldn’t give himself away. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the poor light, letting darkness form substance and shape.
“Jak?” he whispered, as the shape became recognizable.
“Quiet,” the albino returned, his voice little more than a breath.
Dean silently and swiftly rose from his bed. “What are you doing?”
His eyes adjusted to the dark, and the pale face and white hair of Jak Lauren were almost incandescent in the lack of proper light. With his dark camou clothing, it seemed as though Jak were nothing more than a disembodied head.
“Take look around…safer then,” the albino teen replied, his eyes as sharp and red as twin fires in the ice of his face. His scarred visage was expressionless.
“Think we’ve got something to fear?” Dean queried.
Jak shrugged, but his eyes told another tale.
“Me, too,” Dean said simply. “You want to go on your own?”
Jak nodded. “This time.”
He knew that he would be quicker, quieter, safer without the less experienced youth; but he would never say so. However, for all his exuberance, Dean knew his own limitations in some areas, and so just assented.
“Be careful. I know, I didn’t have to say it,” he whispered as he returned to his bed.
But Jak was already gone.
RAW STANK WORSE than any another ville that Jak had seen since leaving the bayous. It was partly a stale, old smell left over from the predark days, when parts of the ville had been old sewer tunnels for Seattle. The ingrained ordure in the brick and concrete had survived the nukecaust, and would probably survive the end of the rest of the world. Jak’s sensitive nose was clogged by this smell above all others, and he just figured that the inhabitants of the ville were used to it.