another table to clear a young drunk couple’s tempting basket of chicken wings, along with their growing collection of empty bottles.
Larry took a swig of whiskey and swallowed with a wince. “Wow, been a while since I touched the hard stuff. So, what made you reach out for a meeting? I was starting to think you forgot about me,” Larry said, pretending his feelings were hurt.
“I need to find someone, an Other.”
“Who?”
“Shadow.”
“You want me to find fucking Shadow?” Larry asked. “You trying to get me killed?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I thought anyone else could help. Jacob’s back, and if anyone can find him, it’s Shadow.”
“Jacob is back? From the portal I saw on the Web?”
“A new one opened in Anchor Harbor. We need to figure out how he created a new portal, why he’s back and what happened to Caleb. That means finding Jacob.”
“Can’t you just tune in on your alien radar and find Jacob?” Larry asked.
“No, that’s the thing. I can’t feel him out there. He’s blocking me. Either that or something’s changed, I don’t know. Nothing this big happens in the underground without Shadow knowing something. Or being part of it. Shadow is the only one I can think of who would know if Jacob has reached out to his old Harbinger contacts.”
“You mean whoever’s left in Harbinger you’ve not yet killed,” Larry winked. His words fell out fine, but the wink was clearly a veiled accusation.
“No reason not to say what you mean to say,” John said, pointing at Larry’s glass. “Take another few sips and you can blame it on the whiskey.”
“I don’t have to sip whiskey to say shit that needs saying,” Larry snapped, ironically taking a sip of his whiskey. He swallowed, then set his glass on the table. “You’ve got the Others pretty damned scared, John.”
“I do my job,” he said. “We protect the world from the Harbinger threat.”
“Yeah, but it’s not just Harbinger you’re after.”
“Sometimes there are obstacles on the way to the bad guys. Sometimes we have to question innocents caught up in the whole mess.”
Amanda was approaching their table, but froze five feet away after crashing into the sudden ice between John and Larry. She turned and made herself busy two tables over.
Larry measured his words then opened his mouth. “So, they’ve got you parroting the company line, eh? Question innocents? What happens when you’re done questioning them? They getting returned to their lives?”
“I don’t know, I help find them and bring them in. After that, I’m done. I don’t do the questioning.”
“Word on the street is, nobody is coming back, John. Omega sweeps in and takes everyone, entire families, away in the night, and they’re never seen again. Everyone thinks you’ve turned on your kind and are into extermination; Harbingers, Others and the Halfworlders — anyone who knows anything, gone.” Larry leaned down and blew out the candle. “POOF! Like that, they’re gone. So I gotta ask you, John, is this some sort of Guantanamo thing where you’re keeping them all tucked in secret prisons, or are you blowing out candles, one by one?”
John finished his whiskey and met Larry’s eyes. “We’re not murdering innocent people,” he said, thinking of Mathews shooting Emilia as the words “not murdering” burned from his tongue. “From what I’m told, they’re putting people in a detention camp until this whole thing blows over. I don’t know where it is, nor do I think they trust me enough to tell me.”
“You really believe that? Or is that the lie you tell yourself to make it easier to step in their footprints?”
Where the hell is this animosity coming from? How long had Larry been holding this in?
John reached out, tightly grabbed Larry’s wrist, and squeezed.
“You think I want to hunt my own people? You think I like that they’re using Hope as a chip to play me? I wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t betrayed me,
Larry took a swig of whiskey and swallowed with a wince. “Wow, been a while since I touched the hard stuff. So, what made you reach out for a meeting? I was starting to think you forgot about me,” Larry said, pretending his feelings were hurt.
“I need to find someone, an Other.”
“Who?”
“Shadow.”
“You want me to find fucking Shadow?” Larry asked. “You trying to get me killed?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I thought anyone else could help. Jacob’s back, and if anyone can find him, it’s Shadow.”
“Jacob is back? From the portal I saw on the Web?”
“A new one opened in Anchor Harbor. We need to figure out how he created a new portal, why he’s back and what happened to Caleb. That means finding Jacob.”
“Can’t you just tune in on your alien radar and find Jacob?” Larry asked.
“No, that’s the thing. I can’t feel him out there. He’s blocking me. Either that or something’s changed, I don’t know. Nothing this big happens in the underground without Shadow knowing something. Or being part of it. Shadow is the only one I can think of who would know if Jacob has reached out to his old Harbinger contacts.”
“You mean whoever’s left in Harbinger you’ve not yet killed,” Larry winked. His words fell out fine, but the wink was clearly a veiled accusation.
“No reason not to say what you mean to say,” John said, pointing at Larry’s glass. “Take another few sips and you can blame it on the whiskey.”
“I don’t have to sip whiskey to say shit that needs saying,” Larry snapped, ironically taking a sip of his whiskey. He swallowed, then set his glass on the table. “You’ve got the Others pretty damned scared, John.”
“I do my job,” he said. “We protect the world from the Harbinger threat.”
“Yeah, but it’s not just Harbinger you’re after.”
“Sometimes there are obstacles on the way to the bad guys. Sometimes we have to question innocents caught up in the whole mess.”
Amanda was approaching their table, but froze five feet away after crashing into the sudden ice between John and Larry. She turned and made herself busy two tables over.
Larry measured his words then opened his mouth. “So, they’ve got you parroting the company line, eh? Question innocents? What happens when you’re done questioning them? They getting returned to their lives?”
“I don’t know, I help find them and bring them in. After that, I’m done. I don’t do the questioning.”
“Word on the street is, nobody is coming back, John. Omega sweeps in and takes everyone, entire families, away in the night, and they’re never seen again. Everyone thinks you’ve turned on your kind and are into extermination; Harbingers, Others and the Halfworlders — anyone who knows anything, gone.” Larry leaned down and blew out the candle. “POOF! Like that, they’re gone. So I gotta ask you, John, is this some sort of Guantanamo thing where you’re keeping them all tucked in secret prisons, or are you blowing out candles, one by one?”
John finished his whiskey and met Larry’s eyes. “We’re not murdering innocent people,” he said, thinking of Mathews shooting Emilia as the words “not murdering” burned from his tongue. “From what I’m told, they’re putting people in a detention camp until this whole thing blows over. I don’t know where it is, nor do I think they trust me enough to tell me.”
“You really believe that? Or is that the lie you tell yourself to make it easier to step in their footprints?”
Where the hell is this animosity coming from? How long had Larry been holding this in?
John reached out, tightly grabbed Larry’s wrist, and squeezed.
“You think I want to hunt my own people? You think I like that they’re using Hope as a chip to play me? I wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t betrayed me,
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