Flawed (26 page)

Their vehicle stood out in the open like a sore thumb. The only solace was that it blended with the kilometers and kilometers of fresh snow that blanketed the area for as far as the eye could see, until white met blue on the horizon.

Luckily, they were inside the van for the time being. Ellyssa wasn’t looking forward to battling the icy wind whipping from the northwest, bringing with it dark grey clouds.

As Rein and Woody hunkered over the antique map that Tim had donated, debating where they were, and Dyllon rolled the sleeping bags, Ellyssa and Trista packed the gear into knapsacks. They needed enough food and supplies to last at least a month. Once they reached their destination, they would need every ounce of strength to penetrate the concentration camp and rescue their family.

Based on the information she’d mentally received from the soldiers they had killed, she wondered if Amarufoss would be expecting them. Why else would patrols be stationed on unused roads?

Ellyssa just hoped it wasn’t a ruse to flush them into view, a thought she hadn’t yet shared with the others. The whole thing with Tim and Sarah being discovered after years of clandestine operation, then the roadblocks, niggled the back of her mind.

Deep down in her consciousness, a little voice would whisper her insecurities. That the military and the
Gestapo’s
involvement was because of her and not because of the Renegades’ hideout and the discovery of citizens sympathetic to their cause. That she was the one imposing the danger again. But that couldn’t be right. Her and her siblings’ existence had been kept secret as far as she knew. Her father, sister and brothers were dead, The Center destroyed.

Who else would be looking for her?

No one
, Ellyssa answered.

Concentrating on the task at hand, she shoved five more MREs into Rein’s pack.

“I think we’re east of this town here,” Woody said, pointing at the paper.

Rein picked up the map. “In Kansas?” He sounded disappointed.

“It’s not that far.”

“What the hell are you talking about? That’s a long way off.”

“Nah. It’s only this far.” Woody held his thumb and forefinger a few centimeters apart.

Absentmindedly touching the bandage over his ear, Rein rolled his eyes.

“Look,” Woody said, taking the map and laying it on the dashboard, “if we are about here”—he placed the compass on the area—“we should keep a bearing of about two hundred thirty degrees. That should get us near the place.”

“Or a hundred kilometers away.”

“You are just a ray of sunshine. We can use landmarks. There are plenty of roads to help guide us. We just have to keep a lookout for signs.”

“Are you guys about ready?” Trista asked, zipping up a backpack. “There’s only a few more hours of sunlight.”

Ellyssa gazed through the window at the rolling clouds, again. They were an angry grey, the type that promised more than a light dusting of snow. “I’m not sure. Maybe we should wait until morning. If there is a blizzard, the tents won’t hold up against winds out on flat ground like this. We’d be exposed.” As if to confirm her suspicion, an icy blast rocked the van.

“But what about patrols?” Trista questioned.

Tossing the last sleeping bag on top of the other tight bundles, Dyllon answered, “We haven’t seen any since our last encounter.”

Woody plopped back into the driver’s seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That doesn’t mean there won’t be any.”

“I’d rather face a patrol than the subzero temperatures, though,” Rein said.

Trista looked out the window next to Ellyssa, her gaze on the impending clouds. Worry etched the lines of Trista’s face, making them more prominent around her mouth and between her eyebrows. “I’d rather not face either one.”

Dyllon hunched, walked across the van to Trista and sat on the corner of one of the unopened supply boxes. Taking her hand, he said, “I agree. Neither is promising, but we would be safer in here. At least we’ll be in shelter.”

“And what if we get trapped in a blizzard out there? What about then?”

Dyllon kissed the back of Trista’s hand. “We’ll worry about that
if
it happens.”

Still staring at the upcoming storm, Ellyssa felt a hand stroking her hair. She turned and met Rein’s jade eyes, a small reassuring smile in his face. He mouthed, “I love you.”

She returned his grin. “I know,” Ellyssa mouthed back.

“Okay,” Woody said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s get the empty boxes piled in the front and the sleeping bags out.”

Dyllon groaned. “What a waste of time.”

Ellyssa swung the doors open to a surprisingly clear, crisp morning, not even the stir of a breeze. The sun hovered above the eastern horizon in a pure azure sky the color of her eyes. The snow, which she had been sure would be a meter deep, barely covered the ground. The storm that had pummeled the van, rocking it back and forth and rattling the windows to the point that Ellyssa thought the van was doomed to go tumbling across the vast plains, seemed nothing more than a bad nightmare.

Ellyssa dropped to the ground and watched as the others followed her, like a line of abominable snowmen, dressed in identical snowsuits that clad them from head to foot in white. She couldn’t help but smile as she remembered Trista’s declaration of that fact. The males had seemed less than delighted at the observation.

As far as clothing went, though, the snowsuits were remarkable pieces of gear. The thermal lining was specifically designed to use body heat through a fibrous insulation and flexible coils, which vented the suit and maintained the temperature at a constant twenty-one degrees Celsius. The same went with the sleeping bags each of them had strapped to the top of their knapsacks. Regardless of the milder weather, it was still bitterly cold.

With the three tents, food, water and limited medical supplies, they would be fine as long as the calm weather continued. The problem was what would happen once they reached their destination.

Closing her eyes, Ellyssa faced the sun, enjoying the feel of it against her skin. Rein came up from behind and folded his arms around her waist. He pressed his lips against her cheek. “Are you ready?” he asked.

Ellyssa nodded. He handed her her backpack. After a quick check to make sure the cave pearl was still in the side pocket, she slipped her arms through the shoulder straps and adjusted the weight on her back. “Let’s go.”

“One second,” Woody said, positioning the compass steady in his hand. “Two hundred thirty degrees.” He started to move southwest.

Their small band followed him toward a vast white and blue unknown.

After hanging up with Colonel Fielder, Commandant Hans Baer paced behind the desk, back and forth, back and forth, his hands behind his back. Things were brewing; his prescience naggled him. Whatever was to shower down wasn’t going to be good. The Colonel wanted him to double security, but not send out any more patrols. The two faux angels would be returning sometime tomorrow or the next day. All of this, and Hans’ superior officer still refused to divulge anything further than a “need to know” basis.

Basically, Hans didn’t need to know.

Hans knew somehow everything circled around the female, Ellyssa. Especially after the information Doc had provided him about the girl.

According to the Renegade, The Center had been more vested in eugenics than was previously known; Alexis and Xaver were byproducts, as was Ellyssa. Apparently, the Colonel and possibly other leaders knew some of the surreptitious experiments that had gone on. If not before, then definitely now. That was why the Colonel had ordered Hans’ cooperation.

What disturbed the Commandant the most was that, if The Center hadn’t been destroyed and Dr. Hirch killed then, based on what Doc had said, a paved highway would have been opened for complete annihilation of the human populace, replaced by a super-being, a soldier, created from a test tube to populate the earth.

It stood to reason Aalexis and Xaver had plans to continue the doctor’s work. That was why Aalexis sought Ellyssa.

Hans paused at the corner of the desk, his hand twitching over the phone. What would he say to the Colonel? How would he explain his acquired knowledge? Tell the Colonel the deal he’d made with a
prisoner
? Besides, Hans had a sneaking suspicion the Colonel already knew of Aalexis and Xaver’s
gifts
. That was what the Colonel had meant when he’d said something about the missing link.

As his mother used to say,
Narren nicht erkennen
.

Colonel Fielder was a fool.

Letting his hand drop to his side, Hans moved to the window. He stood a little ways back and to the left, where he was hidden in the shadows. Across the compound, the sergeant-at-arms stood. The cap hid his face, but the hair stood on the back of Hans’ neck as if the man’s eyes scoured him.

He was going to have to do something about the sergeant. He had to give him credit, though; the sergeant was very astute, one of the reasons Hans had requested him in the first place.

As Commandant Baer watched from the warmth of his office, for the first time ever he had an inkling of understanding how the Renegades felt.

Aalexis couldn’t help but feel excitement as she walked into the new lab. Her heart thumped and elation swelled in her chest. She tried to hold the feeling at bay, but she was unsuccessful, her body tingling with the forbidden sensation.

Everything was metal grey or white, clean. Disinfectant scented the air. Freezers, computers, incubators—everything was there and ready for use. From the shiny, state-of-art equipment to the simplest table, her father’s vision of a truly perfect world would be realized. Aalexis reached out and gently touched one of the atomic force microscopes, her fingers running along the base.

All she needed now was Ellyssa, and from the intelligence Xaver had brought her, her sister would soon be reunited with her biological family. Days had passed since the dead soldiers south of the contact’s house had been found and the van recovered to the west. She’d even had the Colonel call in his troops and the State call in the
Gestapo
. She knew where Ellyssa was headed. Besides, the incompetent humans wouldn’t have caught her, anyway. But she and Xaver would. The day after next, they’d be heading south to the barren wasteland.

The trap had been laid; Ellyssa just needed to spring the trigger.

“Are you pleased?” Xaver asked.

Aalexis turned toward her brother. Xaver leaned against the frame of the decontamination port, his arms folded across his chest; the white lab coat he wore opened in the front over surgical coveralls. There was a slight grin on his chiseled face that reached his eyes.

Her heart missed a beat as she studied him. He seemed completely at ease, as if unaware of his emotional display.

Forcing the excitement at her new toys into check, Aalexis’ face sank into an emotionless mask. “You are smiling, Xaver,” she observed.

“I believe I am,” he replied.

His nonchalance was a little disconcerting. That was, if she actually could experience such an emotion. Which she couldn’t.

Incapable
.

Aalexis hoped he wasn’t going to break down like Ellyssa had, although she had begun to wonder. On more than one occasion, she’d had to redirect him from talk about her sister or Micah’s revelations. She had no interest in such matters.

“Emotions weaken,” she reminded as if he didn’t already know.

“Are you weak?”

“Certainly not.”

“But yet”—he pushed away from the frame and walked toward her—“I can see you.”

In an unexpected response, she stepped back and had no clue why. “See what?”

“More than you want to reveal.”

Aalexis took another step away. A lab table pressed into the small of her back. “I do not understand.”

Xaver stopped midway. The grin remained on his face. “You do know what today is?”

“Yes. December seventh.”

“Your birthday.”

“It is your birthday, too, and Ellyssa’s. I do not see why we are having this conversation.”

He looked around at the elaborate setup. “This is quite the birthday gift.”

“We do not celebrate birthdays.”

His eyes found her again. “Do you not find it strange
der Vater
used the same birthday for all of us? A weakness on his part, perhaps?”

“
Der Vater
found significance with this date. It was a time of great change. The turning point that eventually led to the conquering of all the great superpowers of the time. As we are to be a turning point, a time of great change.”

“A connection made from emotion. Would you not agree?”

Aalexis’ mind whirled as she tried to see where her brother was leading. She was unsure whether she wanted to follow, to play into Xaver’s trap. Especially if it led down the road toward Micah. He stood there, the unsettling grin still displayed under his straight nose. She didn’t like any of it. After a moment, she answered, “I do agree.
Der Vater
was not completely like us, but his genius compensated. Like Hitler, he was a visionary.”

Standing perfectly still, her brother regarded her. She felt her pulse quicken, her nerves tweak. She had to maintain control.