Perfect Sacrifice (27 page)

"Andy," she whispered as she watched him get into the passenger's side of the truck.

The loading vehicle sped off, streaking down the street until it was out of view.  Ray watched it until she couldn't see it anymore.  She then went to Leon, who was proceeding to get back up.

"You alright?" she asked, looking him over for injuries.

"Yeah," he answered softly, rubbing his left arm a little.  He looked to the downed Geno and then to the building.  "Just what were they after?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered as she began to walk away, heading towards the Geno.

"Ray," called Leon, drawing her attention.  "Thanks."  She just smiled.

"No problem," was her only reply.

"No, it wasn't '
no problem'
," he said walking up to her.  "You could have been killed."

"I'm used to it," she said with a shrug.  "It doesn't bother me much."

"Ray…" he began, only to get cut off.

"I said it was nothing, so don't dwell on it okay?" she said rather quickly, not bothering to look at him as she said it.  "It was nothing," she repeated rather softly, her eyes filling with remorse and remembrance.  Leon decided to just leave the subject alone.  Besides, the familiar sound of police sirens was approaching rather quickly.  Too bad they were too late.  Most of the men had already left.

"Leon!  Ray!" shouted Chris as he ran from one of the police cars.  He went over to the two of them and began looking around.  There were men everywhere, each one currently unconscious.

"Well…" began Dr. Solaris, surveying the area.  "I guess you didn't need help after all."  Ray just smiled, obviously proud of her work.

Another car pulled up to the building, and Ray's pride filled smile fell.  She quickly moved behind Leon.

"Hide me," she whispered, peeking around his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he asked before watching the car doors open.  From the car emerged three people: Gordan, Abby, and Brian.  They appeared to be observing the battle sight.  Gordan was anything but pleased.

"What the hell happened here?" he asked, a deep scowl on his face.  The streets were a mess, littered with metal and unconscious men.  Not to mention the fact that a Geno was blocking off a good portion of one of the streets.  His eyes soon landed on the Solaris family.

"Dr. Solaris?" questioned Brian.  "What are you doing here?"

"We were spending the day in Torran when this happened," explained David Solaris as he motioned towards the building.  Gordan looked around the area once again, sighing in disappointment.

"This figures," he said.  "Most of them got away."  He looked to the Solaris family, his eyes landing on Leon.  Ray quickly tried to get out of his line of sight but failed by a second.  Gordan crossed his arms, his eyes darkening.

"Ray," he demanded, tapping his foot impatiently.  "I know you had something to do with this."  Ray smiled sheepishly as she moved into the open.  She rubbed the back of her head while turning her attention to the ground.

"Hey Gordan," she said, seeming a little nervous.

"Did you do this?" he asked her, but he quickly sighed and shook his head.  "What am I saying?  Of course you did this.  You're
always
doing this.  Ray, you're supposed to be on probation…"

"I know," she cut him off.  "I'm really sorry, but they were robbing the building.  I couldn't just sit it out."  Gordan didn't seem to care as he continued to impatiently tap his foot.

"Ray, this…" he began, only to be cut off again.

"Andy was there," she said softly, her expression falling.  That simple statement seemed to change everything.  Brian and Abby both seemed quite shocked, and Gordan dropped his arms, his foot ceasing to tap.

"You're sure?" asked Abby.  A nod from Ray was her only answer.

"This changes everything," whispered Gordan, sighing afterwards.

"If I may ask," began Dr. Solaris, drawing everyone's attention.  "Who is Andy?"  Gordan took in a deep breath, realizing that the explanation may take a while.

"Andy is a fifteen year old genius," he began, using the bluntest terms he could come up with.  He wanted to make this short and understandable for all who were listening.  "He works for Ramirez as a researching.  When he was younger, he was with us, but after his parents died, he switched sides.  He blamed us for their deaths.  Ramirez promised him revenge, so he helps research the excavation sites."

"He's only fifteen?" questioned Leon in disbelief.

"Yes, and he specializes in old ruins and sacri studies," explained Brian.  "He's absolutely brilliant."

"He's like a sponge," said Ray.  "He absorbs everything, never forgetting a single piece of information."

"General Gordan," called one of the officers.  He motioned for Gordan to come over, who only sighed and turned to Ray.

"It looks like we have a mess to clean up here," he said in extreme disappointment.  He surveyed the site once more.  "I guess we'll have to interrogate these men.  We need to figure out what Ramirez is up to."

"I can…" began Ray, but it was her turn to be cut off.

"You're
not
helping," he told her.  "You're still on probation.  I want you to stay away from anything even remotely related to the GRC.  After your month is up, then you can investigate this stuff.  Until then, just please stay out of trouble."

"But…" she began in protest.

"Please Ray," he pleaded, his voice and expression showing that he really meant this.  She gave a defeated sigh and hung her head.

"Okay," she whispered.  "I'll stay out of it."

"Good," he said as he turned away to face the officer who had called for him.  "I will, however, thank you for taking care of this.  I'm amazed that you actually paid attention when we taught you how to disable a Geno with a riffle."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked while crossing her arms.

"You know as well as I do that you slept through most of those classes," he said, earning him a glare from Ray.  "We'll see you in a few weeks, Ray."  He began walking away, followed by Abby and Brian.  They really had a mess on their hands this time.  At least Ray had left them plenty of accomplices to interrogate.

"Let's get going," said Dr. Solaris.  "We still have a long day ahead of us."  He began to walk down the road.  Chris, Leon, and Ray followed after him.  They all agreed that they had had enough excitement for one day.  It was time to relax.  Besides, there was still the matter of lunch…

CHAPTER 13

Excavation Site

It had been nearly a full week since the break in at Torran.  In fact, no one had heard anything about Ramirez or his group since then.  Ray had been staying out of the GRC's affairs just as promised, but that didn't mean that she was in any way happy about it.  In fact, she spent most of her time alone in her room, doing absolutely nothing.  If she wasn't doing that, she was mindlessly cleaning her Geno.  It was only a small step above staring at her still bland ceiling.

There had, however, been a battle a few days ago.  However, it was a one on one, and Leon had taken it.  Ray had only watched him battle, and she had to admit that he was good.  He was much better than most pilots.  He had only been hit once during the whole battle, and the damage had been minor.

Currently Ray, Leon, and Chris were home alone.  Dr. Solaris was out for the day.  He wouldn't be back until the evening.  This left them with nothing to do at all.  Their Genos were in perfect working order, not to mention completely clean.  There was just nothing left for them to do.

Ray was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.  There was something she wanted to do, something she believed she had to do.  The only problem was that she was specifically told not to go there.  However, she wasn't the type to listen to anyone.  She wasn't about to do so this time.

Ray got up and left her room, walking into the living room where Leon and Chris were playing a game of chess.  Both boys turned to look at her as she walked in, heading towards the hanger door.

"Where are you going?" asked Leon, stopping Ray in her tracks.

"Out," was her only response as she looked to him and smiled.  Leon's eyes narrowed a little.

"Where to?" he questioned.

"Just out," she said as she began to head for the door again.

"Ray," demanded Leon, stopping her a second time.  She turned around and watched as Leon stood up, slowly making his way over.  "Where are you going?"

"I…I'm just…" she began, racking her mind for an answer.

"The truth Ray," he said, his arms now crossed with a very Gordan like expression on his face.  Ray sighed in defeat, unable to come up with an excuse as to where or why she was going.

"Fine," she said hotly.  "I'm going to the excavation site."

"What?" questioned Chris as he walked over to stand next to his brother.  "An excavation site?"

"You can't," stated Leon.  "Gordan told you to stay out of the GRC's affairs."

"I know!" she shouted.  "But I have to go.  He's not doing anything about it.  I just want to know what they're doing.  Please?"  Leon's scowl only deepened, and Ray realized that he was most likely going to say no.  And if she decided to go anyway, he'd tell Dr. Solaris.  Either way she was going to lose.

"Fine," he said to Ray's surprise.  She began to cheer inwardly until he finished his sentence.  "But I'm coming with you."

"No way," she said, her eyes filling with both anger and slight worry.  "Ramirez knows who you are.  If you're seen, he'll kill you."

"You're not going alone," he insisted.  "I'm coming with whether you like it or not."

"Then so am I," stated Chris, drawing their attention.

"No," they both said in unison.

"You're not leaving me," he demanded, startling them both.  Chris was usually so quiet and timid.  He almost never raised his voice.  "I'm not going to stay here by myself.  Besides, I'll tell dad if you don't take me with."  Leon sighed, placing a hand to his forehead.  His head was beginning to hurt from all this constant arguing and blackmailing.

"Alright," he said.  "You win.  We'll all go."  Ray smirked as she silently went to the door.  Leon and Chris followed her down into the hanger.  They all got into their Genos as Leon opened the hanger doors.  The second the doors were fully open, they took off.  Leon made sure to close the doors via remote before sprinting off after his brother and Ray.

* * * *

Ramirez stood in the desert at the fifth excavation site, the one that the GRC knew the most about.  He needed to be there for something that Andy had called him about.  He had yet to learn what that reason was.

"Sir Ramirez!" called Andy as he ran up to the older man, his lab coat flapping in the wind.  "We've been working on it nonstop, and it's finally finished."

"What is?" questioned Ramirez, quirking an eyebrow.  Andy just smirked and motioned towards a few men.  In their hands was a rather large device, shaped slightly like a laser.  It was long and slim, the metal reflecting the sun light.  There was a long blue stick surrounded by metal that twisted in a spiral all the way up, getting slimmer as it approached the top.  At the end was a probe, a ball made out of a strange black metal.  The device was easily taller than any of the men carrying it, and it obviously weighed a ton.

"We finished your machine," said Andy proudly.  "I'm not sure if it works or not, but…"

"It works," stated Ramirez as he walked over to the large machine.  "Set it down over there."  He pointed towards a spot in the excavation site, and the men walked over that way.  This excavation site was different from some of the other ones.  There were no ruins, no stone structures.  In fact, they were only in a rather large hole, full of the brilliant blue sacri crystals.

As the men were setting up the device, three figures cautiously moved towards a sand dune near the large hole in the ground.  All three of them peeked over the top of it, looking down into the excavation site.

"Is that Ramirez?" asked Chris, his eyes currently on the tall, silver haired man.

"Yep," answered Ray as she glanced around the site.  They were at a great vantage point.  No one could see them unless they really were to look hard.

"What now?" asked Leon.

"We watch," she said with a shrug.  "I said I wanted to see what they were doing.  What did you think I was going to do here?"

"Storm the area?" he offered mockingly.  Ray glared at him.

"I'm not that rash," she said before turning her attention back to the excavation site.

"Are all of those blue things sacri crystals?" questioned Chris.

"Yes," answered Ray.  "They'll probably use them to build Genos like Ramirez's."  Ray scanned the area with her eyes, and they soon landed on the large device that a few men were setting up.

"What is that thing?" asked Leon, obviously seeing what she was.

"I'm not sure," she responded, narrowing her eyes to try and focus on the machine.  The men were nearly done installing it.  "The middle section seems to be made of sacri crystals, but I have no idea what it does.  I've never seen anything like that."