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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 15
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Helen closed the cover and returned the lock to a sealed position, thus ensuring their method of escape would be virtually impossible to detect, before looking up at where the man held the baby in his arms.
"Angelo, take Steven and Michael to our spot. We'll join you there."
"Help."
"No, Angelo. I can't risk either of you being exposed to my drug or we'll never get out of here. Just don't ask any questions and if I'm not there in half an hour, take them to my car and give Steven the map."
The empath eyed her for a moment before nodding decisively and turning, pushing the other man ahead of him.
Helen watched them go before going along the vent to another ladder and going up it. After several minutes she arrived at her destination and looked into the room to see the boy in the bed, his face buried in his pillow, sobbing softly. With sympathy in her eyes, she unfastened the lock on the cover, as she had for the other rooms, and softly climbed out, pausing while still a short distance from the bed.
"David?"
The boy raised his head, looking around for several seconds before he saw her and then cringing back against the pillow as if it could protect him.
"W… who are you?"
"I'm a friend. I've come to get you out of here. Angelo sent me." Helen lifted one hand and swung the cover of the vent until it was almost shut before walking over to the bed and sitting down.
"I'm going to take you back to my house and give you lots of your favorite things to eat. What's your favorite food, David?"
The boy sniffed, looking up at her mistrustfully but still answering. "Ice cream."
She smiled. "I've got lots of that at my house. And I've got a lovely warm bed for you too, in a nice room, and I've got a big room for you to watch TV."
"Will… he be there?"
"Who, David? You mean the man who comes every day?"
"Uh huh." The boy wiped his eyes on the harsh, gray material. "Will he?"
"No, David, I promise that he won't be. You never have to see him again."
Slowly the boy's hand crept closer until it was almost touching her arm. "And do I have to work?"
"No, David. You can do whatever you want, but you'll never have to work the way you have here, ever again."
"P… promise?" His eyes filled with tears as he looked up at her. "It's so hard and, when I get stuff wrong, he gets so angry…"
"I promise you, David, no work and he won't be there."
Gently he put his hand on her arm, hesitating, to gauge her reaction, and then moved the rest of his body closer as well. Helen put out a hand and gently started to stroke his hair. Slowly she gathered him in her arms until he was lying with his head on her shoulder, sobbing softly against her neck.
"I'm so scared here, and it's dark, and he always yells at me and hits me."
"All right, David." She rocked him gently. "It's okay, I'm here and you're safe. I'll take you back to my nice house and you never have to come here again."
Helen felt him slowly start to calm down. As he moved, his foot pressed down on her pocket, and she heard the crack as the glass vial broke. Ignoring it for the moment, Helen continued to gently stroke his hair until she could feel that the gas had affected him and he was sleeping. Slowly she stood, opening up the air vent cover again. Taking a blanket from the bed, she wrapped him up in it before putting his limp body just inside the shaft. As she was about to get up into it herself, the door behind her swung open and she turned to see Raines.
"Who are you? What are you doing?"
At the first sound of his voice, she struggled not to grin but managed to keep her voice serious.
"Good evening, Mr. Raines. This is an unexpected surprise." She leaned against the wall. "Close the door, will you? I'd hate for us to be overheard."
A glint in her eye, she watched as the man turned, pulling the door closed, before turning back to her. His voice, when he spoke, was a dull monotone.
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, I think there is." She eyed him coolly. "Where's the accurate file on David?"
"In my office, behind the filing cabinet."
"Which one?"
"The one on the far left."
"And are his parents still alive?"
"No, we had them killed when we discovered his possible potential as a Pretender, to prevent the problems similar to those we had with Jarod."
Helen felt rage begin to grow inside at his words, in the same way it had when she had seen him search Catherine Parker, and it was only with an effort that the woman controlled herself.
"Why did you present false information to the Triumvirate?"
"It gives me greater leverage to use against them in future."
"And what's your plan?"
"Mr. Parker and I have been planning a coup for the past two months."
"And does anybody else know of this?"
"No. Just you."
"Good." She eyed him thoughtfully. "And how much potential does David have as a Pretender, in comparison to, say, Jarod?"
"He's somewhat inferior, but he could still have been useful."
"And Steven?"
"Inferior to both but he has been useful when caring for Mr. Parker's son."
"Is it really his son?"
"As far as I'm aware, yes."
"Fine." She smiled. "Mr. Raines, in a moment you will leave this room, locking the door behind you. You will go back to your quarters. If by any chance you happen meet somebody, you will react in your usual manner to them. When you arrive in your room, you will go to bed and sleep until nine o'clock. Is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am."
He nodded and turned, opening the door and walking through it. As she opened the vent cover, she could hear the lock click and tried to smother her laughter as she locked the vent cover behind her. Picking up the sedated child in her arms, she headed down towards the man's office. The file about David was in her hand inside of a minute and she made her way to the point where she was to meet the others.
"Leaving?"
"Yes, Angelo." She gently pressed his hand. "You're sure you won't come?"
"Stay here. Help."
"Well, make sure you stay out of the way tomorrow morning. You remember how it was after Eddie, Jarod and Alex tried to escape, don't you?"
He nodded soberly and hugged her before dropping into the vent. After watching him disappear, she turned to the man who stood silently beside her, his eyes wide as he looked around.
"Are you ready to go, Steven?"
"Please," he begged as he walked beside her, the baby in his arms, "would you mind calling me Steve? Steven is what he calls me."
"Raines?"
"I don't know what his name is."
"Tall, bald, oxygen tank, cruel for no apparent reason?"
"That's him." Steve paused. "Especially the last part."
"I'll say." Helen pulled up the sleeve of the sleeping boy's top and eyed the bruises. "Have you met David before?"
"He and I did a simulation together last week."
"Good, so he'll trust you if he wakes up in the car."
"You have a car?" The suddenly naïve tones reminded Helen painfully of Eddie.
"How old were you when you came to the Centre, Steve?"
"Six."
"And you're thirty-five now."
"Is that a question?"
"No, it's a statement. I've read your file several times." She opened the door and put the sleeping boy into the middle seat, doing up the seatbelt, before Steve got in beside him. Going around to the other side of the car, Helen fastened the baby into the capsule that Debbie had noticed earlier that day before getting in behind the wheel.
Ashe, New York
"Where are we?" asked the man in the back seat, his hand absent-mindedly stroking David’s hair as he looked around with wide eyes.
"Ever heard of a state called New York?"
"I think so."
"Well, that's where we are." Helen stifled a yawn as she got out of the car. "Later, when I'm actually able to think again, I'll show you on a map."
"Helen, what on earth…?"
The doctor turned to find Ethan in the doorway and smiled, placing a reassuring hand on Steve's arm.
"Ethan, these are several people that were in the same place as Jarod was. Steve, this is Ethan. He's Jarod's half-brother. You can trust him. The Centre wants him as badly as they'll want you in the morning."
She took the baby out of the capsule and gave him to Steve before picking up David and opening the trunk. "Ethan, can you help me with some of this stuff?"
"Sure." He stared at the bags before glancing at her. "You weren't prepared for this or anything, were you?"
"I thought only your sister and brother were that sarcastic."
He grinned. "It's genetic."
Ethan picked up a few of the bags and carried them through to the kitchen before coming out for the rest. Helen carried David in to the living room and gently put him down on the sofa, turning to find Steve standing behind her.
"Are we really...?"
"You're really safe." She put a hand on his arm. "I don't expect you to believe me just yet, but I promise that you never have to go back to the Centre again. Later I'll call Jarod and get him to come and visit but if you've really had a terrible day, I think you need to go to bed."
He smiled weakly. "I think it just got better."
"I hope so." She guided him back into the kitchen and to the door of the cellar. "I have a bedroom down here for you, next to Ethan's. I'll turn off the lights and it'll be a bit dark, but the lights in the hall and kitchen will be on. If you wake up in the night and want something, Ethan's in the next room and my room is in the middle as you go up the stairs that you saw in the living room, okay?"
Gently she took the baby out of his arms. "In the morning, I'll have some different clothes for you to wear instead of the Centre outfit but, for now, I just want you to get some sleep."
Steve looked at the bed as, with her spare arm, she turned back the blankets and then stepped away. "I… I get to sleep in that?"
"You sure do. And you can sleep in it for as long as you want."
"Wow." He gingerly reached out a hand and touched it. "It's soft."
"Yes, Steve, and it's really warm." She touched his arm. "Go on, in you get."
"Really?"
Helen put her free arm around his shoulders and guided him over to it, seating him on the edge of the bed and sitting down next to him. "You, Michael and David are safe now. I know that, after so many years, that it's hard to believe, but you don't ever have to perform another simulation in your life, unless you want to."
Looking at his face, she could see what was coming and it was no surprise when the first tear slid out of his eye and he turned away. Gently she put a hand under his chin and turned his face back to her.
"Go ahead," she said softly. "Let it out. Let all those different things you're feeling now out in the tears you can feel in your eyes. That's okay. It's normal. Everyone feels like this sometimes."
"What's it called?"
The words were muffled, but audible, and she smiled. "It's a mixture of emotions, Steve. That's another word for the things you feel. Feelings and emotions are the same. But I think the one you're feeling right now is most likely to be relief. That's something you feel when, for example, you've been really scared that something bad will happen and then it doesn't. The thing you feel when you realize it won't happen is known as relief. Lots of people cry with relief, especially if what they've been scared of was really bad." She saw the first tears followed rapidly by others and continued in soft tones. "This, what you're feeling now, is very normal."
"How did you know?"
"Did you ever meet Eddie?"
He nodded slowly.
"I explained all this to him when he came here. Now, because of Eddie, I know how you're feeling and how to explain it to you."
"It's not… bad?"
"Emotions are good, Steve. They're the things that help us appreciate life more than we otherwise would. I know that, in there, you weren't ever allowed to show what you feel, but out here, out in the world, you can." Gently she wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I want you to try to sleep now. If you can't, that's okay, but I'd like you to try."
She helped him to lie down and pulled the blanket up over him.
"Shall I turn off the light or would you like me to leave it on?"
"What's it like with it off?"
She pressed the button, darkening the room, but light was still visible through the half-open door, and she looked down. "If you want to make it light again, all you’ve got to do is press that button and it’ll happen." Helen rested a hand on his for a moment. "And you're allowed to do it. Nothing bad will happen and nobody will punish you for it. You decide what you want to do."
He nodded slowly and Helen could see the emotion in his eyes as she leaned over the bed. "I'm going upstairs now but, like I said before, if you want something, all you have to do is come up or go into the next room and ask Ethan." About to turn away, she paused. "There are no cameras in here either, Steve. If you want to do anything, even cry, go right ahead. Nobody will see you. I'll never know."
Exiting the room but leaving the door half-open, she found Ethan leaning against the wall. He silently followed her up to the kitchen and into the living room, where David still lay on the sofa.
"He didn't know about emotion?"
She sat next to the sleeping boy and looked at Ethan as he sat opposite her with curiosity in his eyes. "Jarod would have been exactly the same when he got out. I know Eddie was. People in the Centre have sometimes been there for their entire lives. He hasn't seen anything of the world since 1972, when you were one year old. He won't know about a lot of things that are normal to us, and he'll ask about them. To help him get used to it, we need to be patient and answer his questions without asking any. When he wants to tell us things, he will."
"And the boy?"
"David's only been in the Centre for a little over a week. In time, he'll be a normal child again. It probably won't take that long, either. Children are more flexible and adaptable than adults."
"And the baby?"
She sighed. "This is Michael Parker, your sister's brother."
"But not mine?"
"He isn't Catherine's son. As far as I know, he's the son of Catherine's husband."
Ethan nodded, watching as Helen yawned. "I made up a temporary bed for him in your room. I thought that's what you'd want."
"It's ideal." She handed the baby to him. "I want to wake David if I can. Here, hold Michael for a sec."
As Ethan awkwardly took the baby, Helen leaned over the boy and gently roused him. "David? Come on, sweetheart. It's time to wake up now."
He opened his eyes, staring around the room for a minute, before looking up at her and smiling, holding out his arms. "Was it real? Did you really get me out?"
"Yes, David." She picked him up. "I really got you out. You’ll never have to go back there again. You can stay with me for as long as you want."
He put his head down on her shoulder. The movement meant that he was able to see Ethan and he froze. "Who's that?"
"It's a friend, baby. You can trust him, just like you can trust me."
"Promise?"
"Yes, David." She rubbed her hand on his back. "You're safe with me. I'm going to take you up to that bedroom I promised you, remember?"
"Uh huh." He nestled closer to her. "Is it near you?"
"It's right next door, sweetie. I'll show you now." Standing, Helen carried him upstairs and opened the door of her room. "This is where I sleep."
He pointed at the baby's bed, made in a drawer that Ethan had removed from her cupboard.
"Who's that for?"
"That's for the baby that Ethan was holding."
"What's he called?"
"Michael."
The boy's eyes lit up in delight. "Does that mean Steve's here too?"
"Yes, David." She smiled. "How do you know about them?"
"Steve told me when we were working together. Where is he?"
"He's in bed, sweetheart. I don't want to wake him up, but you can see him later and play with him all day." She carried him into the next room. "This is a room all for you, David. You can sleep here every night, in this lovely bed."
As she turned back the blanket and put him down, he rolled onto his side, curling up and smiling at her. "This is like the room I used to have at home."
She sat beside him. "This is your home now, David." Her heart seemed to twist in her as she said the words, recalling what Raines had said about his parents, but she pushed away the feeling and gently began to stroke his hair, watching as his eyes closed.
"That's right, David." She lowered her voice to the quiet murmur that brought back vivid memories of Jarod and Debbie being sick. "You're safe now, here with me, and I'll take care of you. You can play with Steve all day and eat ice cream for dessert and watch cartoons on t.v and any time you want a hug, you just ask me and I'll give you one."
Tears dimmed her eyes when she saw the tiny smile that appeared on his face as he relaxed into sleep. Standing up, she turned on a small lamp that sat on a table in the corner before switching off the one beside the bed. Leaving the room, she found Ethan waiting outside her room.
"I'd thought about putting him to bed, but I didn't know how."
She smiled. "By the time you leave here, you'll be an expert, I promise."
"How do you know so much about it?"
"Years of Med. School."
She undressed the baby, took off his diaper, and put on a clean one from the package Sydney had watched her purchasing earlier that day and which Ethan had bought upstairs. Cradling Michael in her arms for a moment, she waited until he fell asleep and then placed him down, pulling up a small blanket to cover him, before turning to the young man beside her.
"If Steve needs anything and you don't feel confident enough to get it for him, you can bring him up to me and I'll help."
He nodded. "Don't worry, Helen. We'll be fine."
"He can always sleep up here tomorrow, if he wants to, but we'll see."
Ethan rested a hand on her arm. "Stop panicking, Helen."
She raised an eyebrow. "Did Catherine tell you that?"
"No." He grinned. "The expression in your eyes did."
Carrying the freshly washed baby downstairs, she carried him to the kitchen and put him into the high chair that she had bought the day before. Gently tying a bib around his neck, she put on the kettle and got one of the jars of baby food from a bag that sat on the floor. Picking up her phone, she got a spoon out of the drawer. Opening the jar, she activated the phone and called up a number before connecting the call and tucking the device between her shoulder and ear.
"Jarod, it's Helen. I'm in New York. Are you close?"
She heard quiet laughter on the other end. "Close enough. Why?"
"I need a hand." Helen narrowed her eyes, putting the first spoonful of food into the baby's open mouth. "What, exactly, do you mean by 'close enough'?"
Hearing a knock on the door, she turned to find Jarod grinning at her from the open doorway. "Is that close enough for you?" he asked, laughing, before disconnecting the call. Walking into the room, he staring at Michael. "What's that?"
Helen rolled her eyes. "It's a baby, Jarod. What did you think it was?"
"Did you hit it with your car too?"
She laughed. "No, not exactly, although he did get a ride in it from Delaware last night."
He sank into a chair. "It's not… is it?
"Very good." Helen smiled. "They don't…"
"...call me a genius for nothing. I know. That's Mr. Parker's son?"
"Michael. I don't think I want to call him 'Mr. Parker's son' for the whole of his life. He deserves a first name."
"Why?"
She grinned. "Does he deserve a first name?"
He gave her a withering look. "Why is he here?"
"Make me coffee and I'll tell you."
He set the mug on the table in front of her a moment later and resumed his seat. "Well?"
"Angelo came to my office when I was about to leave the infirmary yesterday and showed me the proof that tomorrow Mr. Parker's going to be assassinated."
The Pretender's eyes widened. "You don't soften things, do you?"
"Only sickness." She grinned, sipping her coffee, before wiping Michael's face with the bib. "The report said that, as the child hadn't shown any skills of value to the Centre, there was no point in keeping him." She eyed him. "And I'm sure you can guess what that means, in clear, everyday, comprehensible English."
Jarod nodded slowly. "So you went and got him last night?"
"Yes. The papers that Angelo gave me also mentioned that a person who'd been caring for Michael hadn't shown very strong pretender potential and might as well be included in the order."
"Who?" Jarod's voice sank to a soft, pain-filled whisper and Helen nodded towards the figure that appeared in the doorway as he spoke.
"Him."
Jarod stared at the man for a few seconds before jumping to his feet, the smile on his face similar to that which Helen had seen on the tape from the hospital room with Eddie, and Steve's face wore one just as wide. Picking up the baby, she draped a towel over her right shoulder and put the child against it, patting him gently on the back, as she stood up and began to get out plates for breakfast.
"Where's David?"
"He was still asleep when I got up. Do you want to go and see if he's awake?"
"Where is he?"
"Right-hand bedroom, upstairs like I told you last night."
Nodding, the younger man left the room and Jarod sank into a chair. "Why didn't you let me help you?"
"I didn't want you to come down with anything this time." She laughed as he tried to hide a smile. "No, actually it was because I had Angelo's help and also because I had so little time. The whole operation had to be completed in just twelve hours and, with no idea where you were, it seemed easier to simply do it." Helen listened to the footsteps coming down the stairs and turned to him. "Get ready to see a smaller version of you. David, the boy Steve mentioned, is four. He's been inside the Centre for a week."
"Who's been overseeing...?"
She raised an eyebrow, her mouth narrowing. "Well, it wasn't Sydney."
Jarod nodded and took the baby as Helen held him out. She looked towards the door as the two figures appeared.
"Hi David. How did you sleep, sweetheart?"
The boy ran over and threw himself at her. "It's true. Steve really is here."
"I told you he was, baby, and I'll never lie to you." She picked David up and kissed him gently on one cheek. "I've got another friend for you to meet, too."
"Wow." He looked at her, eyes wide. "You have a lot of friends."
"Yes," she smiled. "I do." She turned him around so that he could see the man on the other side of the table and nodded towards him. "This is Jarod. Jarod, this is David."
"Hi David." The man smiled, his eyes running over the boy's face and seeing the bruises that were visible under the gray cloth at his neck.
"Hi." The boy's tones were full of confidence as he looked back at Helen. "Can I have something for breakfast? I'm really hungry."
"Sure, sweetie. What do you like best for breakfast?"
He hesitated for a moment. "You don't have Pop-tarts, do you?"
"Actually," she admitted, trying not to laugh and knowing Jarod was also fighting to suppress his own amusement. "I do."
"Goody." The boy bounced on her knee.
"What's… whatever he said?" Steve asked.
"Pop-tarts." Helen put David down on the chair, on which she had already put two large cushions so that he was level with the tabletop, and got up, fetching the box from the larder. "Something Jarod likes a lot. No, Steve, I'm not going to describe them to you. You have to have one." As she put the items into the toaster, David looked over at Jarod.
David stared at Jarod. "You like them, too?"
"I love them." The man grinned. "They're my favorite breakfast."
"And that, presumably, is why you're sneaking around my house." Helen sent him a mock-glare. "You were going to sponge off me again."
"Well, why not? It's free."
"I should start charging you rent, now that you're not sick anymore."
"Hey, I paid for that shopping trip Broots and I did."
"Out of which account?"
He shrugged, hiding a grin. "What kind of a stupid question is that? Do you think you're...?"
She picked up a glass, filled it with water and threatened to pour it over his head, as Steve picked up Michael and cuddled him. "If you quote me, I swear that you'll get a cold shower, leather jacket and cold weather or not."
"Okay, I'll be good." He took the glass from her hand and drank half of the contents in a couple of large gulps. "But you should really use something permanent as a form of threat."
"Like threatening not to feed you?"
He widened his eyes and tried to look meek. "I'm still recovering, Helen. I'm sure you don't want me to collapse on the floor."
She smirked. "I've got other people to look after now. I'd probably just leave you there."
"Speaking of recovering," he looked around, "where's my brother?"
"Here."
Ethan walked into the room and Jarod laughed. "You're getting good at that. We mention you and you appear."
"Magic." The younger man smiled and then glanced at Helen. "Do you have any other options for breakfast than Pop-tarts?"
"Pancakes, toast, cereal - anything sounding good so far?"
"Everything." Ethan poured himself a mug of coffee and sat down again. "Do you want a hand?"
"Can you heat the pan like I showed you last time? Luckily, we've still got mix left over, so I don't have to worry about that." She rescued the steaming pop-tarts from the toaster, putting one on each plate, breaking the last of the four in half and giving one bit each to Steve and David. Jarod immediately began to sulk.
"Where's the fairness in that?"
"Who said anything about fair? Devious, yes, cruel, maybe, but fair?"
She smiled as Steve picked up the square of pastry and tentatively tasted it before looking at her with a grin.
"I like it."
"Good, Steve. There's a lot of other things for you to try, too." She glared at Jarod. "And I'll try to ensure that at least some of them are healthy, because you won't have a need to keep running constantly, like some other people I could mention but won't because I'm so nice."
"Oh, yes?" Jarod raised an eyebrow, breaking off a corner of his Pop-tart. "By whose standards?"
"I think she's nice." David looked up at Jarod. "She was nice to me last night, and she gave me a really nice room, all for me, and she promised that I’d never have to see him again." Tears came into the boy's eyes as he looked up at her. "And you do mean it, right?"
"Yes, honey." She picked up him and cuddled him, feeling him begin to sob as he nestled against her. "Of course I mean it, David. You never have to see him, ever again. We'll look after you and make sure you're safe."
"Can I stay with you?"
"Yes, David." She began to stroke his hair. "You can stay with me here forever if you want to."
"You… you mean it?" He raised his head and looked at her.
"I'm not going to lie to you, David. If I tell you something, then I'll always mean it." With a gentle hand, she wiped away his tears. "You can trust me, David, most of all not to hurt you."
He rested his head against her shoulder again, still sniffling, as she put a second lot of pop-tarts into the toaster.
"Do you want another one, Steve, or will you try something different?"
"Is this just for today?"
She smiled. "We eat like this every day. You never have to eat optimized nutritional supplements again, unless you really want to, that is." Helen grinned at Jarod. "Although I could imagine that it might be possible to develop a longing for that kind of thing."
He pulled a face. "Possible but not likely."
She smiled. "Steve?"
"If it's okay, I'd like to try something else."
"Of course it is." She smiled, filling a mug with boiling water, and stirred in a teaspoonful of coffee, before giving it to him. "Try this."
Jarod took the mug before Steve could taste the contents, adding a large dash of milk and some sugar, before handing it back and glaring at Helen. "What are you trying to do, give him a caffeine overdose?"
Helen laughed as Jarod made himself another mug of coffee, before finishing her own drink. "Do you want another pop-tart, sweetheart?" She looked down at the little boy as he nodded, rubbing his sleeve across his face, and she took a tissue from the box, handing it to him. "Wipe your face on that, baby. It's much nicer."
Taking the hot objects out of the toaster, she put one on Jarod's plate and one on David's, setting the boy down on the chair again and beginning to cook the first of the pancakes.
"Where's David?"
"He and Steve are playing chess." Jarod looked up at her. "Will you tell me more about what went on last night?"
Helen's lips twitched. "What say I show you instead?"
"Can you do that? I would have thought the video feed blocked the tape."
"The genuine footage passed through the interruption point - Angelo's computer in this case - and he recorded what did happen. I received an email from him this morning."
She picked up the laptop and set it on the table, turning it so that Jarod could see the screen. As she started the footage from David's room, Helen kept one eye on the door and watched Jarod's reaction with the other. When Raines appeared in the doorway, she froze it.
"Guess what happens next."
"Well, you're all here, so I guess he didn't kill you." Jarod gazed thoughtfully at the screen. "Did he go to get back-up and you ran?"
"Not quite." She started the footage and let him watch it, grinning as he tried not to laugh. "Well?"
"I love it." The smile faded. "But I don't understand how it happened. He's breathing pure oxygen through that darned tank of his."
"Except that the poor baby has a cold, and so has to breathe through his mouth, meaning that, in a small room like that, the gas was so concentrated that it only took those first few seconds for him to be sufficiently affected."
"I thought it was primarily a sedative."
"It is, but this is where the oxygen tank came in handy. The amount of pure oxygen in his system meant that he was awake but the gas acted to break down his mental resistance to my orders."
"Again, I love it." Jarod glanced at his watch. "And is he awake now?"
"Jarod, it's only eight thirty. He won't be awake for another half hour."
"You mean that works?" His eyes widened. "He'll really sleep that long?"
"We all have an internal clock and it's possible to set it when the person can’t create conscious resistance."
"So have they found out yet?"
"Have they what!" She logged into the security system. "A sweeper had to give a nasty report to my brother this morning when he went to give them breakfast and found the rooms empty."
Jarod smirked. "Poor sweeper."
"Quite. And as a result, my brother's in a pretty bad mood." She chuckled. "But it's about to get a lot worse."
"Why?" Jarod narrowed his eyes. "What are you going to do?"
"I converted my discussion with Raines into a sound file." She waited until the laptop beeped. "My brother just received, from a nice, friendly, anonymous source, a sound file of identical size and duration. I'm not sure if, on top of more pretenders escaping, he wants to know about a planned coup." She shrugged. "But bad luck does supposedly come in threes, and with that nice little mainframe catastrophe..."
"And who else knew about this?"
"Sydney."
"How?"
"He saw me when I was shopping yesterday and didn't believe me when I tried to say that I might have been buying diapers and baby food in an attempt to plan for a 'possible' future."
Jarod laughed softly. "No, I'll bet he didn't. And does he know that they're gone?"
"Well, I presume so." She reached over and shut the laptop before turning on the speaker of the phone and grinning. "Let's find out, shall we?"
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Sydney looked up as Miss Parker, without knocking, marched into his office and he tried to hide a smile. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"What do you know about last night's disappearance, Syd?"
He shrugged. "How could I possibly know anything, Parker? Remember, I wasn't even at the Centre yesterday, having to stay home, on medical orders, to recover from that nasty T-Board."
"Cute. Now the truth please." She looked down suddenly as sound came from the speaker on his desk. "Why is your phone crying?"
Sydney glanced at his watch. "I think it's hungry."
Laughter came from the phone. "Actually, Sydney, it's already been fed. I think it needs a nap."
"Helen?" the brunette gasped.
"Good morning, Miss Parker. Looking forward to a T-Board free day?"
"I… I guess." She sank down into the chair in front of the desk. "Are you insane?"
"You know, that's the second time you've suggested that in three days. If you say it again, I might have to consider believing you."
"Helen, this line is hardly secure."
"On the contrary, Sydney, it's very secure. A friend of mine placed a scrambler on that phone last night. All you have to do is make sure no one walks in unannounced." Helen paused. "Again."
As Sydney smiled, Miss Parker leaned forward. "And do you, by any chance, have an idea where it might be possible for the Triumvirate to find three individuals whose absence is alarming them this morning."
"No."
The woman on the other end paused briefly while Sydney and Miss Parker exchanged mystified glances.
"But I do know where you might be able to find them, if you want to,” Helen continued. “And while you don't have anybody on your back right now it’d be very easy for Jarod to be seen somewhere like Iowa, perhaps, and for all three of you to leave the Centre to find him. There's also the matter of a little difficulty that Debbie was having with her work for school yesterday. A tutor got some of the explanation done last night, but not everything, and, being Saturday and with her not being in school, it would be good to be able to finish it."
Ashe, New York
"So how hard are they looking for them?" Jarod asked, after Helen disconnected the call.
"They're not looking at all." Helen looked at the baby who was asleep in her arms. "They were, but my brother received an anonymous sound file..."
"...about a coup attempt." Jarod folded his arms and sat back in chair, a look of satisfaction on his face. "In other words, they're too busy trying to protect their own backs to worry."
"Considering the fairly small amount of value that Steve or Michael had, and," her arms tightened around the baby, "considering what they'd planned to do to them, their disappearance is virtually unimportant. David has more value to the Centre but, as Raines said last night, he's still inferior to you."
Jarod glanced at her. "I'm impressed at the self-control you're managing to show in front of David, particularly after hearing what Raines said about his parents."
"And I think that I'm about to be unimpressed by yours." She looked up. "Don't start getting angry about it now, Jarod. It happened, and, much as we'd like to, we can't change it. If you show the way you feel about it - and believe me, I do know how much you're feeling because I feel exactly the same - then you aren't going to be able to hide it from the poor boy and he'll pick up on that, the same way you would have at four."
Seeing the mutinous expression on his face, she put a hand on his. "David needs you Jarod, as much as he needs me and as much as Michael and Steve need us both. We can feel sad, angry or anything else about it all, but we can't let it show in front of them."
He nodded slowly. "Does he know?"
"I don't know. I haven't asked. But he hasn't mentioned his parents yet, so maybe he did tell him."
"To a four-year old." Jarod's voice was faint but filled with emotion.
"It's easier for a four-year-old to recover from something like that than for someone our age. It still hurts, but the hurt heals faster, particularly if they're in a loving and caring environment, instead of one where they get beaten regularly." She stood up. "We need to buy some new clothes for all three of them."
"What will you do with the old ones?"
Helen gave a small smile but said nothing. Jarod reached out his hand, grabbing her arm as she passed him.
"Helen," he spoke as if to a child, carefully enunciating each word. "What are you going to do with them?"
"Wrap them up and leave them on my brother's desk for him to find, along with a note, containing another 'medical' recommendation that he doesn't hunt for them or he may find the Centre getting too hot to hold him."
"In what way?"
"The Centre's been struck a blow at two of its weakest points. The old mainframe is unable to be accessed by anybody, as far as they know, and they've also lost several of their pretenders. The next step, of course, is to begin doing things that threaten my brother personally."
"Such as?"
"Well, it would be awful for him to wake up and find himself lying on the floor of his office with no memory of how it happened, wouldn't it?"
"Oh, that's just nasty."
"I know." She grinned. "And I'm sure that you could help me to come up with other things of equal nastiness."
Laughing, he got to his feet. "Well, I'll see. But I'm really a very nice person."
"So am I, as I told you."
"Yes, you only drug people, hit them with your car, kidnap them..."
"Oh, that reminds me. I should take that cast..." Her eye traveled to his arm and, although Jarod quickly tried to slip his hand into his pocket, she grabbed it before glaring at him. "Who gave you medical clearance to take that off?"
"I did." He grinned. "I needed my hand and I felt it had to be better by now. It was, as I told you in the car, only a simple fracture."
"And you're only simple-minded if you go by how it feels. Don't know you that it's normal for bone to feel alright before it really is?"
"Hey, I'm not a doctor!" he protested indignantly.
Helen shook her head. "I should have plastered your mouth as well."
