Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

95 ∞ chaos I

Day Nineteen ∞ Tuesday afternoon

MAJOR GILLIBRAND! Who the hell does he think he is? An avenging angel? Gray slid one step at a time one row closer, keeping low without trying to hide. His prime operative diagonally crossed the stage to the opposite side, his grim gaze targeting the EBE queen between them. So far, Gray had only glimpsed two soldiers outside the main exit before the double doors closed. Gray needed to locate where the others were. Except for the gentle illumination of the stage and front row seats by the slowly rotating, holographic Earth slice, the rest of the auditorium remained in shadow.

If only someone would switch on the lights.

If he were Major Gill, he'd have at least ten men with him to take out the door guards and prevent reinforcements from interrupting whatever-it-was the major had planned. There'd be one manning each of the other four doorways right now, hidden behind the sound-absorbing wooden panels that prevented someone entering from disturbing the audience.

Most of the audience was frozen with eyes glued to the figure commanding the stage with the M-16. Maybe they're still under the Power Voice effect.

A quick scan of the entire room verified that none of the soldiers were in sight. Gray nodded. It was as expected. Gillibrand wouldn't be concerned about the audience. After all, this was meant to be a civil meeting. It was unlikely that the officers who filled over a third of the seats carried their arms with them into the theater.

As Gray refocused on the stage area, the entire room lit up for an instant. The recessed ceiling bulbs flickered erratically for several seconds, and Gray narrowed his irritated eyes before something else caught his attention.

Next to Mickmi Wamba and the McGahn boy on stage, an older woman in a white suit materialized, her pale blonde tresses lifted as if by static electricity before settling on her shoulders. The three-dimensional projection vanished and the tabletop lasers switched off as the flickering settled to bathe the auditorium with soft illumination.

Gray blinked. Where did she come from? For an instant, his mind went blank. Then it kicked back into gear, recalling the briefs from Major Gill. The 'Snow Ghost'!

So the so-called Aumega was still alive. He shouldn't be surprised. Especially since the ear taken from her body disintegrated into the thin air before it could be studied in the lab. She didn't appear to be missing an ear now. She stood with her back turned to Gillibrand who stared at her in astonishment.

The woman shifted her head in quick, slight movements as if she were holding a discussion with the two but she did not speak or move her lips. Gray needed nothing else to realize she utilized telepathy. After a moment, they seemed to have reached a consensus because the woman stepped to the girl queen's right side and turned to face the threat as Danny repositioned himself to shield Mickmi. The move made Gillibrand sneer and point his M-16 directly at the boy's face.

What— Before Gray could make sense of Danny's blurring collar, it had expanded into an opaque, spherical helmet, completely covering his head, and the material on his back shifted to a shimmering navy blue. A similar helmet hid Mickmi's head and a translucent layer shielded her torso.

Smart move, Gray thought. Armored, faceless targets would throw Major Gill off in his psychological state.

Gillibrand switched his focus to the Aumega woman who turned semi-transparent just as an officer from the front row jumped down onto the stage.