Joan Undone

Chapter 10

"You can do this, my Joan," Addie says. "You will make the right decision, and you won't stop until these terrorists are no longer a threat."

My dad gives me a wry smile. "If they weren't terrorists, I'd pity them having to go against your iron will. I know firsthand that you will persist in pursuing what you know to be right until you accomplish your goal."

"We love you," Mom says. "You'll always have us."

I meet each of their eyes. "I love you all."

~ ~ ~

Harriet wakes me early, even though our classes at Seattle Secondary are cancelled indefinitely "for the safety of students and faculty" as the message sent to our tablets indicated.

"We need to talk with those we trust while the Bunker is quiet," she says when I try burying my head under my pillow.

Harriet pulls me out of bed and we head to the main room of the Bunker. Sun, Marie, and Nic are huddled over a tablet displaying 3D images of the city in the aftermath of Crew's attack. Justus sits nearby, staring at his hands. Even I can't guess what he's thinking.

"Where's Mase?" I ask.

"He's got a job at a construction site that starts at dawn," says Harriet with undisguised relief. "At least he won't be locked up for unemployment now."

"Good. We'll all need to keep our heads down around Evolved authority more than ever," Nic says.

"Any more insights about Crew's attack last night?" I ask.

"The death toll keeps rising," Marie says. "There's even looting going on downtown."

"The National Guard is going to restore order tomorrow," Nic adds.

"That's a temporary solution," Harriet says gravely.

Sun folds his arms over his chest. "Crew and his team will disappear before he can be tracked down by the government, only to pop up somewhere unexpected to wage his war."

"If we want to take Crew down, and get back to making Throwbacks' lives better, we need help," I say, rubbing my eyes.

"I take it you don't mean my dad," Justus says, finally looking up from his hands.

"I hope we can work with Aft, eventually," I reply. "But he doesn't have the resources or the trust to back us as fast and hard as we need right now."

"You still want to team up with Strand," Justus says, his tone flat.

I nod.

"It's what we agreed on yesterday, and last night changes nothing," Harriet says. "We need to end the violence quickly. Already, the damage done to public opinion about Throwbacks may be irreversible."

"That's intentional," Nic says with a scowl. "Crew told me once that if the Evolved population turns against all Throwbacks, then Throwbacks will have no choice but to band together and fight."

"How could he hope to win?" Marie asks. "The Evolved have more numbers, money, power, everything."

"He wanted to establish a nation of Throwbacks, separate from the rest of the world, where we could make our own laws," Nic says. "I'll admit, it appealed to me. It'd be so much faster to start fresh than to overhaul a broken system."

"But that path is paved in blood," Sun says.

"That's why I'm here, and not in a much more comfortable bed in the Chrysalis," Nic returns.

"Are we in agreement about what has to be done?" I ask.

Everyone nods, even Justus, and I release a breath.

"Good. We can start today. There was a text waiting on my phone when I woke up. Lexi wants to partner with us, and she's willing to prove it with a gesture of good faith. I asked her to release Mav's mother from the Seattle Psychiatric Home."

I show my team Lexi's message on my phone.

Come alone to Liberty Bridge to negotiate terms. Your payment will be waiting.

We pile into the van, and Harriet drops me off a few blocks away from Liberty Bridge. Marie hands me a pair of clear contact lenses.

"They each have micro-cameras embedded in the pupil," she explains. "We'll be with you, watching, the entire time."

"Ready to back you up," Nic adds. "You're not alone."

Justus laces his fingers through mine and squeezes. His fingers are almost as cold as mine, and I know it's killing him to send me out to face Lexi on my own. At least he's smart enough not to try to stop me.

The first thing I see as I approach the old, crumbling bridge is a woman shivering in a thin hospital gown. I jog to her and quickly put my jacket around her shoulders.

"Mrs. Hunter?" I whisper.

"Never again," she says, her voice thin, but firm. "I am Grace Lynn."

"Your son has your eyes," I say, squeezing her arm.

"You've seen my Maverick? Is he safe? Does he know how much I love him?" Grace asks, her voice rising with each question.

"He's safe, and he misses you so much. Now you can be together," I promise.

"I've had Dr. Hunter's funds transferred to his wife's account, as you stipulated," Lexi says.

Her voice makes me jump. "You couldn't have given her something decent to wear? It's freezing this morning."

Lexi waves a dismissive hand. "You didn't ask for that. She is legally released from the Seattle Psychiatric Home, and she has enough money from her husband's savings and life insurance plan to live comfortably with her child."

Lexi takes out keys and hands them to me. "For the furnished townhome you asked for."

I pull Grace behind me a little so that I stand between her and Lexi.

"Your gesture of good faith will not go unrewarded. My team and I have agreed to work with you to take down Crew, as long as you meet the rest of the terms I outlined in our last meeting."

Lexi gives a brisk nod. "Provide value to us, and quickly."

"We know the location of the terrorists' headquarters. We can take him down within the week," I announce.

Lexi's mouth twists. "His influence has spread beyond the walls of any one building. This monster has many heads that must be chopped off before it dies. What else can you offer?"

"Someone on my team has developed an algorithm that predicts where Crew will stir up trouble next throughout the city. It works, but requires immense bandwidth to scale properly and would be more effective if we could also use Strand's ability to track the chips of individual Throwbacks to follow known associates of Crew's team."

"Bring it to Strand headquarters, and we will provide you with dedicated servers," Lexi says.

She holds out her hand, and I grip it tightly, squeezing with enough strength to make her flinch.

"Careful," she says when I release her hand. "Though we work together now, remember not to overstep your place, Throwback."