Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls - Jane Lindskold [84]
I straighten then with a first and last kiss for Jersey. Midline has gathered the papers and disk and handed them to Abalone.
I look down. “Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Then I leave, ignoring the others’ comforting gestures, running as soon as I reach the hallway. When we reach the room the Pack is using as a command center, only Head Wolf, Margarita, and Edelweiss remain. A kit bag leans against Margarita’s leg and she holds my aquarium clasped in her arms.
She shrugs. “The Wolf let me get my stuff and I grabbed this from your room. Not even a carp deserves to starve to death.”
I motion as if to take that tank and she seems pleased. “You want it? Good. Think of me sometime.”
“Naked I came into the world,” I answer. “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
When we get to the outer door, Margarita turns with a wave and climbs aboard a small grav cycle.
“Better than severance pay,” she says, then is gone.
The rest of us pile into a somewhat more cumbersome van. Peep raises us and sets a course, then he turns to us.
“I redid her vehicle registration,” he says with a shy smile. “She can sell it with a clear record whenever she wants to.”
Tense silence falls then, as if quiet will help make certain that we can get safely away. Only when we are out of the tropical zone completely does Professor Isabella recall the papers that Abalone still clutches.
“Sarah, may I see what Jersey left you?” she asks.
I nod, inordinately pleased that she has asked since she knows that I cannot read. Abalone hands them over and Professor Isabella skims them, her eyebrows rising slightly as she does.
“Sarah, do you wish to hear these now or later?”
I shrug, gesturing at those in the van. “We be of one blood, ye and I.”
She nods and clears her throat. “Sarey, I thought a great deal about what you told me in the Comp-C and I’ve gotten a message out. If there are people looking for you as good as that girl you mentioned, they’ll find you.”
Abalone grunts as if acknowledging the compliment, but she looks puzzled, too. Professor Isabella goes on with the letter.
“I thought that my link wasn’t detected, but I find I’m locked into my room—mechanically, so I can’t override. What I told you about me is true, Sarey. I’m an addict and if they don’t come with my fix, I’ll start dying—have a breakdown first, though. So, when I know there’s no coming back for me, I’ll finish myself. The computers I built up in the Comp-C were a great idea, but I wish now I’d never pulled it off.
“The data disk contains what information I could scrounge on my employers. It also has what dirt I could find on Dr. Aldrich. That one scares me more than Dr. Haas—I don’t think he even sees you as a person. Maybe this information will help you to stay clear once you get out of here.
“If I don’t get to tell you myself, I’m rooting for you, and it was real nice talking to you. Yours, Jersey.”
Silence holds for a moment after Professor Isabella finishes, then Head Wolf asks softly, “He could talk to you?”
I nod, unwilling and glad to be unable to explain.
Head Wolf seems to appreciate that I have reasons for my silence.
“Lucky man,” he says. “We’ll keep you safe now, all of us.”
“We’ve got a new Jungle now, Sarah,” Abalone says, bouncing a bit, “better than the Cold Lairs under the highway. You’ll see. Bet you’ll like it.”
I smile slightly.
“Sarah,” Professor Isabella asks, her curiosity digging for the final pieces of the puzzle. “Did you ever find out about your brother and sister?”
I look at her, then pull Betwixt and Between close. “I am a brother to dragons, a companion to owls.”
And that’s all there really is to say.
Seventeen
BUT, OF COURSE, THAT’S NOT.
Head Wolf may be willing to leave unanswered the questions raised by Jersey’s letter, but Abalone is all mongoose—eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity—and Professor Isabella isn’t any better. Abalone saw enough of Jersey’s office to have an idea of what he was doing with the Comp-C. Now she wants to recreate it.
I’m not so certain. I miss