The Strangeness Within Pt. 07

"There was no one to teach me," she said. "No Abuela, unless you count Lukas. I've been careful to hide the extent of my abilities, especially any indication that I can affect anything outside my body. Even so I was clearly among the most gifted; no one else can sense the structure of things the way I can. Mechanical combination locks are trivial for me. Other locks are harder, but knowing how they're constructed, knowing what's behind a wall — every lock can be defeated if you hit it the right way."

She finally smiled, and Esther felt herself begin to calm. Nicola had found something after all, even if it wasn't exactly what she'd been looking for. She'd been using her abilities again, and she hadn't shied away from touching Mark or Esther. The psychological wound she'd taken from killing Andrew was healing.

"But what about Franklin?" Mark said. "You shouldn't go anywhere near him."

"It's all right," Nicola said quickly. "Lukas has proven he can resist him. And he's been teaching me. You see, I'm so good at focusing my attention on tiny details. That gives me an advantage, as long as I'm using my sensitivity that way."

"Are you sure?" Esther asked, taking her hand. "Absolutely sure?"

"No, of course I'm not sure," said Nicola. "I'm fucking terrified. But Lukas is physically stronger than me, and he'll be with me the whole time. He promised to knock me out if I show the slightest sign of becoming a zombie. I believe him in this. He absolutely detests Franklin. And in the end, there's no alternative. I'll never live comfortably if Franklin is out there, and this is the best chance to get him."

Mark looked unhappy, but it was her decision.

"I will keep you safe as best I can," said Esther.

Nicola nodded slowly and looked at her again. "So, I assume you're the one who's going to be spying on the Unit. I guess your skills have grown?"

Quickly Esther explained what she'd been able to do to hide Mark the night that Lukas's men had come to the camp.

"It turns out he knows you've been staying there," said Nicola. "I didn't give Lukas any information and he stopped asking. But it's very hard to hide things from him. It's almost spooky at times."

"Nicola," said Javier. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I have to ask. Are you sure there's a chance this raid could succeed? Even if we manage to fry their computers and surveillance and all that? Won't they have many people with talents like you or Lukas?"

Nicola rubbed her eyes.

"It's a long shot," she said bleakly. "But there are a few things in our favor. First, Lukas remembers Franklin being tired after long sessions with him. And that was when he was controlling many fewer people than he is attempting now. Perhaps his control is weaker than it was. Second, Lukas doubts he would have been a very good soldier when he was under Franklin's control. His instincts were still his own, and though he was quite physically strong, at the time he was cautious and had no particular training to fight anyone. There are some people like Andrew, trained as security, but Lukas thinks Franklin was nervous about having too many near him at once. Most of the security is ordinary people with guns, which is bad enough."

"But even one person like Andrew would be a nightmare to face," said Mark. "It's just you and Lukas and a bunch of ordinary people, then?"

Nicola nodded and looked uncomfortable.

"Lukas is even more than he seems," she said. "He's strong, and he's been training himself ever since he escaped. Plus, I told you the spooky way he knows things. Raj described him as the perfect intelligence analyst, but it's more than that. He's at least as sensitive as Mark, and he has such a good intuition that it's almost as though he can predict the future for a little. You see, with his skills he can win almost any fight, but he can also sidestep fights entirely. He certainly doesn't have Abuela's particular skills, and I've never seen him use his abilities beyond his own body, but I would be terrified of him if I weren't on the same side. As it is, though, I don't think there's anywhere safer to be than next to him."

Nicola realized her mistake when she saw Mark's expression. She pulled Mark down next to her on the bed and put an arm around him.

"I wish you could come along, Mark," she said. "You're stronger than anyone Lukas has, and I trust you absolutely. But in there is the wrong place for you. You're too sensitive in exactly the way Franklin could take advantage of."

Mark seemed a little mollified by that, and Nicola kissed him again.

"Oh, God, I've missed you," she said, slipping her hands under his shirt. "Hey, you know, we've still got an hour. Ah, unless there's something else we need to discuss?"

She looked at Esther with pleading eyes, and Esther shook her head. Nicola smiled sadly, and then she attacked Mark.

Kat and Javier stared, frozen, as the two of them pulled each other's clothes off in a frenzy. Esther moved to stand with them, feeling the pleasant tingling of arousal. She'd missed watching Mark and Nicola. But probably this wasn't so simple for the others.

* * *

Javier swallowed uncomfortably when Nicola pulled off her bra, revealing a perfect set of breasts with fat brown nipples. She had freckles as well, similar to Esther's, and she shivered when Mark brushed them with his lips.

"You all right?" Esther asked him and Kat. For her part, Kat was staring openmouthed at the scene. They shared an uneasy glance.

"I guess," said Javier. "I'm not going to stand in their way. Maybe we should take a walk. Uh, except you, Esther. But I guess you're used to it."

"They're used to it as well," said Esther. "They don't think about privacy the same way we do. But maybe we could go over our plans. I could even do a trial run."

Kat nodded and unpacked her laptop, modem and other equipment. There was nothing special about the phone line in the room, but it was sufficient for what they were going to try.

Javier glanced back to see Nicola on all fours, her breasts jiggling with every thrust. But Mark's muscled ass blocked the best views. He swallowed and tried to focus on what Kat was saying. Though honestly Kat seemed even more flustered than him.

Esther took occasional looks, but she was obviously calmer about it than they were. And it was turning her on. Javier could see the little signs.

"All right," Esther said. "I've been too nervous to extend my senses that direction, but I have to try this sometime. Might as well give it a shot."

She gestured for Javier to sit in the chair, and then she straddled him, smiling when she felt his raging erection. He held her tight and began to stroke her back, and she rested her head on his shoulders. And since there was nothing else to look at, he watched Mark and Nicola fucking as though they might never get the chance again.

Esther's breathing slowed, and she rubbed herself rhythmically against him. She probably wouldn't get an orgasm this way, but he could tell how much she was enjoying it.

"It's quiet," she muttered. "So quiet. Hardly anyone's even talking in there."

"Can you sense Franklin?" he asked, heart pounding.

"I know where he is," Esther said. "I'm trying not to even think about him."

Javier shut his mouth. Esther was doing something dangerous, and she hardly needed his input.

After a few minutes, Esther sighed and kissed him.

"No luck," she said, climbing off of his lap. "I found a computer room with a few people. I could even sense some of what they were typing. No passwords."

"Write down everything," said Kat. "The more I know about their systems, the better our chances."

The three of them were suddenly distracted by a deep moan from Nicola. Mark kept pounding into her from behind, and finally she gasped, the ensuing silence filled only by the continued squelching noises of Mark's cock in her dripping pussy.

Nicola finally collapsed, and Esther began writing on a pad for Kat. But Javier couldn't pay attention to that, because Nicola stood up, stark naked, and smiled slightly at him. Mark had rolled over on his back, his glistening cock standing erect, and Nicola moved to straddle him. Then she settled herself down, facing the other three unashamedly as she continued to fuck Mark.

Javier jumped when he felt Esther's hand on his cock. But she simply rested it there. And Javier was too unsettled to know what to do about it.

Kat's voice interrupted them.

"Can you get some more information?" she asked. "Listen for a while longer?"

The room had two queen beds. Javier half expected Esther to head for the other. If she did, he would follow her. Surrender to this strange scene. He'd do anything for her.

But she simply sat on his lap again, and he sighed and closed his eyes. The room was a haze of smells and overripe feelings. He'd barely slept last night out of anxiety, and exhaustion warred with arousal. Whenever he blinked his eyes open, there was Nicola, her back arched in ecstasy, her body on full display. She was intimidating, and he ached for her. But that ache was nothing like the ocean of need for the tiny woman in his arms. She was the smartest, the bravest person he'd ever know. If the best he could do was make it easier for her remarkable abilities, that was enough for him.

Some time later Nicola was getting dressed. He'd fallen asleep, but Esther was still rocking gently against him. Finally she sighed and stood up. A few seconds later there was a knock on the door.

"That's for me," Nicola said sadly. She gripped Esther tightly. "Promise me," she said softly. "If Lukas fails, don't let me be taken by Franklin. I don't care what you have to do to me, as long as it doesn't put you at risk."

"I promise," said Esther, and then she kissed Nicola right on the lips. It was a strangely erotic thing for Javier.

Nicola walked out with the grace of a martyr.

* * *

Kat rubbed her face unhappily and poked at the cold Chinese food.

"It's worse than I thought," she said. "That computer I tried and failed to hack? I don't think it's actually configured to accept remote logins. Given the Unit's paranoia, I'm starting to think none of their computers is. They just left one apparent access point dangling to try to sniff out intrusion attempts. And I fell right into that trap. Lucky I'm so careful to disguise where I'm coming in from."

Esther had eavesdropped until she was too tired to continue, and no one had entered anything like a password, or spoken more than a few words. And she supposed that didn't even matter given Kat's suspicions.

"Lukas was right," Javier said. "They have thought about someone sensitive trying to listen in. Maybe there's no way to do this after all. But I hate the idea that we can't do anything."

"Let's sleep on it," Esther said. "There's something tickling my mind about this. But I'm not thinking straight."

Javier looked at the two beds. He and Esther would be sharing, of course, but he could hardly expect Kat —

"Where's Mark?" he asked suddenly. Then he remembered: Mark had been pacing the room in agitation, and he'd slipped out for a little air, promising to be back shortly. But that was at least ten minutes ago.

Esther looked suddenly panicked. But she nodded quickly after closing her eyes and nodded. "He's in the hall," she said.

And just after she said it, there was a horrible crashing noise outside.

Javier was the first to react, rushing to open the door, in time to see a half-dressed man stagger past their door and disappear around the hall. A woman starting yelling in Spanish.

The door diagonally across from them was ripped completely off its hinges. Javier stepped carefully into the room and almost bumped into Mark, who was walking back to their room with a dazed look.

The woman in the other room was in her twenties, wearing only panties, and holding her hand against her mouth. She was bleeding slightly and swearing incoherently.

"¿Estás bien?"

She stared at him like he was a complete idiot, which he suspected he was. She pointed in the direction of their room and started swearing more specifically about Mark.

"Fucking moron. I can handle a man like that," she mumbled in Spanish, dabbing at her lips. "Oh, Ernesto is going to kill me. The door, that idiot. I've got to get out."

As she put her bra on, things began to click into place. This shitty motel was exactly the place where certain transactions would happen. And Mark had apparently interrupted one.

"Would money help with Ernesto?" he asked.

She looked at him again as though he was an idiot, but she was listening. He pulled out three hundred dollars, everything in his wallet, and she stared at the money as though he was trying to trick her. But then she grabbed it and struggled into her tight shoes.

"Doesn't help with the door," she said. "Doubt you can fix that. Shit, I'm out of here."

She grabbed her purse and hobbled down the hall. Javier went out in the hall and was struggling pointlessly with the door when he heard another man's voice.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Javier turned his head and found himself face-to-face with a sputtering, overweight man. It was the motel manager.

"Sorry," he said with a thick accent. "Crazy man. Ernesto says sorry. I have money to fix. Eleven hundred dollars?"

The manager gaped at him while Javier slipped into their room to retrieve most of the rest of their cash. Kat and Esther seemed to be trying to take care of Mark, so he went right back out. When he'd paid the manager, the man looked somewhat mollified.

"You tell Ernesto not to let anything like this happen again," the manager said in a low voice. "I run a quiet establishment, and money can't solve everything."

Javier nodded quickly and closed the door.

Mark was sitting up on the bed, shaking his head. "He was hurting her," he kept repeating.

"She's all right," said Javier. "And you scared him off. He's not going to hurt her again."

"Javier's right," said Esther. "Calm down, Mark. Your heart was in the right place, but we can't fix everything all at once. We have a job to do."

"Where's Nicola?" he demanded.

Nervously, Esther closed her eyes.

"Nicola's fine," she said after a few seconds. "Back in the hotel with Lukas, though it looks like they're packing up for tomorrow."

Mark nodded and lay back on the bed. In a few minutes he was sound asleep in that infuriating way of his.

Kat sighed.

"He volunteered to sleep on the floor," she said. "But I'm not about to evict him. Would you guys sleep OK with me in the bed too?"

Somehow Javier wound up sandwiched between the two women. And to his surprise, he slept like a baby.

...*** Chapter 45 ***...

Kat scowled in frustration. It was nearing lunch and they were going around in circles. Mark's constant pacing wasn't helping any of their tempers.

"You sure you can't just blow up all their computers with your mind? That would be convenient."

Esther rubbed her eyes. "You know I can't do that. Maybe Abuela could affect external things with her mind, and so can Nicola. But it was difficult for both of them, and I've never managed anything like it."

"Wait," Javier said. "That's not true. You can pull on sensitive people from a great distance. And you always explain that's because humans are already listening for sensory input, and because they're poised among decisions. Wasn't that the whole reason we started thinking about computers as well?"

Esther paused and nodded slowly. "Kat," she said. "Let's think about this a different way. Are there things a computer is always listening for? Or maybe some sensitive hardware that could change its behavior given just the right weak signal?"

Kat pushed her chair back and thought.

"Yes," she said finally. "That sort of sensitivity is everywhere. Software or hardware are always subject to misbehavior if they get unexpected input. We live with the idea that random failures can happen, and we just design so those failures are very unlikely."

"And that's where I come in," said Esther with some excitement. "Javier's right. Whatever it is I do to touch other humans' senses might allow me to touch - a computer's senses? I just have to find the right butterfly to flap its wings. And I'm getting better at that all the time."

Kat broke into a smile. "All right," she said. "Let me think about this."

But it wasn't so simple. Kat knew a lot, and Esther's surveillance so far had given her plenty of clues about the hardware and software in Unit's computers. But Kat only had so much memorized.

By dinner time, they all felt the time pressure. Kat finally threw up her hands and presented their best option.

"The switching router," she said. "I know that hardware inside and out. It's the best chance. If you can reset it, I know its usual default password, and that could give me an access point. From there, I have a chance, if they've made any mistakes. If, if, if."

"Tell me everything about this router," said Esther, and Kat nodded tiredly.

As always, Javier was astonished and a little terrified when Esther set her mind to learning something. Of course she wouldn't forget anything Kat told her, but it took a lot more than that to understand a complicated bit of hardware. Esther would sometimes stop for a few seconds and stare at nothing, and then ask an apparently unrelated question. In the end, her mind just didn't work the way Javier's did. Or Kat's, to judge from the growing irritation of the other woman.

"All right," Kat said. "That's all I have. Seriously. I wish I'd brought the technical manual with me."

"No, this was far better than a technical manual," Esther said. "I'd have needed to ask you all those questions anyway. Now I need to think for a little."

Javier wasn't surprised when Esther took out her pen and started doodling one of her bizarre geometric drawings. After some minutes she sighed.

"OK, Javier. I think we need to have sex."

He suppressed a nervous laugh. Of course she was serious. It was just so — horribly unromantic.

Esther took his hand and kissed him, hard. But she trembled against him, and not from excitement. She was as terrified about all this as he was. He stroked her hair and looked around.

Mark kept pacing as though neither of them were there. Kat had slid over to the corner with her laptop, and was studiously ignoring them.

Finally Kat looked up at the two of them awkwardly embracing.

"Well, this sucks for you guys," said Kat. "Who wants sex to be an obligation? And it's not like Mark and I are helping the mood. Tell you what. I'm going to take Mark out on a walk for a half hour. You guys should get in the bath or something. Mark? Let's get some air."

She cautiously took Mark's arm, and he blinked. After a few seconds he nodded and followed her out the door.

Esther sat on the bed. "I'm so sorry, Javier. I'm treating you like an appliance or something. Kat is totally right. I swear, when this is all over, I'll make it up to you."

Javier sat next to her. "Nothing to apologize for," he said. "I knew you were a weirdo from the first time we met. So what if you sometimes need sex for reasons that no one else does? I should consider it good fortune. It's not like I don't enjoy it."

Esther leaned against him. "You're too good to me. Now, I'm going to take Kat up on the bath thing. But could you give me a while alone? I need to get my body in the mood. Maybe you should do the same. Do you want to have sex with Kat?"

"What?" spluttered Javier.

"Maybe not tonight," said Esther. "But sometime. I think she wants that. And I know I want to have sex with Nicola again, if that's all right with you. Now I'm going to go to the bath and think about that, and then think about what the two of us are going to do in a few minutes."

But when Esther emerged naked twenty minutes later, Javier had lost the mood entirely. He couldn't stop thinking about Franklin, and how much danger they were all in. And he kept expecting someone to barge through the door: the police, the Unit, or just Mark and Kat.