Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 10 - Allies of Coincidence - III

  Jeremy had no reason to trust her, and plenty of reasons not to. As best he could tell, she was the closest he'd ever come to figuring out what happened to Rallsburg. Everything about her screamed suspicious. He wanted to sit her down in an interrogation room and keep her there until he felt satisfied.

  On the other hand, she sounded a lot more confident than he did. Her self-assuredness was infectious. Jeremy made a split-second decision to do as she asked. She'd made him a promise, and he had to pray she kept it.

  Unless I can just catch her with the army I've got outside. That's always an option.

  Jeremy stood up suddenly, catching the eye of the gunman next to the girl's table. He strode confidently at the man. "Hey."

  "Go back," he grunted.

  "I was hopin' you had a light?" Haven't smoked in twenty years. "Trying to calm my fuckin' nerves here."

  "Look, man..." he started, turning away from the girl's table. His gun followed, leaving her wide open. Jeremy tensed up, ready to dodge out of the way. He expected her to blindside the man, leaving Jeremy free to snatch up his weapon. From there, he'd have to dive into the nearest booth to take cover.

  Girl's gonna get me shot.

  The girl's hand flew out. Her lips moved, but Jeremy couldn't hear her anymore. A handful of light grey dust flew out of her hand. It dissipated into the air, vanishing from his sight in an instant.

  A thick cloud billowed into existence. Jeremy would have sworn it was from a smoke grenade, except that it apparently came out of nowhere, and deployed way faster. White smoke poured into the bar, without the expectant hiss—or any sound at all really. It may as well have been a thick fog bank that rolled in. In fact, Jeremy could feel sudden moisture in the air. He was pretty sure it was a fog bank.

  The fuck?

  Jeremy dove to the side and landed heavily on the nearest bench. He twisted around to get eyes on the gunman. The girl darted out from her seat and plowed into him. She slugged him in the chest with a single fist. With the weight difference between the two and the strength of the punch, he should have felt it for sure, but he wasn't going anywhere.

  The gunman flew backward ten feet though the air into the nearest wall. He crumpled to the ground, wheezing. His gun clattered to the floor.

  "Shit!" Jeremy gasped.

  Gunshots rang out, pouring into the fog. Jeremy stayed in cover, as bullets snapped by and cracked into the wall. They're fucking blind firing!

  A hazy shape moved through the fog, up near the ceiling. The bullets were all whizzing low, where they expected her to duck or take cover. The fog doubled over in density. Jeremy's world became almost pure white. He could barely make out anything more than a foot or two away from him.

  More gunshots, interspersed with the clicking sound of an empty gun. A thump and a crash. Men were groaning in pain. A hostage was screaming.

  "Ashe? Ashe, what the fuck is going on?"

  Apparently the jammer had been broken or turned off somehow. Jeremy fumbled for his radio key. "Stand by," he coughed, feeling a pain in his chest from how he'd landed.

  "Fuck that!" cried the lieutenant. "We've gotta get in there!"

  And fuck up my only lead! "Stand the fuck by!"