Right Through Me (The Obsidian Files #1)(90)

“Which one?” He was baffled. “You mean, me almost getting myself killed? Putting us all in danger?”

Sisko waved away that inconsequential detail. “I mean, you going nuts, kicking ass, giving a shit. It’s great. A messy, stupid, all-around bad idea, but we like it. A lot.” Sisko took a long swallow of his beer, wiped his grinning mouth, and added, “We are entertained.”

“Drink,” said Zade. “Here’s to f*cking up your life like you mean it.”

Noah was too tired to think of anything to say in reply. He lifted the beer. Drank.

It tasted great.





Chapter 25


“What was that all about?” Caro asked. She didn’t want to go through all the bags and boxes dumped on the bed where Hannah was sitting.

Hannah sniffed, and dabbed at her eyes. “It’s just that Noah’s always been so intense about keeping the Midlands story a secret,” she said. “He’s so paranoid.”

“Knowing him, there has to be a good reason,” Caro said.

“Yeah, there is. He’s afraid that Obsidian will come after us. He’s never told a single soul about what happened, or allowed any of us to tell, either. And he spilled the whole thing to you, after what? Two days?”

“Today makes three, I think,” Caro said, distractedly.

Hannah shook her head. “It’s strange, that’s all. That he trusts you. Noah never trusted anyone. Not even when he was a kid. That was how we survived.”

“You mean at Midlands?”

“And before,” Hannah said. “He kept me and Asa alive for months, before we ended up there. They scrounged money or stole stuff to sell. Then he amped it up. Wouldn’t tell me how. He’s crazy smart. This was before Obsidian jacked his brain up to the stratosphere. And they were going to euthanize him.” Her expression was stony. “Almost all the boys in our group were on that kill list.”

“But why? Why kill him? Or any of you?” Caro asked.

“They went too far,” Hannah said. “They got scared. Noah was light years smarter than those *s to begin with, and they just kept maximizing him. When they realized what they’d done, they panicked. But Noah made his move just in time. Saved our asses.” She shook her head. Her eyes were haunted. “That was a bad day.”

Caro’s neck prickled with horror as she imagined it, all too vividly.

“Noah’s a natural leader,” Hannah went on. “And he’s a good guy. He saw kids exploited and hurt, and he fought back. Kinda got to be a habit with him, I guess.”

“I don’t doubt that for one second,” Caro said wryly.

“Yeah, well, he still tries to do most of the fighting, even though we’re all grown up, more or less. And then you came along. Looks like he feels responsible for you, too.” She wiped her eyes and gave Caro a tremulous smile. “You’re lucky. We were lucky. Believe me, I know.”

So, Caro thought. Noah was used to being a hero. Nothing more personal, or specific, to it. Like love. Clearly not a Noah concept.

“What about you?” she asked Hannah. “What did they do to you in that place?”

Hannah let out a short, harsh laugh. “Oh, plenty. Noah didn’t say anything to you about our mods?”

“Just about his eyes,” Caro said. “And some ominous hinting.”

“Yeah, it would take a lot of telling. His mods are extreme. My main thing is frequency processing. I have brain implants that let me send, receive and jam various frequencies with my mind. I don’t need any hardware.”

“You mean inside your skull? Right in your brain?”

“Yeah, they drilled a lot of holes in my head. Not fun. But I wasn’t on their kill list yet when Noah busted us out. Me and some of the others were younger, so the researchers held back a little. We got a shitload of implants. Intensive brain stims.”

“It’s a miracle you’re alive,” Caro said.

Hannah shrugged. “I try not to think about it. So when did he tell you about Midlands?”

“After you left last night,” Caro said. “I saw his scars the night before.”

“Yeah, we all have them,” Hannah said ruefully. “Some are from rebellion day. Some are from the do-it-yourself surgery right afterwards.”

“I’m not sure I want to know.” Caro looked at her apprehensively.

“You might need to know someday,” Hannah said.

It sounded like a warning. Caro nodded. “Go on.”

“Noah and Sisko and Luke had hacked into Obsidian’s computer system, and memorized all our geotagged implants. After we escaped, I jammed our internal frequencies until Noah could get bandages and disinfectant, and sterilize his pocket knife. Then he cut them out.” She shuddered. “There were a lot.”

“My God,” Caro whispered.

“Yeah. But Noah got it done, and he kept us all in one piece afterwards. I don’t know how. Figured out how to damp down our augmented sensory processing so that we wouldn’t go batshit. We survived, more or less sane. Most of us. We lost a few.” A shadow flitted across her face.

“Did you still have . . . any . . .” Caro’s voice trailed off. “Sorry. Shouldn’t ask.”