A Deli Sized Problem (Ch. 2)

Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he ran. His legs pumped hard and fast, carrying him onward, his assisted by the pure determination his mind and spirit held for the safety of his sister. The cars flying down the busy one-way street looked, to him, to be moving at idle speeds. His timing was perfect as he ran between two cars in the first lane, leapt over the hood of one in the second, and successfully rolled through the third. Onlookers in the park he traveled through were dumbfounded as the man streaked by, dodging runners, cyclists and children at play.

When he reached the garage, he burst through the door to find Ed, the district manager holding a set of keys. "We got the call from Mr. Davison, sir. We've reserved the best car in this garage for you." Sabrina had to have told Max that Marcus was in a hurry, and by the looks of the cheesy grin on Ed's face, somebody was pushing for a promotion, but Marcus could sense the restrained curiosity so poorly hidden behind those bleached white teeth.

Marcus took the keys in haste. "Executive car with uplink?"

"Absolutly, sir! Only the best for you." Ed didn't hesitate one instant. At least he was efficient.

"Where is it?"

"Just around the side of the building, sir. Is there anything el..." Marcus was gone before he could finish his brown-nosing. He found the car easily, and clicked on the viewscreen as he attached his phone to the panel. He called his secretary back as he started to drive. Her aged features appeared on the screen in a flash.

"Oh, sir! I was expecting just a voice..."

"The coupe, Sabrina. Where is it?"

She looked just a bit offended. Marcus made a note to give make it up to her later. "GPS wasn't able to locate it, so it's probably being taken through the tunnels. Roadside sensor towers are searching now but it's taking a bit more time to figure out exactly where it's going since it's still moving.

"I don't need to know the exact spot. What road and direction?"

"I-30, East."

If she's on I-30 and already underground... Marcus quickly estimated how fast she had to be going. This was going to be harder than he thought. He looked back to the screen. "And the security team?"

"They'll be at the diner within ten minutes, sir."

"Thank you, Sabrina. Take the day off tomorrow."

The elderly secretary giggled a bit. "What? And give myself twice the work tomorrow? No thank you."

Marcus shook his head and hung up the phone. He cranked the wheel hard to the right as he reached the onramp, and stomped on the accelerator. He wasn't sure if he could catch her, but at least he wouldn't be TOO far behind.
 
Lights passed in a blur, much like the sun shining through a fence that one was passing by. The droll hum of the engine sent her mind in a spiral of thoughts that centered directly around her father's best friend. She remembered much about Derek. He was tall, broad shouldered and dark haired. He had always reminded Katarina of a spy, especially when he put his sunglasses on. He just had that look. Katarina had grown up with Derek in her life. Since he worked a lot with her father, she saw him frequently. She considered him as close as her brother was to her. But this was years ago. They hadn't spoken since her father had died. Lost contact, shut out, whatever you wanted to call it, had happened. Perhaps the sight of him, the very thought of him would give her to many memories of her father. Maybe that was the reason that she stayed away. She couldn't rightly recall. What she did remember what his beach-front property on the secluded corner of the beach. The only question in her mind was whether or not he still lived there. Did he move after her father had died? If he did, how would she find him? Was he even still alive?

The very thought that he might not be there sent a wave of sadness filling her. Quickly she concluded that she wouldn't speculate. It wasn't worth it to guess what may or may not happen.

With the road rising from the tunnel and her lane intersecting onto the interstate, she glanced at the fuel gauge, the speedometer, the time, and concluded that she had an hour's drive ahead of her. It had been a long time since she'd traveled in this direction. A very long time.
 
The engine of the company car screamed as Marcus put everything he had into catching up with his sister. The traffic and construction monitoring system flashed multiple warning lights telling him he was going too fast in order for a human to be able to compensate for any sudden moves other motorists might make on the road which the computer wouldn't be able to anticipate. Luckily, since traffic integration systems had become as legally mandatory as seatbelts, everyone else was well aware of the fact that somebody was coming up on them at over 120 mph. They moved.

He got more than a few angry shouts as he zipped by the drivers in the tunnel. An image flashed on the screen in the vehicle with red and blue lights around it. It was a police message. "Stop your vehicle now or we will remotely override your system."

Marcus laughed and opened the center console. He removed a computer chip and smirked as he held it in front of the screen. "With all due respect, officer...go lick yourself." He popped the chip into one of the ports in the dash and the image crackled and blurred before flashing off the screen, again. It was an ecryption chip for the neural interface of the traffic integration system. It would make it impossible for the police to keep track of him. Unfortunately, it would also make it impossible for anyone else on the road to know for sure where the speeding blip was coming from. He would have to rely on the local news network, which he was certain would be broadcasting the warning any moment. The angry motorists and police would make sure of that.
 
The road veered to the side and eventually she'd diverted onto a dirt road, then to another dirt road. The distance seemed endless until she reached the end of the road labeled "End of the Road." The amusement of the street name came specifically from Derek. He'd petitioned to have it changed at his request and had been successful in it.

<i>the end of the road...</i>

He wasn't kidding. The road itself stopped and rolled into dirt before falling into a gentle slope. She stopped at the top, stepped out of the car and looked down to the old home.

with a white wrap around porch and shutters against a light blue siding, the house would have appeared perfect for some woman to be part of, however the fishing netting draped across the top signified a fisherman of some sort. The house was set on stilts to avoid the high tide with its close proximity to the water.

"I wondered where you were..."

The voice came from behind her, unmistakable in tone. Even after all these years she could distinctly recognize his voice. Derek. She turned un-knowing if he was threatening or friendly, or even if he had a gun pointed at her. He kept his distance as her eyes met his. It was as if he was slightly afraid of her. She, apparantly, had the same look in her eyes.

"Katarina, I'm not going to kill you." He replied and motioned towards his home. "Come, there's much for you to learn. Your brother will be here shortly."

She had no other choice. Regardless if he was on her side or not, he had a massive amount of answers for her questions. She followed him.
 
The stock capacity of the engine had been exceeded long before Marcus even entered the tunnel. Since then, he had gradually accelerated, now upward of 130 mph. The only thing that kept him from turning into a flying dart of flame was his own shortened reaction times. Even on the motorcycle, the genetically altered bruiser wouldn't have been able to navigate through the tunnel with anywhere near the precision of Marcus. Besides, he didn't have the encryption code Marcus did. The police would shut down his system, and he would get to explain his magnificant failure to the "doctor."

As the company car streaked out of the tunnel, the tracking system for his own car came alive again on the display screen. His sister wasn't far off. and she'd stopped. Wherever she was, he hoped she wasn't in any amount of trouble. In the mindset she was in, there was no telling what she was doing, or even capable of doing he thought to himself. After seeing how she handled herself in the bar, he had to wonder if she really needed her younger brother's protection, at all. He wasn't willing to take the chance, and he continued to dart past the now light traffic, searching for the rode she'd turned off from.
 
Despite the rising capabilities that Katarina had managed to unravel, she still preferred the strength that she felt from having her brother behind her. It didn't matter how powerful you were, whenever there was someone else with you, it caused to to feel unstoppable.

Now here she walked with a link of the past that could either obliterate her with one swift move of his hand, or embrace her. It was an odd situation not knowing whether to trust or fear someone.

One of the strict rules of combat was to always know your territory. Walking into his home she was suddenly thrown into a place that she knew only from a faint memory. As the 'rule of combat' fell through her head she also wondered how she knew that.

The walls of his home were barren of photos. Devoid of proof of the past or links to anyone who might be worth remembering. And yet, one photo in a silver frame sat on the edge of his desk.

"Lemonade?" He asked, his voice sounding exhausted.

"Uhm, sure." She replied walking towards the picture. It was of Derek and her father. They were much younger. Both had the world in their eyes as they stood on the cliff of Monrai. She knew it to be the cliffs, for behind them at the base of the photo was a valley of endless reaching, then once more (if you looked closely) another cliff fell beneath there. Perhaps it was to some undiscovered world.

"We used to go parachuting." The voice hit her and she looked up, now just realizing she had the picture in her hand. She took the offered lemonade and sat on the side of the couch. "The Cliff of Monrai was one of our main sites. The winds were so perfect that one could fly forever..." He drifted off as she looked to the picture.

"I haven't been there since your father..." He didn't need to finish for they both knew what he was going to say. "Katarina..." he paused for a moment. "Your father was a brilliant man, but also one of secrets..."

One of Secrets?Kat questioned.

"He worked for a branch of the..."

"government..." Kat finished for him. "I know."

"You know more than I thought you would."

"Yes, well there was much that I had to learn before even coming here."

There was a moment of silence between both of them. Finally Derek broke it.

"Katarina. Regardless of the information that you'll learn about your father, about yourself, and about your brother. Remember one thing. Your father loved you beyond the limits of how any father could love a child."

She wanted to let a tear escape, but she felt hollow within. "How much can a father adore a daughter when he constantly does harmful, painful tests on her."

"Katarina..." Derek replied. "Your father loved you, but he had an illness..."

"My father was sick?" She questioned looking up.

Derek nodded. "He had an addiction to power. Unyielding power."

Then what did he do to me? She asked herself in her mind, though she couldn't formulate the thoughts into words.

Then what did he do to me?
 
He almost missed it. Marcus had taken his eyes away from the pattern of road, screen, road, screen, for one brief moment. In that moment, the small side road appeared. With all the skill of a professionally trained driver, (anyone who drove a company car was required to have bi-annual driver's training) and using his fast reactions, Marcus whipped the car off to the side, now being forced to navigate a much more narrow road, with a lot more turns. Even his reactions and the car's handling couldn't take on all that was being thrown at it. He was forced to slow down, though the 60mph on the side road, and subsequent two dirt roads, was still much faster than any "sane" driver would have chosen to travel. Marcus wasn't concerned with sanity at the moment. He was concerned with his sister's welfare.

Then he saw the sign, and had to slam the brakes and turn the wheel sharply to one side, then the other to avoid fishtailing into his own car. "End of the road...amusing." The guardian of a little brother mumbled to himself.

Marcus placed one hand on his throwing knives and got out of the car. Looking very much like a scene from a movie, the guardian younger brother, with a cautious look of anticipation spread across his face, stepped out of the massive cloud of dust kicked up by the sliding car.

"Katie!?" He didn't bother to be quiet. The sound of his approach would have let anybody know he was there. He approached the house quickly, all his awareness spent on vigilance.
 
Seated on the couch she stared at the picture before placing it back on the desk. "So how much do you know?" She asked him.

"Quite a bit. Though your father was smart to keep secrets, he was a man...and men have a unique capability for blabbing their achievements."

"Achievements?" She questioned looking to him.

"You...and your brother."

"Katie!?"

Katarina didn't miss the angst in the voice and stood to her feet at the same time that Derek had. "Marcus?" She asked pushing aside the screen door to step onto the patio. Her eyes immediately diverted from him to his hand. Like a predator seeing the danger advancing upon them, she almost instinctually knew that he was carrying a lethal case of brotherly-protection.

She was relieved to see that he wasn't harmed, for as much as she could see. Without realizing she'd done so, she'd rushed to him in a relieved embrace. She didn't bother asking how he'd found her, for he had always had the knack of being able to do such a thing. When she released him and stepped back, she looked to the porch where Derek stood. He looked like an old man who had experienced too much in his life. Too much grief and sorrow and not nearly enough happiness. With a nod Derek spoke to him.

"Hello Marcus."
 
(OOC: Copied and pasted and added a little editing for the sake of bumping)

Nothing could describe the relief he felt to see his sister come out of the house. His hand did not release the weapons, but he returned her hug with careful manipulation of the blades as his eyes shot to Derek. He thought he recognized the man. Maybe. He couldn't, really, be sure. He still had adrenaline coursing through him from the trip over here. There was very little he could be certain of. Right now his sister was alive, and seemingly unharmed, but the extreme protective mindset was not one he so easily dropped.

As his sister backed away from him, he unconsciously took a step forward to make himself the first target between he and his sister, should something go awry. The look of a worn-out older man on Derek's face did nothing to make Marcus less suspicious. He twirled the blades around in his hand with practiced precision. "Well now that you know my name, why don't you tell me yours?"
 
Back
Top Bottom