The Rogue Wolf Read online

  She looked at her reflection again, wanting and hoping everything was in order. She remembered when she had melted the thing once when her reflection gave a bad review. The memory made her smirk as she left the bathroom.

  The floor boards were so loose in the apartment that even the Clairvoyant caused squeaks and groans as she made her way to the door. It was the best she was able to afford. Having a roommate was out. She had tried a couple times, but no one wanted to live with a Clairvoyant. The cockroaches she couldn’t see but knew were there didn’t count. She entered the elevator, pressed the button to the ground floor, and sighed.

  “Not impossible,” she said to herself, hoping.

  When the elevator opened, the building’s super, Anthony, was standing in front of her. She had never said anything to him, nor he her. But they did have some semblance of a relationship. He sneered at her and she tried her best to ignore him. She glanced at him, and he her. She walked by him, not gracing him with another glance. Once, she had overheard him saying to another tenant that occupancy had dropped fifteen percent since Carmen rented there. That, of course, was her fault, but for what it was worth, she figured it had more to do with the war draft than run-of-the-mill Clairvoyant fear. Whatever the case, someone she was actually pleased to see was in the lobby.

  “Theodore,” she called.

  The boy glanced up at her and smiled, but he was too preoccupied with whatever he was doing to hug her leg as he usually did.

  “Hello,” he squealed.

  Theodore was four. None of the other children ever played with him, and none of the other adults, as far as she knew, ever talked to him. His parents were terrified of him. He never seemed to notice, though. He just did his own thing. At present, he had a collection of some of his toy people and cars in the center of the lobby telekinetically swirling the lobby dirt in a funnel.

  Carmen fell to her knees next to him as she watched the scene. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Playing tornado,” he said proudly.

  “Tornado?”

  “Yeah, look.”

  Right after that, the spinning dirt engulfed one of the toy people. Round and round the toy went until it was kicked out of the tornado. Theodore laughed impishly, and Carmen smiled. Why did I never think of that? Certainly, it seemed more fun than making the dolls dance.

  She didn’t know if Theodore was destined for the facility when he turned six. She’d learned since she was released that the rules governing which children were taken were quite complicated. She couldn’t ask his parents, as they tried to avoid talking to her, even though she regularly babysat for them. She was the only person, for as far as she knew, who would agree to babysit him. She guessed he would be taken. Either way, she wished she’d had someone to talk to when she was his age. Every Clairvoyant she knew wished they had

  “So, how do I look?” she asked after his demonstration was done. “I’m going to a job interview.”

  “Another one?” he asked in complete disbelief.

  “Yes, another one,” Carmen replied, rolling her eyes. “So, how do I look?” she asked again, turning her head from side to side in exaggerated fashion and puckering her lips. “Pretty, right?”

  Theodore looked her up and down, examining every inch of her carefully. He started giggling before he spoke. “Ew,” he said.

  “Ew!” Carmen said back. “Ew!” she said again. Theodore giggled louder. “I’ll show you ew!”

  Then she grabbed him and gave him a big wet kiss on the cheek. It hurt a bit to do so. He wasn’t very good at lowering his bioelectric field to touch anyone or when they touched him. In any case, Theodore squealed like he’d been stabbed.

  “Yuck!” he screamed as he pulled away, furiously rubbing his cheek with his shirt sleeve. Then he pushed her telekinetically.

  “Ah, ah, ah, no. I told you not to do that to anyone. That’s not nice.” Theodore looked at her but gave no response. Carmen stood up and then leaned forward so they were face to face. “Listen to your mom and dad, and I’ll see you when I get back.”

  He smiled. “Okay!”

  “Good,” she replied, standing straight again. “Don’t blow down the building,” she added as she began to walk off.

  He laughed and, a moment later, sicced the tornado on her. She made a show of running away until she was safely outside. This time, Carmen sighed contentedly as she leaned against the glass door. She turned to wave goodbye and was greeted by her reflection. Ew indeed, she thought dismally.

  “This is impossible,” she muttered to herself as she started walking toward the bus.

  The journey would be quick. She thought she heard someone mutter, “Monster,” or some such thing when she entered, but she wasn’t sure. Either way, the ride was more or less sedate. No one was unnerved like they usually were—cause for celebration, if she wasn’t so anxious. It was hard to remember the last time her Dark had made her suffer that rather annoying malady. Anxiety to a Clairvoyant was like water to a cat. She took a deep breath when the bus lurched to a stop. At least executions had some sort of ceremony involved. Her only luxury was the long walk before the end.

  The stage that would be removing Carmen’s head was a nondescript office building in an old section of the city. She didn’t know why she expected a construction company to be housed in a compound that looked like an industrial palace, or that it would be some perpetually half-built hulk. She took one last moment to look herself over and then walked inside.

  “May I help you?” a receptionist behind a desk asked.

  The room was large and squarish. The floor was tile, and the walls were adorned with pictures of various completed construction projects and people she didn’t know. There wasn’t much decoration other than that.

  “I’m Carmen Grey. I have an interview scheduled for today.”

  “The Clairvoyant candidate, right?” the receptionist asked.

  “…Yes,” Carmen responded. She listed on the application that she was Clairvoyant. She usually didn’t, for what good it did, but in this instance, it was the only way, in her mind, that she could get the job. All the same, it always made her uneasy that it was a fact worth mentioning.

  “Please fill this out. You can sit over there with the other candidates,” she said, pointing. “Please wait until you are called.”

  Carmen glanced at her opponents. She was one of the youngest. Most were in their fifties or sixties, which wasn’t very surprising, given the war effort. A higher-than-normal percentage of women was just as expected. She took a seat amongst them. They looked at her and then uncomfortably shifted away.

  “Off to such a great start,” she said to herself after demurely resting her head on an open hand. Maybe it was her makeup?

  No one really talked to each other, and Carmen didn’t mind it. Most, as she did, just filled out their forms without saying a word. When the time came, she stood a few seconds before she was actually called.

  “Ms. Grey—” the recruiter started, but she cut him off.

  “I know,” she said simply. “Neil, isn’t it?” she asked as she walked closer.

  Everyone looked at her, but Carmen paid them no mind. Frankly, she found the reaction strange. What was so odd about a Clairvoyant acting like a Clairvoyant?

  Neil took her hand and gave it a firm shake. “Clairvoyant, huh? We were talking about you.”

  Carmen smiled. “I know,” she said. She started walking toward the interview room in the back with no prompting.

  Neil scratched his head. “I guess I’ll follow you,” he muttered.

  She gave a self-satisfied smirk that he couldn’t see and figured that would be enough showing off. They had talked about her, but those discussions were more out of curiosity than fear or disdain. She could glean at least that from a cursory read. All in all, she thought she made a good first impression. She opened the door telekinetically when they got to the interview room, and then she sat in her designated seat before he told her which it was. Well, maybe sh
e could show off that one last time. Neil sat opposite her.

  The office was stuffy and small. It probably had a previous life as a supply closet. Carmen well knew the like. She could probably write a book about all the places she’d been interviewed. Neil looked her over for a few brief seconds, which was fair, since she had given him a read just as long. She made sure, however, not to read him now. Reading the mind of someone considering her could sometimes be messy. She’d be the first to say there were some opinions of herself she’d rather not know.

  Neil leaned back in his chair and pulled out his PDD. “You have an interesting work record,” he said as he consulted her resume. “But it seems like you never stay in one job for more than a few months. Would you mind explaining that please?” he asked.

  Carmen opened her mouth but closed it just as quickly. An easier explanation was possible. She telekinetically lifted a pen off his desk, twirled it a few times in front of him, and then replaced it. She punctuated the display with a small smirk and rolled her eyes.

  “Do you want me to tell you what you had for breakfast this morning? Or which of your kids you love more?” she added for effect.

  Neil looked at her, nonplused, till he chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I can kind of see your point,” he muttered. “Clairvoyants can make grown men crap their pants. You don’t read people’s minds all the time, do you?” he asked nervously.

  “No. It’s not very pleasant,” she replied.

  “Hmm. Why?” he asked, curious.

  “Do you want to know everything someone’s thinking or has thought?” she answered after a brief pause.

  Neil nodded slowly. “Have you ever had any work incidents?”

  “Not with coworkers,” Carmen answered. “They kind of get used to me after a while,” she added, which was a small stretch of the truth but nothing her references would disagree with.

  Neil nodded again while he wrote something on his PDD. “Well, you definitely seem more normal than I expected.”

  “What’s normal?” Carmen asked. It was a semi-serious question that she just blurted out. She smiled to turn it into a joke before he could notice.

  He laughed. “Yeah, you’d fit in well here,” he muttered. “All the other candidates are so rigid. Must be the war,” he added. Carmen smiled again. “Anyway, you indicated that you’re interested in being a crane operator, but you have no experience in construction whatsoever.”

  “No, but I can telekinetically lift more than 180,000 kilograms to an altitude of…” She would have continued, but her voice trailed off when he began staring at her like she was a dog that had just said hello.

  He sat still for a long moment while Carmen shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Really?” he asked.

  She swallowed hard. He had to have a chopping block around here somewhere. Surely a man with a black hood was sharpening his axe in the next room. Being a Clairvoyant, however, did have its perks. She gave him a quick read to know where she stood, and then she breathed easy.

  “Yes,” Carmen said with confidence.

  Neil blinked a few times while he shook his head. “That’s ridiculous,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes. “One thing, though. Our equipment is capable of lifting a lot more than that—”

  “But with anti-grav systems, that won’t really matter. I don’t need maintenance, I’m more precise, and I don’t break down.” She didn’t add the fact that machines didn’t get tired and she did, but there was no reason to remind him of that.

  Neil sat back in his chair and nodded. As before, she abstained from reading him. He eventually smiled, so she figured it wasn’t the end of the world just yet.

  “Clairvoyant, huh? Shit, I should tell HR to hire ten more of you,” he said with a chuckle. Carmen couldn’t help a grin. “I must say you definitely did your homework. Still, even if you can do it, you don’t know anything about construction. There will be things we have to teach you… But we have a good crew, and I’m sure they’ll be able to get you up to speed in no time.”

  “They won’t even need to tell me what to do,” she cut in.

  Neil stared at her for a moment or two until he understood what she meant. “But I thought you said you don’t like reading people?”

  Carmen shrugged. “I’m a big girl. I can handle it.” She added a knowing smile.

  Neil laughed lightly, nodding. “When can you start?”

  “Immediately.”

  “Excellent. With this war, demand has been stretched so far beyond our limits that I doubt we’ll ever catch up. We build factories which build arms which our troopers use to fight. None of it is going well,” he added after a sigh. “We can definitely use you.”

  Carmen nodded. Good, she thought. Then her spirits fell a touch as she focused on the second most worrying part of this ordeal.

  “I hate to have to ask, especially so soon, but I’m going to need an advance,” she said.

  Neil paused for a moment. “That’s not something we normally do, especially for a new hire, but how much are we talking about?”

  She told him a conservative estimate after swallowing hard. The request was met by the same look of perplexed disbelief.

  “I’m sorry, but we’d never be able to authorize any sort of advance in amounts that high.”

  “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important,” Carmen said. “My boyfriend is very sick. If I don’t get the money somehow, he could die.”

  Neil didn’t say anything, not at first. He took a deep breath before he spoke. “I would if I could. You should know that as a Clairvoyant. But we can’t give an advance that high. I’ll see if we can get you something, but I doubt it. In the meantime, let’s get you to HR so we can start your paperwork right away. That would help, at least.”

  He wasn’t lying, as Carmen well knew. He would if he could. She guessed she should take what she could get.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Can I make a call before we start the paperwork?”

  “Sure, take your time,” Neil responded.

  Carmen nodded and then stepped out of the room into an unoccupied section of the hall. She stared at the phone in her hand. It shook slightly. The device seemed to have somehow turned into granite. If she dropped it, it would surely fall through the floor and take residence in the center of the planet. She had been wrong. The interview in and of itself hadn’t been worrisome. Asking for an advance had been barely a bother. This, however, rained dread like her own personal typhoon.

  Somehow, she was able to place the phone next to her ear without its gravity scrambling her brain.

  “Hello?” she heard from the other end of the line.

  “It’s…it’s Edge,” she said.

  “Oh, how did it go?” Kali asked.

  “Well, I have a new job.”

  “And?” Kali asked expectantly.

  Carmen had never had much luck reading someone through a phone. Really, she never heard of any Clairvoyant that did. Kali, however, would probably know what her old charge was thinking half a universe away.

  “And I think I’m going to need your help after all,” she said.

  They were simple words which flowed out of her mouth like a public service announcement. A few of her soon-to-be coworkers even heard them when they walked by, and they paid them no notice. But there was a long silence on the other end of the line. Possibly Kali was as surprised by the request as Carmen was loath to make it?

  When Kali finally spoke, her tone was slow and soothing. “All right. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

  5

  The Rogue Wolves

  As Carmen’s hand hovered over the board, she didn’t notice that it was shaking. The pieces and the game itself only registered faintly, despite her best attempts to focus. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what to do. She could have checked Phaethon five moves ago. But her effort in the game was about as deliberate as breathing.

  Her hand started to descend upon a piece till she stopped short. Her attention then turned to another, wh
ere she did the same thing. There would not be a third attempt. She sighed and then sat back and tried to assess the board. Her first impulse had been the best she could make, but it wasn’t the only choice, or at least it didn’t seem to be. She studied the board. Traces of desperation clouded her thoughts. What else can I do? she wondered. Her hand was on her next impulse before she even realized it. The piece greeted her touch with hard coldness. There was no getting out of it now. She moved the piece forward and then leaned back in her chair in a heap.

  Phaethon didn’t take his turn. He instead looked his handler up and down, utterly confused. He cocked his head to the side. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “Nothing,” Carmen said, glancing at him.

  “I thought Clairvoyants didn’t lie,” he said pointedly.

  She rolled her eyes more at herself than anything but kept her peace other than that. Phaethon waited for a response and continued to wait until it became obvious that she wouldn’t say anything. He turned his attention back to the game, guessing the probing questions were the sole province of handlers. Carmen watched him make his move, but her heart just wasn’t in it. She looked at the board and could only shake her head.

  “I think we should stop for today,” she said.

  Phaethon frowned. “You would say that when I’m finally starting to win.”

  She shook her head again and forced a smirk. “So, you’re telling me you actually want to play chess for a change?”

  “No, no, no,” he said quickly after he realized how his handler maneuvered around his words. He opened his mouth to complain further, but Carmen raised her hand.

  “I actually have to see someone,” she said.

  “Now?”

  “Basically.” Really, she had an open appointment, but there was no point in delaying the inevitable.

  Phaethon eyed her and then looked at the board. “All right, but don’t put the board away. I want to win for once.”

  “Fine. You can flip it over when I get back,” she teased.

  There was only a hint of it, if any, but Carmen saw him blush for the briefest of moments before he stood. “We’ll see,” he said. He looked at her again. “Take care of yourself.” Then he walked off.