Parador (Juggernaut #2)

Thirty Six

The screams sounded again. Ellie jumped, suddenly feeling very alone without Tila.

'It's just people having fun. Come on, we'll go inside if it keeps her off my back.' Jayce took Ellie's hand and pulled her toward the house. He wasn't feeling in a party mood any more. Blake's arrival had already soured the evening and Tila's slowly burning hostility wasn't helping either. He knew she was watching him. Even though Tila had run ahead it wouldn't surprise him if she tapped him on the shoulder to make sure he was taking proper care of Ellie. She seemed to be everywhere, always watching him with distrustful eyes.

He stole another glance at the blonde girl jogging alongside him. Who wouldn't want to take care of her, he daydreamed.

Another scream pierced the night air, and then a shout. Jayce slowed, concerned by the sound. Now he thought about it, this didn't sound like the usual teenage shrieks. That sound was something primal.

Something afraid.

'Jayce? What's happening?'

They were almost at the door. Jayce pressed Ellie against the wall and said, 'Fine, wait here. I'm going to find out.'

Jayce crept to a corner of the house and slowly peered around it. Suited figures moved with purpose through the garden where they had eaten over a short time before. Tables had been overturned and food spilled across the ground. Two of the house staff stood facing the wall, hands up, while a man in a suit pointed something at their backs. Jayce didn't need to see what he was pointing to know it wasn't going to be a bouquet of flowers.

He saw his friends sitting very still in a row on the floor. One at a time they looked up and spoke to an unseen figure. Coral seemed to have been singled out and Jayce could see she was crying.

Blue and white lights flashed somewhere behind the garden wall bathing the side of the house in a sickly pulsing light. Light reflected from the wall and cast strobing shadows on the figures in the garden.

Oh, man. Really, tonight. What are the odds? Jayce stepped through the doorway and yelled. 'Hey!'

Tila appeared out of the darkness.

'Why are you shouting at them? What kind of idiot are you?' hissed Tila.

'Relax. Just watch.'

Tila pressed herself to the side of the building and watched the scene unfold.

One of the suits waved a small device over the seated figures, checked it, then moved to the next person. Another agent stepped in behind him and hauled Coral to her feet. She said something, nodded and held out her hand. Jayce relaxed and began patting his pockets.

'See? It's just a corporate raid. Nothing to worry about.'

'But what are they doing?' she urged. She hadn't trusted Jayce all day, and after witnessing that scene his words reassured her not at all.

'They're checking IDs and making a nuisance of themselves. Happens all the time. I think I left my ID inside.'

'Why do they have guns?' said Tila.

'Guns?' gasped Ellie.

'Ellie, get back inside!'

'Who has guns?' said Ellie.

'Ellie, relax. They're only needlers or ballistics. Blasters are illegal on Parador. It's okay. Just stay with me.'

'Jayce, exactly how is that supposed to make everything better?' said Tila.

'Would you two please just trust me? This is normal. Yeah, it's annoying and inconvenient, but normal. We just need our ID. They'll look around, check everyone out and go, then send the bill to headquarters. It's nothing to worry about. It's not like they're shooting anyone, is it?

A single deafening crack boomed and echoed off the stone walls of the house. It silenced the background music and chatter of the suits.

'What was that?' said Ellie, nervously. Her fingers closed around Jayce's hand.

'They're checking IDs,' Jayce repeated.

'By shooting people?' Tila shoved Jayce against the wall. 'Jayce, what part of this do you not understand? We don't have any ID!'

'But I do. Let me go out there and show them. You two go and hide.'

'And if that doesn't help?' said Tila.

'Let him try, Tila,' said Ellie.

'Don't worry, it will help. Look, they're checking Coral now. See? Just watch.'

They peered at the scene in the spotlight. A suit was looking back and forth between a datapad and Coral. Coral shook her head and waved her hand at him.

'See?' said Jayce. 'They're checking her ID now. Like I said, this is only a corporation throwing its weight around.'

'What about the gunshot we heard.'

'They were shooting into the air to get everyone's attention, probably.'

'Probably?'

Ellie shushed them. 'Someone else is coming.'

Coral and the suit turned at the arrival of another figure. Coral was forced to look up, and she held her hand out again. They could see even from this distance that this time it trembled.

'Any time now,' said Jayce.

The agent offered the datapad to the new arrival. A gloved hand took it, held it beside Corals face, then handed it back. Words were exchanged. Coral's body language changed.

'Something's wrong,' whispered Tila.

'Any time now,' said Jayce.

Coral suddenly shrank away from the two men. They heard an order barked. Coral turned to run. The new arrival stepped fully into the light which gleamed off his bald head. He snatched the suits weapon from his hand. A click-hiss carried through the night air and Coral tumbled forward onto the gravel. Her long dark hair tumbled forward across her face.

Long dark hair just like Tila's.

'Um,' said Jayce.

The bald figure barked another order and suits turned on flashlights and spread out through the garden. One beam whipped past them, then whipped back and centred on their position.

'Run!' said Tila, and pushed Ellie around the corner and to the back door. 'We need to get to the library, Jayce. How?'

'Fastest way from here is through this door through the kitchen and then up the back stairs. They won't be at the kitchen door yet.'

'I hope you're right,' said Ellie.

'First time for everything,' said Tila.