Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 33 - Self-Made - I

  "There is a famous quote about magic: that it could merely be technology so sufficiently advanced we cannot distinguish the two. I do not hold with this belief. Magic may obey rules, and it may abide by certain consistencies akin to the laws of nature, but I have seen things so impossible that they defy all traditional definitions of science. Show me the man who can truly explain magic. Show me the woman who can tell me without a shadow of a doubt that magic could have been invented by any civilization, human or otherwise.

  We may treat it as science to satisfy our need for logic and patterns, but that is our greatest folly—to assume we could predict the next great development in the arcane arts. I take comfort in the notion that magic will continue to produce phenomena which defy human logic, and I find true joy in the discovery of miracles."

  ~Cinza, the Rallsburg Diaries

  Jeremy didn't get much sleep on Wednesday night, and it was threatening to become a habit.

  After Hailey blew out of the church in the middle of her eulogy, the rest of the funeral party went their separate ways in pretty short order. Cinza and her group disappeared before Jeremy could get a single word in with the strange silver-haired girl—and after they left, nobody else wanted to stick around in a building that was suddenly quite exposed to the outside world. He ended up giving the Silverdale parents a ride back to their home. Beth Silverdale thanked him again, but it felt so hollow and empty that Jeremy just felt worse. Jesus Christ...

  He knew exactly where Hailey was headed, and he couldn't do a thing for her. Stebbins hadn't gotten anything out of the last guy they'd picked off the street. Todd Piller, former Army Ranger, without a shred of evidence linking him to anything of note. Discharged honorably, no less. It made Jeremy sick, thinking a guy like that had come out of his own country's training.

  After stonewalling them for a few hours, Piller had been turned over to the FBI, hand-delivered by Jeremy to Aderholt's office. He'd been hoping at the very least to get reinstated, maybe some actual clearance to start helping out Maddie and Rachel in earnest, but his old boss was still just as pissed as always. Aderholt practically shouted him out of the building, telling him to stay out of it and leave the work to the "agents who actually deserve motherfucking badges."

  As a result—thanks to his continued suspension and distrust from the department—Jeremy couldn't even get a ticket to London for himself. Aderholt, reinforcing his true nature as the asshole of all assholes, had Jeremy on every no-fly list in the continent and beyond. Jeremy was grounded for the time being, even more restricted than he had been before Hailey left. He could even hear them shouting about her. They were worried about their cooperation, since she was suddenly violating international law and travelling around the world, but damned if the FBI was going to use their best connected agent for the situation.

  No Hailey, no Lani, no Grey-eyes. Fuck. What's my job now? Just stick around Rachel?

  "I'm all right here," Rachel replied, once he'd arrived at the hotel and asked that very question. "How was the funeral?"

  "Depressing," said Maddie, unloading her bags. "The sooner we get this rolling, the better."

  "How long until you announce?" Jeremy asked. "And more importantly, the fuck are you announcing?" He was a bit tired of being kept in the dark. It wasn't malicious in any way, what with Jeremy darting all around town trying to keep up with people like Hailey and Jonathan Hudson—but Grey-eyes' warning about Rachel still rang through his skull like a stubborn tune. "We savin' the world yet?"

  "Not exactly," said Rachel, frowning. "Just the first initiative of cooperation between Washington and the Awakened. We still need to coordinate with Cinza though."

  "She still thinks you're in the wind, doesn't she?"

  "Yes." She sighed. "I'm working my way up to it."

  Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Just call the damn hippie already." Maddie elbowed him in the side. "...Sorry." But she is a fuckin' hippie if ever I knew one. New-age as hell, but still.

  Maddie and Rachel got to work soon after, leaving Jeremy impatient again. They were planning something huge, he could tell, but the timing wasn't right. They couldn't launch while Hailey was still dominating the headlines. People were afraid of her, and all the things that kept happening around her. Someone had to rein her in—if anybody even could.

  It wasn't going to be Jeremy though. He had a different job to do, one that decided to phone right that moment.

  "...Well, that was fast." Maddie nodded along with the faint voice through her phone speaker. "Uh huh. Yeah. I'll send him over first thing in the morning."

  "...What am I gettin' volunteered for?" Jeremy groaned, sitting up and putting aside his laptop. He'd just gotten the basketball game stream to work, too. "And how many guns am I gonna need?"

  "None, hopefully," said Maddie, pocketing her phone. "That was Kendra Laushire."

  He gaped at her. "No shit."

  "You have Kendra's personal number?" asked Rachel, raising her eyebrows.

  Maddie shrugged. "You get to meet tons of interesting people in my line of work." She glanced over at Jeremy. "Kendra wants you to meet her at her Seattle office tomorrow morning, eight sharp."

  "Fuck m—"

  "And it's a private office," she added. "She's under a fake name, don't forget."

  "Yeah, yeah," Jeremy grumbled, getting to his feet. "Didn't happen to say why, did she?"

  "Not a word," said Maddie, though as soon as Rachel looked away, Maddie gave him a significant look. Expect trouble, she was saying. Jeremy took a deep breath as he left the room. He needed to get some real sleep, if he was going to be babysitting a British billionaire all morning from who-knew-what. As soon as he got home, Jeremy was out like a light.