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Chapter
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dixon finished reading.
He should have known Finn wouldn’t give in easily.
Ellis turned to
him with an icy stare and asked, “So did he pass your test? Does he get
to come out now?”
Dixon was seething.
“We’re not there yet. We’ve come too far to settle.”
A test? Graham sat
perfectly still. If they had forgotten he was there, he didn’t want to
do anything to remind them.
Ellis said, “You
want to know about why the vampires helped. You don’t think he’d just
come out and tell you when you debrief him?”
Ward said, “He’s
not telling us now and we came straight out and asked. It was in the list Graham
gave him this morning.”
“He’s
been writing this report all day. Maybe he just forgot to mention it. Or thought
he did already.”
Dixon disagreed.
“No. He’s too thorough. It was deliberate. He’s holding something
back.”
Ward shook his head.
“He’s being loyal. He must have given them his word. I don’t
think he’ll tell us.”
Graham couldn’t
stay quiet any longer. “Do you think it’s possible that there was
no reason? That some vampires are good? Some genetic fluke?” Graham couldn’t
believe he had just said that. He didn’t blame everyone else for the looks
they gave him.
“General Dixon – I don’t think we can do this for much longer,”
said Green. “Their memories are returning too quickly. And I’m getting
a bit concerned about Summers. We keep upping the sedatives but she’s fighting
it. I’m not sure how much longer we can keep her like this. Her body defies
everything I know about medicine. I’m not sure what it will do to her.”
Dixon was angry.
He hated losing control. “Damn Finn. He’s doing this on purpose. He
knows. Somehow he knows. I’m not ready yet. We need one more day.”
They didn’t
know Buffy. Graham figured if her body was already fighting the drugs, the window
was closing. They didn’t have one more day. It was possible that Riley
or Buffy would force something soon; Graham could see it in their faces. Neither
of them was any good at sitting things out. But it needed to happen now. And
Riley needed to know what Dixon wanted. Graham got up from the table and mumbled,
“I’ll be right back.”
In the bathroom he checked the stalls and locked the door before taking out his cell phone. “Giles – I know what Dixon’s looking for. Can Willow get to Riley? Here’s what she needs to say.”
=====================================================================
Riley was putting
the laptop away when he noticed a post-it note falling to the ground. It must
have been in the file. He leaned down to pick it up.
Time to play
ball.
Riley sat back and
smiled. He had forgotten Willow was still watching. More words were appearing
on the note. How was she doing this?
Get your butt
moving. But only free throws! No lay-outs!
Lay-ups, Willow.
Lay-ups. Riley stood up. He started toward the stairs and was crumbling up the
paper as he saw something else appearing.
It’s bright
out there, don’t forget your sunglasses.
That’s right.
No Nerf ball. He had a garage; he had the real deal. He turned around and headed
out the back door.
He almost tripped
over the basketball. Where did that come from? It hadn’t been there a moment
ago. Sunglasses. What sunglasses? “Oh no.” He stopped short when he
saw the pair of leopard-skin sunglasses hanging from the hook by the door. “I
don’t think so.”
The sunglasses slipped off the hook and flew into his hand with a little more velocity then he thought was necessary.
Graham didn’t
know how Willow had gotten to Riley, but this must be her doing. There was no
way Riley would wear those sunglasses. Graham watched them fly off the hook.
“Are those his? Did we put them in there?” Ripley had just noticed
them as they fell into Riley’s hands.
Graham was trying not to laugh at the look on Riley’s face. This is so not funny. “Buffy had a pair like that. They’re kind of a good luck charm.” It was the best he could do at a moment’s notice but it seemed to be enough for Ripley.
Riley opened the
door and walked outside. The sun did seem brighter. Was that Willow too? He
didn’t think it was possible to brighten the sun. How were they watching?
He had been looking for cameras all day but there was nothing. Maybe he was
in a holodeck. Did those things really exist? All the techies he knew loved
Next Gen. As far as he knew, holodecks were pure fiction, but after the things
he had seen in the past few years, the word 'impossible' had ceased to exist.
He put on the sunglasses
and started to bounce the ball. Threw it at the hoop. It bounced off the rim.
“Damn.” Threw another one. Much better. He threw the ball a few more
times and started to feel a rhythm to the moves. He stepped towards the hoop,
faked a throw and then spun around and threw the ball. That felt good. He had
missed basketball when he was in Belize. He forgot that he was supposed to be
taking it easy. He threw the ball at the garage door and caught the rebound.
He ran up to the basket, leaping up into the air, bringing the ball up…
I said no lay-outs!
The words were on
the inside of the lenses. They scared the hell out of him and he lost his concentration;
fell into the garage door. “Owww!”
Sorry.
He rubbed his shoulder
and bent down to pick up the ball. The glasses fell off and he turned them over
in his hands. The words weren’t visible from the outside; only when he
was wearing them. What kind of magic was this? He put the glasses back on. More
words.
We think this
is all a test of some kind. We’re not sure for what.
A test? What could
Dixon be testing him for? He threw the ball. Nothing but net.
You need to tell
them about your friend. Then you’re free.
He grabbed the ball
and threw it so it bounced off the rim.
Your friend says
it’s o.k. He’s willing to take the risk. It’s the only way.
Riley whaled the
ball at the rim so hard that it came right back to him.
I’m guessing
that’s a no?
Another perfect
shot – all net. “Bingo.” He grabbed the rebound. Started bouncing
the ball again.
Buffy’s
in trouble.
His hand missed
the ball, it rolled away. Why couldn’t something be simple for once? He
looked down at his wrist as he sighed. Damn, no watch. But Willow understood.
Not much time.
Something needs to happen tonight.
He picked up the
ball and threw a hook shot. 3 points.
We can’t
get you out of there, but we’ll do what we can to help you. We’ll
be here.
One more shot.
Good luck.
“And the crowd goes wild…” He took off the glasses and carried the ball inside.
“What are
the readings?” Graham asked.
“He’s
fine. Barely broke a sweat,” answered Green.
Graham watched as Riley put the ball on the floor and threw the glasses on the kitchen table. That was a pretty tame workout for Riley. When he wanted to think he went all out on the court. Graham had hated playing ball with him before a big exam; it was brutal. So that was definitely Willow. But how had she done it? Graham had been scanning the screen – no lettering on the ball, no bird singing morse code, no words in the basketball netting. Graham looked over at Ripley, then at Green. Just going about their business, no suspicious looks. Good job, Willow.
~~ End of Chapter 22 ~~