108 Safe Return

Unlike when Khadir approached the crash site on her motorcycle, the driver of this dirt bike didn't even slow down. He took the steep, rocky descent without touching the brake. Seconds later, it skidded to a stop near the truck that was still smoking.

The rider slipped his helmet off and took a moment to examine the area. One steel match tossed under the rear fender, definitely from the Mad Bag. A single puncture near the bottom of the fuel tank, approximately one inch long by a sixteenth wide. The dimensions matched the Black Forest boot knife, also from the Mad Bag.

Thirty seconds later, he slipped the helmet back on and started the bike before activating his hud. A moment later, Anna's worried face popped up. "Round up those kids, put them in the safe room until we're done."

Anna nodded. "Okay, Quinn. Is Tal with you?"

Quin shook his head slightly. "She'll be with the SkyTeam. Stay calm, Anna. We'll be fine."

Anna nodded and opened up multiple huds as soon as Quinn closed comm. "This is a family emergency. Drop whatever you are doing and come to our house."

Lotte's smile slipped when all of their huds activated simultaneously. Anna's familiar face delivered the message and then abruptly signed off. Her roommates had accompanied her to help pack up a few things she'd left behind. "So we go?"

Breeze was already removing the wheelchair from where they stashed it. "You heard the woman! Everyone needs to get to the Riley house. ASAP!"

"I'll grab those!" Nina picked up the elbow crutches that Lotte used to get around on. "Where are the twins?"

"Coming!" Suzie and Talor came down the stairs, followed by their older sister, Jo. All three of them looked scared.

When they arrived at the Riley house a few minutes later, Anna opened the door and ushered them inside. She pointed to the open closet door under the stairs. "Everyone in. Do you mind being carried down, Lotte?"

Lotte shook her head and managed to scamper onto Breeze's back when she squatted before her. "Thanks!"

The twins were the first ones down; a somber-looking Sato was the first person they saw.

Anna took a moment to fold up the wheelchair before following them down. Given the nature of their business, the Riley family had a large safe room constructed under their home. "There's a bathroom down here; I'll bring down some refreshments in a few minutes."

Lotte shared a glance with Breeze after Anna left the room. "What's going on?"

"Something happened to QJ," Sato spoke quietly from the far side of the room, not flinching when Wu punched him in the arm. "We heard it over the radio."

**************

Tal studied the terrain below, her blond hair blowing slightly as she looked through the helicopter's open door. QJ would have had a couple of options; she just needed time to figure them out.

Khadira shared a glance with Rhino and Mike. "How are we playing this, Tal? Hard or soft?"

Tal's blue eyes glanced up. "They're after QJ."

"Hard it is." Khadira reached under the seat and removed a steel case. Her teammates watched in silence as she assembled the sniper rifle. QJ was the heir to a massive Virtual empire and well-loved by everyone; his safety would be ensured, no matter what.

*Second Aircraft in the area, it's unmarked*

Tal looked up when SkyTeam's pilot spoke into her headset. "Try contacting them."

*I did. No answer. According to Vegas Tower, no one besides us has requested a flight path out here.*

Tal lowered her binoculars. "Let's pay them a visit." Her blue eyes glanced at Khadira. "If you have an issue with using that, I'll take it off your hands."

Khadira shook her head slightly; her slim brown fingers gently caressed the composite stock. Every year on their birthday, every guard employed by the Riley family received a card and a handwritten note from QJ. He'd been doing little things like that since he was a kid. 

*************

Sanchez swore under his breath. A simple grab-and-go had turned into a complete shit-show. They were closing on their target; QJ walked across the open desert like he was strolling in the park.

Tempe held up a hand, signaling for them to stop. "This isn't good."

"What fucking now" Sanches scanned the area before moving up to join his teammate.

Tempe waited until Zorn caught up from the rear before pointing at the tracks. The tracks clearly led to the edge of a steep drop-off and then disappeared. He moved to the edge and shook his head. "At least ninety feet, we'll have to go around."

The sound of a helicopter caused the team to turn toward the direction they had come. A moment later, their radio buzzed.

*Abort the Mission and disperse immediately.*

Zorn cussed loudly. "Disperse? Fucking pick us up!"

The helicopter turned sideways about two hundred meters away and hovered in the air. All three of them saw the shooter as clear as day.

Sand exploded upward a few meters from them when the Sniper fired a warning round.

Zorn shook his head at Sanchez. "Getting shot isn't how I want this day to end, Chez."

"Same here." Sanchez tossed his weapon to one side and held his hands straight out while stepping away from the others. "Make your own choice."

Tempe barely hesitated as he dived over the edge and disappeared from sight.

Zorn dropped his weapon and held out his arms. "That guy was always stupid."

Mike and Rhino repelled out of the helicopter's side while it hovered about sixty feet off the ground. Khadira stayed in the bird, providing cover.

After zip-tying the two prisoners, Mike's voice came over the radio. "The jumper might be alive, but from here, he looks hurt bad. There is no sign of QJ." He covered his captives with his sidearm. "If anything happened to QJ, you're never leaving this desert."

*****************

Quinn eased back on the throttle when he saw that two helicopters were sharing airspace now. His son's footprints were painfully visible in the soft sand; anyone who knew QJ would have known something was up. He cut the engine and then let it coast for a few meters before braking to a stop.

Quinn bent low to examine the tracks. He could hear the bike's hud buzzing, but he ignored it. "Clever, even for you."

He started the bike back up and reversed course, this time going slowly. Less than two hundred meters away, he stopped beside a large outcropping of rocks. "QJ?"

"Dad?" QJ walked from behind the rocks; he had cut open one side of the Mad Bag to cover his head. There were a few scratches on his face from the glass, but he seemed fine. "Should have known that wouldn't fool you."

"Oh, it did. At least for a few minutes." His son must have started taking extra long strides from when he passed the outcropping until he reached the edge. Then he walked backward, filling in the spaces so the steps looked normal. "When you walk forward, the weight pushes from your toes; it shifts backward when you reverse direction." 

Quinn pointed to a small rock one meter away from the tracks. "After walking backward to this point, you jumped onto that rock, then onto another one." He hugged his son tight. "Use the bike hud to contact your Mom."

QJ nodded and activated the dirtbike's hud. His Mom's face immediately scrunched up when she saw him. "I'm with Dad."

Quinn leaned into the view. "I'll give him a ride back..." He filtered off when his wife's face disappeared, and he could hear her weeping. "You guys can shadow us from the air, call local law enforcement, and have them meet us."

Khadira's face replaced Tal; her dark lips were curved in a smile. "Understood, Sir. You'll have to tell us how QJ gave them the slip."

Quinn handed his son the helmet and climbed on the bike, waiting until he felt QJ get on the back. "He got lucky."

The hud closed a moment later as the Yamaha accelerated away.

QJ waved at the helicopter as it passed overhead; he saw his Mom waving back. "Mom must have been worried."

"Yep. She's going to tighten security up after this."

QJ let out a long breath as the emotions from the last few hours started to catch up with him. "Crap... I wrecked my truck."

Quinn glanced over his shoulder, suddenly tempted to push him off the back. "Damned shame," he agreed. "It lasted what... four months?"

QJ stared at the burned vehicle as it came into view; unexpectedly, his Dad took a sharp right and headed up the incline. A handful of scary seconds later, they crested the road, where they went another twenty meters before the front tire touched the dirt. "No wonder Mom doesn't let you drive these things."

"What? I'm a grown man. I do what I want." Quinn grinned as he accelerated toward highway 22. "I'm not getting you a new truck!"

"Wonder what Mom will say when I mention that you drove down that incline or back up it with me on the back."

"Blackmailing the older generation?"

QJ grinned slyly. "Let's call it negotiating."

***********

It was nearly dark before QJ finished giving his statement to the Las Vegas PD. Between their endless questions and his Mom's constant affection, he was exhausted by the time Mike dropped him off. "Thanks for the ride. And thanks for looking out for me today."

Mike waved him off. "No worries, I picked up some overtime."

All his roommates were sitting around the kitchen island when he entered a moment later. Wu had ordered the take-out, but the boxes had yet to be touched. Unexpectedly, Sato burst into tears and charged into him, crying while hugging him tightly. 

One by one, the rest of his friends did the same, except for Lotte, sitting in her wheelchair. She gestured for him with her index finger. "Come here."

QJ grinned and knelt in front of her so she could hug him. "Didn't mean to worry everyone."

Lotte gripped his face with both hands, caressing his cheeks momentarily before brushing her lips against his. Her slim fingers traced the cut over his brow. "This was crazy, QJ. Who would want to hurt you?"

***********

Angel waited in one corner of the dark room, listening as the Asperian she'd been trailing talked to someone on her hud. 

"Do you have QJ?" the Asperian asked.

"No, the team we hired failed. Let her know." 

The hud went silent, leaving the female alone with her thoughts. After a few seconds, she headed for the door at a trot.

For once, the Asperian didn't mask her movements. She flew in a direct line as fast as she could.

Unknown to her, Angel followed her from above, watching closely. She opened her hud, paging Quinn. 

Quinn's face popped up a moment later. "What's going on?"

"Did someone try to grab QJ?" Angel asked. "I overheard my target mentioning it."

Quinn nodded. "Don't let them get escape. Heading your way with the Songbirds."

Angel closed comm and then closed on her prey. When her target landed and entered an abandoned mine a few miles south of town, she was shadowed by the Spider Queen.

An object Angel hadn't seen before set in the middle of an open cavern. A large group of people were huddled around it. 

A cloaked figure glanced at the passageway. "Your stealth is impressive; even I can't see through it. Fortunately, I am alerted when someone enters this cavern." The hooded figure's voice held no fear; she waited a few seconds before exposing her face. "Is this what you wanted to see?"

Angel dropped her stealth and Ba'Avrield form to appear human. "Interesting..."

The woman appeared neither old nor young; she wasn't beautiful nor homely; it was as if everything about her had been left average. "Do we know each other?"

Angel moved forward, ignoring the stares of the group. "I never forget. The way someone speaks, moves, or smells. Once I've come in contact with someone, this is the way." 

"We've never met, I'm Ingrid." She motioned for her group to spread out. A white-haired woman with creepy, pale eyes stepped before Ingrid to shield her.

"You've changed your looks, but you can't fool me. Perhaps you've forgotten." Angel's warm voice held the chill of a tomb. With a wave of her hand, he assumed her Spider Queen form. "I couldn't touch you that day, but now I can, Nora Salo." 

Ingrid's face lost all color, panic welling up in her eyes. "You... Block her! Activate the portal!"

Angel dodged to one side as something was thrown at her; she casually encased it in webbing before casting it aside. A dull, wumping noise sounded as the device detonated. She pounced on the nearest enemy, striking him in the chest hard enough to crush his sternum. His two companions fell to the ground, wrapped from ankle to neck in webbing. The rest of them disappeared, retreating through the portal.

The Spider Queen activated her hud, and the Ba'Avriel form of Q appeared before her. "They have escaped me, Nemesis." 

"Are you safe?" Q asked. 

"Yes. The Nemesis is quite thoughtful. The person behind this is Nora Salo."

"Dr. Nora Salo?" Quinn's expression changed to one of anger. "She died in prison. Are you sure it isn't someone pretending to be her?"

Angel nodded. "She wears another's face, but she can't fool me. Spiders know things. They escaped through a portal; it's still powered up."

Quinn frowned at the intel. He wasn't a portal or gate expert, but he knew the ones that stayed open were like open doors that only led to one destination. "I have your location; we'll be there in thirty minutes." 

Angel glanced toward the portal. "It's changing. Powering down..." 

"Don't enter, Angel!!" Quinn responded. "Stay where you are."

Angel walked toward the portal; she could feel the power fluctuating. "If we miss her again, next time, she may be successful. Dare to touch my family, my minion... I won't allow it." She leaped onto the platform and winked out of sight.

After several seconds, Angel appeared on another platform. The sounds of shouting were snuffed out after an instant as the Spider Queen suddenly found herself imprisoned. 

"Leave them for now," a man's voice shouted. "Tend to the wounded." He approached the young woman he had imprisoned. "These people are peaceful. Why did you attack them?"

"I attacked no one here," Angel replied. She punched the barrier surrounding her and immediately realized it wasn't something she could break. "I'm Angel Rembrandt from Fora. I'm pursuing the ones who exited the portal before me."

"Fora? You're from TAP?" The young man asked.

Angel nodded. "I'm on a mission on behalf of Q."

The young man whistled softly. "That's a name I didn't think I'd ever hear again. The people you're chasing escaped through the tunnels before I arrived. I did manage to seal it up."

"Are they trapped?" Angel asked. She studied the young man. He was handsome; his long black hair hung to his shoulders, and his green eyes were intelligent, absent of any malice. 

"I haven't explored this area." The dark-haired man shrugged, and with a wave of his hand, the Spider Queen was no longer trapped. "I guess introductions are in order. I'm Kenzo, a Human Engineer. Welcome to Gaia."