Before Beasts, There Were Storms--6

Burn it All

"Where's my mom? What have you done with her?"

The bespeckled man sitting on the other side of the window sighed. Kai didn't like the look of him. He wore a black polo shirt, the kind one would go golfing in, though his ID tag on his pocket tooted him as both a 'doctor' of something and a marshal. The armed American soldiers lining the wall behind them helped a lot in taking him seriously.

"Peace, Mr. Tate, we've done nothing to your mother. She's just as we found her in Los Angelos. Once we're done here we'll send you on your way to her. Not even the US army could keep a mother from her child."

Kai had to fight down a dark laugh at that. Armies did that every day, regardless of that stupid "No Arms" world peace treaty, which all these soldiers were currently grinding into the dirt.

"Now, if you boys—and young lady," he bowed his head to the taut Ayah hidden in a ring of protective boys. "Will promise to keep the peace and not hurt any of these fine men, not only will you all make it to California just as you planned, but these boys will get to see their mothers too. We don't wish anyone any harm. We only want to learn."

"Then why couldn't my mom do it? How did you even know about us?"

"America has its ways." He lifted a hand to smooth his upper lip, as though a mustache had once been there. "You can't expect me to confide a country's security secrets to you, right? Really boys, you don't have to," he waved the hand at them. "We're not going to hurt her. Most we'll do is take a blood sample, that's all. You can't blame us for wanting to learn about you first, can you? You were about to board illegally on our shores."

"We have passports!" said Max.

"Had," said the man, and suspicion crawled across Kai's skin. "Now, if you'll space out and show us you mean no harm, we can get this over and done with. For testing's sake, we're going to have to separate you—"

"No," said Kai, speaking for the first time since they had accosted them on the beach.

"—but only for a short time," the older man finished with that same air of a tired adult being patient with children throwing tantrums. Kai knew that tone well. He'd had to live as a teenager among adults who'd never had to draw blood in their lives.

Kai flexed his hands. The bottled up fire was starting to give him something very like heartburn, and no matter how many times he gulped, it wouldn't go down. He glanced around, trying to find some reassurance in the stance of the soldiers.

"Well, excuse us if we don't jump to help," he said as he did so. "We just wiggled out of a situation not unlike this one, and it didn't turn out too pleasant." Best not to mention the guns.

"We are aware of your abduction from the freighter. We assure you that we had nothing to do with that and are looking into the situation even as we speak. Now, if we could see the girl first."

They all tightened reflexively around her—or rather, Max and Kai did and Tyson followed along, not having the best skills in English. He just trusted Max and Kai to get enough to know what to do.

"She doesn't go alone," said Max.

The man gave a barely restrained sigh. "Very well. Mr. Hiwatari, you may accompany her. Just please keep your fire to yourself. None of us here want to avoid violence as much as we do."

A soldier went to open the only door in the dark gray, cinder block cell and waited. They all hesitated, and Ayah turned questioning, shivering blue eyes to Kai.

"You and me are going," he told her calmly in Japanese.

"Whoa, hang on, where are you going?" Tyson all but squeaked.