The Operator

“Yeah. Okay. Whoever controls the Evocane controls you.” Peri frowned, then forced herself to let it go. “It’s not as if you can pick it up on any street corner.”

“That’s just a matter of lab time.” LB idly checked his phone. She’d been right. He was looking at a view of the city being piped in from one of the drones. There were lights coming up the expressway, too many for the early hour.

Concerned, Peri watched Fat Man take Harmony to the couch, leaving her there to amble back to them. Jack was still on the floor, swearing and demanding someone stand him up. “You’ve known him long?” she asked, indicating the large man, comfortable in his own skin.

“LB is my brother,” Fat Man said as he sat down with them, clearly having heard her.

Peri’s eyebrows rose. LB was American Indian, and Fat Man was . . . Germanic?

“Blood brother,” LB said as he slid his phone to Fat Man to continue monitoring.

“He’s your anchor,” Peri guessed. “He tells you what happened when you black out. Hides from everyone that you do. Covers for your lapses.”

Fat Man stiffened, and LB’s eye twitched. “Something like that.”

“Well, you’re doing a great job. Most untrained drafters are in a medical asylum.”

Fat Man’s thick lips cracked into a smile. “Where do you think I found the little shit?”

“Shut up!” LB exclaimed, smacking his shoulder, and Fat Man slumped.

“We were both in there, LB. It’s no big deal. They got good drugs.”

Peri hid a smile. “Really. You’ve been doing a good job. Can I have my stuff back?” It wasn’t just the Evocane. They had her diary. She’d known better than to put anything security related in there, but hell, it was her diary.

“No.” It was flat, but she could tell he’d only said it because he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. “I looked up Opti on the Net. It just says a government special task force.”

Her eyebrows rose. He’d looked up Opti? Steiner would be here within half an hour. Maybe sooner, if those lights meant anything. “Nothing about the ability to rewrite small chunks of time, eh?” Chuckling, she reached for a piece of pizza, hesitating until LB nodded. “Yeah,” she said around a cold mouthful. “That’d go over really well. You don’t believe it, and you’re doing it. They find us, train us if we’re not too far gone thanks to well-meaning health providers, bribe us with gobs of money into doing what they want. We get paid extremely well, but it’s a tenth of what our bosses get.”

LB and Fat Man exchanged a knowing look. “And Jack?” LB questioned.

The pizza soured in her mouth, and she swallowed. “What about him? LB, you have to be careful. A trained anchor can wipe years of your memory right after a jump when the brain is trying to readjust, and if they find you, that’s exactly what will happen.”

LB brought his gaze back from Jack, now struggling violently to sit up. “He wiped your memory? No wonder you want to cack him.”

“Every time I started to figure out where the corruption started. Allen is very good at it.”

“But you don’t want to kill him.” LB leaned back, gaze flicking to and away from whatever Fat Man was showing him on his phone.

Feigning indifference, Peri picked off a piece of pepperoni and ate it. “Allen and I were moles in Opti, trying to shut down the corruption. I was young and idealistic. Thought I could make a difference. Allen wiped my memory so I’d have the plausible deniability to successfully infiltrate. Jack became my anchor, and with careful wipes and misinformation, I became part of the corruption instead.”

LB smiled knowingly. “It happens.”

“I didn’t do it intentionally,” she said hotly. “And when I found out, I brought them down. But Bill only went deeper. Hell, I think he enjoyed that I cleaned his house. He wants me back. That’s what the Evocane is about. You going to give it to me yet?”

“No.”

Peri dropped the half-eaten piece of pizza in the box, watching LB fiddle with the injector pen, messing with her. She gave him a moot look, and he stopped, nodding to Fat Man. His bulk shifting like rocks, Fat Man dug out two vials from his pocket and set them on the table.

“And you trust that that’s what’s really in them?” LB asked.

There was at least two weeks’ worth there, maybe more, and Peri forced her eyes off the vials. “Not until I get it checked out. Look. I just want my Evocane, Allen, Harmony, and Jack so I can beat his ass at my leisure. We’ll get out of your hair, and you’ll never see us again.”

“I find that hard to believe.” LB took his phone back, angling it so she couldn’t see.

“I’m a simple girl,” she said, then realized it had become quiet. Everyone had left but for the two men watching Harmony, Jack, and Allen. Something was clearly going on.

“LB,” she said, feeling the need to move. “You’re right. Drafters are rare. Drafters like you who have found a way to deal with it on their own are even rarer. Last year, I would’ve lied to you, walked out of here, then headed the task to pull you in, get you wiped and working. A year ago I thought Opti was Camelot. A year ago I didn’t think a drafter could survive without an anchor. A year ago I was a Barbie doll with a license to kill.”

Her voice had risen, and she caught her anger. “I have little left now except the killing part. You’ve got a good thing here. Keep your nose clean and I won’t be back to bother you.”