Binate Undercover

(AN: The idea of wraith-driven/powered cars is inspired by a book called Dark Blood (Tristopolis #2) by John Meaney.)



 

"You alright there, Lain?"



Helaine nodded slightly at Dillon's soft voice as it came through the small communicator disguised as a very decorative ear-pin. She knew that she was being tracked by Dillon in a large grey van three intersections ahead, and he was accompanied by two other units from the Division: Josey and Mick from Seven, and Delphine from Unit Nine. Helaine strode along the deserted sidewalk, trying to give off the air of someone who had been forgotten by her ride home. It was a gloomy day, the iron skies threatening rain.



For the past three days, Helaine had walked along Slipson Avenue, where two of the missing binates had been snatched. Their high school was to her south, and their bus-stop on Kraken Street, which ran parallel to Slipson. Helaine hoped that no-one else was being nabbed while she was acting as bait.



She tugged at the cowl over her head; it looked like something that would cover a baby's stroller, arched and stiffly ribbed, covered with gauzy black material. An anchoring piece encircled her sternum. Fashion was so weird, and Helaine couldn't wait to get back to her regular clothing after this mission. Her silvery loose dress was sleeveless but high-collared underneath her stroller-cowl. At least she wasn't carrying the parasol today.



Dillon said,"Lain, there's a private transit coming up behind you. Probably wraith-driven. All units, stand by."



Helaine didn't nod this time, and she forced her body to stay relaxed. A private transit possessed by a wraith was something owned only by the very privileged, but that really didn't mean much. The transit rolled past her at a fine speed, and Helaine watched it trundle away.



"Stand down, everybody," Dillon said, his tone disappointed. "False a--"



Helaine felt the cool rush of displaced air as the same transit materialised right in her path, and the nearest passenger door swung open. She took a sharp breath, surprised enough to cry out in shock, but before she could scream, thick cords shot out of the gloom within the transit and dragged her in. She heard Dillon cry out her name in the comm-device, before static overcame his voice in a rush of dry sound. Her cowl was ripped from her head, a sharp rib scraping her cheek.



The door slammed shut, and Helaine was thrown into a corner, fighting against the ropes which bound her. She almost wriggled herself free, but another set looped around her waist and shoulders, tightening in a careful fashion.



She flinched, and then whimpered as a sharp, thin object pricked the skin of her neck. She'd been injected with something.



"Shh," a soft voice murmured near her ear. That could not have been the wraith, for all they possessed was the hazy consciousness to power and move the vehicle, and obey the directions of their owner. "We're not going to hurt you."



"Let me go!" Helaine tried to twist away, and then went still as the whole car seem to ripple in an odd fashion. Outside the car's windows, there was a sudden thick gloom, then a shocking brightness. Head spinning, Helaine felt her heart sink; that had been a very powerful displacement spell.



Drowsily, she listened, trying to keep awake to locate herself, but all she heard was the crunch of gravel beneath the wheels. She tried to arch against the binding ropes, trying to snap them through sheer brute force, but she was nearly limp from the tranquilizer.



"Still awake?" the soft voice inquired, coolly surprised. "Hmm."



Another sharp pinch to her neck, and still Helaine fought to keep awake. She was barely aware of the intense warmth that fanned across her face when the transit came to stop and the door was opened. Her eyelids seemed weighted with heavy bricks, and she closed them, barely sensing the ease in which she was lifted out from the back seat and carried. Voices chattered over her head, and she registered the quick press of fingers against one of her dangling wrists.



"You hit her with two doses?" This voice wasn't as gravelly as the first, but high-pitched and sharp. Helaine tried to lift her head up, to look around, but she couldn't open her eyes. Wherever they were now, there was a hot sun overhead, bleeding red through her eyelids.



Reluctantly, she surrendered to the convincing waves of the sedative in her bloodstream. She hoped that when they said they wouldn't hurt her, they'd been telling the truth.