Chasing Blue

By Richard W. Kenneth

“Psi Team Leader, this is Command. Perimeter is secure. Go.”

Seeker Soren Pentam activated his helmet camera and radio. “Copy, Command.” He pounded the door with a gloved fist. “Tomaz Blue, this is the Protectorate! We have a writ for arrest and search!” He paused, counting seconds. His teammates, Enforcers Fennik and Jacosett, clicked taser dart magazines into their pulsers.

A woman with turquoise hair and eyes appeared on a monitor by the door.

“I’m Azura, Tomaz Blue’s virtual agent. Display the writ.”

Soren projected a hologram of the writ from his wristcomp.

“You may enter,” said Azura. Two locks thunked inside the door.

Azura’s invitation granted Soren legal authority to perform a telepathic probe for any minds in the penthouse. Finding none, he keyed his radio. “Command, telepathy confirms residence unoccupied.” Fennik and Jacosett holstered their pulsers.

“Copy, Psi Leader. Blue’s skimmer isn’t in the parking area either. Search the residence.”

Fennik, Soren called telepathically.

Fennik pulled a thin circuit-covered disk from his armorvest pocket and spun it under the door. Its laser imagers scanned the entryway, and his wristcomp displayed the data as a colored hologram. The entry hall resembled some sort of bluish cavern, but had no infrared beams, tripwires, or wiring around the locks.

“Clear,” said Fennik, “Still, I suggest me and Jacosett use our telekinesis to open doors and cabinets in case Blue left surprises. Not much telepath work for you.”

Soren smiled. “No worries. Missions vary.”

Fennik used his TK to open the door without touching it and to retrieve the disk.

Soren entered slowly.

The walls and ceiling of the entry hall were covered with pale blue foam carved to mimic ice. Matching floor tile completed the look of a polar cave.

Soren projected a holographic floorplan from his own wristcomp. “Jacosett, start in the office. Fennik and I will start in the kitchen.”

“Understood,” said Jacosett.

The kitchen’s pseudo-sapphire countertops accented polished steel appliances and storage. Fennik gently opened drawers and cabinets with his mind. Soren scanned the contents with his wristcomp. They found no accelerants, fuses, igniters, or other arson-related items listed on the writ. Soren wasn’t surprised, since Blue’s pyrokinesis let him start fires by thought.

The dining room contained only a table and chairs, painted vivid cobalt to match the curtains.

The living room replicated a tropical lagoon. Aqua walls darkened from ceiling to floor, to simulate deepening water. Cerulean upholstered furniture and pots of sea grass surrounded a low table coated with shells. A holographic projector provided life-sized fish and sunlight rippling across the surface. Bubbling sounds played through speakers.

“I feel like I’m drowning,” said Fennik as he levitated couch cushions to check underneath.

“Azura, halt holograms and sound,” commanded Soren.

“I’m in here, Protector,” Azura called from down the hall.

Joined by Jacosett, they approached an open door leading into a darkened bedroom.

Someone sat up in the bed.

Fennik drew his pulser. “Don’t move!”

Jacosett punched the room’s lighting control.

The bed’s occupant was a lifelike doll, dressed in teal, with turquoise hair and eyes.

“Eww. Azura?” asked Fennik.

“A trick,” said Soren. He pointed to a computer panel cabled to the doll. “I’m guessing that panel is Azura.”

Azura snickered. “You’re so smart.”

“Ignore her,” commanded Soren. “Get searching.”

Fennik and Jacosett entered the large walk-in closet as Soren surveyed the room. A sliding glass door led to a balcony. The walls were covered with a photomural of an indigo lake, surrounded by wooded slopes.

A fire alarm started buzzing outside the bedroom.

Checking the entryway, they found flames consuming the ice-like foam. Pieces on the floor had dissolved into blazing ooze. The hall door beyond had been closed and relocked.

“Azura!” shouted Fennik.

“That’s why she lured us to the bedroom,” said Soren.

“I haven’t seen any extinguishers,” said Jacosett.

“A pyrokinetic can control fires without one,” said Soren. “Can we use a shaped charge to blow out the fire like a candle?”

“No,” said Fennik. “Might breach the door and spread fire into the building.”

“What about bringing down the ceiling above it and smothering it?”

“Maybe, but the blast could drop the whole ceiling on us!”

“Use TK!” shouted Jacosett, punching into the ceiling with his mind.

Falling plaster splashed the burning liquid outward, starting new blazes.

“Stop!” shouted Soren. “There’s a gas line in the kitchen. If the fire gets there—”

With a grunt, Fennik used his TK to rip the countertop off the kitchen island and block the doorway. “That should slow it down.”

“Good job!” yelled Soren. “Follow me.”

He led the team back through the bedroom, keying his radio. “Command, we tripped some sort of fire trap. Entry blocked. We’re on the balcony.” He closed the sliding glass door behind them.

“Copy, Psi Leader. Fire alarms went off. Residents are evacuating. Fire suppression teams inbound. Hang on.”

“We don’t have long,” said Jacosett, peering inside. “The walls and ceiling are burning.”

“Maybe accelerant in the paint,” said Soren, looking over the balcony. “We’re sixty meters up. Ideas?”

“The roof is closer,” said Jacosett.

“No good if that gas line blows,” said Soren.

“Fast rope down,” said Fennik.

“No rope,” said Soren.

“I’ll be your rope,” answered Fennik, “Trust me.”

“Always.” said Soren.

He tensed as Fennik lifted him over the railing and controlled his descent to the grass below. Looking up, Soren saw Jacosett descending too. Once Jacosett touched down, he reached up with his mind and plucked Fennik off of the railing.

“Command,” radioed Soren, “Psi Team safe. Returning to perimeter for debrief.”

“Copy, Psi Leader.”

“So much for any evidence,” sighed Jacosett.

“We still have some.” Soren tapped his helmet cam. “I got video of the ice cave in the entry, the lagoon in the living room, and the mountain lake in the bedroom. They all looked like real places. Potential hideouts.” He slapped Jacosett on the back. “Prep for travel, guys. We’re still chasing Blue.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard W. Kenneth is an engineer by day and a writer by night. He enjoys bringing ideas to life both at work and in his writing. His eighth grade English teacher ignited his love for creative writing and he’s been making up characters and stories ever since. He also writes poetry when the mood, or the muse, strikes. He shares life’s adventures with his wife, who also writes.

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