Ultimate Nyssa Glass, H. Burke [cat reading book .TXT] 📗

The man in the top-hat loomed over her, grinning beneath his dark glasses. He yanked a pair of wires from her side and tucked them into his pocket.

“You cleared a nice path for us, all the security systems disabled, the way marked as clearly as your footsteps in the dust. Took a girl to do what a half dozen men couldn't.”

Us? Nyssa tried to speak the words, but her mouth wouldn’t move.

“The thing is, we don’t need you anymore.” The man reached under his coat.

Nyssa’s heart rate spiked.

“Don’t hurt her!” Hart cried.

“Who said that?” A woman came to stand beside the man.

Albriet? Nyssa’s mind raced. How are they here? Together? They’re supposed to be competitors. Does this mean both of them are working for Rivera? Or neither of them?

The man withdrew his hand from his coat. To Nyssa’s relief, he held a coil of rope rather than a gun or a knife. Her panic eased. At least they weren’t going to kill her immediately.

Albriet stroked the mirror’s frame, and the lights shuddered. “Miles, look at this: a talking computer disguised as a mirror. It’s not what we were looking for, but the schematics might be worth something.”

“Whatever you want, take it,” Hart said. “Just don’t hurt the girl. I can help you get to the main computers.”

“Really is magnificent.” Albriet studied Hart's buttons like a jeweler appraising a diamond. “Almost human in its diction, though the tone would get on my nerves after a bit.” She tapped her fingers against her chin. “No, I think we need to focus on the information we promised the client. Now that we have access to the manor, we can always come back later if we need more to sell.”

“And the girl?” Miles kicked Nyssa in the side. Pain shot through her.

“Tie her up for now. If we get through, we can just leave her, but there’s a chance we might need her to disable the last lock.” Albriet eyed Nyssa, a slight smile on her lips. “You’re practically an artist. Sorry for the charade, my dear, but I saw what a good little church mouse you’d become and I knew you needed ‘incentive’ to work for me. Miles provided that.”

Miles jerked Nyssa into a sitting position. Her head pounded as he wound the cords around her hands and ankles.

“How long will that shock keep her down?” Albriet asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Just a few more minutes. I used the low setting.”

Not that low.Nyssa tried to work her tongue free, but her jaw felt as if it were wired shut.

“Look, Nyssa knows better than to try and go to the authorities. She’s practically an accomplice,” Hart said. “Just let her go.”

Albriet brought her nose inches from the mirror then swept down the length of it. “This is an intriguing bit of tech. Do you respond to voice commands?”

“I’ll respond to Morse code if you let Nyss go.” Hart’s voice raised a pitch. “Please … Nyss, can you hear me?”

Nyssa tried to force out words, to tell him she was all right, but her tongue wouldn’t budge. Invisible hammers clanked against her temples, and her skin tingled.

Albriet’s hand wrapped around the RAM. “What’s this? Some sort of remote device?” She yanked it from its port. “The computer seems to have an attachment to the girl. I half want to kill her, just to see how it rea—!” Electricity wrapped around Albriet’s hand. Her spine arched into an unnatural angle. Shrieking, she flung the RAM into the mirror. The glass shattered, raining over Nyssa.

“Hart!” The word burst from Nyssa in a rasp.

Albriet sank to her knees, clutching her now crimson palm.

“Some sort of security measure?” Miles chuckled.

“What sort of illogical system was that?” Albriet stomped on the RAM. Nyssa winced at the crunch of circuits. “I hope Dalhart’s other inventions make more sense. We can’t turn a profit on this nonsense.”

Sparks spit from the broken mirror.

It’s okay, Nyssa assured herself. Hart’s consciousness is uploaded to the main computer, not that mirror. He would’ve just jumped to another station. He’ll be fine. Concentrate on yourself. You need to find an angle to get out of this.

“So do we kill the girl or not?” Miles jerked his thumb towards Nyssa.

Albriet grimaced. “We could've if you had listened and waited for her to unlock the last doorway. I told you we wouldn't make a move until she'd gotten us to the end. What part of that didn't you understand?”

“We’ve waited for long enough. I can handle a door.” Miles reached under his coat and produced a stick of dynamite. “This is my master key.” His grin split his face, revealing glistening, silver capped teeth.

Albriet rolled her eyes. “Don’t be an idiot. You might blast through thousands of dollars worth of delicate equipment. We can harvest this place for years. We’ll keep the girl, for now. Leave her here. I want to see what’s on those tables.”

Nyssa’s breath quickened. Albriet walked beside the piles of machine parts and circuit boards, sweeping the items with her eyes but staying out of reach of the invisible laser grid. Nyssa’s fingers tightened into fists behind her back. Get greedy. Please get greedy.

“Nothing of value here.” Albriet sniffed.

Nyssa’s stomach sank.

“You sure?” Miles approached her. “Looks like a whole lot of something to be nothing.”

“Oh, there’s scrap metal value, but nothing is complete. It’s all bits and pieces.” Albriet shrugged. “We want the schematics, anyway, not the parts.”

“If you let me go, I’ll tell you where to find them!” Nyssa burst out.

Albriet raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know that?”

Nyssa scanned the tables, desperately looking for something to work with. Propped against a pile of wires was a hand mirror like object, very similar to Hart’s RAM, only with fewer switches and lights around the frame. Perhaps an early prototype of the system.

“I was talking with the house computer. He said he had all the schematics in his system, but he needed that mirror-like-thing you just smashed to get at them.” Don’t tell her