Cape Storm Page 0,36

French Roast, just to make this more of a social call. Being able to say I had coffee with Cynthia Clark didn't factor into that decision at all. Well, not much.

Clark blew on the surface of her own brew and studied us both with X-ray eyes that had reportedly once made Steve McQueen swoon. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"Just a few questions, and then, I promise, we'll certainly be out of your way," I said.

"First, can you tell me why you didn't leave the ship before departure, as you were asked to do?"

"Well, you're direct," she murmured. "How very refreshing. It's all a bit embarrassing, I suppose, and it's going to make me seem like a horrible tyrant. I was terribly tired, and I left strict instructions not to be disturbed for any reason prior to departure. I'm afraid my employees might have taken those instructions a bit too literally. When I finally rose for breakfast, I was informed of the evacuation order, but it was too late for us to make our arrangements and leave."

There was something odd about Clark's aura. It seemed very calm, swirling with neutral blues and soft golds, but it also felt artificial. "What kind of arrangements? I'd think you'd want to get out as quickly as possible."

"I really can't go into details," she said. "But it was entirely accidental that we ended up staying here, on the ship. We won't be any trouble to you. I'm quite content to stay in the cabin." She gave me a cool smile. "It's so difficult to find privacy these days out in the real world."

I wondered, because a curl of hot magenta drifted over her aura. Resentment, maybe. She wasn't the It Girl anymore when it came to the paparazzi, and she knew it. It probably took a great deal of effort to get herself photographed at all, except in retirement magazines talking about how she was "still young at sixty-five."

"Routine questions, Miss Clark. We just want to be sure we're aware of any problems that might come up," I said.

"Such as?"

"Oh, I don't know...Trouble between you and another passenger, maybe a stalker?

Business disagreements?"

"Alas, I don't have that many enemies, Miss Baldwin. I'm sure I'd feel much more important if I did. No, I have no fears, and I'm sure that none of my little party represents any sort of difficulty for you."

I wished I could figure out what was bothering me. She just didn't seem... right. Was she scared? No, not really, but when I concentrated on her aura, I saw flecks like floating ice.

I wasn't sure what it meant, but I was sure that it wasn't normal.

I let the silence go on too long. "Is that all?" Clark asked, suddenly a good deal less welcoming. "I have a strict meditation schedule. Yoga. It keeps me toned and flexible. I highly recommend it."

"May I speak with your employees?" I asked her.

"No," Cynthia Clark said. Just the one word, cold and final. I blinked and glanced at David, who was staring at Clark with very dark eyes. I didn't know what he was seeing, but it wasn't good. Not good at all.

Then he looked from Clark to where her two employees stood at the other end of the room.

"Jo," he said, and touched my shoulder. "You should go."

"I - What?"

"Now." The touch turned into a painful squeeze. "Now." I stood up, but it was too late. I barely sensed the snap of power coming before it hit me like a pile driver to the chest - not just on the physical plane but on the aetheric, too. I knew this sensation.

It had hit me before. It had killed a whole lot of my friends.

The blitz attack sent me into the air in a tumbling, twisting heap. I flew across the cabin and slammed into the solid wall with a wood-cracking thump. I hardly had time to process the shock of pain before pressure closed around me, deep as the black depths of the ocean, and drove all the air from my lungs. I felt my entire nervous system flickering, overloading, on the verge of burnout. There was an unearthly shrieking roar in my ears, like a mental institution on fire, and everything felt wrong , so wrong.

I fought. I flailed, trying to throw it off, but I couldn't, because there was nothing to grab hold of. I blinked away darkness and saw David moving like a streak of light toward the two at the far