Laine gave us each a null pen and we approached the women slowly, keeping a good ten feet away. The women were unconscious, barely breathing. A door to our right rammed open and a man stumbled into the kitchen from a set of stairs leading to the second story. He reeled against the wall, bounded off, and fell.
Lainie grabbed Occam’s shoulder and my wrist, shoving, backing us out of the gathering room. She shouted, “Clear the house! Clear the house! Level five containment protocol. Clear the house! Clear the house! Level five containment protocol. We got a problem, people!” To us she said, “The locals locked down only the crime scene, not the upper floors, so people on Stella’s approved list have been up and down for hours. Stupid starstruck sheriff.”
Law enforcement officers boiled out of the hallway leading to the basement and rushed outside. Standing to the side of the door as people raced past, T. Laine said, “I want everyone quarantined. I have a feeling this is getting worse instead of better.”
Three more civilians rushed down the stairs from the second story and T. Laine called out, “Special Agent Kent, PsyLED. Outside, all of you. Occam, keep them together and don’t let anyone leave, law enforcement included. Nell,” she shouted, though I was right beside her, “get the quarantine tents out of my vehicle.” She placed her keys into my hand and said softly, “I’m calling FireWind for an ETA, and to bring a warrant for the entire house. The locals only got one for the basement, which was stupid beyond stupid,” she practically spat. “I want full access and a full crew.”
“You won’t get LaFleur and Racer,” Occam said. “They’re still in Chattanooga.”
T. Laine cursed. “You!” She yelled and pointed at a woman in a sheriff’s deputy uniform. “Get a team together and clear the house. Wear gloves. Touch no one, no thing, not one person, with your bare skin, not a doorknob or chair, no matter what, and get out fast. I want to make absolutely certain this place is empty.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said and started issuing orders.
“We need a null room on-site,” T. Laine said. “I have some calls in to find—”
Outside, a man hit the ground. Then another. T. Laine raced to the door and whispered, “Those two. They weren’t here when the bodies were discovered, but they did go down to get a look before the local law got here.” She turned and stared into the room, her eyes focused on something terrible that only she could see. “It’s not decelerating,” she repeated, her tired face growing even paler. “It’s growing.”
The victim list was now nine dead or down, and I wondered if the entire crew who had traveled with Stella on the tour had been affected by the death whatever. I had no idea how T. Laine would contain the energies and help the victims, but her being in charge of that meant the investigation was on Occam and me. I still had no idea why the überboss wanted me here, but for now, I needed to work.
TWO
More bodies fell, all of them people associated with the band or who had been in the basement. Some were struggling to breathe; some were unconscious. “Leave ’em where they lay,” T. Laine shouted, racing outside, her hands and body position suggesting that she was using a seeing working to explore the magical energies around the house and the victims. “A portable null room is on the way.”
“But they need our help,” an EMT said, his eyes tracking the victims lying on the lawn.
“Not until we know what we’re dealing with,” T. Laine said, “and not without responders wearing blue unis.” She pointed at Sheriff Jackett. “This thing seems to be expanding and growing, not decreasing. Maybe even jumping from victim to victim. I’ll cover them all with null blue aprons, but keep your people away or you can deal with this on your own. I swear to God, you make my job any harder and I’ll leave.” Which was a lie, but the sheriff didn’t know that.
“Why not just give EMTs unis and one a them null pens and let them help?” the sheriff asked.
“The null pens all need to be recharged except for two, and I’m low on unis,” she said. “Without a null room, we have a bigger disaster in the making.”
He gave a slant-eyed grunt. “Roger that. Back off, people,” he said, louder.