Chapter 101
Kansas City, Missouri, USA, 1893
With the turn of the Twentieth Century looming, Jordan and Janette Findley were determined to bring their operation ahead of the curve, bringing their finest and brightest members together to work on advancements that would revolutionize the way they did things. Toward that end, they were in the process of building a training facility on the outskirts of Kansas City, the likes of which no one had ever seen before. When Jamie was summoned there in the fall, after having spent six months bouncing around from one team to another on special assignment, trying to find his place, but also trying to get over Kit. Neither task had been easy, and he was fairly certain he might not ever be able to do either completely.
Jamie was met at the train station by a woman with long strawberry-blonde hair. She was overly kind, and he felt at easy from the moment he took her hand. “Welcome to LIGHTS,” she said, ushering him toward a waiting automobile. “I’m Hannah Roberts. It’s nice to finally meet you, Dr. Joplin.”
She walked more quickly than he expected considering they were trying to blend in with the humans, but he was able to keep up. “It’s nice to meet you as well,” he replied. “And please, call me Jamie.”
Nodding, she gestured for him to climb in, and after he stowed his single suitcase in the back seat, he climbed in beside her. The auto was quite impressive. He’d never seen anything like it; there were so many switches and dials on the dash. She used a stick of some sort attached to the gears to shift it into drive and took off, not having to crank anything or even shift to make the car go faster.
“This is one of the contraptions Jordan’s got going in the laboratory,” she explained. “He’s got some of the best engineers in the world working on transportation.”
“Fascinating,” Jamie said, staring from one switch to the next.
“He’s very interested in air travel, as well,” she continued.
“You mean, air balloons? Zeppelins? That sort of thing?”
“Think more sleek, easier to take off and land, although we do have various types of both of those transports in our arsenal.”
“It will be amazing to see what they come up with next,” Jamie muttered.
“I think you mean ‘we,’” she corrected. “I’m fairly certain he wants to speak to you because he has a special assignment for you. Weren’t you working on the Transformation serum?”
Jamie thought back to his experiments in Boston. He felt he’d been close, but he’d spent so much time out in the field these past few years, he hadn’t been able to give it his proper attention. “Yes,” he finally replied. “I was.”
“Well, perhaps his summoning of you has something to do with that.”
Hannah wound her way through streets that looked like the ordinary suburbs he was used to through parts of town that reminded him of states further west, California, Oregon, those sorts of places. Kansas City seemed like a town made up of lots of different versions of the same place.
“How long have you been here?” he asked. She looked relatively young.
“Not long. I Transformed a few years ago. I’m from Blue Springs, which is close by, so I’ve spent most of my time training here, at LIGHTS Headquarters.”
“You used that term before. I’m afraid I’m not familiar. What is it?”
“LIGHTS?” she asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “Lincoln International Guardian and Hunter Training Station. It’s what Jordan and Janette are calling it now. Once the facility is finished, the plan is to bring in all new Hunters and Guardians from all over the world to spend a few weeks training here and then assign them to a team based on their strengths and the needs of various locations.”
“Really?’ Jamie asked, his mouth gaping. “That sounds like quite an undertaking.”
“It will be, for a while, especially those coming from overseas, but once we have the capability of traveling through the air, things will be easier.”
The idea of traveling by air on some sort of colossal craft seemed nearly impossible to Jamie, but he didn’t mention that to Hannah. “And you are a Guardian, I take it?”
She smiled at him. “How could you tell?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I tend to know my own kind, I suppose.”
“Well, if that’s the case you might have already picked up on the fact that I’m also a Healer, though not to the degree that you are. I was studying counseling when I began my Transformation, so I have a tendency to work well with the emotions of others.”
“You don’t say?” Jamie asked. “How interesting is that. I’ve always been rather curious about human emotions.” His mind flickered to Kit and how he could never tell what might set her off. “And how does your background affect your abilities?”
“I can influence the emotions of others. Make them happy, or sad, or what have you. It’s been a bit difficult to practice because I don’t want to distress anyone for no reason, but I do have a lab set up, and Jordan has allowed me to take volunteers. I’m getting quite good at it, actually.”
Jamie pondered her response for a moment before he said, “Well, I should like to volunteer at some point, should you be so inclined as to try your skills out on me. I’d love to experience it for myself.”
A smile crossed her pretty face. “Why, thank you. And should I ever be in need, you may most certainly apply your skills to me, as well. Your reputation certainly proceeds you, sir.”
He didn’t know exactly what to say to that, despite the fact that he heard nearly the same description of himself no matter where he went. Perhaps, a few years ago, back before the unsettling discussion he’d had with Kit the night they’d killed Fritzy, he might’ve answered a bit more arrogantly than he tended to now. The woman he once thought he’d been in love with had certainly humbled him with her comments, if not crushed his very soul. “Thank you kindly,” was all he could say, and he realized they were out in the country a bit, headed toward a gate attached to a very high stone wall. “Is this it, then?” he asked as she slowed.
“It is.” Hannah pressed one of the buttons along the dash, and the thick, iron gates swung open.
“How did you…?” Jamie stammered.
“It’s something Jordan calls remote entry,” she explained. “Isn’t it amazing?”
“Indeed,” Jamie agreed.
