Melissa Barker-Simpson

EPISODE 10 

MIRROR EFFECT 

Previously on Labno & Carter: Armed with a plan and the location of their suspects, Dan and Kate can almost taste victory. But it’s not over yet, and with limited control over the outcome, they can only hope they have put their trust in the right players. The episode is told from Kate’s point of view. 

We walked back out of the station with Tobias disguised as Rahim; the king’s gait impeccable. 

It did feel a little odd to have Glendola and Marcus at our backs, the cloak Glendola had reestablished like a low-grade static shock every time they came too close. But other than that, we were golden. 

“See you at the briefing, Sunny-G,” Dan said, then turned to me. “We should head out, too.” 

“Yeah, especially as you owe me a cup of joe on route.” 

Dan threw out a reply as we walked towards the rear of the station, and though the sarcasm in his tone registered, the words didn’t. It was all for show anyway, and I was too preoccupied with the what next of it all. Like the fact Tobias would walk until he found a quiet place to transform into Phidel; the rat we had in custody.  

Normally, a hympe would first need to revert to their original form. Luckily. Tobias was stronger than most, so as well as his tricks with a partial shift, he could transition seamlessly from one shape to another. 

We were relying on the fact Phidel’s partner in crime on the recon mission was still around, so they could head back to base together. If everything went the way we had prepared, Glendola would incapacitate Phidel’s partner, Maral, and Marcus would take her place. They would then travel to the Dunsford Estate, at which point Glendola would fall back. 

Rahim, Matthew, Dan and I would travel ahead with a small unit in tow and, once given the go ahead, we would enter and take the group into custody. I already had my Neil Sedaka lyrics ready, a simple ‘you’re going down, dooby doo down down,’ which Dan and I liked to serenade suspects with. 

Problem was, we were nowhere near that point. 

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” I admitted to Dan as we climbed into his jeep. 

“Yeah, too many variables, but Tobias is experienced in the field so we have to trust he can handle himself.” 

I didn’t reply because I was more worried about losing our advantage. We might not get another chance. Tobias had a member of the Collective on standby, so I didn’t feel bad about putting the investigation first.  

Dan chuckled. “You weren’t worried about Tobias, were you?” When I only squirmed in my seat his amusement grew. “We’ll get them, don’t worry. I know you prefer being the one in control, so this has got to suck.” 

“What sucks is being reminded that we’re blind right now, so why don’t you step on it so we can get ourselves into position?” 

Letting me off the hook, Dan proved he could follow orders and put his foot down. 

When we arrived at the scene, Matthew and his team were waiting. They had setup a mobile unit so they could mobilise as soon as it was go time. 

Since I’ve never been very good at waiting or wasting time with small talk, I paced out of sight and gave off ‘do not disturb vibes.’ Of course, Rahim ignored the signs, including the scowl I thew in his direction. 

“I’ve seen just about enough of you this afternoon.” 

He grinned at my snark, amused at the reference to the Rahim wannabes. 

“Aren’t you worried I might not be the real deal?” he asked in an oddly curious tone. 

“Only the real deal could pull off that pompous energy you carry. I’d be able to tell it was you with my eyes closed, wearing a pair of noise cancelling headphones.” 

“Why, Labno, you say the sweetest things!” He actually looked pretty pleased. 

I had to grin at that. I’ve never been referred to as sweet before. At least not with a straight face. 

We both turned at the burst of energy coming from the mobile unit. 

“It’s go time,” Dan siad, throwing me a sweet looking weapon. It was on the same lines as a stungun, but it was better than the RDU issued device I had strapped to my shoulder harness. 

Swapping it out, I moved to my partner, and we fell into formation. 

The Dunsford Estate was a sight to behold. It was palatial, with sweeping lines, solid pillars and curving panes of glass which twinkled in the light. 

Right then it could have been a dark, derelict office block for all I cared. I was too intent on getting in and getting this done. 

It was fortuitous for us that the building was surrounded by artfully designed shrubbery because we used it as cover.  

Still, when I hit the entrance, I was on guard, especially since the inner belly of the beast was so open, there were few places to avoid detection. 

It wasn’t until I’d reached the top of the sweeping staircase that I ran into trouble. 

One of the shapeshifters, Otis Ryder was hightailing it down a curved hallway. 

He stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted me. Then the son of a bitch grinned as though he was enjoying himself. 

I started to move forward then paused myself when he lit up like he’d been dining on fluorescent bulbs for dinner and his shape began to morph. 

Deciding I didn’t give a shit what he was transforming into, my feet came unstuck. It was still kind of daunting when his form settled, and I was suddenly looking into a mirror. That was to say the form he’d chosen was me.  

“I’d have picked Dan,” I muttered, because the idiot had given me an advantage. 

He probably didn’t realise I fight dirty and had absolutely no compunction about hitting someone who looked like me. Okay, so when I jabbed a fist into my face – his face but you get my drift – it felt a bit creepy, but I decided to look past the surface so I could take the fucker down.  

I had to hand it to Otis, he learned my moves pretty quickly, so I took a few solid punches. At one point, we teetered close to the edge of the stairs as we grappled, hands bunched in each other’s uniform as we fought for the upper hand. 

I had the oddest thought that the scene would have looked pretty cool on camera. Then I quit messing around and threw fake me against the wall. 

“Shit,” I muttered at the telltale illumination effect. 

“Catch,” I heard my partner shout and instinctively snapped out my hand to catch the containment jewellery. 

I slapped the metal against Otis’s wrist with only a moment to spare. 

Since he was bigger than me and seriously pissed, I took him down with a kick to the back of the knees and basically sat on him until Dan sauntered over with stronger restraints. 

“Report,” I said when I saw the bear in his eyes; he was barely holding on. 

“Matt’s been hit,” he ground out. “The one who can manipulate kinetic energy used his own weapon against him and he took a direct hit.” Dan took a deep breath, fighting for control. “He has a hole the size of a crater in his chest.” 

“Where is he?” 

“Ground floor. Tobias is with him. He’s doing what he can to hold him together with the assistance of the medics while a unit arrives.” 

I started to move, though there was little I could do except stand around and hope he made it, or maybe goad him into staying alive. 

“We’ve still got two unaccounted for. You take the left. We’ll go through this place with a flamethrower if we have to and smoke the fuckers out.” 

I didn’t mention that a flamethrower was likely overkill if we didn’t want to piss off Julia Dunsford, a blow torch might be a tad more subtle. 

After I made sure Otis was secure, I re-entered the hallway with my weapon at the ready. 

As I slowly made my way through the first room on the left, I regretted not asking the identity of the remaining hympes. It would have been useful to know what I was dealing with. Then I had visions of a human torch and was really glad that none of the shapeshifters had that ability. It was Dan’s fault for putting the thought in my head. That and all the movie references that circled my brain. It was hardly surprising given all the crap I’d seen in the last few years. 

Movement at the door had me swinging that way to see Marcus, Tobias’s number two stepping into the room. 

“How’s-” 

“Alive for now,” he said holding out a pair of glasses. “These might help you find what you’re looking for.” 

I took hold of them, pausing when he didn’t let go. “They’re on loan. I’m going to need them back.” 

“More experimental tech?” I yanked and he finally released his grip. “Let me guess, these work in a similar way to infrared goggles?” I said, slipping them on. 

“You’re smarter than you look.” 

“Now, Marcus. Play nice,” a female voice sing-songed from out in the hall. 

One of Tobias’s other guards, I surmised. 

I had to bite my lip to stop the grin because I’d lost count of how many times Dan had said those exact words to me. 

“If you think that offends me then you haven’t heard many redhead jokes,” I said, turning to scan the room. “And even a trained monkey could figure out these things allow you to detect energy that shouldn’t be there. But you’d know something about that, wouldn’t you, Marcus?” 

The tinkling laughter of his fellow guard almost drowned out his grunted response. 

Turning to him, I used my eyes to indicate the long, elegant chaise lounge to the left of the bed. 

“Do you want to grab one end and I’ll grab the other?” I said, gratified when I saw humour dance across Marcus’s face. 

“Nah, I think you should take a load off and I’ll-” 

The piece of furniture that wasn’t anything like what it appeared began to vibrate so violently I almost took a step back. 

Then I was looking at a blue-eyed female with skin the colour of honey and the body of a dancer. Her hair fell around her shoulders in dark chestnut waves, and her chin jutted forward in defiance. 

“You have no right to-” 

Marcus didn’t even let her finish the sentence. “Save your whining for someone who gives a crap,” he snapped, anger replacing any humour he’d felt. “You are a disgrace to our people, and you will be held accountable for your actions.” 

Something about his reaction alerted me to the fact this was personal. He knew her, and his disappointment was evident in every tense line of his body. 

“I’ll let you deal with this one,” I said, removing the glasses when his gaze swung my way. “Cool toy, but I’m sure Dan has things under control.” 

When his attention swung back to chestnut, who was, from my recollection, Marsha James, I took it as my cue to leave. Marsha wasn’t one of the six so, at least for me, she wasn’t a priority. 

When I caught up with Dan, I found him on the terrace level staring up at the sky. I didn’t know whether to laugh or tell Rahim to quit goofing around because the angel was holding a struggling Tony Andrews by the ankles around twelve feet in the air. If he dropped him, it probably wouldn’t have filled the hympe, but it would have given him a hell of a headache. 

Deciding to leave them to their fun, I stepped back into the house and went in search of Matthew. 

I’ll admit to experiencing some guilt that my bad feeling from earlier had turned out to be about a member of the team. 

By the time I found Tobias, who looked like he was ready to drop where he stood, I discovered Matt was hanging on, and had been picked up by one of the medical units. 

Whatever the king had done to give Matt a fighting chance had clearly cost him. Since he probably wouldn’t appreciate me pointing out he looked like crap, I doubled back to the first level and alerted Marcus to the situation. 

That done, I began the pleasurable task of wrapping things up. 

I didn’t make it home for several hours. Not only did I have processing to deal with, I had another report to write and I couldn’t put the case to bed until I knew Matthew was going to pull through. 

He still had a lot of healing to do, but at least he was out of danger so I could call it a good result. 

The first thing I did when I returned home was cook myself a proper meal, or I tried. Dan invited himself to the party and it was like feeding an army. Still, the act of crafting together a simple seafood linguine relaxed all the kinks out. 

With sleep beaconing, my body more than ready to crash, I relaxed in my recliner with a glass of red. Dan was sprawled on the long couch, having made himself at home. Since his time was limited, I leaned over and clinked my glass with his.  

“You have about ten minutes until I hit the sack so drink up partner.” 

“Don’t let me stop you, I’m good right here,” he said, grinning. 

I probably shouldn’t have bought a couch that could accommodate a bear, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d crashed and, truth be told, he cooked a mean omelette. Don’t even get me started on the French toast. 

“Fine.” I raised my glass. “To Sahara Miller.” 

“Sahara.” 

We sipped in silence, comfortable, and maybe a little smug that we’d closed the case. Of course, it couldn’t last. 

I barely made it halfway down my glass before all hell broke loose. Closing my eyes as my phone buzzed excitedly across the coffee table and my front door began to rattle, I swallowed the rest in one gulp. 

“Here we go again,” I muttered, and rose to my feet. 

This concludes Season 1 of Labno & Carter.