Ghostwalker 03 - Night Game

escaped, to figure out her screen name. They attempt to find her location whenever the goes online and happens to get an update of what is happening in the blues community. And that scares the hell out of me.
    Who programmed the computer to do that? If it was my father, why did he write the letter to me stating the girls were all given away for adoption and he wanted me to find them?
    How come, with all my resources, I haven’t been able to track them?”

    “Where do you think they are? He can’t have sanitariums scattered all over the United States housing these women, can he?”

    “I’m beginning to think he could do anything. And I’m beginning to think some of this was government sanctioned. Not outright of course, but he had to have had help. He had money, Gator, more money than even I can conceive of. And he had top security clearance. How much they knew, I have no idea, but they had to have wanted the weapons he could provide. If Flame can do the things I think she can, she would be invaluable. Even as an experiment. It’s possible they allowed her to escape with the idea she’d get sick and have to come back.”

    “Like Dahlia and the sanitarium. She had to return because she couldn’t make it on the outside. It was her only refuge.” Gator was beginning to feel very protective toward the absent Flame. “So Flame goes out into the world and does whatever it is she does, and they know she has to come home sooner or later because her body is going to betray her.”

    Lily nodded. “That’s my guess. And to be strictly honest, Gator, I’m a scientist and I don’t do guesses. I prefer to deal in hard facts, something I can prove. At this point, I don’t have enough information to prove anything. It’s a gut feeling. Sometimes I know things. And I know she’s out there, she’s in trouble, and she’s going to come after us if she hasn’t already, especially if she thinks she’s going to die.”

    “That bad?”

    “Worse. The things she can do with her voice are incredible. And if she were down the street, she might, under the right circumstances, be able to hear our conversation. The key would be to filter out multiple sounds and not get inundated by all the sounds surrounding her.”

    Gator didn’t even flinch, not even when her shrewd gaze rested on his face.

    “Well,” she continued, ignoring the fact that he hadn’t responded, “maybe not in this house. The walls are soundproofed. And maybe that’s why my father had it built this way. For his protection, not mine.” She wiped the tears from her face and stood up, pacing restlessly across his room. “Have you kept up with the latest research on sound as a weapon?”

    He had, but he wasn’t going to admit it. GhostWalkers rarely volunteered information, especially when it concerned their own talents. He remained silent.

    Lily cast him a small glance, clearly waiting for him to speak. When he didn’t she sighed. “Flame can use sound as sonar. She can literally ‘see’ in the dark like a bat or a dolphin. As a weapon, infrasound can debilitate by causing nausea, bowel spasms, change of heart rhythm, interference with lung capacity, vertigo, etc.”

    “In other words, she can kill a human being.” He said it without looking at her. He knew firsthand what low-frequency sound could do and it sickened him.

    “Absolutely she could kill a human being. Also, infrasound is nondirectional in its propagation, therefore it envelops without any discernible localized source. She could produce the ‘weapon’ without her direction being detected.” Lily squarely met his gaze again. “Another thing that is interesting about what she can do, Gator, is aside from
    ‘talking’ to animals, she could conceivably create a mass exodus of, say, bats from a cave or rats from an abandoned complex using a high frequency. She could even draw or repel insects such as mosquitoes.”

    Lily was well aware she was talking about things he could do, and she was looking for a reaction. He remained absolutely without expression. She lifted her chin at him. “Can you use ultrasound to detect problems in people, Gator? Can you ‘see’ organs by using a high frequency?”

    “I believe the idea was to be able to help should any one in my unit be injured. We’d have a walking ultrasound machine.”

    “Which is no answer at all. If you find her, Flame could be very ill. She might not let a doctor get near her, but she might let you. Would