Chapter 46: No time to explain.

"Did you say, Keith? Your father? I must've misunderstood you," Rea had the feeling he missed something. Karma had said her dad was dead. Had that been a lie? No, he had faith in her. This must be a mistake, and Ken looked like her dad.

Karma didn't answer.

Rea called out a hushed "Ken" and came out past the wall. Ken was attempting to get the door open. Young and useless, Brice was with him.

"Boss-Mac, we need to get in here. I have a key, but the lock has been damaged." Ken's eyes went past Rea to Karma behind him. "Hello, Kar. Glad you're here."

Ken produced a small dark-colored case from his pocket and handed the item to her. When the flashlight passed her face, Rea noticed her eyes had gone as cold as ice. She snatched the case and then put her rifle on her shoulder.

"Were you expecting me, Ken?" she snapped.

"I didn't think I could hide from you forever. There are a lot of cameras on this base, and I'm not stupider." Ken nodded at Karma. "Give her a minute, and we'll be in. She can crack any lock, even broken ones."

Karma stepped forward.

"We don't have time right now, but I've got questions, Ken." Rea acted as a lookout on one side of the door. Brice did the same on the opposite side of the hall. Behind him, Karma opened the case. He glanced over as she picked the lock to the door. The whole time Karma didn't say a word. Her silence made him nervous. Actually, a lot of this made him nervous. She said this was her father. He wanted to question everyone, but the silence was his friend right now. He couldn't have a big long conversation in the hall. Not when they were being hunted, and they had no lights and no idea where Fletcher could be.

Gears huddled close to Eric. Both men moved behind Ken's large frame. If it was bothering Ken, he didn't let it show. He kept up his gun, his mouth closed, and his eyes open.

Much to Rea's surprise, Brice did the same thing. He wasn't prattling on or looking worried. Considering what a bad shot he was, Rea thought Brice wouldn't be as calm and relaxed as he was right now.

Karma made a triumphant "ahh" sound the same moment Brice let off two shots. Rea turned in time to see a man who had come around the corner. The stranger fell to the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Rea couldn't hide how flabbergasted he was. The shot was amazing, especially in the low light. Two in the head, perfectly between the eyes.

"Brice works for me. I got the best men I could find," Ken said. "He's a great shot."

"A great shot? You ruined four doors in the training room." Rea scanned the lanky youth. "And three lights." He very much doubted that.

"Ken asked all of us to pretend to be novices." Brice smiled. "That way, you wouldn't think something was up. He thought it'd be best if we went along with your training. Actually, you're a good trainer."

"I didn't think it was the right time to put all my cards on the table." Ken shrugged. "I was waiting for—"

"For what? For hell to freeze over? For Earth to melt? This is my base. I've a right to know what's going on." Rea's eyes looked to Karma for a second.

"Don't look at me. I don't know what's going on either." Karma opened the door and stormed into the electrical room.

Gears and Eric hurried after her. Rea gave Brice orders to check the men who guarded the area where the trains parked. While he gave instructions on vulnerable points, Ken got on his radio. Karma helped Gears open the panel. Eric held the flashlight.

After Brice left, they closed the heavy steel door.

The room the five of them entered was a simple square. On the center of the far wall were three sub-panels. Eric pointed the flashlight at the largest of the three. They could see random bullet holes peppering the door.

"Fletcher never did listen to me. If you're aiming to cut the power, then you should do it where it comes in from the surface of the planet. This is a… what's the word? Shortcut?" Ken took out a pistol and checked the clip.

"Could I have a brief explanation?" Rea looked to Ken and then to Karma. How could he have missed the similarities?

"I know what this looks like." Karma frowned. "You think I lied when I said my father was dead? Well, he was. I was at his funeral. I was handed his ashes. I'm as confused as you are."

"Mac, you always knew I was lying about my name." Ken slipped his weapon back into a holster on his thigh. "And I don't know who was incinerated, but it wasn't me."

"Yeah. I knew about the name." Rea studied Ken or now Keith. "I thought it might be 'coz you were hiding from an ex-girlfriend or a crazy wife. Maybe you had a rough past. We always worked well together, and you never lied about anything else. I thought I knew who you were."

"Boy, you're right. I did have a rough past, and the name is Keith Davis."

Rea studied Keith's dark eyes and his large impressive form. He started to feel the burning in his gut. His stomach felt like he'd eaten fire. It was a lie.

"Your name's not Keith Davis." Rea wished Karma would say what she was thinking too. He wanted to have faith in her. She couldn't have known about all this. He refused to believe everything between them had been a lie.

"Yes. I've had a lot of names, but I think the Keith Davis part is the only one that's important here."

Rea glanced at Karma again. Did she really not know her father was alive? And more importantly, why was her dad here? Why did Keith have men working for him and pretending to be new at guarding? At one point, Rea actually realized some of them were pretending, but he figured it was most of them dodging work.

"I thought I could trust you, Keith." A sinking feeling nudged at him.

"You can trust me. It hasn't been easy keeping things from you, but by the time I wanted to tell you who I was, the situation had changed."

Before he could get more out of Keith, he heard Gears behind him. Gears was singing a tune to the electrical panel. The doctor's back was to them.

"The black wire goes to gold, and the white to silver, and don't forget the ground."

Eric, Keith, Karma, and he all turned to watch Gears as he continued to hum. Finally, Eric spoke.

"What're you doing?"

The words stopped Gears' singing.

"I told you before." Gears spun around, holding a screwdriver in his hand. His cheeks were red. "I'm not an electrician. The song helps me keep this straight."

Rea nodded. "I can see that, but can you fix it?"

"Yes, but I need time."

"We need light. The men coming in at the train station are wearing night vision." Rea looked to Karma.

Karma pinned her father with a hard look. "We can't check the cameras and pinpoint Fletcher until we have power. While we wait, I want to know the whole story, Dad. I want to know all of it. Start at the beginning."

"Fine." Keith nodded. "Let me start by saying I'm not planning to make apologies for The Seemyah or the choices I made. I've been doing what I think is best."

"What do you mean by best?" Rea studied Keith. Sure, Rea had talked to him many times before, but this was different. He kept asking himself how he had missed Karma's and Keith's resemblance.

"It all began when I faked my death."

As Keith spoke, Rea glanced at Eric and Gears. Then two men looked captivated by that starting sentence. Gears stopped working. Eric nudged him back to what he was supposed to be focused on.

"You see, I had to do it. I made no secret that I wanted Karma to have my empire. I'd hoped Fletcher would become her second like he'd been mine. I wanted the business and The Seemyah to prosper under their joint leadership. I had to keep The Seemyah and the building business on top."

While Keith continued, Rea opened the door a crack and scanned the hall. This wasn't the time to talk, but Karma was like a dog after a meaty bone. She wasn't going to let this go. Rea was sure of that.

"To keep the business on top, you thought it'd be best if you pretended to die?" Karma pulled extra ammo from one of her many pockets.

"I thought Fletcher loved you, Karma. I figured you cared about him as well. I thought it was only a matter of time." Keith produced about half a dozen extra magazines for his pistol. Apparently, he liked pockets as much as his daughter.

Karma crossed to the door and peeked out exactly as he'd done. "Only a matter of time until what?"

"Fletcher thought I was… what's the word? Overbearing? I started to assume it was me that was keeping you both apart and stopping you from taking a leadership role." Keith handed Rea ammo for his Glock. "I faked my death so Karma could become a real leader without me around."

Karma ran her hand across the M4 on her shoulder. She looked pissed enough to shoot her dad.

"I never cared for Fletcher. I told that to you both… repeatedly. Neither one of you could accept it. I wanted my freedom." Her eyes blazed in a fury. "Get to the point."

Keith sighed at his daughter. "This is a long story, Kar."

A fight was brewing between daughter and father. Rea didn't need or want that right now.

"Maybe this isn't the right time for long stories," Rea interjected.

"You told me you liked long stories," Karma snapped. "Keep talking."

He was right. She wasn't about to let this go.