Dissident

by Lisa Beeson

  “Hey Jamie,” Skylar called down.

  “Hmm…?” she answered, as she bent down to pick up leaf covered in colorful splotches.

  “Can you teach me how to use the blowtorch?”

  Noah and Jamie shared a look and chuckled, then Jamie squinted up at her and asked, “How old are you again?”

  “Seven. But I’ll be eight in September.”

  “Well, that’s way too young,” she said.

  Skylar was only mildly disappointed; she knew the request was a long shot.

  “You gotta wait to you’re at least nine before you can learn to fuse metal.”

  “Okay!” Skylar raised her arms in unexpected triumph. She’d take it.

  “Jamie,” Noah said in quiet reprimand.

  “Fine,” she sighed dramatically, “…then ten. But,” she looked up at Skylar and pointed, “…only after you’ve mastered the table saw and the grinder.”

  Noah shook his head in exasperation, and the three of them laughed.

  Holding her treasure and resting her chin on top of Noah’s head, Skylar grinned as she daydreamed of having the best family ever.

  They walked until Jamie suddenly stopped. After a couple steps, Noah stopped and looked back at her. “Baby…?” he said as he slipped Skylar down from his shoulders and rushed over.

  Skylar could feel his spike of fear and it made her scared too.

  Jamie was standing as still as a statue. Her unfocused eyes were moving back and forth as if she was dreaming with her eyes open.

  Noah stood in front of her, putting his hands gently on her face, trying to get her to focus on him. “Baby, you okay? What’s happening? What’s wrong?”

  Her eyes began rapidly blinking, then she gasped and clamped her hands onto Noah’s wrists.

  He flinched, but did not pull away. “Jamie, what’s wrong?”

  Before she could gather herself enough to answer, they heard the sound of running feet crashing through the woods towards them.

  “Skylar! Jamie! Noah!” Taika shouted, with Alvaro running close behind. When the two boys saw them, they rushed over. Taika’s face alight with excitement and Alvaro’s face a mask of seriousness, both of them sweaty and panting as if they had been racing each other.

  Taika held up Noah’s phone. “I found this…” he panted out, before tossing it to Noah. “When you didn’t answer your phone they told me to come get you.” He gave Alvaro an annoyed side eye, before continuing. “It’s Val and Jean-Baptiste…” he said with an excited grin. “They’re here! They just appeared out of nowhere!”

  Skylar’s heart sank to her feet.

  Alvaro and Jamie locked eyes. “Did you see it?” he asked her, and Skylar knew he was not asking about Val and Jean-Baptiste’s sudden appearance.

  Jamie nodded. “Just a second ago,” she rasped out. “I’ve never had one while I was awake before.

  “Uh, hello?” Taika said waving his hands, miffed that no one was paying attention to him. “I just said that Val and Jean-Baptiste just appeared out of nowhere. Like, just walked through a tear in space-time.”

  “Cass and Ruby saw it too. They sent me to come get you,” Alvaro said to Jamie, as if Taika had not said anything.

  Jamie nodded and started to follow, her legs a little unsteady. Noah wrapped his arm around her to help her walk.

  Skylar clenched the arrowhead in her hand hard enough to dig into her skin. “Soren wasn’t with them?” she asked Taika, barely above a whisper.

  Taika went from the edge of outrage to mindfully apologetic the second he saw the pain and hope in Skylar’s eyes, and he slowly shook his head.

  Skylar hung her head as fresh tears began to burn her eyes.

  Taika grabbed her hand, excitement surrounding him like a bright halo again. “But you gotta see Jean-Baptiste,” he coaxed. “He looks like a giant silver wizard! And Val has a shaved head and a robotic eye now!”

  Skylar let Taika hurry her back towards the farmhouse.

  She had never seen a real live wizard before. And if anyone knew anything about Soren, it would be Val.

  Chapter 23

  As Ari and Myles caught up to Cam and Roche, Adam flew down through the canopy and transformed back into a man before he hit the ground in a smooth forward motion, easily matching their strides.

  Roche looked back with a double take and cursed under his breath, as he nearly tripped over an exposed root. “You weren’t joking…,” he said to Cam.

  Cam shook his head and smirked. “Told’ya.”

  “You’re pretty good at that,” Ari said to Adam, impressed.

  Adam gave a humble shrug, but she could see the pride shining in his eyes. You have no idea how many times I fell on my ass trying to get that right.

  Covering up Ari’s snort of laughter, Adam said aloud, “I saw a small group with a young girl heading towards the center of the island.”

  “Yeah,” Myles said. “Apparently she’s able to freeze people in place while her sadistic companions finish them off. So we’ll have to keep our distance when we cut them off before they reach the outpost.”

  As Ari was formulating a plan of action, the ground shook with a loud rumble. They all stopped as a plume of smoke and ash erupted into the sky on the west side of the island.

  “What was that?” Ari asked.

  “Must be Alpha squad taking out the lower levels of The Facility,” Cam answered.

  “But isn’t The Facility where they keep the prisoners?” Ari asked.

  “If they destroyed The Facility then Kael must already be well on his way towards the outpost with the assets and the cure,” Roche said.

  At the sound of Kael’s name, a spike of ice traveled down Ari’s spine. “What did you say?”

  Cam cursed as his hand started rubbing the back his head. “Uh yeeeeah, about that…”

  Ari did not hear the rest of what he had to say as she sifted away. The sense of betrayal felt like a dagger in her back. Cam knew what Kael’s rejection and abandonment had done to her. Why would he ever work with that selfish jackhole again? She had thought he hated Kael almost more than she did.

  Well, that explains where the mercenaries and the ship had come from, Ari thought bitterly. Whatever Myles and Cam’s intentions were, they had sold their souls to make a deal with the devil.

  She and Adam did not need any of their help anyway. They could end this all on their own.

  *****

  “Scheisse!” Cam shouted, when Ari disappeared with a rush of air.

  “Mon dieu…” Roche said, looking around in shock. “She’s moves like him…”

  Cam shoved Roche and shouted, “Why the hell did you have to say that name?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Roche asked, exasperated but not combative. He was too disciplined to be baited into a petty brawl.

  “She was going to find out eventually,” Myles said in a placating tone.

  “Yeah, but I wanted to ease her into it so I could explain things first. Now she thinks I betrayed her by making nice with the asshole she thinks used and abandoned her.” He cursed again, his knuckles whitening as his hands clenched into fists. He had to repress the urge to punch something.

  “We’ll get everything smoothed out later,” Adam said. “Ari will be going after the group to take them out on her own. So I’ll help you all get to the hangar ahead of them to back her up.”

  “No more flying,” Myles pleaded with a grimace. “I don’t think my stomach can take it.”

  “No flying. I’m gonna make a portal.” Adam pushed up his sleeves, revealing the strange silver tattoos swirling up his forearms.

  “You can do that?” Myles said, uneasy.

  Adam nodded. “It’s not exactly easy, but I’m getting better at it.” He held out his hand with the big studded ring on it, and started concentrating on the area in front of him. His eyes and tattoos started glowing and a bright flash appeared in the air. It began dilating out until it was big enough to walk through. He looked over and motioned for t
hem to go through it.

  They all hesitated.

  “It’s perfectly safe,” Adam said with an impatient sigh. “And it’ll get you there a helluva lot quicker than running through the jungle.”

  “Fine,” Cam said. He could not let Ari take on those sadistic asshats all on her own. Taking a bracing breath, he ran towards the hole in spacetime and leaped through. Geronimo!

  Chapter 24

  Once Ari calmed her thoughts, she was able to become spatially aware of the different elevations and obstacles around her, and sifting through the jungle became easier and less painful.

  After following the energy paths for a bit, she was able to feel Pyro Joe and his group close by. Slowing down to a normal speed, she slipped into Nys’Ktaan. Carefully and silently, she moved through the brush right up beside them. The guards scanned the jungle for assailants, but they were blind to her presence.

  The girl, no more than ten or eleven-years-old was leading the way. She was wearing camo-patterned clothing and had her dark hair pulled back into a severe bun, making her look like a little militant ballerina.

  She and Pyro Joe were traveling under the protective shield created by Gregory.

  Pyro Joe, or more accurately, Zachary Brandt, stepped out of the field and raised his hand to throw a fireball at an iguana lying on a branch just ahead of Ari. The poor thing hissed as it fell then quickly skittered away.

  The girl looked at Zachary and sneered. “You need to work on your aim. You only singed it.”

  “My aim is fine. If I wanted it dead, it would be dead,” Zachary said dispassionately, his face revealing nothing. He aimed another fireball at a disconcertingly large millipede slinking across a dead log. He hit it squarely, setting it ablaze to prove his point. One of the guards rushed over and stomped the fire out, before it set the dry wood and brush on fire.

  Zachary was completely different since the last time Ari had seen him back in Chicago. His turbulent angst and social awkwardness were gone, but at least he had seemed human with them. Now, he was an empty shell with a polished exterior, and eyes holding nothing but the coldness of a remorseless predator.

  Ari switched her focus back to the girl. Who was she? Had she been kidnapped like Soren and Val?

  The gradual slope of the ground was beginning to turn into a sharper incline. She had to stop them before they reached the top of the plateau.

  Still using Nys’Ktaan, Ari connected to the xjaasai of the four remaining guards. Concentrating on the chemistry in their brains, she induced them each into a deep sleep. Once they all collapsed to the ground, she sifted over, took their guns and smashed them to pieces with her enhanced strength. Then she slowed down and slipped into the rhythms of Nys’Ktaan once more, preserving her strength.

  With the guards down, the three Progenies had only their abilities to protect them. She sensed Gregory strengthening his shield around the three of them, as Zachary and the girl searched the jungle for their assailants.

  “Where are they?” the girl hissed, as she searched the shadows around them.

  Checking her intentions, Ari sensed that the girl was not searching out of fear, she trusted Gregory’s shield implicitly. She was searching for victims.

  “Wherever they are, they’ll be toast as soon as I seem them,” Zachary said loudly for the benefit of anyone around them to hear.

  Ari easily dissipated Gregory’s shield and backhanded Zachary with a blow strong enough to stun but not enough to break anything. Knocking him to the ground like the pathetic wimp he was.

  She was done tolerating bullies. The two men in Roche’s squad were already dead when Zachary had burned them. Was it a show of dominance or just a sadistic boy using his ability to mutilate his victims? Either option was unacceptable.

  Abandoning Nys’Ktaan, Ari looked down at his cowering form in disgust. “Stay on the ground if you know what’s good for you.”

  Gregory and the girl stepped back in shock at her sudden appearance.

  “You…?” Gregory gasped in confusion and awe, before he gathered himself. His hand came up to his earpiece and he managed to say, “Ari’s here,” before she telekinetically ripped it away from his ear and flung it into the jungle.

  Grabbing something off his belt, he extended it with a flick of his wrist. The end sparked with arcs of blue electricity. “You’re coming back with us to the tower,” he demanded.

  Ari let out a huff of laughter as she shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  The girl immediately started concentrating on freezing Ari in place. Curious, Ari let her try. The girl was somehow able to take control over the electrical impulses in Ari’s muscles, paralyzing them in their last position. Once Ari had figured out exactly what the girl was doing, she took control and turned the ability back onto the girl. But only from the neck down, so she could still speak. Then she did the same to Gregory, to keep him out of trouble.

  The girl’s eyes widened in shock and indignation when she realized what Ari had done, then confused at how she was still able to move her neck and head. “How are you doing this?” she snarled. “Stop it, right now!”

  Ari crouched down in front of her. It seemed strange, but the girl bore a striking resemblance to Val. Ari couldn’t tell if her hair was curly or straight because of the bun, but her coloring was the same and her big brown eyes had a similar set and shape as Val’s. However, where Val tried to keep the light in her eyes hidden behind a wall of apathy, her intentions were usually well meaning. This girl’s eyes had a darkness lurking in their depths. Ari could feel the girl’s eagerness for a fight. Her ability gave her an entitled confidence that fostered cruelty. She relished violence and the control she could wield over people – especially adults.

  “It’s not very fun losing control is it?” Ari asked her.

  The girl tried to spit in Ari’s face. Ari sifted, giving her time to fling it back into the girl’s own face. The girl flinched in surprise and then let out a crescendoing shriek of frustration that made Ari want to slap her.

  “You know, you’re making it really difficult to want to rescue you,” Ari said honestly.

  “Rescue me,” the girl mocked. “Rescue me from what? This is my home, you big ugly– ”

  Ari immobilized the muscles in her mouth and jaw, silencing her, then turned to Gregory. “Who is this kid? Where did you take her from?”

  “Her name is Petra,” he said, eyeing the girl in reprimand, trying to get her to calm down, before turning his hateful gaze back to Ari. “We didn’t take her from anywhere, she and her siblings were born here as part of our Selective Genetics program. She belongs here with us, just as Val and the rest of the Progeny do. Where have you taken them?”

  “I haven’t taken them anywhere. That’s your people’s deal,” Ari said. “And what exactly do you mean by ‘Selective Genetics program’?”

  Ari remembered Claudia saying something about how Mara was artificially inseminated for all of her pregnancies. Was she part of this program? How long has this been going on?

  “Are they dead?” Gregory asked jerking his head back towards the guards on the ground, in a blatant attempt to derail the conversation.

  “Only sleeping,” Ari assured him. “Now let’s try this again. Are you all running some kind of secret eugenics program here? Who are Petra’s parents and why does she look so much like Val?”

  “What are you planning on doing to us?” he evaded again.

  “I’m planning on asking you a lot of questions, so you better start answering me or–”

  A gunshot pierced through the air and Zachary yelped in pain. Ari looked down to see him holding his bloody hand to his chest, while rocking back and forth in excruciating pain. There was a hole going clean through the middle of his right hand.

  Pushing out her field of awareness, Ari felt Cam, Roche and a bunch of others nearby. Focusing, she followed the glowing trajectory of the bullet back to Cam’s rifle. He was grinning while making a gun shape with one of his hand’s then blowi
ng on the end of his finger, as if he was blowing on a smoking revolver.

  Ari turned away, trying to control her breathing. Though she was thankful to Cam, she could not help remembering what Kael had said to her back at Ardemere. …You will thank me when that boy’s bullet saves your life one day. Ari cursed under her breath. That man will always find a way to haunt her.

  “We’ll take it from here,” Roche he said to her in French, as he and the other mercenaries came out of the jungle with their assault rifles ready. Two of the mercenaries began tying the sleeping guards’ hands behind their backs and confiscating their comm units.

  Roche went over to Zachary, his gun aimed at his head. “Stand up,” he commanded in English, with a swift kick to the boy’s hip.

  Zachary winced, but grudgingly stood up, still holding his wounded hand to his chest.

  Roche nodded to one of the men with the paracord to come over. “Now put your hands behind your back,” he told Zachary.

  “I’m wounded,” he said calmly, but his nostrils flared with indignation that his mission had been circumvented.

  Roche dug the end of his rifle into Zachary’s scalp. “You’ll be a lot more wounded if you don’t do what I say.”

  Zachary put his arms behind his back, his right hand trembling in pain. The mercenary came around and securely tied his wrists together. Ari took a little pity on the brainwashed cretin, and healed him just enough to stop the bleeding and prevent infection, but still leaving him in the incredible amount of pain he deserved.

  “Try to burn anyone now and you’ll only burn your own ass,” Roche said into Zachary’s ear.

  Ari woke up the guards, who looked around in drowsy confusion as the other mercenaries dragged them up to their feet.

  They tried tying Gregory and Petra’s hands, but they could not move their arms from their frozen position.

  “Would you mind unfreezing these two,” Roche asked Ari, motioning towards Petra and Gregory with the end of his gun.