Stelios nodded. “Although he used that same term, ‘leaving’, and I didn’t believe him, either. Not after he told me about these other people holding a whole base at bay.” Stelios’ gaze was steady. “You clearly don’t want to join them.”
“I don’t like their attitude.”
“So join the agency instead. Unless you don’t like our attitude, either?”
Kieren side-stepped the question. “I thought only vampires could be full members of the agency?”
Stelios waved toward the narrow bed. “Do you mind if I sit down? It has been a very long day, so far.”
Kieren nodded and Stelios sank down onto the edge of the mattress with a deep sigh. He placed his hands on his knees, propping himself up. “Your status and your specific duties for the agency I will leave up to Nayara to finalize with you, but I can tell you this – you will need people. You cannot shield the agency from what may happen in the future all on your own.”
“You want me to recruit my own staff?”
“I do. The agency members have all survived a long time. They know how to defend themselves and can do it well or magnificently, but they have not made it their life’s work as you have and they all – each and every one of them – have a blind spot.” Stelios looked at him.
“They think they’re invulnerable. Humans know they are not.”
Stelios nodded. “Correct. It’s not an attitude that can change overnight, despite the inroads Gabriel has made into the agency. They’ve all spent too many centuries being the big kid on the block. Then there are the humans the agency is trying to protect. You could work with Pritti to see what defenses the agency can build against Gabriel and his psi, so the humans can come home.”
“You mean…use my…” Kieren couldn’t say it. There was a huge resistance to speaking the words aloud. He knew that as soon as he said something like that, it would signal his acceptance of what everyone else had already accepted as fact – that he had demonstrated psi talents.
As Stelios had said, he was in denial, despite the Jabbar raid proving he had psi talents.
Stelios studied him now. “You can use whatever expertise you have to get the job done. Or hire the expertise you need. I’m giving you carte blanche, Kieren. Protect the agency. Protect them from themselves and from Gabriel and his people.”
Kieren squeezed and flexed his fingers. “I’ll think about it.”
“Do that.” Stelios got to his feet in a slow, deliberate way that spoke volumes about his degree of weariness.
“I should make sure you get home safely,” Kieren said. “You’re one of the biggest targets in the agency and you’re human, too.”
“The degree and manner of my association with the Agency isn’t widely known,” Stelios replied, fastening his coat. “And while I am inside the Assembly complex, I am very well protected.”
“Except you left that protection,” Kieren pointed out. “It only takes a mind reader one quick scan to figure out you’re a key member of the agency.” He tilted his head to one side. “You think about Ryan and Nayara constantly. A scanner wouldn’t have to dig deep into your thoughts to find it.”
Stelios’ eyes narrowed. “You can read minds?”
“I can guess. I have seen you with those two. Your body language is controlled, but it’s the degree of control that told me how deep it goes.”
“I see.” Stelios grimaced. “I’ll have to work on that.” He put his fingertips against his temples and massaged quickly. “What if you drove me back to Malacá? I have a rented limousine downstairs and I’ve seen you pilot a semi-ballistic before, so I know I’m in good hands. I frankly don’t trust myself. I’m too tired. You can use the limousine to hop over to Rome, afterwards.”
“Rome?”
“The new official headquarters for the Agency. I’ll fill you in as we go.”
Kieren reached for his jacket, hanging on the hook on the back of the apartment door. “I’ll get you to Malacá, sir, then I’ll figure out what I will do after that. I’m not agreeing to anything.”
“To Malacá will be good enough for now,” Stelios agreed. “And you’d better call me Cáel.”
Kieren considered him for a moment, then moved to the door. “Only until I agree to join the agency…if I decide to do that.”
Chapter Twenty
Liping Village, East Yunnan Province, China, 2054 A.D.: Deonne didn’t go back to her apartment because she knew Santiago would find her there. She deliberately aimed for the section of the village she knew the least, as that would be an unexpected and unanticipated direction to go. She slowed to a fast walk once she was out of sight of the compound, and began to pick roads and paths at random, switching directions often, but always heading away from the compound.
As she walked, she tried to figure out what she should do but the fear seemed to gum up her brain.
She couldn’t call out to Justin. He had time jumped less often than she and was happy to admit he knew close to nothing about time conservation. He would not be able to help her as he would want to.
Nayara. Nayara had resolved the time wave that had delivered Constantine’s Curse upon the world and threatened to end it. If anyone would know how to fix this, she might.
Deonne changed her direction, heading back toward the compound, but she continued to change roads and routes, trying not to travel along any road she had already used.
When she spotted the compound ahead, its tiles peeking through trees, she edged closer to the trees, until she was looking upon the compound, fifty meters away. She studied it. Was Santiago still there?
Then she heard, far to her right, a faint call. “Diaaaaanne!”
He was near the apartments. He had tried hers and found her not there. Now he was combing the woods and calling for her. That meant he wasn’t in the compound.
She sprinted for the compound, thankful that she had swapped her high heels these last few days with a flat and conservative pair of shoes that suited her dour mood. She burst through the green doors into the compound, slammed the doors shut, then lifted the bar and dropped it into the big hooks that held it over the doors. Feeling only a little bit safer, she hurried back into the office, out of breath and still feeling sick.
She dropped into her chair and pulled the keyboard over and began typing.
Nayara…help!
Santiago is here and I don’t know what to do. He knows about time travel! I’m afraid that anything I say or do will create a wave or screw the world over somehow.
He’s looking for me. I have to get out of here.
Deonne.
She opened Mariana’s instruction book and paged through to the communications section. Mariana had explained how to send a message to Nayara if absolutely necessary. The time drop message began by emailing a blind address, and included instructions on the exact date to deliver the message. Her email was automatically date stamped, so Nayara would know precisely when Deonne had sent it, to the second.
Deonne wiped at her eyes, which were damp, and hit “send”.
She sat back, breathing deeply to keep the pathetic tears at bay.
Nayara appeared in the middle of the room, materializing instantaneously. Deonne stared, her mind coupling up facts with what she had just witnessed. She had never seen anyone arriving at the end of a jump before. It was remarkable for how ordinary it looked, except for the fact that one moment the floor was empty and the next, Nayara was there, straightening up from her original jump.
“Oh thank god, you’re here,” Deonne said, standing up and wiping hastily at her eyes.
“Your message was very precisely dated,” Nayara told her. She came over to where Deonne was standing, the pale green robe she was wearing floating elegantly behind her. “You timed it well, for my end. It arrived four days after you returned here from Sweden.”
“I will remember that date forever,” Deonne assured her.
Nayara touched her arm gently. “What has happened?” she asked. “Tell me everything.”
* * * * *
Low Earth Orbit, 2264 A.D.: The low, distinct buzzing of Cáel’s personal communications code woke him from a sleep he wasn’t aware he had fallen into. He pulled out his travelling board and keyed the communication for text only, as he glanced out the window. Earth was a beautiful blue sphere to his right. It was a breath-taking view, but the message needed his attention.
“Where are we?” he asked Kieren, who was checking dials and nudging controls, to fine tune them.
“We’re at the point of apogee. Low earth orbit. In three minutes and twenty-five seconds, we start our re-entry glide and prep for landing.”
Cáel read the text and frowned. “How far could you change course in this thing?” he asked Kieren.
“It’s got some maneuvering thrusters, but using them will massively suck your power.” Kieren grinned. “You probably figure you can afford the refill, but if we run short as we’re landing, we’ll have no brakes. Why do you ask?”
Cáel hefted his board. “The President just called a recess. That gives me an excuse to visit Rome.”
Keiren’s eyes widened. “Assembly was in session? You left the Assembly while it was still running?”
“As soon as I had your address,” Cáel confirmed. “But don’t feel too guilty. It was only supposed to be a quick hop there and back – they were reading a ninety-thousand word bill and it was the second reading. It was a good time to slip out.”
Kieren stared at him a moment longer. Then he straightened and turned to look at the controls. “I can get us to Rome,” he said. “As long as you don’t mind a fast and hairy landing. The thrusters are supposed to be for emergencies.”
“It wouldn’t be my first rough re-entry,” Cáel assured him.
Kieren spared a single glance at him. “You have unexpected facets.”
Cáel grinned. “Comes from living so long. You tend to pile on the experiences.”
“Is that why you like vampires?”
Cáel bit back his first surprised reaction, which would have been to shut Kieren down with an imperious demand that he mind his own business. Keiren’s business was his business, now. Information was always useful.
So Cáel gave the questions fair thought. “It might have been what drew my attention to them, long before I met any of them. Now, something a lot stronger holds me here, and it has nothing to do with their longevity.”
Kieren stared out through the screen. “It’s their principals, for me, and their discipline.”
“That was what made me…” Cáel hesitated.
“Love them?” Kieren finished. He glanced at Cáel. “You don’t hide it very well, when you’re with them.”
“So you’ve said.” Cáel scowled.
Kieren grinned and grabbed the manual steering stick. “I’ve got control. If you would punch in the coordinates for a Rome landing strip, I’ll stop this thing from heading to Malacá.”
* * * * *
Liping Village, East Yunnan Province, China, 2054 A.D.: After Deonne had explained the events of the last two days, Nayara walked restlessly around the small room, thinking. “Where is Santiago now?” Nayara asked.
“Looking for me. I heard him calling, over by my apartment.” She bit her lip. “It won’t take him long to find me. He follows my pheromones.”
Nayara shrugged. “Naturally. He is a hunter, as are we all. Scent is a reliable spore.”
Deonne stared at her, trying to feel appalled or horrified at the casual reference to tracking down humans, but she couldn’t. Her fear had solidified in the middle of her chest and was stealing all her energy. It took effort just to breathe.
“Where is Justin?” Deonne asked. “Why didn’t he come?”
“You sent the letter to me,” Nayara replied, still deep in thought. “I wanted to investigate what could make Deonne Rinaldi panic before bringing another traveler here.” She glanced at Deonne. “The more of us there are, the higher the risk that a time wave will result.”
“I need to leave here,” Deonne said. “I have to get away from him.”
“You can’t return home,” Nayara said. “It is too risky. The psi-filers have you on their hit list.”
“I’m not suggesting I do.” Deonne stood up, too restless to just sit there. “But there is a whole world out there beyond the village. I could get lost in it.”
Nayara paused in her pacing to turn and look at Deonne. “You said he was hunting you. How long do you think it will take him to find where you have gone?”
“If I keep moving—”
“No.” Nayara shook her head. “You cannot.”
Deonne gripped her hands together. She had never had one of the agency members give her a flat, blanket ‘no’ before. It was a novel experience and she wasn’t sure she liked it, but then she had never been a factor in a time crunch, either. This was the sort of knotty, brain twisting problems that Nayara and Ryan and the agency travelers faced every day and each occasion they jumped back in time.
“Is this something to do with my future?” Deonne asked. “Has Brenden researched this already? There are records of my time here?”
Nayara sighed and stopped pacing. She looked at her and Deonne thought she could see pity in Nayara’s gaze. “There are fragments that speak of you….here in the village. There is nothing else.”
“Which means I don’t leave here,” Deonne concluded. She looked out the window. He would be somewhere out there, still, looking for her. Perhaps he had found her trail already. “I want Justin here, then,” she told Nayara. “If I can’t leave, then he can come to me.”
Nayara opened her mouth to speak and Deonne could see the ‘no’ painted on her face, in her expression and posture.
Deonne interrupted before she could speak. “Where is your Tree of Life, Nayara?”
The redheaded woman lifted her hand to her neck, where the Celtic Tree of Life medallion had rested for centuries. Deonne had read about it in the biography she had vetted, but the biography didn’t mention where the medallion was now. “Does Cáel Stelios wear it now?” Deonne asked.
Nayara was very good at dissembling, but Deonne read body language as part of her profession. She saw the tiny widening of Nayara’s eyes and the movement of her fingers against the base of her throat. She had surprised her.
Deonne stepped closer. “The truth can always be found in the details,” she explained.
“You understand how delicate the political situation would be if that fact became common knowledge?” Nayara asked.
“The fact that Stelios wears your medallion, or that you and Ryan and Stelios are lovers?”
Nayara drew in a slow breath. “Either one, let loose among humans, could be used against us.”
“It’s not something I would care to gossip about, anyway,” Deonne told her. “Besides, you have that handy-dandy confidentiality clause in my contract to keep me in line.”
Nayara smiled and the expression was full of warmth and humor. “I don’t think we’ll need it.”
Deonne moved close to Nayara and dropped her voice. “Look at how easily I read the truth about you, Nayara, and I’m only human. Think about how much more truth Santiago is learning from me every time he sees me. I’m not trained for this. I’m not a traveler. You need to get me out of here before Santiago puts it all together and creates some sort of wave all by himself.” She added the kicker. “What if he figures out how to jump through time?”
Nayara actually turned pale. “He cannot be allowed to learn that he can time jump,” she said urgently. “He’s untrained, he has no idea what trouble he can cause.”
“Right,” Deonne agreed. “So take me out of his reach. There has to be somewhere else I can go.”
“You can’t. You must stay right here in the village,” Nayara replied. “I know it scares you, but it is the only action available to you. If you leave and go anywhere else, you will be changing the course of time.”
“But, Santiago—”
“You will have to deal
with him, Deonne.” Nayara gave her a small smile. “I’ve seen you handle media people and Brenden with his temper roused. You are discretion itself. You’ll just have to use some of those skills to handle Santiago.”
The answer was going to be no, no matter how well she argued, Deonne realized. Nayara was looking at this from her perspective as the Agency’s leader, with whom rested full responsibility for the strict preservation of history and all she could see were the records that showed Deonne remained in the village. Therefore, any suggestion that she leave the village was wasted.
Deonne drew in a breath and let it out. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll stay.” And just to make it look like she really meant it, she added; “But if I stay and Santiago creates a massive tidal wave in time, it’s on you, okay?”
Nayara considered her for a moment. “Very well,” she said slowly. She was frowning.
Had Deonne convinced her?
Nayara straightened, picked the hem of her dress up off the floor in one hand, and waved Deonne back a step or two. “Stay where you should be, Deonne,” she said. “And perhaps I can arrange a surprise for you.”
She spun like a ballet dancer on one foot and halfway through the spin, she leapt…and was gone.
Deonne immediately picked up her personal board from the desk, along with a few other personal items that she shoved into her pockets, and left.
She didn’t look back.
TERCERA PARTE
Chapter Twenty-One
Chronometric Conservation Agency Headquarters, Villa Fontani, Rome, 2264 A.D.: It was hard not to be impressed with the new Agency headquarters. Justin wanted the place to match his mood, which was dark and ominous, but the sheer beauty and scale of the development pierced the protective coating of grumpiness he had maintained since leaving Sydney.
Because he had never been to the new headquarters before, and because he was arriving unannounced and lacking formal permission, he had been forced to travel there the long way. He had caught a continental semi-ballistic from Sydney to Istanbul. The g-train to Rome followed the same route as the ancient Oriental Express, but only took four hours, compared to the two days and a night the original steam train had taken.
Romani Armada (Beloved Bloody Time) Page 21
