Battle sentient.
Seconds later, the whirl of dark molecules changes. Where there was once a loop, now a plate of sentient hangs in the air. A moment of hesitation follows. Justice, Slate, and I barely breathe, let alone move.
Crash!
Cole leaps through the drift void. The flat disc of sentient falls to the floor. The plate smashes into pieces before vanishing altogether.
He’s here.
My father stands before us, his barrel chest heaving in deep breaths. As always, he wears nothing but black: short leather coat, wool pants, Stetson hat and tall boots. A dark patch covers his left eye. His face is crisscrossed with scars.
And he’s definitely in Cole mode. Not my father at all. It’s in the eyes. My father has large brown eyes that overflow with emotion. Cole’s are harsh and calculating. Overall, the effect is like watching a reanimated corpse—there’s something of the person you loved, but not, all at once.
A weight of sorrow settles in my heart.
Cole rounds on Justice. “What is this? Why are you here?”
“Tell us first,” counters Justice, “why did you come here?”
Justice takes off his pale Stetson. Within seconds, the hat bursts into a small cloud of particles. The tiny bits then reenter my brother’s skin. Like everything my family wears, our clothes are made of sentient. For Justice, removing his hat this way is another way of saying, you want a fight? I’m ready.
“I’m here because I sensed a transcendent.” Cole pulls out a small square device with a tiny gray screen. This thing may look simple, but anything my father builds is both complex and powerful. “What do you make of this?” he asks.
Justice glances at the small square in Cole’s hand. I can see the screen easily enough; it displays the date and time when I kissed Meimi. The device also gives the coordinates for this version of Earth. It seems that my first meeting with Meimi wasn’t enough to set off any alarms with Cole. But protecting her consciousness with my kiss? That definitely got his attention. Good to know.
“That’s a date and time,” says Justice.
“No, it’s a transcendent,” retorts Cole. “I got a single read on this person. Since then, nothing. And now I find you three sneaking off to this planet.” He points at Justice. “What are you scheming at?”
Cole only accuses Justice of having secret plans. My father doesn’t see me or Slate as much of a threat. Well, perhaps Slate a little. I barely rank as non-furniture.
“Does it make any difference what I tell you?” asks Justice.
With a slow motion, Cole eyes my oldest brother from head to toe. “Nah,” he exclaims at length. “I already know the truth, son. You want to be more powerful than I am. So you send the weakest in the family to watch over your girl.” Cole hitches his thumb in my direction. “You sent your frail little brother to protect your transcendent. Admit it.”
This is too much.
I step forward. “You taught us that transcendents are fairy tales,” I say calmly. “They don’t exist.”
Cole sniffs. “Not for you, they don’t.”
His words drip with disdain. Here we go again. I’m the extra prince. The weak child. And honestly, I don’t know what to make about having a transcendent. Beyond an overwhelming need to keep Meimi safe, I’ve no idea what consequences might be out there. Meimi and I can connect our thoughts and feelings, but that wouldn’t make me more powerful with sentient. And controlling sentient is all that my father—or rather Cole—cares about.
“Respect,” says Slate. It’s his way of standing up for me. My chest warms with his effort. My little brother knows I focus on reading, research and practice to compensate for having so few sentient. He thinks it’s a worthy pursuit.
Not so with Cole.
The Emperor glares at Slate. “Get strong with battle sentient and you can say a word that I’ll actually listen to.” He returns his focus on Justice. “Don’t pretend anymore. I’ve seen universes with transcendents. Plenty of them. But I had to erase them all. No transcendents. Nothing that will threaten my rule.”
Justice’s mouth falls slack. “You did what?”
“You heard me!” howls Cole. “I protect my crown.” Cole thumps his fist against his chest. “I don’t have a transcendent. And if I’m alone, then it’s not safe for others to be paired up. Who knows when some couple would rise and attack me?”
Justice, Slate, and I exchange looks. We were all raised that transcendents were a myth. Yet can this be the truth? Father never found his transcendent … so he wiped out everyone else’s?
“I know how it works.” Cole taps his temple. “Finding a transcendent gives you extra energy. More power.” He steps closer to Justice. “You want to rule. You’ll take my Crown Sentient, bond them to you, and usurp my throne.”
Now, becoming emperor isn’t a life goal for me or my brothers. We consider it more of a family curse than anything else.
Even so, there’s no explaining that to Cole.
“I’ll ask y’all again.” Cole cracks his knuckles. “What are you three doing here?”
I step forward once more, this time moving so I stand right between Cole and Justice. I’m as tall as both of them. Since I now face Cole, there’s no way he can avoid addressing me.
“I chose to come here to make good on your promise,” I declare in a low voice. “Do you remember those two scientists, Rose and Truman Archer? The ones who hid your Crown Sentient so you could rule? They live on this world. You said you’d grant them one favor for risking their lives to help you. Rose called in that favor. She wants her daughter kept safe. So that’s why I’m here.”
Originally, Rose asked for help with her daughter Luci, not Meimi, but that’s beside the point. And I won’t get into that level of detail with Cole. I’ll be lucky if he remembers the conversation about Rose and Truman in the first place.
Cole frowns. “Janais might’ve said something about that.”
A little tension eases from my shoulders. Mentioning our mother, Janais, is a good sign. It shows that the Emperor is moving away from being Cole … and coming closer to becoming our father again.
“We discussed Rose and Truman weeks ago,” says Justice. “It was you, me, and Janais. Don’t you remember?”
“Maybe.” Cole takes a half step backward. Like always, he looks right through me to Justice. “But you can’t leave tech here. There are rules for going on missions to other worlds.”
“I’m haven’t left a thing in this version of Earth,” I explain. “It’s the same for Justice and Slate. We know the rules.”
Cole isn’t shouting more death threats, which means I’m making headway. At this point, he’s just grasping at straws to find some excuse for his temper tantrum. Leaving tech behind is a big deal. That doesn’t mean it happened.
“Go ahead,” I say. “Scan the planet. We’ve left nothing here.” I step closer, forcing Cole to meet my gaze again. “Rose and Truman Archer. They risked everything for you. I’m keeping your promise and protecting their daughter.”
And all of that is true, by the way. Both Meimi and Luci are safe, thanks to my work.
For a fraction of a second, Cole meets my gaze. “Fine. We should keep our promises. That’s what I always tell you boys.” His grizzled mouth rounds into a soft smile.
There. That’s the father I remember. The one who taught me to ride a quarter horse. Who loves his wife with the fire to light a thousand suns. And who always told me that it didn’t matter if I had barely any sentient. His words echo through my mind.
Life is soul and smarts, my son.
You’ve got plenty of both.
Father raises his hand. Thousands of silver particles lift off his skin, floating up into the shape of a vertical loop.
He’s opening a drift void.
Leaving.
Peacefully.
The silver particles solidify into a single round plate. Dad steps toward the drift void, then pauses. A visible shiver racks his body.
&nb
sp; When my he turns around again, my father is gone.
Cole is back.
“No transcendents!” Cole whips out his Bowie knife. The drift void disappears. “I’ve seen my own death due to their power.” Cole turns to Justice. “I’m killing your transcendent, here and now. I can track her down. Just try to stop me.”
Fresh battle sentient seep out from Cole’s skin. A heartbeat later, those particles form a dark lasso in Cole’s free hand. Most sentient can’t create tiny moving parts, so my brothers and I mostly create sentient swords and ropes. That said, you never know with Crown Sentient. Those can do all sorts of unexpected things. Only Cole knows their true capabilities.
“You’re not killing anyone today,” declares Justice.
In reply, Cole lunges straight at Justice’s throat. My breath catches.
Without hesitation, I jump between my father and brother, raise my upper arm, and block Cole’s strike. My father’s blade pounds against the body armor on my forearm. Pain radiates through my limb. Cole’s attack will leave a bruise, but at least my armor didn’t break.
Yet.
Leaning over, Cole pounds my kidneys with a series of fast hits, followed by a heavy slam against my jawline. My body burns with agony. Cole’s every strike is backed by millions of battle sentient, but the jaw hit is the worst. I go flying across the room, my back slamming against a far wall. Blood drips down my chin. Hurt radiates through my torso.
Here we are again.
Another fight with Cole.
Three against one.
But with Crown Sentient on the Emperor’s side, it’s never a fair fight.
4 Thorne
“There are five fighting modes for facing an opponent who wields battle sentient: water mother, wolf cub, weaving maiden, crow’s bridge, and wailing ghost. For Crown Sentient, there is only one option: run.” – Wu Zhao Zetain, The Art of Sentient War
Pain ricochets through my nervous system as I force myself back onto my feet. Meanwhile, every inch of Cole’s body ripples with black battle sentient. Soon, my father looks more like a carved statue than a living being. His outline expands by at least a foot in height alone.
Assuming I’m out of the fight, Cole cracks his lasso in Slate’s direction. The cord snaps across the room, pausing at my younger brother’s feet. From there, the rope rolls up into the form of another warrior. Soon a seven-foot-tall, coiled-up cowboy looms before Slate, able to fight without Cole giving it a single command.
That’s Crown Sentient.
Agony pulses through my limbs. Still, I force myself to hobble a few steps closer to Cole. Across the lobby floor, bits of sentient rope break free from the coiled-up cowboy and tangle themselves around Slate’s throat. Other cords bind his feet. To counterattack, Slate summons a pair of Bowie knives to appear in his fists. My little brother cuts through Cole’s ropes with superhuman speed. Those efforts won’t last, though. Slate will wear down. Crown Sentient won’t.
Meanwhile, Cole and Justice launch into a fistfight that tears apart what’s left of the apartment building’s lobby. The cracked reception desk gets smashed to bits. Both couches become used as battering rams. Before long, Cole pins Justice against the wall.
“I’ll kill her,” cries Cole. “You can’t stop me!”
With rapid-fire punches, Cole smashes his fists into my brother’s face. It’s too much. Meimi is my responsibility. Justice shouldn’t die for her.
I step up beside them. “Hey!”
Cole keeps hammering away, oblivious. Justice’s head lolls to one side. His eyes are swollen and closed. My older brother is unconscious now. So is Slate. I’m the only one left.
A weak prince.
False royal.
And the last chance for Meimi.
I force in a deep breath past my shattered ribs. “HEY.”
Cole rounds on me.
I hold his gaze.
There’s only one choice when Cole gets this out of control. Fighting him with fists won’t work. So I don’t even raise my arms.
But I also won’t back down. Cole wants to kill the transcendent. I have to stop his murderous rampage and send him back to Umbra. For Meimi.
Cole slams another punch to my chest. More of my ribs crack. Pain spikes down my spine. I hunch over, but don’t fall.
I also don’t strike back.
Somehow, I’m able to keep eye contact with Cole.
Cole hits my jaw again. Blood spatters across my chest.
Yet I stand still and don’t strike.
More hits. Kidneys, skull, ribs. Agony erupts through me, delivering pain beyond anything I’ve ever known. Even so, I refuse to topple over.
I won’t give up.
Meimi.
Cole’s panting now. “Why don’t you fall down and play possum? You’ve got no sentient.”
I force out words past a fractured jaw. “Life is soul and smarts. Someone told me I’ve plenty of both.” I’m almost totally hunched over now, yet I keep eye contact between us. “I’m fighting, just in my own way.”
Inside my heart, I plead with whatever runs the universe. Come on, let this work. Let my words touch whatever part of Cole is still my father.
Cole slowly steps backward, his body reassuming its normal proportions. His skin stops resembling dark stone. His face falls slack with horror. “Oh, my sons.”
And with that, Cole is gone. Dad is back.
I exhale. Meimi is safe. For now.
Father glances over to Justice. My oldest brother shakes his head as he comes back to consciousness. Sentient help us heal quickly. Father raises his hand. His black lasso whips away from Slate, who pulls in a deep breath while rubbing his throat. Yes.
I slump forward, bracing my hands on my knees. My own sentient start to rebuild my injuries, but it isn’t pleasant. “It’s good to have you back, Dad.”
“How long was I gone this time?” asks Father.
Justice forces himself to stand. “A few weeks. Maybe more.”
Panic shines in Father’s dark eyes. “Janais?”
“Mom’s fine,” explains Justice.
“Okay, good. I need to get back. See what I ruined and what I can fix. I’m sorry, boys.”
Father opens another portal, this time with silver sentient. He doesn’t punch his way through, so it takes longer to pass beyond the circle, but soon enough he’s gone.
That was close.
Justice, Slate, and I share a long moment of quiet. What’s there to say? We’re losing our father.
“We should leave.” Justice rakes his hand through his brown hair. “We’ll look into that situation with unblocking the dome.”
“Much appreciated.” I swallow past the knot of grief in my throat. “You didn’t have to fight him, you know. Meimi’s my responsibility.”
“Brothers,” says Slate. And I know what he means. If we’re going to survive this, we must protect each other, no matter what.
Justice opens another drift void, steps through, and is gone. Slate starts to open one of his own, pauses, and then turns to me. He makes a bird-like tilt of his head.
“Transcendent.” Slate packs all the meaning in the world into that single word. I realize what he’s getting at.
“I’ll keep Meimi safe,” I say. “She’s all that matters.”
Slate nods and then finishes opening his drift void. After he slowly steps through, my little brother takes off as well. The void itself swirls into ever smaller loops.
Then it vanishes.
Once they’ve both left, I drag my hands over my face.
Cole’s had some kind of vision. He’s convinced there’s a transcendent for Justice somewhere on this version of Earth. And he’s created some device that might be able to track her down.
Keeping Meimi safe just got a lot tougher.
5 Meimi
One benefit of being pumped full of tranquilizers—you sure fall asleep fast.
In my dreams, I soar over a complex of brick buildings surrounded by gravel and blacke
ned grass. Positive point: I’m wearing my hospital gown, so at least this isn’t one of those show up somewhere naked dreams. A broken sign on the pavement reads Ozymandias Chemical Factory.
Although I have no wings, I fly toward the largest structure in the complex of buildings. It’s a long brick affair that’s two stories high and topped by an arched roof. One chunk of wall has been completely smashed in.
Swooping downward, I move through the factory’s busted wall, stopping inside a small storage room. At one time, this place also served as a kitchen. Now the counters droop at odd angles. Smashed bits of porcelain line the floor. What was once a stove and fridge are now melted-down heaps.
This room should be deserted.
Yet someone is here.
A figure sits by the window, watching the sheets of green rain.
I move closer, my feet hovering inches above the ground. My dream-self knows exactly who to expect. “Mom?”
Memories appear. My mother always sits by this window. For years, she and I have hidden out in this very deserted factory. With each passing day, Mom becomes less coherent and more catatonic. The Authority considers her undesirable. Unless we stay out of sight, it’s only a matter of time before they find and kill her.
I step closer to the figure. “Mom? Is that you?”
The stranger turns away from the window.
This is not my mother.
She’s me.
Shock skitters down my spine. I’m facing a perfect replica of myself, only this version is blue from head to toe. Plus, she’s wearing indigo body armor. I blink, wondering if the vision will change.
It doesn’t.
“Hello,” says Blue Me. “I’m Meimi.”
“I’m, uh, Wisteria.”
For a dream, this experience now takes on a lifelike edge, outside of the blueness factor. Something tells me this has become something else.
Reality, maybe? Hard to say.
“What did you just call yourself?” asks Blue Me.
“Wisteria,” I say.
Alien Minds: Dimension Drift, Book 1 Page 3
