by Jessica Gunn
Sometime later, when Abby deemed the painting finished, she got up and padded across the floor. Back and forth she paced along the same line.
“Abby, what’s wrong?” I asked her.
She put a finger to her lips and tapped. “Something for you. From Valerie. Need to remember where I put it. Aha!” She raced to an old-looking, large wooden jewelry box and pulled something white out of it: a piece of notepad paper. “Valerie said if you ever visited, to give you this. She reminded me every time she came. She thought I wouldn’t remember, but I do. I remember.”
I took the note from Abby. “Thank you.”
She smiled and returned to the painting we finished. “You read while I find a spot to hang this.”
I stared at the note in my hands. My name had been scribbled across the top in Valerie’s lyrical handwriting. This was it. After days of searching, I had my first real clue.
I opened the note.
Trevor,
For the record, I knew you’d come. But I also knew it’d take you a while. You’re such an open book sometimes. And, also for the record, a version of this note has been in Abby’s room since the day I left SeaSat5. I revised it the day I sent you the message in the fake award email.
We need to meet up. I can’t imagine you’ll be thrilled to see me, but you’re in danger. Chelsea is in danger. It’s… complicated at best, and I need to know how much you know, what you know, before I can say anything. I need you to meet me where it all started, where the war hit its turning point. You know where this place is. Think, Trevor. Think about where this all really started. I’ll be there waiting for you.
And if you’re wondering about Abby—yes, I’ve found a way to help her. It’s slow going, but at least it’s progress. All those years we thought she’d had a mental breakdown and lost it… We were stupid, Trevor. We still are. Nothing is like we thought it was, and now the crew of SeaSatellite5 is paying the price. More will pay if you don’t come to me.
See you soon, Trevor. —V
The place where it all started. Did she mean the classroom we were in the day I’d sketched Hummingbird? That’s the place I’d consider as the genesis of our situation. But that seemed too easy an answer, too simple a solution.
SeaSat5 was gone, so she couldn’t mean the storeroom Chelsea had teleported into, either. With those choices gone, where else could she mean?
Where the war hit its turning point.
I looked up from the note. There was only one last place fitting Valerie’s description.
I needed to catch another flight.
“Did she say nice things?” Abby asked over my shoulder.
I folded up Valerie’s note and stood to leave. “Yes, thank you, Abby.” TAO could have their secret mission without me. I’d have my own. I needed to figure out who the new mole was.
“Are you leaving?” she asked, a frown tugging down her lips.
I froze. How could I have been such an asshole?
“No,” I said. “I can stay for a while.” My flight back wasn’t for another few hours, and I hadn’t seen Abby in years.
Abby smiled and clapped excitedly. “Awesome. I have an idea for another painting.”
I stayed and painted with her until the last possible second. For a brief moment, painting with my cousin staved off all the darkness, all the bad things happening right now. In those hours, I felt the best I had all week.
he look of determined concentration on Josh’s face scared me, although his focus was a good thing given the biologic explosive device in his hands. I scouted our way through the labyrinth of halls in which the Lemurians had taken up shop. Oh, excuse me, I meant the super-strong bounty hunters created by a foreign government… or something. Whatever TruGates called them these days. The facility blended in seamlessly with the other portside warehouses surrounding it, and the polluted bay water bled through the walls. Our teammates were somewhere nearby, carrying out their own portions of the mission while Josh and me… well, mostly we tried not to blow up.
Sweat beaded along the collar of my black, heavy shirt and on my eyebrows. If the sticky feeling in my stomach was any indication, something was going to go wrong. I was sure of it.
“You know I’d follow you anywhere,” Josh said with a humor in his voice that had no place being there. “But a shortcut might be best right now.”
I played with the tablet in my right hand, banging the back of it with my left as if it would help the GPS work better. “I’m trying, but this thing is shit.” In all realness, it wasn’t the device. The damn Lemurians had some kind of electronic interference running that screwed with our GPS’s, but at least it didn’t take away my powers, thank God.
“Typical,” he grunted. Something on the device in his hands beeped. “Well shit.”
Every part of me resisted the urge to stop and ask what happened. I picked up the pace instead. “What?”
Josh nudged me aside and jogged down the hallway, somehow keeping the device stable. Clearly he’d done this before.
I tapped the com in my ear and asked, “You guys got that, right?”
“Loud and clear,” came Eric’s muffled response. Gunfire followed after his words. Sounds like they weren’t doing much better.
I was only feet behind Josh when he stopped to press himself against a wall, coddling and protecting the device like a newborn baby. I stopped short in front of him, raised my weapon, and fired. Two Lemurians went down without resistance. Funny that was. We’re all so powerful, but a single bullet could end everything, super soldier or Lemurian or not.
“Good shot,” Josh said as he repositioned himself. Another beep emanated from the device, followed by three more in quick succession. “No, no, no.”
He pointed to a tiny alcove to the side of the hallway. We went in and he tiptoed to the center, slowly laying the device on the ground.
“What are you doing?” I asked, keeping an eye out for any other Lemurians. I wasn’t sure what they were using this base for. The biologics device made me assume it was a lab, but for what? Why did they need biological warfare?
Josh dug around inside his pockets. “I have to defuse it here. We can’t wait any longer.”
Panic spiked my nervous system. This time I did turn to look at him. “And if you can’t?”
“We’d never make it out of here in time no matter what happens next.”
I pointed to myself. “Uh, hello.”
The way a hard line set on Josh’s lips told me my powers meant nothing. We couldn’t teleport out when my abilities were to remain hush-hush. The cameras here would be destroyed, but if they transmitted data to somewhere off-site, my secret would be blown. It’d been long decided the Lemurians didn’t know me by face like they did Trevor, so I had thus far been able to avoid any nasty causalities. But if the connection were made between me, Trevor, TAO and TruGates, the result would be disastrous at best, cost us SeaSat5 at worst.
I knew I walked a fine line, precariously trying to keep my family and friends safe, but dammit, I’d rather have the alternative happen than be blown to bits. If this mission went south, I’d teleport us out of here no matter what.
“Keep watching our six,” Josh said as his scary concentration face returned.
I took a deep breath and returned my attention to the hallway. Gunfire and grunts exploded from my ear-com, but no screams or shouts joined them. That was both good and bad. For the moment, it appeared no one was hurt, but we were completely surrounded.
I wiped my forehead with the back of my palm. I wasn’t even in full military gear, but damn were these long-sleeved shirt and jeans hot as all hell. The M-16 in my arms felt heavy too, and after a few minutes, it dropped an inch. I lifted it back into position below my shoulder.
Seconds passed by in a slow-burning eternity as Josh worked. “I’m running out of time,” Josh growled.
I turned to him. “So let’s go. Find the others, find a corner not covered by the security cameras, and go.”
“No,”
he said. Wires hung around the fingers of his left hand. It looked like he’d made it at least halfway through the procedure, if the casings around the device were any indication. Not that I knew the first thing about defusing explosive biologic devices. He slipped the pliers from his right hand into his mouth and toyed with the wires in his left hand. “I’ve almost got this.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I —”
The floor rattled, a low bass filling the air. “What is that?” I asked.
Josh’s eyes widened. “Not sure I want to stick around to find out.”
“Josh, it’s not worth it. Get out,” Mara said through the ear-com.
“One cut down, three to go,” he grunted.
I closed my eyes. There were fifteen wires there, all the same color. How the hell would he know which three to cut?
Footsteps down the hall snapped me back to attention. My eyes flew open and I stepped out into the hallway to fire. Two more Lemurians fell to the floor.
“We’re going to be overrun soon. If we’re going to go, we need to go,” I said.
Josh made another cut. “Two more.” A loud, shrieking sound emanated from the device.
“Josh!” I yelled. What now?
“Josh, no!” Mara shouted. “Get. Out.” The edge in her voice spoke more than she probably intended. A grimace flashed across Josh’s face.
“Josh, if it’s pointless there’s no reason for us to stay,” I urged him. “We will die from whatever is in there if we let it explode.” And if we were still here when it did, depending on what the device housed, I might not be able to teleport us out fast enough.
“It’s never pointless,” he said as he ran the pliers across three wires in quick succession. I braced for an explosion. Moments passed. Long, terrifying moments that had my heart pounding against my ribcage, my breath unmoving.
But nothing happened.
A small smile formed on Josh’s lips. “We’re good, let’s go.”
No biowarfare would happen today. As for his stunt… I choked back my own words. Questioning him would be Eric’s job.
I moved to the hallway entrance. “This is going to suck.”
Josh cocked his weapon, took aim at nothing, and charged ahead. “Shoot fast and straight. We got this.”
Together, we moved across the compound, half in the shadows and half fighting our way through. We were outnumbered by Lemurians, but Mara and the others did a good job of drawing their attention elsewhere. An explosion wracked the building, bits of plaster and dust falling from the ceiling.
“C4,” Josh said. “We’ve got to move quicker.”
So we did. Hallway by hallway, assault by assault, until finally we came upon the others and an extraction team. The next thing I knew, we were on a plane back to base.
At one point, when it appeared everyone else had fallen asleep and the roar of the cargo plane had blocked out most sound, I leaned into Josh and wrapped an arm around his chest. “Hey.”
Tension left his body immediately, like my touch was enough to diffuse the anger roiling inside him. He relaxed into my embrace. “Sorry.”
“For what?” I asked.
He tensed. “That.”
“What happened was intense. It’s fine.”
“That’s not what you want to talk about, though.” A statement, not a question.
I swallowed hard. “Why did Mara make it sound like diffusing the device was about something else?” His fist balled at my side, then released after a few moments. I frowned. I hadn’t meant to anger him more. “Never mind. It’s clearly none of my business.”
He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. “You didn’t upset me. Don’t be afraid to ask me questions.”
I wasn’t afraid to provoke him, I just didn’t like seeing him upset. “Okay.”
“Mara was referring to some of the actions that landed us both at TruGates,” he said. “That’s all. She was trying to remind me of what went wrong last time.”
“What happened?” I asked, not sure if he’d let me in.
His breathing slowed, intentionally measured—a control technique. I braced myself for his answer.
“When we were barely out of high school, my brother, Mara, and I all enlisted in the military,” he said. “Stupid idea. If we all died, we would’ve left our parents with nothing. But there didn’t seem to be another choice at the time.” He pulled me closer to him, if that was even possible. “Somehow we all managed to stay in the same platoon, but things got dicey overseas and…” He shook his head. “There was an explosion, one I should have been able to stop. I couldn’t.”
I gulped and squeezed him tighter, knowing this story could have only one ending.
Silence engulfed us in a pregnant pause before he finally said, “My brother didn’t make it.”
Tears stung my eyes. I knew this feeling, survivor’s guilt. Michael hadn’t been my brother, had barely been my friend, really. I hadn’t killed him, but I may as well have. I’d let it happen feet from me without—
I clamped a hold on my emotions. This wasn’t about me.
“I’m so sorry.” I looked up at him. His eyes trained on mine, and it felt like our souls were reaching out to hold each other.
He lifted his fingers to brush a stray tear making its way down my cheek. “Don’t be. I know the explosion wasn’t my fault, but I didn’t succeed in stopping it either.” He nodded toward Mara. “She thinks I’m being too hard on myself, but I know she blames herself for Jeremy’s death, too. It’s bad juju, being on the same team as family. We learned it the hard way. And now with TruGates and everything that led us here, we don’t have a choice.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
It wasn’t until after I started thinking of some of my crewmates as family that all hell had broken loose on SeaSat5. I’d only known Josh and the rest of TruGates for a week or so, but they’d already begun filling in that hole. Part of it was Weyland being here, making me call him Weyland and reviving long lost jokes. Part of it was Josh, who’d awoken something in me I thought I’d lost when Trevor and I started parting ways. I’d been looking for a place to call home amongst people I knew I could trust without a sliver of doubt. That’d been destroyed on SeaSat5, and as welcoming as TAO was, I didn’t feel it there, either.
TruGates was different. It was simple, straightforward. Go out, stop the Lemurians, and collect whatever they were after. Then come home and have dinner with Josh, Weyland, and his girlfriend. So simple. They felt like family.
And that was bad juju.
pparently Phoenix and Lobster played shows at the Franklin without Chelsea rather regularly. I didn’t know this until I stepped through the front door as I had two and a half years ago, just as paranoid and sickly feeling. I’d managed to get to the airport quick enough to change my flight to land in Boston instead of Ohio, but the overnight flying messed with the side effects of the plague. It took a full day of sleep at the airport hotel and too much coffee to get me back on my feet for tonight. But all I had to do was meet with Valerie and call Sophia for a lift, and then I’d be home.
I didn’t know what she’d say when she discovered where I was. TAO thought I was in Tennessee, not chasing ghosts in Boston.
Phoenix and Lobster had the crowd going. Chelsea’s sister could sing, so they’d finagled their normal set list to fit who they had available. I grabbed a soda from the bar and sat at a table facing the stage. Their band had only gotten better in the last two years. How was it possible they didn’t have a record deal yet?
“They got good.”
I looked up as Valerie thumbed over her shoulder at the stage. Behind her, Chelsea’s sister took center-stage for a solo. “Yeah, they really did.” Valerie grinned and slid into the seat next to me.
The sight of Valerie left me breathless. Two years changed her. She looked like a different person, not the childhood friend I’d grown up with. Valerie had cut her hair short, but it still hung in fiery ringlets aroun
d her face. It gave her an air of confidence, an attitude that hadn’t been as obvious before. Life on the run had hardened her, too. Toned arms hung free from her sequenced tank top, and she wasn’t wearing heels. She came prepared to fight if she had to, to run if she couldn’t.
Valerie leaned in and peered up at me. “You look like shit.”
And to think I missed her. “Thanks.”
Her eyes softened and she reached a hand out to my arm. “Seriously, though, are you okay?”
“Loud music’s not my thing.” My head pounded and I’d be willing to bet I was still pale as all hell. “And I got sick.”
She snapped her fingers at a waiter and ordered an appletini. “So I heard.”
“How could you possibly have heard that?”
She shrugged. “I get around.”
“I find that disturbing considering you’re supposed to be a ghost.”
“Even ghosts have contacts.”
We watched the band until her drink arrived. She tipped the waiter generously with money I found hard to believe she’d have. Even if she’d cleaned out her bank account before she left, it wouldn’t have lasted two years on the run.
I leaned over the table. “What’s up with the note?”
She scooted closer to me until our arms touched. We kept our eyes on Phoenix and Lobster despite our conspiratorial mumbles. “Thing is, Trevor, there’s a lot I can’t tell you. I need you to tell me what you know about SeaSat5—where it is, who took it, and what Chelsea’s up to.”
“Why can’t you tell me?” I asked.
“Play the game, Trevor. I promise it’ll be worth it.”
I sighed. Valerie ignored it and nursed her drink.
“We know SeaSat5 was taken by the Lemurians,” I said, “although we’re not sure if it was by the same sect Thompson was a part of, or the collective. Although judging by our exile, I’m thinking it was the collective.”
“I was exiled,” she said, tipping her drink my way, “you chose to walk away.”
Our parents were highly involved with the side of Lemuria that still existed, that still wanted to stop the Atlanteans from time-traveling. I wasn’t sure if either of our parents had ever gone to the lost continent, but they sure believed in all the customs, all the mythology. Valerie and I had both been raised on all of it. Got jobs in the Navy because of it.
