Jonah’s face softened. “I do feel that way. But I’ve been working with Lila and,” he studied the ground, as though searching for the right words. “I’m honestly starting to feel some small…confidence in what I’m doing.” He met her eyes. “Lila will watch out for me, Maggie. I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about you. You shouldn’t be thinking about me during this. You need to keep your mind on what’s happening.”
Maggie nodded. “I know. I will. It’s not that I don’t think you can do it, Jonah—I know you can.” She sighed. “But you aren’t trained. After what happened yesterday…”
Jonah took on a mutinous look, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not staying behind—”
“I’m not asking you to. Listen, Jonah.” She took a deep breath, ignoring his stance. “I totally get it. The last time I was here—before you were—I was the same as you are now. I didn’t have any memory, which means, essentially, I was untrained. I still went on the mission. The one I told you about to the island in the Pacific? Jonah, I had ample neurochemical powers. The entire team still nearly died.”
He opened his mouth to protest but she threw up her hands to stop him.
“I know, I know. I’d be all kinds of hypocritical if I tried to stop you from coming. I won’t. There is one thing I’d like to do.”
He uncrossed his arms, his face smoothing out. “What?”
“You’re coming along as an extra layer of protection for Lila. For me too, by extension. So I’d like to provide you with an extra layer of protection. It’s not preemptive, but if anything goes wrong, it may help.”
He blinked warily. “What is it?”
She produced twin daggers from behind her belt. “It’s an old B.C.O. trick. If we both call constructive neurochemical energy to us and wrap it around these daggers in a particular pattern, it will link us for a short period of time.”
“Link us?”
“Yes. The energy will dissipate in about a week. Because it’s energy from both of us—think of it like our essences—it will create a bond. If either of us is hurt, or if we get separated, we’ll be able to find one another easily.”
His eyebrows jumped. “Okay. That sounds like a good thing. How does it work? Will I feel something specific?”
She shook her head. “It’s not tangible. Not something you can sense like a neurochemical ability. It’ll come across as instinct. You’ll just know which way to go to find me.”
Jonah raised an eyebrow. “What binds us together will keep us alive, eh?”
“Like I said,” Maggie answered. “It’s just a precaution. Marcus showed me how. We did it a few times when I first started going on missions with the team. Besides,” she grinned. “I guess the B.C.O. considered it a good luck charm.”
He grinned back. “Plus, those daggers are badass.”
Maggie laughed.
“So what do I do?”
“Call the constructive energy toward you, like Lila showed you to make the shield, but don’t actually make it. Just hold the energy at your fingertips.”
Jonah obeyed, and Maggie felt the energy he wielded. He might not be highly skilled yet, but he’d picked up neurochemical abilities quickly.
“Good,” she said. “Now, I’m going to take little ribbons of your energy and combine them with mine. Try not to let go of what you have.”
Carefully, she used her own energy to splice a ribbon of Jonah’s energy away from the rest and guide it toward the daggers. Jonah let out a soft gasp and furrowed his brow in concentration. Maggie wrapped his energy around the knife. She did the same with her own, entwining the two around the daggers. She felt her energy meld with Jonah’s and something felt…different than it had a moment before. After a few moments, the sense of difference disappeared as it simply became the norm.
“There,” she murmured, grinning at him. “Done. You can release your energy.”
Jonah obeyed. “So now what?”
Maggie took one of the daggers gingerly by the blade and thrust it toward him, handle first. “Now we each keep one of these on our person.”
She frowned down at her dagger, realizing how strongly she felt her brother’s presence. Strange. She hadn’t done this ritual since the first time she’d been with the team, before she lost her memories. It felt different than she remembered, but perhaps she simply remembered differently.
“What’s the matter?” Jonah asked, scrutinizing her face.
“Nothing. I swear I feel you more strongly than I did Marcus when I did this with him.”
Jonah arched an eyebrow at her. “I don’t have any sense of you at all. Didn’t you say this is supposed to be subconscious?”
“It is,” Maggie nodded. “But I have a distinct sense of you, now.”
Jonah frowned. “Did you do it right?”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Of course I did. There could be lots of reasons it feels stronger this time around.”
“Such as?”
Maggie had no idea. “Well…I have more neurochemical ability than I used to. I apparently gained a bunch of abilities when I lost my memories. Maybe that’s why.”
“Or maybe it’s because we’re siblings,” Jonah offered. “You aren’t related to Marcus, after all.”
Maggie considered the idea. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. The link is stronger because we share blood.”
It sort of made sense and sort of didn’t. Neurochemical energy had little to do with blood. Yet, Jonah’s statement had a ring of truth to it. At the same time, she and Marcus were quantumly entangled, which was the strongest bond anyone—including Doc—knew of. So why hadn’t she felt Marcus more keenly?
Then again, they still didn’t know the nature of the quantum bond. No one knew when or where or why it had happened, so perhaps they hadn’t been entangled the last time? Maggie sighed. So many questions.
“I don’t know for sure, Jonah, but I’m glad for the sense of you. I prefer it that way.”
“Fine. I wish it went both ways.”
Maggie grinned. “Maybe it’s a feminine thing.”
His lips twisted in a half-suppressed smile. “A feminine thing?”
“Yeah, you know, because girls are cooler.”
Shaking his head, Jonah put an arm around her waist. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mags.”
Chuckling, they headed toward the Southeast entrance and whatever this mission would bring.
Chapter 23: The Orb
Marcus peered through the trees. The meadow beyond them, high ground in a deep stretch of woods, might have been inaccessible but for Traveling. It couldn’t have been formed naturally. Its shape looked too perfect to be anything except man-made. The collectives simply cleared a spot of all foliage for a quarter mile in every direction.
The crowd of Arachnimen standing in the meadow looked like an army of black ants covering the grass. They stood like bulky statues, eyes scanning the surrounding woods and oozing danger. At least thirty feet of bare meadow stood between them and the tree line. Marcus studied it grimly. A lot of ground to cover when trying to keep the element of surprise.
White, phosphorescent light illuminated the collective henchmen from behind. It must be the orb. The army stood in a circle, guarding the thing with their backs to it. Where were the Scanners? Marcus didn’t see them anywhere. Tenessa said the collective would have drones Scanning for neurological signatures. That’s why the team needed to keep their brains Concealed. If the Scanners picked up any of their neurochemical signatures, their sneak attack evaporated.
“I can’t see the Scanners,” Marcus said quietly, hefting his smooth, knotty wooden staff in his hands.
“I can sense them,” Nat matched his volume. He hunched in the undergrowth on the other side of Karl. “They’re in a ring behind the Arachnimen.”
“With so much space cleared out, no way we’ll stay on the down-low for long,” Karl muttered.
Marcus nodded at the echo of his own thoughts. But they’d never expected this to be easy.
“Marcus.” Maggie stood on Marcus’s right. She leaned her upper arm against his and laced her fingers through his. “What do you think? Can you take them all out?”
Marcus ran his eyes over the army of Arachnimen. Trepid commanders were dispersed throughout the army at regular intervals. If he didn’t wipe them all out with an offensive neurological attack, they would be deadly. No one wanted to fight Arachnimen hand to hand. Even Karl, who roughly equaled them in size. The Trepids loomed even bigger. Marcus didn’t think he’d ever seen so many in one place before.
“I think so,” he answered, looking down at the staff. He needed it to focus his offensive energy against the army. “It’ll exhaust me. I won’t be much good to anyone afterward.”
“That’s why you’re staying here,” Doc said firmly from behind Marcus. “Joan, Lila, and Jonah will take care of you until the rest of us return.”
Marcus nodded grimly. He didn’t like the idea of Maggie going into battle without him. Of any of them doing it, really. If he didn’t take out the collective thugs, though, they had no chance in hell of getting to the orb. This needed to end now. Today.
“Are we ready?” Doc asked. “Maggie?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be, Doc.”
Her voice remained steady, but Marcus detected nervousness in it. He turned his head and pressed his lips against her left temple. Her lips curved in a small smile and she leaned into the kiss.
Doc checked in with the others. “Karl?”
“Let’s do this, Doc.”
“Joan?”
“No neuro attacks yet. Once they know we’re here, I’m expecting a barrage.”
Doc nodded. “You may be as exhausted as Marcus by the time we finish here. Tristan? Any last questions?”
The sallow-skinned man stood off to Marcus’s right. He’d bathed many times since coming to Interchron, of course, but for some reason, his dark hair always looked greasy. In answer to Doc’s question, he merely shook his head, his mouth pressed into a thin line.
Tristan acted sour about…everything in life, from what Marcus could tell. The idea of coming on this mission hadn’t produced a different reaction from him. Tristan’s abilities, which allowed him to communicate telepathically with Doc, were too valuable not to use.
Doc gave Tristan a nod and turned to look behind him. “Tenessa? Any surprises you’d care to share?”
Tenessa stood several feet back from the rest of the group, arms folded and looking unhappy. Owing to her bond with Karl, she possessed much less freedom than she’d have liked. He’d sense everything she did and anywhere she went. She would stay with Karl, so he could keep an eye on her, and tell them anything she observed that would be to their advantage, per their agreement.
She could do little to betray them. In truth, she’d be a tag-along for Karl. An extra limb he simply needed to be mindful of.
“We sense nothing of import. The Union is, thus far, oblivious to the Separatists’ presence.”
Doc nodded. “Good. Nat, David, and I will head out.” He turned to Marcus. “Wait ten minutes for us to get into position, Marcus. Then do your thing.”
Marcus nodded. He pulled his gaze from the ominous army they were about to take on, and glanced toward the three men getting ready to leave. Nat rose to his feet, while Doc still knelt, staring at the Arachniman army. Nat put a hand on Doc’s shoulder. Doc raised a surprised eyebrow. His face softened into a smile. He reached across his chest and rested his hand over Nat’s. It still jarred Marcus when he thought about it. Nat and B were Doc’s brothers. Doc stood to go with Nat.
David stood as well. His eyes met Marcus’s. The tension between them felt tangible, like an elastic band. A soft sadness stole over Marcus. He gave David a nod. David’s face softened, and he returned the nod, then turned and walked into the thick foliage.
David would be acting as their offensive attacker. When the need came for him to hurl neurological attacks at the enemy, the places his attacks originated from would become targets. He needed to rove and run, both to protect the others and to keep from being vaporized himself. Though he was physically fit, it would still be taxing.
This plan had been their best option. The smart option. The only option, really, and Marcus had been all for it. Until now. Watching David walk away, he couldn’t remember why it seemed like a such a good idea.
“Be careful, Brother,” Marcus whispered. He didn’t think anyone could have heard, but Maggie squeezed his hand.
“Everything will be okay,” she said quietly. “Everyone will be okay.”
“They will,” he agreed, and shifted to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
“Everyone get into position,” Doc said quietly. “If David runs into one of the Offensive Scouts, we’ll be outed, whether Nat and I are in position or not. We all need to be ready.” Doc and Nat headed into the foliage as well, in a slightly different direction than David.
One of the more valuable pieces of information Tenessa imparted was that the collectives would hide a handful of ‘scouts’ in the trees. In truth, they were more like neurochemical snipers: Concealed and positioned to take potshots at enemies that didn’t see or sense them.
Nodding, Karl rose and stared down expectantly at Maggie.
Marcus took Maggie’s face in his hands and kissed her, not caring if the others saw. She kissed him back, not seeming abashed either. Putting her palms flat on his chest she leaned into him. He didn’t deepen the kiss but let it linger. When he released her, he rested his forehead against hers. “Be careful.”
She smiled. “I will be. I love you.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I love you too,” he murmured against her smooth skin.
She slid out of his embrace and gave his hand one last squeeze before moving to stand beside Karl.
Karl took Maggie’s hand and gave her a smile that managed to be both grim and reassuring at once. He met Marcus’s eyes. What passed between Marcus and his best friend had passed between them many times before. The unspoken agreement that Karl would watch out for Maggie. Karl would protect Maggie with his life, as much because Marcus loved her as because Karl himself did, though his love was of the brotherly variety. Marcus felt the power of his friendship with Karl more than ever today.
Tristan and Tenessa stepped up beside Karl and Maggie. Tenessa glared for several seconds at Karl’s hand. The one holding Maggie’s. Marcus fleetingly wondered why. Not that it mattered. Tenessa remained a complete mystery to him, and they had bigger worries.
Jonah, Lila and Joan stood huddled together a few feet away. Karl Traveled them to this spot purposely, because it offered the perfect vantage point for the three of them. They could see what happened in the meadow clearly, without being seen. A crucial criterion, because Joan would be Protecting the team’s minds against neurological attacks, while Jonah and Lila’s combined strength would Conceal them all.
Once the Cimerian saw Maggie, the collectives would know they’d arrived, but without being able to sense the team’s neurochemical signatures, the collectives were blind to where each team member physically stood. This entire plan hinged on that advantage.
Minutes passed. The eight of them stood together, waiting, barely daring to breathe.
“It’s quiet,” Jonah said softly.
“Too quiet,” Lila agreed, nodding. “There should be the sounds of animals. The hum of life.”
“Silence is the loudest scream,” Maggie whispered.
Marcus turned to her. It struck him as something she’d quoted to him before, but he couldn’t place it.
As though reading his thoughts, Joan spoke. “What is that, Maggie? Is it—”
An exploding boom reverberated under Marcus’s feet. It came from the far side of the meadow, half a mile away in the direction David had gone. Marcus lurched into a standing position, his heart pounding wildly in his chest and his insides twisting.
“David’s encountered one of them,” he said, throwing a hand out toward Karl.
“Go!”
*******
The air around her shimmered as Karl Traveled them away. Maggie's feet hit the ground, landing on the far side of the meadow from where Marcus hunched.
Twenty feet in front of them, the Arachniman army stood, their backs to Maggie’s group. The huge collective goons, spider’s webs tattooed over their eyes, had turned toward the same explosion that sent Karl Traveling.
The Arachnimen closest to Maggie and Karl must have sensed them arrive, because they whirled toward them a moment later. Karl went into fighting stance, arms raised and body rigid. Maggie stepped up beside him while Tenessa and Tristan took a step back.
In the end it didn't matter. Marcus’s energy hit the enemy army like a tidal wave. Maggie didn't share Marcus's talent, so she couldn't see the energy. She easily tracked its course, though, by the way the collective henchmen toppled like dominoes. Marcus took out every last one, Scanners and all. A swell of pride for the man she loved rose in Maggie’s chest.
A glance at the now-plainly visible orb left her in awe. Even from where she’d left Marcus, the sight had been magnificent. She’d been able to see the white light the orb gave off, but with the Arachniman army in the way, she hadn’t been able to see the orb itself. Now she could. It hovered six inches above a stone outcropping in the middle of the meadow that might have been an altar in other circumstances. A carpet of Arachniman bodies now surrounded it. They’d fallen in every conceivable position, glassy eyes looking every which way, and it would be something of an obstacle course to get to the orb.
Yet the orb didn’t capture Maggie’s attention so much as the energy swirling around it. She couldn’t identify every type of energy in the rainbow of colors she saw. Ribbons of red and blue and green and purple, all of them a different kind of neurological energy, and peppered with darker strands. Doc said neurochemical shields protected the orb. He felt confident he could navigate through them.
"He comes," Tenessa whispered. "The darkness comes."
Maggie tensed, waiting for the Cimerian to appear. Tenessa told them he’d connected himself to the Army surrounding the orb. If anyone attacked them or made a play for it, the Cimerian would know immediately and come.
Dark Matter (Interchron Book 3) Page 31
