"Tenessa, Tristan, keep hold of me," Karl said. The two of them obeyed, each grabbing a handful of his shirt. Maggie's hand still clasped Karl's.
The world around them sounded too silent. The air felt charged with electricity, yet everything remained still. Maggie felt as if she would burst.
A dark man suddenly appeared in front of them. He moved as though he’d stepped out from behind an invisible pillar, yet nothing of the sort stood anywhere in the meadow. He simply appeared, sidestepping air. His skin looked like gray tar, and he seemed wrapped in a vapor of darkness. His shapeless clothing was black, but his darkness didn’t come from that. Pockets of vaporous darkness around him moved and flowed, as though darkness itself reached through him, swallowing anything that might have illuminated him.
"The Union is correct.” His voice fell into Maggie's ears as though it's owner stood at her shoulder, yet the Cimerian’s sewed up eyes and lips didn't move. “The Separatists have no intelligence. The Executioner wanders willingly into my domain."
Maggie squeezed Karl's hand. Immediately the air shimmered around her and Karl. When it coalesced again, they stood fifty feet south of where they previously had. It took the Cimerian seconds to find them. For the first time, she thought his face changed. A tiny wrinkle appeared on his forehead. Probably what passed as a frown for him. Maggie knew why. He wondered, no doubt, why they’d Traveled so short distance. It wasn't exactly a hiding place.
The instant the Cimerian found them, he raised his hands. Energy gathered above his head. Various colors and ribbons interspersed with those little dark holes—probably dark matter—she'd seen in the heavens above Interchron.
Maggie recognized some of it. Red, angry-looking ribbons of energy that would cause immense pain. The black-barbed energy might cause death if used efficiently. Other energies, unfamiliar to her, also swirled in the vortex. Maggie squeezed Karl's hand again. The air shimmered and they suddenly stood behind the Cimerian, thirty feet back. Once again, it took him only seconds to locate them. He whirled and continued gathering the energy.
"He’s faster at this than I thought he’d be," Karl said.
"We have to keep it up," Maggie said. “Keep him distracted until Doc gets the orb."
Carl nodded, and the air shimmered around them again.
*******
Doc peered out from the foliage. He and Nat crouched sixty feet from the orb.
“We’ll have to climb over the Arachnimen and Trepids,” Doc said grimly.
Nat only nodded.
After so many years on the earth, the ghastly sight of the bodies didn’t bother Doc. Or rather, they did, but he managed to ignore them for the moment. Though fit for his age, it would still take some time to stumble over the uneven obstacles and reach the orb. Once there, he’d have to navigate through neurological shields to reach it.
“Perhaps you should wait here,” Doc said.
“No,” Nat shook his head firmly. “I’m coming with you. So far, so good, Johann. The army is dead. Maggie and Karl are keeping the Cimerian occupied. For now. We wait until his back is to us. Then we go.”
Doc nodded. Seconds later, the moment came. The Cimerian turned his back to the orb to keep eyes on Maggie, Karl, Tristan, and Tenessa. Doc distinctly heard Tristan’s voice in his head. “Now, Old Man. Go!”
Doc lunged from his hiding place. With Nat two steps behind him, he picked his way swiftly and warily across the carpet of bodies, toward where the orb shone blindingly above the boulder. It felt like hours before they reached the orb. Yet, when they did, the Cimerian still had his back to them.
Nat stepped out in front of Doc, using his body to shield Doc and the orb from the Cimerian. Doc could feel the offensive energy Nat held at his fingertips, ready to strike if the Cimerian turned. Lila and Jonah must be doing a good job with the Concealment. Otherwise, the Cimerian would have felt Nat’s energy by now.
Turning his attention to the orb, Doc identified many of the shields protecting it. Those he could easily counter. Some he didn't recognize, though, and they might cause him problems. Working quickly and meticulously, he sliced away several of the shields, including a physical shield made of iron-hard constructive energy which he sheared through using light energy. The next layer consisted of a light-refracting shield, which made the actual position of the orb hard to detect. It always looked just out of reach. Doc easily countered it by drilling a hole in it, through which he saw the orb clearly. Half a dozen other protective barriers fell by the wayside as Doc worked. He wrapped energy around his arm to punch through the others without hurting himself. Finally, he’d gotten through all the protections.
He reached through the tunnel he’d created in the shields and wrapped his fingers around the orb. It’s brilliance gave the illusion of it being the size of a bowling ball, if not larger. Yet, it wasn’t. Doc was surprised to find that it fit perfectly in the palm of his hand.
Pain began at his fingertips, as though the stone burned them. Doc couldn't have let go if he’d wanted to. The pain paralyzed his digits, forcing him to clench the orb harder. It radiated outward from palm and fingertips, to his wrist and up his arm. His shoulder felt aflame. His heartbeat pounded in his veins, as though the blood would burst the bounds of his blood vessels. Doc felt sure his heart would stop, and still the pain increased. Every exquisite ounce of it grated against his nerves. When it reached his throat, he screamed. The world went dark.
*******
Maggie saw Doc and Nat burst out of the foliage and run toward the orb. She knew Karl had seen him too and would make sure to keep the Cimerian’s eyes away from Doc the next time he Traveled.
Sure enough, the next time Karl moved them away from the Cimerian, Maggie found herself several dozen yards farther away from him, but in the same direction. The Cimerian’s back stayed to the orb.
"What does the Executioner play at?" The Cimerian’s voice reached her ears. "Does she think this game of cat and mouse will her keep her safe for more than a few minutes?"
Doc worked through the shields while Nat stood guard. Maggie needed to keep this thing distracted. "Whatever you are, you’re falling directly into our trap. I suggest you kill me, before I kill you."
Deep, sinister laughter echoed in Maggie's ears. It chilled her to the bone.
The Executioner does not gather power. How does she plan to kill me without it?
“Perhaps I've devised a way of gathering energy you cannot detect," Maggie said.
Again, the laughter. The universe does not work in such ways, Executioner. You should know that.
The energy swirling above the Cimerian’s head became massive. Any second he would hurl it at them. Karl could Travel them away so it didn't hit them, but Maggie feared the Cimerian might turn and see Doc.
She squeezed Karl's hand again. This time he moved them slightly off to the right. When the Cimerian adjusted his position to face them, his back was still largely to Doc and the orb.
Out of the corner of her eye, Maggie saw Doc reaching through layers of energy she assumed were neurochemical shields, toward the orb. She felt a stab of triumph as his fingers closed around it.
Her triumph dissipated seconds later whens she realized something was very wrong. Doc had frozen, arm still extended out between layers of shields, and fingers wrapped around the orb. Why didn’t he pull his arm out and run to safety with the orb?
Then he saw it: energy—dark red and almost liquid-like—oozing over Doc's hand like blood. To Maggie’s eyes, the energy slid up Doc’s arm and across his torso. In seconds, it to spread across his chest, out to his other hand and down his legs. Doc screamed. He did withdraw his arm, then, but only because his knees buckled and he collapsed into a heap on the ground beside the boulder.
The energy above the Cimerian collapsed as he whirled toward the orb. Nat went into a battle pose, gathering offensive energy.
The air shimmered and the Cimerian Traveled, reappearing beside Doc, who lay writhing on the ground, the blinding white orb
clutched in one hand.
Nat whirled to throw his offensive energy at the Cimerian. It should have been effective. Nat’s capacity for this kind of power nearly matched Maggie’s and David’s. They were three of the most powerful people on earth.
It didn’t work.
The Cimerian easily countered Nat’s attack. He conjured a strange, dark energy that ebbed and flowed and wrapped Nat and his offensive energy in it, holding them in a kind of stasis, the way a person might grab hold of a down-swinging sword and hold it in place. Maggie couldn’t see the energy the Cimerian used. Not directly. When she tried to peer at it, it seemed to dart away from her eyes. Dark Matter. It had to be. Nat couldn’t counter it. Only she could.
Maggie ran forward. She watched in horror as the Cimerian, still holding Nat helplessly in place, gathered constructive energy and fashioned it into a long, thin shaft that came to a point at one end. He pressed the point into the side of Doc's head.
Before she’d gone two steps, strong fingers wrapped around Maggie’s bicep and yanked her backward. “What are you doing?” Karl asked.
"We have to go help Doc, Karl,” Maggie screamed. “The Cimerian is Drilling him!"
"Stay here,” Karl shouted back. "I don't want you near the orb or the Cimerian. I'll get him." He let go of Maggie, Tristan and Tenessa and disappeared before Maggie could react. He reappeared in the distance beside Nat and Doc.
As Maggie watched, four Trepids emerged from the foliage behind Doc and the Cimerian. Marcus had wiped out the army, but that didn’t include the scouts Tenessa had warned them about, roaming the foliage beyond the meadow. These must be some of them. Karl immediately had to turn and fight them, leaving Nat and Doc to the Cimerian.
Giving no thought to Tristan or Tenessa, Maggie lunged forward. Karl’s plan would not have worked anyway. He didn’t have the neurochemical abilities to counter the Cimerian.
Seconds passed as Maggie sprinted forward. Too many. Doc might be losing his individuality at this very moment. She needed to get there faster. Before the thought had completely conceptualized, she reached out, she gathered blue ribbons of blue energy and pulled it toward her. The air shimmered around her and she Traveled. Her feet hit the ground directly beside Doc and she fell to her knees at his side.
Maggie lashed out, shattering the spear of energy the Cimerian attempted to Drill Doc with. The creature staggered backward, dropping Nat to the earth.
The Cimerian immediately stepped toward Maggie again, ignoring Nat entirely now, who groaned and rolled onto his side, attempting to rise.
The creature, swathed in darkness, towered over them. He again gathered the energy Maggie knew all too well. Justine used it against her, Jonah, Lila, and David while they’d traveled back toward Interchron. Red and black ribbons of energy, hooked with barbs, drew together over the Cimerian’s head. The last time Justine hurled that energy at Maggie, a Tracker came with it and attached itself to Maggie’s nervous system. She didn’t know if Doc had the vitality to withstand an attack of that magnitude.
Forgetting everything else around her, Maggie formed a shield. She threw it over herself and Doc as the Cimerian’s red and black energy came down. Maggie’s shield met his attack and the reverberation jarred her organs against her ribs.
She didn’t know if it affected the Cimerian in the same way. If it did, he gave no outward sign. The two of them sat locked together with weaponized energy for long seconds. The particles at Maggie’s fingertips vibrated like living things. She didn’t understand why. The vibration came from something the Cimerian did. She couldn’t understand how, but he put pressure on the energy, making it pulse like a living thing about to burst. If it reached an eruption point, she feared it would obliterate them all. Something told her it would shatter her shield. That was probably the Cimerian’s aim.
Operating by the feel of the energy itself, she eased the tension of her shield, allowing the Cimerian’s dark energy to flow closer to her. Her hair stood on end. Her skin tingled with the charge.
Just as she’d suspected, the Cimerian pressed his advantage. Reaching through her own shield, Maggie fashioned a claw out of constructive energy and used to grab a hold of the black-barbed energy. Pain came through the claw and lanced down her spine. She cried out through gritted teeth but held on. Pulling the Cimerian’s energy toward her, she stretched it like a rubber band and released. It produced exactly the effect she’d hoped, striking the Cimerian full in the face. He vaulted backward through the air, landing on his back thirty feet away.
Maggie could feel that he wasn’t dead or even unconscious. She’d only bought herself a few minutes. She whirled to take in the situation. Karl stood surrounded by Arachniman, blocking and dodging and slashing as quickly as she’d ever seen him move. If any of them touched him, he’d be assimilated on contact.
She registered explosion after explosion around the meadow, and vague dread filled her. Those explosions represented interactions between the rest of the team and other pockets of collective henchmen.
Doc lay unconscious on the ground in front of her. “Doc! Doc!” He didn’t answer or move when she shook his shoulder. Nat, face pale and eyes haggard, dragged himself to Doc. He looked too wiped out to be of much more help in this fight. Concern played across his features as he gazed down at his brother. Leaning over Doc, he paused with his ear hovering above Doc’s mouth and nose.
“Is he alive?” Maggie asked. Explosions from the surrounding foliage punctuated her question.
Nat nodded wearily, keeping his head low over Doc’s.
Maggie swept her eyes around. Chaos reigned around her and she had no idea what to do.
Something pulsed beside her. She felt it in rhythm with her heartbeat. The orb. Still clutched in Doc’s hand, its brilliant light and the darkness coming off the Cimerian pulsed together somehow.
Tenessa said Maggie could control it. Maggie didn’t know how, but she feared it might be the only thing that could save them now.
The ground exploded close by, knocking Maggie onto her side and making the explosions around her sounded muted. The attacks from the forward scouts drew ever closer. The Arachnimen converged on Karl. The Union closed in.
Lunging forward, she reached for the orb. Wrapping her fingers around it, she inserted air between it and Doc’s palm, gently prying it from his grip. She found surprisingly easy, given how tightly he’d clutched it. Maggie felt nothing at all. Hadn’t Doc writhed in pain by the time he’d held the orb this long? Still, Maggie felt something. The orb still pulsed with energy. It reverberated in Maggie’s chest. The world around her became less distinct. The colors became white-washed, the sounds softer. White light swallowed everything.
Gasp.
Maggie’s knees hit the ground hard. She peered around wildly, unable to process the change of scenery. She knelt in a small, dimly lit room. The light might have come from candles, except no candles decorated the room. There were no light sources at all. The muted light came from everywhere and nowhere.
In front of her stood a plain, rectangular table, made from wood and complete with four ladder-backed chairs. In one of them sat a man, his back to her. He had a full head of wild-looking, dark hair and appeared to be scribbling words in a book.
Maggie would know the back of that head anywhere. Where was this place? A dream? Another memory?
The man didn’t appear to notice that she’d dropped into the room with him.
“Clay?”
With a gasp, Clay dropped his pencil and whirled to face her. “Maggie?”
The same Clay she’d always known. Painfully thin with the kind of dark, out-of-control hair that belonged on a rock star, his soft features mirrored his sweet personality and soft-spoken manner. His face registered familiarity with the hint of a smile. Maggie missed her friend’s smile.
Clay’s mouth hung open a moment before he remembered to shut it. He looked confused. “It’s you,” he murmured. “Why is it you? Why didn’t she tell me?”
Wha
t was he talking about? “Why didn’t who tell you what?” she asked.
Clay’s head came up in surprise, as though he’d forgotten she stood there. A deep sadness stole over his face and tears sprang to his eyes. Something hid behind the tears that Maggie couldn’t quite make out. Realization? Resignation? Perhaps both. The look made Maggie afraid.
Clay strode across the room and pulled Maggie into a tight embrace. “I’m so happy to see you,” he whispered.
His emotion proved infectious and tears materialized in her eyes. She didn’t know why he cried, only why she did. She never thought she’d be embraced by Clay again. Clay released her and she pulled back.
“What’s going on, Clay? Where are we?”
He merely gazed at her, looking both confused and forlorn. She couldn’t tell if he didn’t know or simply didn’t want to answer.
Perhaps if she began, he would respond. “We tried to get the orb. Stop the Merging. Doc went down and—”
“The orb?” Clay frowned. “The one that can manipulate dark matter, I presume? Of course you mean that one. What else could it be? You have to be careful, Maggie. You especially.”
“Doc said so too, but why? I don’t understand. Doc couldn’t fully explain.”
Clay shook his head. “It would be hard for him to explain, though he probably understands it on some level. Doc’s a genius that way. It’s because you’re connected to it, Maggie. Past, present, and future. Your touch activates the aspects connected to you.”
Maggie swept her gaze around the room. Utterly plain. Light-colored walls with no decorations. An opening in one led to a similar-looking hallway. “Where is this? Where are you?” She shook herself. “I know where you are. Your body is back at Interchron in medical. You’re d—” She swallowed the word. Clay stood in front of her, looking the same as she remembered.
He smiled softly. “Dead. I know. It’s okay, Maggie. Don’t doubt what you know. This is something else. Something completely different. Something you can’t hope to understand yet.”
Dark Matter (Interchron Book 3) Page 32
