“We’re monitoring for the Others.”
“Uh-huh.” Riley’s eyes narrowed. “Right. You’re here as protectors, keeping the intergalactic peace.”
Darius beamed. “You catch on quick. Most struggle with this concept for several weeks.”
Riley gave Darius a quick shove. “That was sarcasm, idiot.”
Darius frowned. “I have trouble with sarcasm.”
Alec was trying to follow the conversation, but there were so many questions. Did the Tyon Collective really travel around the galaxy and hide on unsuspecting worlds, keeping an eye out for trouble? Was that what Darius was going to train them for? And why wasn’t Riley even a bit concerned that his brother had just been sucked into the enemy’s whatever-it-was? He rubbed at a rapidly building ache across his forehead and prayed not to throw up.
“The resistor. What’s that?” Riley called over her shoulder as she strode down the hill.
Darius set off behind her but he didn’t answer the question immediately. Alec wasn’t sure if he looked embarrassed or merely reluctant.
“The resistor is the genetic mutation that allows humans and humanoids to resist the mind control the Others employ. It’s a natural genetic aberration on some planets, and has to be introduced into the humans on others.”
Riley stopped again abruptly. Darius nearly walked into her. For a moment she looked puzzled, then her eyes blazed. “And just how is it introduced?”
Alec took a step backwards. Riley might be small, but the look she gave Darius could slice concrete into ribbons. Darius didn’t seem to notice. Either that or he was completely oblivious for his personal safety. “Interbreeding,” he said blithely.
Riley’s nostrils flared. “Are you telling me that you aliens have bred with humans on this planet, just to insert some kind of thing into our genes?”
Darius nodded. “It takes several generations to dis-seminate and strengthen. We didn’t know if we’d have enough time for maximum genetic penetration before the Others arrived. We figured they’d be interested in this world; it was only a matter of time. We’d hoped for enough time to protect you but it seems we miscalculated. It’s too late.”
11
Riley’s heart was pounding so hard she could barely hear herself think. Of all the arrogant, high-handed, infuriatingly condescending things she’d ever heard, that one took the cake.
And now Darius had brought them back to Halifax, a city she’d only just escaped a few days ago. Alec of course hadn’t done it. He was just a kid. A lanky, scruffy, kind of good-looking kid. That she did not find attractive.
Infuriated, she whirled on her heel, crossing the street without looking. This was ridiculous. She wouldn’t believe a word of it. She was heading for the bookstore at the bottom of the road and she was going to walk in and bully Bjorn into letting her sit in the storeroom until her father came to get her. Darius and Alec could take a long walk off a short pier.
“You appear annoyed, and I grant that you may have reason, but–” Darius started. Riley didn’t let him finish.
“Reason? I might have reason?” Her voice got higher with every word. “Look, buddy boy, you might think that you’re God’s gift to this planet, you and your alien friends, but I do not, I repeat, do not, like having my DNA fooled around with. Especially without my permission.”
“What’s he done with your DNA?” asked Alec, who was half-running to keep up with them.
“You’d be one of them, if we hadn’t,” Darius retorted. “And, I’m not an alien.”
“Them?”
“Look around you, Riley. They’re sheep, ready to be slaughtered. They can’t stop him; they can’t even put up a fight. You can. Is that what you want, to lie down and die, without even having a chance?”
Riley stomped around the corner onto the main street and headed straight for the first shop door, set back between two huge plate-glass windows filled to the brim with books. The door didn’t budge when Riley grasped the brass door handle and yanked hard. She kicked the bottom of the door in frustration, but other than bruising her toe, nothing happened. She banged on the wooden rim of the door with her fist.
“It’s closed,” Alec offered.
“Yeah, good one, Sherlock,” Riley snapped. She cupped her hands together on the glass and leaned in for a closer look.
Darius leaned against the doorjamb, one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. He nodded towards the window display. “Got an overwhelming need to read about lighthouses?”
“I have a friend here,” Riley muttered, her voice muted from speaking against the glass.
The heavy door suddenly opened.
“I thought you’d left for Deborah’s place?” The tall, bushy-eyebrowed man looked at Riley with mild interest. He had a clipped accent, bony wrists that protruded inches from the sleeves of his shirt and the fair, ruddy skin of someone from a very northern climate.
“I did.” Riley barged into the warm, musty interior of the bookstore. The overpoweringly familiar scent nearly brought her to tears. “Can I use your phone, Bjorn?”
“Ya. If you can get the damn thing working. Nadine has done something with the answering machine again.” Bjorn turned to her companions. “Aren’t you going to introduce your friends?”
Riley had half a mind to tell her former boss that neither Darius nor Alec were friends in any way, shape or form, but the words never left her lips. Darius was staring at her, one eyebrow sardonically raised, almost daring her to denounce him, and Alec was still shuffling awkwardly on the sidewalk.
“Darius Finn and Alec Somebody-or-other. Just met them,” Riley muttered. She took in a deep breath and plunked herself down on a small wooden chair sandwiched between two towering stacks of hard-covers.
Darius and Bjorn shook hands briefly. Alec slouched into the store and gave Bjorn a brief nod. Riley rolled her eyes.
“Want me to look at the answering machine?” she asked.
Bjorn shook his head. He sat down on the edge of a high wooden stool, his long legs crossed in front of him. He placed a pipe between his lips and surveyed his company with mild interest. “I took you to the train station. Changed your mind and want to go to the wedding after all?”
Riley shuddered. “Not in this lifetime.”
“Then what happened?”
The words rushed into Riley’s mouth but oddly she couldn’t say them. She’d known Bjorn for years, ever since he’d hired her to stack shelves and answer the phone. Bjorn had been the silent, dependable rock in her stormy waters and she’d grown more fond of him than perhaps she’d thought. Still, would he believe a word about alien invasions and her new “special status”? Would anyone?
A high-pitched whine emanated from the back of the shop. Bjorn slid off his stool. “Got to get that fax. Be right back.” He headed down an aisle of cluttered shelving.
Darius appeared at Riley’s elbow. “So, you spent all your spare time in a bookstore. A life-changing pastime.”
Riley bristled. “If there’s anything more important in this world than books, I haven’t heard about it.”
“World peace?” Darius grinned. “Global warming?”
“Shut up,” said Riley.
Darius meandered a short distance away, chuckling under his breath. Bjorn returned with several papers in hand. He dropped them onto the counter by the cash register before strolling over to Darius’ side.
“Interested in sailing?” Bjorn asked politely, eyeing the glossy coffee-table book, which Darius was slowly flipping through.
“You own a boat?” Darius asked casually.
“Motor,” said Bjorn. “Gave up sailing years ago.” He raised his shoulders in a fatalistic shrug. “Arthritis. Runs in the family. Still, gets me out on the water, ya?”
Darius put the book down. He reached into his jacket pocket with one hand and laid the other on Bjorn’s long arm. “I would love to go out on your boat,” he said.
Bjorn smiled. “I’d be happy to take you. Now if you wish.”
>
Goosebumps sprang to life up and down Riley’s neck. Bjorn never invited anyone onto his boat.
“Right now would be good. Maybe,” Darius glanced over at Alec, “we could pick up some food. Have a picnic on board.”
Bjorn headed back to the small office at the back of his store. His voice was muffled as he partially closed the door to reach his windbreaker. “There’s a convenience store on the way.”
Without another word he left the store. Alec fell in behind without a look at either at them.
Darius waited at the door. “Coming, Riley?”
“No, I’m not. I don’t know how you managed to make him agree to take you on his boat, but I’m not going.”
“Afraid, are you? I can easily use the same, er, influence on you as I did on him.” His eyes narrowed. “Want to try it?”
“Go ahead.” Riley crossed her arms. She was so not going.
Darius pulled out the orb from his jacket pocket and cradled it in the palm of his hand. Sunlight caught the inner refractions and danced within. Grinning, he held it out towards her. Riley’s heart thudded but she didn’t move an inch from the counter. Those glass balls had no power over her, no matter what he might think.
“Riley,” Darius crooned, “come with us.”
The words wrapped themselves around her. Stroked, caressed, tugged.
“You will come with us, Riley,” Darius said, a bit louder, his smile more feral than pleasant.
Invisible coils tightened themselves around her, pulling her towards him. She tried to shake off the feeling, actually shaking physically to do it. It wouldn’t budge. In fact, it was getting stronger.
“You want to.” Darius took a step closer. The orb seemed to pulse with a faint radiance.
“I don’t,” Riley muttered. The glow got stronger. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. This couldn’t be happening.
“Oh, you do.” Another step closer. “You will. The more you resist me, the stronger I’ll make the command. Do you know what that means, Riley?” Another step. “Do you? You’ll do everything I say. The control will be absolute.”
Riley tried to pull her eyes from the unearthly light that enveloped her, mesmerizing her into inactivity. “Stop it, Darius,” she whispered.
“Want to be under my complete and absolute power, sweet?” Darius was now close enough for her to count the freckles flung across his nose. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “Tell me to stop, Riley. Go on. I dare you.”
It took all she had, but she managed to croak, “Stop.”
Darius gave a cold little laugh. He stepped back and dropped the orb into his pocket. Riley’s legs began to shake.
“The orb permits me to expand the scope of my desires,” he said conversationally, as if the last few moments hadn’t happened. “My will, subjugating yours. It’s a neat trick. I can teach it to you if you want.”
Riley shoved past him, darting out the door into the sun, where the world still spun on its normal axis and non-alien people were now wandering up and down a totally normal, non-alien street. She walked as fast as her legs would go. The heavy glass door shut firmly behind her and she knew that it was Darius’ footsteps that were quickly catching up behind her, but she didn’t turn to check. When Darius arrived at her side, she ignored him.
That had been truly frightening. She’d barely managed to hold onto her control. If he tried it again, could she resist him?
Most shops were still not open, but more cars had appeared, and delivery trucks, diesel engines belching fumes, idled here and there. She glanced at her watch, grimacing in annoyance. The digital readout was blank. She yanked her cellphone from her pocket and thumbed the on switch. Nothing.
“Electric things don’t teleport well,” Darius said.
She frowned but kept silent. He might think he’d won, the smug alien creep, but he hadn’t. She was not going to get on Bjorn’s boat. She was going to go home. She just needed change for a public telephone, if there were any anymore.
She ducked into the convenience store on the corner. It was more of a mini market than anything, she remembered, selling fruit and vegetables and cans of single-serving prepared foods for people who couldn’t cook. Bjorn was already piling a hand-held basket with bread and cheese and fruit. Alec was loading up his arms with several jumbo bags of potato chips. He gave a sharp “hey” as Darius plucked all but one from him.
“Healthy food equals a healthy body,” Darius said, dropping the chip bags onto a shelf before sweeping over to the dairy case.
Within minutes they were leaving, a veritable feast divided into three white plastic bags swinging from Alec’s hands. Darius was holding his orb, Riley noted, as they turned towards the ocean and proceeded along the wooden boardwalk, away from the historic section of town. Just seeing him holding it made her uncomfortable.
She hadn’t gotten change for the phone while in the store. She just couldn’t seem to make herself go up to the counter and speak to the cashier. The female clerk watched Darius hungrily from the moment they entered the little store to the moment they left. She hadn’t even noticed Alec swiping a chocolate bar. Darius, the swine, had encouraged her, grinning winsomely, winking and giving her the kind of long smoldering looks found in romance novels. Riley stalked out of the store, infuriated.
She still had her wallet, and there were a couple of credit cards her father had arranged for her, just before she left, as well as a few twenties and at least one loonie. She could grab a taxi, if she saw one, and get home. The housekeeper would let her in.
Darius was walking directly beside her, within arm’s length, rolling his orb around carelessly in his hand, and staring with unabashed interest at the harbour. But his lack of attention towards her was a ruse. When she tripped slightly over an uneven boardwalk slat, his hand was at her elbow, gripping her almost before she’d even noticed she’d stumbled. And they both knew he was waiting for her to bolt.
Around them, seabirds cried and wheeled overhead. Joggers sweated past and a constant parade of mothers, babes in strollers, trundled by. The day was already warming, despite the early hour. It would be blisteringly hot in a few hours.
In front of her, Bjorn and Alec were chatting away about motors as if they’d known each other for years. She tuned the conversation out, concentrating instead on her plan. If she couldn’t talk to anyone and get money for the phone because Darius had put some kind of weird voodoo hex on her, well then, she’d have to think of something else.
And soon. The marina was only a block away.
12
Alec pulled apart the sealed opening to a bag of all-dressed chips and helped himself to a mouthful of breakfast. Sure, it wasn’t the sort of meal his mother would approve of, but he was starving. And besides, in Toronto, it was afternoon. Or at least it had been an hour ago.
Alec was still trying to get his head around everything. They’d been attacked, some kids had been killed and his own brother was now missing. In addition, he’d somehow brought everyone to Nova Scotia. And changed time. Without even trying.
It was both deeply weird and strangely pleasing. Weird, because having a power you couldn’t feel, never mind control, was rather scary; pleasing, because Darius looked pretty impressed and Riley had been shocked and probably jealous. Part of his brain kept running over and over what had happened in the bunker. The other part of his mind was trying to keep up with what was going on around him.
Beside him, Bjorn prattled on about ratios and oil pressure while swinging a grocery bag he’d taken from Alec only a moment before, seemingly unmindful that that particular carrier held several bottles of carbonated drinks. Alec only partly listened. He hoped that Bjorn’s motorboat would be one of those massive yachts all around them, with tons of sumptuous accessories. The guys would be totally jealous when he got back home after all this was over.
Bjorn turned down a narrow gangway, leading past several boats, finally stopping near the end of the jetty. He pointed to the right. “That’s her.
The Inga.”
Alec swallowed his disappointment. She was a dull, yellowish houseboat, with peeling paint and rust-stained metal fittings. She seemed forlorn, dwarfed by her more glamorous neighbours.
“Come on aboard.” Bjorn cheerily led the little party towards wooden planking. The side of the boat rubbed up against several tractor tires looped against the jetty. It was an easy step down onto the deck.
“Come on, Riley,” Darius said firmly.
Alec turned and looked. Riley had a mutinous look on her face, and was standing arms crossed and legs locked against further movement. “I told you–” she started.
“Riley.” Darius’ hand went to his jacket pocket.
“Don’t make me.” It came out like a whimper and Alec knew from the sudden grimace that she hadn’t wanted to sound so weak. He turned his back and pretended not to hear.
“I can and I will.” Darius’ voice had a hard edge.
Bjorn ducked through the opening into the galley-cum-cabin of what was instantly obvious as his home and Alec followed. A wide futon sofa lined the starboard side of the cabin; cupboards, countertops and kitchen appliances lined the port. A heavy table was bolted to the middle of the floor. A captain’s chair was positioned in front of a wide bank of instruments under a row of windows forward of the living quarters. Everywhere, the detritus of a single man’s life littered the cabin: clothes dropped onto the floor, crumpled newspapers all over the futon, an unfinished meal on the table.
Bjorn grabbed the books off the table and dumped them into a locker built under the sofa. He gave an apologetic smile as he swept the dishes away. “I made all of the modifications myself.”
“It’s impressive,” Darius said politely. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind showing me the controls?”
“Don’t,” shouted Riley, hovering in the doorway, one foot still outside on the deck.
Darius gave her a sharp look. “Sit down and be quiet.”
Slowly, she entered the cabin and crossed to the sofa. She sat on the edge and gritted her teeth.
Edge of Time Page 6
