by C. C. Bolick
As I took a seat across from Agent Lockhart, Sylvia acknowledged me with a brief nod.
“Are we ready to begin?” she asked. “In front of you are the final reports from each candidate. Please take a few minutes and read their suggestions for controlling Miss Mason’s power.”
I thumbed through each of the reports. The thinnest was made by the author, which surprised me. The thickest was made my Dr. X. The summaries gave varying conclusions about the origins of my powers and how they should work. Dr. X was the only person to draw the conclusion about using my second power. Probably because she was the only one who asked enough questions to realize I had a second power. Or maybe she asked the right questions.
An agent closed the door and Sylvia went around the table, giving each person a chance to state their choice and reason. Agent Lockhart gave no opinion; he must have been invited to learn which of the four doctors’ memories he would be wiping.
Halfway around the table, Dr. Nuke was in the lead. Most seemed to think his knowledge of nuclear power would be of greatest help when dealing with my power. The rest of the field was split evenly.
When Sylvia called my name, I said, “Dr. X.”
“Interesting choice, Miss Mason. Can you explain your reason?”
I lifted her report and the one from Dr. Nuke, pretending to weigh each in my hands.
“Yes,” Sylvia said. “The report from Dr. X is quite impressive. It’s as if she spent every waking moment for the last three weeks working on it.” She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “If you had to convince me in one sentence, could you?”
I took a deep breath. “Dr. X cared enough to ask how she could help me instead of assume.”
“Go on,” Sylvia said.
“I think her suggestion about using my second power might be the answer.”
Sylvia continued around the table. When she finished with the last agent, she addressed the group. “At this point, first place is Dr. Nuke. Last place is Dr. X. The subject of these interviews had more interaction with these doctors than anyone else in this room. She chose Dr. X.” She looked at the agent to her right. “I want to know what has caused this great discrepancy, starting with you.”
“People like her, but she’s too quiet,” the agent said.
“She’s too young to be an expert in her field,” another agent said.
Yet another agent said, “Her clothes are goth, like something my kids would wear.”
“Everyone here wears black,” I said in amazement.
Sylvia chuckled. “This process has been an eye-opener for many of us.” Her humor faded when the conference phone at the center of the table beeped. She motioned for the closest person to answer, who happened to be Agent Lockhart.
He pressed a button on the phone. “Go ahead.”
Dad’s voice came over the phone. “Sylvia, we’ve recorded a message you need to hear.”
“I’ll be there momentarily, Agent Mason.” To the room she said, “Meeting adjourned.”
“Who got the job?” the agent to her right asked.
“I think we’ve made a thorough go at this process. Majority has chosen and I can live with those results.” As the agents rose, she looked down the table. “Come with me, Miss Mason. I’m afraid this message might be another threat from Louis.”
* * * * *
I followed Sylvia to a room on the security level where Dad waited with two other agents. As soon as I stepped inside, she closed the door behind us.
“Play the message,” she said.
One of the agents sat at a table with a laptop in front of him. He clicked his mouse and a garbled sound began.
Sylvia stared at the screen as the signal rose and fell in a continuous wave. “Can you clean up the distortion?”
“It’s not distortion,” Dad said. “We think it’s a message from our friends in the sky. Agent Payne left to find our translator.”
“Whatever this is,” the third agent said, “it’s hogging bandwidth. It’s eating up the lower channels, but we can’t seem to figure out what it means. The wave form repeats every forty-five seconds.”
Within seconds, Travis appeared with a girl about my age. She twisted out of his grip. “How about warning me before you do that?” she spat.
“Sorry,” he said, laughing until he noticed me. “I didn’t have time to explain.”
Sylvia reached for her hand. “Glad to see you’ve returned. Miss Mason, please allow me to introduce Agent Henley.”
“I’m not on the clock. I told you people not to call me tonight.” She glared at Travis, who’d moved to my side. “That covers kidnapping.”
“Play the message,” Sylvia said. “If you’d be so kind, Agent Henley, to decode this message.”
Agent Henley gave me an evil look. “Call me Tosh.”
I eyed this new arrival. Dad had mentioned a translator, but she couldn’t have been much older than me. Why did she seem to hate everyone? “You know this language?”
“I know many languages,” she said. “More than I ever wanted to.”
I thought of my powers. Maybe I wasn’t the only one here who didn’t want to be stuck with the agency. The agent at the computer restarted the message. We listened to forty-five seconds of a computerized voice that spoke not a single word I understood. It didn’t sound like Spanish, French, or the class of German I’d transferred out of.
“It’s a warning,” Tosh said. “It’s telling all those who aren’t human to evacuate by Saturday.”
“That’s three days away,” Sylvia said.
“That can’t be good,” Dad said.
“Is there a certain location?” Sylvia asked. “Or are we talking the entire planet?”
“Everything within two hundred square miles of this base.”
“Something bad is going to happen,” Travis said. It wasn’t a question.
“The message wasn’t specific,” Tosh said. “It contained the words imminent and disaster. The last word in the message has several meanings in their language, but one is explosion.”
Sylvia exchanged a glance with Dad. Beside me, Travis stood rigid as Dad leaned in and whispered in Sylvia’s ear.
“Are we finished?” Tosh asked. “I took the night off for a reason and I don’t plan to spend it working.”
“Don’t you care if people get hurt?” I asked.
She shrugged. “When you’ve attended enough of these meetings, you’ll start to understand. People are always going to die and the planet will always need to be saved. Forgive me if I need a day off from all this ‘save the world’ crap.”
Travis took her arm and they disappeared. When he returned seconds later, he moved to my side. “I’m sorry, but she was right about her night off. I had no right to bring her here. We don’t have the best working relationship.”
“Is there anyone at this base who actually likes you?” I asked.
“Last time I counted, one, unless you’ve changed your mind.”
Sylvia dismissed us, leaving the agent at the computer to work on the signal. “Let me know if anything new comes in.”
Travis wasted no time in escorting me out of the room. When we reached the elevator, he hit two buttons and we began to rise.
A picture of the card from Van flashed in my head and I shuddered. “Do you think your old partner is involved in this?”
“I hope not.”
I thought back to our meeting at the Korean restaurant. “Angel said Van was scared. When we met on the cliff, he mentioned something bad happening if I don’t control my power.”
He lowered his voice. “They need your power. That’s why Van wanted you at the restaurant.”
“You went to the restaurant to meet with Van. They had no idea I was coming.”
“They knew.”
I gripped his arm. “Did Tyler mention me when you walked outside?”
He stopped the elevator and turned to me. “No.”
“Did you tell them about my power?
Is that why Van showed up at the cliff?”
“I’ve never mentioned you to Tyler or Van. Neither has asked and yet Van knew exactly who you were when you sat at that table.”
“How could they know?”
“I can’t explain. All I can tell you is that we’ve got three days to figure out your power. How do you feel about another trip to the cliffs?”
I put my hand in his. “Make it fast before I change my mind.”
Chapter Twelve
This time, Travis took me to cliffs high above an ocean. He stood at my side, squeezing my hand tight in a show of support. Below us, waves crashed against a jagged shore. Birds flew from beneath the cliffs, soaring high into the blue sky. The sun sparkled on the horizon.
“Are you ready?” Travis asked, though he didn’t release my hand.
“Are you ready?”
“No, but I have a job.”
“Will your job always be the most important part of your life?” I asked.
“As long as people are in danger, the world needs agents like me.”
“What makes you different from any of the other agents? Other than the fact you stay in trouble with Sylvia?”
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to save lives.” He gave my hand another squeeze. “I think you should get a running start this time.”
“Will you be down below to save me?”
“You once told me you didn’t have fear because I was always there to save you. I won’t be there this time.”
“Promise?” I asked.
His eyes focused on birds that sang as they rose into the clouds. “You have my word.”
My throat burned, but it wasn’t from the salty breeze that warmed my face. Or the anger I felt at Louis for always being one step ahead of us. I needed to do this. If Bethany really was Mama now, I had to believe she was trying to help me.
I released Travis’s hand and ran toward the cliff’s edge. When my runway became an expansive view of water, I leaped over the side of the cliff. My body fell but I held out my hands and thought of my fear of failing. My hands glowed with blue sparkles and I forced the neutrons in the air around me into motion. The reaction kept me from falling; I found myself slowing and eventually floating above the choppy waves, held up by pockets of energy in the air. With each burst of blue from my hands, I felt the power inside of me strengthen.
Along the ocean’s surface I flew, until the cliffs were only specks along the horizon behind me. Whenever I started to glide lower, I pushed myself back up. I found small bursts of my power worked better than firing off the sparkles in huge showers of light.
Finally, I deserved the name Firebird.
I sped until bugs peppered my face and I couldn’t keep my eyes open against the force of the air. When the cliffs behind me merged into the horizon, I focused on turning around. Slowly, my body shifted and did an about-face with the cliffs. I reached out to the neutrons and they carried me back to where I started with no argument. The farther I flew, the more my insides came to life. My breaths came slowly despite the massive power flowing around me.
The colors from the neutrons stretched like a rainbow across the sky. I felt every particle in the air, heard every sound from the birds shrieking to the gurgling of water below. In the distance, Travis called my name. I felt him below, but couldn’t see him; my body sped faster than the light from the setting sun. Over flat land and more water. In the distance I saw mountains. When my power reached the point I began to feel exhaustion, I made another turn, this time aiming for where I’d stood next to Travis.
I passed the point of control, despite how I felt a rush of enjoyment and freedom. I lost sight of Travis’s location and my body began to descend. Faster. I began to free-fall. Still in touch with my power, I felt every neutron as the ground rushed up to meet me. My life would be over in seconds. I had no control over my body. Fear flowed through me in a mighty burst. With my hands extended, I made one last attempt to save myself.
Closer, the ground approached in slow motion. Like when I slowed the neutrons to stop a bomb, the world around me slowed to a crawl. I felt the thrill of falling as I released my fear into the air. Nothing happened, but a part of me felt release. I finally understood my purpose here. Not to soar with the birds but to fail miserably.
I was okay with my fate.
At peace with dying.
If only Alfie… no, he knew how much I loved him. I spent three years proving that fact.
And Travis… there was no fooling Agent Payne. He’d mourn for me but he’d also understand. He’d fought his own demons. Surely he’d understand the reasons mine won.
The upside of my situation was the fact I hit the ground so hard, I never felt my bones break. I somehow landed with my face up, which meant I watched as the sun sank lower, approaching the ocean in a timeless move that would never quite happen. I couldn’t feel the ground beneath me or smell the ocean. I barely heard the birds in the beautiful sky. I thought of Louis’s paintings and wished I had his gift for imagery. If only I could show Dr. Nuke the rainbow of colors neutrons could make.
I laid there for an eternity, watching the sky, until a voice whispered in my ear.
“I’m sorry,” Travis said, in a voice of infinite sadness. “Van said I couldn’t help you, that you had to do this alone. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more helpless than as I watched you fall.”
I tried to speak but couldn’t move my mouth.
“I’m taking you back to the base. Don’t be scared.”
If only I could laugh. Two months ago, Travis had tried anything he could think of to help me feel fear. Now he was telling me not be scared. Did he think I might blow up the base? He leaned over me. If his hand touched me, I couldn’t feel his glove against my skin.
I longed to feel his touch.
“Don’t cry,” he said. The blue sky overhead changed to the bright lights of the med-level. People surrounded me; their faces showed fear and sorrow as they lifted me onto a bed. I felt nothing—not the touch of their hands when they prodded me. I couldn’t smell the sterile air of the med-level. Only the white walls and white outfits confirmed my suspicions of being in a hospital room.
Several bursts of bright white light made me wonder if I’d died. I closed my eyes and stopped wondering.
A machine beeped as if my heart might race out of my chest. Somewhere, Travis spoke to my dad. He told Dad I’d be okay in a voice that was anything but sure.
The sound of Alfie crying twisted my chest until I was glad I couldn’t cry. Or move. I would have crawled out of that bed and wrapped my brother tight in my arms.
It was my last thought before the light in my eyes faded to darkness. For hours I walked through the darkness, until I heard Travis’s voice and found my way back to the hospital room.
* * * * *
When I finally opened my eyes, Travis sat in a chair next to my bed. In the dim light, I barely made out the shape of him. “You can turn on a light,” I said.
“Not yet,” he said. “The doctors want to check your ocular nerves before bringing up the lights.”
“Sounds like fun.”
He leaned over the bed. “You sound rough. Maybe you shouldn’t be talking yet.”
“You’re trying to be charming, aren’t you?”
“A sentence with seven words? You must be cured.”
I held out a hand and he gripped my fingers with his glove. I smiled at the smooth feel of leather against my skin. At least I could feel again. “Sorry I didn’t finish the flight.”
“You were amazing.” He lowered his voice. “I never imagined seeing you in the air would make me feel like I was soaring. I’m glad I got a chance to see you fly, Rena.”
“I’m sure you’ll have another chance.”
He smiled and squeezed my hand tighter.
“Thanks for saving me.”
“I didn’t save you, Rena. The sounds of your body breaking on that cliff will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
“
How long have I been out?”
“Twenty-four hours.”
“Only a day? I must not have been broken that bad.”
His voice dropped to a whisper. “After bringing you to this hospital, I… knew it was bad. You weren’t responding. I teleported Angel here.” He laughed with the sound of tears in his voice. “You looked so bad Sylvia didn’t even give me her usual speech.”
“What are you saying?”
“Angel gave you a drop of her blood to drink. Her healing power saved you.”
Like she’d once saved Travis. “Is she still here?”
“I took her back to her assignment. Sylvia stayed here with your dad until the doctors said you would live. She said nothing as she left. Like Agent Mason and everyone else, she seemed relieved that Angel was able to save you. Otherwise, your injuries were beyond repair.”
“Beyond repair.” The words felt strange. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“It’s my fault you hit the ground. I promised not to help you.”
“You could have broken your promise.”
“You don’t know how hard it was to watch you fall. I used to want to find my dad more than anything. Now I want to keep you safe more than anything.”
I coughed and my whole body shook, but he didn’t release my hand. “When can I get out of this bed?”
“Soon. The doctors want to do a series of tests and then I can take you out of here.”
“You volunteered to look after me? How sweet.”
“I volunteered to give you an extra special day. Sylvia let me call in a vacation day.” He laughed sardonically and I wondered if he’d ever explain the joke. “If you could do anything today what would it be?”
I thought for a moment as he watched me. Two doctors came in and checked my eyes and the reflexes of my hands and knees. When they seemed convinced my health was good, one turned on a light and sat in the chair to my other side.
“You’ve been through a great ordeal. When Agent Payne brought you here, we all feared you couldn’t be saved.”
“I heard voices after he brought me here,” I said. “Doctors talking. Agent Payne. My dad and brother were near me.”
