by Elana Brooks
Steve had the grace to look embarrassed when she glanced at him. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I thought it over, and I’m sure you’re right. I shouldn’t have stormed off before we tried it.”
He was capable of more heartfelt apologies, but that would do for the moment. “All right.” She slid into the chair. “Now?”
“If you’re comfortable in front of an audience,” Solomon said. “We can give you privacy if you’d prefer.”
“No, this is fine.” She held out her hand to Steve. He grasped it. His astral flesh felt just like his physical flesh, even though if either of them wanted they could make their astral forms insubstantial and pass through each other as easily as through the walls. Only if they soul bonded would they always be solid to each other. “I think it depends on us being in telepathic contact.” Steve?
I’m here. His presence was strong and comforting in her mind.
Maybe you can meditate, too? Like at the end of a yoga session.
All right. I’ll do my best. His thoughts stilled and settled into hers.
Rosalia closed her eyes and took a slow, deep yoga breath, filling her belly, then her chest, then her throat to their full capacity. She emptied them in the opposite order, equally slowly. Her mind drifted, open and receptive. She formed a wordless invitation to the future to reveal whatever she needed to know.
Sometimes she had to wait in this receptive state for a long time before a vision came, but this time the response was immediate and overpowering. The Angel symbol appeared over the building in which she sat. It settled gently onto the roof. A flash of brilliant white light burst from it, consuming the building and Rosalia in a blinding glare.
She wrenched her eyes open with a gasp. Everyone was staring at her. She panted for a moment, then swallowed. “Yeah. That was a vision, all right.”
“Show us,” Solomon said.
She opened her mind to all the members of the Eight, showing them what she’d seen. Their eyes went wide with the same horror she felt.
Steve’s hand crushed hers. “How soon?” he demanded.
Rosalia consulted her sense of time. “An hour, maybe, but no more. You told them about Angel, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Steve turned to include the others in his words. “They’re going to attack us. From above. A bomb?”
“It seems likely,” Solomon said grimly. “It should be possible to move one into place telekinetically, staying high enough to avoid detection from the ground and low enough not to be picked up on radar or set off any air traffic alarms.”
“In astral form, so they can place the bomb precisely and stay close to defend it, yet be unharmed by the blast.” Farid rose to his feet. “This warning should allow us to stop them. Savitri, Kostas, Beverly, join me. We’ll keep watch and call the rest of you when they arrive.”
The three he’d named joined Farid, and the four of them ascended through the ceiling. Rosalia’s tension eased slightly, but she still felt as if someone were breathing down the back of her neck.
Steve moved his other hand to stroke their clasped hands. “It’s all right. We’ll stop it. Visions don’t have to come true. The future can be changed if we act on what we see.”
“You think I don’t know that?” She tried to jerk her hand away, but he held it tight. She made her astral flesh go insubstantial and slid it through his grasping fingers. “I think I know more about precognition than you do!”
He flinched, but gave no other sign her words had hurt him. “So you know I’m right.”
Solomon said, “Of course she does, but that doesn’t help the fear much. Does it, my dear?”
Rosalia appreciated his understanding, but she didn’t like admitting to fear. She gave a short nod.
Solomon drummed his fingers on the table. “What concerns me is the nature of the vision. You were looking for something to do with the Seraphim, and you saw Angel instead. I wonder why?”
Steve looked at him in surprise. “It seems obvious to me. A threat right here, so immediate? The warning was so loud it drowned out anything else.”
“And yet none of the rest of us received it. We all have at least ordinary levels of precognition. Kostas is quite strong, and I suspect Beverly is, too, although we haven’t had much opportunity to test her. You two and Ana Luiza are the only ones whose bodies aren’t in direct danger. We should have all been blasted with visions as soon as Angel made the firm decision to go ahead with their plan.”
As the truth of his words sank in, Rosalia’s stomach went cold. “Can Angel shield their actions from precognition, too?”
“Perhaps. Although since the Covenant has never been able to devise a way to do so, I strongly suspect it requires the use of technology beyond what’s currently available to us. I think it more likely that they’ve contacted the Seraphim and been included in their shield.”
Rosalia stared at him in horror. Steve slammed his hands flat on the table. “That’s impossible.”
“Is it?” Solomon said. “Rosalia, Steve said the agent you encountered yesterday was as strong as he is. Do you agree?”
Reluctantly Rosalia nodded. “From the way they fought, they’ve got to be.”
“Anyone that strong should have plenty of range to reach the colony ship’s current position. And it’s only getting closer. From what Steve reported concerning the information contained in your buried memory, such a move would be in character for our adversaries.”
Steve jumped to his feet and paced around the table. “We should have realized that’s what they’d do. How are we going to stop them from communicating with Sarthex? We don’t have enough people to put up a guard sphere around the whole planet like they’ve got around their ship. Even if we did, people that strong could blast their way through. We’d just end up with dead guards.”
“Obviously, we can’t cut them off from the Seraphim. We have to counter their attacks here on Earth. And try to locate their leaders. If we find them, we can either negotiate with them or neutralize them.”
Steve spun to face Solomon. “How can we counter their attacks if we can’t foresee them? If Rosalia had gotten here an hour later she’d have found a smoking ruin, and Ana Luiza and I would be the only ones left of the Eight.”
Solomon looked at him without speaking. Steve frowned back for a long moment, then his eyebrows shot up and his eyes went wide. “No. I told you all the reasons why we can’t.”
A strange feeling of calm laced with excitement enveloped Rosalia. She rose and went to stand beside Steve, laying a hand on his arm. “We really don’t have a choice any more, do we?”
He grabbed her by both upper arms, his fingers digging into her astral flesh. She left it solid. Soon she wouldn’t have the option of escaping him by fading to nothingness in his grasp. “Of course we’ve got a choice,” he said urgently. “We got the warning for this attack without being soul bonded. We just have to keep checking regularly. It will be enough.”
“Not once Angel realizes what we’re doing. They could start deciding which of several attacks to use only minutes before they carry it out. Or set bombs on random timers so even they don’t know when they’ll go off. Or hit us with simultaneous attacks thousands of miles apart. We need to be open to receive warnings the instant they’re generated. And we need the increased sensitivity our combined strength will give us, so our visions will come sooner and be more clear.”
“Your visions,” he said bitterly.
“Ours,” she said. “We’ll both draw on the sum of our powers. Isn’t that right, Solomon?”
“That’s generally how it works,” he said cautiously. “It can be different for each pair, though. And it depends on how complete the bond is. Adrian and Beverly’s bond was quite tenuous at first. They became more able to access each other’s power as it became stronger.”
“Theirs was a special case, from what I understand,” Rosalia said. “We’ll have a full bond from the beginning. That means you’ll have real precognition, Steve, because you’ll shar
e mine.”
Hunger and fear warred in Steve’s face. “Even if you’re right, it’s still too dangerous. We haven’t even come close to resolving our problems. The Covenant will be left with no warnings at all if we end up killing each other.”
A wild, reckless joy boiled up in Rosalia’s heart. “Oh, what the hell.” She grabbed Steve’s forearms. “We both know we’re going to do it eventually. Why not now? Do you really think a few days are going to make any difference?”
Steve’s breath quickened as he stared into her eyes. She could almost see into and through them, but not quite. Yet. “Are you sure? The danger…”
“I’ll risk it if you will.” She stepped closer, shifting her arms to circle his neck. His arms went around her waist. She dropped her voice to an intimate volume. “At least we know we’ll have some hot times before we burn out.”
He pulled her against his body, his eyes boring into hers. Fathomless depths opened before Rosalia, beckoning her in. Steve’s voice shook. “If you’re absolutely certain this is what you—“
NOW! Farid’s voice blared into her mind.
Steve’s eyes slammed opaque. He released Rosalia and shot upward. She followed a breath behind, with Solomon, Ana Luiza and Esi at her heels. Together they burst through the roof of the Headquarters building.
For a moment Rosalia didn’t see what had alarmed Farid. The sky was empty save for cottony white clouds far above, a flock of birds wheeling several blocks away, and a cluster of helium balloons drifting past. Some child must be upset at their loss.
Then Rosalia understood. The balloons’ movement was subtly wrong. Farid and the three he’d taken with him rushed toward the colorful cluster, spreading to surround it.
The balloons abandoned all pretense of naturalism. They swooped down to evade the closing ring. Steve dove to intercept them. Rosalia realized where the hole in their defenses lay just in time to soar upward and block the balloons from shooting out the top of the sphere of defenders. She grabbed for them telekinetically, but a far stronger mind than hers ripped them from her grasp.
Farid reached for the balloons, which were darting around, seeking to escape. Help me.
Rosalia joined with the others to shove the balloons at Farid. Shockingly, even their combined strength was barely sufficient to drag the balloons slowly toward his hands. How strong was their adversary? Or had Angel sent a whole battalion of attackers, anticipating resistance? If so, where were they? Telekinesis was a short range effect; whoever was fighting them for control of the balloons must be nearby.
Finally the balloons were close enough for Farid to grab one. He wrapped his arms around it. Beverly seized another, and Steve a third. Solomon and Savitri got the last two. Rosalia realized something. Inside each thin latex casing was a solid dark mass. The oddness of their motion had come not just from invisible guidance, but from the fact that they weren’t lighter than air at all, but heavy objects being held aloft telekinetically in mimicry of flight.
Steve kneaded the contents of his balloon. “Some sort of explosive, I’m guessing.”
“C-4,” said a conversational voice. A glowing astral form emerged from a neighboring building, closely followed by a second. The first, a broad-shouldered blond man, said, “More than enough to reduce your headquarters to rubble. How’d you know we were coming?” He spoke with a pronounced Australian accent.
Solomon passed his balloon to Kostas and approached the man. “After your display in Los Angeles yesterday, we suspected we might have reason to be concerned. We would hardly leave ourselves unguarded.”
“By the whole lot of you?” The man looked them over skeptically. “Somehow I think not. Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered to be met by the entirety of the renowned Eight.” He executed a mocking little bow. “But I suspect there’s more going on than you’re admitting.” His gazed raked the astral forms behind Solomon until they settled on Rosalia. “Something to do with the ninth member of your greeting committee, perhaps?”
Solomon ignored his question. “You seem to know who we are, but I’m afraid you have the advantage of us. Will you introduce yourself and your companion?”
The man’s eyes traveled over the whole group, resting a moment on each who held an explosive-stuffed balloon. Calculating his odds if it came to a fight, Rosalia guessed. He had to see that he was far outclassed, no matter how strong he and the woman who shadowed him might be.
Rosalia hoped he would be foolish enough to try to take on all of them at once. Maybe they could eliminate a couple of Angel’s leaders right here and now.
Apparently he was smart enough to realize he didn’t have a chance. “My name is Robert Anderson. This is my wife, Sarangerel.” He drew her forward. She was slim and dark-haired, Asian in appearance, her eyes intense and hostile. “We represent Angel, the true successor of the original Covenant of the Rainbow.”
“Odd you would claim that distinction, considering you appear to represent the opposite of what the Covenant has held as our goal for generations. Do you still seek to defend humanity against the Seraphim and prevent them from flooding Earth, as we’ve always vowed to do?”
Robert eyed Solomon. “Should the people of today be bound by what our ancestors vowed eight thousand years ago? They had no real understanding of what the Seraphim are. They certainly couldn’t imagine making peace with them. Angel seeks to deal with the Seraphim as equals, fellow sentient beings worthy of respect and consideration. We want to negotiate an accord that will benefit both our species.”
“A noble goal. One which the Covenant would happily support if it could be achieved without loss of life on either side. When I spoke with Sarthex, the Seraphim leader, seven days ago, he wasn’t open to any compromise which ruled out the expansion of the oceans and the accompanying destruction of much of Earth’s land. Has he told you differently since?”
Robert’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps. And perhaps we consider some loss of land an acceptable concession, considering what the Seraphim can do for Earth in exchange.”
“I’m afraid we don’t share that view. But these are matters to be settled by civilized debate, not by bombs,” Solomon said. He gestured downward at the Headquarters building. “Come inside as our guests. Sit down with us and discuss our differences. Call off whatever other attacks you have planned. Let us consider each other estranged cousins, with whom we disagree, but who are still members of the same family.”
For a moment Robert looked as if Solomon’s words might sway him. But Sarangerel pushed forward, scowling ferociously. “Never! You try to lull us with pretty words of peace, but we aren’t fooled. If we enter within your walls, you’ll betray and entrap us. You seek to destroy the Seraphim because they will bring divine retribution upon the greedy, corrupt powers that enslave humanity. We work to free those in bondage, with the Seraphim as our allies.”
Robert took her hand. “It is as my wife says. In this, as in all things, we are one. We decline your invitation. Consider this our formal declaration of hostilities.” He bowed. “Farewell.”
His form and Sarangerel’s streaked away and vanished into the distance.
Rosalia clenched her fists. “She’s the one from yesterday. I’m sure of it.”
Steve put an arm around her shoulder, cradling the balloon in the other. “Yeah. I think you’re right.” He nodded to Solomon. “What should we do with these?”
“Give them to me,” Farid said. He collected the five balloons into a bundle that hovered before him. “I’ll deliver them to the police. Although I expect they’ll be rather nervous when five pounds of C-4 floats down from the sky onto their doorstep.”
“I’ll give them a call to explain,” Solomon said. “Let’s get back to our bodies.” He looked gravely from one member of the Eight to the next. “I think it would be wise to scatter physically as soon as possible and conduct all our meetings astrally from now on. At least until the threat from Angel is dealt with. If an attack like this should ever succeed, better to lose only one of
us than several.”
Rosalia shivered, remembering that six of the Eight’s bodies lay vulnerable in the building below. A brief wave of panic clutched her stomach as she thought of her body and Steve’s side by side in Los Angeles. But they shouldn’t be in danger. With two of their strongest leaders here, surely Angel wouldn’t be able to launch another attack so soon. They might only have three leaders. These two and Carlos? She didn’t think he’d been quite as strong as Robert and Sarangerel, but apparently they were soul bonded, which probably explained the difference.
The thought reminded her of what Farid’s alarm had interrupted. She swallowed and looked at Steve. “We’re still going to need precognitive warnings of Angel’s attacks.”
“Yes.” His arm tightened around her shoulders. “Solomon, do you mind if Rosalia and I head back to California?”
Solomon studied them both. “You’ll take care of the matter we discussed?”
Steve took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“Thank you.” Solomon took their free hands in his. “May both of you find as much joy in your bond as I’ve found in mine.”
Rosalia nodded, her throat too tight to speak. Steve looked hard at Solomon for a moment, then pulled him close for a rough embrace. “I’m sure we will, my friend.”
After a long moment of wordless empathy, they disengaged. Solomon headed down into the Headquarters building.
Steve looked at Rosalia. “Let’s go home,” he said.
She nodded, and they flew hand in hand toward the west.
Chapter 13
Two years ago
Rosalia stabbed her buzzing phone and pressed it to her ear, annoyed at the interruption. Her team should be able to get the proposal done by the five o’clock deadline, but not if she had to keep stopping to deal with well-meaning interference from her boss. He ought to know by now that she thrived under this sort of pressure. As long as he left her alone, everything would be finished right on schedule. “What now?”
