The Lifeline Signal

by RoAnna Sylver

  The lighthouse was the tallest building in town. It was also the strangest. There were no dangerous seas to illuminate or ships to guide into a waiting berth. But even without a sea, after today, Shiloh definitely felt like a ship tossed about by a hurricane.

  “We almost died,” Shiloh panted as the bike came to a stop around back, hidden from the main street. It wouldn’t do much about anyone who really wanted to find them but at least they were out of plain view. Xir head spun from excitement and terror and was starting to ache, but that was background noise.

  “I know!” Chance laughed, free and easy. “But it was fun!”

  Shiloh nodded and climbed off the motorcycle onto unsteady feet. “Coming about an inch away from death is fun?”

  “Forget that! Remember that the first thing we did together is slay a dragon!” Chance jumped off too, taking a few excited, almost dancing steps, like the adrenaline just wouldn’t let him sit still. He moved with ease and smiled with a brightly beaming charisma that instantly caught attention and held it. “Wow. This is it, isn’t it? The lighthouse.”

  “You mean the beacon.” Annie slung her helmet under her arm and stood with her feet planted far apart, as she always did due to her ankle braces. When she stepped closer and unabashedly stared, Shiloh met her gaze easily. Her eyes were intense but not intimidating and their searching focus felt nothing like a stranger’s. She held very still except for one short finger, which twirled around a thick, tightly coiled strand of hair that hung down past her jaw, the nervous motion continuous. “That is what it actually is, right?”

  “That’s right. The Meridian Beacon.” Shiloh nodded, raising xir arm in a little presenting gesture. The tower’s concrete exterior was smooth and looked like the newest thing in Meridian. Nothing decorated the plain walls except for a heavy steel door and a numeric keypad beside it. “This was the first one my mom ever built. The ten big ones around Tartarus are based on it. Not much, but it’s home.”

  “Well, I’d call it much,” Chance said, craning his neck to look straight up. “Kinda obvious, don’t you think? Doesn’t seem great for hiding. While we’re at it, that big-ass motorcycle’s probably gonna catch some eyes if we just park it here.”

  Annie glanced at her motorcycle, then back up at him. “We won’t have a problem,” she said, as if this explained everything.

  “I’m just saying, that was kind of… conspicuous,” Chance said with a raise of his eyebrows. “We were supposed to meet up quietly, like normal people. Instead we blow up a dragon.”

  “We’re not normal people,” she said, not meeting his eyes. Annie tended to look longer and harder than people expected or considered polite—or not look at all. “And I didn’t want it blown up either but it didn’t leave us much choice.”

  “Oh, I’m not complaining.” Chance smiled and brushed his smooth hair out of his face. Instead of seeming at all troubled by the strange circumstances, or the fact that they’d just narrowly escaped death, his smile was relaxed, as if he found the world endlessly entertaining. Shiloh recognized the way his eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled. “Shiloh kept us all alive and put on a good show at the same time.”

  “I never told you my name,” Shiloh said, but instead of feeling disturbed, xie felt a rush of joy, confirmation.

  “I know, but it’s right here in my head.” He shrugged, smiling in a way that was awkward and apologetic and relieved all at once. “Do you know mine?”

  Shiloh thought for a few seconds. “Chance? That’s all I’m getting.” Xie rubbed xir temples, then the back of xir head and occipitals where the Chiari pain still rested as a dull ache. “Is that really your name? It seems more like—I don’t know. I think your dreams might have made more sense than mine.”

  “Chance is good.” He nodded, looking satisfied and maybe a little relieved. “Call me that, that’s fine.”

  “That’s what I heard in the dreams too,” Annie said, frowning.

  He shot her a nervous look. “Is there a problem with that?”

  “Not really. Where I come from, a lot of people don’t use their given names.”

  “But you don’t seem convinced.”

  “You seemed different in the tree.”

  “Lemme guess, you thought I’d be taller?” He gave her a flashing grin, but this one seemed pained if anything. “We’re all a little different when we’re awake. You wear a lot more spikes, for one thing. And seem a lot more on edge. Which I understand, being awake is terrible. And Shiloh’s not as… sparky? Electric? Xie’s human, not made of energy. So really…” he turned to see Shiloh staring at him, a grin spreading across xir face for the first time. “Hi there.”

  “What did you just say?” Shiloh stared at him, heart leaping; suddenly xie remembered cool shade on a hot day, dark lenses that cut a harsh glare.

  “I just said a lot of things. I like to talk.” He shrugged—then realized. “Oh! You mean…”

  “You said ‘xie.’” The feeling of confirmation was back, a thousand times stronger. Joy, relief and absolute certainty surged through xir chest in a warm rush.

  “Was it right?” Chance asked, turning fully to face Shiloh.

  Xie hesitated, trying to find the words. They failed but xie just nodded, smiling so hard xir cheeks hurt.

  “Okay,” Chance said, more quietly than his usual charismatic tone, and the smile that spread across his face was less brilliant and gentler than before. “So that should tell us we’re not making this dream thing up. He’s really talking to us. Gabriel.”

  “Yeah.” Annie frowned, deep in thought; she didn’t seem nearly as convinced.

  “Isn’t this a good thing?” Chance asked. When she didn’t answer, he pressed on. “I thought Gabriel died in Parole. I never thought I’d see you two again either—but here we are. How often do you get a second…chance?”

  Annie didn’t smile, or answer. Her hand went to the shark tooth on the chain around her neck and she rubbed its smooth surface with her thumb, looking lost in not-quite-pleasant thoughts. Then she busied herself with something Shiloh couldn’t see on the dashboard and the air around the motorcycle somehow went dark, as if a very solid cloud were passing over it like a curtain—and then it was gone.

  “Are you going to explain that?” Chance asked as she walked past them toward the beacon entrance, wide-eyed.

  She shrugged, looking almost bored. “Custom model.”

  Shiloh considered pressing further, but didn’t think xie’d have any more luck. Xie didn’t want to linger outside anymore, either. So xie entered a code in the keypad beside the solid steel door, which slid smoothly open. They stepped into one long curving room that looked more like a spaceship corridor than the interior of a building. The walls seemed made of humming machinery, dials, and consoles, every conduit and bit of wiring alive with electricity. A tight, spiraling staircase led up to the next level and more complex machinery that only got more intricate until it reached the huge light on top.

  “Wow.” Chance turned in a complete circle to look around. “You live in here? Like, all the time? Sleeping and everything?”

  “Yeah. It’s not as weird as you’d think, just kinda bright and loud.” Xie wiggled xir dark glasses, which xie didn’t remove inside. “And it’s not all like this, we have normal rooms too…” A fast, rhythmic clanking came from overhead and Shiloh turned to look at the spiral stairs. “Mom?”

  “The damn thing’s got an attitude,” a woman’s voice called down, echoes bouncing off the metal walls. When she appeared, they could all see that the clanking came from her steel-toed boots as she quickly descended the metal steps. “But I reminded it who’s boss. It should cooperate now.”

  Maureen Cole stood as tall and solid as the tower that was both her home and biggest ongoing project. Like her child, the Tsalagi Native American woman had a quick, perceptive stare that took in small details and an urgency about her, an electric impulse to move. With her long black hair tied back in a thick ponytail and old work shirt t
hat smelled like a combination of coffee and motor oil, Shiloh didn’t have to guess at what she’d been doing just now. She only got quite this messy—or this sweaty and keyed-up—from digging in the beacon’s guts itself.

  “I saw the flashes from all the way up here. They probably saw it all the way across Tartarus.” As she spoke, she turned to check a screen on a nearby console. It must have confirmed something, because she gave a quick nod before turning her full attention to Shiloh. “Something exciting happened down there, didn’t it?”

  “A ghost. Down at the barrier. Tore a hole in it like it was wet kleenex.”

  “Crap. Is it still there?” she asked as she wiped her hands on her jeans in two fast, efficient swipes. Her movements were a combination of confident physicality and intense, precise focus. Her hard muscles came from running up and down stairs and more heavy lifting than anyone would believe engineering involved. The lines on her face spoke of hours spent squinting at equations and blueprints, swearing at delicate equipment until it got its act together.

  Shiloh hesitated. “Uh, no. It’s definitely not.”

  Maureen’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly happened? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Shiloh said after hesitating just long enough to be suspicious.

  “Mmm, no, definitely not fine. I think you’d better start at—who are they?” Maureen’s eyes landed on Chance and Annie, immediately narrowing as if she’d seen them for the first time, and wasn’t sure she liked what she saw.

  “Uh, that’s Annie, and this is Chance,” Shiloh said quickly, glad to be out of the spotlight.

  “New friends?”

  “…Sort of.”

  “Okay, great, nice to meet you.” Her words were short but not terse, expression softening as soon as Shiloh confirmed they were friends. Then she turned right back to Shiloh, concentration unbroken. “Tell me about the ghost.”

  “I…it was…” Shiloh bit xir lip. “Bri and I were down at the gate. Suddenly it was just there, on the outside of the barrier. It looked like… a dragon. Then it cut a hole in it, with its hand, or claw, then it was inside, then Eye in the Sky showed up and it panicked and SkEye shot—”

  “They shot at who?” Her eyes flashed. “At you? Are you—”

  “I’m fine, really! I don’t even think they saw us, they were shooting at the dragon.”

  “SkEye shot first and asked questions never?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Look at my surprised face. I am so surprised." Maureen gave a disgusted snort. “How’d that work out for them?”

  “I don’t think it did anything. It just kind of stood there, then it breathed back at them.”

  “Breathed what, fire? Points for commitment, I guess.”

  “No, just Tartarus poison,” Shiloh made a face as xie tried to explain the awful almost-liquid toxic air. “Or something.”

  “That does make more sense. Then what?”

  “Then it turned to look at me, and I could tell it was gonna breathe again, so I just—zap.” Shiloh held up xir hands again.

  “Zap?” Maureen’s eyes narrowed again. “Right down there in broad daylight?”

  “I didn’t have a choice!” Shiloh protested. “And I don’t think anyone saw. They were kind of, either not there, or, probably, not… alive.”

  “Not alive?” She stopped, breaking off her and Shiloh’s rapid-fire back-and-forth. “Are you telling me the ghost fried actual people?”

  “Just the soldiers.” Shiloh shook xir head, suddenly feeling a wave of… xie wasn’t even sure. Once xie remembered the sight of the bodies in the street, nothing else existed. “SkEye did the rest.”

  Maureen stared, intensity slowly fading from her eyes, replaced by devastated horror. “Bastards.”

  “Yeah,” Shiloh murmured. Xie knew what xie was feeling now. Faint, numb, and more than vaguely sick. “So then—”

  Xie was interrupted by a very fast, firm hug. Maureen’s arms wrapped tight around Shiloh and pulled xir in close. Xie let out a deep, exhausted sigh and rested xir face against xir mother’s shoulder. “You saw this? This happened while—you were right there?”

  Shiloh couldn’t answer, but xie nodded, and Maureen’s embrace tightened in reply. After several seconds of very tight hug, xie thought xie could open xir mouth and say words instead of crying, so xie tried again. “SkEye shot people. Then the ghost blasted them. Then I blasted it.”

  “Sounds like Eye in the Sky got what they deserved for once.” Maureen released Shiloh and held xir at arms’ length, taking another close, careful look. “And you did the right thing.”

  “You forgot something,” Annie cut in, not seeming to think twice about interrupting.

  “Yeah you did,” Chance nodded, looking rattled. “That thing opened a hole right in the barrier. What happens if more attack?”

  “The barrier isn’t the only defense, we’ve got the beacon here.” Maureen nodded up, indicating a higher floor. “Not as big as the ones around Tartarus, but just as powerful. Don’t worry about the ghosts, even if this one sounds a little bigger than most.”

  “No,” Annie said more firmly. “I mean you forgot the most important part. The dragon was talking.”

  “Talking?” Maureen turned her head to quickly zero in on Annie’s face. “Saying what?”

  “It said, ‘Icarus.. The word you need,’” Annie answered slowly. “I know I’ve heard that word before somewhere. It has to be important.”

  “Icarus…” Maureen said, then mouthed the word again. “Well, I know it too. Couldn’t tell you where from, though.” She shook her head, seeming to dismiss one enigma in favor of another. “Did the ghost seem alive? Intelligent? More like a projection? A program?”

  Annie hesitated, looking overwhelmed. “It said more. ‘It’s happened, Parole is burning.’ In… her voice. From the radio.”

  “I’ve heard ghosts make a lot of noises,” Maureen said, stepping toward Annie with the same kind of searching look xie’d given Shiloh a moment ago. “And when they’re not just parroting, a lot of those noises sound like some kind of language. But I’ve never heard one say anything new, like ‘Icarus.’ And I’ve never heard one repeat anything from… that radio station. Because no one is supposed to hear it.”

  “I heard it,” Annie said, still looking anxious. “But not from a dragon. I heard it when it first played.”

  Maureen stared at her with what looked like equal parts suspicion and curiosity. “Who are you?”

  “Anh Minh Le.” She was suddenly so tentative, with none of her usual confidence. “Or Annie. It’s an honor to finally meet you, Dr. Cole.”

  “You’re the messengers from Parole,” Maureen realized, eyes going wide.

  “I am,” Annie said, then turned to face Chance. “He’s not.”

  “No, I lived in Parole ten years ago,” he explained. “But I guess it’s not the kind of place you walk away from. I tried, but I just ended up in a tree.”

  “In a tree?” Maureen looked up at him, as if seeing him individually for the first time. “You’re Shiloh’s brain friends.”

  “Brain…? Sure, I guess.” He shrugged, looking untroubled by the fantastic idea. “Not sure what else to call recurring dreams about a tree and a few old friends.”

  “Gabriel said we had to find each other,” Annie filled in. “And him. He warned me about the collapse so I could make it out of Parole in time, so I knew it wasn’t just dreams. They needed someone to get to you and your project, Dr. Cole, so I volunteered. I thought it was my only chance to find out what was going on.”

  “Well, looks like you were right. When were you going to tell me this?” Maureen turned to Shiloh. “These aren’t just random kids, they’re the ones from the dreams you’ve been telling me about all this time?”

  “Sorry,” Shiloh said, embarrassed. “I kind of forgot … there’s been a lot going on.” Second major understatement of the day.

  “I’ll give you that much,” Maureen said, then turned
back to Annie. “We lost contact with Parole weeks ago, total radio silence, it’s been a nightmare. Then we get through for two seconds and they tell us they’ve got people coming out to meet us. Is that you?”

  “Not people,” Annie said quietly, eyes flicking away. “Just me.”

  “You got my message.” It wasn’t a question.

  “That your project plans are complete, yes ma’am. So I drove here.”

  Maureen’s eyebrows knit together in concern. “You can’t be more than what, seventeen?”

  “Eighteen.” She gave Shiloh a sidelong glance that almost looked like plea for help.

  “Radio Angel said someone else was coming. Ash Price. Is he meeting us later?”

  “I…” Annie stuck her hands in her pockets and looked down at the floor between her shoes. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again.

  “You escaped from Parole?” Maureen questioned further. “And traveled three-thousand miles to pick up my project? Alone?”

  “I wasn’t alone. It’s a long story.” The color was draining from Annie’s face. Her hands, still in her pockets, curled into fists. When she spoke, her voice was higher than usual, fainter. “Some of us got out in time, though. Not all of us. We…” She paused, licked lips that were suddenly dry, and she blinked several times. She trailed off, staring—but not at Maureen. Past her. As if she’d forgotten any of them were there.

  “Ash isn’t coming, is he?” Maureen asked quietly.

  “No. He’s not.” She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “They didn’t send me alone, they wouldn’t do that. Ash said you’d help us and if we could just get to Meridian we’d be safe, then we could go home. But…”

  “When?” Maureen asked quietly.

  “Yester—yesterday. My shields burnt out. Eye in the Sky. Snipers.” Annie swallowed. She took one hand out of her pocket and reached up to hold the shark tooth hanging around her neck. It seemed to help calm her down a little. “But I’m here now. I made it.”

  “Yes, you did.” Maureen took in a breath and let it out, looking shaken and awed. “We knew the Parole collapse was coming. This is exactly what we planned for. You did the right thing coming to me.”