Silver tested our added strength and yanked down to see if we could wrestle the van to the ground. First the front wheels and then the rear ones touched down and we flexed the foreign shield like a light field, imagining it being pinned to the earth with thousand pound nails through the vehicle’s tires.
As soon as the van was level its surprisingly undamaged side door slide back and five wind-whipped men stumbled in our direction with Gerome in the lead. They fell to the ground and covered the back of their heads when the storm proved too strong. Gerome tried to yell over the shifting air currents and motioning with his hands for us to let go. We shook our head no then thought better of it and tossed the van vertical to be sucked in by the omnivorous vortex above.
The person at our back lifted one petite hand from our stomach and shifted to our side. We’d built up some body heat inside whatever this veneer of energy was called. I was starting to think of it as a miniscule manipulated atmosphere. We could breathe in it after all. The ice blue eyes that were on an exact level with our light brown ones belonged to the last person on this planet I would’ve guessed to offer us aid.
Corinne Harris gave a curt nod and we limped forward like unwilling participants in a bizarre three legged race. As we drew even with the prone form of my uncle she bent slowly, carefully keeping contact with our waist and touched Gerome’s bare hand. There was a pulling like a thick drink being sucked through a straw and we felt the strain as the shield extended. Our uncle caught on immediately and rose on his haunches to grab the next man in line who happened to be Smith and then on down the chain of humanity until the last man was connected and the coating of protection stretched thinner and thinner. We moved into a semi-huddle and the strain lessened.
An awkward shuffle step rhythm was achieved as we all clung to one another against the elements and made our way to the damaged doors. We could see through the downpour that someone was holding it cracked about an inch open and the black sliver beckoned in an unofficial welcome sign. When we were almost even with the entrance, the obsidian strip widened to reveal James and Kara in the same combined pushing positions, struggling to open the warped metal wide enough for us all to slip through. Single file we shuffled as fast as we could across the threshold and the door slammed almost on the last guard’s heels.
Corinne released her hold around our waist as if we were coated in acid and rushed to Kevin Smith to check him for injuries. The shield of energy pulled away with its originator, but the feeling wasn’t uncomfortable, just strange. When Corinne was satisfied with Smith’s good health she slapped his wet cheek, grabbed his ears, and crushed his mouth to hers. Everyone just stood in shock until Cora’s voice from the top of the stairs cut through the stunned semi-silence—it couldn’t be completely quiet since the storm still raged.
“How dare you! How dare you consort with an unclean…Outsider.” The councilwoman’s voice was darker than the vortex of death we’d just survived. We’d made the mistake of thinking Corinne was a shadowed extension of her mother’s will and apparently so had Cora. It wasn’t just outrage on her face, it was surprised betrayal.
Corinne pivoted, ignoring that confrontation in favor of another, and pointed a finger my direction even as she clung to Kevin Smith’s side. “I still hate you—don’t think this changes a damn thing.”
For his part the handsome man rubbed his face with a bemused, almost wondering expression, as if the fiery red outline of Corinne’s fingers were a romantic declaration of love. Kevin reached up an arm and fisted his hand at the base of her neck then dipped the short blonde into another kiss lasting longer than anyone present was comfortable with.
Silver said out loud, “Well I didn’t see that coming.”
Fine white powdery dust began to drift from the ceiling and Gerome barked, “Everyone down the stairs! Go, go!”
The mudroom rattled on its cinderblock foundation as if a giant were shaking the ground under our feet through a sifter. Almost like a herd of deer shifting away from a predator, we poured in a stampede down the stairs. James stopped to close the doors with Gerome and one of the other guards, Worley we thought James had said, shoved through a weight bar to shore up the door against the coming destruction. I guessed it was better than nothing. My twin threw facts about wind speed and structural integrity studies conducted at the local university our way until the knowledge blurred together. “I get it, Silver, we’re in deep shit.”
I noticed Agent Chavarria nearby in the crush of humanity before Gerome stood next to us, yelling directions at the crowd, telling everyone to move away from the doors and as far underground as possible. It was going to be a tight squeeze in the area with the mats and not everyone would fit. If you added the compound residents together, you had roughly three hundred bodies down here, plus the twelve extra law enforcement officials. That many people wouldn’t fit in the dojo, even if they willingly crammed themselves together like sardines.
James wedged his way through the milling families, grabbed an empty weight bar from a bench, then hurried over to the doors at the bottom of the stairwell and inserted the metal pole into the door lever bending the other end through the opposite side. Chavarria gasped in amazement and we could feel his eyes boring into us but we refused to turn and give him the attention he wanted. Silver flashed through images of houses demolished all the way down to their water-filled basements but I reminded her that several feet of solid earth was packed above the gym’s ceiling, acting as a buffer.
Gerome walked up to grab our shoulders and pull us into a rough hug that lasted about ten intense seconds before he pulled back and gave us a long considering look filled with deep emotion. His gaze cleared and we could see the mantle of his responsibility settle back in place as he looked around the room at all of the Weavers he considered his to protect.
He had to raise his voice to be heard over the din of voices. “Can you do a quick scan of the crowd?”
In all the chaos we’d forgotten about searching out the Web for anyone influenced by Shiva. Silently we nodded and Gerome motioned to the Lees. Once they were in our little group of four, technically five but whatever, my uncle tried to pitch his voice as low as he could.
Gerome glanced up at the exposed metal support beams over our heads. “Would a higher vantage point help? I don’t think you’ll be able to navigate the masses. You need Kara and James with you just in case.”
I canted our neck to get a better view of the ceiling above and picked a likely spot to hold all three of us right next to an upright beam we could grab if one of us lost our balance. James was breathing in short pants and his hair was plastered to his scalp as were the rest of his clothes. Kara’s dress was torn at the bottom as if she’d had to spread her legs too wide at some point and it was sopping wet. Both of them looked cold and miserable. I held out our hands in entreaty and they didn’t hesitate to accept. I could feel Agent Chavarria’s steady regard on our back but there wasn’t any help for it.
Silver flexed our light field and we disappeared from sight. I concentrated on visualizing us landing on a steel beam; a piece around the upright junction above. If I ‘ported us just right we’d all land on a support and still be able to remain in contact around the center beam like hugging around a slender square tree. The energy coursed through us, increasing our alertness and making the hairs stand up all over our body. Our arms broke out in goose bumps that made us shiver and Kara’s hand constricted in ours as if she were having a small seizure.
When I was certain I had our spot firmly entrenched in the forefront of my mind, Silver started the rapid cyclonic pulsing of energy and I harnessed it to bend us above the crowd. It almost worked but one of Kara’s sandals slipped. She would have fallen if James hadn’t yanked her toward the center beam. Kara tore her hand from ours and embraced the riveted support one armed.
With her eyes still closed, Kara muttered through gritted teeth, “Did I forget to mention I don’t enjoy heights much?”
James released his sister’s ha
nd and placed it securely against the metal beam with a little pat of comfort on the back. His balance was sure and steady as he hopped across to land softly next to us with less effort than an Olympic gymnast. Silver snorted at my admiration of James’ physical prowess. I reined in my emotions to focus on our plan of action.
He cleared his throat quietly and shook some of the wet hair out of his eyes to say, “I have a random question that probably doesn’t matter but I’m curious…how come the twins couldn’t see each other but when you hide us we can see each other?”
As I was thinking about his question I realized we weren’t touching but I could feel the light field still included all of us. When I flexed it like shaking out a parachute in the wind we sensed the ripple across Kara and James even though none of us were in contact any longer. Events were indeed moving fast, we’d just absorbed another talent and mutated it in the same day. The only thing my twin had to say was, “Interesting.”
Silver spoke in her gruff way in answer to James’s question, “Control and skill level.”
“Okay I’ve got another question then…what did you and Corinne do together to pull the van back down?”
This time I answered as Silver mentally communicated she was headed out to search the Web. “We don’t know yet. She bent a stream of energy around us like a light field or a malleable force field and we’ve never heard of that. Did any of you know she could do it?”
Kara was making her awkward white knuckled way around the center support and I scooted sideways to make room as James whispered, “I never saw anything to indicate a new ability in our training sessions. She did catch onto Prana faster than everyone else. Malcolm said besides me, Corinne was one of his best students.”
Just as Kara settled at our side a drift of air currents carried with it the aroma of ozone with undertones of another scent that stirred our memory. Adrenaline pulsed through our bloodstream making our heart rate increase and a cool sweat coat the area between our shoulder blades.
Someone had just teleported into the gym with a light field engaged. I stilled and strained our body’s senses as James picked up on the change in our posture then started to look around for whatever had caused our alarm.
Our hand rose slowly and I placed an index finger against our lips in the universal code for silence, making sure both Lees could see it.
Chapter Eleven: Hide and Sneak
Kara’s eyes widened in query. I unfocused our gaze slightly to scan the cavernous ceiling area to see if we could pick up any clues to our unknown foe’s whereabouts. Something caught our attention next to another support junction. Nestled in the corner of a four way joist someone had wedged a canvas bag. Its dangling handles gave its location away but the color of the material almost blended in. Certainly no one from below would’ve been able to see it. I couldn’t ‘port just in case it gave our presence away, that is unless they’d been up here first and they already knew we were here.
I saw two more supports with bags wedged in them. My elbows went out as if I was a chicken gently flapping its wings to get my companions attention and then I pointed each bag out with an index finger. James made a silent pantomime of an explosion with his long fingers complete with a wordless puckering of lips and puffing of cheeks. I nodded assent and motioned each of us to a different junction.
Kara shook her head in the negative and leaned forward to whisper in our ear, “We need to stick together in case you need the power jump. We don’t know if it’s a bomb or what kind it is if it is. If there’s a detonator and it’s not on a timer they could blow right when we’re investigating. The odds are better if we don’t separate, at least for the first one.”
Instead of answering I shooed her ahead of us on the beam and motioned for quiet again as if she needed a reminder. No innocent bystanders below were looking up and I could see a few of the kids making a game of jumping from treadmill to treadmill as if hot lava were waiting in between. So apparently our enemy’s plan was to just kill us all, men women and children, while we were trapped down here waiting out the storm. The tornado wasn’t manufactured, to the best of our knowledge there weren’t even any alien races with that capability yet, so this just had to be an unlucky confluence of circumstances.
Kara was only wobbly when she looked down so I touched the small of her back before we really got started, and when she turned her head I pointed at her eyes in a horizontal peace gesture then out to our goal across the slender beam we’d have to walk. I was hoping my meaning was clear…don’t look down. She jerked a nod and I tried not to notice her bloodless face.
Silver needed to know what was going on but she also needed to concentrate on finding any compromised Weavers so I made the choice not to tell her what was happening just yet. She could be pissed at me later. James poked himself in the chest and then in front of Kara to let me know he wanted to take the lead. He saw the acquiescence in my expression because he leaped across to land in front of his sister, and we all continued forward like amateur circus performers on a wire with no net. If one of us did descend to the concrete floor about fifteen below there’d be broken bones at the least and death or paralysis at the worst. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to experiment with how fast I could ‘port them out of the air.
Even with James in the lead the progress was slow and careful as I kept an eye on the two of them in case they were to fall while simultaneously keeping our senses strained for any company on the rafters. When we drew even with the canvas bag, James jumped over to an adjacent beam so Kara could shuffle closer then reached out and pulled the drawstring at the top open, gently tugging the edges aside to reveal a timer counting down in bright green squared numbers of impending doom.
In less than fifteen minutes it was going to explode.
I held Kara’s waist and leaned sideways to get a better look. Blue, green and red wires tangled behind the black rectangle of the digital numbers losing seconds. The meat of the device was four cylindrical metal pipes bound together with black plastic zip ties. Gerome’s comment about what had blown the doors closed in the mudroom didn’t match up with the low level explosive device. Yes it was dangerous and absolutely it could cause damage but it lacked sophistication and blast focus. This wasn’t high tech, this was bargain basement destruction.
James motioned for Kara to scoot back and launched himself through the air to land on one foot, swinging a leg out to catch his balance then bringing it back gracefully once steadiness returned. He held his hands out flat as if he were carrying something precariously in his palms and then pantomimed an explosion.
We got his meaning. If we tried to move the primitive bombs they might explode when the contents of the tubes were jostled or if there were a mercury switch installed. Evacuation was the best response but with the storm howling and destroying above, the surface was possibly more dangerous, at least until the omnivorous sky beast passed.
Silver popped back into our head excitedly, bursting our bubble of concentration. “I found two people annnnnd….what the hell is that?” She pinpointed our vision to bring the wires into crisp relief where they were tangled underneath the black rectangle of the timer. “A bomb…a freakin pipe bomb! Suck a duck!”
I filled her in on the smell of ozone we’d scented earlier. She could feel the light field as it flexed around James and Kara without any physical contact which was the only happy news I could provide. Her conclusion on the bombs matched mine—this wasn’t the type of explosive device detonated on the mudroom doors topside.
“If there was a way to keep the blast contained that would be optimal.” She visualized a metal container stout enough to contain the shrapnel and explosive force. “But James is right about movement possibly causing them to go off. I’m not sure how they were even transported up here. Bending is the essence of movement. There’s no way whatever’s in those tubes wouldn’t have agitated enough to react.”
The components could’ve been ‘ported up separately but the how wasn’t really an issue currently. Time
was slipping away as we debated. Kara and James expectantly looked to us for the next move and a plan was forming even as our thought processes combined to tumble hop into a semi-coherent jumble of action. Each avenue was followed through to its conclusion as if we were conducting experiments of life in alternate dimensions and the dual chambers of our minds.
Motioning with our palms out, I let James and Kara know to stay put and then pointed an index finger to our head fluttering fingers. They got my meaning so I closed our eyes and accessed the Web. I felt my twin split off and zing through the mindscape she knew so well to contact Malcolm. It was a drawback for the Lees not to be in the on the planning from the get-go, but if the unknown Axsian happened to attack us all while were otherwise occupied it could be disastrous.
Maggie’s light was a comforting orange pulse like the warmth of a banked fire in the hearth and her attachment to us slowly oozed anxiety. Gerome’s presence, on the other hand, was chillingly bright and brilliant, illuminating the darkness of our environment. The shimmering light show blooming across his surface looked akin to sun flares rather than his normal variegated pinpoints of light. I gave our aunt and uncle a tug through our attachments and settled to wait.
Gerome’s powerful voice answered our hail in moments. “Yes, Cass?”
I secretly found it satisfying that my uncle could differentiate between myself and Silver so quickly, even in the physical world, but especially here where each of us was stripped of vanity and bared to those we loved. In a compact stream of memory I shared about the bombs we’d found in the rafters and the timers giving us a finite amount of time. “Do you think if the storm has passed we can get everyone to ground level?”
VECTOR (The Weaver Series Book 3) Page 18
