“That explains why that ground-car appeared so suddenly,” Jackson said thoughtfully. “It also explains the speed. I would think the Blind Sight uses massive amounts of power. Unplugging it probably shot a boost of energy to the vehicle.”
“Is this helpful to you?” she asked.
“Yes, I think it’s critically helpful,” Jackson said. “Clark, get in and start it up, would you?”
Clark nodded and walked around the other side of the ground-car, opened the door and slid into the driver’s seat. He powered it up, and they all watched as the electronics panel booted up.
“Okay, let’s try this,” Jackson said. He knelt down where Hope had been and retrieved the cable, then plugged it into the power outlet. The ground-car disappeared among a chorus of gasps.
Jackson pulled the plug and the ground-car appeared again.
“Why would they do this?” Hope wondered. “Why not turn the unit off and on?”
“These things are set to self-destruct if they are not used in a very specific way. My guess is that the driver had a difficult time remembering the correct sequence, so he just used the power cable to turn it off and on instead. Which is a great boon for us. The chances of us finding the correct sequence for powering this thing up are very slim. Now it’s not an issue, thanks to you, Hope.”
“Does this mean you’ll be able to find the Brethren’s main compound now?” she asked.
“It means we are very close to it,” Jackson said. “According to the information we received from the Katres this morning, there is something called a ‘decoder’ that allows the Blind Sight to be seen through. The problem is, if we start pushing buttons in an attempt to find a decoder, we will certainly set off a self-destruct.”
“Oh,” Hope said, crestfallen.
“Don’t worry,” Jackson said. “Now that we have a working system, we can analyze its energy field. I have no doubt that it will be a unique signature. Once we find it, we will be able to use it to locate other matching energy fields.”
“Excellent,” Hope said with relief.
“You have helped us immensely,” the Director said as he joined them. “I would not ask you to do anything more than what you have already done for the information you have requested. This has been the most important break-thru we’ve had so far. However, knowing where the Xanti home world is would be critically important to all of us in the Thousand Worlds.”
“I’ll do my best to find it,” Hope said.
“Thank you,” the Director said. “Now, if you like, come on over here and I’ll tell you what you want to know about Harlan.”
The Director led Hope to a far corner of the room were several chairs were situated. Hope was unaccountably glad when Jackson, Clark and Rob joined them. “We would hear this as well, if you do not mind,” Jackson said.
“Not at all,” Hope said.
The Director waved them to take chairs and he paused a moment to consider where to begin his story. At the beginning, he decided.
“A couple of years ago, Ellicia’s sister, Lariah, was abducted by a crime boss by the name of Stephan Loggia,” he began. “It was a case of mistaken identity. She was taken from Ellicia’s home, and tortured in an attempt to force her to perform Ellicia’s psychic ability for them. She never told them that she was not who they thought.
“Ellicia was able to track Lariah, and we rescued her, but did not capture Loggia. Lariah was put in a healing tank in a secret location, but Loggia continued to try to reacquire her from the hospital. I realized we had a spy in our organization. I removed Lariah from the hospital and sent her off world to safety. She went to Jasan, and there she remains.
“Later, we identified a traitor in our organization based on the electronic files we confiscated from Loggia’s base of operations. It was a woman who worked in data retrieval who had sent Ellicia’s address, physical description and other information to Loggia. Oddly, the description she sent matched Lariah, not Ellicia, but we were never able to determine why that was. The woman told us that was the description she received, so it was what she sent. She had never personally seen either of the Daniels sisters.
“Ellicia was instrumental in Loggia’s capture after he murdered the Queen of Marrazo. Shortly afterward, the attacks on Ellicia began. Some attacks were clearly attempts to kill her. Others seemed more intent on capturing her. Two of her team members were killed in these attacks, and one was seriously injured. Which brings us to Harlan.
“After the death of one of Ellicia’s team members, Harlan volunteered to join her team. Because Ellicia’s talent required her to travel to the locations that items were stolen from quite often, it was critical that she have a team to protect her.
Harlan was determined to not only protect Ellicia, but also to get to the bottom of the attacks on her. Since Loggia’s arrest, and subsequent death, we had a rash of new crime lords vying to take his place, so it was a toss up as to who was after Ellicia, and why.
“Harlan pulled all of Ellicia’s case files going back a couple of years and spent all of his free time poring over them. He noticed that several crimes had been committed in very remote and unusual areas. A small museum in Florida, a personal collection n Brazil, an antiquities display in Ireland. None of the items stolen were big money items, but Ellicia had to travel to those places to find a connecting object in order to track the stolen items. Harlan speculated that these strange thefts were actually ruses, and that there were people waiting and watching for Ellicia to show up so that they could identify her, and target her.
“The next time a location theft occurred, we sent doubles in, while Harlan and a team of operatives watched for anyone who seemed to be watching for Ellicia. The hunters became the hunted, if you will. Harlan’s hunch turned out to be correct. They tracked one particular pair of men back to Virginia, as they followed the false Ellicia and her team back.
“We were still trying to decide how to use the information we had uncovered so far when Harlan came up with some new information. He refused to reveal his source, but told us that he had learned of an upcoming plan for a theft from a military arms manufacturer, and a meeting between three of the crime bosses to divvy up the goods a couple of days after the theft. He knew when and where the meeting was to be held. When the arms shipment was stolen as planned, we knew his information was correct.
“Three crime bosses were arrested that day, one of whom turned out to be the son of Stephan Loggia. He blamed Ellicia for his father’s capture and death, and he freely admitted that he was the one trying to kill her. He was nineteen years old.
“We learned enough from those three crime bosses to identify and capture four others. Before long, we had them all incarcerated, crime rates dropped significantly, and the attacks on Ellicia stopped.
“But, we made a fatal mistake,” the Director said, his voice dropping almost to a whisper. “We underestimated Junior Loggia. Because he was so young, he was sent to a criminal rehab center rather than a prison planet. No one realized that Junior was using his father’s contacts. He had more power than any of them, yet he was treated like a rookie.
“He put out a hit on Ellicia, from the rehab center, with a hefty bonus for any other Agents that could be taken down with her. On the day of Harlan and Ellicia’s engagement party, the caterers they’d hired opened fire on the guests, and on Harlan and Ellicia. Harlan was able to save Ellicia’s life, but not his own. He and 14 other Agents were killed that day. Seven others were wounded so severely that they will never work again. Three were close to death, but eventually survived. Ellicia was one of those three.
“By the time she was removed from the healing tank a few months after the attack, she was six months pregnant, and learned for the first time that Harlan had not survived. It was a very difficult time for her, and the doctors feared she would lose the babies.
“She refused to return to her apartment for any reason. She didn’t want anything from it, not even her clothing. She stayed with me for several weeks whil
e she remodeled the home she and her sister had grown up in. Just over a month ago she moved into it, and began working again. Her first assignment was to interview the women who had come back from Jasan, and she immediately discovered that all of them had their minds altered. Then she went to your apartment, with the Bearens, and the rest you know.”
“What about those who attacked the party?” Jackson asked.
The Director’s mouth stretched into the most predatory smile Hope had ever seen. “It was a surprise attack, and our Agents were caught off guard,” he said. “But nevertheless, in spite of the heavy casualties, we won that battle.”
“And Loggia?” Hope asked quietly.
“He was killed by one of his fellow inmates,” the Director said blandly. “Most unfortunate.”
Hope nodded. The man was dead. She neither wanted, nor needed further information.
“Thank you, Director,” she said. “I appreciate you telling me this.” She smiled. “Harlan did what Harlan believed to be right, and he died doing what he believed to be right. I would not wish otherwise for him.”
“The same is true of Ellicia,” the Director said. “I would give anything to have her back, to have both of them back. But at the same time, I will not take away from her by denying the necessity of what she was doing, or why she was doing it.”
“Did you ever discover why Princess Lariah’s description was sent to Stephan Loggia rather than Ellicia’s?” Jackson asked. “I find that troubling.”
The Director shook his head. “No, not yet,” he replied. “Nor have we been able to determine who it was that was trying to kidnap Ellicia rather than kill her. There were two clear attempts to abduct her, and both times it was clear that they could have killed her, but didn’t.”
“The Brethren are very big on kidnapping,” Hope pointed out. “Is there a chance they were trying to get her?”
“Perhaps, but why would they?” the Director asked.
“We know for a fact that Lariah is an Arima,” Jackson said. “Perhaps it was believed that Ellicia was a berezi.”
The Director frowned. “When I return to the Directorate I will look into that further,” he said. “Right now though, if you don’t mind, Hope, would you take a stab at the Xanti home world?”
“Gladly,” Hope replied. She was happy to know the whole truth surrounding Harlan’s death, but she was also relieved to have something to take her mind off of it now.
Jackson went to the far side of the room where a number of objects were spread out on a large table. He selected something and brought it back to where Hope now stood at the counter, and set it down.
“That, we believe, is the main processing unit,” he said. “You may pick it up if you wish.”
Hope hesitated. From everything she had ever heard or read, the Xanti were evil. She didn’t really want to touch evil, but that’s what had to be done. She could not read the object without touching it.
She picked up the object, a small black square with rounded corners, placed it in the palm of her hand, and closed her eyes. A few moments later her eyes flew open and she dropped the object to the table, stepped back and began scrubbing her hands on her jeans.
““Ugh,” she said, shuddering with revulsion. “That’s just...gross.”
“What?” Jackson asked.
“Spiders built this thing. Did you know that the Xanti are spiders?”
“Yes, we know,” Jackson replied. “I’m sorry, we didn’t think to warn you of that.”
“That’s all right,” Hope said. “I would have been even more nervous about trying it if I’d known. And I would have still been grossed out by it.”
“Do you know where their home world is?” the Director asked.
“Yes, in a way,” Hope replied. They all stared at her.
“I’m an artist, not a scientist. I don’t have a star map in my head,” she explained. “But if you can show me one, and mark our current location on it for me, I can point to it.”
“Good enough,” the Director said. “I will make arrangements with the Commander for us to use the base GalactoGraph tomorrow afternoon, if that is acceptable to you? I would like to do it sooner, but I’m afraid I have another meeting to attend in about an hour, and a full morning tomorrow as well.”
“That’s fine with me,” Hope replied.
“Don’t tell anyone about this, Hope,” the Director cautioned. “It could be very dangerous knowledge.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything,” Hope promised.
Chapter 53
Jasan, Berria Outskirts, Council Complex
Mara Winicke gazed on the remains of what had once been her baby brother. Not that he looked anything remotely like the baby he had once been. By the time he was twelve years old, when Mara had been sent to Jasan, he’d looked perhaps half human. Mara had only seen this version of William a handful of times on a vid screen. Even Stalnek had not looked half as alien as William had become.
“This is your brother, is it not?” Hamat asked her. “William?”
Mara swallowed hard and nodded. She couldn’t really decide how she felt about the sight of the beast encased in glass before her. On the one hand, she knew that it was William, and she had once cared for the little boy he had been. On the other hand, this looked nothing like that little boy. She finally decided that she didn’t really feel any connection to the remains. It was simply the morbid sight of its head lying separate from its body that she found disturbing.
“Yes, that’s William,” she said, forcing herself to speak normally.
“And William is Brethren?” Hamat asked.
“Yes,” Mara replied. She’d seen enough so she turned away from the glass case and found herself staring at what appeared to be a very beautiful man. A very beautiful, immobile man. The figure was standing, but it was not moving. It wasn’t even breathing as far as she could tell.
“What is that?” she asked curiously.
“That is a Xanti,” Hamat replied. “You do not recognize it?”
“No, why should I?” Mara asked. “And why do you call him an it?”
Hamat stepped in front of the tall, motionless man for a moment, then stepped back. Mara was shocked to find herself staring into the thing’s hollow chest. She moved forward and raised herself up on her toes so that she could get a better look inside. There were buttons and switches and levers all over, along with some incomprehensible writing on the back.
“Strange,” Mara said, stepping back from the thing. She wondered what exactly went inside the thing and controlled it. Whatever it was, it wasn’t very big.
“If you are finished, our time is up,”
As Hamat led Mara from the viewing room, retracing their steps back out of the council building, she wondered if she had made a mistake in identifying William.
Well, she thought. It was too late to worry about it now. Besides, what could happen? The only being she was truly afraid of was Stalnek, and he was very far away. Soon, she was going to have a new identity, and a new world to live on. He would never find her. No, there was no reason to worry, she decided.
Chapter 54
Earth, Phoenix II
Hope left the lab, wanting a little time to herself to process everything that the Director had told her about Harlan. So much had happened in such a short space of time that she was still having a difficult time sorting through it all. She realized that she was walking hunched over again, as though in pain, and reminded herself to stand up straight. As she lifted her chin, she spotted something on the grass beside the narrow road. It was difficult to see as the sun was beginning to set, but she got a bad feeling in her stomach as she approached the object. Even when she was standing right above it she was uncertain what it was, so she knelt down and reached out with one hand to touch it.
***
“How is Hope doing, really?” the Director asked after Hope left.
“It’s difficult to say,” Jackson replied. “As far as we can tell, she has not yet al
lowed herself to grieve for Harlan. She seems determined to control her feelings by holding them inside of herself.”
“That’s not good,” the Director said. “I understand the need to be strong in the face of adversity, but it’s time for her to allow herself to feel.”
“I think there is too much for her to feel,” Rob said quietly. “Grief, fear, anger, worry, horror, even joy for the boys. It’s overwhelming, so she keeps avoiding it.”
The Director nodded and opened his mouth to speak when he noticed that all three of the Bearens had suddenly gone still, their eyes taking on an eerie glow.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Excuse us,” Jackson said after a long moment. “Hope is in distress, and we must go to her.”
“All right,” the Director said, but the Bearens were gone before the words were fully out of his mouth. He wondered for a moment if he should alert the sentries of a problem, and decided not to. Jackson had said only that Hope was in distress, and they were certainly more than capable of handling anything that might come their way. If they needed help, they would let him know.
***
Jackson raced from the building with Clark and Rob right behind him, Hope’s intense emotional pain guiding him straight to her. Using their bearenca’s speed along with Air magic, it took them only a few seconds to reach her. She was sitting on the side of the road with something in her lap, her head bowed over it, her shoulders shaking with deep, uncontrollable sobs.
Jackson was relieved that she was not any danger, but the sound of her crying nearly broke his heart. They knelt down on the grass with her, forming a small, close circle, and Jackson reached out to touch the soft feathers of the bird she held in her lap. The animal was dead, hit by a car in the fading light. He had never seen a bird that resembled the one in Hope’s lap aside from the tattoo on her wrist. It was an owl, he was certain.
“Excuse me, Sir, is there anything we can do to help?”
Jackson looked up to see the familiar faces of the MPs that guarded the front door of the lab.
The Bearens' Hope: Book Four of the Soul-Linked Saga Page 37
