The Rift Frequency

by Amy S. Foster

  “Okay,” I begin, resting my hands on the back of the chair I had been sitting on. “What if, and I’m just throwing this out there, the Karekins are not necessarily the bad guys?” The thought surprises me as much as it does Levi, who returns my suggestion with nothing more than a blank stare. We stand there for a moment and then, annoyingly, he begins to laugh.

  “Seriously? Have you totally lost it?”

  “Don’t,” I warn. “Don’t do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Be . . . you. Turn into a prick right now. I need you to think. Help me work this out. That guy who’s been tracking us, somehow, he could have shot me in the gladiatorial ring. He could have busted down the door in Marrakech, caught us both unaware and killed us. And that guy, whoever he was, had Karekin tech, but he wasn’t one of them. What if all the fighting we do in Battle Ground against the Karekins is nothing more than a protection detail? What if their beef is with the Roones?”

  “You’re grasping at straws, Ryn. The Karekins are vicious fucks. If they wanted to get to the Roones, why not just make a run for the base in formation? Why make a point to injure and kill as many Citadels as they can?”

  I shrug. “Why not kill the Woon-Kwa? Why not just kill Ezra? They have no way of knowing whether or not he’s a Citadel. We are missing a vital piece of information, and this,” I say, holding up the drive, “could fill that gap. I think we should see what’s on it and then make a decision.”

  “There is a ninety-nine percent chance it’s a trap—you’re aware of that, right?” Levi asks me flatly.

  “Yes. But they’ve got Ezra, and that’s where I’m going. Also, we do have another computer.” I watch as Levi clamps down on his jaw. His head turns away so that I can’t read his face. The wind chimes fall into each other on the porch outside. The music is metal and hollowed-out wood. As beautiful and exotic sounding as it is, it does nothing to fill the expanse of silence between us.

  Finally, Levi speaks. “Just like that, huh? You’re going to go. You don’t have a plan. You don’t even seem to care if I come with you. You’re just going to leave. You’re willing to Rift into a nest of Karekins, for him.”

  “Levi,” I say softly, walking over to where he is standing. “This entire mission has been about Ezra, about saving him. Why are you acting like that’s some kind of surprise twist? I risk my life every day in Battle Ground for strangers, to keep people I don’t even know safe from the monsters that spill out of that Rift. Imagine how far I’m willing to go for someone I love.”

  “All I can imagine right now is that you’re a fucking liar.”

  I take a step back. I’m this close to punching him.

  “I warned you not to be a dick,” I practically growl.

  “Or what? Are we going to throw down in Grandma’s love shack?”

  “Stop it!” I throw my hands in the air. “Just . . . stop. Jesus. Levi, I know it’s complicated, or it’s gotten complicated . . .” I try to reason, but even I’m not sure where I’m going with this.

  “Complicated is a math problem, Ryn. Complicated is trying to figure out how to get out of a shift at work so you can make it to your mom’s birthday dinner. This,” he says, gesturing back and forth in the space between us, “this is a thing that you can’t put down to deprogramming. You can’t love someone and kiss me the way you did. I can hear your heartbeat. I see your face flush.”

  “So . . . what?”

  “So you stop it.”

  I suddenly don’t know what to do. Part of me feels like crying. Again! Part of me feels like throwing up. There is also a not-insignificant part of me that just wants to punch him. Instead, I take a deep, quivering gulp of air.

  “You know what?” I say, “You’re right. I don’t know that much about relationships, practically nothing really, but I do know that you can love someone and be attracted to somebody else. It’s chemistry, biology—it happens.” Levi just looks at me stone-faced. Unconvinced. I continue anyway, because the words allow me not to think about taking action right now—whatever that action might be. “And we compartmentalize. That’s what we do. One minute we’re shooting someone and the next we’re having dinner with our families. We’re different. I mean, besides the supergenes. We can put important things away. We can lock them up so that they can’t be touched by whatever is going on in that moment.” Levi just shakes his head. The anger seems to have drained out of him completely. Now, he just looks tired.

  The problem is, even as the words came out of my mouth, I wasn’t sure if I believed them. Levi definitely doesn’t.

  “I don’t want to kiss anyone else, Ryn. I’m not attracted to anyone else. You are the only person I want. Period. I don’t need to compartmentalize anything, or put feelings away anywhere. I carry them around all the time. I have for a long time. I want to carry them around.”

  And there it is.

  I swallow, gulp, actually. Levi is staring at me. Daring me to answer this. And now I really, really want to punch him, but then, just as quickly I want to hug him for admitting something that makes him so vulnerable.

  “I think maybe you’re confused—” I start to say, trying to calm things down.

  “Oh, no you don’t, Whittaker.” He points his finger at me and raises his voice. “Don’t you dare try to tell me that I don’t feel what I’m feeling. You don’t know how long it’s taken me to feel. Anything. Don’t take this away from me because it’s inconvenient for you.”

  I cover up my face with both hands and then tuck my thumbs under my chin, breathing deeply into my palms. I knew this was coming. For God’s sake, Nascha just warned me that exactly this was coming, but I thought it would be later, when Ezra was safe, and we had time to unpack and dissect these things.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” I say softly. “And I shouldn’t dismiss the feelings you’re having, either.” I gulp again, and bite my lip. I have to say this and I hate it.

  “I’m sorry, but I love him.”

  Levi says nothing.

  “I know it. I know it like I know my own name. I know you want to feel, and I’m happy you’re finally able to open up . . . but I don’t think you should waste your feelings on me.”

  Levi gives me a slow, sad smile and then he walks over to me. He takes both hands and runs them over my hair until they rest on my cheeks. Despite what I just said, I don’t flinch at the intimate gesture, and I think he sees that. “What you’re saying may be true, but it’s not the truth,” he says. “Not completely. Yeah, okay,” he concedes, his thumb grazing beneath my eye as though I’m crying, “you still love Ezra. But you can’t deny that whatever is between us has changed the love you have for him.”

  I look up into Levi’s green eyes. I think back to that night at Flora’s party, when I started to change, to question who I was and what we were doing as Citadels. Levi looked at me that night like he wanted to devour me whole. And maybe I knew there was something going on, but I pretended like there wasn’t because, honestly, he scared me. Not in a physical way, but I was afraid of whatever was at the end of that look. I didn’t want to be consumed by his affection—by anyone’s affection—in that way. And now here we are, and all my fears are both justified and completely wrong—because this is what’s on the other side. Intensity, loyalty, sacrifice. His love is ferocious, but it’s honorable. He deserves my honesty.

  I nod my head, as much as I can with him holding it. “I suppose it has changed things. Yeah. But don’t take that as a victory, Levi. It makes me a cheat and an asshole. I’m being unfaithful to a person who’s risked everything to help our cause. He could have just Rifted home. He didn’t have to steal that stuff from the Roones. He’s not a soldier. He’s just a guy, a really good guy who wanted to help us find answers.” I am desolate. My blood cells are razor blades, slicing my veins. I am cutting myself into pieces. “And look how I’ve repaid that kindness. Look what I’ve done. Look . . .”

  Levi pulls me into his chest. It feels good, and that almost hurts worse.
Because this is ultimately how I know the depth of Levi’s feelings. He is holding me when I am hurting over another man.

  Eventually, I pull away from him. I mentally shake off the pain I’m inflicting on myself. That’s enough. I can’t do this now.

  “We’ll go get him, Ryn. We’ll get him and make sure he’s safe. And if for some reason he isn’t safe, we’ll make the fuckers pay.”

  I look into his eyes—those fierce, vividly green eyes—and nod. I realize my voice is completely back and strong as ever when I say, “Roger that.”

  Chapter 19

  The SenMach computer’s tendrils absorb the information on the Karekin tech, and the screen bursts into binary life. A long series of zeros and ones scroll down the screen for over five minutes. I know then that whatever is happening is not just a simple command execution. If I have to guess, I’d say our QOINS are being rewritten. Each time a new page scrolls down, my heart beats a little faster. I have to stay positive and hope that Levi wasn’t right. We could be changing our ability to Rift on a fundamental level. But if for some reason the tech is sabotaging our system, there is precious little we can do about it now, at least with this computer.

  The screen goes dark, and Levi and I look at each other warily. There is nothing left to do now but go and see. Nascha strings a gorgeous gold necklace around my neck, a pendant with a smooth jet-black crystal topped with a crown of what looks to be tiny amethysts. To Levi she hands a similar crystal in a small wooden box, which Nascha insists he stick in his flak pocket, wanting him to keep it close.

  There is a small audience outside Nascha’s house. They stand tall, majestic, and beautiful, gathered in the shape of a crescent moon, giving us the space for what I assume they know is coming. Nascha sings a blessing over us. Her voice is haunting, somehow both full of hope and melancholy. I don’t have many answers to much of anything and it seems like she has them all, so I really hope this isn’t the last I’ll see of her and her people. Besides, I never figured out how the Woon-Kwa knew we were coming. If they have a way to see into the future, it would be a pretty significant tactical advantage. I just wish that she had given me some kind of prescient clue as to what we are about to face.

  Then again, it could be bad news, and, well, screw that.

  We Rift out of the village, flying through the green expanse into what is most likely the most dangerous situation either of us has been in before. Inside the emerald waterfall of gravity and space, Levi and I find each other’s hands. We clasp them together, needing the feel of skin on skin, clutching on to the hope that we will somehow find a way out of whatever situation we are about to face.

  We keep our hands locked as we walk out of the Rift, but only for a moment. Once our feet touch solid ground we scramble to get our rifles unclipped. Levi is steady. He seems unfazed and not thrown in the slightest by where we are and I feel a little calmer.

  I look around to get my bearings. We have landed in some sort of city center. This city, however, has been ravaged; at least three-quarters of the buildings have been hit by what I assume were bombs. They are empty shells, bricks and concrete falling out of their centers like spilled guts. A lot of the pavement is torn up and shredded. Curiously, in the distance, I see there are work crews. The damages to the city are being repaired. This doesn’t tell me much, though, in terms of whether or not this location was on the winning or losing side of whatever war it suffered through. But it implies that the fighting is over.

  I pull my binoculars out and try to get a better view of the workmen a quarter mile up ahead. There are smaller men on the detail, but I can also see quite clearly, yes:

  Karekins.

  I’m about to say something to Levi when I notice that, up above us, seemingly out of nowhere, hover two helicopter-like machines. They are much sleeker than the ones on our Earth, black and chrome and practically silent (not quite as futuristic as the SenMachs’, though). In less than two seconds, twenty Karekins have leaped from the open doors of the helicopters and landed in front of us with weapons drawn.

  “I know you want to run, Levi, or fight,” I say quickly. “I know it, and so do I. Just remember, we’re kind of here to get caught. So please, please cooperate.” Levi glares at me. He knows what to do. Maybe that little speech was actually to myself.

  “We’re putting our weapons down!” I say in Karekin. Slowly, I bend over and drop my rifle on the pavement, kicking it away from me. I take my knife from my utility belt and throw that down as well. Levi does the same, including his remaining handgun, which reminds me of Ryn Two. I hope to God at this point that she didn’t have to use mine.

  I also hope I’m not going to regret not having that gun right now.

  The Karekins have body armor strikingly similar to ours, though theirs is entirely jet-black and they don’t have any leather around their torsos, knees, or elbows. They certainly don’t have pockets, but they do have belts like we do, to holster weapons and gadgets that would be useful on a mission. These Karekins are as tall as the ones we face back home, between seven and eight feet, though I will say they seem less feral. The Karekins that come through to Battle Ground are all hair, with beards that reach well down to their chests. The Karekins before us have beards as well, but these are much shorter, and their long hair is pulled back and away in multiple braids. Still, it seems like the majority of their faces are covered in hair, which has got to be itchy.

  One of them, perhaps a commanding officer, bends down low in my face. I do not look away. I’m afraid—I’d be a particular kind of stupid not to be afraid—but I’m not about to let this asshole know that. My hands are up in surrender, but if I wanted, I know I could reach up and snap this monster’s neck in less than three seconds. I’d be dead after that, and Levi, too, though, so I restrain myself.

  The Karekin gets inches away from my face and I keep my eyes locked on his. I feel his unnerving exhalations on my cheeks, and I see his teeth are sharply pointed, as if they’ve been filed that way to rip flesh away from bone. As with the Karekins I’m used to, the man’s eyes are tiny slits. I know they can barely see and that they use their other heightened senses to fight. This is why I’m not surprised that he’s this close to me or that he takes a deep inhalation from his wide nostrils. He’s obviously smelling me. And then he speaks.

  “You do not seem so vicious. You are tiny.”

  I’m thrilled that Levi can’t speak this language. If he did, I’m fairly certain this dick would see exactly how vicious we could be. Besides, what this guy thinks doesn’t bother me. Rather, because this Karekin has judged me based on my appearance, I now know he’s not as smart as I am.

  I remain silent, but I do offer just the barest hint of a smile, which I’m not even sure he can see. “You both are coming with us now. And do not try to run. You cannot hope to outrace us.”

  Again, I doubt that, but this is what we want, so I don’t prove him wrong. The Karekins flank us, forming a circle around me and Levi. We begin to march at a pace that most people would find daunting. Obviously we’re fine with it, and the only unfortunate thing about walking like this is that the Karekins are so tall and packed so tightly around us it’s hard to see beyond them. I want to get a better scope of the city, see the extent of the damage, but it’s nearly impossible. Still, I see enough to guess that this must have been, at one point, a thriving metropolis. Little glimpses reveal thoroughly modern architecture. I would say that it is similar to the SenMach city, but there is an oddly retro feel. It reminds me of what people from our Earth’s twentieth century assumed our twenty-first century would look like.

  I can’t believe I’m here. I’ve brought us to Karekin Earth. As noble as my intentions are, I can’t help feeling that I might have just sacrificed Levi’s life for Ezra’s.

  After about ten minutes we halt in front of a large, undamaged building. It is a long white rectangle with probably a hundred steps leading up to the doors. Fifteen-foot-long flags are draped along the front. They are blue with a white oval,
and in the center is a black symbol. Like everything else, I only get a quick look at it, because as soon as I try to see it again we’ve moved past it. I must have seen it wrong. It was only a glimpse after all. Because if that symbol is what I think it is, then everything is about to get a million times more complicated.

  We climb the steps, and I notice the Karekins are careful not to touch us. They herd me and Levi without so much as a single limb even accidentally brushing up against either one of us. I subtly lean toward one, and just as subtly he edges away. It’s impressive. As we walk into the building, I still can’t see much except the floor, which is a marble the color of lapis lazuli. There are a lot of tall windows casting light from outside, and it sounds like there are other people here, but my positioning makes it impossible to confirm.

  We immediately veer left, like a giant school of fish all flittering in the same direction. We stop. We wait. Some of the Karekins break formation and circle back around us, which means I can finally see ahead of me. Unfortunately, we are facing an open elevator door. We are maneuvered inside the large car. I glance at Levi; his eyes narrow just a fraction. We might have had a fighting chance out in the open, but now we are trapped in an elevator with a dozen Karekins. There is no worse position for a Citadel to be in. Levi and I have both fought Karekins back home. We’ve been hurt by them and we’ve watched them kill more than a couple of our fellow soldiers. It’s hard to keep those memories from surfacing. I am itching to kick one of these assholes in the throat and I know Levi is likely feeling the same. I steal another look at him and he is facing forward, not moving, barely even breathing. He’s far from relaxed, but he looks indifferent, not furious. Finally, I think, we are on the same page here.

  I keep thinking about that damned symbol. Shit . . . I feel us drop, and my ears pop. We must be going to a bunker, which would make sense given the condition on the surface. The elevator stops with a shudder and once again we are herded forward. This time, even though we are surrounded by these huge men, there are gaps, and I can see.