Prophet: Bridge & Sword

by JC Andrijeski

  I mean, she was a genius, but she was also sixteen years old.

  When I gave Vikram a semi-serious warning to make sure Jaden and the others kept their mitts off Dante, the East Indian’s expression turned fierce. Fierce enough that I knew something must have come up around that already. I hadn’t probed him for details, so I had no idea if it had anything to do with Jaden, but I doubted it.

  No way Jaden would be that sleazy––or that stupid.

  If he did pull something, even if it wasn’t that exactly, Revik would definitely overreact. I’d already been warned to keep the two of them apart––something apparently went down between them while I’d been out of it.

  Something more, that is, since they’d already hated each other.

  I’d heard Jaden and Tina broke up, which didn’t help.

  I don’t know why Jon felt the need to tell me that, but instead of making me feel validated, given how Jaden hooked up with her by cheating on me, the thought of my ex- being single made me uncomfortable. It seemed to bug Jon, too, which is probably why he told me.

  Anyway, I knew Vikram and the others would keep an eye on her––Dante, that is.

  If any of those guys were stupid enough to go after jailbait, they’d have to answer to more than just Vikram, or even Revik. Dante had been more or less adopted by every comp-nerd on the seer tech team, in addition to a good number of the more dangerous among the ex-Rebels. Not only that, a hell of a lot of seers got sexually abused when they were underage, and mostly by male humans. It was a sensitive point for a lot of them.

  And yeah, Dante was family.

  Thinking about all this, I only half-watched the feeds in front of me.

  I had it tuned to an old Russian news station, probably our most-watched of all the remaining feed channels. They reported news most human feeds wouldn’t cover.

  That same feed, called Drahk, provided the only reliable source of global news left in the world––at least for those who wanted to hear it.

  It was reliable from our perspective, anyway, in that it didn’t come from one of Shadow’s mouthpieces, nor did it suffer from the same issues of ideological bias, propaganda, or religious nuttiness as some of the other feeds. Moreover, it was the only remaining feed with contacts in all or most of the established quarantine cities, including Shadow cities and independents. They even had someone in New York.

  Drahk meant “Truth” in Old Prexci, as in higher truth, above the level of base fact.

  The infamous black market feed, Rynak, still existed, too, but could only be accessed via private channels. Balidor said they hadn’t managed to hack that yet, but Dante recently turned it into a pet project-slash-personal challenge, for reasons Balidor didn’t even attempt to explain. Regardless, he and Vik seemed confident we’d have access to it soon.

  I suspected they were right.

  I definitely got the sense Dante didn’t like to lose.

  I was still half-watching Drahk as they reported on deteriorating conditions in China, trying to think through what I wanted to say at the meeting that afternoon on Dubai…

  …when the wall monitor went dark.

  20

  IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR

  I LAY THERE, unmoving at first. With the power out, the organic walls were dead. I tugged briefly on my wrist, but the cuff remained in its previous configuration. It hit me that Revik might not be able to release me long distance without the power––

  Lily.

  I sat up sharply, breathing harder.

  I yanked on my wrist chained to the wall. I yanked harder when it didn’t budge, using my light until the mechanism shocked me and I let out an angry cry. I yanked it again, trying the telekinesis that time, but it only shocked me harder.

  It figured the whole damned room would be out but the organic lock would hold.

  After cursing a blue streak and yanking until my wrist hurt, I forced myself to sit there, to breathe. My heart hammered in my chest, but I made myself think, to be logical. Revik. Revik was outside––presumably where he could actually do something. Even if this was a breach, or some kind of attack, he’d find a way to get to me.

  He’d come to me and Lily first.

  He would come here, or he’d send someone.

  Twisting towards the nightstand I could no longer see, I felt over the top for the headset. My fingers had just closed around it––

  When a bright light jerked my eyes to the center of the room.

  Blinding, blue-white light shone like a sun just past the foot of the bed, illuminating the whole room, illuminating the bed, my bare legs, my feet, my hand where I held it up to protect my eyes.

  A dark shape began to form in its center.

  I squinted to see it, still holding up the hand gripping Revik’s earpiece. I was still trying to make sense of the morphing outline, when the shape snapped into three-dimensional focus.

  Terian stood in the middle of the tank cell.

  Light continued to shine on him from that unseen source, bathing him and the room in a softer blue-white glow. He blinked at me, and I pressed my back to the wall, staring. Something about the sheer familiarity of him stuttered my mind to a halt.

  He wore the first body of his I’d ever encountered, all the way back at the Lucky Cat diner in San Francisco. Auburn hair hung to his shoulders––long, fashionably-messy, streaked with black and strawberry blonde strands. It framed high cheekbones, full lips, a sharp nose, tiger-like amber eyes, a shockingly handsome face.

  I blinked. The image didn’t waver.

  He smiled, his full lips quirking higher on one side.

  “Hello, Alyson,” he said.

  I don’t know what kind of look had come to my face, but he smiled wider.

  “Do not concern yourself, my dear. I would simply like to talk to you. I won’t harm you. Promise. I could not, in any case… for I am not really here.”

  “How the fuck did you get in here?”

  He held up his hands.

  “It is a simple trick of electronics, sister. A message. Nothing dangerous. Nothing up my sleeve.” He tugged back the individual cuffs of an iridescent green shirt, as if to demonstrate. The shirt contrasted sharply with the red of his hair, his pale skin and those sharp, amber-yellow eyes. “I bring only myself, my mind, and my affectionate thoughts towards you and your mate. I am not here to represent Shadow in any capacity. He has no idea where I am right now––”

  “Bullshit,” I cut in, cold. “What do you want, Terry?”

  By then I knew I was looking at a hologram. Even knowing that much, the realism was disturbing. I saw zero visual cues as to its lack of genuine physicality, but I knew it had to be a hologram, or some other kind of virtual program.

  As he said, he wasn’t really there.

  “I feel your light,” I observed, cold. “How do I feel your light, Terry?”

  The fact that he’d somehow hacked our electronic security system was bad news on his own. That he’d found a way to breach the tank construct was far, far worse news.

  “Sister, dear sister… do not worry about this!” He raised his palms. “I am not in your construct. Not in the way you fear. Not in the really real sense. As I said, this is an electronic communique only. And even if I was inside your very impressive Adhipan construct, this would be a detail only, as I would never harm either of you.”

  I stared at him incredulously.

  How he could possibly expect me to believe that was beyond my mind’s ability to process. Even at the best of times, Terian had never been particularly reliable. After he helped Cass to kidnap me, kidnap our child, nearly kill Revik and the rest of our team in New York––I saw no reason to believe anything he said ever again.

  I was still staring at his face when his smile widened.

  His eyes shifted down my body, telling me––as if I needed telling––that, real or not, this transmission was definitely two-way.

  “Gods,” he murmured. “I must say, it will be incredibly distracting if you
insist on talking to me like this, Alyson dearest. I never let myself believe for a second that I might catch you in such a delicate position… not with Revi’ out of the room.” His amber eyes shifted up, staring at my wrist was cuffed to the wall. “Gaos. Revi’ did this, did he not? Of course he did. Did he hurt you, sister? Or was that for later? I know how he likes to hurt when he fucks…”

  My jaw hardened.

  “Were you masturbating, waiting for him? If so, I’m happy to wait.” He stared down at me. The pain that came off him that time felt less affected. “I hate the thought that I might have interrupted you before you’d satisfied yourself. Just spread your legs a little wider, if you would, sister. I would be most grateful.”

  Grabbing hold of the bed sheet, I jerked it roughly over my body, turning slightly to wrap it tighter around me. Once I had myself covered, I raised the headset I still clutched, fitting it awkwardly over the opposite ear I usually wore it in.

  “Alyson… dear heart! Wait! Wait!” Terian let out an involuntary-sounding laugh, one that came out almost friendly. “I am sorry! But gaos, did you expect me to not react to seeing you lying here, naked and cuffed to the wall? Knowing Revi’ put you there for his own, dirty little amusement? I am only seer, after all…”

  Ignoring him, I finished attaching the link to my ear.

  Just then, the breach alarm went off.

  It was deafening in the small space. Wincing, I covered one ear with my un-cuffed hand, sending a command to activate the link, then a second one to ping Balidor. My mind churned, turning over how he could have gotten in, hoping I would hear ‘Dor if he picked up, when suddenly, as if another switch got flicked––

  The alarm shut off.

  In the same instant, Balidor’s voice exploded into my ear.

  “Alyson!” he said. “Alyson! Gods! Are you inside?”

  I switched to sub-vocals, not bothering with a greeting.

  “Where’s Lily?”

  Bewilderment touched Balidor’s voice. “Lily? Lily’s fine, Alyson––”

  “Put someone in there with her… move her if you have to. I don’t think they’ve cracked the construct totally yet, even in this compartment, but check––”

  “We are checking it. Gods damn it, Allie! What is happening?”

  “Terian.” I frowned at the hologram in front of me. “Some kind of electronic signal. Possibly aleimic as well, although he denies it. If it’s an illusion, it’s a damned sophisticated one. He’s definitely hacked the room’s organics. Signal’s two-way, high bandwidth, at least the illusion of an aleimic field. He’s alone. Claims he’s not here for Shadow, that he just wants to talk to me. He says he knew Revik wasn’t in the room, so they’ve likely got access to surveillance.”

  “Gaos. Can you get out of there?” Balidor said.

  Ruefully, I glanced at my chained wrist before returning my eyes to the image of Terian.

  “Not at the moment, no,” I said.

  Terian chuckled, but I focused on Balidor’s voice.

  “Have you tried bypassing the lock?” the Adhipan leader said. “You should be able to override it, if you simply––”

  “I can’t do that right now, ‘Dor,” I said, feeling my jaw harden as I glanced at my cuffed wrist a second time. “Look. Don’t worry about me, okay? I’m not in any immediate danger. Find the hack. Get Dante on it.” My mouth hardened. “And get my fucking daughter out of harm’s way. I want an infiltration pair in there with her, minimum. Guards on her door and surveillance on her quadrant. Your people, ‘Dor. No one else. Does Revik know?”

  “Not yet, no, but––”

  “Good. Don’t tell him until you have to. If he comes down here, tell him to keep an eye on our daughter. She’s top priority… I mean that! I’m making it an order. Including for Revik.”

  I could practically feel Balidor’s frustration through the link.

  “Allie, Lily is fine!” he burst out. “It is you we are worried about! We have your daughter. Chinja, Yumi, Tarsi and Declan are with her right this minute. We have access to every tank compartment but yours. Where is your husband?”

  “How the hell would I know that?” I said, exasperated. “I’m not in the construct, remember? Can’t you feel him out there?”

  “No.”

  Biting my lip, I shrugged with one hand, not taking my eyes off Terian, who had folded his arms and now appeared to be waiting for me to finish speaking to Balidor. He all but tapped his virtual foot as he watched me look at him.

  “Well, I can’t help you with that,” I said. “I’m going to talk to him now,” I added. “…Terian. I might as well find out what he wants.”

  “What? No! Alyson, no! I insist you not engage with––”

  Unhooking the headset from my ear, I lay it on the mattress, keeping the channel open so the others would have a record of everything that was said. Since Balidor assumed I had access to the door, Terian and his pals must have cut the room’s surveillance channels.

  I could still hear a whisper of Balidor shouting through the link where it lay next to my thigh.

  “All right,” I said to Terian. “Talk.”

  The virtual Terian rocked on his heels, arms folded, grinning wider.

  “Poor brother Balidor.” He shook his head, clicking ruefully. “He really doesn’t like being cut out of family reunions, does he?” At my flat look, he grinned wider. “Thank you, Alyson, for speaking to me. I know my words mean little to you now, but I vow to you, sister, I mean no harm to you or your mate. I certainly mean no harm to little Kami, or to––”

  “Kami?” I stared at him coldly, rage filling my light. “If you’re referring to my daughter, Terry, I’d advise you to keep your damned mouth shut––”

  “Alyson!” He held up his hands, his voice submissive. “Calm! Calm! I beg you! I will not speak of her again. I will not. It was an error to mention her, I see that. I am sorry, so very sorry. Truly.”

  Taking a breath when I didn’t speak, he continued in that softer voice.

  “Esteemed Bridge, I knew Revi’ could not hear me on this. Not after everything that happened.” Taking a breath, he said, “Can you try, Alyson? Can you try to hear me? It is very important. A matter of life and death… and not only mine.”

  I stared at him, fighting back anger, coupled with a bizarre desire to laugh. At least Terian’s self-interest was never far from the surface.

  Even so, doubt flickered over my light as I studied his eyes.

  Was I looking at Terian? Or Feigran?

  Revik seemed to think Shadow killed Feigran. According to him, Shadow broke Feigran’s mind into a few dozen fragments, just like Galaith had done all those years ago, turning Feigran back into the far more deadly Terian.

  Looking at him now, I wondered.

  Whoever he was, Terian or Feigran, he stepped closer to the end of the bed, making a peace gesture in the air. “Good, good.” He nodded, smiling. “Thank you, Esteemed Bridge. Thank you, beautiful, beautiful sister––”

  “Don’t thank me,” I said. “Just talk.”

  Hesitating, he looked over my body, lips pursed, as if thinking.

  When the pause continued, I folded my arms, feeling my patience ebbing.

  “Are you sure you’re not here to distract me, Terry? Distract my team?” I sharpened my voice, saying it as much for Balidor as for Terian. “Are you here to keep me and my people occupied while your boss aims missiles at us? Is there a boarding party on its way, Terry?”

  “No, no! I planned this, sister. I planned it! He does not know!”

  “Bullshit. What are you really doing here? What do you want?”

  “I thought we should talk, sister.” He met my gaze, smiling, but his eyes remained knowing, almost predatory. “…Brother to sister. Prophet to prophet. I need your help.”

  Wrapping my free arm tighter around the sheet, I frowned at him.

  When he didn’t go on, I clicked at him. “With what? What do you need my help with?”

 
; He tilted his head though, his amber eyes focused on mine.

  Instead of answering my question, he posed a different one.

  “Why do you think he waited? Revi’?” Those tiger-like eyes narrowed, studying mine. “I don’t mean in the times after. I mean the first time. When you were on that ship. Before that, in Vancouver. In Seattle. He could have had you for weeks before I took him. You could have been full bond mates, from the very beginning.”

  He paused, tilting his head.

  “Why did he wait? Was it fear? Fear of death, perhaps?” His full lips pursed in thought, even as his eyes remained riveted to mine. “…Fear of becoming what he used to be? Or was it something else? Some other kind of fear?” He frowned, still thinking. “We know it wasn’t a lack of desire, yes? We know it wasn’t that, it couldn’t be that… not with him obsessed with fucking you, masturbating in the shower, masturbating whenever he was away from you, dreaming about sex. He left your bed, night after night, to keep himself from touching you. So we know it wasn’t a lack of wanting, yes?”

  I frowned, staring at him.

  Even so, his words brought up an unwelcome ripple of pain, making me wince.

  “It fascinated me, you know, even at the time,” he added, not seeming to notice my pain, or the expression on my face. “I didn’t dream back then. I didn’t dream at all. I never dreamed. So to me it was a puzzle. So unlike Revi’, to exercise restraint. So unlike him, to deny himself something he wanted so badly. He never did that. Never. Only with you.”

  I wrapped my arm around myself tighter, still frowning.

  I couldn’t decide if I was more annoyed or confused.

  “Terry, what are you––”

  “You’ll see Elephant soon,” he cut in, again apropos of nothing. “Maybe she knows. Maybe she can tell you why. She knows things. More than me. More than you.”

  I blinked, but that time I couldn’t fully hide my interest.

  “Elephant? You mean Elephant from the Elaerian List?” At his nod, I sat up, studying his face with a frown. “We’ll see her soon? Are you sure?”