Rise (The Ethereal Vision Book 2)

by Liam Donnelly

  He was glaring at the flickering arm in shock, and he reached his own arm back again. He tried once more, slamming his fist forward, but again, the giant appendage flickered and passed through Jane as though she wasn’t there. He snarled, and without much warning, he pulled his left arm back and threw it forward toward the window.

  Jane had anticipated this, and now leaped onto the closest moving platform, jumping through the air. The arm sailed through the space behind her, just missing her ankle. She landed safely on a flat rectangular space that flew up toward the top of the room. As the platform’s trajectory passed the window, she stood eye-to-eye with Lucas for a moment and glared at him with unconcealed rage.

  He took his arms out of the holographic placements and worked on the console once again. Immediately, most of the floating shapes that remained in the room began to rush toward the upper right side, and Jane immediately knew why: He was doing it to protect the remaining projection devices.

  She turned to the left at the one remaining in the other corner there, and with but a glance, she destroyed it. Exploding, it sent a shower of sparks and debris down to the floor below, and they bounced around, glittering embers reflecting on the strange, opaque white surface. The shape she was standing on had thankfully already circled back toward the floor‌—‌apparently its trajectory was preprogrammed‌—‌and Jane was looking down at it when it disappeared. She fell straight through it from a drop of five feet and managed to land safely, kneeling close to the floor.

  She stood up but was too late to avoid what came next as the remaining arm slammed into her back, its finger-like extensions wrapping around her torso. She felt her feet leave the ground. She was lifted higher and higher as the hand crushed more forcefully, wrapping more fully around her upper body. Her ribs ached, and she arched her neck back as she opened her mouth wide, trying to get air, but none would come. The holographic hand had wrapped itself around her too tightly.

  No. Can’t let him win… But I can’t… I can’t… I can’t move…

  She searched for the power, but her psychic will had become nothing more than gentle fingers running over the surface of the arm, looking in vain for a weakness that wasn’t there.

  She gradually closed her eyes as blackness began to take over her vision. Her head lowered. I can’t. I can’t…

  YOU CAN.

  Jane opened her eyes wide at the sound of Max’s voice, which in this new darkness, was like glaring light. The blackness disappeared from her sight, and the room once again came into view around her. She glanced around to find herself sailing through the air, but now the power surged through her. With a new strength, she threw her arms into the air and pushed out from every cell of her body. The grip of the arm loosened just an inch. To her delight, she fell from its grasp by a few inches. She gasped and took in large breaths of wonderful air. Strengthened and enlivened, she pushed out further, focusing tremendously with her mind, her power greatly amplified by the sound of his voice, from wherever it had come.

  She heard a terrible groaning sound as her psychic will bested the device, and the arm opened up around her. She was still in its grasp, but with one final push, the room lit up with a tremendous light as something exploded behind her. The arm became totally transparent and she fell from its grasp, sailing through the air toward the surface.

  She landed on the floor, rolled over, and came to rest on her side, reaching for her injured ribs but grinning with sheer delight. There were sparks still falling from the device in the top corner of the room that had broken under the sheer pressure of her psychokinetic power. She found herself laughing then.

  She turned upward and saw Lucas staring down at her. Up above him and to the left, there were only a few more shapes now, and they seemed to be moving erratically. She pushed herself off the ground and, reaching out, she felt for them with her thoughts. Only a few of them were still solid. One was a small rectangular platform about six square feet in size. She seized it with her mind, and with incredible will, she drew it away from the top section of the room and moved it down toward her. She brought it right to her feet, jumped on it, and kept its momentum moving up toward the left of the room.

  She watched the expression of terror spread across Lucas’s face as he realized what she was doing. As she focused her will, a crack appeared in the window in front of him. He took a step back just as she pushed at it and shattered it completely. The glass exploded forward toward him, and he held up his arm to shield himself. She raised the platform up toward the small control room, and when there were only five feet of space remaining between her and the edge, she jumped through the broken window straight at him.

  He reeled backward as she threw her body weight against him, knocking him to the floor. There were only ten feet of space behind them in the small room, and they both fell there now. Jane was on her feet first, and she readied herself, having planned what she was going to do in advance. As Lucas recovered and stood up, she balled her right fist, swung it at him, and hit him square on the cheek. He fell to the floor and did not get up again.

  Immediately, she winced and leaned over, grasping her ribcage. The punch had been worth it, but she was paying for it now with serious pain. Finally, she took a deep breath, and then they came in gasps. She could feel the blood pulsing through her veins‌—‌thump-thump-thump‌—‌and she stood there for a moment merely staring down at Lucas. She was finally able to gather her thoughts then.

  First, she thought of the voice she had heard so clearly coming through the pain just moments before in the room below, and the thought of the sound‌—‌its clarity‌—‌filled her with hope. The pain that throbbed in her side seemed to decrease just from remembering.

  She looked at the door to her left. Standing up straight, she walked toward it and entered the upper corridor beyond. As she continued on, she thought of his voice and caught a glimpse of some other place. For a moment, her thoughts were filled with vistas of distant stars and massive, beautiful nebulae‌—‌golden columns of light that extended for what seemed like light years into the distance.

  The vision faded quickly, and she focused on where she was. She put thoughts of Lucas aside as she broke into a run and traced her way through the corridors. The pain spiked in her ribcage with each stride that she took, but the new light in her mind that had come from Max’s voice carried her forward. She focused on Morris and, using her psychic senses, she was easily led back to the room where she had left him.

  When Jane finally reached the room‌—‌having traced her way there via a different route‌—‌she entered once again and saw that both the physicians were now gone. She looked at Morris and was about to approach him when a wave of dizziness overcame her. She fell toward the wall just inside the door and reached out her arm, balancing herself against the surface. In her mind’s eye, she saw images of the Machine pieces rising out of the water. She felt as though the giant device was calling to her‌—‌a strange voice coming at her like rolls of distant thunder. It was something electric, something powerful, and… something dangerous. She shook her head, blinked, and her mind was freed from the connection that she knew the Machine was forming with her.

  She glanced back up at Morris. He groaned beneath the sheet, and it was a low, gentle sound.

  “Heart rate is rising. Stimulant reaching peak concentration within one minute. Vital signs are normal.” This came from the comforting voice of the AI, and Jane was glad he was now in its hands, rather than the medics’. She wondered briefly where they had fled. Would they have alerted people of the situation already?

  Morris moved his arm across his chest, as though he was looking for something.

  Jane looked to the left beyond the control panel, where she saw his shirt and overcoat. She walked around to that side of the room and picked them up. When she turned around, she glanced down at him just as he opened his eyes.

  “Hi,” he said, squinting. He turned away from her and glanced left. “It’s bright in
here,” he said as he raised his arm to shield his eyes.

  The minor buzzing sound from the beams of light that held him suspended changed in their tone once again, and his body began to move forward. His legs moved toward the ground, and his torso rose upright until his feet were just inches off the surface. Then he dropped to the floor, and with a suddenness that surprised Jane, the beams of light disengaged, and the buzzing sound was gone.

  She smiled at him and took his hand. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

  “Why? What happened? Where did I go?” he asked.

  For a moment, Jane didn’t answer. She watched as his facial expression quickly changed and a look of desperation stole over his features.

  “Oh my God. What the hell did I do, Jane? I‌—‌ I was fighting with you!” He sobbed and held his hands to his face, covering it.

  She reached up and wrapped her hands around his wrists, gently prying them away from his face. “It wasn’t you,” she said as she looked into his eyes. He glared back into hers, seemingly searching for truth there. She wanted to console him further, but she knew they had to reconnect with Ciara and Mike, get to the surface, and see what was happening. In her secret heart, she felt like Pandora, rushing toward a box that she should really be trying to run from. Whenever she let her concentration on the present moment slip, she could feel the Machine and its presence growing stronger with each passing minute.

  She was glad when she felt him place his hand on her arm and draw her toward him forcefully, placing his lips on hers. He kissed her deeply. For a moment, the pain was gone, and there was a flutter in her chest. She drew away from him and pressed her cheek against his as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “I can’t believe what I did. I’m so sorry,” he said.

  He gripped her tightly, and she bore the pain in her side for a moment as she kissed his neck, inhaling the scent deeply. It smelt like vanilla, a trace of laundry detergent, and sweat. Despite the dull, sharp ache, she rested her head on his shoulder and waited there for a moment, her eyes closed and drifting away.

  “You’re hurt,” he said, and the sound of his voice, though beautiful, was cacophonous, and it broke her out of the brief reverie she had fallen into‌—‌a secret recess.

  “How can you tell?” she asked, breathing sharply through the pain.

  He pulled away. “My God, Jane!” he said. He reached for her shirt and put his arm underneath, tracing his way up to the left side of her ribcage.

  She was shocked at his intuition and stared at him.

  “Yeah, you’re not the only psychic in the room,” he said in a curt tone.

  She winced as she felt his fingers gently caress the lump at the side of her rib cage. It felt wonderful and painful all at once.

  “That’s no minor wound.”

  “I know,” she said. “I can keep going, though.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not good for you.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  He sighed and looked around at the medical console and the other equipment in the room. “Can we use this?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’s strange, but I don’t think we have time, Morris.”

  The ship lurched beneath them just then, and they both looked down at their feet. Around them, various implements in the room shook and rattled. They took each other’s hands.

  “We have to get up to the surface. Can you see what’s happening?” She winced and reached up to her ribcage once again. “I can’t concentrate anymore with the pain.”

  He looked into her eyes briefly and then glanced left, just over her shoulder. His eyes narrowed, and after a moment, he shut his them, concentrating. Then, he opened them wide and gasped. “Whoa!”

  Jane nodded. “Yeah, I know!”

  “I don’t think we should be going anywhere near that thing. We have to get out of here. Jane, they’re going to destroy themselves‌—‌and probably burn up half the damn ocean along with them!”

  She nodded. “Maybe that’s true, but I have to get up there. Don’t tell me how I know, I just do. I have to be on the surface.”

  For a moment, they didn’t speak, just stared into each other’s eyes.

  “You’re sure?” he asked, and in his voice was the acceptance of a possibility‌—‌that he might lose her somehow. They both knew it, although it remained unspoken. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pressed his thumbs gently into her neck, caressing it.

  “I’m sure… And…” She glanced to her side, frowning. “It feels like we have a responsibility here too‌—‌to make sure they don’t screw up.”

  He nodded after a moment. “Yeah, you’re right, of course,” he said, tightening his grip on her.

  Jane watched as he closed his eyes and concentrated. She was automatically drawn toward the telepathic communication he initiated with Mike and Ciara. She closed her eyes as she listened, glad that he was there now to take some of the pressure off her shoulders.

  Mike, Ciara, where are you? he asked.

  I think we’re on the other side of the ship, Morris, came Ciara’s clear, sonic reply. We’ve got a lot of people looking for us. It doesn’t look good.

  In her mind’s eye, Jane could see Ciara and Mike sequestered at the end of a hallway where a large frame of glass separated them from the ocean outside. Mike was glaring upward in astonishment, while Ciara was staring back down the passageway, focusing on communicating with them.

  I’ve been scanning the ship, and I had traced out a path for us to get to you, but I don’t think we’re going to make it. I’m going to show you another location instead. It’s close to you. Two decks up, one corridor over, there’s an emergency hatch that leads to the surface. I think we can meet you there. Here, I’ll show you.

  Jane saw what Ciara was referring to as, in her mind’s eye, she drew them on a path through the steel corridors of the ship. They moved up through the floor of a deck‌—‌then another‌—‌and then down toward the right to another corridor that was next to another small window. Presumably, this was at the very side of the ship.

  Can you get there? Ciara asked.

  Jane was weary, but she opened her eyes and looked at Morris. After a few seconds, he opened his too and looked her.

  I think so, yes, Jane heard him reply. What about you?

  If we meet you there, we can avoid some of the more concentrated areas. Should be about ten minutes.

  OK. Good. Yell if you need help.

  Will do.

  Morris? This came from Mike.

  Yeah?

  Good to have you back, he said sincerely.

  Morris smiled. Thanks, man. Looking forward to seeing you both.

  Jane felt the telepathic contact fade. Morris stared into her eyes for one brief moment before moving. He grabbed her hand, and they ran out of the room. They entered the corridor, took a swift left, and ran toward the end. Morris was only leading by proxy, though, and within moments, despite her growing tiredness, Jane had taken point, leading them through the cavernous interior of the ship.

  CHAPTER 15

  REENTRY

  He passed the orbit of the moon and looked down as he decelerated rapidly. His coat, weightless in the vacuum of space, swirled up in front of him as his velocity came to an almost immediate stop. Earth’s moon hovered behind him, just to his right, brilliant in its brightness and illuminating the right side of his partially silhouetted face, the other side mimicking the blackness of the starry field behind him.

  Earth was as beautiful as he had ever remembered, perhaps even more so. It shone brilliantly. White and gray clouds swirled over its continents. Vast as they were, he was aware of planets where oceans stretched for lengths ten times greater than those on Earth‌—‌and to even greater depths. Lightning illuminated the tops of the clouds over the African plains.

  He reached his hands in front of him and glanced at them. He had automatically erected a psionic barrier to prote
ct his all-too-frail flesh from the vacuum of space, and the pulling force created a light that shone all around him; it was a reaction between the natural environment of space and his mental exertion to keep himself safe from that element.

  He closed his eyes, focused his thoughts, and scanned. He still wasn’t completely sure whom‌—‌or what‌—‌he was, but he knew it would come in time. He remembered Paris, and in particular the snowy streets of the Champs Élysées in the early twentieth century entered his mind. He could hear the clip-clopping of the hooves of the divinely beautiful horses as he walked by them, only then, he had worn a waistcoat and pocket watch too.

  What happened in Paris? he wondered. No time for that now. Focus.

  His mental reach expanded, reaching out across the continents, and within seconds, he found the ships. He gasped‌—‌an all-too-human gesture for him at such an early stage‌—‌and jerked backward in shock. A colossal wave of energy built up behind him, and in one tenth of a second, he was traveling at hypersonic velocity toward the atmosphere. Seconds after that, his speed picked up again.

  Moments later, he would reenter the atmosphere, creating an incredible boom that would be heard for miles on the ground below.

  ***

  Marie was once again standing on the upper deck of the ship, just outside the control room in the open area that gave a view of the ocean ahead of her. The sun reflected off the surfaces of the five pieces of the Machine that had arranged themselves automatically in the air above her, and it cast a golden, spectral light all around. The one on the lower side, nearest to her on the right, was easily the biggest. The four other pieces had formed around each other in a roughly cylindrical pattern, but there was no distinct suggestion that they would form any kind of connected apparatus, or work while in direct contact with each other.

  The sixth piece rose from the water, and Marie watched as the tip of it came up through the white, roiling surface. It seemed to take forever to leave the ocean, as it was truly massive in its dimensions‌—‌easily the biggest piece yet. Finally, the end was visible, and it rose upward and began to tilt itself in a clockwise direction. Just like the others, it was like a section of a semicircle‌—‌incomplete, as though the ends had been cut off. She had received a detailed report on this section from Ranger, and he had informed her that the piece measured eight feet from top to bottom, or closer to ninety four inches.