99 Gods: Betrayer

by Randall Farmer

  “Unless something abnormal pops up, that’s probably a good idea,” Uffie said.

  He definitely had her interest. Now for some payback. “Does the word ‘Indigo’ mean anything to you?”

  She nodded, a bit unnerved.

  “All I know about the Indigo is that they are a group of barely abnormal types, relatively new, who believe in teaching people tricks of a wide range of barely abnormal skills.” He paused, attempting to read Uffie’s face. Nothing. “What you’re describing sounds like what Mr. Lorenzi said about the Indigo – the combining of disparate barely abnormal skills.” She nodded. “I ran into a person named Diana who said I was meant for greater things, and my gut says she was Indigo.”

  “She was, and, yes, what I described to you is what she was talking about.” Uffie paused. “She’s a Sibyl, a god-awful powerful one at that. There’s more to the Indigo than what he told you. They absorbed my group nearly a generation ago, but I’m not part of the inner group. Diana is.”

  “Or was,” Dave said. “She got assassinated during the early part of the Troubles.”

  Uffie snorted. “Perhaps. The inner group members are very difficult to kill.” She paused. “Getting caught up in their games is nearly as dangerous as what we’re stuck in here. You deserve the warning.”

  He nodded. “So, can I convince you to use your own Seer skills to help us? The ‘receiver’ trick sounds eminently usable in this disaster.”

  “I suppose,” Uffie said. “It goes against my training, but given how much of a mess we’re in…I think I’m going to need to.”

  43. (Nessa)

  Nessa waited impatiently until Dave finished interrogating Uffie before she pulled him to the side, as far away from the rest of the group as Ken’s platform allowed. The bastard appeared to be getting more out of Uffie than Nessa ever did. She didn’t stop monitoring Ken, as the last thing she wanted was to swan dive into the ocean from this height and speed. Well, she would enjoy the swan dive itself, but she wouldn’t enjoy hitting the water at the end of the drop. As far as she could tell, Ken was doing fine. Last night’s sleep had recharged his mental batteries and his telekinesis didn’t radiate any stress.

  Nor did her mental illusion of ‘we are not here’ stress her. She didn’t have anyone within her telepathy range to affect now, though a few ships plied the black waters ahead, and they would be in range in a few minutes.

  “You’re taking me far too seriously,” Nessa said, after she sat down next to a skittery Dave.

  “How else?” He spoke with the voice of his inner autistic child, a man of as few words as he could manage. A fear reaction, fear of them. Uffie must have done a hell of a number on him, enlightening him on too many impossible things.

  He hadn’t fled because they took him to Elorie. Then he would run.

  “Relax. Don’t try and analyze everything. There are things about me best not analyzed. Besides, I know you like to have fun.” Nessa shrugged. “I don’t play the violin, though, or any other musical instruments.”

  Dave blushed. “You got a lot more out of my mind than I got out of yours, didn’t you?” He wasn’t happy about this conversation.

  Nessa nodded. “I’m used to mind reading.”

  “I like mysteries. I like to analyze things.”

  “Of course. Hey, that’s a perfect intro…” Nessa dug in her now battered purse – she would have to replace it if they ever reconnected with civilization again – and got out her two sock puppets.

  “Ken warned him,” right sock said.

  “Warned him about what?” Nessa said, suddenly pissed.

  Dave’s eyes opened in shock as he leaned back as far from her as he could without going over the edge. Hadn’t he ever seen someone talk with sock puppets before?

  “The idea you could awaken his telepathy and his other tricks.”

  “Hey!” Nessa said. She turned to Dave. “I wasn’t going to even bring that up until this idiot mission we’re stuck on is over. Awakening Psychics isn’t a good idea, even given how good a Telepath you would turn out to be. Really.”

  Dave didn’t answer; he studied her. His eyelids twitched. Overwhelmed. She had seen it before.

  “The monsters in his mind would consume him,” left sock said. “He would be totally reborn.” The sock paused. “Do it anyway. Do it now. You don’t need his permission.”

  Dave shook his head, twice. Then his fear became sympathy, shown on his face. Nessa waited, wondering what he had figured out.

  “This is like me and mysteries,” Dave said, several moments later. “You want to remake me because it’s a neat idea and because you can. So you’re the devil,” he said, to the left sock “and you’re the angel,” he said to the right sock.

  “Close enough,” Nessa said. “I’m not going to do anything of the sort unless you convince me first.”

  “Huh? Making me a Telepath? Unblocking my blocked up mind?”

  Nessa nodded and opened her mouth to speak.

  “No human is ever a fully unblocked Telepath, not even you,” right sock said, the puppet turning to Nessa and interrupting her.

  Dave winced. His face said ‘that could not have just happened’. Nessa sympathized. She often felt the same way when things got interesting.

  “You’re kidding,” Nessa said, to her right sock. “How do I…”

  “If you remove your own last bits of blockage, you won’t be recognizably human.”

  “What’s the problem with that?” left sock said, a sneer in his voice. Left sock didn’t appreciate humanity at all.

  “I guess I’m not the only one who’ll have to resist temptation,” Dave said.

  Nessa frowned at him. Dave smiled. Bastards who figured out too much always accompanied their perfidy with that sort of smile. She started a decent telepathic push and…

  “His warning is correct,” right sock said.

  Fuck this. “So what? It isn’t as if there’s anyone strong enough to remove any of my remaining blockages. I certainly can’t,” Nessa said, and snorted. Right sock rolled its hand-drawn sock eyes. “Anyway. So you like mysteries, Dave? How about solving this one: for some screwy reason we’ve been out of communication with the rest of the world ever since our plane got hit by that missile. Any ideas?” This had bothered Nessa ever since she figured out what was going on, and hadn’t had enough free time to put the proper amount of thought into the problem. Too much other crap going on.

  “Out of communication how?”

  “Everything. Telepathy, cell phones, Supported tricks, the works. Not that we can initiate the long distance telepathy, anyway. We rely on another Telepath for long distance. But Javier, the Telepath, hasn’t called. He should have by now.”

  Dave peered over the edge of their invisible platform and studied the waves far below. His reaction was unique, the first person who wasn’t terrified of this manner of flying to start with. He had been studying the ground more intently when they had been over land, though. Now, he just looked bored. “Your cell phones stopped working? You checked?”

  “We flew over a city large enough to guarantee cell phone coverage. Nothing.”

  “Ever wonder what would happen if you jumped?” left sock said, to Dave.

  Dave glared at the sock. “Is this necessary?”

  Nessa nodded.

  “I’d say, then, you’re cut off because something happened to you,” Dave said, eyes on Nessa’s face instead of the sock. “Why don’t we stop somewhere and use a pay phone?”

  “That would be wrong,” Nessa said.

  “Unnatural,” right sock said.

  “I can’t believe you two,” left sock said. “Dave’s right. Something has gotten to you higher brained types. You’re controlled. I’ve changed my mind. Don’t kick him off Ken’s platform, marry him.”

  Dave flinched. “Ignore the hyperbole,” Nessa said, a whispered hiss. “Left sock’s always a bit too frisky.”

  “So, Nessa, what do you do when you want to have fun?” Dave
said, his voice frantic, his lips curled back in an attempt at a smile. Anything to change the subject.

  They crossed the coast just before lunchtime. Nessa lay face down, next to Dave, and had him point things out on the ground below. He spoke in this strange language, ‘geology’, a language Nessa understood but didn’t know she understood until Dave spoke the words. Something she had picked up from Dave’s mind, she decided. She also learned from Dave that he had been terrified of flying when Lorenzi had flown him, a few feet over Dancing Fish Lake, but that he wasn’t bothered at all about Ken’s telekinetic flying. Neither she nor either sock knew why.

  With the shore behind them, over the horizon, and the mountains to the north creeping closer, Ken suddenly flew down and landed on a dusty plain, dotted with clumps of some sort of brown grass. On the ground, he dropped to his knees and put his hands on his temples. Nessa came over and took his hands in hers.

  “I’ve got to rest,” he said. “Bad things are happening. Have happened. Death.”

  Nessa sent. Ken’s hands shook.

  More than death bothered Ken. He still had qualms about flying. Deep in his mind, he half expected a fat white police officer to pull him over and abuse him. He also hated the concept of being the beast of burden for other people.

  Nessa turned to Dave; he had turned away from the group when Ken had mentioned death.

  Ken didn’t answer. Nessa thought about bothering Dave, and decided this wouldn’t be a good idea. So, instead, she went over to Uffie. Uffie stood alone, shivering, even though the air wasn’t cold.

  “If we found a town here in – whatever this place is – and sat you down in front of a phone booth, would you place a phone call for us?” Nessa asked Uffie.

  “Whatever for?” Uffie said. She didn’t meet Nessa’s eyes.

  “Because I’d like people to know we’re not dead.”

  “You make the call,” Uffie said. She took a deep breath. “I think it’s a good idea no one knows we’re alive.”

  “So the effect got you, too,” Nessa said. “I’m impressed.”

  “Huh? What are you talking about?” Now Uffie met Nessa’s eyes, and Nessa realized Uffie still hadn’t gotten over the shock of having their plane shot out from under them yesterday.

  “Don’t worry, the truth would just make you cranky,” Nessa said. Uffie got cranky so easily when she had to deal with Nessa in person. Strange. “So, are you making any progress with Soft Hand Lady?”

  Soft Hand Lady wasn’t at Uffie’s side. That had to mean something, right?

  “I can’t answer your question,” Uffie said, confidence back in her voice. She rubbed her hands together. “I’ve told her about the conflicts, though.”

  “Great. So now she’s learned about people who hunt down and kill poor defenseless Telepaths just because they’re Telepaths,” Nessa said. This place annoyed the crap out of her; in specific, the local wildlife bored her. “Just the thing to tell an assassin.”

  “Assassin?”

  “Come on, Uffie, what did you think Soft Hand Lady was, anyway?”

  Uffie bent her head closer to Nessa. “You don’t have to tell everyone in the world our secrets. Besides, we don’t hunt down the defenseless Telepaths, just the ones who have gone over the edge. And you know, from experience, Telepaths aren’t our most common targets. And you know full well I’m not a warrior. I just know a few.”

  Nessa looked around her; they were still safe on the ground. “I’m still not convinced of any of this,” Nessa said. “At least you haven’t gone after me. Yet.”

  “Don’t go over the edge, then,” Uffie said.

  Edges again. She wished people would stop talking about edges. She had met one of Uffie’s so-called friends. He had killed telepaths with edges. Edged weapons. Choppity chop. “You’re going to have to go public,” Nessa said.

  “Absolutely not. If we go public, we’ll lose our humanity, or get killed.”

  “Everyone else with any power has gone public,” Nessa said. “If your people stay in the shadows it wouldn’t be fair.” Nessa paused. “Besides, I ran into Mom moderately recently, and she was in cahoots with some Boise and Montreal Supported. I’ll bet at least Boise’s in on the scam.” From what she had seen, they might have fooled Montreal, though.

  Uffie pursed her lips and didn’t respond.

  “They were Indigo second generation types. They had a witch with them to make everything hunky-dory.”

  Uffie frowned at the term ‘Indigo’. “Diana?”

  Nessa nodded.

  “Don’t tell Dave. At least not yet,” Uffie said.

  Nessa nodded back. “Distracting him now wouldn’t help any of us.”

  “Okay, I’m mostly ready,” Ken said, and stood.

  Nessa sent.

  Ken said, slowing his telekinetic fly to a crawl.

  Nessa looked down. Nothing. She sensed out with her mind. Still nothing. Just ordinary people, and damned few of those. Mangy boring cattle minds. Spiritless horses. Dogs well domesticated. Sheep! Nothing more pointless than sheep minds.

 

  Men. Always with their explanations! As if explanations ever explained anything real, like emotions.

 

  Nessa said.

 

  What was his problem? Nessa huffed and turned away, to see Dave leading Uffie over to them. “This isn’t the right place,” Dave said.

  Nessa shrugged. Ken grunted.

  “Would you like me to help?” Uffie said.

  Nessa’s eyes widened in surprise. She couldn’t resist and gave Uffie a hug. “Neat! Yes yes yes! That’ll save us a lot of time.”

  “I’ll even pretend this isn’t happening,” Ken said. Uffie looked like she was about to kick Ken, but after she turned to Dave, she undid her anger and just shrugged.

  Uffie sat next to Ken and closed her eyes. “They’re in the left front quadrant.”

  Ken went left. Nessa couldn’t resist the question. “Uffie, which ‘they’ are you picking up?”

  Her question earned Nessa a glare from Uffie. “Now right front quadrant,” Uffie said, after again closing her eyes. “I’m picking up the enemy. Unnatural evil, to be more exact. We’re crazy to want to find the source of the trap, you know.”

  “I understand,” Nessa said. She thought she sensed something up ahead, but didn’t say anything, afraid she was just having another damned embarrassing maternity moment.

  “There,” Uffie said, five minutes later. She pointed just to the left of straight ahead. “The target’s in the village in the valley up ahead, the one between the two small streams.”

  “I’ve got them now,” Nessa said, fighting the urge to vomit.

 

  Ken did so.

 

 

  Ken landed them on the road, a dusty one-lane job surrounded by brown scrub. Nessa scared a few rabbits away, just to keep in practice.

  “We’re here,” Ken said. “Uffie and Nessa think the village ahead of us is the spot.”

  “Anyone picking up anything at all?” Nessa asked. Surely one of their Supported should be able to sense the illness that covered this place like a shroud.

  Everyone else except Uffie shook their heads. Uffie
appeared to be ready to vomit as well.

  Nessa pinched the bridge of her nose and weighed options. “Let’s go,” Nessa said, a minute later. She pushed a pair of nonexistent glasses back up her nose and started to walk.

  The rest followed.

  The road alternated between dirt and gravel, gravel only in the low places, and used often enough for Nessa to spot tire tracks in the dirt. Trucks, she guessed. Biiig tires. The ocean of illness increased as she walked, and when they reached a rough wooden bridge over the near stream the illness grew to where she found herself huddled up next to Ken.

  “Ken, please, let’s go back,” Nessa said, eyeing the apparently deserted village up ahead. “There’s too much evil here. We’re not going to be able to cope.”

  “Now I’m picking up the danger,” Ken said. He looked around, and shrugged. “I don’t pick up anything special about here, though.”

  “Don’t touch the bridge,” Uffie said. Nessa nodded, disgusted at the evil radiating from the structure.

  Ken turned to her.

 

  Ken walked up to the bridge and knelt down. Nessa knelt down with him.

 

 

  He held his hand out over the bridge and lowered it, slowly. When his hand was only a few inches above the bridge, he yanked it back, as if burned. Nessa found herself kicked out of Ken’s mind by the shock.

  “Ken? What happened?” Nessa said.

  “Magic,” Ken said. “Immense amounts of Lorenzi-style magic.” He turned to the rest of the group. “We’re not walking over the bridge. We’re flying. Gather round.”

  They flew, a short hop as the stream was only two yards wide, not counting the yard or two of reeds and brambles on either side. When they landed on the far side, the view ahead of Nessa changed.

  The village vanished, changing into a stone fort-looking thing covering five acres, about two hundred yards distant. Near the entrance to the stone fort the path, now a paved cobblestone road, was lined with poles. The poles had severed heads on them.