by Lisa Lace
A guilty look flashed across the woman's face, but it didn't last long. Within seconds, a stern expression was back. This would be harder than it seemed back at headquarters. She disappeared inside her cabin. After a moment, the lasers illuminated by Rob's device disappeared.
"Come in quickly," the woman said. "I need to reactivate the defense system."
Quinn marched toward the house. I scrambled to keep pace with her. The woman opened the door to let us in. Inside the cabin, the room was plain and bare. On one side of the room, a girl lay sleeping on a bed. On the other side was a kitchen with a wooden table and two benches.
"Please sit down," the woman said, indicating one of the benches.
"I'm Quinn," she said. "This is Airik."
I noticed she didn't introduce me as her husband.
"My name is Dorelle," the woman said. Now that I could get a better look at her, I thought she might be the same age as me. I gazed at the sick girl and hoped the rest of our mission would go as planned. I had never had one go this far off course.
"You're probably wondering why we've invaded your cabin," Quinn began.
"I know why you're here," Dorelle said, biting off the words.
Quinn and I blinked and glanced at each other, waiting for her to explain herself.
"We came here from Dantin. It is my home planet and where my daughter was born. It's a low technology world. If you know who to pay, the right people can sneak a coded message to a space station in orbit. You can get transported out if you're lucky. We don't use credits, but if you gift enough land, someone will help you get off-world.
"We knew that," Quinn said. "What we don't know is why you came here."
"It's because of my husband," she said. "He loved Dantin and never wanted to leave. But he got sick with a virus. I knew he was dying, so I paid to have us beamed to the space station. I thought they could save him."
Her eyes filled with tears. "He died anyway. The doctors couldn't do anything. They said it was too late for him. We couldn't go back because we had traded all our belongings to reach the doctor."
She took a deep breath and continued her story.
"I was healthy. I managed to get a job washing dishes on the space station while Golda went to school. Eventually, I had saved enough to buy passage on a spaceship. I knew where I wanted to emigrate."
"Koccoran?" I said.
She nodded. "We passed all the tests. They let us in based on my petition. We were refugees without a home. I discovered this cabin, and it wasn't expensive. Golda and I knew how to live off the land. We bought supplies and started a garden. We were doing fine."
"Until Golda got sick, too," Quinn said.
"That's right. The doctors performed a lot of medical tests on us, but they still missed it. I thought if they let us in, we were clean."
"But you carried a virus, and now Golda is sick," Quinn said. "Dorelle, this is bigger than a single sick child." Quinn stood up and approached her. "If we don't give her the antidote, there will be more sick children. There will be an epidemic. Many wives will lose their husbands." Her eyes cut over to me. "Parents will worry about their children's lives."
"I know," she said. She didn't look surprised at Quinn's revelations.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Why do you think I chose Koccoran? I knew that they would be accepting of my gift."
"Which gift do you mean?"
Quinn already knew all about Dorelle's gift. "She's a Precog, just like us."
Chapter 17
AIRIK
I rolled my eyes. Of course she was. No wonder she had activated her defense system. She knew we were coming.
"If you just want a new life, why do you have all this weaponry?" I said.
She looked down at her hands. "I was afraid that we were still carriers even though we made it through customs. I foresaw a group of people coming and attacking us. That's when I installed the defense system. It took the last of my credits, but it was worth it."
"We didn't come to fight you," I said.
"Seems like I'm under attack right now," she said. When I thought about it, I had to admit that she was right. I would have thought we were attacking her, too.
"We have the antidote. Where is your daughter? We can save her."
"I'm sorry. I can't let you do that," Dorelle said, lifting her gun. She had never set it down. Now it was pointing straight at us.
"Why not?" Quinn said. "It will neutralize the virus and prevent it from spreading. If your daughter dies, the virus will infect everyone that has come within twenty feet of her. They'll quarantine us, but the epidemic will still happen."
I looked at her sharply. "How do you know that?"
"I had another vision on the way here," she explained.
"I couldn't tell."
"I know. I can have them without any interruption in my activities now." She looked at me like it was commonplace, but I don't think she fully understood how unusual it was. I had never heard of anyone who didn't go into a trance when having a vision.
"Koccoran already has population issues," she said to Dorelle. "If this virus is allowed to spread, it will wipe out many women of childbearing age. It will mean a death sentence for their entire race. Please think about what you're doing."
"I am thinking. I knew you were coming, and I read up on your antidote."
"How?" I said. "I thought you didn't have any technology here."
"I got a connection and the defense system. I got what I need," she said. "I can learn. Your cure could make her deaf or blind. Maybe both."
"The chances of that happening are less than 10 percent," I said.
"She's not your child. I'd rather she died. We'll be careful and burn her body."
"You want her to die?" Quinn said. "Are you crazy?"
"Where I come from, if you're deaf or blind, you might as well be dead. You can't take care of yourself."
"We've made advances since those days."
"Yeah, yeah. Technology. You all believe gadgets are wonderful. But it couldn't figure out we had that damn virus in our blood, could it? If it can't help with the most important things, what good is it?"
I didn't have an answer to that.
"Dorelle, look at all you've gone through to protect your daughter. You can't stop now. We're her best shot."
"You won't convince me. I won't have her live to be a cripple."
"What about Koccoran? They took you in when you had nowhere to go. Don't you owe them? How can you unleash an epidemic on an entire planet?" Quinn said.
The woman sniffed and rubbed her nose. "I have to take care of my own. I can't worry about an entire world."
"You can do both," Quinn said.
"Just because I can doesn't mean I will. You have to leave now," Dorelle said, gesturing with her gun towards the direction of the door.
Quinn's eyes flicked to mine and then to Golda, who was tossing and turning feverishly on the couch. I nodded my head.
"Sure," Quinn said. "We'll leave. But before we go, can we have a drink of water?"
Dorelle made a face but turned to the kitchen. Quinn tackled her in an instant. The woman fought back, punching and hitting Quinn. The gun went off. I ignored the fight and moved towards the girl.
I had my syringe out and pulled off the cap. I pulled off the bedcovers and slightly pushed up her nightdress, jabbing my needle into her thigh and injecting the contents into her body.
The little girl whined and started crying. I held it until I counted to twenty.
"It's done." I sat back and ran a medical scanner over her body to confirm the antidote had worked.
Just like that, we had saved the planet.
QUINN
The little girl's fever had broken already. Dorelle, although furious initially, wasn't upset any longer. She saw her daughter getting better every minute, and she didn't appear to have any lasting injuries.
I didn't have anything to do. Dark thoughts were starting to infect my mind again. I glanced
at Airik. He was busy sterilizing the cabin with Rob, making sure they disinfected everything. He wouldn't even notice I was gone. I just needed some air. I would go for a walk, come back, and help with whatever else needed to be cleaned up.
The door was open. When I let myself out, I was glad to see there was only a mild snowfall. After a few minutes, I had my first misgivings. The snow was becoming thicker. I decided to turn around and go back. But when I turned to follow my tracks, I saw that they were already disappearing beneath the fresh powder.
I frowned. I had to get used to being on my own and doing my own thing. In a couple of weeks, we would be divorced, and I wouldn't be able to depend on him to save me. I was a grown woman now. It was time to pull up my big girl panties and take care of myself.
The cabin should be directly behind me, so I tried to turn around and go back the way I came. As I walked, the trees and brush became denser. Was I going in the right direction? I didn't remember all these obstacles on the way out. I had to fight my way through the vegetation several times. Occasionally I had to go all the way around some plants because there was no way through except on my stomach.
I tried to call a vision, but I was so scared that I couldn't activate one. There was too much stress. The adrenaline in my system would block my ability.
The forest suddenly didn't seem as friendly as it had seemed back at camp. I kept walking. Instead of getting brighter, the atmosphere seemed dark and oppressive. It worried me. I knew the trees would block out the light, but it felt like the sun was disappearing around me. Incredibly, the snow began to fall more and more thickly. Soon I could barely see anything more than a few feet in front of me.
Was I caught in a blizzard?
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, the wind picked up. It blew hard and wailed through the trees. I knew my walk had been a bad idea at this point, but there was nothing I could do but keep moving. There wouldn't be a shelter for me. There was no point in going back. I had to find the cabin.
An hour later, as I lifted my aching legs and took another step through the deep snow, I wasn't sure I would ever find the cabin. Who knew walking could be so difficult when there was a foot and a half of snow on the ground? I felt exhausted.
I wished that Airik was here, but I knew it was impossible for him to appear out of nowhere. He had been busy when I left. Who knew when he would notice I was gone? Even if he did, he would still have to find me.
I wondered if it made sense for me to sit down and take a nap. I was tired and could use the energy boost. I considered the idea for a minute, but then I remembered Airik telling me never to stop moving when you were out in the cold. I didn't want to fall asleep because I would freeze to death and never wake up.
But having a rest was tempting.
I kept walking and then I felt my boot catch on something I couldn't see. I pulled, but I was stuck. What was it? I started to dig through the snow. After a minute, I got down to the ground. The boot and my foot were caught under a root. I had managed to get myself wedged in tightly. I tried pulling myself out until I became sweaty and frustrated. I thought about slipping my foot out of the boot, but I couldn't even do that. I would have to wait for someone to find me.
The trees around me were enormous. It would take two people joining hands to encircle a trunk. The trees had been still all the times I had been out for picnics and hikes in the woods. Right now, the trees were whipping back and forth, the wind lashing them into a swift motion.
I was surprised at how afraid the trees made me feel. If one of them came crashing down, it would be incredibly dangerous. I had never been scared of trees before. The thought seemed ridiculous until I looked up at them again and saw the first one fall.
The wind moved it back and forth. There was a sickening crack and the sound of a massive object falling. The branches swished against the other trees. I watched it in fascination until I realized it was heading directly toward me. I tried to move and remembered my foot was caught.
I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do.
AIRIK
It took me a few minutes to notice that Quinn was gone. But when I did, I lost my mind. Rob had to calm me down.
"Rob, I have to find her immediately. I never got to do an intervention. The future must have changed when I came to her. She's out in the forest with a blizzard approaching."
"Airik, calm down." Rob said, putting his hands on my shoulders. "You can't help her if you're panicking."
I took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm going to get her. I'll stay calm. I promise."
"Take your snowshoes. It will be faster," he said.
I dressed and moved out the door in minutes. I attached the snowshoes to my boots and then I was running into the forest following a trail that was quickly disappearing. Soon I had to use my minimal tracking skills to follow her. Her trail was vanishing.
As I crossed a small clearing, I spotted her red coat ahead of me. I could barely see it through the falling snow. When the wind blew strongly, I could see a flash of red. I hoped she was still alive. The coat wasn't moving.
What was going on? I started to run, feeling the events of the vision drawing closer to the present.
When I approached her, I saw she was struggling and pulling on her right leg. She appeared to be stuck in the ground.
There was a cracking noise, and I looked up. One of the giant trees had broken and was coming down. As my eyes projected its trajectory, I knew this was the moment. It was going to fall on her unless I stopped it.
Time seemed to slow down for me. She was no longer pulling on her boot and looked up as the huge tree fell towards her. It caught on another tree and stopped falling. I reached her at the same time.
"Quinn," I yelled. "Come on."
"My foot's stuck. Get out of here," she said, her face afraid and desperate. "We don't have to die together."
That was when I realized I loved her.
I felt something snap inside me. The feelings I had trapped behind my walls and refused to acknowledge came rushing out. I smiled at her, then glanced up at the tree precariously balanced on a tiny branch of another tree.
I took her hands and leaned toward her. I knew my life was about to end. It didn't matter. Before I died, I would have the chance to tell her.
"Yes, Quinn. We do both have to die. I love you, and I can't live without you."
"What?" she said, not believing what I was saying.
"I love you," I said again. I leaned in and kissed her.
When the tree hit us, it was over quickly. I barely felt a thing.
Chapter 18
QUINN
I was dead. There was no other explanation. A moment ago there had been an enormous tree falling on us. It was just like in my vision, except I hadn't known Airik would be next to me. Now I felt nothing. No pain. Nothing could have stopped the tree from crushing us.
Then I heard Airik's voice.
"Quinn?"
Good. He was with me. I hoped we were in heaven and not hell together. I thought I had been a good person, and he was too. Hopefully, we were going to be together for eternity.
I suddenly remembered what he said before we died. I had said we didn't both have to die.
He said he loved me.
I didn't know what had happened. Maybe the memory pull had worked or perhaps it was the threat of imminent death. Both had a way of brushing away unimportant things in life and allowing people to focus on crucial details. Either one could help a person let go of everything that wasn't serving them and enable them to see the truth.
Unfortunately, it was too late for us. Would we still love each other in the afterlife? What if we were being reincarnated instead of going to heaven? I would have to find him once more. How would I know him in another body? Would I have to go through the pain of finding him again?
Damn. I didn't want to be dead anymore.
"Quinn," Airik's voice was more insistent now. "I need you."
That couldn't be Airik. The
voice sounded desperate and belonged to a person who wanted me. Could it be him?
"Please wake up," he said, his voice pleading. I felt him shaking my body. Maybe we weren't dead. But how could that be? "Open those blue eyes one more time and tell me you're okay. I will never take you for granted again."
I focused on my eyes and managed to flutter them open.
"Quinn," he gasped. I felt him covering my face with kisses. "I thought you left me."
I looked up. Snow was falling on me and melting on my face.
"How are we alive?" I asked, gazing up at him.
"Quinn, please listen to me. I can't wait another second to tell you." He carefully shaped his lips and spoke in English. "I love you."
I stared at him in amazement.
"What? Did I say it wrong? I didn't say your cat has green socks or something, did I?" he asked, reverting to Standard.
"No. It was perfect. How do you know those words?"
"Let's just say there was a girl who inspired me to learn her language. Maybe you can teach me some more."
"Do you mean it?"
"I have never meant anything more in my life. I now realize that what I felt for Gina was nothing compared to what I feel for you. You are the one I love, Quinn. Like I said, I can't live without you."
"I love you, too, Airik." I frowned, looking around. We appeared to be in a cave, but it was open to the sky. "How did we escape being crushed by the tree?"
"We didn't," he said, reaching out and touching the wall of the cave. His finger came back covered with a substance as black as charcoal.
"What is that?"
"You did it, Quinn. You were almost on fire. You generated so much heat that when the tree hit us, you burned through it."
"I couldn't have done that on my own, Airik. It was like our shared vision. Remember how we amplified each other's abilities? That must have happened again. Instead of being fueled by anger, it was powered by love, which must be more powerful. You gave me the strength to burn through this huge tree."
It seemed impossible, yet here we were.
