Frozen Fire

by Wendy L. Koenig

“So what happened? Why do they have Kaleen prisoner?”

  “I don’t know. They wouldn’t tell any of us the charges. I got the definite impression she didn’t want to discuss anything because of eavesdroppers.”

  Chapter 33

  Busted

  Frustration filled Denefe and she sputtered her lips. If only she could be there! Maybe she wouldn’t have been able to help. If Kaleen was worried someone listened in on her conversation with Ardense, she was probably worried about telepathic ones too. “What about Cardenza? Can we trust him?”

  “Do we have a choice? He agrees something’s not right.”

  Ardense had a point, but still…“They have my twin! How not right does it have to be?”

  “I don’t know, Denefe. Don’t kill the messenger.” His telepathic voice turned churlish.

  She took a deep breath. He was right. Of course. “I’m sorry. Is there any way you can find out how much Cardenza knows?”

  “I can try.”

  “Ardense…be careful.”

  “I love you too.”

  Denefe stood and walked silently along the gray lab wall, stepping over cords and lines and dodging tables in the dim room. She slid around the corner of the last worktable and reached the back wall. Painful stings like angry ant bites rippled across her, announcing the nearby presence of the damaged rift.

  Sliding her hands across every smooth inch of the wall, she searched for a hidden keyhole, indentation, or notch of some kind. Failing to find anything, she searched the corners and adjoining walls. Still nothing.

  Denefe stepped back and critically surveyed the wall. The door to the rift couldn’t open from somewhere else. According to the rift spiders biting her skin, this was the closest room of any kind. There had to be something.

  “It uses a laser code.”

  Denefe whirled to find Torenz standing in the hall, just outside the lab. He didn’t look surprised to see her.

  She stared at him. His lean, athletic body and white hair were so like her own. She stayed where she was, her hands on her hips, waiting as he walked in. “You spying on me?”

  “I couldn’t settle into a good sleep, so I went to see if you were still awake too. Imagine my surprise to find you gone.”

  She jerked her thumb toward the wall, and said, “I want in there.”

  He shook his head, his short haircut waving back and forth at the vehemence. “Nope. In light of your excursion tonight, your request to see Dad’s lab is denied.”

  “Then I want to talk to the person in charge.” She lifted her chin.

  “No one’s in charge.” He frowned and pulled a tall stool from the other side of the counter into the middle of the lab. A second stool joined the first. He patted it.

  He didn’t honestly think she’d sit next to him, did he? That was a bit too arrogant, even for him. “No one?”

  “They’re all dead.”

  All dead. Well, that was just genius. That was a long time ago. Someone must have taken their places. Denefe tried a different approach. “Who has the laser tag?”

  Torenz pressed his lips thin, but didn’t answer.

  “So, you have the ability to enter, but you’re not going to let me in to my own parents’ lab?”

  “We both know your drive to enter that lab has nothing to do with any desire to learn anything about them. You want access for only one reason—to test the anomaly and see if I’m lying.”

  Now it was Denefe’s turn to remain quiet. She felt her face flame and looked away.

  “I can’t let you tamper with it. It’s damaged enough.”

  “Torenz, who’s your contact on the other side? Who’s your employer?”

  He shook his head, his lips tight again.

  When it became obvious he wasn’t going to answer her question, she decided to give up for the time being and they lulled into silence. After a long time, Torenz stirred, stood, and stretched. “I’m going to bed. I’d like my book back, first, though.”

  Denefe frowned. “What book?”

  An ugly sneer twisted across his face, then vanished. “Don’t play games. It’s restricted property. Give it back.”

  She smiled sweetly. “When I’m finished reading our father’s book.”

  Chapter 34

  Spies

  Torenz shook his head as he walked away. Denefe was just like Dad. Stubborn to a fault. What if he and his sisters had grown up under one roof? Would they be close? Or would their personal liabilities, like Denefe’s stubbornness, have driven them apart?

  He let himself dwell on that thought until he realized he couldn’t hear Denefe’s footsteps echoing like his in the long halls. He stopped and listened but heard nothing. She was still at the lab.

  He pressed his lips tight and turned on his heel, his shadow leading the way back, but when he reached the lab, Denefe was nowhere to be seen. He reached for her mind and found it as a tightly compacted ball with no way for him to enter. Someday, he was going to have to get her to teach him how to do that.

  He heard her footsteps receding in the hallway he’d just left. She had to have waited in a different lab for him to pass. Had she been in his mind? Spying on him while he spied on her?

  Fury erupted within him. After all her indignation, her self-righteousness, and scolding about him reading her mind without permission!

  Well, there was more than one way to skin a cat. He couldn’t connect with Kaleen due to her location, so he reached through time, stretching his thoughts for Denefe’s boyfriend. The moment he touched Ardense’s mind, it snapped up into a tight ball.

  Obviously, his sister had warned her boyfriend.

  Torenz hissed through bared teeth.

  Chapter 35

  It’s what?

  Long after Denefe returned to her room, she lay awake. She’d checked on Torenz several times since their meeting. It took a while for him to fall asleep, his mind filled with the disjointed thoughts of what it felt like to have family again and all the frustrations associated with it.

  She had to find a way into the restricted area. She didn’t believe Torenz, or Jileah, for that matter, about the rift’s fragile state or one-way-ness. Not only did she need to see the rift and test it herself, but she suspected there were other secrets that area contained. For one, she’d still seen no evidence of an external exit anywhere else. There had to be one, even if only into the desert. It had to be in there. So, first, she had to get the laser tag from Torenz.

  Or, she corrected, she had to find a way to bypass it.

  “Ardense.” She had to call him three times before he answered.

  “Denefe, do we have to talk right now? I’m exhausted. I’m trying to catch up on my sleep.” The weariness wound through his telepathic voice. She felt bad for him, but she needed him.

  “It’s the middle of the night here. Yes, I need to speak at this time. It’s too dangerous during the day. I need you to find out something.” There was no answer. Had he fallen asleep? “Ardense?”

  “Hmm? What?”

  “I need you to ask Mik something.”

  “If it’s not life and death, tell me about it tomorrow night.” He abruptly left the conversation.

  “Ardense! Do you want me to wake you every hour, or do you want to end this conversation quickly?”

  He sighed. “If you were here right now, I’d throttle you!”

  “Feeling’s mutual, dear.”

  “Okay. I’ll write it on my comm so I don’t forget it. You know, in case my memory suffers from sleep deprivation. God forbid.”

  She grinned at the sarcasm. “Ask Mik how to bypass a laser tag lock.”

  “That’s it? You woke me for that?”

  “Yes, I did. I need it as soon as possible. Thank you.”

  “Throttle you. Do you understand?”

  “Sweet dreams.” There was no response. He was gone, and she wasn’t sure he’d even heard her final message.

  Denefe tried
to sleep, but she was still too keyed up. Why was no one at GlobeX upset that she was suddenly in the past? The answer came to her immediately—because all the important stuff happened here. What was it?

  Were she and Kaleen just spare parts? Being saved in case they were needed in a different location. Was that why they held her sister in an isolated prison—to safeguard her?

  Her mind went around and around, asking herself those questions over and over, trying to find answers. Sleep never came.

  According to the clock Jileah had given her, it was almost seven in the morning when Kaleen contacted her.

  “Denefe, I’m here.”

  Denefe’s eyes snapped open from her latest attempt at sleep. “Kaleen! Are you okay?” A flood of worry flowed out of Denefe, and she was surprised her eyes filled with tears. She hurriedly checked on Torenz. Still sleeping.

  “Yes. I’m fine.” Kaleen sounded terse.

  “What happened? Why did they arrest you?”

  “Treason. Can you believe it?”

  “What?” Denefe wasn’t sure she’d heard right. Treason usually involved spies. “Hallen can’t arrest you for that. He can only make citizen arrests.”

  “Apparently, Bade Hallen is military.”

  “Military? GlobeX must be just a cover corporation. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” She thought back to Torenz in his room, listening to someone or something. “Torenz isn’t just reporting data from the researchers, he must be a spy. The past is the perfect hiding place. He’d never be found.”

  “I’ll bet there are unknown telepaths that have carefully been worked into key positions throughout the world.”

  The thought sobered Denefe. She stared at the wall beside her bed. Her brother was a military spy. “How did Cardenza get you out?”

  “He threatened Hallen. He said too many people knew about me. He’d go public with all the information and let the media sort it out.”

  “Do you think Cardenza’s someone we can trust?”

  “I hate to admit it, but yes.”

  Imagine that. Trusting Cardenza. She’d been told twice now that they could. Denefe shook her head. What was the world coming to? “Spies.”

  “Yep. We know what that means.”

  It meant they’d have to stay strictly in code. “Yeah, we do. It also means you’re going to have to visit Brazil Base.” To warn Ardense, was her unfinished message. Kaleen would figure that out.

  “I’ll hop on the next plane.”

  “Kaleen, Cardenza is key. Also, remember Starry in your prayers.”

  Chapter 36

  Truth and lies

  Denefe frowned. Everything would depend on Kaleen. She had to coordinate everyone, figure out what needed to be discovered, and handle all the coded conversations. It was a lot, but she was sure Kaleen was up to the task.

  Meanwhile, all Denefe could do was sit there, trapped in the past. For the past seven days and the foreseeable future. At that thought, her heart beat like a stampeding horse and suddenly her room seemed way too small. She launched out of bed and reached for the door before she realized how well she moved. Experimentally, she touched her toes. There was very little pain. She straightened and twisted sideways in both directions and then pulled each knee up to her chest, one-by-one. Very little pain, indeed. It seemed she was healed.

  With a satisfied smile, she pulled open her door and almost plowed into Jileah, who stepped back a couple of feet, blinking rapidly, her thick brown brows arching in surprise.

  “I was just coming to see how you felt this morning,” Jileah said, pulling small pieces of lint off Denefe’s shirt.

  Denefe’s heart slowed to a normal pace. “I feel great. I’m not very sore at all. Want to go shopping at the mall with me?”

  A slow smile spread across the other woman’s olive-colored face and she chuckled. “Sure. We can have an early breakfast at this great new restaurant, ‘The Gobi Dunes.’”

  “Sounds yummy. Let’s go.” Denefe forced her own smile. Was it possible that Jileah really didn’t know anything about the truth? She hooked her arm through her friend’s, and they marched down the hall, giggling at their game.

  At the dining room, they gave exotic names to their dishes and sat at a corner table, pointing out a make-believe window and laughing at the other diners who they pretended were also shoppers.

  In a lull, Denefe asked, “So, what does a holistic nurse do in her spare time?”

  “You mean, besides shop?” The nurse laughed. She waved one of her large hands. “Well, there are station duties we all take turns doing, like cooking or cleaning common areas. That sort of thing. Also, there are always a few game tournaments to play or watch. Oh, and we have a few vids on private comms.”

  “Speaking of which, is there one I can use?” Seeing Jileah’s skeptical look, Denefe continued, “I used to keep my life in mine. You know, a journal and things like that.”

  Slowly the tall woman across from her nodded. “I suppose I can wrangle one up for you.”

  “Thank you. I’ve been going nuts without one.” Changing subjects, she asked, “So, where do people work out? I haven’t seen an exercise room or gym anywhere.”

  “That’s because you’ve only visited my office once—the day you almost wrecked that shuttle cart.” Jileah added, “Not that I blame you. You had every right to be that traumatized.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Denefe looked up at her new friend. “I’m sorry I tricked you into answers that first day. I haven’t tried to read your thoughts since and I won’t do it again without your permission.”

  Jileah smiled and reached across the table for Denefe’s hand. “It’s okay. You were scared, and I’m sure I would have done the same thing.”

  Denefe marveled at the woman’s easy forgiveness. She wasn’t so sure she’d have been as understanding. “I’m glad we’re friends, and I’m glad you’re dating my brother.”

  “I’m glad we’re friends too, but your brother and I aren’t dating. At least not on my end.”

  “Ah. One of those where he thinks the relationship is more than it is.”

  “Oh, I see you’re familiar with it. Not that I really blame him, there’s a shortage of women his age down here.” She scrunched her nose, then sighed and said, “You want to go see that gym now?”

  Together, they walked to Jileah’s office where, true to her word, Denefe found an attached room filled with weights of all kinds. They worked out for over an hour. What hadn’t been sore on Denefe’s body before was now. They parted with plans for supper.

  After she reached her quarters, she settled onto the bed and waited nearly four hours until Torenz—who was well awake and showed no signs of sleep—was preoccupied. There had to be a better way to do this! She called Ardense. “Are you there?”

  “Hey, you.” He sounded strong and refreshed.

  “I see you’re in a better mood.”

  “Amazing what a few hours of sleep can do for a temperament.”

  Denefe ignored the sarcasm. “Kaleen’s on her way to you.”

  “She arrived about an hour ago.” After a short hesitation, he asked, “How are you? I miss you, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know. I can’t wait to see you again. I’m good, I guess. Er, no. Scratch that. I’m going crazy with inactivity. I’ve found the gym, so that takes the edge off, but still…”

  “You can’t wait to get back.”

  “You said it.” Denefe decided to bite the bullet. She wondered, briefly, if she needed a code, but decided against it. This conversation could be handled in other ways. “Has Kaleen brought you up to speed?”

  He answered slowly, carefully. “She’s told us about her time in jail and her reunion with you.”

  His words were innocuous, but carried a weight of worry and meaning.

  “Did Kaleen bring Bridger with her?”

  “She did, but Denefe…” His voice was skeptical.

  “You can trust
him.” That Kaleen brought Bridger was good news. It meant she’d understood that the message about Starry had been really been about the microchip.

  Ardense was silent.

  She said, “When I get back home, I may not be working for GlobeX. You could quit with me.” Would he understand that she spoke about hiding from the company?

  “What will I do without GlobeX? We don’t have enough money for our own company yet.”

  “You’ll be with me. We’ll be together. We’ll find more work.”

  “It’s a big decision. I’m not ready for this.”

  Big decision? He had to decide if he cared for her more than GlobeX? “Okay. I’ll talk to you later.” She left the conversation before he could tell her he loved her.

  Chapter 37

  Everything is wrong

  Denefe watched Torenz watching someone. It was still the evening of her seventh day trapped below ground, the same day she’d told Ardense he had to make a choice. Even hours later, she was still in a foul mood from the conversation. It only added to her angst that she’d been a captive in the facility for so long she’d lost track of the days of the week. Had it been a Monday or Tuesday that she’d been snatched by the sidewinder? There was no sunlight, nor fresh breeze. No way to tell. She was trapped underground with all the weight of the world bearing down on her from above.

  Inside her mind, she felt her brother waiting and listening. To whom? She scowled and decided to bite the bullet. “Care to explain why you’re spying on me?”

  The answer was prompt. “I don’t trust you.”

  “Ha! That’s a laugh coming from you. You act like you’re king here in the Gobi Desert.”

  Torenz’s mind immediately made the automatic correction—“Egyptian.”

  Denefe was quiet a moment, letting her sibling soak in that she’d uncovered another lie. “Why are you telling everyone it’s the Gobi?”

  Instead of answering, he parried with a question of his own. “How’d you find out?”

  She didn’t answer.

  He gave a mental sigh. “We told them that because there are no known anomalies near there. We had to keep people from trafficking in and out.”