Beyond Blue Frontiers

by Cecilia Randell

  Forrest pushed the intercom button. “Yes?”

  “I’m looking for Miss Faust.” He spoke in Common, but she understood well enough. “My name is Brendan. Faust.” The man grimaced slightly as he said the last name.

  Blue froze. Brendan Faust. That was the name Sora had given her earlier. Her family was here. Now. She hadn’t prepared; she didn’t know what to say.

  Forrest looked back at her. He must have seen the panic on her face because he quickly turned back to the door. “Moment, please.” He left the view screen up, and Blue saw Brendan’s face twist into a frown. This was not a man people usually kept waiting.

  “Do you want me to tell him to go away?”

  “No, but… I’m not ready. And I want Mo’ata here. And someone needs to stay with Levi. God, Forrest, what do I say?” Her voice rose until the end came out as a faint squeak.

  A throat cleared, and they looked back to the view screen. “I can still hear you.” This time he spoke in heavily accented English.

  Blue covered her face, embarrassment mixing in with anticipation and dread. What would she say to him? She needed to get this under control. She reached over to the screen by the door and turned off the sound.

  “We can’t let him in here.” Forrest glanced at where Levi lay.

  “No, but I can’t just tell him to go away. Maybe he knows something, and… he’s family.” Blue looked at the screen to see Brendan still standing there. The frowns were gone, and all she could see was the exhaustion. If this man—a cousin, if Sora was correct—was now feeling anything other than tired, it didn’t show. “I’ll talk with him in the hall, see what he wants and if he can come back later when the others are here. Can you...?”

  “Yeah, I’ll let them know he’s here and we may need them to come in.” Forrest studied Brendan, frowning. “I don’t like it. Why is he here now?”

  Blue shook her head. “This isn’t like you. Since when are you the suspicious type? The man’s a relative, and he just lost his daughter. He probably heard I was here and asking around. The way gossip seems to travel around here, that’s not strange.”

  Forrest’s eyes hardened, but he never looked away from the screen. “That’s exactly the problem. He just lost his daughter. Why just show up like this? Why not send a message?” He crossed his arms. “I’ll say it again; I don’t like it.” Forrest edged closer to the door in front of Blue.

  Vivi let out a small growl from where she was snuggled into Levi’s side. The cubs had remained with him, sensing the general worry and anxiety everyone was feeling toward him. She could feel their own in the back of her mind.

  “I’ll take one of the cubs out there with me. Leave the view screen on, leave the sound on.” She stroked his arm. “I need to talk to him. He’s family. And… his daughter is dead.”

  He placed his hand over hers, stilling it on his forearm. “Not your fault, pixie.” He squeezed her fingers and let go. “Don’t make me say it again.”

  Blue smiled and turned to pick up Vivi. She was probably not the best choice, but Garfield was sound asleep and tucked under Levi’s arm. He looked too comfortable to disturb.

  Forrest opened the door for her, and she stepped through, pushing the older man back from the doorway. They studied each other in silence.

  He wasn’t overly tall, maybe a few inches taller than her, and this close, the lines around his eyes and mouth were prominent. His eyes… were the same as her father’s, and Blue’s throat tightened. She saw an answering echo of sorrow in his gaze and remembered how much she resembled his own daughter.

  When the silence had gone on too long for her comfort, she broke it. “I was really sorry to hear about your daughter.” She wanted to take the words back as soon as she’d said them, but it was too late.

  Brendan’s mouth tightened. “Yes, thank you. You look much like her. I had heard…”

  “I wanted to try to meet you to offer my condolences, but I wasn’t sure if you would want me there, what with everything that’s happened and how I even came to be here. I should have known you’d hear about me, though; this town sure loves to gossip.” Brendan’s frown deepened even more as she talked. “I’m sorry. I tend to talk when I get nervous. It’s not exactly something I have control of a lot of the time, so I’m going to just be quiet again now.” Blue pressed her lips together in emphasis.

  His expression eased just a bit, and a faint smile crossed his lips before disappearing into overwhelming tiredness once again.

  “You are like him, your father. It has been a very long time, but I remember.”

  “How do you know English?” She wasn’t sure why she asked, but it seemed important to know the answer.

  He frowned again, but this time it was more puzzled than angry. “He never told you anything about this family, did he?”

  “Just that my grandparents on his side were dead and that he didn’t have any family for me to meet.” Her heart clenched when a new shadow swept over his face. Something about what she had said hurt, and she wanted to make this better. He was family after all. “Considering the situation, he couldn’t really have said anything else, could he?” Her voice was gentle.

  He took a breath and let it out slowly. “No, I don’t suppose he could have.”

  Silence once again stretched out.

  “What do you want?” Blue’s whisper echoed loud in her ears. Vivi stirred in her arms and purred low, comforting her.

  Brendan’s gaze fell to the piquet cub and widened. He stepped back abruptly. “How do you have that?” His voice was higher than it had been.

  Blue looked from Brendan to the cub and back. “Vivi? We rescued her. She won’t hurt you.”

  He swallowed and nodded but didn’t close the distance he’d put between them. “I would like to ask what you are doing here.” He tore his gaze from Vivi and back to her face. “What you are truly doing here?”

  “I’m here to find my family. It’s just that when we found out that… Well, I decided to put off approaching you. It seemed intrusive.” Her voice stayed soft, but the hand on Vivi’s back tightened.

  “Perhaps.” His eyes narrowed, and—for a small moment—a new man looked out at her, one she sensed could be dangerous. She shivered. “It would be wise for you to tell me the truth.” His shoulders tensed, but he didn’t move, his eyes flicking again to the cub in her arms.

  She reassessed. This was not just someone who missed his daughter. This was a man whose name inspired respect and maybe a little fear through an entire city. This was a man who was technically family, but who she had not met until now and who she didn’t really know anything about. She took a step back toward the doorway, shifting Vivi to free up an arm.

  “I am sorry. I did not mean to… I did not mean to alarm you. I simply need to do something to stop this killer. Please.” He reached a hand toward her, and the weary father mourning his daughter was back. It looked real, but Blue couldn’t dismiss that other side she’d just seen.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to help, but…”

  “Blue, I need you in here. Now.” Forrest’s voice came through the speaker set just below the screen by the door.

  “I have to get back in there.” She took a small step back into the doorway.

  “Don’t—”

  “Could you leave us a way to contact you?” Panic of a different kind gripped her. “I would like to get to know my father’s family, if nothing else, and maybe… hear about my cousin some time?” She didn’t want to lose this new connection to her father.

  He dropped his hand. “Of course. I will send my direction to your room.” He gave a shallow bow of his head. “Until later, Blue. I do hope to hear from you.”

  He turned and walked down the hall, disappearing around the corner. The door opened behind her, and Forrest pulled her back into the room.

  “Thank you for rescuing me back there. I’m not sure what I would have—”

  “He’s waking up, Blue.”

  She spun and rushed to L
evi, kneeling by the bed. Vivi crawled from her arms to her spot at his side and burrowed in, purring again. Blue took Levi’s hand in her own and squeezed. Levi groaned, and she saw his eyelids flutter. She let out a breath.

  “Come on, wake up. We need you to wake up, okay?” She felt the hand in hers flex and then grip tight. “Yeah, that’s it.” She heard Forrest talking to someone behind her and assumed he was calling the others, but she couldn’t look away from Levi.

  His eyelids fluttered again and slowly opened, showing her those golden eyes. A hand slowly came up and swept against her cheek. It came away wet.

  “Crying?” His deep voice hit her.

  “Well, you were unconscious for a couple of days, and I was worried. I think you shouldn’t die, okay? That would really make me mad. Plus, who would save me? Obviously these other bozos aren’t really up to the task.”

  His brows drew together, and he frowned, shaking his head slightly. Blue realized he had spoken in Common but she’d been rambling in English. Again. She shrugged and smiled. “Glad awake,” she managed in Common.

  Levi’s expression eased, and he looked past her. “Yes, glad awake,” Forrest echoed. “Felix and Mo’ata here soon.” The cubs’ purring grew as Levi closed his eyes. A small smile lingered, and he did not let go of her hand.

  Chapter 12

  BLUE

  It took Mo’ata and Felix an hour to get back. Well, it felt like an hour. Blue wasn’t sure how long it actually was; time was just one more thing she needed to figure out here. She knew the hours and months and years didn’t correspond to Earth’s time, but that was too much to think about right now. She mentally added it to her list, then shoved the distraction aside.

  They were all in Levi and Felix’s room. The extra mattresses were still there, as no one was quite ready to go back to their own rooms. Levi sat with his back to the wall, propped on pillows borrowed from the others so he could see everyone. Blue and Mo’ata were on one of the sleeping pads from the other room. Forrest was on Felix’s bed, while Felix sat at the small desk, his comm out and the map of the city pulled up and hovering in front of him.

  Felix spoke to Levi as Mo’ata translated. “Tell us again what happened. See if you can remember where you were when you first spotted Etu.”

  They had taken to doing that. Felix would speak for them, and Mo’ata would translate. It was the most efficient method so far. Levi’s memory of the incident was spotty, but the longer he was awake, the more he seemed to remember.

  Levi studied the map, brows furrowed. He spoke, and a small red dot appeared on the map, close to the warehouse district. It slowly moved down the main street, recreating Levi’s route. A sharp word from him and the dot stopped in the area where the apartments and shops transitioned to factories.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, then sighed heavily and gestured for Felix’s comm, his movements sharp.

  Felix handed it over, then rubbed a hand through his hair. “He thinks he remember. Show.”

  The indicator moved a few blocks farther into the warehouse district. Levi studied the map for a few more minutes, and a new dot appeared. It traveled on a winding path, deeper into the district and then out. It paused near the main corridor. Another marker appeared and traced a path toward the inn, ending in an alley.

  Levi handed the device back to Felix.

  “That is his path. The first two markers are where he spotted Etu. The last is where he encountered Phillip.” A new note of tension entered Mo’ata’s voice. He frowned at the Prizzoli but averted his gaze when the other man glanced his way.

  Something was up.

  Felix, too, had been acting strangely toward Levi. It was little things, like not meeting his eyes or a slight stiffening when he spoke.

  “What’s going on?” Blue studied each of them in turn and noticed something new. Shame. From Levi. “Levi?”

  He raised his eyes and met hers. The cubs didn’t stop purring, but it grew quieter, more subdued. The gold of his irises glowed out of his still ashen face, the dark circles only serving to make them brighter, more beautiful.

  “No more secrets, Levi.” Mo'ata said in Common, but Blue got the gist.

  Levi swallowed, and he leaned his head back against the wall. Pain replaced the shame, and his mouth opened and closed a few times. Finally he nodded, coming to some sort of decision within himself. Mo’ata translated as he spoke, the words and sounds overlapping. “It is not a short explanation. And I would ask that it not go beyond these walls. I… know you have superiors you report to, but the honor and safety of my people rely on our secrets. I kept this from you. Maybe I should not have, but… I still may not tell you all of it.”

  Felix cut in. “All peoples have their secrets. Sometimes they need to be kept, and sometimes they must be shared.” It was an acknowledgment of Levi’s words, nothing more, but it struck Blue. She tucked the words away to examine later.

  Levi inclined his head. “True.” He met her gaze, and though Mo’ata translated, it was as if he spoke directly to her. “I am an agent for my people, as you know, and I was sent to retrieve the crystals. You know some of what they can do.”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “I was sent because I have some ability to sense them.” Beside her Mo’ata stiffened, but he did not interrupt his translation. In fact, the entire room seemed to still, to hold its breath as Levi continued. “It is actually a prerequisite for becoming an agent or guard of the crystals. We are sought out at a young age and trained for this our entire lives. It is our only purpose, to keep them safe.”

  Blue’s fingers curled into the covers, and she pressed her lips together, suppressing an urge to go to him. From what she’d picked up, it was an honorable task. Who was she to assume he needed or wanted more?

  “They are used sparingly and only in the direst of need.” A faint note of pleading entered his voice, though his expression never changed. “An only child whom parents depend on. A pregnant mother. A father who will leave behind children with no one else to care for them. And the only time energy is absorbed from others is when they willingly give it. Mostly it is those who are near the end of their lives.” Garfield crawled into his lap and stretched up to bat at Levi’s cheek with a soft paw. Levi glanced down at the cub and ran a large hand over its fur. “Their secret is kept so tightly,” he whispered.

  Felix drummed his fingers on the table. “It's out now, though. Even if we stop this, too many people have found out about them or at least what they can do. Zeynar may have eliminated loose ends on his part, but…”

  “Yes, and that is more horrible than you can imagine.” Levi set aside the cub and scooted to the edge of the mattress, rising unsteadily. Forrest rose to help him and was waved off. “And what Phillip has become is a terrible thing. There are monsters, and then there are… Monsters.”

  “Levi.” She waited until he faced her. “What happened in that alley? What has Phillip become?” Mo’ata translated for her, and a corner of Levi’s mouth ticked up in something that was far from a smile.

  “The crystals are not just rock and mineral. The more they are used, the more life force they absorb, they more they become... aware.” He crossed to where a pitcher of water sat beside Felix and poured. “I know I do not deserve it, but I ask that you trust me. I… will not divulge all the secrets of my people—I cannot—but will share what is needed.

  “Sometimes a bond is formed between the crystal and the user that goes beyond the normal. The user becomes… entwined with the crystal and will eventually be able to use it without being in contact. When the bond is complete…” Something close to horror entered his tone and moved through his eyes.

  Felix finally spoke. “This is why it took so long for Padilra to accept admittance into the Alliance.” He sat unmoving, no expression on his face, no inflection in his tone. “Does your government even know of these crystals?”

  “The elders can have much influence.”

  Not an answer, but an acknowledgment. Of wh
at, she didn’t know, but it seemed to satisfy Felix. Damn political undercurrents. “Someone want to explain what that means?” She looked at Felix, who just shrugged.

  Mo’ata leaned in. “I will try to explain later.”

  “Try?”

  “Universal Politics 101. Wonder if there’s a class at the Academy,” Forrest said.

  Mo’ata peered around her. “Actually, there is something like that.”

  And now we are totally off topic. Time to reel it in. “So, what does this mean for Phillip?”

  Mo’ata straightened and resumed his translations as Levi continued.

  “Phillip has not fully bonded to the crystal yet. I saw it. He was able to hold back when I mentioned Blue and you.” Levi inclined his head at Forrest, who sat on the other side of Blue.

  “How do we get it out of him? This entity?” Forrest's voice was strained, and Blue took his hand in hers, squeezing.

  “If we can get him to Padilra, we may be able to draw it out of him. It is a risk. If not managed correctly, he could… contaminate the other crystals. It could spell disaster for my people. Not just my people.”

  “The other option is to kill Phillip and destroy the crystal.” Felix's voice was cold, and Blue's stomach shrank. She wanted her playful mercenary back, not this hard man.

  Forrest jerked beside her, but remained silent.

  Levi cocked his head. “Which is just as difficult. Possibly even more dangerous. Eliminating Phillip may not eliminate the threat. Etu is still out there. And...”

  “What else have you not told us?”

  Levi looked away. Blue hated seeing this man cowed like this. “If the entity that is the crystal has matured enough, it has long been suspected that it could possess anyone, not just the person it was originally connected to.”

  “So, there is no good choice,” Blue said.

  Levi looked at her and replied in English. “No.”

  “But the best one is to get him to your Elders?”

  “Yes. We would need to separate him from the crystal, sever the connection somehow while keeping the crystal contained. He has progressed to the point of not needing contact with it, though.” Levi sat again on his bed and leaned back. She noted a slight tremble in his limbs.