“Pair of psycho power people?” Vely asked.
“No, of course not. A pair who can perfectly balance each other, called a Dyad. Together, you two could be completely harmless, or completely indestructible,” Cedrick said. “You have unknowingly been balancing Liza for all the years you’ve been alive. Now that you’re apart, there’s no telling when her ability will flare up. She could be dangerous, unless she learns to control her Kathokinesis to keep from blowing people apart.” Vely laughed, a morbid laugh anyway, as she could see Liza doing just that if someone made her angry enough.
“You’re right. My sister is dangerous,” Vely confirmed. She leaned back in the chair. “I have so many questions.”
“I know,” Cedrick said. “But in the same way, she was able to balance your ability, so that you didn’t just Tranq everyone around you into doing your bidding.” He grinned, but only for a moment, before his face went back to looking serious. “There’s not time to explain everything right now, but I’m here to help you.”
“Why?” Vely watched Cedrick’s face, which turned a little pink at her question. It was a little endearing.
“I… We could do a lot of good, the three of us, together,” he said. It was a cover, Vely could tell. He was a terrible liar. But she let it go, just because he was, after all, quite cute.
“Sure. And the Bloodhounds?” Cedrick looked relieved to move onto another topic.
“The Bloodhounds are the last known ability. They can also be dangerous, because most are willing to work for anyone who pays them enough. With just a drop of blood, a Bloodhound can sniff out someone like you, Liza, or myself, no matter the distance. Which is how they came to be looking for you.”
“They never caught me, though,” Vely protested.
“They had your mother’s blood. It was diluted, so an imperfect way to find you. The signal was weak if you will,” Cedrick explained. Vely understood. It made sense, how they passed her by without sniffing her out right away. “If they had Liza’s blood, they might have been able to find you, but even then, it’s not perfect. Your blood, on the other hand…”
“And I might as well have had a beacon shooting out of my head?” Cedrick chuckled.
“Something like that.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Vely asked. “How are we going to find my sister?
“This is where it gets complicated. After she left the Moon, I haven’t been able to see anything about her. I’ve never had a problem with distance, but perhaps she’s escaped the limits of my ability. We need to unite the two of you, to balance her power. And to protect you from those who would harm you.”
“Who wants to harm me?”
“You’ve heard of Walnald’s Interplanetary Corporation of course,” Cedrick said, and Vely nodded in confirmation. “They control everything… far too much. They have their hands in the solar system government leaders, making them dance like puppets. They help fund the SSA,” Cedrick said, his voice rising in passion. “They want to perform testing on people like us, to find a way to give the powers to anyone with enough money to pay for it.” Vely scrunched her nose.
“That sounds dangerous,” she said, tightness forming in her chest. To think that Liza could be in awful danger, and having no idea…
“It is. And they want all the existing Psychogens under their control.”
“If there were people, who had our powers, who could stop them?” Vely asked. Cedrick shrugged his shoulders, and Vely realized she found the end of his knowledge.
“I can only guess that others like us would be able to. If they find a way to enhance the abilities of a Katho, to make it easier to control, then who knows what would happen, aside from the obvious chaos.”
The two sat in silence for several minutes, still sipping their rapidly cooling tea. Vely’s mind was attempting to categorize everything Cedrick had just told her, about herself, her sister, about him, and those nasty Bloodhounds. She wondered if a Bloodhound would be able to help them find Liza. From those she saw, however, she didn’t think they’d be keen on helping her.
Outside, the shouts of the mob grew louder. Vely rose and looked out the window, and a moment later, Cedrick was behind her, looking out over her head. They could see a few Moon colonists beating down an Enforcer with a fury like Vely had never seen.
“I saw this,” Cedrick said quietly. “I knew it would be you to lead them.” Vely said nothing, until she remembered the first time she had felt her Tranquility power.
“Cedrick,” she said, turning away from the window. He remained standing close to her. “The apartment I found… it was locked but not by any usual methods. I… I might have used my ability to unlock the door.” He frowned.
“You did?” he asked. “You felt it?”
“I touched the door, and I felt this tingling in my arms. I tried to force the door open, and I began to feel this cool, calm feeling. The same as when I secured the apartment,” Vely said, gesturing to the room. Cedrick began to wring his hands nervously, and he stepped away from her. “What is it?”
“That means there’s a Katho here, on the Moon,” he said. “You negated his tether.”
“What?” Vely asked, feeling like she’d never stop asking questions.
“A tether is created when a Katho or a Tranquil leaves some of the essence of their ability behind, working as a sort of lock. You negated the tether on whoever’s door that was.” He took a deep breath and began to pace. “I didn’t see this. How could I have not seen it?” he asked, talking to himself more than to Vely, who was beginning to feel concerned. She walked to him and grabbed his arms. Unintentionally, she released a bit of her ability to him, and she watched with fascination as the expression on his face changed from stressed and anxious to calm and serene. But he stepped back from her and shook his head.
“Be careful with that,” he said, trying to sound like he was joking.
“I’m sorry…?” Vely replied. Cedrick shook his head again, like he was trying to clear away a mental fog.
“I just wasn’t ready for it,” he said. “But if you give anyone too much… you know… they become your pawns,” he said. “And honestly, I’d like to be in charge of this whole… adventure.” Vely stared at him, but she couldn’t help it when she burst into laughter. She laughed for a long time, with Cedrick just watching her curiously. Finally, Vely calmed down, wiping tears from her eyes.
“I’m sorry…” she said, feeling hysterical. “It’s just that my whole life has been turned upside down and backward and inside out, and… I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Cedrick’s lips curled into a grin.
“Don’t worry about it. I know, it’ll take time to understand.” He looked around. “If you can secure the apartment again, we’ll be okay for the night. And tomorrow, we’ll continue our discussion and come up with a plan.” Vely nodded. She stepped away from him and closed her eyes, following the words in her mind of what to do, until she could see the apartment filling with the blue mist.
13
Liza was busy putting away her clothes and organizing what few belongings she had, when there was a knock at the door. She pressed the button beside it to open the door, and found Dom standing on the other side. Without asking, he stepped into her room.
“A little bare now, but it’ll get better once you start collecting things,” he said, glancing around, his hands on his hips. Liza raised her eyebrow.
“Never been much of a collector,” she said. “More like a scavenger.” Dom smiled.
“I came to get you. Captain wants to have a chat,” Dom said. Liza nodded and followed him from the room, the lights shutting off automatically as she left.
Dom led the way. They followed the route to the bridge, once again climbing onto the lift. This time, the lift only took them halfway up the shaft. Dom stepped onto a landing, where opposite the lift was a door. A nameplate on the wall beside the door read “Captain’s Quarters.” Dom knocked, and the door automatically slid open, admitting the two.
Liza began to understand what Dom meant about collecting. The Captain’s room was full of things, random, odd things that he must have picked up from all over the solar systems. The room was large, but held a desk and many chairs and tables, littered with things. Captain wasn’t as neat as Liza had thought, either. Towards the back of the room, there was another door, which probably led to his room where he slept.
Captain and Dr. D were the only other two in the room, for which Liza was thankful. She wasn’t sure if she could handle being around Zimir at all. Dom gestured to a lounge chair, into which Liza sank. It was comfortable, wonderfully comfortable. Dom sat in a chair beside her, with Captain and Dr. D sitting across from them. For a moment, no one spoke. The Captain was staring Liza down, his fingertips pressed together in front of him.
“Thank you for coming, Liza,” he said finally, resting his hands on the plush arms of the chair.
“Of course,” Liza said, though she didn’t think she had any power to not answer his call.
“I wanted to talk to you about what happened the other day, before my entire crew… talks about it.”
“They’re already talking,” Dr. D said. Captain threw him a look but continued.
“What Becce saw when the two of you were being accosted by those men was something astounding. Nearly unexplainable, and would be, too, if Dr. D wasn’t so knowledgeable.”
Dr. D now spoke. “Becce described to me what she saw you do, and how you managed to save both her and yourself until help arrived. Not only that, but the amount of damage you inflicted on that ship sounded impressive.”
Liza’s memory had not given her back that information, but she didn’t think impressive was the right word.
“You have an extremely dangerous and powerful ability, that is apparently uncontrolled. I’m not surprised we didn’t realize it right away, considering how weak and underfed you were when Dom and Becce found you in that storage closet. You have a power called Kathokinesis, someone who can control the world around you, and to control the minds of others. I suppose you were not aware of this.”
Liza stared at Dr. D, then shifted her eyes to the Captain, and to Dom, and back to Dr. D.
“This is a joke, right?” she asked. Dr. D shook his head. “I’ve never even heard of this.”
“No, it wouldn’t be common to hear on the Moon,” Dr. D said. “I imagine that whenever they find someone like that on the Moon, they’re whisked away, whether they want to or not.” Liza was shaking her head.
“You’re wrong, or lying, or something…” she said. She closed her eyes, trying to recall the memory of the merchant ship, but it was still hazy. And all she could remember was the electricity in her arms and how heavy she felt afterwards. A hand closed over her own. It was Dom. Liza resisted the automatic urge to yank her hand away.
“It’s alright, Liza,” he said. Liza turned back to look at the Captain.
“I don’t… know what to say. Or do,” she said, feeling like at any moment she might break down into tears.
“Nothing,” Captain said. “We now know what that was. You will have to learn to control it, to make sure you don’t blow up my ship on accident, at which point, I’d probably kill you.”
Liza’s mouth hung open, blinking at him. But the Captain laughed.
“I’m joking, sort of. I do think you will be even more useful now to my crew. If you need anything, please let me know.” The kindness in his voice was unexpected, but Liza mustered up a smile.
“Thank you…”
“I can help you, Liza,” Dr. D said. “I dabbled in Psychogenic research before I joined this crew. I know the fundamentals that you need to know, so we’ll work together to get you straightened out.” Liza nodded absently, having no idea what “psychogenic” meant. Dom rose from his chair.
“She’s in shock,” he said, glancing down at her. “Captain…” Dom motioned him over, and the two men stepped away from the arrangement of chairs. Liza watched from her peripheral vision as Dom spoke quietly to Captain. The Captain nodded, opened a drawer and handed something to Dom, which he stashed in one of the many pockets of his coat. Dom returned to Liza’s side, and took her hand, hauling her up from the chair.
“Come on, Liza. I’ll take you back to your room,” Dom said. Liza nodded and followed him, Dr. D and Captain sitting silently as she left.
Dom stopped in front of the door to Liza’s room. For a moment, she’d forgotten what to do, but remembered and entered in her code - Vely’s birthday - and stepped inside when the door opened. Dom moved to follow her.
“I should probably be alone,” she said, feeling like a dangerous pariah.
“Nonsense,” he said, following her still and allowed the door to close behind him. Liza ignored him and climbed onto the bed, leaning her back against the wall. Dom joined her, sitting close enough to her that their arms touched. He drew a bottle from his coat pocket.
“Spoils of the mission,” he said, unscrewing the cap. Liza looked over at him.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Rum. One of the Sun Stations manufactures it, and other alcohol, in their climate-controlled domes,” Dom said. “This is one of the Captain’s favorites.” Liza looked down at it. There was nothing like this on the Moon, though she’d heard people talk of it. She took the bottle from him and sniffed it. The smell was both sweet and sharp. “Take a sip.” Liza wasn’t sure she wanted to trust Dom right now; she had entirely too much on her mind to think of anything else.
But she sipped. The warm-ish liquid ran over her tongue and down her throat. The first taste was sharp and almost painful, and Liza winced and shook her head. But the aftertaste was sweet and actually pleasant. She handed the bottle back to Dom, who took a much longer drink from the bottle than she. He grinned and passed it back to her, but she only held onto it, not yet ready to send the rum down the back of her throat.
“I’m sorry we haven’t been able to talk much before now,” he said. “I wanted to, but Dr. D always told me to leave you alone while you were recovering.” Liza found this odd. No one had ever apologized for not talking to her.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Becce has been nice.”
“Becce is great,” Dom said. “Her and I go way back to childhood. We’re pretty much siblings,” he said. “We grew up in the same neighborhood on Mars.”
“She said something odd to me after we finished shopping,” Liza said, staring ahead. Her hands tightened around the bottle of rum, which she lifted to her lips and took a longer drink. It burned a little, but still tasted good.
“What was it?”
“She said that I’m special, and no matter what, you two would be behind me,” Liza said.
“Well, it’s not every day that we find a scrawny dread-head in the hull of the ship,” Dom said. Liza rolled her head towards him and gave him a glare.
“Now that Dr. D and Captain told me about… you know... I suppose what she said makes sense,” Liza said. “I still don’t understand anything. I don’t know that I want to.” Dom took the bottle from her, his hand briefly brushing against hers.
“You should want to know. And we are at your back. Some people - well there are those who would want to steal you and perform experiments on you,” Dom said. Liza frowned. “To replicate your abilities.”
“I kind of was stolen,” Liza said. “Zimir…” Dom sat forward and turned towards her, bringing his knee up, and grasped her hand tightly. Liza blinked.
“Stay away from him, okay,” he said, staring straight into her eyes. Dom, who always seemed to be grinning, now looked deadly serious. “I don’t trust him, and you’re right, he did trick you on to the ship. Zimir is no scientist, but who knows what else he dabbles in,” Dom said. His expression was dark.
“I won’t go near him,” Liza said. “He creeps me out anyway.” Dom nodded, released her hand, and turned back to lean against the wall. He took the bottle and had another long drink, and Liza began to suspect that he needed it more than she did.
Liza began to think around the rum induced haze. She remembered to bring up her wall that was supposed to keep people like Dom from getting to know her. Her parents had been an anomaly, showing Liza and Vely what it was like to truly love and care for someone else. Most couples on the Moon married for the combined incomes and to have children, who would work to provide more money for the family. Fights, abuse, and hate filled those homes, screams of terror and anger echoed through the metal walls of the apartment buildings. Liza had seen a man nearly beat his wife to death in the streets, before the Enforcers showed up and killed him instead. Liza had no desire to end up on either side of that situation. She had already accepted her self-imposed future.
She lifted her head and moved; she desperately needed to put some distance between Dom and herself. Dom’s eyes opened and he looked at her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m going to sleep,” she said. Dom watched her for a moment but said nothing else. He rose and drank the rest of the bottle.
“I’m here if you need to talk, okay, Liza?” he said, and Liza nodded, knowing she’d probably never take him up on that. Dom smiled at her, though she could tell he was drunk. He left, the door sliding closed behind him.
The silence and sense of being alone descended quickly. Liza ignored it. She pulled off her clothes and left them in a pile on the floor. She crawled into the bed under the blankets, but it was a few moments before she realized she was too hot. She wasn’t used to sleeping in the heat. Even the medical room had been colder. Liza rose and crossed the room to the panel in the wall. She turned the temperature down to a colder level and heard quiet humming of the atmosphere regulator. Soon, cold air was blowing into the room. She stripped all the way down and slipped in under the thinnest blanket, leaving the rest bunched at the foot of her bed.
Psychogen (Galactic Syndicate Cycle Book 1) Page 9
