by Tim Kaiver
"Is that good?" Sara stepped beside him and reached in to take a cone.
"It's amazing," Emmit mumbled, spilling juice over his chin. Already, the nutrients in the plant had his mind buzzing with excitement and a need to do far more. He chewed on the granules of hardened powder, receiving tiny spikes of sugar as they broke under his teeth.
Sara bit down on her cone and her eyes widened. "Mmmm," she mumbled, moving the mouthful around in her full cheeks.
Emmit swallowed his, and shared some on the end of his finger with Dy, tucked inside his pocket. The gecko's tiny tongue licked some pollen off his finger. "Yeah, you love that, don't you?" Dy's eyes closed in a moment of obvious pleasure. Wanting more for himself, Emmit shoved the rest of his cone in his mouth. The surge of sweet flavor somehow eclipsed the shock of his first taste. The scent could stick with him forever and he'd be completely at ease. He could bathe in it, stuff it in his nose and breathe it, if that were possible.
A blue bird smaller than his fist hummed past his face and hovered over one of the stalks. Its plumage was the color of a perfect sky. Its head had a darker blue dome to top the gentle cloak below. It turned one black eye at Emmit, dipped its head into the cone, wiggled, then flapped off, wings beating a vibrant hum.
As Emmit looked back at the beauty of the towering bush, the cones formed a different scene, one like the bush, but also another shape—like a mansion built out of forest. Dark holes made windows, their sills stained white by bird and bat droppings as many remained perched or cast out for new adventures. Stone spires wrapped in green vines lined the top across a wall as wide as he could see.
"That's it." His dad's voice broke the spell, returning the plant to its original form in a blink. "Share that with the bird and let it lead you to me. I'll be there, waiting."
Emmit looked into the bird's black eyes and recalled the picture of the jungle-covered castle. It hovered in front of him, then darted off.
The blue bird dipped under a branch and flew up the other side like a fish coasting through the ocean. A connection to its movement and path could not be refused. This would be his guide.
*Mission to follow the bird to Fel Or'an – Activated.*
+5 XP – telepathy practice and linking with bird.
60/155 to Level 3.
Sprinkles's head popped out of a bush ahead of him as his eyes tracked the bird and his nostrils took a taste of its scent. He turned to see Sara wiping her mouth. "Follow that bird!" He snatched a branch of firecone and ran after it, waving her on as he stuffed the firecone in his backpack.
She followed. "Where's it going?"
Fel Or'an, he 'pathed back. Dad showed me.
"Okay." She scanned the jungle to her right, keeping a tight grip on her levitor pistol. Her thoughts returned to what would happen if she didn't get him there safely. Something blocked a probe into why—beyond the obvious that she liked him.
They ran side by side through and over knee-high plants. What happens if I don't make it?
"I don't want to imagine that." She swiped clear a branch for him to go under first.
Me neither, but.... He paused, as an image of Adi's death came to mind.
"Oh, Emmit." His dad interrupted his thoughts. "I'm so sorry. Can you try not to think about that right now, and focus on getting to me so I can protect you?"
Fear of not making it that far pricked him deeply. I'm trying.
"I know. And you're doing great. Just stay focused on what you have to do right now." His voice calmed Emmit, but only for a moment.
What if I don't make it?
"You will. I've been training you for this moment for years. I'm so proud of you already. More than you can know."
Emmit felt it feeding back into him—love and pride, a knowledge of life beyond his years and experience, but also there and very real. It's my fault I lost Adi, Dad. Emmit growled through the pain, refusing to cry.
"No, it isn't," his father said. "It'll... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't protect him better."
The fear opened a gash. What if you can't protect me?
"Son, you've already shown me what you're capable of. I'm blessed with opportunities to prepare you further, but you have to accept that your ultimate protection is from Shephka and your decisions. Right now, all you can do is move forward and try as hard as you can. I hated losing you and your mother, but all I could do was pray that my efforts would lead me back to you again. We wouldn't be here if I’d given up, and now I'm asking that you not give up either."
A sensation of being followed pushed Emmit forward. He swiped away a branch to keep the blue bird in sight. Adrenaline propelled him into the thick jungle in spite of his fear. He tried praying. You sent me on this quest, he told the Cipher. Do you care if I succeed?
The jungle's congestion of trees opened enough for him to run, but his prayer was answered only by the calling of birds and monkeys. His dad's admonishment drew his thoughts to his level-up boost, and the firecone. A quick check of his XP showed 60/155 to reach Level 3. That level up felt unreachable, but it wouldn't prevent him from trying.
28
Cullen followed Cusaugh through the halls of the tri-dome, the largest of the Ancient buildings. The vision prevented him from seeing Cusaugh's face, but when he reached out to the wall, his finger scraped grit as real as the hot air he inhaled. Cusaugh paused before an elaborate landscape painting of a city with a castle set in the valley of a mountain. Purple quartz formed the castle's four-story facade—the same color as the exterior wall, some of the buildings, and the rocks and boulders that dotted the lush grass in the surrounding flatlands. The landscape depicted the lives of the Ancients, from building houses to hunting and trading, and service industries from the health sector to education. Numbers floated in the air, surrounding each person and hovering above the buildings.
"I brought you here to show you how our people lived before Hilayniia fell. When the Cipher first transported us to Vijil, we all enjoyed its powers and system for growth."
As his hand waved across the painting, the people within came to life. In a clearing inside the castle walls, an archer released her arrow. The arrow flew swiftly, planting deep into the red of her distant target. XP were added to her account, along with a higher percentage for bend to accuracy ratio. In the forest outside the walls, XP numbers popped up at the center of a skirmish between two adults protecting a child from a bear. Across the living landscape, XP notifications and alerts tracked advancing abilities, rising classes and sub-levels within the functioning network of the city's buildings and economic infrastructure.
Cusaugh closed his hand into a fist, transforming the painting into shadow. When he opened his palm, a light from the eastern sky revealed the castle walls half-buried and the people gone. When the great city fell, Shephka rescinded His Cipher from His people. His power will build it again, and the council will rule from its seat as darkness swarms from every direction.
A doorway opened, snapping him out of the vision. Willo and Ehli walked in.
Cullen sat up and turned, hoping to see Cusaugh. But he was gone. How am I to find it? he wondered, recalling the scriptures that spoke of the disappearance of the city and how his people had never been able to trace its location.
"Are you okay?" Willo asked.
Cullen jumped. Ehli reached around his back and helped him up.
His head swam as he rolled to one side and put his feet to the floor. "I thought this would help me in battle, not make me drunk."
"Shake it off, Captain." Willo pressed on both arms to steady his stance. "You'll adjust as you walk it off."
Cullen winked and saluted. "Ready to ship out, Captain. Oh, wait. That's me."
Willo didn't smile at his attempt at humor. "You better be."
He shook his arms out to loosen his muscles, and tweaked his neck left and right. "I am. Let's go."
Willo extended her hand to the door. "Ehli, go ahead."
Cullen followed them out. In his thoughts, he returned to the wo
nder of the Ancients' civilization. You going to show me how to get there? he asked the Cipher—or was he asking Cusaugh or Shephka? Whoever was listening.
The echo of their footsteps went silent, and he stopped walking. Willo also halted, and turned to him. Her lips moved as she waved him on, but he couldn't hear the words. He frowned at the silence, but regained his stride. Willo gave him a strange look but continued on, mouthing what he thought was, Walk it off.
How long would it be before they figured out he couldn't hear? He didn't want to reach out to Ehli in case this was her doing, but with each passing second, he grew more anxious that it wasn't her.
"Captain? Can you hear me?" Schaefer asked.
I can. It calmed him some that a reject wasn't responsible. What are you doing?
"Rescuing you and my wife. Are you okay?"
Aside from letting Willo inject me, and being inside a bunker full of rejects, sure, quite well.
"Ehli told me. It's okay. The injection will help you and Ehli once you get out. Where are you?"
I'm following your wife and Willo to the cafeteria, I think. How are you doing this?
Willo took a left, reinforcing his impression of heading toward the cafeteria.
"We're communicating via your neuronet. The earpiece Ocia gave you sent a signal to create this secret channel. Ehli is keeping Willo's attention, but I have to be quick. Ehli shared what Willo told you, and the false vision she imagined to turn you against Torek. It's not true. You know Torek wouldn't betray you like that. You're our pilot home. I believe the writings of Cusaugh are coming true through your mission here."
Cullen wanted to share his vision, but respected the need to save time.
"I believe we'll see it's blessings together," Schaefer continued.
His words resounded with conviction. Was Schaefer to be believed over Willo? Cullen decided he would remain cautious. He trusted Shephka and the Cipher to keep him on the right path. How are Torek and our group?
"They're pushing through rough terrain, but should arrive within the hour."
Okay, what's the plan to get out?
They arrived in the cafeteria. A group stood around the center row of tables. One of the rejects yanked Cullen's rifle away from two others.
"I'm glad your father raised a fighter. We're gonna need that in a minute. What stands between your present and you piloting us back to Vijil will require perfect execution of everything you've ever learned."
The group standing around the table dispersed as Willo, with Ehli close behind, approached. Ehli glanced back at Cullen. He acted as though finding out what was on the table was all he was thinking about.
"What's on that table is your first step. I hope you're limber enough for a long run."
What is it?
The group made room and he stood with Willo between himself and Ehli. On the table lay a crate. Justin popped the heavy plastic latch and lifted the lid. Inside, set on a foam cushion, was another box with a hard-plastic shell.
"Inside that box are the serums they stole from my train. We need them to make new ultras safely. We don't want it in their hands, and we'll need it once we get to Vijil."
*Mission to deliver serum to Schaefer – Activated.*
The notification encouraged Cullen that his decision to work with Schaefer was the right path for him.
Justin pushed a button on the front of the smaller box, but nothing happened. Neither did the lid open at his tug. Though he pushed the button over and over, there was no access. He smashed his fist on the top of the box, causing the box to bounce before resting again on the foam.
Willo put out a hand to stop him. Her lips moved, but Cullen still couldn't hear her words. Justin settled down and gave her room to look at the lock.
Ehli glanced at Cullen, but he pretended interest in Willo's examination of the lock.
"If our lock holds," Schaefer said, "and it should, it will make them bring the boxes to me in hopes I will open them for them."
I've seen your experiments. Maybe we're better off destroying it.
"If we have to, I will. I've made mistakes. But if we can take that with us, we can strengthen our defenses against the Osuna. Would you like me to share what a thirteen looks like—the insect the Osuna use that enters the nose and slowly eats at your brain until you tell them what you want?"
With a blink, Cullen saw a close up of a long container full of black, gleaming insects, numbering in the tens of thousands, crawling over each other. The perspective backed away, and Cullen saw the container was stacked in a room with at least fifteen similar containers.
"Planets have fallen from fewer, and less force. Cusaugh's prophecies foretell them finding Vijil, so I'm just doing my best to prepare us for when they do."
The vision faded away to be replaced by the cafeteria. Justin opened the second crate.
Cullen tried to say that the Cipher was already active, but he couldn't. The thoughts bounced against a barrier.
"Yes, people have died under my care," Schaefer messaged back. "Yes, I could have used more help. But you know as well as I do how hard it is to stay under the Osuna radar. I've done everything possible to get this close to even hoping to win the war. Without my plan, it isn't even a war. It's slavery and slaughter."
These are my people, Cullen thought, reflecting on the bond he'd felt with them as he and Scanis had run through the jungle, even if they'd used deception to lure him here.
"Cullen," Schaefer said, his tone calm while Justin failed to unlock the second smaller case. "I may have had to play the heavy hand with some of them, but we're talking about the survival of billions."
Justin only gave the third inner box a cursory attempt at opening before slamming his fist on the table. Willo had her knife's tip on a nearly invisible crease that surrounded the first locked box. She smacked the butt of the knife into the crease.
"Tell her that if the case opens without the lock being disengaged, the vials inside will be crushed."
So then what? I can't hear anything. If she responds—
"Just tell her, before she wastes the serum. I'm releasing the mute on your hearing."
Okay, Cullen thought, unable to come up with a reason to hold back.
The noise of the room returned as suddenly as if he'd come up from underwater.
"Willo, stop."
Willo spun on him, knife poised over the seam.
"Schaefer says if you break the seal without his code, the vials inside will be crushed."
Willo glared at him, calculation evident in her eyes. "Your neuronet. He should be blocked. It doesn't matter. We have three." She glanced over the crates before returning her gaze to the one in her hand. "If he's bluffing, we can take the other two and force him to open them for us. If he's not…" She winked at Cullen and jammed her knife into the thin seam.
Cullen's suit collar stretched and shot up over his head as a green gas billowed out from newly opened holes in the box in Willo's hand.
"Grab the other two, Ehli, and go!" Schaefer shouted.
Willo dropped the box. It landed on the table with a thunk and tipped over, spewing a thick green cloud into the crowd of rejects. They swatted helplessly, and were soon doubled over, coughing. Ehli coughed a sharp, wet gasp beside him.
Willo fell to her knees, hand shaking as she reached up for Cullen. He shoved the reject holding his rifle and snatched it, then grabbed the two smaller boxes. Guiding Ehli away, they made it out of the cafeteria and into the tunnel beyond. Ehli threw up as she stumbled after him.
The boxes slipped out of Cullen's grasp as he reached out to catch Ehli around the waist. He kept her off her knees, but she was a deadweight. They fell together. He rolled off, trying not to crush her face into the floor. She cried out and stretched a shaking arm up to examine her face.
"Get outside. Now!" Schaefer commanded.
A twisted chorus of screams erupted from the cafeteria, wailing for a revenge Cullen didn't want to wait around for. These were his people, but there wo
uld be no peaceful negotiating.
He clipped his rifle to his vest, picked up the boxes, and turned back to Ehli. She flopped around on the floor, clutching at her head. He swung his backpack off his shoulders, shoved the boxes inside, and almost tore the zipper off as he zipped the now-full pack shut. Shifting his arms back through the straps, he tightened it on his shoulders, then heaved Ehli up by her armpits. Her water-repellent jacket was slick with sweat under her arms, and she slipped back down. He turned to wrap his arm under her knees and swung her up into a fireman's carry.
A shadow passed behind him in the cafeteria. He glanced back to see a figure stumble and fall, hands pressed to its face. Scanis.
Ehli let out a shrill cry. He had to get out. A spike of agony shot through his head. He turned back to see Scanis lying on the floor, stretching a shaking hand that might have pointed at him if it wasn't so contorted in pain.
"The gas won't kill them, if that's what's holding you up," Schaefer said, his words suppressing the pain in Cullen’s head. "But Ehli will be useless if you don't get her out right now."
Ehli retched. He didn't know if leaving was his preferred option, but she needed out of this tunnel. He didn't look back as he jogged toward the exit, but did wonder if Scanis watched.
At length he climbed up the rungs to very welcome sunlight, though it was close to dusk. Ehli's chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. Sunlight glistened off the sweat on her neck as he gently lowered her to a patch of matted vegetation.
"You don't have time to rest," Schaefer said.
Ehli opened her eyes.
Cullen wiped the bile from her chin and neck. His helmet receded into its collar at his mental command.
A concrete plate slid into place atop the hole, sealing the rejects inside.
"That won't hold them for long. You need every second you can get. Ehli, our son is already on his way. The rejects aren't the only predators out there."
