by Eliza Green
‘What else is bothering you? Is it your skills?’
Stephen nodded. ‘I have been trying to live without them, but I don’t know how.’
‘What about Serena? Have you spoken to her about this? Or Anton?’
‘I don’t want to seem less in my mate’s eyes. And Anton—he is taking to his new life like a duck to water.’ He chuckled. ‘Even though I’ve never seen a duck take to water.’
‘Laura could help you to adjust more. She’s been both species—still is. I can speak to her if you’d like?’
Stephen smiled. ‘Thanks, friend, but this is something I have to figure out on my own.’
They walked back to the room where Laura, Jenny, Greyson and Isobel waited.
Stephen nodded his farewells and hugged Jenny, promising to call her more often. Then he entered the stairwell and was gone.
‘It’s time we head back to Earth,’ said Jenny. ‘We’ll head out in a couple of hours. We hope we’ve helped here.’
‘You have.’ Bill flicked his gaze to Laura. ‘I’m not sure we could have gotten here without you.’
Jenny smiled. ‘You would have, eventually.’
Laura hugged Jenny and Greyson, even Isobel, who looked stiff and awkward receiving it.
Isobel pulled out of the hug first, and said to Jenny, ‘I would like to say goodbye to Ben.’
‘I thought you might,’ Jenny said with a nod. ‘I arranged for Eleanor to meet us at the docking station.’
‘Thank you.’
Bill had known of her connection to Ben but not how deep it ran.
‘When did you two get so close?’ he asked her.
She gave him a withering stare, but answered in a soft tone. ‘The second he treated me like I was someone and not a thing.’
‘Do you think the new agreement can work? Here, I mean,’ asked Laura.
‘It will, if all parties keep an open mind,’ said Jenny.
‘Great,’ muttered Bill. ‘We have plenty of open minds around here.’
39
Stephen ran all the way back to District Three. His speed was improving with each new day, but not fast enough. He still lacked the speed he knew he could achieve. He’d been the fastest runner in District Three once. Now Evolvers could outrun him. He considered the worst-case scenario: that he would never get his skills back. Could he live with that?
Stephen arrived at the door to the district, passed through the environmental controls and removed his air-filtration device. Waiting just inside was Anton. He was leaning against the rock wall, arms folded.
‘How did you get on?’
‘Good.’ Stephen cleaned the device on the front of his tunic.
A horrified Anton jerked off the wall. ‘When you design the air-filtration device, you can clean it on whatever surface you like.’
‘Sorry, I’m a bit distracted.’
‘I’ll say.’ Anton snatched the device from him, and held it like it was a precious jewel. ‘If things went well, why do you look like you lost?’
The quiet in the district unsettled Stephen more than usual today. ‘What I wouldn’t give to hear you speak to me, mind to mind.’
Anton closed his hand over the device and pocketed it. ‘It will come back.’
‘When?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘And what if it never comes back?’
‘Then it never comes back.’ Anton stepped closer and poked Stephen in the chest. ‘You’re still you.’
‘Didn’t feel like it on the way back here.’
Anton’s eyes widened a little. ‘What happened? More trouble?’
Stephen sighed. ‘No. I have lost my speed.’
Anton chuckled. That irritated Stephen.
‘There’s nothing wrong with your speed.’
He disagreed. ‘Yes, there is. I used to run much faster.’
‘Maybe eight years ago, but in the last few years I’ve noticed others gaining on you.’
‘Are you saying my skill has been lessening for years and I haven’t noticed?’
Anton folded his arms, a smug look on his face. ‘I’d say that’s exactly it. The virus weakened your abilities, and all of a sudden you notice you’ve lost speed. Well, guess what, Stephen? You’ve been losing it because you’re getting old.’
Stephen turned away, refusing to accept that. He turned back. ‘I am still fast.’
‘Yes, you are, but you have only been weakened by the virus, not incapacitated.’
Stephen wished it were that simple. ‘I cannot use my telepathy.’
‘The virus targeted that part in all of us. The vaccine switched it off. We may never switch it back on.’
Harvey had administered the vaccine. Perhaps that had been his plan all along. ‘Do you think Harvey was starting his eugenics project early, through administration of the vaccine?’
Anton pondered it, then shook his head. ‘From what I saw, Jameson was the lead doctor. I don’t think so.’
But the more Stephen thought about it, the more it might explain why his skills had not yet returned.
‘I have lost my most recent skills.’ His ability to see auras in colours and his envisioning skill. ‘What I wouldn’t give to see if this all works out.’
Anton walked away, calling over his shoulder. ‘Maybe it’s better we don’t know. Ever think about that?’
With a sigh, Stephen followed the tunnels back to Council Chambers. He was starting to become like Pierre, favouring the chambers over his private domicile. He entered the space and went to close the door, but a surprise knock on the wood stopped him. Serena pushed her way inside.
‘I saw Anton on his way back to the labs. He told me you were back.’ She closed the door behind her, blocking out all of the district’s sounds. ‘How did it go?’
‘Well.’
‘Why do you look like you’ve lost?’
It was what Anton had said to him. He missed the days when he’d been harder to read.
Serena chuckled. ‘You were always easy to read.’
His chest twanged with jealousy that she still had her abilities.
He turned away from her. ‘I’m tired. I just want to be alone.’
‘I’m afraid that’s not possible.’
He turned back. ‘Why not?’
‘Because I want to try something with you. You’ve been moody for far too long. If it doesn’t work then promise me you’ll move on. Okay?’
‘Care to elaborate?’
‘No.’ She pulled the door open and hooked her arm in his. ‘But I would like you to come with me.’
Stephen relented and allowed Serena to lead him to a tunnel with several alcoves, in an area he’d seen others use before.
‘Laura told me Clement and others use this place to enhance their skills. It has a small concentration of gamma rock here.’
Amplification. Like the tranquillity caves and the Nexus. The smaller pockets of gamma had been too small to turn into a working tranquillity cave. If the Nexus couldn’t help him, he didn’t see how this place could.
‘What are we doing here?’
‘I thought we could try something we attempted some time ago.’
He wracked his brain to think what it could be. ‘You’re going to have to give me a clue.’
‘Remember when you first got your envisioning skill and you couldn’t get it to work?’
He did; Serena had helped him to unlock his skill.
His heart beat faster. ‘Do you think it will work?’
She shrugged. ‘We can only try. I am an influencer and share all your skills in part, including the envisioning one. It worked once.’
In all the drama, he’d forgotten what she was capable of.
‘Okay.’
Serena took Stephen’s hands in hers. The familiar act set butterflies off in his stomach. The last time he’d done this with Serena, his vision had shown Charles Deighton arriving on Earth, along
with Tanya Li and two of the board members. That had been right before the showdown that had killed Pierre. What if his visions foretold an equally sinister event?
‘Relax.’ She shook his hands gently. ‘Let it happen naturally; don’t force it.’
Easier said than done. Stephen drew in an uneven breath and rattled it out.
His gaze combed the alcove, where the gamma must be at its most concentrated. If anything was working, he should feel the vibrations from its power. But his head remained silent.
Serena gasped a little and squeezed his hands. ‘There, can you see it?’
He tensed and concentrated on what she saw, except he had no idea where to look.
‘Close your eyes,’ she commanded.
He did, seeing only the black of his inner eyelids. The feel of Serena’s influence lapped over him like a warm breeze.
A spark of light flashed off centre. He searched for it. It flashed again.
‘I can’t believe we didn’t try this before, using your influence on me.’
‘I’m not doing much,’ said Serena. ‘The blockade is all yours.’
Stephen opened his eyes. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You lost faith that you could get your visions back. I’m giving you that faith, and it appears to be working, so close your eyes.’
Stephen did and waited for the flash to come again. It did, once, twice, three times. Then again, this time more drawn out, until he saw glimpses of legs running in the dirt.
His own legs turned to jelly; Serena held him up.
‘That’s it, you’re doing it,’ she said.
His heart pounded thickly as he studied the scene more. Someone was running? Danger?
‘I don’t think so,’ Serena responded to his private thought.
‘Then what?’
More flashes appeared, this time of a covered arm, then of long, flowing hair. Children. Human.
Stephen smiled. ‘They’re playing.’
‘But look who they’re playing with.’
He concentrated harder on the scene. Maybe she could see more than him.
‘To the left.’
He allowed the scene to unfold. The flashes turned into longer spells of time. Children running, laughing breathlessly. Being chased by more children.
No, not human children. Evolvers.
‘What are they doing?’ He tracked the bald offspring of the Indigenes, like a parent worried for their safety.
‘Where are their parents?’ He eyed the remaining scene, but saw the children were alone.
‘I don’t know,’ said Serena.
Stephen looked around him when the flashes permitted. Someone was standing to his left—Laura, and another woman he didn’t recognise. Then two more women.
He looked behind him. Indigenes stood nervously to the rear, watching their offspring, like Stephen just had.
Future Laura turned to him and said, ‘I bet you never thought this day would come.’
A reply came, Serena’s. ‘No, I didn’t.’
‘Children that young don’t care about differences, not really.’
‘Which one’s yours?’ said one of the human women to Serena.
Future Serena pointed at a smiling, young female who was playing a hand game with a girl around five. ‘That one.’
A burst of love spread through Stephen’s chest at the sight of her. The female was oddly familiar to him.
Serena gasped, prompting Stephen to open his eyes. Her mouth hung open in shock. And then he understood.
‘Mine?’ she whispered.
Stephen pressed his forehead to hers, feeling every emotion from that future moment. ‘Ours.’
☼
Thank you for reading Genesis Rising. I hope you enjoyed it and the series. I’m sad to see it end, but it’s time to dream up another set of stories. The series may be over, but the fun is not (yet). Scroll down for a special bonus story.
Thank you to my editor, Sara, and the fabulous cover design team at Deranged Doctor Design. Thanks to Jen, my early beta reader, for ironing out the kinks in both books.
If you enjoyed Genesis Rising, please consider leaving a review. I would appreciate the online love. Plus, it gets me more visibility.
GOODREADS
Before you go, I’ve included a special launch-week link to a bonus story called Genesis Design. It charts Harvey Buchanan’s journey into genetics, and explains how he got his start with the infamous Charles Deighton.
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Other Books by Eliza Green
DUALITY
A surprising journey into the mind of one delusional man starts with one question: Why did you kill her? To unlock the secrets of his mind, Jonathan must accept his reality might not be his own.
DUALITY is a mind bending science fiction thriller about blind trust, a future not yet written, and the choices we make to protect ourselves. Similar to the Matrix and Inception, Duality will force you to ponder your own reality.
READ DUALITY NOW
CLICK HERE for a complete list of Eliza Green’s books.
About the Author
Eliza Green tried her hand at fashion designing, massage, painting, and even ghost hunting, before finding her love of writing. She often wonders if her desire to change the ending of a particular glittery vampire story steered her in that direction (it did). After earning her degree in marketing, Eliza went on to work in everything but marketing, but swears she uses it in everyday life, or so she tells her bank manager.
Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, she lives there with her sci-fi loving, evil genius best friend. When not working on her next amazing science fiction adventure, you can find her reading, indulging in new food at an amazing restaurant or simply singing along to something with a half decent beat.
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