Molly felt herself shuffle backward. “Into the stars? We have to leave Gaitune?” She could feel her protests welling up, ready to put the brakes on.
Arlene shook her head slightly. “No. We will stay on Gaitune, but we need to be away from populated areas.” She paused, contemplating how much to reveal at this early stage.
Molly didn’t give her a choice, though. “Why?” she pressed.
Arlene seemed to force her attention into Molly’s space, as if reading other aspects of her. “You ask a lot of questions for someone who is at her wit’s end.” Arlene frowned a little. “You ready to start exercising some trust?” She paused briefly, waiting for an answer. “It will come in handy when it comes to the part about trusting yourself…” she added.
Molly’s mind boggled. “Right. Erm…” She folded her arms around her, trying to comfort herself. “How long are we going to be away for?”
Arlene shrugged. “A couple of days. Maybe more.” Her eyes glimmered again. “Depends on how fast a study you are,” she winked.
Paige giggled, excited now at the possibilities in store for her friend. “Part of me wishes I was coming, too.”
Molly smiled at her friend.
Arlene glanced over to her, wearing the same look her grandmother often had. “Yes, and if the rest of you felt the same way, you would have continued your practice, instead of getting distracted by fashion and whatnot.”
Paige squinted and looked more closely at Arlene. She had her grandmother’s words and mannerisms down to a T. She blinked, trying to see Arlene again, and as quickly as the feeling of her grandmother had appeared, it disappeared.
Arlene smiled her sage-like smile again. “We each choose our path,” she added, almost sympathetically.
Paige was mesmerized by Arlene’s manner. It was like she was channeling people and energy and a whole heap of things; like she was there and solid, but also not really there and connected to things. It felt strange just looking at her.
Molly shifted her weight, putting her attention back on Arlene. “I need to figure this out with my team. I need to talk to them,” she said firmly.
Arlene nodded. “Of course,” she agreed. “How about you take a couple of hours, talk with them, arrange what you need to, and I’ll come back? You should pack up some clothes and things, too.”
Molly looked concerned about having to suddenly ship out. The safe house was her home. It was where she felt safe. And at such a risky time, when she was going through so much? She wasn’t herself. The last thing she wanted to do was leave the comfort and safety of everything she knew, and wander across an asteroid with some stranger.
Arlene looked at her with reassurance. “Joel will understand,” she told her.
Molly remembered the first time they had met. Arlene had mentioned Joel, calling him a “keeper”. She shuddered, remembering that Arlene had also said he would die for her. That had kinda disrupted her worldview.
And now she was getting the same unsettled feeling again.
“Okay,” she said, now keen to get away. “I’ll go do that. Meet you back here in two hours, then?”
“I’ll be here.” Arlene smiled mysteriously. “See you soon.”
Paige wandered over to the airlock and let her out into the rocky wilderness.
Molly strode off back to the artillery warehouse to find Joel. This was going to be a tricky conversation — no matter what Arlene had said.
Gaitune-67, Base, Artillery warehouse
Molly found Jack, Sean, and Joel in the open plan area of the warehouse. They had gadgets and gizmos out on one of the large tables.
Joel was examining a small device. “You know, it would be good for Brock to have an idea about these things. I’m sure he could incorporate this tech into what he builds.”
Sean was agreeing with him. Jack was sitting down, playing with some other contraption, turning it around in her hands, getting used to using it.
As Molly approached, they each looked up.
Sean grinned. “Got bored meditating, eh?”
Molly nodded. “Something like that.” She looked at Joel. “Can we talk for a minute?” she asked.
Joel looked a little surprised, understanding that she meant not in front of the others. “Sure,” he agreed, handing the device over to Sean. “I’ll be back,” he told him.
Sean nodded.
Jack watched in curiosity as Joel headed over to Molly, and the two disappeared from the warehouse. She smiled, and spoke softly as soon as they were out of earshot. “What is it with those two? Do they have a thing?”
Sean grinned. “Yes and no. They have a thing, of some description, but I’m not sure even they know what kind of ‘thing’ it is.”
Jack rolled her eyes, putting her attention back on the gravity pulse device. “Helpful, Sean. Very helpful.”
Sean shrugged. “Like I said — I’ve not been able to figure it out yet. And I wouldn’t like to tell you wrong.”
Jack sighed and continued working.
* * *
Molly led the way into the ops room and Joel followed.
“So what is it?” he asked, his eyes full of concern.
The door closed behind them, and Molly wandered over to one of the consoles and sat down in an invisible chair. She took a deep breath.
“So, you know I asked ADAM for help?”
Joel frowned a little. “Yeah. And he was going to talk to the inventor of the pod doc.”
Molly nodded. “He was also going to get clearance for someone else to talk to me.”
Joel bowed his head as if to say, “and…?”
“And that person has just shown up. At the front door.”
Joel’s eyes widened in surprise and he subconsciously moved his head back. He wandered over to Molly’s console and leaned on the stand up desk.
“So, who is it?” he asked.
Molly’s eyes traced into the distance. “You remember when we first moved in, and that old lady showed us around?”
Joel nodded, folding his arms on the console.
“Well,” Molly continued. “It’s her. Except she’s not old. She looks, well, a bit younger than you.”
Joel frowned and dropped his head, barely understanding, let alone believing, what Molly was telling him.
“Hang on…” he said slowly. “You’re telling me that she has become younger?”
Molly nodded. “Yeah. No. I… I don’t know. She said something about being able to change her form. But…” she took a breath, unsure if she was really going to say this. “But what if she really is that old, like ninety or whatever, and she can just choose how old she looks?”
Joel shook his head, smiling. His eyes were back on the console as he processed the information. “I think you’ve been watching too much science fiction,” he smiled, looking up at her.
Molly grinned at him. “You may be right,” she agreed. “Honestly, right now, I don’t know which way is up.” She shook her head. “There’s something else.”
Joel shifted his position and put all his weight on one leg, crossing the other over it. “What’s that?”
Molly pursed her lips to one side. “She wants me to do a Vision Quest. It means going out onto the asteroid for a few days.”
Joel’s brow furrowed and he took a deep breath. “And that will help, how?”
Molly shrugged. “At this point, I don’t know. But she seems to have answers.” She looked down at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers. “I dunno. I think I need to do this,” she added quietly.
Joel covered his mouth with his hand as he leaned up from the console. He looked off across the room for a moment. When he brought his gaze back to her, he had a look of determination in his eyes. He moved toward her and crouched next to where she was sitting.
“If you feel you need to do this, and there is even a chance it will help, you’ve got to do it. Apart from anything, you need to learn to control this so that
you’re operational. There’s a lot of responsibility here.”
He paused, looking off across the room behind her, the weight of his words hanging in the air.
“I can’t lose you.”
Molly felt immediately uncomfortable. She was glad he was supporting her, but she could feel the intensity behind his heart. She could feel how much he wanted her to be okay, and it was nice. It was something that, at a distance, she was glad to have. But right now, with him right in front of her, her natural defenses started to shut her down.
She wished she didn’t do this.
She could feel her barriers going up even as she processed his words.
She found her own words to fill the awkward silence she felt. “Okay. Thanks. I’ll let her know.” Her voice cracked with emotion as she felt her dismissal of the moment push him away.
Shit.
She didn’t mean to do it, even as she watched herself speaking the words.
Joel backed off. He stood up, still looking sympathetically at her. Her brain fog lifted as she felt him leave her space, and the intensity of him wanting to make her okay dropped away.
She hated herself. She felt guilty.
But, she justified, right now, I have bigger fish to fry. She needed to get this realm-shifting shit sorted, or else nothing else was going to matter.
“Good,” Joel agreed quickly. “And don’t worry about anything here. I’ll keep an eye on things. We know what needs to be done,” he concluded.
Molly stood up. “Thanks, Joel,” she said, smiling up at him weakly. She reached out and put her hand on his muscular arm. She could feel him energetically in a way she hadn’t been able to before her transformation. It was intense. She wanted to reach him again, but he had receded and she was still scared.
She allowed her hand to drop from his arm as she turned to leave, and went through the back door out into the demon corridor. “She’s coming by to get me in two hours,” she added, walking away.
She didn’t know why, but even though it was only a few days, and even though things were okay with Joel, she had a sensation of extreme separation rising in her chest. She tried to shake the feeling.
This is the crazy shit that happens when you die, she told herself, turning her focus to the practicalities of needing to pack, and needing to make sure that the rest of the team was going to be productive for a few days.
Joel watched her leave the operations hall. He took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and then turned his attention back to the weapons training.
Damn it, Molly, he thought to himself, not being able to make heads nor tails of what was going on.
Gaitune-67, Safe house, Foyer
Molly dropped her bag on the floor in front of her. She wore the casual atmosuit that she’d often wear around the asteroid when they ran errands. She figured she didn’t need to be in combat gear; there was little chance of getting shot on a remote asteroid with only a tiny community of folks who mostly just kept to themselves.
She put her hands on her hips.
“Got everything?” Paige asked, worry tinting the edges of her eyes.
Molly nodded. “Yup. Ready to rock.” She giggled, realizing what she had just said as she was about to head out onto the rock.
There was a knock at the door, and Paige skipped over to the airlock to let Arlene through. She waved as soon as the first door opened. Arlene waved back, smiling.
Paige turned back to Molly while the doors ran their sequence of opening and closing. “You sure about this?” she asked.
Molly nodded. “I need to do it. Besides,” she shrugged, “everyone has their orders. Joel is overseeing everything, and I know you will be the glue that holds everything together here.” She smiled at Paige.
Paige grinned. “You bet I will. Don’t worry about a thing,” she reassured her.
“Yeah,” Molly smiled, “plus, Brock and Pieter are going to be unusually tied up.”
Paige cocked her head. “How so?”
Molly smiled. “I’ve got them working on non-fatal killing machines.” She winked to Paige as her eyes narrowed trying to parse Molly’s comment.
Paige looked confused. Then she chuckled. “Well, okay, then. I like the concept. Anything that is about not killing, I’m a fan of.”
Molly rolled her lips inwards. “Yeah. Me too.”
The second door slid open, and Arlene stepped in. “Ready for your Vision Quest?” she asked, looking at Molly with her hands folded neatly in front of her body.
Molly hauled her gear onto her back. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied, looking as enthusiastically as she could at her new mentor.
Arlene smiled. “Well, okay, dear. Let’s go.” She turned on her heels and led the way out of the airlock. Molly turned and hugged Paige. “See you in a few days!”
Paige returned the hug, squeezing Molly tightly through her slightly bulky suit. “Okay. Be careful out there. And come back safe.”
Molly nodded. “I will.” She turned and slipped through the airlock door, her pack on her back, just as the door started to slide shut.
The second door opened, and the master left the airlock with her student.
Molly glanced back over her shoulder. Paige waved. She couldn’t help but think that Molly had the anxious look of a kid being dragged into school by the teacher; Paige felt like the parent, watching the anguished child and having to hold in her panic and pretend that it was all okay.
The second door slid shut, and Paige could only just make out the two shadows moving away from the door, and out into the asteroid wilderness.
Chapter 10
Gaitune-67, Safe house, Workshop
“Okay, try rerouting the current through the other port, and see what that does,” Pieter told Brock without taking his eyes off the schematics.
Brock made the correction in the high res microscopic device, and the robotic arm made the minute correction. Brock looked up at the results on the panel. “Yep, that gives us enough current. Now we need to think about the backup system, in case this doesn’t detonate.”
Pieter scratched his head and dropped his face into his hands, staring at the schematic in front of him. “Right…” he sighed.
He remained immersed in the puzzle, barely even noticing Joel and Sean walking into the workshop from the demon door.
Brock looked up. “Yo, boys. How’re they hanging?” he asked, fluttering his eyelashes seductively.
Joel kept his face perfectly straight as he answered. “Little to the left, but all good. How’s that new Molly-assignment going?”
Brock waved his hand, before resting it on one hip. “My boy Pieter here nearly has it covered.”
He glanced over at Pieter, who responded with a grunt, keeping his attention on the puzzle.
Joel looked at him, and then at Brock. “I was wondering if we could have a chat about some additional stuff Molly was wanting to incorporate?”
Brock bobbed his head, and then bounced his knees gently. “Sure thing. Has she gone already?”
Joel nodded. “Yeah. She told you?”
Brock picked up his scribble device and moved the group over to the next bench so as not to disturb Pieter.
“Yeah. I told her as long as it stops her demon walking, she should do it.” He paused, and looked serious for a moment. “I don’t think she really wanted to go.”
Sean folded his arms. He shuffled impatiently.
Joel took the conversation back to where it needed to be. “So, we’ve been going through some of the weaponry that the General left us. Molly has tasked us with, wherever possible, turning the tech into less brutal, less fatal devices. So we want blasters that incapacitate without, for instance, exploding a person to pieces.”
Brock nodded slowly. “So, you want them to be less efficient?”
Sean shook his head and stepped forward, resting his arms on the bench. “More efficient. More science-y in order to be more humane, and less
… kill-y.”
Brock looked at Sean, confused. “And you’re behind this?”
Sean frowned a little. “I’m all for not killing when it’s not necessary. But when it’s necessary, it’s about getting the job done. If we need to kill people, we want the settings easy to access — so we flick a switch, and we’re back onto ol’ faithful blast-the-fuck-out-of-the-assholes.”
Brock pretended to be relieved. “Ah, great. I mean, I’m all for a no-killy policy, just in general; but the thought of you being okay with it? Weeeeeelll… I was starting to feel like I’d floated into some alternate universe.”
Sean tried not to smile, but his face contorted spontaneously.
Brock shuffled some devices around on the bench, tidying up while his mind churned. “But since you’re still all rawr-rawr with the grrr-arrghh,” he made a claw movement with one hand, “I guess all is normal in the world.”
He took a deep breath and put his hand to his chest, before cocking one hip. “So, has you a list of said gear you want me to tinker with?”
Sean pretended to be deadly serious, but his over-arched eyebrows provided a clue that he was messing around. “Yeah, just everything in that warehouse through there,” he turned and pointed to the demon door. Then he turned back. “Then you can start on the ships…”
Joel slapped him playfully with the back of his forearm. “Ignore him,” he said to Brock. “Molly is keen on you having the time and headspace to work on the existing things for the General’s mission. But, if you have capacity, we’d love to see what you could do with just a few bags of tricks, for now. If they go well, we’ll look at rolling out the other stuff in sequence, as we get the bandwidth. Current mission is always the top priority, though.” Joel studied Brock’s expressions to make sure he wasn’t being overwhelmed.
Brock nodded. “Got an idea on where you want me to start, then?”
Joel nodded, producing a round from his pocket. “I hear these have been armed with nanites that kill any host that has the wrong kind of nanocytes. We’re wondering what you can do to them to make a Zhyn drop without killing them?”
The Ascension Myth Box Set Page 97