When she had laughed, as Micah died in front of him, he had thought all was lost.
But all hadn’t been lost, and it wasn’t lost now. Not yet, at least. Ellen was alive, William was alive, and if what his team was doing was foolish, it was better than doing nothing. He could barely remember the life he had once led, when he’d been able to make choices. Ever since Blackwater he did what needed to be done, what fate compelled him to do. What were Claire’s words—the Weaver of Fate? Whoever she was, she could be one cruel bitch.
He nearly ran into Burnham, having been too lost in thought to notice the brake lights and the stop hand signal. He twisted the snowmobile and slid to a halt a few feet away.
“Dammit, Ray, you have to pay attention,” Burnham shouted.
“Sorry.” He dismounted as Claire and the others coasted to a stop behind him. He stamped his feet to get some feeling back into them. When everyone had gathered, Burnham studied his map and GPS.
“Looks like we’ll be doing some night riding,” he said. “I miscalculated. That means we have to go slower, but let’s not stop until we reach the tree line. So if you need to take a leak or have something to eat, do it now.”
“I’m not taking my dick out in this shit,” Mantu said. “I’d rather piss my pants than watch Little Mantu turn into a chocolate Popsicle. Why can’t they make heated seats on these things?”
Vinod snorted. “Little Mantu.” The entire circle around his mouth was crusted with ice and his teeth looked like yellow Chiclets.
“Big Mantu’s gonna be a Popsicle, too, if we don’t get somewhere we can build a fire and set up camp,” Burnham said.
Mantu held up his hand. “I didn’t mean to imply my manhood was little. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just a term of endearment for the internationally famous python of pleasure.”
Vinod laughed again.
“Will you two cut it out, please?” Claire snapped. “At least none of you have to expose your entire backside to pee.” She shook her head. “Gods. I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”
“Let’s get moving, then,” Ray said. “My feet are going numb. And a fire sounds really fucking good.”
“Amen,” Claire said.
Mantu put his arm around Vinod. “I’m glad someone here still has a sense of humor.”
Burnham ignored them and climbed back onto the snowmobile. “We’re gonna cut our speed as it gets dark. Pay attention to the brake lights and make sure to use your hand signals. Got that, Ray?”
Ray nodded, putting on his goggles. His hands were already tingling and he couldn’t wait to feel the heat from the warmers again. “I will. Let’s get rolling.”
—
It had been dark for almost two hours before they neared the tree line. Burnham signaled for them to slow, and Ray sent the hand signal rippling back through the line. They stopped short of the trees, stunted evergreens that were half the normal size. Blotches of sky, packed with stars, had begun to appear through the dense cloud cover, and the darkness in the trees was as black as Ray had ever seen.
“We going through that?” Ray asked.
Burnham wiped the ice off his mustache. “We don’t have much choice. But tomorrow we’ll be able to see better.”
Mantu removed the cover on his sled and began pulling out their gear. “Okay, let’s get our tents up. I’ll sleep with anyone except Vinod. I don’t like the way he kept laughing about Little Mantu.”
Vinod’s smile looked like it was going to crack his face.
“Not that again, please,” Claire said.
Burnham slapped Ray on the back. “You and I should find some dry wood. We could all use a nice campfire.”
“Gods, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more,” Claire said, rubbing her mittens together. “I’ve never been this cold in my life.”
Ray shivered. He followed Burnham, who was dragging a tarp into the woods. The snow came up to just above his knees, and walking was laborious. But the need to stay warm kept him moving. When they returned with a tarp full of wood, the others had already set up the two tents and Claire’s headlamp was flashing around inside one of them.
“Welcome to the Hotel Freeze Your Ass Off,” Mantu said. “Checkout is at eleven A.M. on the dot, provided you aren’t dead in the morning. Bathroom is over by that tree—just look for the yellow snow.”
“Who’s sleeping with who?” Vinod asked.
Mantu waved to Vinod. “You can bunk with me, brother. I was just joking. Your snoring is like gentle music to my ears.”
Vinod smiled. “I appreciate that, Mantu, my man.”
“I should warn you, though,” Mantu said. “I have seriously bad gas.”
Vinod’s laugh went on a little too long.
Chapter 11
William was walking down the hall to Victoria’s room when it hit him. He froze in place as his vision went white. His first thought was that he was having a seizure. A kid in his second-grade class used to have them, and once the boy had fallen in the cafeteria and busted open his head. He’d told William it was like being hit by lightning and that right before it hit you it was like a hundred camera flashes going off at the same time.
An explosion of sound and crazy bright whiteness.
But then he heard Isaac’s screaming. So loud it was as if the boy was standing right next to him.
Flames flashed inside his head. His brains were being seared by fire. The heat spread through his body, burning channels to his fingers and toes. He inhaled but choked on thick, oily smoke.
NO STOP, Isaac’s voice said.
GUNS, he shouted.
FIRE, he yelled.
“William?”
Aaron stared at him. “You okay?”
William couldn’t speak. He was having a hard time standing up.
“You want me to call Dr. Regardie?”
He shook his head. The hallway floor tilted and the walls rotated like a carousel. “I’m okay,” he said, running back into his room. He threw up in the sink, heaving so deeply it hurt his chest. But the act of vomiting cleared his head. He splashed cold water on his face. His body still felt on fire, as if he had a high fever. He was rinsing out his mouth when someone poked his arm. Victoria. She didn’t say anything, just threw her arms around his neck. She was squeezing him so tightly it hurt, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
“Did it happen to you, too?” he asked.
She was crying. He hadn’t thought it was possible for her to cry. “Isaac.”
“Yes.” He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. If they both felt the same thing, it had to be true.
“I don’t want to die,” she sobbed.
He held her, terrified, afraid to hug her back but suddenly feeling like this was the only thing that mattered.
—
“I’ve never appreciated fire more in my life,” Claire said.
“You’re not kidding.” Ray moved closer to the flames, holding his hands out in front of him. They had just finished eating—cans of chili and stale crackers Mantu, in a British accent, referred to as lembas bread. Only Ray and Vinod got the joke. Vinod was busy scraping out his bowl with a spoon. Burnham sat quietly, staring at his map.
“I’m not sure chili was such a good idea,” Ray said. “I hope you were joking about your gas.”
Mantu smiled. “Oh, I wasn’t joking. You’ll realize that when you wake up in a Mantu-scented Dutch oven.”
“Gross,” Claire said.
Vinod put down his bowl and spoon and pointed to the sky. “Look,” he said, his eyes wide.
They all looked up.
“Holy shit,” Mantu said.
The sky had completely cleared and the Northern Lights were shimmering in the distance above the trees, coruscating waves of green and yellow.
“It’s beautiful,” Claire said. “Like it’s dancing.”
They all sat quietly, watching the play of light as the fire crackled and spat. Ray had seen the Lights on TV, and had even tau
ght his students about them in science class, but nothing could have prepared him for the magnificence of the rippling waves of color.
Burnham finally broke the silence. “I’m going to bed. I suggest you all do the same. We have a long ride through the forest tomorrow so I want to get started as soon as the sun comes up.”
Ray looked over at Vinod, who was still staring at the sky. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. “You okay?”
Vinod wiped at his eyes and smiled. “I’m okay, Brother Ray.” His lips trembled and fresh tears rolled out of his eyes. He wiped them away and stood up. “Goodnight,” he said quietly and walked to their tent. After he was inside and his headlamp was turned off Ray whispered to Claire.
“Do you think he’s going to be all right?”
Claire frowned. “Something is up with him, but he won’t talk about it.”
Just then Mantu whistled. “Will you two stop whispering and tell me what the fuck those are?” He pointed at the sky.
Ray felt an icy shiver run up his spine. Three bright white lights were moving in a triangular formation across the starry sky toward the north. Bright blobs, streaking at incredible speed, one leading the two others. Just as they appeared to be directly overhead they sped off so quickly they were just flashes and disappeared into the glow of the Northern Lights.
Ray found himself shaking. And not because of the cold. They looked just like the lights he had seen in Blackwater, before his life had been turned upside down by Lily and Crawford.
“I know what they aren’t,” Burnham said quietly. “I’ve flown all of my adult life and I’ve never seen anything like those.”
Ray stood. “I have.” He almost added, And I hoped I would never see them again.
Claire’s eyes found his and communicated her concern. The whole tone of the evening changed abruptly. He wanted to get away from the stars and the open sky. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight,” he said, and disappeared into the tent.
—
It was difficult making their way through the forest despite the fact that the skies had cleared and the sun was out. Burnham led the way, winding through the trees as best he could. But his snowmobile kept getting stuck as he blazed their trail, requiring the others to help dig him out. It was hard, taxing work that left them sweating inside their layers. By the time they stopped to eat lunch they were all exhausted and miserable. No one spoke much as they ate, and when they got moving again the sun was already sinking in the west. They were making terrible progress, and Burnham was noticeably antsy. And the trees seemed to stretch ahead of them into infinity.
When they could finally go no farther they pitched camp and huddled around a fire for dinner and mugs of tea. Burnham scowled as he tried to use the GPS to find their position on the map. Vinod had been feeling sick to his stomach so he barely ate, despite Burnham telling him he needed to keep up his energy. Claire was quiet, too, seemingly lost in thought.
Ray stared into the flames, watching the wood being transformed into fire and ash. He gazed up at the sky. The stars were popping out and soon they’d coalesce into their normal shapes and patterns. If there were no humans left to look up at them did it even matter?
The artifact came from somewhere out there in the black interstellar vastness. Who had sent it? What kind of beings would send time bombs of mass destruction to other worlds? Maybe humans were like cockroaches to them, inconsequential pests, and they—whoever they were, merciless and alien—wanted to clean their galactic house of its vermin.
Just thinking that way opened up a dark, painful hole in his chest. He felt cold in his center, a different kind than was cutting through his clothing. A cold that had no end and just went deeper and deeper into emptiness.
As if sensing his thoughts, Claire leaned close and whispered in his ear. “It’s not hopeless, Ray. They’re rooting for us. The spirits of the land. The living things. The earth itself. So that comforts me. Let it comfort you, too.”
But he was having a hard time believing her.
—
They made better progress the next day. The clouds had rolled back in, stretching like wet, crumpled gauze across the sky. The forest was gradually thinning, and Burnham followed a well-worn caribou trail. They were nearing the edge of the forest, and not too soon for Ray. Mantu had made a joke about a bear that hadn’t been funny at all.
Vinod saw the smoke first. Gray wisps rising above the tree line in the northeast. They all stopped and huddled around Burnham as he pulled out his map and checked it against his GPS. His finger landed on a spot by the old logging road just at the edge of the forest.
“Is that a natural fire, do you think?” Claire asked.
“Nah. Someone set that,” Burnham answered. “I don’t imagine there are a lot of thunderstorms this time of year. And it’s near the logging road. Could be a vehicle fire.”
“Her people?” Ray asked.
Burnham stared at the rising smoke, his face drawn. “Maybe.”
“It’s gotta be her people.” Mantu pulled binoculars out of his backpack and held them up to his eyes. “Who else would be out here?”
“It looks a pretty big fire, too,” Ray said.
Mantu lowered the binoculars. “It sure ain’t a marshmallow roast. That’s a lot of smoke.”
Burnham sat back down on his snowmobile and pulled a hunk of jerky out of his pocket. He chewed, deep in thought, for a few moments. “We should check it out. Two of us.”
Ray looked at the others. They all looked at him, then back to Burnham. “Why?”
Burnham tore off another hunk of jerky and talked as he chewed. “Because we might learn something. Maybe we can catch them by surprise. Take them out.”
“I say we keep going,” Mantu said. “What if it’s just some hunters or trappers? Maybe they left their fire going and the whole forest is going to go up in flames.”
“I will go with you, Brother Burnham,” Vinod said.
“I don’t like this,” Mantu said. “You know what happens in movies when people split up. It’s never good. The monster eats half of them, then starts picking off the others one by one. Y’all have seen it a hundred times.”
“We’ll stay in touch by radio,” Burnham said. “I don’t know what the range is, or how well they’ll work in all these trees, but we’ll find out. Two of us will go and check it out. If it looks dangerous we hightail it to right here.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “You’ll be waiting for us. It’s not far from the road.”
“I agree it’s worth checking out,” Claire said. “As long as you’re careful and it doesn’t delay us too long.”
Burnham counted on his fingers. “I’d say it won’t delay us more than five hours, tops. If it’s safe we’ll take the road and catch up to you. That might make it even shorter.”
Mantu shook his head and cursed under his breath.
Burnham stood. “Mantu, you’re good with the map and GPS, so you can lead Ray and Claire. I’ll plug in the coordinates for the waypoint and we’ll meet up. It will be dark, so go ahead and set up camp. But don’t build a fire, okay? Just to be safe.”
“And if you don’t show up?” Claire asked.
Burnham breathed deeply and blew his breath out through pursed lips. “Keep trying the radio. If that doesn’t work, do your vision thing.”
Claire nodded.
“You’d better be armed to the teeth,” Mantu said. “Be ready to blow those motherfuckers to bits.”
“I had the same training as you, remember. If it comes down to it, they’ll never know what hit them.”
—
The radio crackled to life. Ray was taking a leak against a tree. He fumbled for the walkie-talkie deep in his coat pocket while trying to tuck himself back into the layers of underwear. Burnham’s voice: Click. “You there? Hello? Mantu?”
He dropped the talkie in the snow, then picked it up and brushed it off. “Burnham? It’s Ray. What’s up? You okay?”
Mantu and Claire came rushing over.
&n
bsp; Click. “We’re okay. We’re fine. Looks like Lily’s crew was here but they’re gone.” Click back to static.
“What happened?”
There was a long, staticky silence.
“Burnham?”
Burnham’s radio clicked on but he didn’t say anything. After a lengthy silence he finally spoke. “I think we should wait and talk about it when we get back. We’re taking the road, so will see you about the same time you get to the waypoint.”
They all looked at one another.
“Something bad happened,” Claire said. “I heard it in his voice.”
Ray nodded. “Yeah. Me too.”
Mantu shook his head. “I told you it was a bad idea. But at least they’re okay.”
“Let’s get moving. We’ll know soon enough.”
Chapter 12
It was dark and they had just begun to set up their tents when Claire spotted the lights of two snowmobiles coming over a hill.
“It’s them,” Ray said.
Ray knew something was wrong immediately when they dismounted without saying a word. Vinod’s eyes were glassy and distant, and Burnham wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. Claire made them both tea, and they sat, sipping it quietly while the others hovered over them.
Finally Ray couldn’t take the silence anymore. “So what happened?”
Burnham swallowed uncomfortably. “Her people had been there. Looked like a snowcat and a couple of trucks from the tracks on the road. The tracks turned around and headed back to the compound.”
“How long ago?” Mantu asked.
“Maybe a few hours. Tracks were fresh.”
“And the fire?” Ray asked. “What was that all about?”
Burnham looked at Vinod, but Vinod had his head low, hiding his eyes.
Mantu stood. “What the hell? Spit it out, brothers. What did you find?”
Burnham put down his mug. He stared past them into the darkness. “We saw blood. Lots of it in the snow. Then we found remains. Human remains. Mostly burned.”
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