Genesis War (Genesis Book 3)

by Eliza Green

  Laura frowned. ‘Indulge me. I need it after everything that’s happened.’ She scooped a portion of the sausage and gravy pie into her mouth.

  ‘You’re eating way more than usual. What’s the matter?’

  ‘I’m just sick of everything.’ Laura shoved another helping of pie. Steam rose from its gooey centre.

  ‘No, I mean your appetite is way off the charts,’ he said. ‘Could it be a side effect of Stephen’s treatment?’

  She shrugged. ‘Possibly. My depression occupied my thoughts half the time and the other half I looked for ways to control it. Now I barely give it a second thought. It feels as though I got my life and appetite back. I can’t explain it, but all food tastes wonderful.’ She picked up the soup and poured half of it down her throat.

  Bill eased the carton away from her mouth. ‘Slow down or you’ll drown yourself in soup. I’ll wait for you to finish so we can talk.’

  ‘Sorry.’ She wiped her mouth with her hand. ‘I’m done. I promise.’ She pushed the rest of the food to one side.

  Bill looked around the terminal. The place buzzed with enough noise that he felt confident their conversation couldn’t be overheard.

  ‘What did you tell Gilchrist about the Indigenes?’ he said.

  ‘Nothing. I gave her some waffle about how we observed them from afar. I didn’t tell her we met them or about all the other stuff that happened.’

  ‘I’m as curious as you are to know why she called you in. You said it seemed as if she wanted to know for personal reason. Were the two of you alone?’

  ‘Yeah. In her office. She seemed distracted. At one point, I even thought she might cry.’ Laura glanced around the room. ‘So what should we do next?’

  ‘I hate to admit that we’re no closer to answers on this end. I should check in with Stephen—see what’s going on there. How would you feel about another trip to Exilon 5?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe,’ said Laura.

  Bill lifted an eyebrow. ‘It wasn’t that long ago you almost bit my hand off to get on that passenger ship.’

  ‘Even if we try to leave the planet, I doubt the government will sit back and do nothing a second time. And I’m almost out of excuses to explain my lengthy absences from work. Turns out the dark conditions on Earth don’t bother me anymore. In fact, I think I prefer them now.’ She glanced at the food on the counter.

  ‘Are you serious?’ Bill turned her face, and attention, away from the food. ‘You hate this place.’

  ‘I still hate it, but the darkness is no longer an issue. Stephen cured me of my seasonal depression.’

  Bill ate more of his sandwich as Laura eyed up the remaining food.

  He sighed. ‘Come on. You’re far too distracted here. Bring it with you.’

  They bagged up the food and walked the short distance back to the Maglev train station.

  Bill brought Laura to his private apartment in Nottingham that he was sure the ITF had not bugged. Just in case, he enabled the sound disruption device as soon as he’d closed the door. Then he ordered Laura to eat while he sat on the sofa and watched her pace round the room with a half-eaten tuna sandwich in her hand.

  Where had this appetite come from? Maybe it was Laura’s way of dealing with the news of Gilchrist’s untimely death. Maybe he shouldn’t have told her about his theory they were being watched.

  When the food was all gone, Laura settled down. ‘That was the best meal I’ve had in a long time—except for Cantaloupe, of course.’ Bill stared as she continued to pace.

  She stared back and stopped. ‘Why are you looking at me like that, Taggart?’

  Her tone surprised Bill. ‘You’re not usually this abrupt with me.’

  ‘Are you going soft on me?’ she cooed. ‘Did I hurt your feelings?’

  ‘You’d have to do more than that, trust me.’ Bill patted the sofa. ‘Why don’t you sit down? You’re making me edgy.’

  Laura’s expression softened. ‘Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.’

  ‘Don’t worry. Sit, please.’

  ‘I’m too wired to sit.’ Laura paced a new pattern in the floor. ‘So, what do we do next?’

  ‘Let’s assume the World Government knows everything we’ve been up to,’ said Bill. ‘And we know they’re up to something too—Gilchrist’s death was no accident.’ Laura nodded. ‘To help the Indigenes, we must find out more about what the government has planned.’

  ‘I agree. So how do we do that?’

  ‘We have to talk to someone who knows. I’ve no choice but to ask Simon outright.’

  ‘I thought we’d ruled out going through the front door,’ said Laura. ‘You were going to try profiling him first.’

  ‘And I still can.’ Bill frowned at her. ‘What happened to the courageous girl who gave two fingers to the world and charged a questionable amount of food to her account an hour ago?’

  ‘I don’t feel that way right now. Why Simon? We still don’t know if we can trust him.’

  ‘There’s no one else to ask. Simon has always stuck up for me. My gut says I should give him a shot.’

  ‘And what if he reports back to Deighton?’

  Bill shrugged ‘It’s a risk we’ll have to take. Believe me, if there was an easier way, I’d take it. We must go on the offensive. Gilchrist must have gotten too close to something, something the board members are planning for Exilon 5.’

  ‘Like what?’ Laura sat down beside him.

  ‘I don’t know, but it feels as though they’re distracting us on purpose, keeping us from helping the Indigenes. And the new Indigene I was telling you about—Serena—is connected somehow.’

  Laura looked dazed for a moment, then shook the moment away. ‘Okay, talk to Simon Shaw. But you’d better be right about him.’

  17

  ‘I should have gone after them yesterday,’ said Stephen. ‘Where are they?’

  He paced outside the tranquillity cave in the southern quadrant. Gabriel, Margaux, Pierre, and Leon with Anton also waited for Serena and Arianna. Leon had Anton pinned against the wall.

  ‘Calm down, Stephen. They’ll show,’ said Pierre.

  Stephen stopped pacing. ‘I want Anton back too, but Serena isn’t going near the Nexus until we understand how it reacts to her.’

  It had been Margaux who’d convinced him the day before not to chase after them. ‘Serena’s an influencer,’ she’d said. ‘She can control the Nexus—she just doesn’t know how.’

  With a restless Anton and Leon struggling to control him, even with Pierre’s help, Stephen had enough.

  ‘I’m going to look for them.’ He strode towards the tunnel but stopped when he heard Serena’s voice. She and Arianna emerged, smiling and at ease in each other’s company.

  ‘Sorry we’re late,’ said Arianna. ‘We had something we needed to try.’

  Jealousy consumed Stephen when he saw Serena’s familiarity with Arianna. What had changed Arianna’s mind? It hadn’t been that long ago she’d admitted to not trusting Serena.

  ‘Where have you two been?’ said Stephen. His anger flared as he looked between the pair. ‘Anton doesn’t have time.’

  ‘I’ll fill you in later,’ said Arianna. She turned to Pierre. ‘This time we all need to connect in so we can help Serena.’

  ‘I said no.’ Stephen grabbed Arianna’s arm. ‘It’s too dangerous. She needs to stay with me.’

  She twisted out of his grip and glared at him.

  ‘I’m sorry, Stephen, but as elder I must insist Serena tries,’ said Pierre. ‘We don’t have a lot of time.’

  Serena move closer to Stephen and touched his arm. He felt her warmth, different to the cold of the Indigenes, pass through his skin. An instant feeling of calm accompanied her touch. ‘I know you’re worried, but I have to try,’ she said. ‘If Anton’s really a part of me, as you’ve suggested he might be, then I must do this for him. I don’t know much about my other life, but maybe he helped me.’

  Stephen dropped his gaze and nodded, as
hamed for putting his own needs above Anton’s one chance to escape Benedict. ‘Get him out of there.’

  Gabriel cleared a row of units in the tranquillity caves by rousing the occupants and telling them to come back later. Groggy at first, the Indigenes became alert when they saw Pierre in the room.

  ‘Remember which unit everyone is in so we can find each other inside,’ said Arianna.

  Gabriel helped Margaux climb into one unit. Then he jumped into the unit next to her.

  ‘Leon, you’d better stay with Anton,’ said Pierre. ‘Stephen, you’re in the next one.’

  Stephen didn’t move.

  ‘Come on. There’s a chance this will work if we all connect in,’ said Pierre.

  ‘It’s not that.’ He paused.

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘I’d like to stay with Serena. I was with her before when the Nexus... reacted to her.’ Arianna’s grip tightened on Serena’s arm and his body shook with anger. Serena trusted him, not Arianna. He knew her secrets. He should be the one to protect her.

  Benedict taunted him. ‘Ah, listen to the pale-faced lovebirds—can’t bear to be away from each other. They’ll make some very ugly children together.’

  ‘I want to stay with Serena,’ said Arianna, ignoring Stephen.

  Stephen’s temper flared. ‘But you don’t trust her.’

  ‘Of course I do, Stephen.’ she said. ‘I can help her.’ The unsure yellow hue of her aura betrayed her words.

  ‘So can I.’ He moved closer to Arianna and gripped the floor with his bare toes, ready to challenge her.

  ‘I’ll be fine, Stephen,’ said Serena. ‘Please, let Arianna try.’

  Pierre stood between Stephen and Arianna. ‘One per unit, please. Stephen—unit—now. Serena, Arianna, take these two.’

  Stephen growled low and jumped into the unit. The awkward landing sent a tremor through his legs. He rubbed away the sensation and sat cross-legged on the stone floor. He heard the others settle in their units and even though Serena and Arianna had been separated, he couldn’t shake his jealousy.

  Pierre spoke. ‘Is everyone in position?’

  They answered him telepathically.

  Stephen closed his eyes and tried to calm his fast breaths. He concentrated on the solid wall that, in his mind, transformed into a shimmery golden and orange lattice. He could feel the Nexus awakening to his presence as a bright, white tendril reached out for him. The tendril wrapped around his arm but refused to take him. He made one last effort to calm his breathing and to purge his negative feelings about Arianna from his mind. He thought about Serena.

  But the Nexus became excited by his thoughts. Instead of pulling him inside, the tendril unwound and tapped him on the arm. Stephen opened his eyes to find a solid wall in front of him. He closed his eyes and the golden lattice with a bright tendril poking through replaced the wall. He could see the Nexus beyond the lattice, pulsating with the energies of the other Indigenes already inside. But the tendril still wouldn’t take him. It continued to tap on his arm, as though it asked his permission.

  He had no time for this. Stephen grabbed the tendril and it snaked around his arm. The more he thought about Serena, the more rough the tendril became until it finally snapped his energy inside.

  Stephen hurtled towards the black chasm between the Nexus wall and his unit, but he slowed his approach enough to steer his energy away from it. He stuck himself to the wall and turned around to see the individual units. Pierre was already inside. Leon remained on the outside with Anton, but he had somehow coaxed Anton’s energy inside. Pierre took charge of Anton’s energy whose colours were distorted inside the Nexus. Faint blues, yellows and reds hid behind his friend’s aura that presented as reddish orange, vermillion and yellowish green. A small, bright ball of energy—Anton’s—separated from Benedict’s large distorted one and retreated to a corner far away from everyone else. The Nexus spun a cocoon around Anton’s small and weakened energy.

  Margaux’s unclear energy came through next, followed by a strong, but inconsistent energy from Gabriel. The Nexus was rough with him. He remembered Gabriel’s anger from the day before over something Benedict had said to him. Whatever it was still played on his mind. Stephen committed to memory what their energy signatures looked like.

  He pushed along the Nexus’s pulsating wall, feeling its energy grow as he searched for Serena’s unit. He could see Arianna inside hers, but not Serena. Where was she? His panic grew. He should have stayed with her.

  The Nexus rippled behind him, almost dislodging his energy and sending him into the bottomless chasm below. Stephen clung to the wall and changed his attitude fast. The Nexus stopped and rippled again; this time it felt more like a heartbeat than a rolling wave. Two energies—Arianna and Serena—entered through the outside units. Stephen froze as a tendril raced towards Serena’s energy. He watched her fight for control, but the Nexus kept coming for her. It wanted her. Jealousy consumed him a second time and the Nexus tried to dislodge him again.

  Then Stephen saw something that surprised him. Arianna put her energy between the Nexus and Serena, and acted like a barrier to fend off the worst of the attacks. Serena hesitated as Arianna put to work a plan they had obviously come up with together. Stephen regretted his earlier words to Arianna, and sought out the others.

  What could they do to help?

  Pierre released Benedict and drifted towards Serena and the Nexus tendrils that continually swiped at her. The energies from other users honed in on Arianna’s empath ability. Stephen targeted Arianna, hoping to pass on his strength so she could protect Serena and fight the Nexus. But the Nexus spun a golden net in front to cut off his attempts as well as the others.

  Arianna’s energy faded as she struggled to protect Serena alone. Other energies, less helpful ones, slipped through the net and stole some of her empathic power away from her. Tiny wisps drifted from her energy ball to theirs. Stephen wondered if Elise, also an empath, had experienced the same power drain: energies adding and drawing away strength, and not always in equal measure. No peace, no solitude, no escape—even inside the Nexus. Just a continuous stream of interruption.

  As Pierre neared the commotion, the Nexus released a new tendril from its wall and blocked his approach. It matched his moves as he tried to evade it. Then Pierre tried to climb over it. It bucked and rippled until Pierre’s energy was thrown backwards towards the Nexus wall. His energy fell and hit the illuminated ledge just below. He launched himself again in Serena and Arianna’s direction.

  Stephen was about to do the same when they all heard a distorted ‘No!’ coming from Arianna.

  Pierre slowed his attack.

  ‘Serena needs to do this,’ said Arianna in a weak and altered voice.

  Pierre retreated and drifted back to the wall.

  The Nexus tendrils fought to get around Arianna to reach Serena, but Arianna’s fading energy kept it at bay.

  ‘You can have her, but not like this,’ she said.

  It took Stephen a moment to realise who Arianna was talking to. The golden tendril receded, and appeared to wait for a command. The hyper energy flattened a little and the Nexus calmed down. Arianna grabbed Serena’s energy and brought it to the front. The Nexus popped and rippled and licked its tendrils at her again. Arianna used her weakening energy to block its advances. This time, the Nexus appeared to obey. She guided the tendril to touch Serena’s arm. It curled around her more gently than before. Arianna peeled its grip away from Serena and the Nexus complied. Then she told Serena to try.

  Serena’s energy moved closer to the thick, rippling tendril. She touched the tendril and it responded to her, but in a respectful way. Then she drifted past the tendril, which mirrored her movements over the large chasm between the Nexus wall and the individual units, and floated towards Anton. The tendril followed her. Pierre floated towards Serena. The Nexus responded by coiling around her.

  ‘Command it,’ said Arianna.

  Serena glanced back at Arianna, then p
ushed against the walls of the tendril. It held fast until she pushed harder. ‘Let go.’

  It relaxed enough for her to slip out of its grip. It retreated a little and stayed back when Serena greeted Pierre.

  The first test. The Nexus didn’t react.

  Stephen moved closer to watch as Serena floated to where Anton’s tiny energy ball hid behind Nexus webbing. Anton’s energy was so weak Stephen could barely see it. The longer he stayed away from the healing power of the Nexus the more strength he lost.

  Serena touched the webbing and it sparked. She commanded the tendril, ‘Let me in.’

  The giant wall rippled and the fine net over Anton’s energy dissolved. Serena grabbed what was left of Anton and drew him out. She brought his energy to the wall and held him against it. Stephen did the same with his own energy and the others copied his move. With everyone in place on the wall, Serena kept hold of Anton.

  Pierre struggled to bring Benedict’s muddied energy to the wall.

  ‘Help him,’ Serena commanded the Nexus.

  The bright tendril wrapped around Benedict and moved him in a downwards direction towards the open chasm.

  ‘No. Not yet,’ said Serena. ‘Beside me.’

  The tendril changed direction and slammed Benedict’s energy against the wall. Benedict grunted. The wall brightened as it drew energy from the connected Indigenes and fed it into Anton. Stephen watched the exchange of power as Anton grew stronger and Benedict shrank until all that remained of him was a small dull nugget.

  Stephen’s energy disconnected from the wall and collapsed onto the ledge below. The Nexus pulled him back and began to restore the energy he had lost. Stephen watched as a tendril curled around what remained of Benedict and dropped him into the chasm. The nugget smacked against the sides of the seemingly endless hole all the way down.

  ‘Good riddance,’ said Pierre.

  Arianna’s dull energy brightened when the net designed to keep other users at bay dissipated. ‘I need to get out of here. The other energies, they’re coming for me.’

  Stephen grabbed Arianna’s energy and floated towards her unit while the others followed. Thousands of uncontrollable energies scrambled after her to steal what little remained of her energy. But without the Nexus to protect them, he almost didn’t get her out. He protected her energy the best he could until she had disconnected. Then he waited until Serena got out. Gabriel, Margaux and Pierre’s energies exited safely. Then with the energies nipping at his heels, Stephen pulled his energy out.