by Amy DuBoff
“Thanks for letting me know. Get some rest—we’ll be home soon.”
Cris relayed the information to Kate.
She let out a long breath. “I always found it easier to know they were manipulating and using us as adults. But they’re so young… It’s almost like Wil all over again.”
“That’s why this needs to end.”
Cris entered the Command Center and waved at Alec and Kari before heading into his private office on the right side of the room. There was one more person he needed to fill in about Raena and Ryan’s safe retrieval.”
“CACI, initiate an encrypted call to my father on his private line,” he instructed.
The TSS logo illuminated on the viewscreen while the call connected. After two seconds, Reinen’s face appeared onscreen.
“We have them,” Cris said.
“Thank the stars!” Reinen breathed. “Were they harmed?”
“Not as far as we can tell. They’re exhausted but it’s been quite an ordeal.”
His father scowled. “I can’t believe this level of betrayal.”
“This is nothing new,” Cris replied. “The Priesthood has been betraying all of us for generations.”
“I should have listened to you.”
“For what it’s worth, very few other people took me seriously, either.”
Reinen shook his head. “There was a time when I never questioned. Looking back on my life, I wonder how much I never saw because my mind wasn’t open.”
“What we do on the path ahead is what really matters,” Cris told him.
“All the same, an old man can’t help reflecting on his life.” Reinen looked Cris in the eye. “Seeing you surrounded by family… it’s made me realize how I could have done things differently.”
“We’re very different.”
“We are. Still, I didn’t consider the other side. I should have listened to you and tried to see things from your perspective.”
Cris shrugged. “I doubt we would have ever seen eye to eye.”
“Perhaps not, but I owed it to you to try, and I didn’t.”
“There’s a chance for all of us to set things right now. We need to pave the way for a new generation.”
His father nodded. “Yes. I believe it is time for us to look to the future and trust that it is in good hands.”
Cris took a slow breath. “I know that you never felt I had the family’s best interests in mind, but I have. So much of what I’ve done is to prepare for that future we all want.”
Reinen smiled. “I see that now, Cris. I only wish I’d had your wisdom when I set about making my own plans. You’ve been both a father and a leader. I never got either one of those quite right.”
“You did what you thought was best. That’s all any of us can do.”
“Indeed.” Reinen swallowed. “All the same, your instincts are better than mine. The Sietinen Dynasty is about to enter a new era, and you’re the right one to lead us there. A new Sietinen legacy is unfolding before us.”
“I’ll do my best to make you proud.”
“You already have, Cris.”
Such moments of appreciation were all too rare over their years together, but in that moment, none of their past rivalry or bitterness mattered. It was only a son with his father, accepting each other as individuals and uniting under the common thread of wanting to make things better for their loved ones than things had been for them. In the end, nothing else mattered.
* * *
“You did what?” Jason exclaimed, staring at Raena with disbelief.
“I know how it sounds.” She shifted on the bed in her temporary quarters. Across from her, Jason was seated in a desk chair and Ryan was perched on the foot of her bed. Jason had pulled them aside to get the inside story the moment they were free from Medical.
“It still doesn’t feel like I did anything,” Ryan murmured.
“Well, get used to it,” Raena said. “You’re in the Telekinetic Club now. You broke your restraints and then you stopped time with me.” He must have. There’s no way I could have done all that alone.
Jason shook his head. “I miss out on all the excitement. After that initial headache at the same time as your Awakening, I haven’t been able to do anything yet.”
“Trust me, it was not the kind of excitement you’d want,” Raena groaned. “I’m still so creeped out by the whole thing. What they wanted to do to us…”
“And to think everyone trusts the Priesthood…” Ryan scowled.
“The truth will get out,” Raena told him.
“But what do we do now?” her brother asked.
“We train and we get stronger.” Raena glanced at Ryan. “Now we know what they’re up to, and we’re going to stop them.”
CHAPTER 22
Arriving at Headquarters felt oddly like a return home to Raena, despite having spent so little time there. Perhaps it was the proximity to Earth that lended a comfortable feeling to the place, or maybe it was just the company. Either way, she was relieved to have the ordeal with the Priesthood behind her—at least for the time being.
As she rode the elevator down in the main facility with Ryan, Jason, her parents, and grandparents, it occurred to her that her circumstances had changed considerably since they’d left to visit Tararia.
“What are we going to do until classes start?” she asked, adjusting her travel bag on her shoulder.
“You’re going to spend most of your time in a practice chamber,” Wil replied. “I’m still not entirely sure what to do with you.”
“We might have to do what Banks did with me,” Cris said.
“You mean the temporary apprenticeship?” Raena asked.
“Exactly—have some intensive training to skip you ahead to Junior Agent,” her grandfather replied. “Your abilities are uncharacteristically advanced.”
I was looking forward to the chance to train with Ryan. She frowned. “What about the Primus Elite cohort?”
“Like I said, we’ll need to explore our options,” Wil said. “And you’ll need to figure out what you want to study.”
“Don’t you assign classes?” Jason asked.
“Historically, yes. We’re trying something different this year,” Wil replied.
“There used to be set training tracks,” Cris explained. “Command, Navigation, Tactical Support, Diplomacy, and Medical. Students would be assigned one of those tracks at the end of their first year based on aptitude. Those tracks were largely born out of wartime needs, though. We want to open it up for more purely academic pursuits—to attract students with abilities that might otherwise go to a traditional university.”
“Why?” questioned Raena. “Isn’t the TSS here primarily to train people in telekinesis?”
“If that were the case, there never would have been a Militia division,” Cris pointed out. “No, the TSS is more than just a training organization—we offer a unique skill set through our position outside of everyday activity. Our value is in offering an outside perspective, and we now want to deliver that message to the masses.”
Raena nodded. “To expose the Priesthood.”
“And provide a voice for those who have gone unheard,” her father added. “We want anyone who joins us to be able to pick an avenue that best fits them as they join us in that larger mission.”
Do I even have a place in the TSS? With the political unrest, it seems like maybe my place is on Tararia. “I’ll do whatever you need,” she said.
Cris smiled. “For right now, that’s taking some time to unwind and getting your bearings.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jason commented.
“Yeah, same,” Ryan agreed. “The last two days have been a little… intense.”
The elevator arrived at the residential floor of Level 2.
Wil was the first to step out when the doors slid open. “You can stay in the Junior Agent quarters for now,” he said. “Don’t get too settled in, though. You’ll most likely move to the Primus Elite quarters at the
end of the week.”
“Will that be coed?” Jason asked.
Cris frowned. “That’s still a point of contention.”
“I think it’s fine,” Raena offered.
“Yeah, you would,” Jason muttered under his breath.
Raena and Ryan flushed.
“The point,” Wil interjected, “is to have one cohesive Primus Elite group. It was all men last time, but those circumstances were different. I’d like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt to behave appropriately.”
“It’s ultimately your decision,” Cris yielded. “But you didn’t have a roommate like Scott.”
“I’d say that’s exception more than rule,” Wil countered.
“What about Scott?” Saera asked.
“Never mind,” Cris and Kate said in unison.
“We’ll sort it out. Go relax,” Wil said to the teenagers.
“Okay,” Raena acknowledged. “I guess we’ll see you at dinner?”
“Yes, we’ll message you.” Saera squeezed her arm.
“Later.” Raena headed across the lobby with Ryan and Jason. She released a long breath.
“Yeah, right there with you,” Ryan said.
Jason glanced between them. “I still feel out of the loop.”
“Lucky. I wish I could forget what I saw,” Raena replied.
Ryan eyed some Junior Agents walking down the hall. “I don’t think we should talk about anything out in the open.”
“Yeah, good call,” Raena agreed.
They walked in silence for the rest of the way to their temporary quarters. Jason palmed open the door.
Raena gestured for Ryan to go in first.
His eyes widened when he saw the space. “Wow, this is nice.”
“I think they try to make it homey,” Raena said. “Even coming from another planet, I felt comfortable here almost right away.”
“I can’t say the same about my last room,” Ryan murmured.
“Well, let’s get you set up here.” She stepped over to the front room on the left, next to hers in the back.
Jason rolled his eyes and headed for his room in the back right to drop off his travel bag.
“Did I say something wrong?” Ryan asked.
“No. Ignore him.” She tried to suppress the exasperation over her brother’s sudden judgment of her. So he gets to go out with an endless string of girls and when I finally find a guy I like he gets an attitude? Whatever.
Raena walked into Ryan’s room with him and the light came on automatically. The room was just as Raena’s had been when she first arrived, with a tablet and handheld charging on the desktop, and double bed. She had a sudden urge to curl up with him and try to forget the last two days.
Ryan must have been thinking along similar lines because he slid the door shut behind them. “We haven’t had a moment to ourselves since we got away.”
Raena hugged herself. “Did it all really happen?”
“It’s all a blur for me, too.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “You were amazing in there.”
“It wasn’t all me.”
“I’m not so sure.” Ryan brushed the side of her face with his fingertips.
She swallowed and looked down. “The things they said in there about us…”
“Whatever’s between us is what we make it.”
Raena uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on his hips. “I’m glad you were with me.”
Ryan smiled. “Me too. I’m pretty sure I’d still be strapped into that chair without you.”
“I did kind of tear the place apart, didn’t I?”
“In a pretty spectacular fashion, I might add.”
Raena slid her right hand to the back of his neck and leaned up. A tingle passed through her as their lips met.
He embraced her and they lay back on the bed, casting aside the stress and uncertainty from the last two days as they focused only on each other.
For several minutes, Raena was lost in Ryan presence, but she was pulled back to reality by a buzz from the handheld in her pocket.
She pulled back from Ryan. “Sorry.” When she checked the notification, she saw it was a message from her father, asking to meet in the elevator lobby.
“My dad wants to meet with me,” she said.
“Do you think it’s about our escape?” Ryan asked.
“Probably.” Her chest knotted. “I don’t know what else to tell him.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“Yeah.” Raena got up off the bed and Ryan slid down to sit on the end facing her. “I’ll be back soon,” she told him.
He leaned forward and gave her a light kiss. “See you soon.”
* * *
Going against protocol wasn’t Wil’s preferred strategy, but some matters were too important to let go.
The Priests have telekinetic abilities—probably strong ones. For Raena to have escaped… He had to know for sure just how strong she was already.
Wil paced in the lobby on the residential floor of Level 2, waiting for his daughter to arrive. No incoming Trainee would ever see the testing sphere before classes began, let alone go through the final stage of the Course Rank test. Something told him, though, that Raena was unlike any other—not even her brother.
Raena emerged from the adjacent Junior Agent wing. She waved when she spotted him and jogged over. “Hey. What’s up?”
“I know you’ve been through a lot over the last couple of days and I said I’d let you rest, but I was hoping you’d humor me with a little exercise.”
She hesitated for a second. “Sure.”
Wil called the elevator. When it arrived, he set the destination for Level 11.
Raena restyled her ponytail while the car descended and she seemed to be keeping watch on the pulsing white light next to the door.
“Almost there,” Wil told her.
She nodded.
The elevator came to a rest and opened into the plain hallway on Level 11. Wil stepped out and directed his daughter toward the isolation chamber used for Course Rank testing.
When they arrived at the entrance, Wil palmed open the door to the main chamber. “Wait in the center of the room. I’ll be up in the observation area.”
“All right,” Raena said and entered.
Wil jogged up to the monitoring room overlooking the chamber. He hadn’t attended any tests since the Primus Elites had been tested at H2; the last time he’d been in the room was Saera’s Course Rank test shortly before they were married. It was hard to believe that was more than two decades prior.
He activated the intercom while the control interface for the testing equipment initialized. “We’ll get started in just a minute. This should be quick.”
“What is this place?” Raena asked, examining the chamber.
“We test Agents here,” he replied. “I wanted to check your abilities.”
His daughter nodded. “I’m curious, too. I’m not sure I could do those things again now that I’m not in danger.”
“We’ll see.”
The system interface was ready. Wil activated the pedestal to raise the testing sphere from its storage space under the floor.
Raena stepped back when the hatch opened by her feet. “What’s that?”
“It will measure telekinetic input,” Wil explained as the sphere rose into position. “Place your hands on the sphere and try to feed energy into it. Don’t strain yourself—just see what you can do.”
“Sure.” Raena gripped either side of the golden sphere.
The energy readout on Wil’s screen flickered as her fingertips brushed against the sphere, then stabilized as her palms curved around it. She closed her eyes.
Four seconds passed without even a shutter on the meter. Then, the readout spiked, sending the intensity line on an upward trajectory: 3… 5… 7…
Wil stared with disbelief. That’s already more than a Trion Agent…
The numbers continued to rise, though more slowly than the initial spike.
Raena’s face remained calm and serene as she passed 8, and then 9.
Stars! How is this possible? Wil found he was holding his breath as he watched the screen, glancing between the readout and his daughter below. The intensity ticked upward: 9.2… 9.5… 9.7… 9.8…
“Stop!” Wil commanded into the intercom.
Raena opened her eyes and released the sphere. “Whoa, that was weird.”
“What did you feel?” Wil asked, his heart racing.
“It was like I was floating in subspace.”
“Did you sense any sort of barrier up ahead, or something holding you back?”
She shook her head. “No. I only stopped because you told me to.”
Shite! Even my dad only scored 9.7. If she can do this now… Wil took a deep breath. “Thank you for humoring me. It looks like you’re just fine.”
She smiled up at him. “Good. So, was that it?”
“Yes. I’ll be right down.”
Wil cleared the test results from the console, logging a single exported report into an encrypted folder. He had to be careful—few could be trusted with knowledge about that kind of power.
* * *
Raena trudged back to her quarters, still feeling wired from the test. She palmed open the door and found Ryan sitting on the couch facing the door and Jason on a chair across from him. They were each playing on their tablets.
Ryan’s face lit up when he saw her. “What did your dad want?”
“He ran me through a test down on the practice level. Sounds like everything checked out fine, though.”
“Good.”
Raena sat down on the couch next to Ryan, leaning against him slightly.
Across from them, Jason finally looked up from his tablet and scowled.
“Is there a problem?” she asked her brother.
“What’s going on with you two?” he asked.
Raena glanced at Ryan. “We’re just hanging out here.”
Jason crossed his arms and leaned back, eyeing them.
She glared back. “It’s been kind of a crazy week. Can you lay off on the interrogation?”
“I asked one question. That’s not an interrogation.”
“You’re looking at us funny.”
“What are you, five? I’m just sitting here.”
Raena groaned and stood up. “Come on, Ryan.”