“Yes,” I reply. “When I stepped away, that’s because Justice called. I have my powers once more.”
The glittering particles whirl into the air, creating a snowstorm of light around us. My silver sentient don’t always need to shine, but when they do? It’s truly beautiful.
Meimi turns about so we’re face-to-face. “What else did Justice tell you? Anything … good?”
I know what she’s really asking. And after months of waiting, I couldn’t be happier to answer this particular question.
“Justice confirmed that we’re now hidden from my father.” I love seeing the reflection of my gleaming sentient in her green eyes.
“Does that mean what I think it means?”
“Yes, you can have your memories returned. If that’s what you want.”
“That’s everything I want.”
Going up on tiptoe, she brushes her lips against mine. I soak in her feel, scent, and essence. Her kiss embodies everything that is strong and lovely. I brush my tongue across the seam of her lips, soaking in every aspect of this moment.
And of my transcendent.
43 Meimi
Thorne pulls me closer against him. I run my fingers across the contour of the chest plate on his body armor. Our kiss deepens.
Images appear in my mind.
A slim woman with white-blonde hair and deep laugh lines. My mother.
A younger version of her. That’s Luci.
I picture Zoe, Chloe, and I sitting in mismatched chairs at the back of a double-wide trailer while we giggle our way through math class … then I witness myself going on tiptoe to wag my pointer finger in Fritz’s square face, telling him how my latest prototype is worth double the credits … and finally I watch Miss Edith making one of her ever-present cups of tea in our kitchen at Ozymandias Chemical. Mom and I chose to hide there after she became more catatonic.
Leaning back, I break the kiss.
“What’s wrong?” asks Thorne.
“My memories are returning.”
“That’s wonderful.” Thorne gives me one of his dimpled smiles.
Fresh recollections pour through my mind. “Right before Godwin got me, Mom had this really lucid day. She and I decided to work the drift, but we ended up flipping the factory into two-dimensional space-time. And you materialized in the kitchen.”
“That’s right. Miss Edith said I was a keeper.”
With that, Thorne’s emotions pour through me. I feel the rock-solid strength of his devotion. The spark of hope for our future. The growing heat of his desire.
“Sharing emotions,” I whisper. “That also happened the first time I saw you. It’s starting again.”
“Yes.” Thorne packs all the joy in the universe into that single word. “When we first saw each other, we shared feelings as well as visions of the future.”
I smile from ear to ear. “That’s right. We were riding hover bikes.”
“And dancing,” adds Thorne.
“But then Godwin came.” My heart sinks. “Luci helped him take me. You knew he would wipe my memory, so you gave me that kiss. And you warned it would anger your father.”
“It did. The connection between us turned too powerful in that moment. It sent ripples through the omniverse. My father became convinced that you were Justice’s transcendent.”
“Why Justice?”
“Because he’s the obvious choice for the honor of a transcendent.” Thorne shakes his head. “What you’ve seen me do with sentient is nothing. I don’t even deserve the title of royal. Everyone knows it. You should as well.” He cups my hands within his and kisses my fingertips. “Finding you has been the greatest adventure of my life. I can’t begin to explain how rare it is for anyone to discover their transcendent, but especially for me.”
“That’s just wrong.”
Thorne tilts his head. “How so?”
“We just spent months saving millions of people that someone else has labeled undeserving. And you’re carrying that same self-hatred in your heart. Controlling sentient doesn’t change who you are.”
“It does to Umbrans.”
“Well, it doesn’t to me. Ever.”
Thorne grins, and those amazing dimples return in full force. He leans in, ready to kiss me again, but then pauses.
Thorne slowly turns around. That’s when I see it. A loop of particles forming in the air. I know that shape anywhere.
A drift void.
Only this one is unlike anything I’ve seen before. “Is that red?” I ask. My thoughts spin through everything I know about drift voids. “Didn’t someone say the red ones mean exile?”
“It’s just light reflecting off the rusted metal,” says Thorne. “That’s not a red exile void. It’s black.” Thorne’s next words send lines of shock down my spine. “Someone’s coming to fight us.” Beside us, the loop of particles transforms into a massive round of darkness that floats suspended in midair.
Thorne doesn’t need to say anything more.
Images flicker in my mind’s eye. A man who’s as tall as Justice, but stockier. His face handsome, but covered in scars.
“Cole is on his way,” I whisper.
Then Thorne says something I never expected.
“Meimi, you’re blue.”
“I’m what?” I shake my head, dismissing the vision of Cole. I lift my arms, examining my skin. “I don’t see anything.”
“Your skin turned blue for a moment.” Thorne beams. “Do you have any idea what that means?”
CRASH!
Cole punches a hole through his reality into ours. My heart sinks.
I knew things were going too well to last.
44 Thorne
“At some point, every warrior faces their last battle. Let yours be fought with honor.” – Wu Zhao Zetain, The Art of Sentient War
My father crouches in the small metal room. He’s already an extra foot tall, thanks to his battle sentient. Moving quickly, I shift my stance so Meimi is behind me. If nothing else, I can use my body as a barrier between her and Cole. My heart thuds against my rib cage. Scenarios race through my head.
The last time Cole appeared, I was able to bring my father back. It hurt like hell, but it worked.
The key is to get him talking.
“How did you find me?” I ask.
“The moment I detected that Justice had a transcendent here, I knew you’d deny your crimes. Thanks to my weakness, I couldn’t bring myself kill you before without proof.”
“That’s not weakness. You’re my father.”
“I’m Emperor first. That’s why I needed to lure you both out into the open. And then I got lucky. Godwin took the transcendent and wiped her memory, so I gave that doctor some filament technology that would block your sentient power.”
My thoughts return to the first time Godwin took me and Meimi into the Simulacrum. “The master control panel in the podium. You gave that to Godwin?”
“Who else could have managed it?” asks Cole. “I waited for you to take the girl to Justice. Return her memories. Usurp my crown. But you delayed.” Cole’s mouth twists into a sneer. “You were taking Justice’s transcendent from him, weren’t you? Or trying to?”
Meimi steps out from behind me. “Thorne helped me save millions of lives. That’s why we didn’t leave the Boston Dome. It had nothing to do with you.”
Cole tips back his dark Stetson. “You can believe that, little lady. I know better. My boy Thorne has been playing you and Justice both. He thinks he can steal Justice’s transcendent along with my rule.” My father glares in my direction. “But he’ll never have the strength to pull it off.”
My first impulse is to press Meimi behind me again, but this concerns her as well. If she wants to speak to Cole, that’s her right. That said, if my father makes one move toward hurting her, things will change. I may not have many sentient, but I will lay them all down along with my life before I’ll let Cole hurt Meimi.
“I needed things to get a move on,” states Cole
. “So I let the protections fall from the Boston Dome. And then I let Slate think he found a way to block y’all from me.” He grits his teeth. “Now I have the proof I need. You and Justice are traitors. The girl must die.”
Panic and resolve churn through my body in equal measure. How can I protect my transcendent? An answer appears.
My brothers. I need Justice and Slate.
I send my sentient images of the small earpiece I use to communicate across universes. Particles rise from my skin, quickly forming the device.
“Don’t you dare call in Justice and Slate,” bellows Cole. “This is between you and me.”
More options align. Another plan takes shape.
“Fine,” I reply, my voice dead calm. “Then you and I fight. Not here. And you don’t touch Meimi.”
“Agreed.” Cole’s wild gaze locks on my transcendent. “Once you’re dead, I can always come back for the girl.”
I grip Meimi’s hands. “Once I’m gone, you run. Find Fritz. Get another identity. Never contact anyone from Umbra again. Do that, and he won’t find you.”
“Listen to Thorne, little lady,” adds Cole. “I got no beef with you, so long as you stay away from Umbra, Justice, and my rule. Never been one to like getting hands-on with ending a female.”
Meimi’s face pales. She speaks a single word. “No.”
Cole lifts his right arm. Black particles rise from his skin, quickly forming into a spinning whirl. A heartbeat later, there’s another black plate hanging in midair. Cole punches through it and saunters off into another dimension.
I kiss Meimi one last time.
“Run,” I whisper.
And then I follow my father.
45 Meimi
Hoisting up my skirts, I rush through the open vortex between our worlds. For a moment, it feels as if I’m suspended in space. Zero gravity. Perfect darkness.
Then I land on my butt and freeze, not believing what I’m seeing.
First of all, there’s no sign of Thorne or Cole.
Second, what I do see makes no sense.
Before me sprawls an abandoned settlement from the Old West. Twenty wooden structures line a dusty central street. A sign reads Town of Vingian Knot, Population: 1,204. Beyond the buildings, open prairies stretch off in every direction. Low hills overlap along the horizon line. Two searingly bright suns burn down from a pale blue sky. That settles it.
This isn’t Earth.
It’s Umbra.
Thorne once told me his planet was like the Wild West. In fact, Thorne’s older brother Justice reminds me of a cowboy.
But abandoned towns on deserted prairies? Not what I expected.
A tumbleweed rolls by. Up close, the dried stalks glimmer with hidden technology. Filaments, just like what makes up the box that holds the Lacerator. I pat the pocket of my dress.
Yes, the Lacerator’s container is still there. When it swapped it out of the Crawler, I set it into pocket for safe keeping.
But where is Thorne?
I step toward the main drag of town. Dust colors the bottom of my fancy party dress. I cup my hand by my mouth.
“Thorne?”
No reply. Not in words, anyway. That said, there’s no mistaking the rhythmic thuds sounding from the building marked General Store.
With hesitant steps, I approach the storefront. After all, this is a strange planet. I could run across anything.
“Thorne?” I ask again.
CRASH!
Thorne and Cole smash through the large front window of the general store. A dust cloud erupts from the spot where they hit the ground. Cole quickly rises to stand. The Emperor looks fit and angry. Nearby, Thorne staggers back to his feet. Blood streams from his temple.
Hoisting my skirts again, I race toward Thorne. Somewhere along the line, I lost my heels, so I’m barefoot as I speed across the packed earth. Thorne spies me and gasps.
“Meimi, stay back.”
“Not a chance,” I cry.
I rush closer. Thorne’s only twenty yards away now.
Cole narrows his eyes in my direction. “Welcome to Umbra.” He tips up his Stetson. With that movement, the hat bursts into a small cloud of particles before disappearing back into Cole’s flesh. “Here’s where you’ll die.”
“No!” cries Thorne. “You keep your word. This is our fight. Meimi stays free.”
Cole gives Thorne a twisted smile. “Maybe.”
I force myself to go faster.
Ten yards.
Moving with impossible speed, Cole throws dozens of rapid punches at Thorne’s skull, ribs, and kidneys. Thorne moves just as quickly, blocking each attack. Cole pauses, barely winded. Thorne braces his arms on his knees as he catches his breath.
Five yards away now.
“Son,” declares Cole. “This is getting on my nerves.” A cloud of particles appears around Cole’s right arm. The next instant, those dark bits solidify into a long Winchester rifle. Cole raises the weapon, aims at Thorne, and fires.
BOOM!
The bullet strikes Thorne squarely in the chest. He’s thrown clear across the street, through another glass wall, and into a building marked Saloon. Cole cocks his rifle. “Bet you didn’t know Crown Sentient could do that, eh, son?”
Cole marches across the street. I follow behind, my mind turning fuzzy with worry and shock. What can I do here? How can I save Thorne?
I follow Cole into the empty saloon. Overturned tables and chairs cover the floor. An old bar lines one wall. The shelves behind it are filled with shot glasses, cobwebs, and the occasional empty bottle.
Thorne sits against the far wall. The wood behind him buckles in from the impact of his back slamming into it. With every breath, Thorne’s lungs gurgle ominously. Splatters of blood line the nearby wall and floor. My heart lurches in my chest.
This can’t be happening.
Cole saunters over to Thorne and stops. Raising his right arm, Cole points his sentient shotgun straight into Thorne’s face. “You shouldn’t have double-crossed me,” says Cole, his voice low and deadly. “No transcendents.”
My mind races through options. I could distract Cole, but that won’t last long. There’s nothing here that could possibly make a dent in that man. After all, I saw Thorne punch right through Vargas’s Merciless armor. And if Thorne can’t get in a solid hit on Cole, what chance do I have?
Picturs appear in my mind. I see myself holding the container with Lacerator inside. The thought isn’t my own.
I gasp, realizing the Lacerator itself is sending me images.
Memories appear. This happened once before. I did meet the Lacerator back at RCM1. The creature didn’t hurt me. Instead, it took down my enemies. But would the Lacerator attack the Emperor of the Omniverse at my command?
One way to find out.
I pull out the small container from my pocket. The motion feels natural. Inevitable, even. Another image reappears in my head. It’s one of me in my pink dress, opening the Lacerator’s container.
So that’s exactly what I do.
46 Thorne
“Of all painful words, the most hurtful by far is farewell.” – Empress Janais, The Fifth Age of Umbra
Every inch of my body screams in agony. Through the pain, Meimi steps into the empty saloon, her bare feet leaving behind a trail of footsteps on the dusty floor. Light seems to surround her. My girl is a vision of beauty amid so many shadows and cobwebs.
If I die now, the last thing I see will be her face. There are worse things.
Cole jabs his Winchester at my cheek. “You hear me, son?”
With the little air I have left, I force out a few words. “You’re hard to miss.” Even if I wanted to summon Justice and Slate now, I don’t have the energy. It’s everything my sentient can do to slow down my death.
“Then you listen to me, careful-like. In my duty as Emperor of the Omniverse, I hereby…”
Cole keeps saying things. I don’t hear a word. Instead, I’m awestruck by Meimi. She’s holding t
he Lacerator’s nest in her hands.
And she’s opened that container.
In all the shock with Cole’s arrival, I’d forgotten about my kiss with Meimi. Afterward, her skin had shone blue for the barest of seconds. It was so fast, I almost thought my mind was playing tricks on me. But seeing my girl now? There’s no question what’s happening. The Lacerator is pulling itself out of the box.
One claw.
Two.
It appears as a haze of particles before her.
This is more than the action of a sentient swarm randomly deciding not to murder a human. Only sentient that have bonded to another Umbran will work to protect their host. If I had enough strength left in me, that’s what mine would do.
Meimi isn’t human.
She’s Umbran.
Somehow, she got separated from her sentient. A realization strikes me. That’s why the Lacerator kept escaping the Boston Dome. It wasn’t hunting down Meimi to kill her, but to reunite with its Umbran.
I open my mouth, trying to tell her the truth. It’s all I can do to suck in a small gasp of rough breath. White spots take over my vision. Cole’s execution speech transforms into a low drone in the back of my consciousness.
Fear and pain ebb from my body.
Now, my death can be peaceful.
Meimi is Umbran. She’ll always be safe.
47 Meimi
I stand transfixed by the sight. The Lacerator stands before me, its semitransparent body taking what’s become a familiar shape.
After all, I have my memories back, so I recall how this creature looked when I first saw it at RCM1: seven feet tall with a wide chest and stout legs. Dinosaur-style spikes protrude from its spine. Empty holes serve as its eyes. Razor-sharp teeth line its overly wide mouth. And the entire creature is formed from particles suspended in space, like so many bits of consciousness in amber.
I gasp.
It’s gorgeous.
Images flash in my head. The Lacerator turns on Cole, tearing the Emperor away from Thorne. Next the creature opens a drift void to my home world. I escape through the portal.
Alien Minds: Dimension Drift, Book 1 Page 21