Eddy shook his head. This is no time for daydreaming.
He went out into the hallway. The walls were bare and white—in another age, they might have held faded photographs of parents and grandparents, of children hard at work out on the farm. So many lost memories.
He found Sven in the living room. The man was lighting a candle on a small shelf beneath a wooden cross. It was one of the few decorations in the house, something that made it stand out immediately.
“Sorry to disturb you,” Eddy said softly. “Trying to keep myself awake.”
Sven turned and gave him a friendly smile. “I couldn’t sleep.” He glanced back at the cross and candle. “You probably think I’m old-fashioned.”
Eddy shook his head. “Not at all. There’s a lot of comfort in religion, and we could all use a bit of that now.”
Sven nodded. “How are the children?”
“Hard to tell. They seem peaceful.”
“Here, take a seat.” Sven gestured toward the couch and then sat down in one of the hand-carved chairs. “They are amazing, aren’t they?”
“The kids?”
“Yes.” He picked up a pipe and dropped in a small handful of crushed leaves. “Medicinal.”
Eddy grinned. Some things never changed.
“It’s a new hybrid. Someone has been growing it about half the circle from here.”
“Is it good?” Eddy had smoked his share of weed and tobacco before.
“Very. Wanna give it a try?” He held out the pipe. “Mellow. No nicotine. It’s almost healthy.”
Eddy accepted it and took a toke. It spread through his lungs and gave him a delightful feeling of warmth throughout his body. “Very nice.” He handed it back. “Have you always been religious?”
“Yes. Well, the Church of Sweden is… used to be one of the most progressive churches in the world. So I’m not a religious nut, if that’s what you meant.”
Eddy laughed. “Not at all. I’ve always been more of an agnostic, myself. But I have great respect for those of the faith.” He grinned lopsidedly. “Usually.”
“Touché.” Sven set down his pipe. “Sandra and I were talking about these children of yours. People fear them, you know.”
Eddy nodded. “Do you?”
“No.” Sven crossed his hands in his lap. “They’re God’s children, like any other.” He reached up and scratched the back of his head. “Or maybe not like any other. They’re our salvation, I think.”
“How so?” He leaned forward, putting his chin on his hands. This was fascinating to him.
“We’re at an evolutionary dead end. Look what we did to the Earth. To each other. Maybe these kids will find a different path.”
“Do you think that’s likely?”
Sven shook his head. “I really don’t know. We made such a mess of things, our generations and the ones that came before. It’s time to try something new. It’s their turn, in any case.”
“Yes, it is.” He sat back in the chair, lost in thought. These kids really were something new. Maybe mankind did have hope, if they could get through the current crisis. Eddy pointed at the cross. “Did you carve that?”
Sven shook his head. “It’s the only thing we brought with us. My grandfather made it and gave it to me when I was ten years old.”
“It’s beautiful.” He smiled. “So how did you two meet?”
“Sandra and I? She was in Sweden on a scholarship from the NAU. I was a college student with dreams of revolutionizing the world of physics.” He grinned. “Do you know Stockholm used to get snow in the winter?”
“What’s snow?” Eddy grinned.
“Yeah, I know. Right?” He leaned forward, his face animated. “One time, when I was about seven, it snowed in Sergel’s Square, right in the heart of Stockholm. It only lasted for a few hours—”
“Eddy?” Santi popped out of the hallway.
“What happened? Sorry, Sven—”
“It’s all right. We can talk more later.”
Santi was shaking. “You need to come see this.” He led them down the hallway.
Eddy peered into the room. “Oh shit.”
Jayson’s whole body was shaking, and he was covered in sweat.
“What do we do now?” Santi looked at him, and there was fear in his gaze.
“What else can we do? We wait.”
ANA OPENED her eyes.
She was momentarily disoriented—the reflective cube where she’d been imprisoned was gone. Instead, she was floating in a huge white, nearly featureless sphere. Somehow shadows from her own body cast themselves around the space, shifting back and forth as she moved and giving it definition.
She felt… different.
She was Ana. She was Lex. She was him and her, and neither.
And both, and everything along the spectrum in between.
Ana held out their arms in wonder, reached up to touch their virtual face.
She’d been deathly afraid of losing her own identity, but that didn’t begin to describe what had happened.
They weren’t less together. They were more.
We are more.
She was entwined with Lex. No, fused was a better word. Their lives and experiences were one now. Growing up in the Russian countryside was every bit as valid a piece of her life experience as awakening in the heart of a spaceship.
Who are we? It doesn’t matter. I’ll figure that out later. We’ll figure that out later. Right now we need to find a way to break free.
Chapter Eleven: Found
MARISSA LOOKED around.
The landscape of Jayson’s mind had changed. Instead of the dark, dank place full of threatening clouds that it had been on her arrival, it was bright and clean and clear, a grassy park bordering a lake where the water was the clearest blue. It was transparent, like someone had traced it out with the barest of necessary colors.
One more cloud remained.
She was exhausted. She imagined how Andy must have felt when she’d freed all those people in Agartha, one by one. At least I have help. “You guys ready?”
Danny nodded. “What happens when we finish?”
“I have no idea.” Maybe nothing. Maybe Jayson was too badly damaged for anything else. Maybe they were just giving him some peace. That has to be enough, right?
Danny took one of her hands, and Delancy the other. Funny how she didn’t feel that spark any more when she touched Danny’s hand. She closed her eyes, and they repeated the thing they’d done at least thirty times, for one last time.
As the pain swelled around her, she took it in, became one with it, and passed it on.
When she opened her eyes, the three of them were standing in a circle inside a small cavern. It was a replica of Agartha, only on a vastly reduced scale.
His Master, the Preacher, lay on a raised platform, staring up at Jayson eagerly. “It’s time.”
Marissa shivered at the sound of his voice. Suddenly she was four years old again, trapped in her own head.
The Preacher seemed unaware of the three teenagers who watched the scene.
Jayson’s face was gray. He shook, as if he were fighting some unseen binding.
“Now. Do it now!” The Preacher’s voice was grating. He was not used to being disobeyed.
Marissa shivered too. She would have peed her pants if she’d been flesh and blood.
As it were, she wished she could be any place but here.
The Preacher grabbed Jayson’s hand and pulled it down, inch by inch, to touch his face. “Do it now or I will kill them all.”
He meant the children of Agartha. He meant her.
Jayson grunted and closed his eyes.
Marissa knew what she was watching. Andy had told them all about it. This was a transfer. Holy Ariadne, the Preacher is in the world mind. Suddenly it all made sense, the snake, the blackout, all the other strange things that had been happening.
As Jayson’s other hand touched the ground, he stiffened as though he was being electrocuted, his bo
dy jerking as his Master’s mind and memories passed through him.
Marissa wanted to stop him, wanted to throw herself at him and knock him away from the Preacher. But she remained rooted in place. It didn’t matter. This was all in the past.
“It’s only a memory.” Delancy squeezed her hand.
It went on for an eternity.
When at last it was over, Jayson slumped over the Preacher’s lifeless body, sobbing softly.
Suddenly Marissa was free to move. She ran forward and threw her arms around him. As she hugged him, he grew brighter and brighter, until she had to squeeze her eyes shut lest the light blind her.
An explosion sent her flying, and she lost consciousness as she hit the ground.
When she awoke, moments or hours later, Danny and Delancy were staring down at her worriedly.
“Are we still—”
“Inside?” Delancy nodded.
Marissa sat up and looked around. The park was fully sketched out now, its colors bold, brighter than real life.
The lake was a deep, almost disturbing blue. A man stood at the lakeside, dressed all in white, his back to them. Next to him was a closed door that seemingly led to nothing.
Marissa stood, feeling a little wobbly, which was weird since she was walking on virtual legs. She laughed—in the grand scheme of weirdness the last few days, that was pretty tame. “Come on. He’s waiting for us.”
They crossed the grass-filled space between them and the man in white. As they approached, he turned to face them.
Marissa gasped. He was so young. “Jayson?”
The man frowned. “I think so? I don’t really remember.”
“How do you feel?”
“I feel peaceful. Clear.”
Marissa nodded. “That’s good.”
“Who are you?” He frowned again. “I think I should remember. But there’s nothing there. I’m sorry.”
She squeezed his shoulder. “It’s all right. You’ve been through a lot.” Much of which she and the others had seen, as close to firsthand as possible.
“There was a man.” His brow furrowed. “He made me… do things.”
Marissa smiled encouragingly. “You resisted, though. I saw it.”
“I resisted.”
“Yes.”
“What’s behind the door, Jayson?”
Jayson looked at her, and then at the door that stood alone in the middle of the grass. “I don’t know.” He looked dejected, like a puppy who’d been scolded.
She reached for the doorknob.
“Don’t! It’s not safe to open it.”
She stared at him and then nodded. Maybe he had something locked up in there that he wasn’t ready to deal with, or that he didn’t want anyone to see. “Okay, I’ll leave it alone.”
He visibly relaxed.
“But in return, we need your help.” She put a hand on his shoulder.
“Who are you, again?” He frowned, his brow creased.
Marissa bit her lip. “We’re your children.”
He stared at her for a moment and then looked at the others each in turn. Then a big smile spread across his face, and he laughed, a warm, beautiful sound. “Of course you are.” He pulled them all in for a hug. “My three beautiful children.”
Marissa refrained from telling him about the other thirty-five. Time enough for that later. “So, you’ll help us?”
“Of course I will.” He let them go. “What do you need me to do?”
“You need to let us go.”
EDDY STIRRED.
He found himself seated on the ground between Santi’s legs, with his back to Santi’s chair. His head lay on the man’s warm thigh. Damn, he must have been tired.
Something had awoken him. He looked around.
Morning light flooded the room through the open window. Marissa and the other kids were awake.
Eddy sat up and shook Santi’s leg. “They’re back!”
Santi rubbed his eyes groggily and looked around the room. He was adorable when he was only half-awake. “What?”
“Marissa, Danny, and Delancy.”
“How long were we gone?” Marissa sat up and rubbed her temples.
“You? About seven hours. The others about five. Are you okay?” Eddy knelt next to her.
She nodded. “We found him.”
“Who?”
“Jayson. Our father.” She pointed to the supine form on the cot. “You can untie him now.”
Eddy shook his head. “He’s too dangerous.”
“Not anymore. He was… really broken inside. Now he’s better, I think. It’s hard to explain. He has a lot of catching up to do.”
The man’s eyes were open.
Marissa reached over and squeezed his hand. She started to untie the first knot.
Eddy stopped her. “Are you sure?”
She looked him in the eye, and there was fire there. The same fire he’d seen in her aunt Andy’s eyes. “The people who hurt him, who used him… they tied him up like this and tortured him for weeks. Untie him. Now.”
Eddy knew better than to argue with that glare. He started in on the next knot.
Soon they had him free.
Jayson sat up, his eyes sharp and clear. He looks human again. Younger, even.
“Where are we? I need to get home. My parents will be missing me.” He tried to get up, but Marissa pushed him gently down on the cot.
“Your parents are gone,” she said softly, putting a hand on his cheek.
She looked like an angel in the golden light.
“What?” He looked back and forth between them, a confused expression on his face. “When?” His voice sounded small, for all the world like a five-year-old boy’s.
“He really doesn’t remember anything since he was a teenager?” Eddy looked up at Marissa.
“No. But he needs to.” Marissa glanced at Danny and Delancy.
They nodded.
The three of them gathered around Jayson, laying their hands on his head. They closed their eyes.
“What are you going to do?” Eddy asked, alarmed.
“Give him his memories back. Without the pain.” Then she was lost in concentration.
Eddy sat back, wondering what she was talking about. What memories? The pain he could imagine, based on what he knew of Jayson’s life.
There was a loud boom outside.
Eddy rushed to the window to see what was happening.
A storm had gathered in the night, more massive than he’d ever seen on Forever. It made the tempest that had almost killed them seem like a mere fog bank.
The monster hung above them twirling around the spindle, electrical charges racing along and through it, and the light in the room dimmed.
Santi came to stand next to him and looked up at the sky. “Holy shit.” He took Eddy’s hand and squeezed it tightly.
DAVIAN EXULTED in his new form. He’d planned this for a long time, locked in his secret retreat, away from the prying eyes of the world mind.
Gunner had proven invaluable, hiding them both and providing for them as he laid the groundwork for his plan.
He’d watched as that horrid woman had transferred Colin McAvery’s consciousness into the world mind. In that moment, he’d finally understood why destiny had brought him to Forever—so he’d be able to achieve his ultimate destiny and never be trapped again.
It had been surprisingly easy. Gunner had fashioned a place for him, and he’d bided his time, building his defenses, planning for his enemies’ defeat. Even then, they hadn’t seen it coming.
Now the so-called “Immortals” were all locked away in boxes, just like he’d been. Only he’d been kind enough to omit the torture. Fools.
The keys to the kingdom were his.
He’d bring the world to its knees in short order, and then it would be his to do with as he liked.
He wondered if this was how his captors had felt, when they’d held ultimate power over his life.
He finally understood why they’
d enjoyed it so much.
Now it was his time to play.
Chapter Twelve: Opening Doors
MARISSA OPENED her eyes. She looked down at Jayson nervously, biting her lip.
She had shown him the memories they’d cleared from his mind, sheared of all the pain. She could only hope they helped to bring him back to himself.
The Preacher. Davian. She had to tell Eddy who was behind all of this.
She kissed her father’s forehead. Strange, how she was starting to form a bond with him after all these years. Maybe it was just concern for someone who had been lost for so long.
Maybe it was something more. Maybe he really could be her father. Someday. “You two keep an eye on him?”
Danny nodded. “We’ve got this.”
The room was darkening. Was there another storm? Marissa waved her thanks and ran into the hallway.
Eddy and Santiago were staring out the open window.
Marissa’s steps slowed as she saw what they were looking at. “It’s… that can’t be….”
They turned to look at her. “We have to get everyone to safety.”
Marissa shook her head. “It’s Davian. We have to find a way to fight him.”
“Davian?” Eddy looked confused.
“He’s inside the world mind. I saw it, in Jayson’s head.” She turned away from the window, searching her memory. They had to do something, and they had to do it now.
She tried to dip into the world mind, but she couldn’t find it. She was as cut off as she’d been before, and the ache of it pulsed through her anew. She wanted to scream in frustration.
Still, there had to be some way to get in. A back door they hadn’t thought of….
A door.
“I think I know how to get to him.”
ANALEX WANTED to scream.
They’d pushed as hard as they could against the walls of their prison, to no avail. They’d searched every virtual inch of it for a flaw or crack, any place where they could gain leverage.
They were trapped like a firefly in a mason jar.
Interesting… I don’t know that one.
The Rising Tide Page 22