Marissa frowned. “I don’t know. I hope not.”
“The Liminals could do something like this. Maybe. If Davian controls the world mind again….” Andy reached out through the open window, lightning-fast, to grab something and threw it on the ground, crushing it under her heel. “Biodrone.” She looked outside for others.
Eddy whistled. “Oh shit.”
“Biodrone?” Matt looked confused.
“Colin used them occasionally as his eyes and ears out in the world.” Andy sighed. “Looks like Davian’s found his stash. We’ve been made.”
Eddy nodded. “Santi, maybe you should fire up the balloon and bring it a little closer?”
“Will do.” He got up and kissed Eddy on the cheek. “Back in a few.”
“Does it make a difference?” Marissa was frowning. “You said earlier it would take a while for anyone to reach us.”
“Anyone, yes. Shandra, we need to gather—” Andy went rigid and then fell to the hard wooden floor.
Images flashed before her eyes.
The North Pole station, where the world mind was. Bodies slumped over consoles.
A crowd of people in Micavery, their hands lifted up toward a man who spoke to them from a raised platform made of world wood, their mouths hanging open and their eyes blank.
A raging storm that hid the North Pole.
The world mind itself, looming above her in its cavern.
And a message, meant for her eyes only.
She gasped.
She woke with a start, finding Shandra staring down at her, her eyes filled with concern.
“Andy, is it you?”
For her answer, she pulled Shandra down and kissed her. Warmth flowed into her, taking away the fear of what she had seen.
“What happened?” Shandra asked when they parted. She helped Andy up.
Andy brushed herself off, none the worse for wear after her fall. “The Immortals. They found a way to send me a message. It’s all true. Davian has taken over, and he’s planning…. We have to find a way to get to the North Pole, and soon.”
“We’re not safe here?” Marissa’s hand went unconsciously to her belly.
She shuddered. “Nowhere is safe from what’s coming.”
EDDY FROWNED. “What did they tell you?” Either Andy was being purposely obtuse, or there was something here he wasn’t understanding.
“They need us to come to the North Pole. It’s the only way to end this thing decisively.”
“So it’s Davian alone?”
She nodded as she gathered things from her kitchen and bedroom, throwing them into a carry sack. “Apparently he saved a piece of himself somewhere in the world mind or the network.”
“So, what exactly will we be doing at the North Pole?”
“They were vague on that point.” She eased around between him and the bed, pulling out a couple changes of clothing from the chest of drawers. “We’ll have to figure it out when we get there.”
“But there’s a huge storm at the North Pole. We’ve seen it. You said you saw it.” He tried not to sound exasperated. “How are we going to get in?”
“We’ll find a way.”
“Are we going to try to land and hike in?” He scratched the stubble on his chin. “That’s a huge climb. Straight up almost five miles.”
Andy shook her head. “I don’t know, and asking me ten more times isn’t going to make me magically come up with an answer.” She sighed. “It’s not like it’s just floating around in my head.”
He snorted. “They kind of are….” Floating. Flying.
She shot him a black look. “Okay, I think that’s everything.”
“Holy shit.” Eddy sank down on her bed, stunned at the pure daring of the idea he’d just had.
“Yeah, I know. You ready?”
“No, I mean, I think I know how we can do it.” Jesus, I’ve gone stone fucking crazy.
“Do what?”
“Get to the North Pole.” It was insane. But it just might work.
Andy sat next to him. “I’m listening.”
“Out in the Eire. They’re planning that new museum, right? Things from Earth for future generations to see?”
She nodded. “I don’t get how that helps—”
“The Moonjumper! I flew it out there a couple years ago for the museum. It’s being stored there.”
“Won’t work. Davian can take control of it.”
“No, he can’t.” Eddy grinned. “It’s very ‘low tech’ high tech. No ship-mind, no automated controls. All manual.”
Andy’s eyes widened. “Holy shit.”
He nodded. “And I know how to fly it.”
“But it still won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“It’s too small. We need something to carry at least four of us. You, me, Marissa, and Shandra—”
“Why Shandra?”
She closed her eyes. “I can’t tell you. You just have to trust me.”
So she was hiding something. He stared at her for a long time.
What if she were compromised? How could he know for sure?
At last, he nodded. He trusted her. If she wasn’t telling him something, she had a good reason. “You’ve never steered me wrong before. But really, you can tell me anything.”
“I can’t tell you this. Not yet.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand.
“Okay.” He cast about for a solution. The Moonjumper could carry two. Maybe three, over a short distance. They’d managed four with the escape pod in tow. He smacked his forehead. “That’s it. The escape pod is there too. We can tow it with us, and it’s also manual only.”
Andy nodded. “It could work.”
“You have a better plan?”
“I—”
The ground started to shake.
“What the hell is that?”
Andy’s face was white with fear. “Come on!” She grabbed his hand and dragged him through the living room and out the front door of the little cabin.
“What is it?” Eddy looked around as the whole valley shook.
“Davian! I hope Santi’s back with that balloon!”
THE BALLOON floated through the still night air just above the vines of the vineyard, nudged along by Santi’s careful hand across the schoolhouse valley. He was almost to the building that gave it its name.
A deep rumbling reached him, emanating from the ground.
“That can’t be good.” He stared ahead into the darkness, looking for any sign of his friends and Eddy.
Roots shot out of the ground, questing about like the tentacles of an octopus. Dust filtered into the air, obscuring the scene below, and an awful crunching sound floated up to him as cabins were crushed one by one by the flailing roots.
The gondola floated just above chaos.
Santi gritted his teeth and flew on.
At last he spotted them. They had gathered on the roof of the schoolhouse, so far unmolested, but it wouldn’t be long before the destruction reached them.
Santi cursed under his breath and sent the balloon flying toward the roof. “Eddy!” he shouted. “I’m coming!”
He dipped as low as he dared, and as he pulled closer, he used the thrust from his lateral jets to slow the craft down.
Still, it was going to be close. He had one shot at this.
As he approached the roof, Marissa stood at the edge, ready to climb aboard.
He reached out and grabbed her arms, rocking the gondola, and pulled her in.
Andy and Shandra were next, with a helping hand from Matt and Eddy.
“Go!” Eddy shouted at Matt.
Matt leapt at the gondola and grasped it with both hands.
Andy and Shandra hauled him in, but they were past the roof now.
“Eddy!” Shanti shouted, frantically slamming the lever for one of the lateral jets to slow their forward progress.
It wasn’t going to be enough. Santi stared in disbelief.
“Take this.” Matt found the anc
hor rope and fed it into his hands.
Santi took it gratefully. “Eddy! Get ready to jump! Grab the rope!” he shouted.
Eddy ran to the far end of the roof and then turned and ran back.
Santi threw out the rope.
Eddy leapt off the end of the roof into the air, as one of the great wooden tentacles reached up and slammed down across it, leveling the schoolhouse behind him.
Eddy’s hands reached….
Time slowed down.
Eddy grasped the rope.
He swung down along its length like tri dee Tarzan, rocking the gondola.
“Pull him up!” Santi fired the main burner, and the balloon jerked upward, lifting Eddy along with it.
Below them, one of the roots reached up toward Eddy blindly, then fell down to the ground.
Santi let loose his breath. He helped the others pull his husband up over the edge of the gondola.
Eddy collapsed on the floor, his chest heaving. “Holy… crap… that was… close,” he managed between breaths.
Santi knelt and pulled Eddy into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Don’t you ever put someone else first again. I could have lost you.”
Eddy flashed his lopsided grin, the one that had made Santi fall for him. “It’s kinda my job to save others.” He looked up at Matt. “You overcame your fear for me?”
Matt nodded. “I couldn’t let you die. Santi would have killed me.”
Santi glared at Eddy “You’re gonna kill me, one of these days, pulling stunts like that.” He looked up at the others. “Everyone okay?”
Andy nodded, though her face was grim.
“Where are we going?”
She almost spat it out. “The Eire. And then the North Pole.”
Chapter Five: At What Cost
NIGHT HAD come, and Jayson and his family huddled in the middle of the courtyard around a small fire, roasting one of the colony’s chickens over a spit.
Sean kept casting wary glances at the darkness outside the small fire’s circle of light.
“He can’t get in. Without one of us as his eyes, he can’t even see what we’re up to.” Thank the stars they were so far away from civilization, away from other people who might be turned into Davian’s spies.
And what had he meant when he said he’d said there’s no one left in the world mind to fight back?
Jayson threw another piece of broken root on the fire. He’d chopped one of them into pieces. At least they’d get some good out of Davian’s attack.
“How did he survive?” Keera looked haunted by the possession of her body. Her cheeks were hollow, and the skin under her eyes was gray.
“I don’t know.” Jayson had been trying to work that out himself. His old Master’s reappearance had him all jangled up inside, resurfacing emotions and urges and conflicts he thought he’d long before put to rest. “We thought we extinguished him the last time, in vee.”
Aaron squeezed his shoulder. “You did what you could. And if you hadn’t come back when you did….” He shuddered. “What about Colin? Lanya?”
Jayson shook his head. “Gone. Dead? Enslaved? I don’t know.” Jason pulled the spit off the fire. “I think she’s ready.” He put it down on one of the platters they’d retrieved from the shattered kitchen and carved off a few pieces, handing them around the fire.
“What do we do next?” Sean attacked his chicken leg. Poor kid was probably starving.
“I’m going after him.” Jayson had no choice in the matter. He and Davian had a destiny to fulfill. It would probably kill him, but he wouldn’t shirk this duty. He had to do this, for the sake of his kids if nothing else.
“I’ll come with you.” Aaron’s eyes met his. “We can leave at first light—”
“I’m going alone.”
“I can’t let you do that—”
“You need to take care of your family. Of your son.” The boy was a good kid. Maybe he and his kind would find a way to fix all the things Jayson’s generation had screwed up. “I’ve already packed the things I’ll need.”
“Keera and Sean can take care of themselves.” Aaron’s voice was just above a growl. “I’m coming with you. You’re going to need me.” He looked up at Jayson, his face hard, but his lower lip trembled.
“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Jayson couldn’t bear any more deaths on his conscience.
“Staying here’s no guarantee of that. Look around.”
Jayson laughed harshly.
“You’re my brother. We look out for each another.” Aaron offered his hand. “Deal?”
Jayson took a deep breath, looking around at the broken buildings. Davian was strong. And after all these years, after all the time piled up between them, his big brother was still looking out for him. Maybe they did need each other. He nodded at last. “Deal.”
They shook hands, and Jayson was hopeful for the first time since this whole thing had started.
“You really think Keera and Sean will be safe here?” Aaron’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes, as long as they stay in the circle.” It would remain until he removed it.
“I want to go too.” Sean put on his best pleading look. Jayson knew. He’d seen it before.
“No!” Jayson and Aaron said in unison.
Keera laughed. “It’s good to see you two united like that.”
Aaron shrugged. “He’s my brother. And things are pretty dire.”
Jayson grabbed his arm, pulling him in for a hug. “Thanks.”
“What else is family for?”
They would fight Davian, and somehow they would find a way to defeat him.
But at what cost?
EDDY LEANED against the inside of the gondola, his chest heaving. He’d scraped it scrambling up over the metal edge of the basket, but he’d never been more grateful to be in pain.
He thought he’d left war behind back on Earth, but they were engaged in a new kind of violence, fighting with the mind that controlled their world.
How could they ever be sure Davian was gone, after this? The whole system was infected, apparently. He’d come back from the dead now twice. Eddy prayed the man didn’t have a cat’s nine lives.
“What’s in the Eire?” Santi asked as the balloon ascended in the darkness toward the spindle.
“The Moonjumper. The ship I came here on, during the Collapse.” Eddy closed his eyes and remembered that harrowing flight in the little tin can, sweating and fearful for their lives.
“Ah. So… what’s the plan?” Santi sounded doubtful.
Andy was staring out into the darkness. “We land, grab the Moonjumper and the escape pod Eddy flew in with, and fly them through the storm to the world mind.”
“Do you think you can navigate it through high winds and lightning, while keeping the escape pod attached?”
Eddy frowned. “I hope so.” The whole thing was sounding more and more crazy under the silver light of the spindle.
What were they going to do if they broke through? Set fire to the world mind? They needed it to keep the world in balance. To manage the atmosphere. To keep adding to the space they would need to survive the centuries. If the world mind died, so would what was left of mankind. Wouldn’t it?
He didn’t know what the right move was. It was a heavy burden to shoulder.
Eddy had another crazy thought. Maybe they should let Davian win. Maybe he was the one who could get them safely across the stark divide between stars—keep humanity from tearing itself apart again.
But at what cost?
FOR HER part, Andy was thinking ahead.
What Lanya and Colin had asked of her was almost unthinkable. She was still trying to wrap her head around it.
She was out of sorts, which was no great surprise. She was quite literally rootless, her home for the last seventeen years torn to pieces under her feet. She floated unmoored from her old life, and a new one beckoned.
She stared out at the dark world all around them and wondered where she was headed. The spindle provide
d a silver light, but the ground was shrouded in darkness.
Shandra slipped her arms around Andy’s waist. “It’s all gone,” she whispered.
Andy nodded. “I know.”
Shandra sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. We build our lives—homes, gardens, friends, livelihoods—and then something comes along and knocks them out from under us.”
“I know.” She turned to face Shandra, pulling her close. “What if we could find another way?” she whispered into Shandra’s ear.
Shandra frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll tell you later. Just don’t lose hope.” She kissed Shandra, realizing in that moment that she had what she needed. How little everything else mattered, if Shandra was still there with her.
“Okay.”
They parted, and Andy laid a hand on Shandra’s cheek. “It’s all been worth it, to be with you.”
Shandra’s eyes narrowed. “You’re scaring me.”
“Don’t be.” She would tell Shandra, once they could find a little time alone. “All we need is each another.”
“I know.” Shandra turned to look out at the world. “I’ve never been up in the air like this.” She closed her eyes, and a smile slipped across her lips.
“You’re not scared?”
Shandra shook her head. “We’ll figure it all out.”
No matter what, things were going to change. She could accept that for herself.
Shandra would have to make up her own mind. Either way, things would change for her too.
But at what cost?
MARISSA LEANED against Matt’s chest, feeling his warmth through his shirt.
She was tired—the crazy events of the last twelve hours had taken more out of her than she cared to acknowledge.
Just this morning, their future had looked bright—a new beginning on a plot of land all their own. A new life coming into the world that was a little bit of each of them, and a little bit of something more.
Something divine?
She’d never known her great-grandmother, Glory. Andy had told them that Glory had been devout, believing in God. In a higher power.
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