The Rising Tide

by J. Scott Coatsworth

  “We have to gather as many of the others as we can find. Then when it’s time, we’ll try to break through Davian’s control to open the air lock.”

  “Got it.”

  “You’re strong. Even stronger than you were the last time I saw you.”

  Marissa would have blushed, if she could. “How do we do this?”

  “Look for the sparks.”

  Marissa looked around.

  There. In the distance, a silver one shone in the darkness. She shot off toward it, her form becoming a lightning bolt. As she drew close, she could feel it. She knew that feeling. It was Danny.

  They connected.

  “Marissa!” He hugged her virtually. “What is this place?” He looked around at the darkness.

  “No time to explain.” It was so good to see him. “Where are you?”

  “Hiding out somewhere outside of Darlith.”

  “We’re taking the fight to him.”

  “Davian?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’d guessed. What do I have to do?”

  Marissa was flooded with warmth. She’d always been able to count on him. “Help me find the others. Look for the sparks.” She pointed at two in the darkness.

  “Gotcha. Stay strong, little sister.” He kissed her forehead.

  He zipped off, and she did too.

  In the end, they gathered twenty of the Liminals, plus Andy.

  It would be enough. It had to be.

  She didn’t want to think about what had happened to the others.

  ANDY LOOKED out of the small porthole of the escape capsule. It was déjà vu. This same little vessel had saved her life—and her father’s—once before, when Transfer Station had been under attack.

  Now they were engaged in another desperate flight, albeit one with more of a purpose and a plan.

  She shifted to view things through Marissa’s eyes. She’d never ridden with so many others before. The South Pole was coming up quickly, though they probably still had twenty minutes before they arrived.

  She hoped the others on the balloon were faring all right.

  It was a strange feeling to ride through the tunnel of the storm. It reminded her of the tornado from the old Wizard of Oz tri dee, or maybe surfing a giant wave.

  Would they crush the Wicked Warlock when they crashed down to earth?

  Sometimes she missed tri dee.

  The others in the link were all trapped by the storm in various places. They were with her through the bond, twenty-three minds ready to fight the rising tide of Davian’s madness.

  Shandra squeezed her hand. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Too much to handle for one person. Fortunately, I have you and a couple dozen friends.” She kissed Shandra, marveling that this woman had stuck with her through so much.

  “Y’all ready with that door key over there?” Eddy’s voice came through in stereo, through the radio and via the link with Marissa.

  “As ready as we’re gonna be.” She squeezed Shandra’s hand. “Here we go.”

  Andy closed her eyes and found her father and her Liminal kids. In her mind, they all stood in a circle, taking one another’s hands. Andy took Marissa’s. “You’re the strongest. You take the lead.”

  Marissa nodded, though she looked a little pale.

  “You can do this.” She squeezed Marissa’s hand in encouragement, just as Shandra had squeezed hers. They had come so far. They would pass this test too.

  POWER FLOWED into Marissa from the others, until she was almost bursting. Still, she had to wait.

  It filled her like adrenaline, triggering her fight-or-flight response. As her anxiety mounted, she breathed in and out deeply, slowly, trying to calm her mind and corral her scattered thoughts.

  Too soon, and they might risk Davian overpowering them. Too late, and they might smash into the South Pole wall and all would be for naught.

  Eddy took her hand. “You guys can do this. I believe in you.” He glanced over at her and smiled encouragingly, though his voice cracked a little. He was under incredible strain. They all were.

  She would do it. They all would. She had to. Her unborn child and husband were counting on her.

  They had to be passing over the edge of Micavery by now, judging by how close the wall was. The clouds were churning as they collided with the South Pole, kicking up banks of fog to obscure their way.

  Ready?

  A chorus of Yes!

  She gathered herself and reached.

  A barrier lay between her and the lock, strong and invisible, but with the power of twenty-two other minds behind her, she smashed right through it. The world mind might be strong enough to stop her, but she had the element of surprise on her side.

  The way into the air lock opened, ponderously slow.

  Then something pushed back.

  “Is it clear?” Eddy’s voice reached her.

  “Yes… I think so.” She gathered herself and pushed back, but everything was obscured.

  “You think so?” Eddy sounded panicked. “I can’t see a thing through the clouds.”

  The clouds were suddenly in her own head.

  She fought them back, trying to keep them at bay.

  They were like the fog that had once trapped her and everyone in Agartha. Davian was trying to take control of her mind.

  “Get the fuck away from me!” Marissa hated cursing, but Davian warranted it. She pushed back hard, drawing on the full force behind her. Gasps of pain came through the link, but she couldn’t stop. Didn’t dare stop. “Get the fuck out of my head!”

  Suddenly her head was clear. “It’s open!” she shouted out loud. “Go!”

  She opened her eyes to see Eddy punch it, sending the Moonjumper practically screaming through the clouds.

  They cleared out of the way at the last second, revealing a gaping hole in the wall.

  Eddy adjusted their course, and they sailed through it, just missing the edge. “Close it!”

  Marissa reached again, and the massive rock walls closed like the mouth of a monster, sealing them in.

  She threw open the outer gates as soon as the first ones had closed, and the whoosh of atmosphere pushed the little ship out through the gap with meters to spare.

  Marissa collapsed in her seat, exhausted.

  “Holy crap, you did it! We did it!” Eddy reversed the thrust of the little craft, slowing it down and then sending it back in the direction from which they had come.

  Marissa sat up and looked out through the window of the Moonjumper at the stars. “Oh Ariadne, they’re beautiful.”

  Eddy stared at her, his mouth open. “You’ve never seen stars.” It made total sense, but it was still a stunning thought.

  “No. It’s… kind of overwhelming.”

  He nodded. “Even when you’ve looked at them all your life from Earth, it’s different to see them from up here.”

  She relayed the view to the others in her link, and then turned her attention to the world they had just left.

  It was a long, grand spinning tube lit by veins of glowing yellow light. “That’s home?”

  Eddy nodded. “It is now.”

  SANTI FIRED up the balloon.

  As it lifted off the ground, the Moonjumper did too. Eddy maneuvered it over the escape pod and picked it up.

  Santi held his breath.

  The jumper ascended, passing the balloon, and rocketed toward the spindle.

  Their own climb was slower.

  Santi glanced at the onrushing storm clouds. He handed out lengths of rope. “Everyone lash yourself to the gondola. It’s going to get rough in a couple minutes.”

  They had one chance—to get high enough to avoid the worst of the storm.

  Matt, Keera, and Sean followed his instructions, and soon they were all tied to the gondola.

  “What about you?” Keera asked, her brow furrowed with concern.

  “I have to stay here with the burner. I’ll be all right.” He hoped he was right. Just in case, he gave the
m a crash course in hot air balloon control.

  They were high above the ground now. The shuttle they’d left behind was shrinking to just a small gray dot below.

  The first gusts hit them. Thankfully he’d been able to refuel before they’d left. He poured on the flame, taking it as high as it would go as fast as he could, as the wind started to knock them around.

  Soon they were enveloped in clouds, and bits of moisture slapped him in the face as the wind pushed them along toward Micavery.

  The envelope started to distort, and a few times he had to ratchet back on the flame lest he melt the material, but they rose steadily toward the spindle. “Everyone okay?” he shouted over the rain and thunder.

  “So far. We can’t take much more of this!” Matt’s face was grim.

  “We shouldn’t have to!”

  A particularly nasty gust slammed the gondola, knocking Santi to the side. The world spun by as he flew over the edge. I’m gonna die.

  Then strong hands caught him, and Sean hauled him back down, anchored by his rope, pulling him back into the gondola.

  “Thanks!” Santi tried to slow his breathing. I almost died.

  Then the darkness lifted as the balloon rose toward the spindle.

  “Made it.” He turned off the flame.

  “I feel a little… weird.” Sean put his free hand over his stomach.

  “It’s zero gee. Or near enough.” He grabbed hold of the edge of the gondola and lashed himself down with enough rope to reach the burner. “We’ve almost reached the spindle, where the centrifugal force is the least.”

  The balloon’s envelope was distorting again. Up was no longer up.

  Marissa’s baskets started to rise out of the gondola.

  Santi pointed. “Grab those!”

  Keera got one and Matt the other.

  “What do we do now?” Matt asked.

  “We wait out the storm.”

  Chapter Ten: Freefall

  THERE WERE two bodies.

  Jayson tried not to stare at them as the elevator climbed slowly toward the Far Hold. They’d been moving upward for at least half an hour.

  A faint stench arose from the man and woman who had died there, making his stomach twist in his gut.

  As far as they could tell from the uniforms, the two had been technicians. They had been mortally wounded before stumbling into the elevator, with holes punched in their guts.

  He dreaded the scene that would meet them when they reached the top of the climb.

  The elevator moved slowly up the cable. It was really old-school—mechanical and slow, but it looked sturdy as hell. Colin had apparently had a thing about biominds—understandable, after the Dressler and what Jayson himself had done to Transfer Station when he’d been under the control of the Chafs. Only a minor miracle had prevented major loss of life there. He had that to be thankful for. “Why is this thing going so slow?” He glared at the ceiling.

  “When it slammed into the stair railing, I think the shock mangled the pulley system. We’re lucky it can move at all.”

  Jayson growled. “I wonder what happened up there?”

  Aaron glanced at the two bodies, then looked up at the ceiling. “Nothing good.”

  “I’d guess you’re right—” The elevator lurched to a halt. “What the hell?”

  There was a snapping sound.

  Jayson stared at the ceiling, his brow furrowed. “What was that?”

  “That was the sound of a cable breaking. We need to get out of here.” Aaron looked around wildly.

  “I don’t think I can reach the ceiling hatch.”

  “No need. Give me your walking stick.”

  Jayson handed it over.

  The elevator dropped two feet, and Jayson’s stomach did the same.

  Aaron stuck the stick between the doors. “Quickly, help me pry these open.”

  An ominous groan came from somewhere up above. “Come on!”

  They threw their weight against the stick, forcing the door open.

  The elevator shuddered.

  “Go!” Aaron pushed him toward the opening.

  “No, you go first. Keera and Sean need you.”

  “Don’t argue. Go!” Aaron all but shoved him out the door.

  “All right!” Jayson grabbed the rail and scrambled over it.

  As he fell hard onto the staircase, the elevator dropped another ten feet.

  “Aaron!” He scrambled down the staircase three steps at a time, wincing at the pain in his tired legs. I won’t lose you again.

  He reached the still open doors.

  Aaron had fallen to the floor inside. He scrambled up, and Jayson reached out his arms. “Give me your hands!”

  Aaron reached out for him and their hands connected. “Pull!”

  Jayson did so, and Aaron’s body came out halfway before getting stuck on one of the doors.

  “Harder!”

  Jayson heaved, but Aaron was jammed. “Can you turn sideways?”

  “I’ll try.” Aaron squirmed around, managing to twist his torso, and all at once he came free.

  They tumbled back against the wall just as the cable snapped, the broken part slamming into the rock just inches from Jayson’s face and sending the elevator plunging down the shaft.

  Jayson breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Fuck, that was close.”

  Aaron laughed nervously. “I owe you one, little brother.” He looked up. “At least we got a bit closer to the top.”

  THE MOONJUMPER cruised along the edge of Forever, out of reach of Davian and the world mind. Marissa and Andy had dissolved the link, fearful that Davian might be able to use it to get at the others or find out where they were.

  Marissa stared at the world in wonder. It was long and cylindrical, with a great round sail fanning out from one end.

  She knew, intellectually, that she lived inside a living ship that was headed out to the stars. But until now, those had been just words in her head. Even the simulations Andy and Shandra had shown them as kids paled next to the reality of the starry void.

  Out here, she really could see Forever. There was nothing but a thin wall of plasform between her and eternity.

  Off in the distance, one star was larger than all the rest. “Is that the sun?”

  Eddy nodded. “The star that gave birth to us all.”

  “It must be so far away. It feels strange to think I’ll never see it up close.”

  Eddy laughed. “You’d get quite a sunburn.”

  “Sunburn?” She wasn’t familiar with the concept.

  “The UV rays. Even through Earth’s atmosphere, they could burn your skin if you were out under the sun too long without protection.”

  “Ah.” Life had been so strange on Earth.

  “So… how are we going to get through that?” Eddy pointed at the glowing translucent sail that extended for a hundred kilometers in each direction from the “north” end of Forever.

  “Better ask Andy.” The sails captured space dust and funneled it into the world, expelling it on the other side to build up velocity. They were also propelled by solar winds. They’d spent weeks studying the world’s propulsion systems at the schoolhouse.

  She sat back to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime flight through the heavens.

  “ANDY?” EDDY opened the radio connection. “Everything cozy over there?”

  “Good so far. Gorgeous view you have up here.”

  He grinned. “Thanks. Hey, listen, see that big sail up ahead?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So….”

  “How do we get through it?”

  “Um, yeah.” They were going to need a solution sooner than later.

  “I’d say just punch through.”

  Eddy stared at the radio. “Punch through?”

  “Yes. It’ll heal.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Pretty much? Let’s say 95 percent. It’s made to self-repair in the event of meteor strikes. Do we have enough fuel to go around it?”
>
  He checked the gauge. “Not even close. Nor the time, judging from the storm we left behind.”

  “Then through it is.”

  “Okay.” It was good to be out in space again, free of the confines of Forever for just a few moments. To remember there was something outside the walls of the world. To remember there actually were stars.

  He hoped Santi was okay, down there on the inside. That was a nasty storm, and his husband’s brilliant piloting skills aside, a hot air balloon was no match for it. He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer to whatever deity might be watching over their little world in the depths of the void.

  In five more minutes, they were approaching the sail. “Okay, folks, we’re getting close. Gonna be punching through in five, four, three, two, one….”

  The ships impacted the sail. It slowed their forward momentum with a gut-wrenching jerk but then ripped apart, letting them pass through.

  “So far so—”

  Eddy was wrenched sideways in his seat. “What the hell?”

  Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. The escape pod had separated from the Moonjumper and was spiraling away into space.

  Eddy had a frightening moment of déjà vu. This was too much like his last journey to space.

  “Not gonna happen.” He wasn’t going to lose Andy and Shandra to the void.

  Glancing warily at his fuel gauge, he blasted off after them.

  ONE MOMENT the escape pod they were in was attached to the Moonjumper via the x-drive’s attractive power, and the next they were spiraling off into the void all alone.

  “Oh shit….” Shandra’s face was white. “We’re gonna die.”

  Andy took her hand. “Shhhhhh. Close your eyes.” Inside her heart was hammering her chest. Not again. The last time, she’d been sure she would die. This time she was scared to death, but she had to have faith. “Eddy will catch us.”

  Shandra stared at her, wide-eyed in the dim light of the pod’s running lights. “Are you sure?”

  She gulped and nodded. “And if not… you’re the one I want to be with when the end comes.” She hugged Shandra to her.

  When they separated, Shandra looked her in the eye. “What aren’t you telling me about this plan of yours? You’re holding something back.”