Resonance

by Dianne J Wilson

  Bree stayed at the bottom of the stairs. “Give it up already. You’re not getting in. You’re just as stubborn as you were before.”

  Kai heard her, but he moved on to the wall to keep exploring.

  “Kai...”

  He stuck his hand into a carved recess just at shoulder height and felt around for anything out of the ordinary. This one was smooth. He clucked his teeth, muttering under his breath.

  “Kai! They’re coming.”

  “Just give me a moment.”

  Bree stamped her foot in frustration and ran up the stairs to grab Kai’s arm and yank on it.

  “What?” He brushed her off and kept on searching.

  “Temple Guards. Trust me. You don’t want them to catch you here.” Any trace of the Bree he knew from before was gone again, swallowed up by this fear-filled, pale creature who couldn’t look him in the eye.

  Kai stopped and spun around. “That is the single most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Shocking, I know. Whatever. Please can we leave? I swear I’ll leave without you.” Her hand rested on his arm, and her fingers burnt his skin.

  “Fine. Just give me a moment.”

  Running footsteps echoed down the street as though a small army headed toward them.

  “You’re out of moments. You’re on your own.” Bree took off along the side of the temple, ducking behind the hedge growing along the front of it.

  “Hey! You on the stairs. Freeze for scanning.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw a group of soldiers dressed just like the two who’d escorted them to Stone City. The image of Bree’s death date carved into her gravestone flashed in his head and made up his mind. There was no time for him to hang around and chinwag to this bunch. He ran after Bree, leaving the temple and his only link to Tau behind.

  ~*~

  Evazee tried to breathe quietly, but her heart raced. Shasta stood with his back to her, rubbing his chin and muttering to himself. A girl that looked to be Evazee’s age came in and stood quietly. She bounced on her toes as if the floor were cooking her feet. She must be in a hurry.

  A full minute later, Shasta tapped his foot on the floor. The hologram powered down and disappeared. He turned to the girl. “Why are you disturbing me?”

  “I’m sorry, but there’s a problem with the Resonance Pools. We’ve tried everything, but we can’t get them right.”

  “Have you got samples?”

  “All ready for you, sir.”

  “Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. It would be simpler to do it all myself.”

  The girl looked suitably whipped and followed behind him as he left the room. Evazee waited until she couldn’t hear their steps and slipped out of her hiding place. She had to know for sure she wasn’t misinterpreting what she’d seen. Hopefully, she was wrong.

  Finding the spot Shasta had tapped his foot was easy. It was a raised bump in the floor. She stamped it hard and waited. The hologram of earth appeared as before, flashing many spots of green. Evazee copied the hand gestures he’d used and zoomed in, working her way to finer detail each time. Finally, she got right down to the OS and recognised it by the giant instruments decorating the outside. Her heart pounded. Zooming in meant glimpsing all the things someone else had seen all along.

  She spread her fingers, and the view switched to the inside of the building. As she tapped and slid, the view changed, and she revisited the rooms that had been her prison. There was the lounge where she’d stolen fruit. Someone had watched all of it. She felt stripped, exposed.

  The instrument panel across from where she stood beeped and flashed. She checked the passage to make sure no one was about to interrupt her little escapade and tiptoed across to it.

  The small, square screen was brightly lit with one word that flashed over and over: COMPROMISED.

  She flicked her fingers at the hologram and the panel fell silent as she zoomed out, away from the OS. So, their doorway and darKound relocation had caused some trouble. Picking a random spot, she flicked inwards until she’d homed in on another school, one she’d never heard of before. Writing scrolled up across the panel, numbered lists. Most of it made no sense, but two headings stood out: Converts and Coerced. The school she was looking at was made up of 92% Converts and 8% Coerced. Converts sounded good, but coerced?

  “Ah you came. I thought I felt you here earlier.”

  Shasta had come back.

  Evazee had been so engrossed in what she’d been reading, she hadn’t noticed. She wanted to run, but there was no point now. She recognised his voice as the voice in her head. He appeared to be clothed in the same stuff the walls were covered in, though how one made a coat from star-encrusted black marble was beyond Evazee. His silver hair hung long down his back, but his eyes drew her attention. Pale as dove eggs, they fixed on her. She felt stripped.

  Evazee shot her hand behind her back and coughed. If he’d been a split second later, he’d have caught her redhanded. “Why did you call me here?”

  “You recognized my voice. That’s good.” Shasta sauntered across the room, a half-smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

  There was an agelessness to his face that intrigued Evazee. Between the dome of sky overhead, the sound of running water, and the deep timbre of his voice, Evazee began to feel a little tipsy. The closer he came, the more the feeling grew. By the time he stood a foot away, she felt quite dizzy. She’d never been drunk before, but this must be what it felt like. Delicious lethargy bubbled through her veins making her limbs heavy and her head light.

  Shasta tilted his head, his eyes fixed on her face. “You’re not like the others here. There is something about you that I like. I want to show you something.” In a smooth move, he slipped behind her and placed his hands on the console, wedging her between the keypad and himself. “I see my map caught your interest.”

  His breath was cool on her neck, and he smelled of sandalwood. She shivered but couldn’t find the strength to pull away from him. Her muscles ignored her. “What is this thing used for?”

  He flicked his finger across the dial in the middle and hologram Earth spun. He tapped the screen and it stopped spinning. A bright dot glowed and pulsed. The man pointed at it. “That is where we are now.”

  Evazee shrugged. A small part of her screamed, waving fists as alarms, but the rest of her felt warm and lazy. “So what? What can you do with it?”

  Shasta snorted back a laugh. “Oh, nothing really. It’s all just decorative. Here to make the room pretty. Like your hair, so pretty.” His fingers ran through her long hair, twirling the ends. Evazee shivered, though not from cold.

  “Why are there buttons?”

  The man moved away, his gaze focussed on her as he circled. “To show you different things. Go on, push one.”

  Evazee’s curiosity piqued, and she did as the man said. The hologram split down the middle and the top layer peeled back to reveal a network of tunnels that criss-crossed the entire planet in every direction. “What is this? What am I looking at?”

  “Oh, my darling, this? This is my favourite part. Some call it the spirit cuttings. I think of them more like quick tunnels. It’s all connected.”

  “Did you make them?”

  “Would you be impressed if I said yes?”

  A trap. She dodged it with a question. “What are they for?”

  “I can be anywhere, anytime. Isn’t it perfect?”

  Stars danced in her eyes, and she had to lean on the control panel to stop herself from falling.

  ~*~

  Bree had changed in many ways, but the one thing she’d managed to hang onto was her run-away-fast-in-a-crisis speed. Kai pushed hard to keep up with her and put as much ground as possible between himself and the temple guards.

  Even that concept messed with his brain. Since when did Tau need guards? The Tau he remembered would fling the gates wide to anyone who chose to come close to him. None of them would be turned away.

  Five blocks later, Bree ran
into a sunken alcove in a wall, came to a sudden halt, and doubled over, breathing hard. The street was busy with people and noise. Bree glared at him as he came close. “You have to learn to follow the rules. You can’t just run around doing your own thing. This isn’t a game. What’s wrong with you?”

  Kai stepped in close to read her eyes. “Do you still paint, Bree? Draw?” She blinked rapidly. He’d hit a nerve.

  She frowned at him, anger blossoming on her cheeks. “You’re not listening. Stop causing trouble.”

  “The Bree I remember could turn an ugly old shack into a masterpiece with a few strokes of brush. When last did you paint?” He spoke softly as he would to a fallen bird.

  “No! Obviously, I don’t. It’s not a good use of one’s time.”

  “Show me your hand.”

  Bree flinched and pulled away from him. “Leave me alone. I didn’t ask for any of this.”

  “Please, Bree. I’m responsible for whatever happened to you in the desert. I thought it would work, but it didn’t. It’s been eating me alive. I thought I’d killed you.” The words hung in the air between them. Kai turned away, hiding behind his hand.

  “Fine. I’ll show you. But I’m warning you, if you say anything...”

  “I know. I know. You’ll rip my throat out and feed me my own intestines. Go right ahead.”

  “That’s not even what I was going to say. That’s such a stupid thing to say.” Her nose wrinkled, making her freckles kiss.

  “Your arm?”

  She kept her gaze locked on his and awkwardly pulled back the long sleeve where she hid her hand. “There. My arm. Ta-daa.”

  Kai braced himself but nothing could have prepared him. The wounds were no longer raw but patched together roughly. Her hand was a mangled claw, fingers curled and stiff, shredded and useless. “Bree, I’m so—”

  “Don’t.” A single word packed with the venom of a broken heart left to fester.

  “I can fix this.” Kai reached for the bottle around his neck. A few drops would be all she needed.

  “Stop it! Haven’t you done enough?” She didn’t shout. She didn’t have to. Her words were barely a whisper but they rammed into Kai with enough force to take his breath away. Bree pulled her hand back into her sleeve, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and walked away.

  19

  Kai started to follow Bree but changed his mind. His heart burned hot and raw. He turned in the opposite direction and walked back to Tau’s temple. He couldn’t believe that someone who truly knew Tau would be kept out. Zap and Ruaan had probably finished their food by now, but they’d have to keep themselves busy for a little while longer. Kai needed Tau. Nobody and nothing else would do.

  Time worked differently here in the spiritual realm. Kai had no idea how long he’d have to wait until the worship service started, but however long it took, it would be worth the wait. As he got closer to the temple, the crowd around him swelled, all walking in the same direction. He kept walking, hiding his head from a pair of Temple Guards who patrolled on the far side of the road. Being careful was necessary for now, until the mixup had been sorted out.

  By the time they reached the temple, Kai had bundled up the tangled mess of emotions and shoved them deep. A grim resolve settled over him. He was going to make this right. Whether Bree ever spoke to him again or not.

  He checked the inside of his wrist. The imprint was still there though it had dulled to a grey colour. Watching the faces of the people around him, he expected to feel their buzz of excitement. Surely, they would have hope, yet the people around him didn’t seem to have received the memo. Kai sneaked a sideways glance at the girl next to him. Her forehead was creased into many frown lines.

  A boy on the far side of her was agitated. His eyes roamed, scanning the crowd. For what or whom, Kai had no idea. They followed the swell of people through to an open-air courtyard, flanked on one side by a raised platform. A set of drums waited unmanned on the platform. There were no other instruments that Kai could see.

  Maybe Tau himself would step out. A doorway opened in the wall at the back of the platform. Three women walked out and lined up across the stage, equally spaced from each other. The middle one raised her hands and a hush fell over the assembly.

  “Welcome to the Stone City Worship Service. Before we begin, let us take a moment for quiet reflection.” She lowered her hands and silence consumed the courtyard.

  Kai leaned over the girl next to him. “What are we supposed to be reflecting on?”

  “Shh!”

  Kai was pretty sure that he wasn’t meant to reflect on shh. He had to find someone less serious. He turned to the guy on the other side. “What are we meant to be reflecting on?”

  “Today’s failings, shortcomings, weaknesses.” He sighed a bit, and his face creased as if he had toothache. Then he turned his attention back to the woman on the podium.

  “Well, that doesn’t seem very useful.”

  “Oh, believe me, it is! It is the single most important thing you can know. Know yourself.”

  “But we’ll always be weak and fail. Focussing on it is not going to make it go away. I think it will only make it worse.”

  The guy studied him with one eyebrow lifted. “Are you serious right now?”

  “I think so?”

  The girl on the other side turned to them both with red spots riding high on her cheeks. “You two need to keep quiet, or I’m going to single you both out for disruption.”

  Kai pulled on the guys arm and leaned close to whisper, “When do we get to see Tau?”

  “What do you mean? To look on the face of Tau would surely mean certain death. Oh, but such a sweet death that would be.” His eyes grew misty and lost focus as he stared off into nothingness.

  Kai leaned closer to follow his line of sight. Yip, he was truly staring at nothing. This boy was a space cadet. Kai glanced at the others around him and picked a black-haired girl who wasn’t staring off into space as if violins were playing inside her head. “Excuse me,” Kai whispered. Hopefully, no one else would hear. The girl turned to him, her eyes a violent shade of purple.

  “Can you tell me how I could get to see Tau?”

  The girl blinked, obviously confused by his question. But then she smiled and pointed to the left. “There is a gallery full of pictures just around that corner. Some real beauts. You should go see.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I need to see him. I need to ask him some things.”

  “You have nice eyes.”

  “What?”

  “Your eyes are lovely.” She turned red and stared at the floor. “I’m sorry. I’m not supposed to notice things like that anymore. I just can’t help myself. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  Kai thought he might be going insane. None of the people here were normal. Then again, would he even recognize normal if it slapped him in the face? He was beginning to doubt it. Tau, where are you?

  Without knowing why, he stepped forward, pushing himself between two others. A few shuffling steps, and he made his way through two more groups of people who muttered something unintelligible about rudeness but didn’t stop him. He kept going, threading his way, this way and that. Some of those he pushed past were so deeply caught up in their own contemplation that they didn’t notice his passing. Others glared as he jostled his way past.

  He was sweating by the time he made it to the front. The swell of bodies moved together as one giant organism, pressing him against the stage. The three women on stage had their eyes closed, heads thrown back, and their arms outstretched.

  Tau, I need you.

  ~*~

  Evazee woke to the beating of drums vibrating through her from the rock walls of the bed-hole where she curled up. She had no memory of getting back, and the events of the night before seemed nothing more than an odd dream. Somewhere in this mess, she hoped to find Peta. Had to find her.

  There was no room for stretching, so she angled her legs out and dropped to the floor of th
e underground cavern. Pins and needles numbed her feet, and she gave up trying to stand. She leaned back, shut her eyes, and stretched her body, working life back into her feet. Drumbeats rippled through the cave, and Evazee tried to ignore them. Blocking her ears with her palms, she hummed a tuneless ditty. When she looked again, she’d pushed off the wall and stumbled to obey the drums on her tingly feet. She joined the streams of people shuffling along deeper underground.

  It was hard to tell how many of them there were. Evazee struggled to focus on anything else while the drums beat. The crowd poured through a corridor into a wide cavern. The roof arched high above, lit by glowing moss. The light cast by the plant-life shone down eerily, making the faces around her seem ghoulish.

  The drumbeat stopped and, as one, they all dropped to the floor. A voice filled her head. “Welcome, Awakened One.” Evazee glanced around at the others. Some sat with eyes closed and rapture on their faces. Others huddled over their knees with faces hidden. Each one seemed caught up in their own little world. Evazee couldn’t tell if the voice was only in her head or spoken to all of them.

  “This is just me and you. Don’t worry about the others.”

  Her stomach turned. Shasta was back in her head. And disturbingly, there was a part of her that relished him being there. She shivered and rubbed her arms, fighting panic.

  “Calm yourself. Everything is going to be just fine.”

  His voice rippled through her. Her cheeks flushed, and she shuddered. The desire to lose herself and surrender to the pull on her insides was overwhelming.

  “Don’t fight it, Evazee.”

  The sound of Shasta speaking her name was double cream chocolate. It slid through her and left a trail of well-being that took her breath away.

  “Come. It’s time.”

  As one, the crowd rose and moved deeper into the cave. Eva found herself on her feet shuffling along with them. The girl next to her tripped, and Evazee shot out a hand to stop her falling.