“You like that? I’ll tell you something else, then,” Alistair said, taking a final step, so only her billowing skirts were between them. “I want the rest of your life, Gabby, and I’m willing to do anything to get it. You only need to name it and it’s yours. Anything you want.”
He reached for her.
Gabriela splashed him and moved away, but she laughed.
“Okay, Mr. Alistair,” she said demurely. “I understand.”
“Good. What does a guy need to do to get your attention, Ms. Estanza-Thule?”
“I’m a romantic and will marry only for love, so you don’t need to worry about impressing me,” Gabriela said. “I was promised several prime holdings from the Aushev portfolio, though.”
“Why stop there?” Alistair grinned. “Why shouldn’t you get the whole estate?”
“Oh, and on an unrelated note, I’ve always admired the Loring Manor in Central.”
“Just the one house, then?”
“To begin with. I do have my own ambitions. I am serious about that.”
“That’s one of the things I like about you, Gabby,” he said. “I like an independent woman. There’s just one thing, before I go…”
He stepped forward. She retreated again, but only a half-step this time.
“Yes?”
“I have a request for you.”
“Do you?”
“Uh huh.”
“Well, then. Keeping in mind that I am a modest and well-mannered young lady who has saved herself for marriage, what is it that you want from me?”
“Would you mind asking your uncle if I can borrow his secret apport station? I suddenly have a bunch of places that I need to be.”
“I don’t think you’ll need to go anywhere just yet, Mr. Alistair. Uncle Gaul shared a bit of what he saw before his little accident, and I happen to know that you’ll have an interesting opportunity, if you wait around here for a little while.”
“Good things come to those who wait, eh?” Alistair grinned. “What will we do in the meantime?”
“The obvious thing,” Gabriela said, fluttering her eyelashes coquettishly. “We will discuss the remaining obstacles to my happiness, and to your own. Since we find ourselves with some time and privacy, would it be too much of an imposition if I wanted to talk a little bit about my family?”
“Why not? I assume they’ll all be at the wedding, regardless.”
“That’s just it,” Gabriela said, taking his hand. “I’d really rather that they weren’t. They’ve ignored and overlooked me all these years. Why should they get any share in my happiness?”
“Why indeed? I will see to it that they get exactly what they deserve,” Alistair said, folding her hand inside of his own. “All of them?”
“Well, not Uncle Gaul. He’s a softie, and he’s not got long, in any case. The rest of them I can do without.”
“If you can, then so can I,” Alistair said. “Just watch me.”
***
Hayley opened the door, rolled her eyes, and then walked away, leaving it ajar.
Alex shrugged and then followed her in.
The room had been office space for the labs upstairs before the Far Shores was occupied. Now, with refugees crammed into most of the residential buildings, it had been repurposed into an informal headquarters for the Auditors. Weapons and field gear had been laid across the desks and tables, and harnesses and bandoliers were strung from the office chairs. The rest of the furniture had been pushed to one side of the room to make space for a bunch of cots.
Min-jun looked up from the comic he was reading in his cot, while Grigori stood nearby, glaring at Alex, a carton of milk in one hand.
Xia glanced up from the game of solitaire he was playing on an empty desk. He gave Alex a brief nod before returning to his cards.
“Look who showed up,” Hayley remarked, collapsing back into her cot. “I thought you worked for Emily now?”
“I don’t…uh…you work for the Hegemony on the side,” Alex stammered. “What’s the big deal?”
“Emily Muir is a traitor and Anathema,” Grigori said, setting the carton forcefully down on a table, and causing the milk to splash out. “There is a world of difference.”
“Ms. Gallow was willing to work with Emily,” Alex said, shrugging. “It is what it is.”
“That is a temporary arrangement,” Hayley said. “The Auditors have more important things to deal with right now than Emily Muir. We are going to settle affairs with her at an opportune time. Ms. Gallow has said so repeatedly.”
“I don’t know,” Alex said. “Vivik said it didn’t go great the last time you all took on Emily.”
“It will be different next time,” Grigori said. “I promise.”
“No need to be so dramatic,” Alex said. “I just came to check on you guys.”
“How sweet of you,” Hayley said. “I’m touched that you still care, even after you abandoned us.”
“I was dragged into the Outer Dark by an angry Yaojing,” Alex said. “What was I supposed to do?”
“It’s what you’ve done since that is the problem,” Grigori said.
“When Katya approached me, I thought I was helping rescue an abandoned Auditor,” Hayley said. “I didn’t know anything about Emily Muir, or taking over the Far Shores, or…”
“Neither did I,” Alex said. “That all came as a surprise.”
“But you are still working for Miss Muir, even after she did all that,” Min-jun said. “Right?”
Alex gave them a helpless look.
“It’s really complicated,” Alex finally said. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Explain what you’ll do next time Emily asks for a favor,” Min-jun suggested. “That’s a good place to start.”
Alex looked at his shoes as if he were waiting for them to provide him with a line.
“I know what you want me to say,” Alex said, finally. “But I’m obviously going to help my friends when they need help.”
“That settles it, doesn’t it?” Hayley rolled her eyes. “Because Emily is clearly your friend, despite being Anathema, despite hijacking the Far Shores – our home, I might add. And we, just as obviously, are not your friends.”
Alex gave Hayley a pleading look, but she ignored it to return to her book.
Mitsuru cleared her throat from where she leaned casually against the wall beside the door.
“Hi.” Mitsuru nodded. “Been a while.”
No one said anything for a minute.
“I hadn’t, uh, I haven’t actually had a chance to tell them about what happened to you, yet,” Alex said, coughing. “I told you to give me a little while, didn’t I?”
“You were just digging yourself a deeper hole,” Mitsuru said. “I did you a favor.”
“I thought I sensed your Etheric Signature,” Hayley said, approaching Mitsuru warily. “Are you an Anathema too?”
“Go ahead and check for yourself, if you want,” Mitsuru said, shrugging as she dropped her shields. “I’m the same woman you remember, give or take an unexpected mental vacation in Mexico.”
Hayley narrowed her eyes and stepped close, and then she was inside of Mitsuru.
She was as gentle as her rudimentary telepathy allowed, but Mitsuru still stumbled, and Alex had to grab her elbow to steady her. A trickle of blood dribbled from her left nostril, but to the collective relief of all, it was red.
“Holy shit. She’s telling the truth,” Hayley said, returning to herself. “It’s Ms. Aoki! She’s not Anathema, or…”
“I told you that,” Mitsuru said, wiping the blood from beneath her nose. “You kids are so jaded.”
“How is this possible, Ms. Aoki?” Min-jun spoke calmly enough, but he looked as if he might faint. “How have you come back?”
“My implant made regular backups, or so I’m told. I don’t remember anything past our deployment in the Ukraine. I know I must have died, because everyone keeps telling me as much, and I’ve heard all about that Ana
thema – Song something? Song Li? – I’ve heard that she used my body.”
Mitsuru frowned and balled her fists.
“I’ve heard about all that,” she continued. “But I feel like I was just here the other day, with all of you.”
More silence.
If there was telepathic communication going on, then Alex and Mitsuru were left out of it.
“Where does that leave you on all this, then?” Hayley’s tone was challenging. “Who do you work for now, Ms. Aoki?”
“I’m an Auditor,” Mitsuru said, nodding. “Nothing’s changed there. I’m not quitting.”
“That’s good!” Min-jun looked around hopefully. “That is good, right?”
“What about Emily Muir?” Grigori gave her a probing look. “You said she was responsible for your return. What are your feelings regarding her, Ms. Aoki?”
Mitsuru thought about it.
“Gratitude,” Mitsuru said. “Respect, but also wariness.”
“So, if she comes asking for favors,” Hayley said, “what will you do?”
“I would listen,” Mitsuru said. “Is that a problem?”
“I think Ms. Gallow might have a problem with it,” Hayley replied. “She’s still upset over everything.”
“I’ll work it out with Alice,” Mitsuru said. “That’s not a big worry. Rebecca is in charge now, right? I’m sure she’ll be fine with it.”
“I’m not so sure,” Grigori said. “Much has changed.”
“You don’t know Rebecca the way that I do,” Mitsuru said. “We’ve been friends and colleagues for years. Emily Muir is not going to be an obstacle to that.”
“You’re fine with all of this, then?” Hayley demanded. “She takes the Far Shores from us, recruits our teammates, steals all our things, and we are supposed to just let it go?”
“She gave me my room back,” Mitsuru said. “I just had to ask.”
“Mine, too,” Alex added. “I know she’s holding all of your rooms for you. You’re sleeping in an office because you chose to.”
“She secured our apport station, our training facilities, and our labs,” Hayley said, putting a finger in Alex’s face. “They took weapons and equipment and…everything! They took everything! I can’t even find my workout clothes! I have to get permission just to get to the kennel to see my dogs!”
“I didn’t say it was perfect,” Alex said, holding up his hands and taking a step back. “I just think that, if you ask, Emily will help…”
“Of course she’ll help!” Hayley shouted. “She’ll help and then I’ll be in her debt! How can you be so stupid, Alex? How many times are you going to let that girl screw you over?”
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Alex said. “I think Emily has good intentions! Mostly. I know that I do, anyway. I don’t think I’ve done anything to betray the Auditors, or any of you.”
More glances were exchanged. Alex was certain there was a private telepathic channel to which he was not privy, where a furious debate was currently underway.
“Katya is the personal assassin for the most feared woman in the world,” Mitsuru said, “and Alex is an M-Class protocol user and catalyst. Do you really think the Auditors will be more effective and safer without their help?”
More agitated silence.
“That’s not what I think,” Mitsuru said. “If my opinion makes any difference.”
“Who cares what any of you think? I’m obviously going to make the decision,” Rebecca said, rubbing her eyes as she walked in the room, Alice following closely behind her. “This isn’t a democratic thing. The Auditors are selected by the Director and the Board, not by group vote.”
“Don’t we get any say at all?” Hayley asked. “Alex and Katya betrayed us, and Ms. Aoki…well, you know what she did.”
An uncomfortable moment followed, when no one wanted to look directly at Mitsuru, for reasons varying from apprehension to guilt.
Had any of them done so, they would have discovered that the object of their nervousness was oblivious to and unaffected by their malaise, having no memory of her death or the events immediately preceding it.
“I know exactly who did what,” Rebecca said. “I’ve got a rough idea as to why. Maybe I’ll talk more with a few of you in private, but the group discussion is tabled. You are all Auditors until I say otherwise, okay?”
Rebecca glared at them.
“Maybe you’ve all forgotten, but you don’t just quit the Auditors. If you want to leave, you gotta resign,” Rebecca explained. “Your resignation has to be approved by me. And I’m not approving any resignations, okay? You’re all staying right here until I decide that I’ve got no further use for you.”
“That’s hardly fair,” Alex said, grinning. “We might not be allowed to quit, but we could always die.”
“Not unless you’re given prior permission,” Rebecca said, grabbing Alex around his shoulders and grinding her knuckles against his head. “No quitting, no dying, and no vacations until I say otherwise. Got it?”
Twenty-Five
Day Six
The beach stretched into infinite uniformity behind them. Ahead, there was only a narrow spit of sand, lashed on both sides by the agitated Sea of Ether, along with a few outbuildings and a small fenced dry garden.
This was their second walk in as many days.
If it was not yet a habit, it was at least a preference.
The sky to their left, above the Sea of Ether, was dark and ominous, but neither had dressed for rain. The young woman with electric-blue hair had not even dressed appropriately for the wind, wearing nothing more than a borrowed, overly large T-shirt and a pair of shorts. The other wore a knitted hat that matched her recently gifted knitted gloves, along with a sweater and jeans.
They walked until they could see the end of the beach, a sandy spit that stuck out into the Sea of Ether like a pier. Neither suggested turning back, though the beach before them dwindled.
“You only have one day left, right?”
“Tomorrow night is the end. I won’t wake him up in the morning. I’ll leave before everyone notices.”
“About that.” Katya stopped, just at the edge of a ruined garden, glancing curiously at the scattered remains of half-burnt succulents. “I can’t let you do it, Eerie.”
“Alex will die for sure if I stay,” Eerie said. “You will too, probably. I need to do it. Don’t you understand? It was all a bad plan from the start.”
“I’ll give you that. I barely understand what you meant to do, and I still think it was terrible execution. That doesn’t mean you just give up.”
“I know what happens if I choose to stay, or run, or fight.” Eerie frowned. “I’m not going to do it.”
“You know that you must decide otherwise, though, right?” Katya picked up a stone from the sand beside her and failed miserably in her attempt to skip it across the surface of the Sea of Ether. “You wouldn’t know what happens if you chose something else.”
“I can’t do it, Katya!” Eerie covered her eyes. “It’s too selfish!”
“Don’t joke around,” Katya said. “How much work have I put into looking after the two of you? Don’t you think it’s selfish to just throw all that work away?”
“I am trying to protect you!” Eerie shouted. “I am trying to think about other people! What else do you want me to do?”
“Alex told me his theory,” Katya said. “He thinks that you made him the way he is because he can stop the Church of Sleep. I think he’s right.” Katya winced. “Please don’t tell him I said that.”
“He’s wrong,” Eerie insisted. “There’s nothing he can do. No one can help.”
“I don’t believe you. You must have had a plan for this. What is it about him? Is it the Absolute Protocol? The Catalyst Effect?”
“That’s all by chance,” Eerie said. “It’s nothing special.”
“A war started the second the boy showed up,” Katya said. “You want me to believe he’s no big deal?”
; “Maybe sort of a big deal,” Eerie admitted. “That’s an accident, though. His protocols…”
“You admit it, then. He has two protocols,” Katya said, eyes narrowing. “Anastasia had some sort of intel that indicated that, but I was never sure.”
“Yes, but I never…”
“Eerie, please, stop. We’re friends, right? You said so yourself,” Katya said. “Because we are friends, I know that you are lying to me.”
“I’m not lying, exactly,” Eerie said. “Until recently, I could not remember what was going to happen, only the things that already had. It was hard to make plans. I’m not a precognitive, I’m just different.”
“But you had an idea,” Katya said, taking Eerie’s hands. “Didn’t you?”
“I – maybe, I had something,” Eerie stammered. “I think that…yes.”
“Yes what?”
“I had an idea, a long time ago. It was a bad idea,” Eerie said miserably. “I planned to give him to the Church, as a substitute. That was my whole plan. Alex winds up in the White Room, instead of me.”
“Oh.” Katya grimaced. “That’s not what I had in mind.”
“You see? I needed him to care about me, for it all to work. I ended up caring for him, accidentally, though, and now…well, obviously I can’t do that! Not now. Not to Alex. Not now that I know him.”
“What about that thing that Vivik told you? The thing that Gaul Thule knows? The club activity you suggested. Why haven’t we gone after that?”
“Bad things happen if we go there,” Eerie said. “Maybe it’s better not to do any of that.”
“Losing you would be a bad thing,” Katya said. “Don’t you understand?”
“I understand, I just really, really don’t want everyone to die,” Eerie said. “Is that so bad?”
“That’s perfectly understandable,” Katya said. “The bad part is not letting your friends help you when you need help.”
“Don’t scold me,” Eerie wailed. “Don’t scold me, and don’t be so nice! I’ll cry. I can’t help it!”
“Don’t cry,” Katya said. “Seriously. Don’t. Just tell me what we need to do.”
The Church of Sleep (Central Series Book 5) Page 65