AEGIS EVOLUTION

by S. S. Segran

  He found himself stepping back, but he had no control of his actions. What the—

  An arm appeared, as if he’d raised his own, but it was too tanned to be his. The hand opened and the girl took it, her grip tender in his. There was still sadness as she looked at him, but also deep adoration.

  Holy smokes. The letters were written by Lucius… so everything I’m seeing is probably through his eyes. I repeat. Holy. Smokes.

  Lucius’s gaze drifted down slightly. Aari’s heart skipped a beat.

  Held against the girl’s hip by her free hand was a small box clad in scuffed, coppery metal. The engravings on the lid exactly matched the friends’ pendants. He strained for the box but could not move. No matter how hard he labored his host wouldn’t budge.

  Come on, come on!

  He blinked and was wrenched back to the café table. He stood up so fast his chair fell back with a racket. “I saw the girl!” he crowed. “I saw the girl with the box! They were in Haifa!”

  The friends threw their arms in the air, hollering. Marshall pulled Aari down, wrapped him in a headlock and noogied him. “Attaboy!”

  Aari wriggled out of the Sentry’s grip. “Let me go back in. Maybe I can find a clue as to where they went.”

  He righted his chair and took the parchment. Another flash—he saw his, or rather, Lucius’s hands frantically stuffing garments from a chest into a plain cloth bag in a small room with a stone floor and clay walls. Carmel did the same with her wooden box and their sleeping mats. Moonlight streamed through the latticework that covered the single window, creating small diamond patterns on the ground.

  Lucius picked up a stack of parchments at the bottom of the chest. Aari, unsure why, felt displeasure envelop him. Am I feeling what he feels, too? That’s crazy. This is all crazy. I can’t believe th—hey, these look like the letters he wrote… Wait. What’s he doing?

  The Roman knelt and removed a loose section of the dense stone floor. He arranged the letters in a depression in the dirt, then touched his fingertips to his lips and pressed them onto the topmost parchment in a symbolic goodbye to his family, then replaced the stone into its slot.

  Shrugging on his bag, he joined Carmel by the doorway and cupped the side of her face, kissing her long and soft, then took her hand. Together, they slipped out into the open-roofed central courtyard. Other rooms surrounded the quad and snoring could be heard from within. A cooking pit by a wall smoldered from a recently-extinguished fire. Lucius and Carmel crept past a covered area near the front of the courtyard where a few cows, sheep and a donkey slept. They paused by the entryway of the home, smiled at each other, and strode out into the warm night.

  Aari blinked, but instead of returning to the café table, there was yet another flash. This time, he found himself in a bustling marketplace. Sweet fragrances filled his nose, perfumes of cinnamon, lily, cardamom, myrrh and other scents he couldn’t place. Bronzed, clean-shaven men attired in only loincloths or linen kilts tied at the waist worked the stalls or played board games in the shade, while women clothed in comfortable white sheath dresses that ended at the ankles perused the booths. Both sexes sported dark eye makeup and wore either amulets or vibrant pottery beads around their necks. Most had rings on their fingers and bracelets or armbands. Children scampered around, all of them bald save for one long section of hair on the side of their head.

  When Lucius glanced to the right, Aari found a beaming Carmel among some of the women. They ran their fingers through her blonde hair, markedly different from their own, and pressed the backs of their hands against her pale skin. Some of the children frolicked around them in a game of tag, shrieking and giggling.

  Lucius slowly turned on his heel, allowing Aari to take in the lively marketplace. He marveled at the sight for so long that it took him some time to focus on the backdrop. If he had control over Lucius’s mouth, it would have hung open long enough for a horde of flies to buzz down his gullet.

  Just a few miles in the distance, three prominent pyramids rose from the ground, sentinels overlooking the immense desert, blurred only by the waves of heat under the scorching sun. Aari tried to move Lucius toward the structures in vain. Then, with a blink, he returned to his friends.

  “Are you back?” Mariah asked.

  Aari flopped back, groaning in response.

  Marshall stared at him in awe. “You were gone for almost fifteen minutes. Your eyes were open but we still had to check for a pulse just to be sure. Good thing this place is empty or people might’ve gotten spooked.”

  Aari started. Fifteen minutes? Oy…

  “You saw everything?” Kody asked, emerald eyes gleaming.

  “Yeah. I—”

  The other boy clamped a hand over his mouth. “If you could, ladies and gents,” he interjected, “please wait until we’re in the car.”

  “Why?” Aari asked, his voice muffled.

  “Just pack everything up.”

  Once in the SUV, Kody took the passenger seat, put his finger to his lips as a warning to the others, then turned the radio volume on full blast.

  “I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure,” he whispered, “but seeing as we might have really valuable information right now, methinks I’m as sure as can be.” He inclined his head toward the back of the SUV. “I’m convinced Reyor’s guys are tag-teaming. There are at least two cars, if not three, that seem to always be around. One is usually by Danny’s house, normally in the multi-level parking lot of the apartment across the street. When we drive out to Haifa, another coasts with us. And I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure a third car sometimes shuffles with the first and follows the third when we’re on the move. They’re always super quiet when I search around. Like, they don’t talk. That’s why I could never really pinpoint them. And I’m worried that they have listening devices, so let’s keep the radio on, okay?”

  Aari, sitting behind Marshall, nodded approvingly. “Clever.”

  “Aw, shucks. Thanks, Captain Smartypants. Gimme a kiss.”

  “Get away from me!”

  “Okay, okay, behave,” Tegan said. “Aari, where did Lucius and Carmel go?”

  “Egypt,” he answered, pushing Kody’s head away. “They were at a marketplace not far from the Pyramids of Giza, but I can’t imagine why. Asa said they were running away from the Romans, but Egypt was controlled by the Empire at the time. Why would they go there?”

  “Whatever the case, at least now we may have a place to start searching again. Could you see anything beyond the pyramids?”

  “The memory only stretches that far. As Elder Nageau said, maybe getting close to the geo-markers of significant events in Lucius’s life will reveal more clues. Right now, that next marker is near the pyramids.”

  “Then that’s enough for us,” Marshall said.

  Mariah lifted a finger. “Reyor’s people will still follow us. It’ll be hard to throw them off without giving away the fact that we can locate them now.”

  “We’ll work out a plan,” Tegan said.

  “I’ll get us tickets and we’ll pack up,” Marshall decided. “While you were traipsing in Lucius’s memories, Aari, I checked the news. Turns out Egypt is one of several countries that’ll close their international airports tonight.”

  “Talk about luck,” Kody breathed, then said meekly, “Guess Jag’s not coming, huh?”

  The Sentry grimaced. “Afraid not. Can’t have him trekking through Egypt with a broken leg when we still don’t know the endgame.”

  “He’s gonna be so bummed when we tell him,” Mariah said, pouting.

  Aari ran his hand over the canister in his lap. Reverence had overtaken him. “It’s incredible. By some providence we decided to check out these artifacts by the Bay of Haifa where Lucius and Carmel lived for a time, almost at the exact spot where the emotional geo-marker was created because they made the big decision to leave for Africa. Seriously. What are the odds?”

  “As I said, if you’re on the right path, the universe will open its do
ors for you guys.” Marshall turned the volume up just a little more. “Now let’s start planning our way out of here… This should be interesting.”

  41

  Kody trotted toward the parking lot of the apartment building across from Daniel’s house, whistling. A tubby orange cat ambling beside him hissed. He glanced down at it, hissed back, then whispered, “Fine, I’ll stop whistling. Party pooper.”

  All anyone observing would notice was a cat padding by its lonesome across the road—exactly as planned. Tegan, mindlinked with the animal, had joined forces with Aari in the novasphere so that he could use the cat’s sight to reflect light away from Kody, rendering the teenager invisible to any other onlooker.

  Armed with two wooden boards with metal spikes protruding from them, Kody entered the parking lot and went up to the third level. I’m on my way, little piggies, he thought giddily, and boy do I have a surprise for you suckers.

  Most of the slots on the third level were filled. Kody narrowed his eyes until the world became dark gray save for some brightness indicating cars that had just been in use. Thermal vision is the coolest… hopefully X-ray is next. I’d be such a terror with it. He snickered to himself.

  Since they’d received Victor’s broken warning a week ago about possible watchers, he’d been hyper-suspicious of everyone and everything. His sensitivity to the surroundings caused him to notice one car in particular that seemed to always remain around the area, though sometimes he would not be able to find it. It was, as far as he could tell after days and nights of observation, the only vehicle that was constantly incredibly bright in his vision. There would be no reason for a parked car to project a heat bloom—unless there were occupants who needed a little extra warmth in the cooler winter nights.

  Kody spotted the car now, a dirty white sedan parked between two other vehicles. He picked up heat signatures from two bodies, something he was never able to catch through the half-walls of the multi-level parking that overlooked the row of houses across the street.

  Beside him, the cat meowed softly. He smiled down at it, nodding. As he placed the spiked boards behind both of the car’s rear tires, he tuned in his hyper-hearing.

  “I hate this,” the tattooed giant in the driver’s seat whispered. “The loud music they’ve had going for the past few hours in that house… this parabolic mic is useless with all that noise. If we had any doubts that they knew they were being followed, this definitely wipes it all away.”

  “Hardly matters,” a second man whispered back with a touch of a Russian accent. “They can’t make a move without anyone knowing.”

  “Sir, what do we do? They’re scheming, I’ll bet on it. They must have learned something on that beach. And keep in mind, that one car that pulled into the garage two hours ago hasn’t left.”

  “Shh, Elias. We sit and we wait. If something happens, the others are just a few blocks away and we’ll handle it. Now stop talking.”

  “Yes, Mr. Ajajdif.”

  Kody crept out of the parking lot, scampered back to the house and crawled through an open window. Once inside, both Aari and Tegan ceased their exertions. As Kody shut the window to avoid annoying the neighbors with the blaring music, Tegan nudged him. “Well?”

  “Definitely Reyor’s people,” he affirmed. “I’m pretty sure these guys were at the mining site on Ayen’et, too—the big security man and his short boss.”

  In the dining area, Marshall raised his arm. The friends sidled up to him, joined by Daniel and one other IDF soldier, a small but fit brown-haired woman in her early twenties who Kody tried to play eye-tag with. She looked more amused with his attempts than anything else.

  “Alright,” Marshall said. “Everything’s in place. We’ll be leaving soon, so I suggest taking this time to say our goodbyes.”

  The friends turned to each other, lips pursed, and busied themselves with rechecking their packed bags for the umpteenth time. Kody patted the pocket of his black cargo pants, hearing the crinkling of the last two power bars Victor had given him. He pulled one out and turned to Jag, but the taller boy had stolen into the bathroom with a toothbrush, leaving the door open.

  Kody joined him at the sink to splatter his face with cold water. Wordlessly, he passed his friend the power bar. Jag took it gratefully as he brushed his teeth. “You okay, Kode-man?”

  “Yeah. You?”

  “Never better.”

  “Liar.”

  Jag spat into the sink. “Quite. I’m surprised my pants haven’t caught fire yet. I just don’t like leaving you guys, you know?”

  “Hey, Superman, we can take care of ourselves just fine. We may not have your speed, strength or agility, but we can still manage. Honestly, I think we’re more worried about you.”

  “Why? Danny’s taking me to a safe house. I think the worst part about it is that I’m just additional weight with this bum leg right now. I can’t be with you guys in Egypt. I’m useless.”

  “You’re far from useless.” Kody wiped his face with the sleeve of his t-shirt. “We’re gonna miss you, man. It’s been years since we’ve been split up.”

  “Except for most of junior year, when we allowed what a handful of people said about our amnesia make us avoid each other.”

  “Not gonna lie,” Kody said, forehead crinkling, “I’m kinda really disappointed with all of us about that. Why didn’t we stick together? It’s what we’ve always done.”

  “I guess when you hear others say that there’s something wrong with you over and over, jokingly or not, you start to believe it.” Jag’s tone picked up a faraway tenor. “But you’re right. We should’ve stuck together.”

  “No. Nope. Nopity nope. Stop it, you.”

  “Stop what?”

  “I can hear it in your voice. You’re gonna start reminiscing about all our incidents and misadventures before Dema-Ki, before the prophecy.”

  Jag turned on the tap and flicked water at Kody, who squawked and splashed him back. Mariah poked her head in. “Hey, you toddlers, some of us still need to use the bathroom. Move it or lose it.”

  When the clock struck eight p.m., they reconvened by the dining table. The friends held each other in a group embrace. Kody closed his eyes, a small smile on his lips. This feels right. This is family.

  As they grabbed their bags, Jag gave Marshall a quick hug. “I know you’ll take care of them,” he murmured. “Just make sure to take care of yourself, too.”

  The Sentry regarded him with warmth and resolve. “You too, kiddo.” He held up his thumb to everyone else. “Let’s go.”

  The IDF woman left first, backing her small brown decoy car out of the garage, and idled on the street. Marshall brought their rented SUV in and shut the garage door to hide from Reyor’s men; Kody, Mariah, Tegan and Aari piled in. Jag and Daniel slid into Daniel’s truck and together, both vehicles exited. Kody tuned his hearing to the two men watching them from the apartment. They spoke softly, but now that he knew where to direct his abilities, he could catch them easier.

  The giant sounded disconcerted. “Sir, I’ll say it again. I don’t like this. Three cars, with tinted windows. We don’t know who’s in which vehicle. We don’t know if they’ve split up.”

  “Start the car,” Ajajdif instructed. “We’re following them. I’ll call the others.”

  Daniel and Jag took off down the street, tailing the decoy car for some distance before splitting off. In the SUV, Marshall stomped down on the gas and flew in the opposite direction. Kody, sitting on his own in the third row of the SUV, tilted his head toward Reyor’s men.

  “Go, Elias!”

  There was a mere second of silence before two resounding blasts were heard, followed by alarmed curses. “What was that?”

  “Sir, our back tires are trashed!”

  “What? How?”

  A door slammed.

  “What in the—how did this happen? Who put these here? Elias!”

  “I swear, there was no one, sir. I don’t know how, but those punks got one over us.”<
br />
  “Damn it!”

  “That’s one down,” Kody told the others. “I’m naming them Huey. If I’m right and they’ve only got two other cars at their disposal, then Dewey and Louie will be coming after any one of us soon.”

  “Nice work, Kody,” Marshall praised.

  “Ehh, all I did was place the boards with the nails. This was all Tegan’s idea.”

  They raced down the street, merging with the few vehicles on the main road bearing north. Kody kept watch out of the rear windshield. A dusty, dark gray truck screeched out of a side road and fell in a few cars behind the SUV. “There’s Dewey, folks.”

  Mariah, sitting in the middle row with Aari, hummed pensively. “The only advantage we have is that they don’t know we’re taking a flight to Egypt. But if we head towards Tel Aviv, they’ll know we’re aiming for the airport.”

  “We’ll have to shake them off before that,” Tegan said. “Any ideas?”

  Mariah peered out of her window. “Traffic’s slow enough. I could spin a couple of cars around and cause a pileup, but I’d rather not risk injuring anyone even at low speed.”

  They followed a gentle bend and a tunnel appeared ahead. “The turn-off to Tel Aviv is in four miles,” Marshall informed them.

  They zipped through the tunnel and everything narrowed into darkness and flashes of yellow from the overhead lighting. Kody tuned his hearing again and heard an Israeli man in the truck ask, “What do we do? They’re four cars ahead.”

  Over what Kody suspected was a phone, Ajajdif rumbled, “Stay on them. Don’t mess this one up.”

  “I think they’ve got local baddies on their payroll,” Kody called.

  “Wouldn’t be a stretch,” Marshall said. “They need friendlies wherever they go.”

  The exit of the tunnel came fast and they were back under the night sky. Oblong concrete planters with shrubbery and multihued flowers decorated the sides of the two-way road and arching street lights.

  “We need to shake ’em,” Aari warned. “Now.”

  “I’ve got an idea.” Mariah shimmied into the back with Kody and looked out the rear windshield.