VECTOR (The Weaver Series Book 3)

by Vaun Murphrey

  Kara stuck her pink tongue out at her brother, reached out and slid her fingers into ours then taunted, “Anything boys can do girls can do better!”

  A note of command was in Silver’s deeper voice as she spoke out loud. “Enough. Move back and make a circle when we’re all linked. We plan on pulling them into the center.”

  The Lees both shot a shamefaced glance our way before complying. The energy flow was calm this time, even when Silver whipped it in a circle to speed like a racetrack it had a feeling of a reined beast. I reached for the comforting mindscape of the Web and quested for the bright lights of my niece and nephew.

  It was hard to explain the method we used. Sometimes it felt like Silver and I were a giant magnet or a tiny black hole pulling in other Weavers on a tractor beam of attraction. We’d only practiced this skill with Kal and Mez but they’d always made it in one piece. I shed the dark doubt aside as we met with success. Ahead in the black but light-littered distance of the dimension Silver had called home for years, two lights streaked toward us on a collision course. We opened our eyes and continued the pull then concentrated all of our will on the empty space in the center of our small circle. The door creaked behind us but we were too far gone to stop the process without endangering the twins. Maggie’s voice was strident and a male voice yelled something back in a condescending insistent tone but we tuned them out.

  A feeling of dread and panic surged as we sensed Reb and Ray’s physical presence but still couldn’t see them. Quiet sobs emanated as if from the air at waist level.

  Silver gasped in our head, “Do they have a light field engaged? I know it worked, dammit. I can feel them!”

  The arguing from the entry ceased as we broke the connection. We knelt down, reaching a hand out in the general area of where we thought one of their upper arms might be. Our fingers bumped into warm wet flesh and then two bodies hit our shoulders in full force hugs. We could feel their little frames shivering as they clung to us like frightened monkeys. I stroked their invisible backs and thought hard about the next step. Axsian children were born with the ability to bend and when they were still learning all sorts of accidental flexing of their talents happened, especially if emotion got involved. Picture a toddler throwing a tantrum and suddenly vanishing from sight.

  If our touch had gifted a talent on the twins they probably didn’t understand why they couldn’t see each other or how to make it stop. “Hey guys it’s okay. You’ll be okay. I need you to try something for me. Can you do that?”

  Maggie came up behind us breathing heavily. “What happened? Did it work?”

  Turning our head to get a look at our aunt out of the corner of our eye, we made sure our voice was steady and firm. A slight movement in the background alerted us to the presence of Agent Chavarria. We turned awkwardly in our kneeling position, herding the two silent recovering three year olds in our arms.

  Maggie looked back at the FBI agent. “He knows.”

  Silver snapped out, “Knows what Maggie?”

  Chavarria’s dark brown eyes held a different light now. The earlier eager friendliness evaporated to be replaced by knowledge and secrets, which were almost tangibly swimming behind the glassy surface of his chocolate colored irises and midnight pupils. If it was a look he practiced in the mirror it was time well spent.

  He said, “I know you can teleport. I’m not really with the Bureau. My agency is a little more behind the scenes. We’ve been watching and waiting for a time to make an overture.”

  My twin, ever the smooth politician, answered in a dismissive tone, “We don’t have time for you right now. Family comes first. Stand there and ‘watch and wait’ some more with your mouth shut or get out.”

  James moved forward to block Chavarria, if that was even his real name, from coming any closer and Kara sidled up on her brother’s left to assist. Maggie came around to kneel in front of us on the cool tile floor and one of the twins jerked away from our body to rush their mother. A tiny, high squeal erupted, “Mommy,” and I knew it was Reb.

  Ray still clung to us as if we were a life raft in a roiling ocean but his voice rang clean and clear. “We were being good. I promise we were. How come we can’t see each other?”

  Calmly I patted his back as I thought through the problem. “What happened when you stopped being able to see Reb, honey?” Maggie’s eyes were showing an awful lot of white around the edges but she’d gotten her breathing under control and she lowered her lids, probably to let Gerome know in the Web that the twins were safe. Her arms looked strange embracing the air and every time Reb moved our aunt’s clothes shifted. We probably looked the same with Ray clinging to us as he was.

  Ray’s voice trembled as he said, “Is the deal off now?”

  Silver said, “What? Oh…no kid, the deal isn’t off. If the tornado doesn’t destroy the house we’ll take you up on the roof tonight. Now, tell us what happened.”

  This time Reb spoke and her voice sounded calculatingly pitiful for the greatest dramatic effect. “Some of the kids were teasin’ us, sayin’ mean stuff but they were bein’ sneaky ‘bout it and teacher didn’t see. Ray and I were holdin’ hands and I was tryin’ real hard not to hit.”

  Ray picked up where his sibling stopped. “She was doing really good too, and then I couldn’t see her anymore. The others kids started to yell for teacher so we ran.”

  Internally Silver put out her own theory. “They may be connected because of the twin bond and only one of them activated the light field. Which one is the question…it was probably the adrenaline, the fight or flight response made the light bend and they don’t know how to take it down.”

  Out loud in my best imitation of Kal’s teaching monotone, I said, “Close your eyes and think about a banana. Can you see a bright yellow, perfectly ripe yummy banana in your head?”

  Ray asked, “Why a banana?”

  Reb answered, “Just cuz. Do it.”

  I waited a moment and then asked, “Can you peel the banana?”

  Two childish voices responded with an ‘uh huh’ and a ‘yeah’ before we continued. “Now imagine you have a banana peel covering your whole body and you want to get out of it. Can you peel the banana back again?”

  In Maggie’s arms Reb’s curls started to appear. Chavarria gasped.

  We put the thought of this exposure and what it could mean out of our minds. “Good. Perfect. Keep peeling, guys.” When I looked down where I thought Ray’s head might be, we could already see the top of his scalp and one of his ears. At Silver I wondered, “It’s going faster with Ray…he may be the instigator.” My twin agreed absently but her heart wasn’t really in it. “What’s the matter, Sister?”

  “You know we’re gonna have to train them now, right? What if they can ‘port, too?” Her voice was resigned and slightly sour at the thought of the extra responsibility.

  Relieved, I said, “That’s the least of our worries, Silver. It’ll work out. Don’t borrow trouble. They may only be able to bend light not space or time.”

  Reb was visible now all the way to her knees and her eyelids were wrinkled with the force of her concentration. It seemed the longer they peeled the faster the release of the light field occurred. We looked down and Ray was visible all the way to his ankles. As we observed the ‘unbending’ our little nephew relaxed in our arms.

  Our attention wasn’t as focused on the problem of the moment and we became more aware of the sounds from outside. Even underground we could hear the wind and thunder from the storm rumbling as if they could make this whole structure fall down around our ears.

  To the twins I directed, “Okay, guys, open your eyes.”

  Ray complied first because I felt his exhale of relief before I saw Reb unclamp her eyelids. They both held up a hand in front of their faces at exactly the same time.

  Maggie was back from her Web session and had news to share as she snuggled her now visible daughter to her chest. “Everybody’s accounted for and underground per Gerome but the last few guards
from the gate and Control. He’s headed this way with that group as we speak, but they had to stop by the motor pool and grab a van. Too much debris is blowing through the air for them to hoof it.”

  A tiny niggle of doubt wiggled its way from the back my mind. Silver and I hadn’t had a chance to search out any other Weavers affected by Shiva’s influence. Worse yet…what if they were willing participants and not artificially influenced at all? Now would be the perfect time to go in the Web and search out any undue influence since the whole compound was about to be gathered in one place. That was another worry in our mind. If an enemy wanted to strike this would be the opportune moment. To reassure Maggie I said what she needed to hear. “They’ll make it.”

  To change the subject, I asked Ray, “How were the kids picking on you at school being sneaky?”

  Reb answered from the relative security of her mother’s arms. “They were singin’.”

  I pushed Ray away from our body so we could stand but our knees protested from being on the hard tile for so long. James and Kara turned sideways to keep Chavarria in sight but watch us as well. Ray refused to let go of us completely, hanging on to our right hand like a lifeline. Our nephew’s voice was clear and almost creepy as he sing-songed without any prompting. The locker room had an echo that added a counterpoint to the melody.

  One two, Rainbow’s coming for you.

  Three four, better lock your door.

  Five six, take your life for kicks.

  Seven eight, catch your date with fate.

  Nine ten, say goodbye to kin.

  Eleven twelve, condemned to Hell.

  We were all silent for a few seconds.

  Kara spat a sarcastic, “Catchy little ditty.”

  James shifted his feet with a contrite expression on his face. “I’ve heard it before. Some of the kids sang it at me when they found out we were leaving the compound. Kara’s too young to remember. It’s just kids being kids.”

  Maggie said softly into Reb’s hair, “I’ll mention it to Melody.”

  The door opened behind Chavarria and James turned so quickly his bangs flew back from his forehead in a wind of his own making.

  Cora Harris stood stiffly with an arm out keeping the heavy metal door ajar with effort. “What’s going on in here? Why are there two men in the women’s locker room?” Since the councilwoman only had her suspicious gaze directed at Agent Chavarria it was obvious her only concern was the Outsider.

  Maggie spoke up. “Gerome says the compound will be clear as soon as he gets here. No stragglers were in any of the houses they checked.”

  Cora plastered an artificial look of sympathy on her face. “They may not be able to get in. The wind blew some heavy debris against both doors after the last group came in. We haven’t been able to get either side open.”

  Maggie’s chest started to heave.

  Reb looked up in confusion. “Daddy’s okay, right?”

  Ray let go of our hand to rush his mother and sister. All three of them turned our way and Silver thought, “Ah hell…I hope we can save him. We could stay in here and pull Gerome to us like we did the kids but what about the other guards? Do you believe that bull about the doors being blocked with debris? It’s too convenient.”

  Out loud I asked Cora, “How do you know it was storm debris? There aren’t any windows in the mudroom.”

  Annoyed, she said, “What else would it be? The wind slammed the doors closed and then a few minutes later we heard a big boom as if something large hit from the outside. The left hand door is bowed in a little bit from the impact.”

  In our head Silver said, “I’ll find Malcolm in the Web and tell him to check the emergency exit in the gym and see if it’s still clear. If he knows about the topside doors he may already be doing it.”

  My twin was gone and I turned my attention to the Lees. “I may need your help again and it might entail going outside. If you want to say no I understand. First let’s look at the mudroom and see if some extra force can get the door open.”

  I felt a tug internally and James flinched. Kara’s eyes fluttered as if she’d felt it too but she shook her head when I looked the question at her. James closed his eyes to access the Web and I followed suit. Gerome’s light wavered and flexed in front of us, the LED pinpoints sharp.

  His voice traveled through demanding attention. “Somebody set off a bomb in front of the mudroom doors. The handles are twisted and they won’t open. The blast radius is too focused to be any incendiary device I’ve ever come across. Those doors are galvanized steel with twelve gauge vertical steel stiffeners and polyurethane foam insulation. One door is bowed inward by the lock. We’re stuck in the van but it’s rockin’ and we’re going have to make a run for someplace else before we lift off.”

  Gerome shared a mental image of the chaos blowing around the van they were hunched in. Blackish-blue storm clouds had overtaken the whole compound. No other buildings were visible and debris smacked a side window cracking the glass, causing it to spider web in the frame. Four other men were with him. I recognized Kevin Smith but the other three were strangers to us. James caught my thought and supplied their names discreetly—Worley, Thompson and Hernandez.

  Silver was suddenly back and the pressurized feeling was absent since we were both in the Web. We were making our own galaxy as we spiraled around one another. Malcolm was with her and shining blue-moon bright.

  His voice sprang out just as deep if not deeper like a bottomless cavern of echoing sound. “I can’t find any evidence that someone messed with the door but it’s possible they got in from the opposite side and put something on that entrance to blow or in the tunnel between. I can’t get out to check without exposing our escape hatch to the police, and they’re sticking to me like glue.”

  James interrupted, “Let’s get upstairs and see if we can’t kick the door open. If that doesn’t work Cass and Silver can ‘port outside and grab people one by one.”

  When our eyes opened to the ‘real’ world Cora Harris and Agent Chavarria were arguing.

  Silver and I combined our voice to yell, “Shut your traps and get out of the way!”

  The acoustics caused the double timbre of our voice to bounce around the concrete walls like a racket ball. They both froze and moved to the side as James and I rushed the door. When we looked back, Kara hesitated for just a second and then kicked it into gear triple time. This business with her avoiding the Web was going to stop when and if we survived this mess. Her fear was a dangerous liability.

  We made it up the stairs to the floor level by dodging through the obstacle course of milling families in the hall and then weaving around people and exercise equipment. The mud room was empty and our first glance at the doors revealed exactly what Cora had described. Upon closer inspection James and I could see intense heat had welded some of the steel of the frame to the doors. How had anyone missed that?

  Kara asked, “What’s the plan?”

  James answered, “We link up and ramp our energy levels then kick the damn door open if we can.” He held out both hands as he spoke and we suited our actions to his words.

  From outside came the freight train roar of the wind and we could hear the rattle and slap of unknown objects hitting the metal. Time was running out. That countdown in our gut was ticking the seconds to some unknown happening. We slammed the energy circuit into overdrive, causing James and Kara to gasp with the overload. I broke contact and turned to the doors. James ended up in the center with Kara on his right. Silver gathered our energy and I felt it pooling in our right leg like a heavy cyclone of stalled inertia just itching to become kinetic. Our arms linked together for balance.

  I started the count. “We kick together on three…one, two, three!”

  All three of our feet hit the door as if we’d practiced the move a hundred times and a shrieking crunching sound accompanied the blow as the melted sections gave up the ghost, popping open about an inch and then blowing closed with the force of the wind. We dropped our hold on
each other and James surged forward to push against the damaged metal. The force of the storm still raged and unfortunately blew directly at the front of the training facility.

  James planted his boots on the concrete floor and concentrated as he exerted focused force then Kara placed herself about an inch away and added her own push to her brother’s. The metal shrieked again but it was almost drowned out by the wind as it banshee-wailed in outrage seeming frustrated we had overcome its will even temporarily. As soon as the gap between the frame and the edge of the door was enlarged enough for Silver and I to slip through we put on a burst of speed to rush out, no sense taking a chance the Lees would lose their grip.

  Rain pelted our face so hard it was difficult to raise our eyes into it, and every step required artificially enhanced strength. A roiling maelstrom almost a mile wide rotated above, on track to run right into us. The white paint job on the van was barely visible about five yards ahead and we despaired at being able to reach it before it was sucked into the sky. I prayed silently to whatever and whoever I thought might listen. The nameless benefactor of our hunches and dreams, the Axsian’s Annis or God—any one of them would do so long as they helped us get those men out of this mess.

  Most of the van’s windows were spider webbed or as close to shattered as safety glass could get, but I saw the outline of their bodies. The precursor to the front edge of the funnel cloud picked up the back of the van and started to make it fly somewhat gracefully. Silver screamed wordlessly in our head and we combined our wills to reach out with both hands and snag the front bumper. The shining chrome started to fold from the pressure of our Hail Mary grab. Several panicked faces stared through the half cracked windshield as the tailgate floated diagonally off the ground from the anchor we’d made of ourselves. Our feet made furrows in the ground as we resisted the malevolent vortex in the sky.

  The wind tossed something at our back. We staggered, almost losing our hold, but then a strange thing happened. Arms slid around our waist and hands shoved up the bottom edge of our t-shirt to rest against our abdomen. They didn’t feel male. A creeping strength stole over our core and enveloped our whole body like a shield. We sensed the energy as it coursed up our arms through our hands to traverse the exterior of the van as it dangled in the maw of the funnel cloud. Fully engulfed now, almost in the eye of the storm, we held our position but strangely nothing was getting through the shared vitality coating us.