VECTOR (The Weaver Series Book 3)

by Vaun Murphrey

  Gerome was so still his light appeared to dim and then with the sound of his voice it flashed, almost like a light bulb going on over a metaphysical ‘head’. “You’d need to check outside and I don’t relish the idea of you girls being exposed to the elements.”

  With another nudge at my thoughts I streamed forth knowledge of Corinne’s talent and how the protective veneer had helped save him and the other guards in the van. “This thing she can do is untried and it seemed to be a strain to cover the lot of us, let alone over three hundred people in this building if we can’t get everyone out before an explosion occurs.”

  The quiet was almost soothing as Gerome pondered the problem. “The tunnel is out as a route for two reasons. If we commit to it and get sealed inside it’s the perfect trap. Malcolm hasn’t been able to separate from the police to look around and I don’t know that I want him putting himself in harm’s way like that if we can just go topside through the mudroom. Why don’t you—”

  Silver and Malcolm were suddenly present, momentarily interrupting whatever our uncle had been about to say.

  Gerome started his last sentence again. “Why don’t you and Cass go topside and see if the storm has passed, Silver. The winds were strong, maybe it’s already moved along. Malcolm, I need you to get everyone moving toward the mudroom, without panicking them. Cass, make sure you keep James and Kara close. I’ll see if I can locate Corinne.”

  Malcolm spoke and his mind voice was even deeper than his physical voice, filling the senses and expanding to travel off into space. “Roger that.”

  Silver had probably told him about the pipe bombs as soon as she found him. My twin was back by my side where she belonged.

  The urgency ponged off her presence like a heartbeat or a beacon. “Gerome, I searched out the masses and found two people that look to be infected with Shiva’s…essence.”

  Malcolm spoke again. “So who are they?”

  She said, “I had to go close and establish a fleeting contact to be sure, but one of them is Cora Harris.”

  My twin’s voice held emotions more obviously in the Web or maybe it was just the stress of our current situation, but she almost seemed sad that the councilwoman was under the same influence as the person who was partially responsible for her own son’s death. Somehow not a one of us was surprised. It would explain a lot for sure. I’d half expected the next person to be Corinne Harris and I pulled the name from the surface of my twin’s mind almost accidently right as she communicated it out loud.

  Silver continued, “The other person is David. It’d make sense that he was vulnerable. Maggie told us he was volunteering a lot at the Salvation Army’s homeless shelter downtown. It would’ve been child’s play for Shiva to find him and his position as a nurse would get him in a myriad of places, no questions asked, inside the compound. Everyone likes David.”

  Gerome gave a shuddering, vibrating hum from the piercing light of his presence and then his surface became covered in crystalline ice-blue glaciers. “This changes nothing, but now we know who to watch out for. You girls can help them after we get everyone out of the blast zone. If we’re each clear on our part then I’ll see you up top.”

  Before Gerome could leave I shot concern at him and asked, “Why didn’t Maggie come? I hailed both of you.”

  He was ready to be gone but he stopped, then flared. “I’ll check on her. Last time we connected she was using the locker room as triage and treating anyone hurt by flying debris on the way to seek shelter with…David…shit!”

  We could sense our uncle’s intent and we didn’t have time for it. Malcolm’s resolve was leaning in the same direction and if we didn’t make them listen to reason both of them would run off to Maggie’s aid.

  Silver interjected, “Everybody keep to the plan and do it double time. We’ll check to make sure the storm has cleared and Malcolm can get everyone moving in the right direction once we give the okay. Kara and James stay with us. Gerome you still have to find Corinne first then go check on Maggie. You’ll have to trust she can take care of herself and the twins until you get to her. She’s tough and smart…if anybody can play for time it’s her.”

  We didn’t wait for anyone to respond in the affirmative and opened our eyes to see the Lees waiting just as we’d left them. Not bothering to whisper I said, “Let’s risk a ‘port. James, you can unbar the doors and we’ll walk up to make sure it’s clear. Gerome’s off to find Corinne, Malcolm’s going to get the masses moving once we give the all clear and Maggie may be in trouble. Silver found two compromised people, Cora and David.”

  The skin underneath James’ bottom lashes bunched at David’s name before he said, “So what, we’re not worried about whoever’s slipping around unseen now?”

  I shot back, “Not until we run into them we’re not. Bombs trump aliens. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just stay alert, that’s about all we can do anyway. They don’t have your speed or strength, remember that.”

  We all moved back around the support joist so we could link up, some of us more gracefully than others. Even I had a moment of vertigo when the crowd below began to surge forward, creating the illusion in my peripheral vision that I was moving our body in the opposite direction. When Kara was settled and the circuit was closed, Silver didn’t waste time. She raced the energy into a frenzied vortex of power, filling all of us in excess until it felt as if it should pour from our bodies and burst a hole through the ceiling all the way to the sky. I turned our head and looked at the double doors being held closed by the bent weight bar James had installed earlier and willed us there. Our arrival was almost instantaneous, just like navigating in the Web, and the sensation was so similar that it started our thoughts down a road we didn’t have time for. Almost as an afterthought I ceased bending the light around ourselves. Only a few bystanders noticed us pop into sight and they just stared.

  James dropped our hands and grabbed the top of the bent weight bar, yanking it straight up and forcing it out of the door handles. It was impressive. The shriek of the metal as it protested, garnered attention and we could see Malcolm’s moving head and hulking shoulders through the masses as we guarded James’s back. Off to the left about ten feet away we spotted Gerome shoving his way forward with someone at his side.

  Kara was shifting from foot to foot, flexing her fingers at thigh level like a tennis player waiting to receive a volley. I strained for any sound that might betray storm activity from beyond the still closed steel double doors but the sound of all the gathered Weavers murmuring interfered. James started to pull on one of the handles and something shifted that sounded heavy. We shot out a hand.

  Silver’s deep voice issued a warning. “Wait for Corinne.”

  He nodded and turned to scan the crowd just as the lights went out, casting us all into absolute and total darkness. Screams abounded and rebounded as they bounced around the gym to echo off the ceiling. From the general area Malcolm had last been seen, a flashlight illuminated a narrow corridor of frightened faces.

  The big man’s voice boomed over the startled exclamations. “The storm probably took out some power lines, people. We’re lucky it didn’t happen sooner. The generators should kick on in a minute, but if they don’t just maintain your position until we can get the doors open. Everyone stay back behind the second row of treadmills until we get the way clear.” The sure tones of command Malcolm used quieted the agitation momentarily but then the drone of conversation picked up as each person began to reassure fellow companions.

  The dark was so complete that even our enhanced vision couldn’t pick out any movement outside of the meager beam of Malcolm’s flashlight. Here and there individuals who’d come provisioned for the stay underground clicked on personal flashlights, but darkness still held sway for the majority. The fluorescent fixtures flickered overhead, revealing James still by the doors looking in Malcolm’s direction. Then several of the tubes exploded in succession as if overloaded but we knew better. An invisible ‘friend’ was ta
king out the fixtures to keep us vulnerable. Tiny pieces of glass rained as sharp confetti and we hoped to hell the small sparks didn’t set off one of the pipe bombs.

  In our mind we could see the clocks counting down the time. A disturbing, unhelpful thought zinged in the back of my mind: what if some of the bombs had been set sooner than the one we’d actually looked at? We could have even less time than we thought. Perhaps that was why someone had been teleporting around the ceiling. To James I whispered, “That wasn’t natural.”

  Corinne’s cold voice sounded off to the left. “No it wasn’t natural at all. The power wouldn’t surge from the generator like that. Why are we just standing here?”

  Silver turned to the source of the petite blonde’s impatient voice and found that Gerome had his own flashlight now and our group had grown by three—Malcolm, Gerome and Corinne now stood within arm’s reach. “We need your shield, smarty pants. Can you cover all of us?”

  At least Malcolm and Gerome hadn’t shined a light in anyone’s eyes yet. Right now two beams were creating weak whitish-yellow circles on the scratched tan paint of the still closed doors.

  Corinne’s voice oozed disapproval. “Until today I never tried it on more than one person and I’m limited to touch.”

  Silver mashed our lips to the side causing a cheek mound to form under our left eye as she crooked three fingers at Corinne. “We’ll see. Give me your hands.”

  “Why?” Suspicion chimed in that one word.

  Silver pitched her voice so it wouldn’t carry. “Seriously, you’re gonna stand here and argue when multiple bombs are about to go off in mere minutes, burying us all alive? You got a death wish?” Cold clammy fingers grabbed our right hand, squeezing so hard that our knuckles ground together.

  I barked, “Malcolm and James grab a door each and get ready to pull. Stand behind it and use it as a shield against whatever the hell debris is collected at the bottom of the stairs. Kara and Gerome need to get over here with us.” The plan in our mind was to form a human barricade of our four bodies, protected by Corinne’s veneer of energy, to block or at least slow down whatever the opening doors released. We arranged ourselves in a rough horseshoe shape. Gerome took up one end and Corinne took up the other with Kara and I sandwiched between.

  The creeping crawling feeling of Corinne’s malleable coating didn’t really manifest until it was past the digits our frenemy was denying circulation to. It moved swiftly up our arm and flowed like invisible play-doh to cover us head to toe. As it traveled past us onto Kara, our leggy friend almost dropped our hand in surprise. Gerome made no noise whatsoever, but his feet scraped across the concrete floor as he shifted his weight to adjust.

  It was our uncle who gave the okay to James and Malcolm to open the doors with a sharp, “Go!” All of this felt like it took an eternity but Silver assured me we were just barely under nine minutes on the countdown to kerblooey.

  Malcolm had tucked his flashlight bulb up into his waist band so we could see it waver as he braced his feet to pull on his side. Gerome was shining his flashlight in the center with his unoccupied hand, waiting to see what was about to spill out from the bottom of the stairwell.

  James counted out, “One, two, three!”

  I have no idea what Silver and I had expected but as soon as the doors started to crack ajar the force and weight of the dammed debris finished the job Malcolm and James had started, slamming the heavy metal doors open and forcing the two men to jump quickly out of harm’s way.

  Mounds of cinder block and even a few splintered and cracked wooden benches were all we could recognize in the jumble as it spread like a landslide to bump into our legs. The expectation of pain or least some sort of impact made us all jerk. We shouldn’t have bothered. Nothing penetrated Corinne’s protective film. Light flowed into the room and we could hear no sounds of the storm that had raged by just moments ago. From somewhere above came the faint sounds of something electric sizzling and popping in the distance.

  I turned to look down the line past Kara to Gerome and canted our head at the stairs. He let go of Kara’s hand and the veneer stayed with him instead of drawing back. We weren’t completely disconnected though—our senses could feel the barest of nearly imperceptible strands like the finest microscopic thread connecting us to him.

  Corinne inhaled sharply and gripped our hand so tightly we were pretty certain the tips of our fingers were going to be purple. “It was you. You did this to me.”

  Silver turned our hand to break Corinne’s boa constrictor hold and we maintained our layer as well. “Keep the shield up and quit complaining. Your little ability saved lives today, quit acting like we gave you cooties.”

  Her eyes reflected the light coming down the stairs as she swallowed her anger. We all trudged forward to climb over the rubble toward the surface. Just past the first three steps it was apparent that the mudroom was leveled all the way to its foundations. A few supports from the metal frame were bent off in jagged intermittent teeth around the rectangle that had once been a building.

  The backdrop of the sky was a beautiful cloudless topaz blue directly ahead and it was only as we turned to face the opposite direction that we spotted the dark storm mass as it moved on to spread more destruction. A haze framed the roiling cell as it zigzagged with purple-white lightning. The thunder, even as far away as it was, rumbled through the soles of our feet. A swath of torn earth and shredded structures ran off in a meandering ribbon through the compound like a dry snail trail into the distance.

  Gerome didn’t stop to take in the utter destruction but turned to yell, “Everyone out and be careful walking over the debris.”

  Below we could hear Malcolm’s booming repetition of Gerome’s orders and slowly people began to pick their way through as some volunteers moved larger pieces quickly to the side of the wide stairs. Here and there, we saw some of the lawmen that had come to interrogate us earlier, helping with the ascent.

  Silver gave the countdown out loud. “Less than eight minutes to get to Maggie and evacuate all these people. Can you hail her in the Web, Gerome, or is she still not responding?”

  Our uncle’s demeanor went from cool and authoritative to thinly veiled panic when he closed his eyes and opened them again to shake his head robotically side to side in the negative. His lips parted and he took a breath as if it were his last.

  Corinne dropped the shield, although dropped was probably the wrong word, pulled back into herself was more accurate. The sensation as it withdrew was mildly pleasant and we could feel the wind on our face which carried the strong ozone smell, not of teleportation but of the actual atmosphere.

  Her voice although clear and strong, was filled with its own worry. “My mother won’t respond either but she could just be mad at me about Kevin.”

  Silver snorted. “Your mother’s compromised. The same kind of alien that attacked Gerome has invaded her mind. David’s with Maggie in the locker room and he’s been influenced as well. If neither of them is responding it’s not a good sign.”

  Kara said, “So we ‘port into the locker room with a light field engaged and rescue them before the bombs go off. Let’s go.”

  I cautioned, “It’s not that simple, Kara. We don’t know how many injured are with Maggie. The last thing we want to do is arrive in exactly the same spot that another person is already occupying.” An image of us materializing inside someone else’s body, causing us to mix together in a chocolate vanilla swirl of organic tissue, flashed before I could stop it.

  Even as Silver opened our mouth to speak, she thought, “You know it doesn’t work that way, Sister. We’d probably come together cell by cell and explode them from the inside out. Talk about messy.”

  With that cheerful jewel of thought she sent an image of blood, guts, and gore splattered in a fine mist with us standing in the center of it as a crazed vengeful demon. I knew Axsians had employed Bending as a weapon in times of war but I hadn’t really thought it through to the end. At any rate it wasn’t a tal
ent they possessed any longer; peace and genetic tinkering had caused the genes of that particular gift to recede from disuse. Silver and I could probably do it, mainly because of my sister’s ability to manipulate matter on the cellular level, but we weren’t exactly anxious to experiment.

  Out loud Silver continued, “I can get us all into the boxing ring and then teleport directly into one of the bathroom stalls by ourselves to do recon while you guys slowpoke it in on two feet.”

  James made it to the top of the stairs, where we were standing, and Malcolm followed, hard on his heels. A little girl and her mother gave us curious stares as they walked past to join everyone else who was gathering in a puddle of people just to the other side of the open stairwell.

  Malcolm turned to Gerome. “I don’t need to know the plan I just need to know you’re gonna get Maggie and the twins out. I’ll move everyone as far away as I can. The police know about the bombs and some of them stayed at the rear to urge people forward and make sure nobody canters when they should be trotting. It’s possible if all the support beams get blown, this whole area could turn into a giant sinkhole. Don’t be inside when it blows.” One large palm rose to smack Gerome on the back and then Malcolm turned, raising his arms above his head to motion the milling refugees further away.

  James snagged a hand and then Kara followed suit as families continued to stream past us. Corinne leaned in so close we could feel her hot breath on our neck and covered our hand as it clasped James’.

  She inhaled then warned, “Truce for now, but you and I will be having a chat as soon as this is over.”

  I nodded to Gerome without acknowledging her threat and he covered the back of the hand that held Kara’s with his own. James, Kara and I needed to create extra power by being in a circuit but we needed them to tag along as well. Hopefully this would work since we’d never ‘ported this many people before. Silver engaged a light field before our eyes closed and we pulled the image of the boxing ring to the forefront, then cycled the energy into a loop, moving it so fast it was forced into an oval from the centrifugal force.