“Here, let me help,” he insisted as he took one of the packs from my shoulder. I was a little surprised when the agent fell into step beside me, matching his pace to mine as we jogged along the street but I didn’t have much time to think about it. The sound of hover-craft engines was growing louder and we needed to put some more distance between us and the wreckage.
We’d traveled about three blocks from the wreck before the two smaller children ran out of steam and we had to slow our pace to a walk.
“H-how much further do we have to go,” gasped Kelly. She staggered to a stop and leaned against the nearest wall to catch her breath.
“Rainor, I don’t know how much further these kids can run,” I panted as I returned to my sister’s side, leaning against the wall with her. Jennie and the other two children joined us, all gasping to catch their breath.
When I thought to check on the old man, I was moderately surprised that he was keeping up and didn’t seem the worse for it either.
“It’s not much further,” panted the agent as he joined us on the wall.
The sudden sound of brick scraping against brick at our sides sent us all scattering for cover.
“Don’t be afraid, you’re safe now,” whispered a woman’s voice from the depths of the dark opening that had appeared in the wall.
“Karol! Thank the Maker! I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find you in this maze of streets,” gasped Rainor in relief.
“Well, you nearly didn’t. You’re off the route by two streets, you know,” the voice laughed softly.
“Swell.” Rainor drew the woman from the shadows so that we could see her face. “This is my friend, Karol—she’s one of the people you call freaks, and she’s volunteered to help me get myself, and whoever else I’m able to convince to go with me, back to Tereus.”
Jake and I exchanged quick glances before taking a step closer to the woman to be sure that our eyes were not deceiving us. “Aren’t you the woman we saw escaping from the reaper and the motorcycle gang yesterday?” I asked curiously.
Karol’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Yes, I am. I’m so glad I have this chance to actually thank you for your help,” she smiled. “We took some losses, but it would have been much worse without the diversion your appearance presented.”
“Karol! Karol!” cried Jon and Merry simultaneously as they wrapped themselves in the woman’s skirts. “They hurt Mama Rosa,” one of them sobbed.
“I’m sorry, babies, I heard the sad news,” Karol wrapped her arms around the two children and held them close to her.
I could only stare in surprise. I finally found my tongue again, “How do you know the kids? Were you one of Jack’s and Rosa’s friends?
Karol nodded her head and raised sad eyes to mine. “Yes, I’ve been part of the underground movement they headed for more than a year now. I don’t know how much you knew about their efforts, but since we got the word that the Company and the military were increasing their recruitment quotas we’ve all been working overtime to get as many of the freaks out of the city as we can.”
“So, let me get this straight.” Jennie moved in on the strange woman and glared at Rainor suspiciously. “This woman is a friend of yours and she’s been working with Rosa and Jack to relocate the psis, so how is it that you need our help to make contact with the freaks when you already have contact with those in control of freak central?”
“Wait, let me explain,” Karol interjected before Rainor could even get his mouth open to explain. “I, personally, do not possess any of the gifts Rainor is seeking. I followed my brother into the inner-city when he wandered away from home three years ago. The problem with most of the freaks, as you call them, is that they are mentally incompetent and have absolutely no control over the things going on in their minds. Unfortunately, the psis that Rainor, and the agents as well, are seeking are the ones that have learned to hide or conceal their abilities to stay out of the Company’s hands and have had the sense to go underground.”
“So your brother wasn’t able to help him, either,” questioned Jen.
The woman shook her head sadly, “No, my brother was barely able to feed and dress himself between nightmares. He ran off on me one night and was killed by one of the gangs that hunt the helpless ones.”
“I’m so sorry—” Jen began.
“Don’t be, it wasn’t your fault.”
“The problem still remains that most of the competent psis have already left the city and once they’ve dispersed into the countryside it’s nearly impossible to make contact with them. And we’re running out of time,” Rainor added. He took my hands in his and looked into my eyes. “If you won’t agree to help us,” he looked down at the ground to compose himself, “well, without help from the right kind of telekinetics, our cause will fail and both worlds may be doomed.”
There was the echo of a hover-craft on the night air.
“Hurry! Everybody through here,” Karol instructed as she stepped into the denser shadow of the wall.
Chapter Nine
There were soft, muffled coughs as we all tried to keep from choking on the musty air of the passageway. The way was totally dark and I stumbled several times on the uneven surface of the cobblestones underfoot. Mine was not the only sigh of relief when a faint glow of light appeared ahead.
The passageway abruptly ended and released us into what seemed to be part of the old underground subway system. I was aware of its existence, of course, and had even used short sections of it to get from one part of the city to the other, but, like so many others, I preferred to leave most of the subways to the colonies of freaks living underground.
Our way through the tunnel was now illuminated by the dim rays of light that filtered through the gloomy air from the small globes set at infrequent intervals in the brick walls. I saw many more broken globes than lit ones as we traveled what seemed to be several blocks further underground.
Karol and Rainor had remained in the lead, whispering back and forth as they led our small procession. We’d passed several adjoining tunnels and blank doors before Karol suddenly stopped. I tried to discern what was different about this one but as far as I could tell it was exactly the same as a dozen others we’d passed.
“This is the one,” she announced. She leaned her shoulder against the door and twisted the knob. When it failed to move, Rainor joined her, adding his weight to force the reluctant door open.
The hinges squeaked and the door grated on the floor as it slowly moved.
We all jerked to attention when something in the gloom moved. “Did you get them?” queried a gruff voice.
“Yes, they’re all okay,” Karol answered the man stepping into the light.
“You need to keep them moving,” the man ordered as he stepped to one side to allow Karol to enter.
The younger children grabbed Kelly’s hand and followed Karol and Rainor but when the dog tried to follow them, I pulled her close and patted her neck. “Stay here with me, Dusty,” I whispered as I dropped back to one side. Jake and Jennie exchanged curious glances with me as they passed but Carl looked past right past me like I wasn’t even there. I was relieved, and moderately surprised, that he was no longer complaining. If fact, I noticed that his face wore a very intense look and he seemed to be marking our entry as if he was embedding the location in his mind.
Somewhere at the back of my mind, a small alarm went off. Frowning, I took a step after Carl—he was going to answer my questions whether he liked it or not—and smacked into the old man’s bulky body, blocking the doorway.
“Here, let me hold that door for you,” O’Malley said as he reached past me and braced his shoulder against the heavy door. “Your friend Carl, he’s not real happy about your new friends now, is he?” he rumbled in my ear. It seemed a casual statement, but there was just something in the way he said it that got my attention.
Before I could answer him, he had a hand on my elbow and was urging me along. “I’m the last now, so you go on ahead,” he i
nstructed me.
Puzzled, I just nodded and stepped through the doorway.
The first thing that I was aware of was how many people there were, and the large number and variety of phantoms scattered throughout the large room. The wild variety of colors and styles of clothing the men and women had chosen to wear just made me smile and shake my head in amazement.
Unfortunately the rainbow hues and sweeping lengths of colored cloth had done little to touch the minds of those that were wandering aimlessly about the room, lost in some world of their own imagining. Only a few seemed to be aware enough to watch our arrival, and in their faces I saw both a natural curiosity and distrust as well. A small group of children played quietly in a far corner of the room.
By the looks of it, this had evidently been some sort of warehouse in a past life. Now it contained an assortment of tables on one side and rows of bunk beds on the other. There were several other doors in the walls, some were open, revealing passageways or additional rooms, other doors were closed.
My eyes were drawn to a cold, heavy-looking door of lead that was locked and barred. Large black letters declared NO ENTRY. Shivering, I pulled my jacket tighter around me. It wasn’t the temperature that was making me cold, but the air of hopelessness and destitution permeating the room was enough to make anyone with half a mind afraid.
My attention was caught by the sly, furtive movements of two men hanging about the outer edge of the activity watching our arrival, but I lost track of them when a pair of serpentine phantoms swooped into the room. Flaring their crests and their long, lean bodies flushing with red and green flashes, the phantoms excitedly pounced upon Rainor, their bodies nearly merging with his as they pressed against him, caressing him like a pair of giant cats.
“Wow, somebody’s happy to see him,” noted Jake as we all stared.
“Easy now, fellas, that’s enough now,” laughed Rainor as he pushed the two ecstatic creatures away. “Sorry, but the serpentines of Tereus are similar in personality to dogs on your world. These two found me when I first came to the tunnels with Karol and seem to stay in the vicinity, waiting for me now.”
Ignoring the spectacle, the man that had met us at the door grabbed Karol by an arm and pulled her away from the group. “Are these the ones he was looking for?” he queried anxiously. “They better be, ‘cause I don’t know how much longer I can keep this batch of innocent ones from passing through.”
“I’m not sure, maybe,” she answered cautiously.
Curious, I took a step toward them. “Sorry, I couldn’t help hearing what you said,” I apologized. “What do you mean by innocent ones and why are they in danger?”
“Right, I’d like a few answers myself,” growled O’Malley. He drew himself up and faced the man.
I looked up at him in surprise. Old man O’Malley no longer seemed so old or stooped over and he seemed so much taller now than he had before.
Karol leveled her eyes on the man and considered him for several long moments before answering. “These,” she made a sweeping gesture of the room to include the vague, lost souls gathered together, “are the innocent children of the city. They are normally so lost within the chaos of their own minds and so totally unfocused that they are easily managed, but in the last couple of days they have become extremely agitated and determined to force themselves past the gateways to reach the darkness beyond.”
“The darkness?”
“Yes,” nodded Rainor, “they’re growing desperate. They’re hearing the voices of those on the other side of the rifts more strongly than ever before and they want nothing more than to merge with the ones who are calling to them.”
“Rainor, wait,” interrupted Karol. “Seeing as I have only a vague idea of who you’ve brought us, I think you should make the introductions before we explain any further.” She took a step back and seated herself at one end of the long table in the center of the room.
“Yes, you’re right of course.” Looking embarrassed, Rainor looked from one face to the other of his guests. “Well, I’m afraid I’m only acquainted with the ladies in this case, but I will do my best. This is Halie, her sister, Kelly and friend, Jennie. I did not hear the names of the smaller children, and I have not really met these men yet. Halie, will you please introduce us?”
It took only a moment for me to finish introducing my roommates and old man O’Malley and I was very careful not to give any indications as to any of our statuses or psi abilities when I did.
“Thank you,” Karol said, as she fixed curious eyes on me. She must have noticed the omissions but seemed willing to wait. “These folks gathered here are my husband, Pete,” she indicated the man that had greeted us on our arrival before focusing on the short, stout man to his side, “and Gerard is our front-man, you know, greets anyone coming around the building or anything like that,” she smiled and turned to the two women seating themselves opposite her. “These two fine ladies are Rena and Cassie. They keep track of our supplies, assign the salvage teams and, in general, keep track of things of that sort better than anybody I know.” She did not bother to introduce the twenty or so other adults in the room, nor did any of them attempt to interact or even make eye-contact with us.
Another quake shook the room, knocking supplies from shelves and moving furniture around. Some of those in the room raised their heads and seemed frightened, others did not react at all. The woman introduced a few moments earlier as Cassie rose to her feet and made her way to the cluster of children.
“I need to take them to the playroom,” she stated worriedly. “They’ll be safer there.” She took several steps in that direction before stopping and turning to face us. “Maybe your little ones would feel safer there as well?” She held out a hand to Jon and Merry.
I nodded. “Yes, I’m sure they would.” I had to nudge the suddenly shy youngsters. “Go with Cassie, it’ll be safer and you can play with the other children.” They both looked at me with big eyes.
“Ooo-kay,” answered little Jon. Hefting his walking stick in one hand, he took Merry’s with his other before following Cassie.
I watched curiously as the group of children docilely allowed themselves to be herded from the room and was painfully aware that only a few of the children responded eagerly or even interacted with those around them.
“It might be better if you left those two with us when you move on,” said Karol with a quick look at Rainor.
I thought about it for a moment and then nodded my head. “Yes, they don’t have any families and it’s much too dangerous for them to follow us around, no matter where we go from here,” I added hesitantly.
“Right, speaking of which,” Jake interrupted, “just what are our plans? We can’t go back to the apartments again without risking getting picked up by the Agency, or even the police, now that we’ve blown a few of them up.”
We all turned our eyes to Rainor expectantly.
“I really wish we had a little more time to develop some trust here before we get down to business, but we don’t have it,” Rainor began as he paced a few steps away. The deep frown he wore made his face look ancient. “Look, I don’t know if I can come up with the right words to convince you to go with me, but you have got to trust in your own instincts here. You know that everything is falling apart and if we don’t do something right now, well, soon it will be too late.”
As if for emphases, another earth tremor shook the room.
“When would you want us to leave for this Tereus?” asked Carl.
Startled by his question, I opened my mouth to demand why he would even consider going with us. After all, Carl had absolutely no psi talent. But I caught my breath and held my questions when I felt O’Malley’s hand on my arm. As surprised as I was, Jennie and Jake did a double-take, but held their comments when they saw the old man’s restraining hand on my arm. We exchanged glances and were silent.
O’Malley obviously knew about Carl, but Rainor had no idea that he had nothing to contribute to his venture, and smiled
at the younger man in relief.
“It would be best if we left right away,” Rainor answered him. “That way we won’t be hindering these folks if they feel threatened in any way and need to move to a safer location.”
“Great, I’m ready to have a look at this Tereus place you’ve all been ranting about. But, you know what?” Carl took a couple of steps across the room, hobbling as if he’d injured one of his feet. “I really need to take a ten minute break here and get this damned pebble out of my shoe.” He gave a half-laugh as he dropped his backpack and began removing the harness and sword from his back. Leaving his things on a bench near me, he hobbled off toward another bench at the far side of the room and well away from us.
“Right, I guess we could all use a quick break for something to drink and maybe a few of those protein bars your Company so generously hands out,” Rainor agreed in relief.
“We sure have plenty of those,” Karol told us with a smile before walking toward a storage cupboard at the far side of the room. Rainor followed a few steps behind her.
Left to ourselves, finally, my friends and I huddled together.
“What’s up with Carl?” demanded Jake. “Not only is he never enthusiastic about things like this, he doesn’t—”
“He doesn’t have any psi ability,” I finished. I turned to get Jennie’s opinion and realized that she wasn’t there. “Jen?”
“Shshshs,” whispered O’Malley, “If I don’t miss my guess, she’s employing that little trick of hers to check out your friend.”
“You know about Jennie’s ability to camouflage herself?” I hissed at the old man in surprise.
“Heck, yes. You bunch of kids have been real careless around the building. I’d have had to be dumb and blind not to notice.”
“Yeah, but we hardly ever even saw you,” Jake said in surprise
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