Danny was overwhelmed by questions for which he had no answer and prospects that were quickly changing. Linda Travis was somehow still alive. He’d just seen his CO squashed like a bug by an alien spacecraft. He’d had his weapon magically knocked away by the First Gentleman, who’d arrived with people Danny did not know, in some weird light worm thing. The thing to do right now, he decided, was to just go with it and get your answers later. He pulled away from his sister long enough to look up at the wok, then put his mouth close to Mary’s ear. “I’ve been busy!” he said above the howling wind.
Mary pulled back, her eyes blinking in the rain, to search for information in Danny’s field. “I’m looking for Keeley Benedict!” she shouted. “I was told she’s here!” Her face grew worried at what she saw in his aura, a jumble of questions and a wall of secrets, but no knowledge regarding her partner.
Danny shook his head. He knew who the Chief of Staff was, and he also knew that the only people left on the island, apart from that group standing on the edge of the landing pad, were a company of soldiers, the three medical people, and some of the VLT techs. “She’s not here!” he shouted into her ear. “Unless you’ve got more surprises for me!” He gestured toward the others standing around the impossibly alive Linda Travis. Mary, whose face had grown dark and troubled at the news that Keeley was not there, followed his gesture. Here eyes grew wide. There, standing amongst Cole and his friends, was her President. Mary shouted with delight.
Cole and Linda might have watched Mary and Danny's reunion with glad hearts, had they not been involved in their own. Linda whirled her head when Cole's shard of light passed by. Cole was already running to her, and he knelt by her side and pulled her into his arms and held her against the wind and rain. Linda sobbed and sobbed. It was only with Cole's strength that she was able to hold herself together at all. Without him, the storm, and the loss of Iain, her long confinement on Mars, and her own death, would have unraveled her completely.
It was too hard to talk. The gale was too fierce and the rain was beating them into the ground. Cole helped Linda to her feet and took her by the shoulders to look at her face. There was that beautiful mole. And there was no sign of a rash on her face. He grinned goofily, then gripped her elbow and escorted her out to the wok. He remembered another rainy night very similar to this, with Pooch buckled dead inside an overturned van and a helicopter waiting for them in the middle of the road, and muttered a curse for those hidden bastards who had forced them to such moments of extremity. With a quick glance back out over the island, he helped is wife into the strange craft.
The rest of his crew followed: Doobie, Marionette, Sten, Eddie. Stan introduced himself to Gabrielle and helped her to walk without falling. Mary dragged Danny along and they followed the others up the ramp. Even the cat joined them, jumping through the door of the big round metal thing. Mary stopped at the edge of the door and looked out over the island one last time. Her face was covered with tears, though nobody would have noticed them in the rain. Keeley was not here. With a cavernous sigh, she turned and entered the wok. The door melted closed.
The wok was much too tiny to hold them all, but of course it did. When the door was sealed, the wok began to glow: red, orange, yellow, white. It rose slowly into the sky above the landing pad, tilted slightly, then flashed bright white and sped away, so quickly that the eye could not follow.
The storm intensified.
15.37
Ted studied the game board for the longest time, his brow deeply furrowed in consternation. Every now and then he'd glance at Carl, but then he'd return his gaze to the board. The board felt like a useful metaphor with which he might review his last life: his journey from space to space, from start to finish, with help and hindrances along the way, with setbacks and lucky breaks, with monsters to trap him and friends to send him on his way, all of it governed not only by the roll of the dice, but by the choices he'd made. At last he looked up at Carl and spoke, his eyes shying away a bit as he did so. "I really was a monster, wasn't I?" he said to Carl. It wasn't a question.
"You did some pretty awful things, Ted," said Carl, nodding, holding the other's gaze.
Ted smiled grimly. "Don't hold back, Bro," he said.
"It wouldn't help you if I held back, would it?"
"I guess it wouldn't," said Ted.
"I made my own share of mistakes," said Carl. "But by and large I think I had an easier game to play than you did. My parents were more whole than yours. They gave me a good start. And I didn't have Spud messing with me as a kid."
Ted sighed. "Yeah," he said. He stared at the board for a while longer, then looked at Carl again. "It's strange," he said softly. "I mean... all in all, I'm glad I had Spud in my life. You know? It was certainly a wild ride. Fascinating as hell. Exciting. Fun."
"But it was too much for you to handle on your own, Ted," said Carl.
Ted sat back as if struck, then inhaled sharply and forced his shoulders to relax. "Yeah," he said. "It was. We were pretty crazy back in the early days. Scared. Afraid we'd lose control. Afraid other countries would beat us to the punch. Afraid of what would happen to us if we let the Life fully into our reality. Afraid that they weren't really what they said they were. And all the time I knew that there were things going on that I hadn't been let in on. Deeper levels. Secret discussions. Fateful decisions." He stopped for a moment to rub his eyes, the continued. "The Families. And it just felt wrong. Because I'd been brought in as a kid. I'd been there from the beginning. And yet I didn't have the goddamned 'need to know.'"
"Yep," said Carl. "Same with me. It was like I was never going to get to the bottom of things from the inside. That's why I left. Went underground. Started working with the Life on my own terms. Still don't think I ever got very far."
"So what did they want from me, Carl? Do you know?" said Ted.
"What did who want from you?"
"The Life," said Ted. "The Angels. The others that I only ever heard about."
Carl smiled and nodded. "All of the Above, I call them," he said.
"Right. Them."
Carl closed his eyes to think for a moment, then looked at his old colleague. "I think they wanted you to grow up, Ted," he said. "To get more fully conscious. To find healing for your triggers and reactions and old wounds. To open up to a new view of reality. To show that you could be a conscious, thoughtful, creative, life-affirming, adult human being who was bigger than his training, his assumptions, his reactions, his wounds, his stories, his beliefs, or his expectations. Somebody they could welcome whole-heartedly into the greater community of sentient beings in the Cosmos." Carl smiled gently, to soften the judgment of his words.
Ted scoffed, shaking his head. He exhaled heavily, then matched Carl's soft, accepting smile. "I guess beating the shit out of Linda Travis probably sealed the deal for me," he said.
Carl nodded. "That probably cost you a few points, my friend," he said.
Chapter Sixteen
16.1
There was Cole's relief, to be reunited with Linda.
There was Linda's pounding head and churning stomach.
There was Mary's fear for Keeley, her love, whom she could not find.
There was Stan's fury at the hidden powers who were pulling the strings.
There was Cole's grief and guilt and fear for Iain, now lost in the Murk.
There was Linda's determination to find their son.
There was Mary's guilt for having been unable to prevent Iain's loss.
There was Marionette's awe, at what she had seen Cole achieve.
There was Linda's fear for her girl's safe return to their bodies.
There was Cole's confusion about the creatures called "the Life."
There was Danny's puzzled surprise, to have found himself rescued from the storm at the last minute.
There was Stendahl's satisfaction at having foiled The Families' plans.
And there was Gabrielle's self-doubt and confusion, to now find herself living beyond t
he moment she had envisioned so clearly, with no idea how it was she was supposed to help or whom she should align with, and to find herself surrounded by people and forces and questions and situations about which she knew so little. The wok was bursting with need and feeling and urgency and potential, yet the ship itself held its own calm quiet. It flew easily through the storm, taking its passengers smoothly and quickly back to Augusta.
But the wok did not comply with Mary's request to return them directly to MaineCentral Hospital. It came to a soft landing in the middle of Interstate 95 just south of the city, not far from the military cordon. The door melted open and the passengers slowly stepped out onto the pavement, puzzled to learn where they were. The skies were dark and the winds, though calmer than on the coast, continued to pester them. The ground was wet but it was not raining at the moment. It looked as though the rain would come again soon. The wall of dark clouds rumbled with hidden lightning. Nicky, the cat, remained on the ramp, unwilling to get his feet wet.
Stan peeled off his raincoat and helped Linda to put it on. Once the coat was around her shoulders, Linda pulled off her soaked t-shirt. Marionette, seemingly unconcerned about her exposed missing eye, gave Linda her rain pants and let Linda hold onto her shoulder as she pulled them up over her bare, wet legs. Cole helped Linda tighten the hood over her head. Then he took his wife in both arms and held her closely and gently. Linda shivered uncontrollably.
Gabrielle surveyed the scene. Just north of them was an exit ramp, with a sign indicating that it would take them up into Augusta. At the top of the ramp was a fence and gate, and standing at post was a detail of soldiers. Gabrielle pointed and called out as the cordon gate slid open. The others turned to watch. Through the gate stepped an old woman, tiny in the distance, with two tall, thin soldiers behind her. The old woman walked steadily down the ramp toward them. Linda and the others stood in a rough half-circle and watched as the old woman approached. "It's Ness," said Mary at last. Linda nodded, watching, waiting. Her face was still quite gray.
The old woman came to a stop a few yards away from them, the two soldiers right behind her. "Hello, Ness dear," said Linda, her voice weak and shaken.
"Hello, Mrs. President," said Ness. "You remember how we first met here?"
"I do, Ness." She gestured toward the cordon gate with her head. "We were on our way back to the hospital but the wok brought us here. And now we find you, like you were expecting us. What's going on?"
The old woman shuddered and her face wavered as a strange, ghostly figure seemed to step out from inside of her, a figure of translucence and light and power. Ness's face went slack and her head fell forward, as though she'd fallen asleep on her feet. The strange figure, now fully material, came closer, stopping right in front of Linda. The two soldiers followed behind her.
The President smiled. "How very good to see you again, Alice," she said.
Cole inhaled sharply. Mary moved forward.
Alice nodded. She was no longer the tiny hybrid girl who had lived for a short time with Linda and Cole and the kids. Alice was now a teenager, as tall as Ness, thin, lithe, sinewy, her exotic face both disturbingly odd and yet strangely beautiful. She was clothed in a pure white tunic with a wide silver belt, and her jet-black hair shone like the moon. With her fierce eyes, she was the very vision of a warrior goddess. It was as if, in the three years that had passed on Earth, a dozen years had passed for Alice, during which time she'd grown in power and confidence and beauty. "It is good to see you as well, Mrs. Linda," said Alice. She looked at Mary. "And it is good to see you, Ms. Mary." She looked at Cole and nodded, slowly, respectfully. The two soldiers, tall and striking themselves, watched the proceedings carefully.
Cole held Linda with his left arm around her shoulders. Marionette stepped forward to stand on Linda's other side. Cole noted how the girl had so quickly formed a bond with his wife, and how protective she looked, standing there, facing off with Alice, a warrior goddess in her own right, her missing eye a proudly worn battle scar. He turned back to the young hybrid. "Can you tell us what's going on here, Alice?" said Cole. "And why your people's wok has brought us to this place? Linda is sick. And our children are in need of us now."
"And Keeley is missing," added Mary.
Alice looked at Mary for a moment, then turned to Cole and attempted a smile. "I have only just now arrived in this material form, Mr. Cole, but I have observed you all for some time," she said, "dividing my consciousness across space and time, between my body and Mrs. Goodness's body. We have guarded the forms of your children while you were away. We saw the need for them to journey into the next level, and encouraged them to follow their hearts." She looked to Mary. "And we are also guarding Ms. Keeley at the MaineCentral. She lives still," she said. She turned her attention back to Linda. "Your loved ones are intact, and will await the business before us. All is well."
"My daughters tell me that Iain was lost to some monster called the Murk, Alice," said Linda, her voice pointed with warning. "All is not well."
Alice took a step back, her eyes widening in surprise. "We did not know this," she said evenly. She glanced up at the sky, as if wondering what her father knew. "Iain is my friend," said Alice, again looking at Linda. Her voice was soft and sad.
"We need to get to our children, Alice," said Cole. "And Mary needs to find Keeley." Whether meant as a threat or a plea or a password, he held up his right hand and willed a tiny fountain of white light to spout up from his palm.
Alice gazed at Cole's light. It reflected in her large, almond-shaped, all-black eyes like a tiny firework in the midnight sky. She nodded once, then returned to Linda. "I regret this delay, Mrs. Linda," she said. "But I have been charged with the making of demands, and cannot forswear that duty to satisfy your haste." She looked from face to face of those assembled, as if assessing her enemies, or proffering a challenge. For a moment, her father's strange powers shone through her, and Linda was forced to acknowledge that Alice was not a little girl, or even a human being.
"What are these 'demands', Alice?" asked Marionette, her chin thrust forward as though she had a perfect right to enter this conversation.
Alice jerked her eyes to Marionette and regarded the young woman curiously. From behind her, another young woman stepped forward, this one with short reddish hair and wearing a backpack. Alice studied them both for a long moment, then returned her attention to Linda. "We demand a place, Mrs. Linda. We who call ourselves the Middle Children. We who have been given life by a mixing of peoples. Life, but no home. Life, but no belonging, meaning, or purpose of our own to ground us in this realm, save for that which we create amongst ourselves. We have seen promises go unfulfilled. We have been patient and helpful. In exchange for that, we demand a home." She glanced over her shoulder back up the ramp toward the cordon gate, then returned her fierce gaze to Linda. "We will start with this place, Mrs. Linda. This Augusta place. In time, we will negotiate further to meet our needs." She raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. "Do you agree?"
Linda slumped in Cole's arms. After all she'd been through, to find herself stopped again so close to home felt like a blow to the stomach. It was too much. Too much grief and too much anger and too much she did not know. And to be stopped by Alice, by this odd being she had tried so hard to love, to find her now grown and fierce and demanding. Linda wanted to scream.
It was then that Gabrielle stepped to the front, putting herself between the President and the hybrid girl. "This is too much, Alice," she said firmly. "And your timing is unfair." She glanced at the other travelers behind her as if needing support. Stan nodded his encouragement. Marionette stepped up beside her and took Gabrielle's hand. Nicky leapt down from the wok's ramp and ran to join them. That was enough. She looked again at Alice. "I propose a council," she said. "I hear your needs, and agree with you that they must be addressed. Yet the President is sick, and her children are in great need. Please. Let us find our bearings and take care of our urgent requirements. Then we can meet again and d
iscuss how to help each other, so that all of our needs get met." With that, Gabrielle bowed slightly, hiking up her shoulders as if in embarrassment. She took a step backwards.
Alice's thin, faint eyebrows bent together in a slight frown. Then she closed her eyes and inhaled softly. She stood like that for a long moment, her head cocked to one side as if listening to distant voices. After a time she opened her eyes and looked at Linda.
"We will escort you to your children," she said with a nod.
Out of the sky dropped two more woks.
16.2
Emily and Grace hovered in the astral sky above Augusta. It was time for them to return to their bodies, but that meant saying goodbye to Mihos, which neither of them wanted to do. The trip back from Squirrel Island had taken little time. They'd moved slowly at first, afraid that they would run back into the Murk on the way home. But they saw no signs of the huge, dark cloud they'd seen before. Apparently it only worked as a trap for those approaching the island, as it presented no problems for them in the other direction. When it became clear that the Murk was not going to hinder them, the three blinked back to Augusta.
"We have to go," said Emily. She pictured their bodies lying together in that old MRI machine where they'd left them. Nobody would know where they were, and her mother had said she'd be home very soon. Iain's body would be there as well. But Iain was... Emily could not bear to think about it.
Mihos stepped forward and rubbed his head on Emily's hand. "I'm going back in," he said quietly. He looked up at Emily, then at Grace. "To find your brother. I'm going to look for him. And for Dennis."
"But you can't," said Grace, shaking her head no. "It's too dangerous. You can't go back in."
Mihos wiggled his whiskers. "You kiddin' me?" he said confidently. "With what I know now? Piece of cake." The cat rocked his head and shoulders back and forth in sassy confidence. He smiled. "Really, girlfriends," he said. "I need to do this. And the Great Ones will be with me. I'll be okay."
Rumi's Field (None So Blind Book 2) Page 57