Kaiya rested. The stress of arrival on the train had passed, replaced by hope that she might actually make it back to the reality she’d once called home. That there were dimensions beyond that reality made perfect sense now. Dreams could not be experienced if they didn’t have some basis in the fabric of the universe. Before, she’d only glimpsed them as a passerby, remembered them infrequently, and considered them a chemically induced abstraction. She’d never imagined the underlying, coherent space that allowed for the experience in the first place. New understanding grounded her and offered a view to reality that before would have swept her away in a hysteria of denial and avoidance.
In the beginning, she had fallen into the depths of insanity, a lucid sensorium whose memory would forever haunt. General Shang’s introduction to bodiless existence had redefined evil and mortified the shallow bowl that once contained her world. Yet, in that shameful lunacy – from it – a rearrangement of identity had occurred, forming a cogency of self that never would have manifested otherwise, even after the progression of an ‘ordinary’ lifetime.
She was more than she’d ever imagined.
Character strengths she’d recognized before were dimly lit tips of self that hadn’t yet been fully exposed. Weaknesses and faults were in fact shards of greater traits not completely realized or managed. Emotions were not blindsiding forces scratching to be let in: they were the very components of her being and as such were utterly valid and beautiful in their complexity. The whole of identity held depths that had yet to be illuminated, leaving her infinitely curious and powerfully endowed with a sense of soul and of the present moment.
In the now, sitting next to Ryota, she existed in the exquisite knowledge of self, pondering the efforts of someone she’d never met who held her fate in the balance. Hope burned deep. Hope to return to the world to live more fully than she ever thought possible.
Ryota sat up and strained to see down the tracks.
She stood and leaned over to see. A town lay ahead and the train was slowing. She entered the aisle and beckoned Ryota to join her at the door. Together they watched the edge of a modest township slip by. The train rumbled slower and slower until the station came into view and the brakes were applied in a squealing symphony. The arrival felt good.
Two men stood on the platform. One held a lantern in the shape of a lighthouse. The door opened and Kaiya urged Ryota to step down. One of the men stepped forward and said with the same voice from beneath the sand, “No Kaiya. Home is further on for him. Your return is now. Come, say your goodbyes, please.”
“But–” She stared into eyes deep as oceans that impelled her to understand.
“Please, Kaiya. Timing is everything.”
With that, she hugged Ryota, giving him every bit of love in her heart. She ran a hand over his hair. “You are wonderful. I hope to meet you when we’re awake someday.”
He nodded and said in a little voice, “Me, too.” He stepped back as the doors closed and the train blew its whistle. Steam swelled into the cold air. He waved from the window.
“He can talk!”
The man took her arm and guided her towards the doors of the station. “It’s time to return, quickly now. Brace yourself. I’m told this next step may be unsettling. Please relax and do not fight it, regardless of your fears. Safety lies just ahead.”
• • •
Austin circled around to the far side of the koi pond and leaned against the low wall, listening to the street noise below.
I’m in Japan. I flew here from Scotland. I flew myself here...
Once again the surge came, an avalanche of awe and disbelief that any of it were real. Fucking surreal, like a bullet train in a crazy dream that just wouldn’t stop. To wield the power left him feeling like God, an altogether frightening sensation. It took an exercise of focus and calming before the feeling subsided.
He scanned the sky. Only a helicopter passing high overhead with a baritone thump. Adrenaline waned, its slow withdrawal a drain on his senses. Concern for Johan added a layer of mental fatigue. If the hacker lost to the Comannda, if he were to be captured, things would go bad so fast... again he tried to clear his thoughts and be calm.
“Warning.”
He spun at the voice and almost sent the frail figure sprawling. Wrapped in a black kimono robe, an old man with round eyes and a gaunt face stood staring at him with a look of perpetual anticipation.
For a moment it felt as if he’d fallen into a dream.
“Target is booby trapped.” The voice was as frail as the man’s body. “Get up there, overhead. Wait for the big flash before snatching the package.”
Done with the message, the old man walked away. His body dissolved in the shadows while his pale head floated until it, too, disappeared. The encounter felt like a visit from the dead.
He donned the helmet and worked the straps. A flash? What kind of flash? And why should he wait up in the sky, exposed to the AG craft? It didn’t make sense.
He floated a handful of tiny rocks from the roof into the air and dropped them – the grid was tight, responsive to intention. He leapt over the edge and rocketed skyward. The surge felt good, the propulsion intense. Properly miniaturized in the sky, he followed the GPS northwest and scanned constantly. Distant aircraft dotted the night. Nothing black and no holes in the clouds. He stirred the grid, hardening it against any surprises.
The GPS signaled arrival at the final checkpoint. Directly below was the clinic, lost somewhere in the field of lights – lights that included emergency vehicles. It was a medical facility but why so many? He spotted more flashing lights from units heading towards the area. It might be a ruse to help cover the grab. He’d have to wait for the big flash, whatever that was.
Seconds drew into minutes that felt like hours. Sitting in the sky with his feet dangling over the city below made him feel exactly like a yellow duck in a shooting gallery. The conclusion came of its own accord: he couldn’t wait, couldn’t just sit there. He thought of making a quick dip to find somewhere safe to watch. The yellow duck feeling suddenly turned to one of someone staring at him, as if drawing a bead. Panic struck. He spun full circle trying to spot the threat. Just the high altitude breeze and him – and perhaps an invisible observer. He forced his attention downward, afraid of missing the signal for him to act.
“Fuck this,” he muttered inside the helmet. “Next time, I do the planning.”
• • •
AGT-3 slipped into position in the stratus and drifted just beneath the clouds. Its pilot keyed his radio. “Target located, five angels over the clinic. Please advise.”
An infrared signature combined with the organic filter made the subject easy to spot. The pilot centered the targeting daemon’s lines on the glowing red dash two kilometers distant: a man, floating unaided two miles up in the air. The briefing didn’t do justice to actually seeing the phenomenon.
The response came. “Lock it up and prepare to follow. Two and Five will join you shortly. Standby.”
“Lock established. Hard targets approaching from the northwest, eight clicks out. Looks like Hueys hustling.”
“We see them. Keep yourself faded and await orders.”
“Copy that.” He fiddled with the view of the clinic below, not wanting to miss the pyrotechnics should they let them off. Based on the report and what he saw right now, the guy could probably counteract the explosive effects. It would come down to agility, speed, and tactics.
He massaged the rubbery skin of the control stick, both excited and nervous at the prospect of the chase.
• • •
The forty-eight story Metropolitan Government building towered over the streets of Shinjuku Ward. Two blocks away, operators ran a Booty machine from a utility truck. Experimentation had yielded two additional active channels and a third clarified just as a transmission crossed mentioning a target’s acquisition in the sky.
Certain it was an important intercept, they passed it to the bràthair scouring the city for
the nuke. They in turn relayed it to Cathbad and Sean in the basement of Cullstone.
• • •
Johan stood in the aisle and stared out the train’s windows across the top of an alpine forest. The snow covered trees stretched away into the haze of a covering storm. Ryota sat, alternately looking at Johan and out the window.
“Why are we hiding?” Ryota asked finally. “I want to go home, too.”
The boy was bright and imbued with a Zen calmness not typical of his age. He was curious, absorbing everything. Until now he’d remained mostly unruffled; with Kaiya’s absence, he’d apparently reached his limit. Brown eyes looked back with a profound need Johan readily connected with... he wanted his mama and his sofu. He wanted to be safe again.
“I’m trying to help you wake up again. Until then, I protect you.”
How much Ryota understood wasn’t clear until he replied, “Are the bad men still at my house? If they are I don’t want to wake up.”
“That’s right, we don’t want that. I’m trying to find out now. I want you to be safe.” I promised that you would be. Ryota turned back to the window at the same moment a strong presence arrived carrying the familiar shade of the Runa Korda. Johan saw Cathbad’s face in the small window of the door to the adjoining train car. The door was designed as the only approach to the dream.
Cathbad wasn’t alone. Two men stood behind him, draped in dark trench coats. Cathbad’s glance conveyed their purpose as bodyguards. Johan unlocked the door and slid it open. Cold air and carriage noise filled the car.
“They’ll wait beyond,” Cathbad said over the din. He stepped in and closed the door. The druid met Ryota’s curious look but withheld comment. “Austin needs you. He’s over the city and in grave danger. They have antigravity craft poised to strike but he’s too wound up for us to warn him. You have to reach him.”
“Antigravity craft? Fantastic. What more have you withheld?”
“Remember, you rushed things. Your education is far from complete. Right now it is time to warn Austin.”
“What about the nuke?” Johan asked.
“We’re working to find the location. Go and warn Austin.”
They both looked at the boy.
“Shall I remain here?” Cathbad asked. A sincere offer but also a measuring of how much Johan trusted him.
“That’s fine. What do I tell Austin?”
“To get out of the sky. The grab for the boy cannot happen now, anyway. There are complications.”
“What kind of complications?”
“We’re also working on that. Now go. Go now, please.”
With a glance at the two men in the next car, Johan shifted free of the dream.
He focused on and followed the threads that bound him to Austin. Closer in, he encountered the shield of bràthair protecting Austin. He passed through them and bore the brunt of their surprise before his identity eased their fears. Austin’s meta vibrated with an over-strung resonance, discordant and panicked. No wonder they couldn’t reach him.
He sank in to synchronize.
They’ve locked onto you with antigravity ships.
Austin’s heart leapt at the intrusion. A shimmering field of potential rose around him. Another memory surfaced, more powerful than the others: They’ll target you if they can.
It was too much. Austin bolted straight up into the clouds and then shot off blindly through the darkness.
Stop, Austin!
He ignored Johan’s command – no half-baked plan was going to cost him his life.
You’re not going to leave.
The hell I’m not.
You’re breaking the deal.
No, the deal wasn’t about dying – and Kaiya isn’t back.
She’s returned. She’s safe–
Bullshit! I’m not stupid.
The hell you aren’t–
He tried to block out the hacker but failed. Kaiya’s voice chimed in. Owned by a hacker, babe... anger trailed the memory.
Stop fighting me, it will only get you killed. Think, then act!
Austin had long ago learned to recognize the sharp contrast of good advice, even in a polarized fit of emotion – a hard-received gift from his dad. He slowed. Johan injected again, this time with knowledge of the handoff of Kaiya to Amanda. He saw a woman sit up, disoriented, struggling to focus in her new world. I delivered her safely. She’s joined with a new host for now. You can’t reach her because she’s shielded but she’s okay, you have my word. Now I need you to keep yours. Remove Ryota from the clinic.
Austin pounced on the imagery and dissected it to feel Kaiya’s essence in the memory. It was her. She was intact, safe within another’s care. Intense relief drowned out his fear and he stopped. There was no question now – he needed to help Johan and Ryota.
He imagined life support systems dangling from an empty bed, a small boy’s lifeless body in his arms. No! You will do it quickly, so I can bring him back.
But there was danger at the clinic. The understanding of explosives ringing the facility came. The druids had called in a bomb threat to multiple agencies and the media and made sure a guard found one of the devices. Evacuations were underway. They think we’re using local authorities to save the boy. They won’t be expecting you. If we do this together and you strike fast, we’ll make it. Go now and pull him free.
“People will see me,” Austin said aloud. “How do you explain me flying in and tearing a hole in a building? You can’t explain that away. They’ll be forced to use the nuke.”
No they won’t. It was dark out. The hole would become the result of a faulty oxygen delivery system that exploded. Fabrications would explain away whatever stories did surface. The system would self-heal itself. Johan laid in more imagery to convey the Comannda’s momentary weakness in Saoghal – he’d trapped dozens of korjé in an elaborate dream. It was the most opportune time to act. Austin, do this for me, now. Keep your word.
The prophecy implied they had to work together to succeed, to act to make change happen. Johan had already come through by extending himself beyond limits to lose the Comannda and return Kaiya to safety.
He had to try.
I can do this... his own thought, from a very deep place.
• • •
Thirty-nine Delta rangers faked out. The target untraceable.
Director Tomov glanced at the screen. Nine gold dots now. Which meant three were in the Core, watching locally as the fabric of the mission came apart.
How the dream construct existed without A2’s presence was both amazing and deeply troubling. The gold dots stared back from the screen, unblinking. He knew the Executives contemplated his fate and the fate of millions. The seconds passed, an eternity of suppressing thoughts of how things could possibly get worse... because it seemed they might.
The riders sent to investigate the defense ministry found an operation underway, complete with priests shielding their operatives. The druids managed to isolate the building from the automation system and engage emergency locks on elevators and doors. Military units were due to reach them any moment.
The AGT director announced the bender had been reacquired. “Fourteen clicks due north, at nine-thousand feet. Bring your riders in on AGT-3’s beacon. What’s your ETA?”
Ops429 threw up hands to signal four-five.
Director Tomov replied, “Forty five seconds.” He tried to sound calm and only half succeeded. “I need more riders, all priority. I don’t care what it takes, I need more power in the mesh.”
• • •
Poor Noboru. It should have been me.
He could imagine his sister Akiko’s voice lamenting his demise. She didn’t know it but her survival was the rope that bound him to the Sensei. They’d cured her cancer as promised, the only cost being his continued cooperation. He looked at the two Sensei huddled around their laptops and tried not to be resentful. This mission would save “many, many innocent lives”. He chose to believe them.
They’d hacked the fac
ility’s security module, shutting them in. Any hope of getting out without incident was dashed with a few keystrokes – forces topside would waste no time finding a way down. Death was on the table and he decided he really didn’t want any part of it. He sat against the wall, now prohibited from getting any closer to them. They were near their goal and could not afford risk of intervention by anyone.
As if cued, a rattle sounded from the hallway. The elevator shaft.
“They’re coming,” Noboru hissed. He laid on the floor in the far corner like a casualty. One of the Sensei broke away and stood with a view to the elevator doors. Unarmed, he would surely be the first to fall.
The other Sensei blurted, “Hai! Look, it’s here, it’s right here. Built into the communications tower. See there? They just powered up the ignition computer!”
Tower A, looming 220 meters over the city, was a beacon at night seen for miles. Noboru resisted sitting up and asking what in the tower required starting.
“Isolate the control stream and jam it.”
“We need more time!”
A dark object tossed from the hallway clanged when it hit the floor and rolled. The last Noboru saw was a flash before putrid green smoke exploded into the room. He held his breath but panic made short work of his air supply. His skin grew hot and painful. When he could stand it no more, he let out his air.
The first intake of acrid smoke was his last – he gagged at the burning in his throat and nose. He opened his eyes and immediately they stung as if on fire. He thrashed in pain for what seemed an eternity. When the darkness came, he embraced it with all his being.
• • •
In the misty clouds over Tokyo, Austin laid out his intentions to his unseen companion. Johan lurked just above his subconscious, riding the stream, reviewing.
That’s good. Johan approved of his plan. Now, if you’re ready? Before they move him?
Impatience, the driving force behind everything that Johan did.
Things are changing fast, I feel it. Austin received Johan’s push and then understood – the boy could be murdered during the confusion of the evacuation.
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