by Jenn Nixon
He looked up. Her legs gave. Liam caught her with his other arm, pulling her closer to his chest as he knelt down. Dina ripped the necklace off and shoved it into his hand as Lexa screamed in her head and the sphere darkened and sparked.
“Is this the dream?”
“Dream, no, Liam…I’m trying to save you,” she said softly, reaching up to touch his chin. “Jazara helped me get here so I could warn you. You’re gonna be so mad when you realize what I’ve done, but I had to, Liam. Tell me you’ll do it. You’ll stop Phoenix.”
“I’ll stop it,” he replied, crinkling his brow.
Dina’s eyelids grew heavy, but she managed a smirk. “You don’t believe me. It’s okay. Sandee will show you the way, luv. Listen to her, believe her. Keep everyone together…”
“I will,” Liam said as he stared into her eyes, still trying to understand.
She couldn’t help but smile as Lexa absorbed the last of her energy and the sphere began to crumble. Dina selfishly took a moment’s worth of energy from Liam, just so she could feel it again. The tears she’d been holding for longer than she could remember finally spilled down her cheeks.
“Liam!” He turned to the sound.
She grinned hearing her younger, stronger voice and shut her eyes.
“Dina?” he gasped.
She had just enough energy for one more thought. Gorgeous gets you more brownie points, you know.
Utterly overwhelmed, Liam collapsed against the chair. He covered his face and silently sobbed, trying to shake the unbearable loss bombarding his mind and body. He remembered everything, the strange version of Dina from the sphere, hearing her odd words, and touching the necklace. He felt her slipping away. Thought he saw movement behind her. The sphere crackled apart around him as she died in his arm. Then she was gone. He remembered it all.
“Liam…” Caelum’s voice, unusually soft, broke through the silence. “I am sorry you had to relive that experience…it is, however, the missing piece. Do you understand now?”
He wiped the tears from his face and nodded. “Yes.”
“What did you see, son?” Valtor asked cautiously as he and Theo shared a fearful look.
“Everything that happened after the dream….that shield surrounding them—”
“The one I punched through?” Theo frowned.
Liam nodded. “That shield created the sphere in the Pine Barrens. The dream isn’t a dream, it’s a memory. Everyone who was there is seeing her memory.”
“Dina’s memory?” Valtor asked.
“Yes,” Caelum spoke up, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Sometime in the future, Dina finds…found a way to come back. Everything you’ve seen…all these events occurred. Theo, Lexa, and Jazara were all with her in this future, that’s what they’re seeing.”
“How?” Liam asked, still confused.
“Since you were already working on the radiation site, my assumption is once you purchased the necklace the memories began bleeding through. Jazara’s presence amplified it. The two of you on site together during the temporal fissure fractured Dina’s mind.”
“Hold on,” Theo said, glancing to the hub. “Are you okay, Liam?”
“No. Not in the least. He’s…right, Theo, this future version of Dina…she…” Liam covered his eyes, breathing heavier trying not to see it, feel it again.
“What, Liam?” Valtor asked nervously.
“She gave her life to come back,” Caelum replied instead. “She sent us a warning, to find Gardner and stop something called Project Phoenix. I’m afraid Dina holds even more answers.”
“No. We can’t ask her to do this,” Liam said. “She touched the necklace. She took it out of my hand. When you found her, she thought we were all dead, because to her we were, Caelum. Think!”
“She still has all those memories in her head,” Theo gasped.
“Not possible,” Valtor snapped.
“This is worse than I feared,” Caelum replied. “We should wake her, now. Perhaps I can sequester the memories in her mind, keep them from relapsing.”
“Dina needs to rest,” Liam said sternly. “And we have another lead to search. Aime, go visual.”
“Liam,” Valtor said quietly.
The MIND’s AI popped up on the upper right monitor. Today she wore jet-black hair, Cleopatra styled, and smiled into the room. “Good morning.”
“Please begin a search on the term Project Phoenix,” Liam said, ignoring everyone and moving his fingers over the console. “Re-examine all past and current agents within the unit as well, look for connection to our keywords and anything we’re working on presently. And double efforts on Gardner.”
“Affirmative.”
Caelum frowned. “Liam, you must think logically, following her warning may seem like the right course, but until we know—”
“I don’t want to know how we all die. We shouldn’t know. Future Dina knew better than to tell us, she only told us what we needed to know to stop whatever happens, that’s enough for me.” Liam kept his focus on the hub screen at his fingertips, aware all three men were hovering. He glanced up to meet Valtor’s eyes first. “Do you want her to see us all die again just to give us a clue as to what may come?”
The elder Shrian frowned. “No.”
“It may be the only way I can sequester the memories. Bring them to the surface and then lock them away,” Caelum sighed.
Theo grunted. “Can’t you just wipe or pull them out?”
“I would never attempt such a thing,” he replied.
“When we explain everything to Dina, she can choose,” Liam said.
“Agreed,” Valtor chimed.
“Very well. I require sustenance. May I get something to eat in your kitchen?” Caelum asked as if the last five minutes they’d been talking about poker.
Liam nodded. The Enhancer vanished.
“Sometimes he has the social skills of an ant,” Theo grumbled, shaking his head at Valtor. “You should talk to Duncan, we’ll need everyone on board. I’m already messaging Lexa and Casey to keep them in the loop.”
“Hinta’s just arrived, he and Jazara will need to know as well,” Liam said, hoping to pass off the task to one of the others. Before either replied, the Vepsatian walked in with a concerned look on his face, the general feeling of the entire team as of late.
“Good morning,” he said, lifting his hand slightly. “Saw the Enhancer in the kitchen, everything all right with Dina?”
“She’s feeling better, thank you,” Valtor answered.
“What we’ve learned is another matter. You have something on your mind?” Liam asked, watching the man’s mouth tick up as he nodded.
“Hate to dump more on your plate, an…acquaintance in my adopted hometown, Wilmington…uh, a psychic, whose been keeping an eye on things told me this morning three, possibly four psychics have gone missing.” Hinta ran a hand through his silvery-blond hair, scrubbed the back of his neck, and sighed. “It’s all speculation, but I figured we could take a peek into this woman’s background, check out her employees, she said one of them is missing too.”
“Of course,” Liam responded, motioned to an empty station. “AI or not?”
“It’s fine. Hello, Aime,” Hinta glanced up to the monitor. “Can you run a background on Marjorie Allen and Sanjeeta Desai, nickname Sandee—”
“What’s her nickname?” Liam shot a look across the room and felt Theo’s eyes on him.
“Sandee.”
“What is it, Liam?” Theo asked.
“Future Dina said that name to me…said to believe her, trust her. Who is she, Hinta?”
“Um, future Dina?”
“Hinta,” Liam grunted.
“Er…Sanjeeta? One of the most powerful psychics I’ve met. I picked up her stray thoughts about a month ago while…ah, hanging out in Wilmington. I honestly thought nothing would come of it, but we know it’s possible any one of those missing psychics, if they are missing, could be descendants.”
; “When it all began. She knew exactly the right moment to come back to warn us. It’s all connected,” Liam whispered, shaking his head, trying to wrap his mind around the truth. Every single thing he’d seen was more real than Dina ever imagined. “Run the search, Aime. Hinta, can you convince her to come back to the base with you?”
“Possibly, but she doesn’t know about visitors or descendants. Why?”
“She will, eventually…future Dina mentioned her in the sphere, may as well take every advantage while we can,” Liam said.
Hinta furrowed his brow. “You keep saying future Dina—”
“Are you sure?” Theo asked.
“Yes. She told me enough, we don’t need to see anything else in Dina’s head. If we stop Project Phoenix, find Gardner, none of that will ever happen. Caelum won’t have to go back into her mind, the memories will have never existed.”
“I hope that’s how this works,” Theo sighed.
“I really missed something, didn’t I?” Hinta blinked, looking between the two men. “I’ll uh, go talk to Sanjeeta, write up a report, my head’s already spinning.”
“Fine suggestion. It will help keep all the memories in order. I’ll have it ready shortly, make sure Jaz reads it too, it’s important,” Liam nodded, mumbling to himself as he glanced down at the screen. He didn’t notice Hinta leave or pay attention to anything else as he typed out what he’d seen, keeping the emotions out of it, unable to touch upon it fearing he may fall apart again. To think he questioned her love for him a month ago. With Dina, her actions meant much more than her words. She’d always had trouble expressing herself because she felt so much.
The necklace and his memories of the event were definitive proof her future self had somehow moved back through time to try to save him and the others. He was still trying to process the information. Although he knew he’d do everything within his abilities to find Gardner, and stop Phoenix, the circumstances surrounding her decision to sacrifice her life to send the warning gutted him.
What Hell awaited her if he failed?
For the moment, he needed to stay busy, focused. Filling his mind with frivolous possibilities only served to drive him back toward insanity. This time, he needed to be stronger. For Dina, and perhaps, for them all.
Chapter Seven
Sanjeeta opted to eat her lunch in her office so she could scroll through the deepnet message board on her tablet without curious eyes around. HatGrrl44 posted another message, this one angry at how crappy the group was for getting people’s hopes of having real friends only to flake out. The others were trying to convince her that’s not what usually happens while some were still worried people were missing.
These people, who she didn’t even know, were consuming her thoughts more and more every day. Knowing she couldn’t get involved right now, she shut down the app and brought up the national news, checking for the latest political scandal or corruption trial and eventually switched to state news while finishing her salad.
She was almost finished reading an article about the school board firing a principal in the nearby school for having an affair with one of his staff when a soft tap rapped on her door. The surprise on her face must have shown because Harvey grinned and shook his head.
“You didn’t think I’d come back.”
“Nope.”
Harvey moved to the chair and sat. “We need your help.”
“Who?”
“My team, we…uh,” he stammered, ran a hand through his unusual hair. “I’m about to dump a ton of information in your lap, Sanjeeta, are you sure you want to get involved?”
“Already am.”
“Hope you have an open mind,” he said with a terse chuckle.
Sanjeeta dipped her head to the side. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“No, I’m afraid not. I’ve been asked to extend you an invitation to come back to our base of operations with me.”
“Where?”
“New York.”
“To help you?”
“A mutually beneficial exchange of information.”
“Why can’t I read your thoughts?” Sanjeeta asked, crossing one leg over the other and sitting back in her chair. She needed some answers before she let some guy whisk her away to New York in the middle of a work day. This wasn’t a movie. Despite her gut telling her he was a good guy, hadn’t once lied to her, and already shared a psychic connection, Sanjeeta wasn’t the spontaneous type.
“I know how to block my mind.”
“You do?” She gawked at him. “Can you teach me?”
“I’m unsure, I can try. I’m certain one of us will be able to and probably teach you much more if you’re interested.”
The prospect of blocking her mind sounded intriguing. Hearing the ‘much more’ part, though a little scary, might be her best shot at learning about her psionics. If he and his friends could give her a crash course, she was game. “How many people are on your team?”
“Including me, there are…oh, twelve of us now. A few are back at the base, Liam, the man who extended the invitation, will be able to explain a bit more than I can.”
Sanjeeta grinned, picked up her desk phone, and called customer service. “Ming, hi, can you call in one of the other shift supervisors for the afternoon or an associate, anyone who wants the hours, I need to take the rest of the day. Great. Payroll’s done, checks will be here by four. Thank you. Bye.”
She hung up, grabbed her purse, and rose from her chair. Harvey was trying not to smile as he exited the office and went toward the back door again. She followed him outside, half expecting a helicopter in the back.
“No, not a helicopter,” he said, pressing his lips together. “Yes, I can hear your thoughts. Mostly everyone you’ll meet can, too, so—”
“Don’t think? Sounds easier said than done,” she replied and sighed. “How are we getting to New York if you don’t have a helicopter?”
Harvey extended his hand.
“No friggin’ way.”
“And I should probably tell you, my name isn’t Harvey.”
“Surprise,” she said, feigning shock. “What is it?”
“Hinta.”
“Well,” she said, taking his hand, exceedingly curious now, “nice to meet you, Hinta.”
He smiled. “Now, I want you to take a deep breath, this will most likely be very uncomfortable the first time.”
“Crap. You’re really going to shift us to New York.”
“We call it teleporting.”
“That’s science fiction,” she replied, laughing.
He wasn’t. “Deep breath, nod when you’re ready, Sanjeeta.”
She blinked at him, sucked until her lungs were full and nodded. In the next moment, she felt like an outside force was squeezing her insides. Everything popped back to normal in the following second. Sanjeeta doubled over, hands on her knees as she gagged and coughed.
“Well done,” he said, sounding surprised.
After wiping the corner of her mouth, she stood upright to find herself in a lobby. By the looks of the marbled floor and art deco walls, she was in an expensive hotel or a high rise. The large door before them clicked. Harvey…or Hinta pushed it back to reveal a penthouse apartment she couldn’t afford in her wildest dreams.
Hinta motioned to the living room. “Liam, the man you’ll be meeting and his fiancé, Dina live here with her father, Valtor.”
Having an ethnic name never bothered her, she loved her name and her culture. In her youth, she found names fascinating. Usually, she could tell a little bit about a person if she knew their name. Sometimes, it directly connected to where they came from. Names like Hinta and Valtor didn’t sound like anything she’d ever heard before.
Her escort’s mouth ticked up as he led her through the very meticulously set up living room and rolling bar near the wall of windows and into a swanky kitchen covered in a bit too much chrome, including a large door at the opposite end.
“You have a secret base in a penthouse apa
rtment in the middle of New York? Who are you guys?”
“Brace yourself, Sanjeeta, you’re about to find out,” he said, opening the base door.
Sanjeeta stepped in, blinked a few times, and turned back to Hinta. He had to be joking. This was some virtual reality room. Tricked out with tech she’d never seen, sleek monitors hung from the ceiling, the six computer consoles in the middle were top grade, and crazy wiring around the whole place was a techie’s paradise. When the three most gorgeous men she’d ever laid eyes on turned toward her and Hinta, Sanjeeta felt the heat rise up her cheeks. The one with snow-colored hair smiled. The man with green eyes nodded. She met the blue eyes of the last and stopped breathing.
“Please, come in.” Hinta nudged her by the elbow and motioned to the lounge area with a couch, two mismatched chairs, and a glass coffee table. “Something to drink?”
“Is it too early for shots?”
“No,” he replied seriously.
Sanjeeta shook her head, cleared her thoughts, and tried to get comfortable on one of the chairs. Two of the three approached. She tried not to stare and failed tragically.
The man with the white hair extended his hand to shake. “Hello, I’m Liam. This is Theo, thank you for coming to see us.”
“Sanjeeta, pleasure.” At least their names were normal even if they didn’t feel all together normal with their arresting features and stoic mannerisms.
“Please forgive the subterfuge, it’s imperative we safeguard our operation,” Liam said, peering at her with piercing gray eyes. “None of us want to overwhelm you, Sanjeeta, but we think that your missing friends may be connected to something we’ve been working on for a few months. Hinta believes we can help each other.”
“I’m honestly not sure how much help I can be. I don’t know most of them. I haven’t confirmed Marjorie—she’s our employee—is even psychic,” she said, retrieving her Netphone from her purse. “I have a video and some computer handles of people supposedly missing…”