The Bright Image: Clean Book 3

by Tim Niederriter

  "That's them," said Kyle.

  He closed a fist over his head, reaching for the pistol grip at his waist. His team, armed with a collection of old hunting weapons and more modern military rifles, took up positions. He held his fist, telling his team to hold their fire. No one fired a shot.

  My stomach sank, and I wanted to yell at Kyle to shoot as soon as he could. Dread memories of my encounter in Yashelia's garden raced through my mind. I ducked around a corner of one of regulating pumps that dotted the dam, followed by Samantha and Layne. Phil and Ellen hung back by the sloped tunnel's mouth, capturing the whole situation as it unfolded. Looking out, I caught a glimpse of a grin spreading across maniacally wide lips.

  The male aeon standing between the two female rogue stars grinned like a monster, and that was exactly what he seemed to me. He said nothing but likely had no need to communicate with words. The rogues on either side of him dashed forward, silent except for their footsteps thudding on concrete.

  Kyle dropped his fist. His people opened up, peppering the rogues with bullets. The refugees must have wounded each of the three a half-dozen times or more, but they charged through the damage.

  One man screamed as a rogue star tackled him. A woman whirled and shot the rogue star twice in the back, knocking the aeon off her comrade. I stared as the rogue star sprang back toward her prey.

  Kyle interposed himself between the monstrous woman and the man on the ground. His shoulders bunched with straining muscles as he grappled with the wild aeon. She dug her fingers into his bicep but seemed to lack some of the strength Yashelia had demonstrated, for she did not rip his limb from his body. The refugee woman with the rifle circled, trying to get a better shot. The man the aeon had bowled over, lay unconscious on the concrete. I turned to Samantha.

  "We have to do something."

  She grunted.

  “You're not wrong."

  "I'm recording. That's the best I can do," said Layne.

  I gritted my teeth.

  "About to do something brave again?" said a voice from above.

  Crouched atop the pump was the male wild star. He still wore his demented grin. The rogue star dove into our midst. Layne scrambled out of reach. I shoved Samantha to one side to get her clear of the wild monster. The aeon landed a fist in my stomach and all the wind rushed out of me. I sank to my knees.

  The rogue star grabbed the top of my head and directed my gaze to the center of the bridge.

  "It's long past time we began."

  "Began what?" I asked between gasps for breath.

  "The war," said the rogue star. "It starts here. In the name of all wild minds, let it be done." He extended his arm toward the center of the bridge, then snapped his fingers.

  I watched a spark of light flare in the rain. A roar went up from the innards of the structure as supports collapsed. Slowly, the dam began to crumble from the center out.

  I struggled to break free of the aeon's iron grip. Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed the female aeon shoving Kyle back a step. Kyle grunted with exertion and pushed back, but gained less than a step in retaliation.

  A searchlight from some aerial security picket cut across the dam, then another and another. The rogue stars abandoned us as a light ship swooped in low. They threw themselves off of the dam, gliding over the flood waters on their energized air-currents.

  I fought my way to my feet. Samantha stared at me as she got to her feet.

  "Don't do that again, Gall."

  "Don't what? Save you?"

  "Don't get in my way," she said, then softer, "and don't actively try to get killed."

  "Fine," I said.

  Layne helped me up and together we hurried to safety. Rushing water broke over the dam. Concrete and sealants could not hold without the internal braces for long. Kyle and his people limped after us. I counted four of them now. I looked back, searching for the other two. Before I could find them, rushing water ripped the central parts of the dam from their moorings on either bank.

  The canal water had been high before, but the sudden failure of the dam sent water spilling over the banks. I watched in horror as the waters rose.

  Unregistered Memory, Rebecca Waters, Refugee District

  She watched torrents of cold black water rush into the street ahead of them, flowing quickly from ankle-level to reach as high as her knees. Off to Rebecca's right, Natalie swore. She leaped onto the sidewalk, but that would not be dry long, Rebecca guessed.

  Water flowed along the streets as far as she could see in the dark night. Harvey sloshed forward to join Rebecca.

  "This isn't good. And not just because it's gonna wreck the bar's basement again."

  Rebecca nodded.

  "Something went very wrong over there," she said, pointing toward the road leading to the canal's edge and the dam. "That water didn't rise this fast on its own."

  Jeth contacted her using sound senses, but his ichor dose must have been fading because he sounded distant and garbled. As soon as he touched his mind, he lost fidelity altogether. Rebecca searched the network but couldn't find him.

  Natalie shouted, "Damn it!"

  She gave voice to how Rebecca felt. Jeth had been at the dam. Rebecca tried to push forward against the waters, but she knew at once she would not get far against the rising flood.

  "We had better head back," said Harvey. "It's bad enough already."

  Tears threatened at the corners of Rebecca's eyes. She forced herself to nod to Harvey. They turned and slogged back to the blood bar on it's slightly raised patch of street.

  Night and storm went on a long time.

  Unregistered Memory, Ryan Carter, Light Ship Astra III

  Kamuek kicked the ship fast toward the broken dam. His whip-like manipulators knitted together as they descended between the remaining supports of the dam. Astra III slowed the flood with its hull until more light ships and pickets could arrive to staunch the flow more fully.

  Damage to the ship was extensive, but Kamuek said he didn't care. By the time they limped back skyward all power cells for weapons and manipulators were exhausted, and with it, any chance they had to fight another ship. Ryan hoped the wild star transportation device could not move the war machines Celsanoggi had described. If they could get those weapons here soon, the city surely would not be ready for them, and Ryan and his team would be right there with the rest.

  From the bridge, Ryan sent everything he had learned about the killer to his friends. He hoped they could make use of it. Night wrapped the city and the downpour continued.

  “Sorry, Jeth,” Ryan said under his breath as the light ship flew east. “Guess I’m out for now.”

  Unregistered Memory, Thomas Fenstein, Candlegrove Heights

  Some thin garden walls around parts of the lower levels of the building burst in place, but mostly Candlegrove weathered the flood well by the time morning came. Thomas watched the flood from the windows. The water stopped rising quickly, but the initial rush left the surrounding districts in a terrible state.

  Celsa rested in a chair in the room they had borrowed for the evening. Each of the heights was a vast structure, but mostly vacant of occupants. He walked to the window, his clothes the same rumpled and soggy set as yesterday. He hoped the others were alright. Of his friends, only Ryan had reached out that morning, reporting the heroic actions Kamuek had taken.

  He frowned out the window at the ruined canal walls and flooded streets below. There were people down there who needed help, now more than ever. Thomas turned and found Celsa waking up.

  "What time is it?" she asked.

  "Seven-thirty."

  Celsa lurched out of the chair. Her wounds obviously still pained her. She joined Thomas by the window, moving methodically, but with determination.

  "I will contact Balancar. We need relief forces to move into the district."

  "Two bad options." He hissed in a breath. "If we do that, security will get spread pretty thin."

  Celsa put a shaky hand on his shoulde
r.

  "Not options," she said. "You thought it first. Those are people down there. They need all the help they can get."

  Thomas turned to her, smelled the faint traces of blood from her that usually pervaded the area around aeons. He noticed it less with her than some of the others, though.

  "You're right. I'm right. We need to get down there."

  "In time," she said. "According to Ryan Carter, Balancar is repentant. He will help us, not only with relief but in catching the rogues in the city."

  "I hope you're right," he said. "We're pretty screwed if you're not."

  "Lucky us. I know what I'm talking about."

  He smirked at her.

  "And people say aeons are arrogant."

  She shook her head.

  "We're relatively well-informed."

  "Because you don't share everything you know."

  Her cheeks flushed.

  "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you sooner."

  "It's alright," he said softly. "Better late than never, I suppose."

  "Balancar is reaching out to his teams," she said. "He's lobbying to allow refugees into Candlegrove after the remaining students here are relocated."

  "Finally, someone has some sense."

  "Balancar was one of the aeons who created this situation. Remember that, Thomas."

  "As if I could forget what Carter sent me. I'd belt Balancar right in his sensible jaw if he was here."

  "Lucky him. You still punch well. For a human."

  "We can't all be super strong, now can we?"

  She smiled at him.

  "You're strong enough as you are."

  "I hope you're right about that too. I sure don't feel like I am."

  She nodded.

  "Naturally, you wouldn't."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Don't underestimate what a human can do, Thomas." Her fingers kneaded his shoulder.

  "Celsa—"

  "Don't underestimate what you can do, especially."

  He felt heat rise in his face. Thomas turned from Celsa, embarrassed and looked upward as a small, whirring aerial buzzed by outside the window.

  "Thanks," he said. "I'll remember that."

  She answered him with a hint of laughter.

  I woke up

  slumped against a cold wall. Flying craft, both light ships, and smaller vehicles circled overhead. The flood waters were receding little by little already, but where I sat things looked bleak, not least of all because of my aching spine.

  My team clustered around me. They were already awake, except for Phil, who snored, propped against the inner wall of the dam's tunnel nearby. We had been trapped by the floodwaters, but it looked like help was on the way. Small boats moved up the flooded canal toward us.

  Ellen offered me a flask with ichor. I took a sip. Senses flared and I reached out to contact Rebecca. I had run out before I could tell her anything the previous night. At least now, I could allay some of her fears. I really hoped she was in better shape than me and my team.

  When I got in touch she was still groggy and despite her morning dose, Rebecca was less coherent over the network than usual.

  After a few minutes, we both put enough of ourselves together to communicate in more ways than just holding our mentalities together. She projected a virtual sensory room with a map of the refugee district filling the floor. Much of the streets were covered in what, at our level, looked like a fine layer of black sludge, the flood waters.

  We stood across the map from each other.

  "Do you know why the dam broke?" she asked.

  I nodded, or rather my projected image did.

  "There were wild stars on the dam when we got there, and that's not all. I think there's another aeon from the city helping them."

  Rebecca scowled as I relayed the image of Bayaluggia from the previous night to her.

  "She looks normal. Did you see any strength or rogue star abilities?"

  "I don't think so, but she was gone before the fighting started. Her name is Bayaluggia, and she met with Council Member Macroy before I did that time."

  Rebecca paced across the city map toward me. She turned and pointed at the pale glow of the energy farm on the far side of the district from the dam.

  "You notice anything about that spot?"

  "The flood didn't reach that far."

  "Hmm..." Rebecca glanced at me. "I think it's significant. Every other part of the district at least got touched by the water. Candlegrove's side got hit hard too. Security and relief are completely focused on dealing with the flood now."

  "Well, we haven't got a lot to go on. But if we can get to the energy farm we can check things out."

  "Good idea. I'm at the blood bar."

  "I'll need some help to get that far," I said. "Give me a little time, and stay in touch."

  "You too," she said.

  We disconnected.

  Back in the physical world, I rejoined my team. Even Phil was awake now. The fleet of small boats powered up the canal toward us and the broken dam. It was hard to tell where the canal had once ended, as the water was highest at our location, and had swept away the sides.

  Samantha and Ellen went up the ramp by themselves while we waited for the boats. I spotted Jeanine Myles in her yellow raincoat by the water's edge. I made my way across our little island to her.

  "Hey," she said. "Looks like we blew it."

  "Not yet," I said. "This is a mess, but we can still fix it."

  "People died last night," she said. "This isn't the worst it can get?"

  I tried not to think about Elizabeth, and the danger her memories could be in.

  "I don't know," I said, "but I'll do what I can to help make this right."

  Jeanine nodded, then turned toward me. Her eyes became fierce.

  "I want to help you."

  "Thanks."

  A pair of boats pulled up close to us. Martin Macroy dropped into the water and waded onto shore. He nodded to me.

  "Hell of a time thing to happen while you were here, Mister Gall."

  "It's news, and there's worse council member," I said.

  "What's going on?" he asked. "Does it have anything to do with that Sarah Harper interview last night?"

  I took a deep breath, then started to explain what I knew. I held nothing back.

  The boat took Jeanine, Samantha, Martin, and me across the water in sprinkling rain until we reached the shallows. From there, we waded up the streets and then headed toward the blood bar. Martin seemed almost as determined to drive back the wild aeons as Jeanine. Tired, worn, and wet, I was grateful for both of them. Samantha seemed equally motivated to cover these events first hand, but we left Ellen and Kowalski's behind to record and assist the relief efforts.

  We met Rebecca, Natalie, and Harvey, by the entrance of the bar, a raised bit of ground still mostly dry. Martin offered a hand to Harvey. They shook.

  "Glad to see I'm not the only concerned citizen."

  "I live here," said Harvey. "I've got my interests.

  Natalie nodded. Martin turned to her. His gaze moved to the pistol in the holster at her waist.

  "You have a permit for that?"

  "Of course," said Natalie.

  Rebecca sent me a private message. All the best operatives use legal weapons. That made sense to me. Natalie's words mollified Martin.

  "Hate to say it, but it could come in handy."

  "That might be true," said Samantha, "if bullets were enough to stop these things."

  I couldn't help but agree with her in my head, but I didn't say it out loud. Martin frowned. Natalie wrinkled her nose.

  "There are more things to worry about than rogue stars," she said, "beasts for one, mind-slaved cleans for another."

  I recalled the renegade soldiers from a few months ago. They had been far more dangerous because of their ability to control cleans, and it made sense an aeon could have similar abilities.

  "Beasts?" said Martin. "At a time like this."


  "Yeah," said Natalie. "I suspect even if no one overdoses, wild stars could bring some with them."

  Jeanine arched her brows, looking at Natalie.

  "How did you know they worked with the beasts?"

  "Prior experience," said Natalie, but left it at that.

  "Not an answer," said Jeanine, starting forward.

  "It's the only one you're getting right now," Natalie said.

  I put up my hands.

  "Good enough for now. We need to find out where Fiusontha and the other rogue stars are."

  Harvey nodded.

  "Apples to apples they're still in the district unless they broke the dam just to distract us."

  "What could they still want here?" asked Martin. "They've thrown us into chaos already and the district was poor even before we got swamped with refugees."

  "The energy farm," I said. "The water didn't reach that far."

  Harvey gave a satisfied nod.

  "A good bet."

  Martin's brows furrowed.

  "It is by far the biggest industry around here."

  "They're rogue stars," said Natalie. "They don't care about industry but they do care about energy. Having that much power at their fingertips would be bad for everyone."

  "That's understating it," said Rebecca. "We need to get there first, set up some kind of defenses if we're not too late."

  On that, we all agreed. Samantha recorded everything as we moved north toward the train station where the refugees had been arriving. As we came near the station, thunderous rumbling drew my attention to it. A large train was arriving from out of town.

  More refugees spilled out onto the platform. To my shock, I recognized faces in the crowd. These people had come from the Green Valley.

  I glanced at Rebecca. She had noticed them too, and her face became stony. I followed her gaze, squinting even with dose-sharpened senses. I spotted her parents looking older and grayer, but recognizable on the platform. My parents got off the train and stopped beside them.

  They had fled so much danger, but for what? My heart sank further as I considered the danger we were all still in.

  "Go on ahead," I said, then turned to Rebecca. "I'll catch up."