“Thanks.” Liv reached into her pocket to keycard her door lock, but she had no pockets because she was still wearing the dress she’d had on in Mai Tai last night. She looked down at herself. Her long floaty dress was rumpled and wrinkled, and over it she had thrown a shapeless old black sweater that she kept in her lab in case she got cold. Paint spattered the sleeves and the right hip looked as if a cat had thrown up on it due to a messy spackle incident.
She peeled the sweater off, absurdly hoping Jordan hadn’t noticed it. She went back to her workstation, grabbed her purse and dug for her keycard, and locked her office on the way out.
When they got to her house, Jordan jumped out of the car and followed her to the front door.
“You can get going. I’ll just meet you over there.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. I’ll just wait and we can go together.”
“No, really, you don’t have to do that. It’s going to take me a bit to get myself looking presentable.”
His eyes did a quick zip downward, and when they reached hers again he smiled. “I think you look very presentable.”
She laughed. “No I don’t. And you don’t have to wait, really.”
“It’s no trouble.”
“You’re already really late.”
“So are you.”
He had a point. She opened her door and he followed her into the dark cool interior. “I was researching the effects of the dangerous mind-wiping Traveler on my brain. What’s your excuse?”
“Well, I would have said I was researching too, demon society and technology, if you must know. But if you don’t hurry, I’ll just blame it on you.”
“You could just go.”
He crossed the room to her couch, sat, and folded his arms. “I’ll wait.”
He wasn’t going to leave without her. When he got his mind set, it took a force of nature to change it. She sighed. “I’ll try not to be too long.”
“Take your time.”
She didn’t take her time, but it was still half an hour before she was showered, blow-dried, and make-up’ed appropriately for public consumption. Maybe Jordan’s left by now, she thought.
But when she stepped out into the living room, he was still sitting on the couch.
“Ready?” she asked.
He looked up as he leaned forward to get to his feet and he froze. His eyes traveled from her freshly curled hair to her clinging wrap-around shirt to her capris and the length of leg beneath their hem, to her bare feet in sparkly Egyptian-esque sandals, and finally back to her eyes.
He still looked great, but based on his reaction, she’d won this round. Point to me, she thought with a smirk, then wondered exactly what kind of competition she thought she was competing in.
Jordan said, “Yeah, um, what?”
Her smile widened. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes. Right. Let’s go.”
Liv didn’t know what to make of his reaction. It was one thing if she was going to get all crush-y on him, but what if he did the same? She surreptitiously eyed him as he drove them the three blocks to Trent’s house, but he was his normal self, carrying on a normal conversation. He’d asked her out once when they first started working together, but after Nathan—You mean that damned ex boyfriend betrayer, she thought viciously—she hadn’t wanted to get involved with someone again. Certainly not someone she worked with. Again. Jordan had never acted remotely interested after that, so she had dismissed it.
How had she not realized how amazing he was? Then, she’d just thought he was a dangerously sexy guy, but now she knew him, and knew what a kind, intelligent, talented, and driven person he was.
She shifted uneasily in her seat. You love him because he’s your partner, she argued with herself. That’s all this is. There’s no future here. How could there be? You work with him. Like Ben said, you can’t get away when it blows up in your face. And it always does.
Her inner voice was silent.
They arrived at Trent’s, and Liv and Jordan let themselves in. “Hey! Welcome!” Trent called from the kitchen. “The others are out back.”
Liv admired the collection of framed awards and trophies fly tying competitions, and wondered again why Trent would pick such a useless hobby, since he had absolutely no interest in actually fishing.
She and Jordan headed out into the backyard, and were instantly swept up in a game of horseshoes. Jordan’s behavior was perfectly normal for the rest of the day. He dropped her off at her house, said goodnight, and left.
When she walked through her door, it was with unusual regret. You wish he’d made a pass at you? And what then?
She tried to dismiss it, but the feeling remained, regardless of what she told herself.
I love him, she admitted to herself in a small voice.
Now what?
* * *
Monday morning, Liv was the last one into the briefing room.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
General Mace said, “I hope you have some good news.”
“Very good news.” Liv quickly set up her laptop.
“Friday night Ben and I were in Mai Tai, and I had another run-in with Elachai. I don’t remember it, but our friend Winnie saw him and described him to me.”
A surge of anger reared up at the fact that Elachai had stolen something irretrievable from her. Twice.
Without a noticeable hitch, she continued, “We immediately returned to base so I could scan myself and find out what he did to make me forget.”
She ran through the results she’d shown Jordan Saturday, and added her normal scans and bloodwork from last night.
“Bottom line, Doctor,” General Mace said when she’d finished.
“Sir, I have been wracking my brain all weekend. I think I have a basic understanding of how Elachai’s power works.” She clicked another slide up onto the screen. “I have no idea how we can protect ourselves from it, at least not yet. But I think I may be able to replicate it. With your permission, I’d like to try.”
“What is that going to entail?” he asked.
“Some research into a delivery vehicle with Nora in physics, and some consults with Medical about brain chemical levels.”
Connor asked, “What’s your timeline?”
“As of right now, I have no idea what kind of delivery vehicle will work. Hence the research. And consults with Medical.”
“Is there a downside to this?” Jordan asked. Sometimes, he was far too smart for his own good.
Liv tried to look guileless. “I don’t know, honestly. I don’t even know that I’ll be able to do it.”
“You mentioned the narrow focus of Elachai’s power. Will you be able to duplicate this?”
“I certainly hope so, sir.”
Jordan frowned. “Imagine his power in the hands of the demons.”
“Why?” Gin asked.
Jordan turned to her. “Demons kidnapped his family. With the threat of harm to them, the demons could make him do anything.”
Connor tapped a finger on the table. “I’m sure that’s their plan. Let’s just hope he can stay ahead of them.”
Liv looked at General Mace for his okay. “Go ahead, Dr. Greenwood. Conduct your research.”
“Thank you, sir.”
General Mace nodded. Then he turned to Connor. “Is your team done with Necropolis, Commander?”
T36 had spent the previous week searching the world where Liv had first run into Elachai. They had found the lab where the world’s destruction originated, but the records of the toxin or agent had been completely destroyed.
Connor answered, “I think so, sir.” He looked at Liv with his eyebrows raised.
“I agree,” she said. “There were no surviving records of how the plague or toxin was made, and no samples of the agent. Just plenty of files proving the existence of demons.”
Ben snorted. “Great. We weren’t sure if they really existed.”
General Mace ignored him. “Then you’re scheduled to begi
n exploring D-79302R tomorrow. See you at 0800.”
Tuesday, previously unexplored parallel world, DEPOT designation D-79302R, corresponding Oregon.
Chapter 8
The next morning, Liv walked through a poisonous-looking landscape. T36 was on an open plain with sparse ‘trees’ and no signs of human habitation.
The ground was covered by some sort of rust-orange lichen that looked like overlapping drips of melted candle wax. The ‘trees,’ with their thick fleshy branches and shiny waxy skin, reminded Liv of giant purple octopi standing on their heads. They appeared to wave at the edges of her vision, although she had yet to catch one moving when she looked at it straight on. The air smelled like burnt metal, and the breeze blew hot on their faces. The sky was a mottled tapestry in gray, and she wondered if it would thunderstorm.
“This is really creepy,” Gin said, her blonde pony tail flipping as she whipped her head from side to side, trying to catch the trees moving. “It’s like walking through an illustration done by Dr. Seuss on a bad acid trip.”
Liv walked over to one of the trees to lay her hand on the bruise-purple skin—it couldn’t be called bark. It felt just like patting a soft wax candle. She pushed her finger into the skin and left an indent which very slowly pushed back out and disappeared.
“I think we should sample this, Connor,” she called.
He signaled a halt. She pulled out her protein scanner, mineral scanner, and spectrum analyzer. She cut a tiny section of the skin and tried not to shudder as it bled a black substance that looked a lot like blood.
“Oh, God, that’s gross,” Gin said from behind her.
“I know.” Liv looked away as she waited for the results.
“What could possibly have caused Oregon to evolve into this, Jordan?” Trent asked.
“I have no idea.”
Liv looked over her shoulder to see Jordan scanning the horizon. “I could study here for months or even years before I figured it out. I think it must have split quite a few million years before now.”
Connor suddenly raised his gun, and Trent and Gin did the same.
“Ah, looks like the locals are coming to greet us,” Ben said as he followed Connor’s lead.
Liv whipped her head the other way, following their line of sight.
From the shelter of the giant purple octopus-trees, eight…humans, for lack of a better word, stalked toward them. They reminded her of African pygmy tribesmen, but their skin was a dark red-purple, with a dull waxy sheen like the trees. They wore clothing made from strips of waxy tree skin, and jewelry of rocks and bones. Most wore only loin cloths, but two sported a sort of toga. Liv guessed these were women.
She stood, her hands full of scanners, and punched buttons so they would save their readings. Then she stowed them in her pockets and drew her sidearm, reassured by the heavy weight of the blued steel.
Jordan unsnapped his holsters but didn’t draw. “Connor, could we at least make sure they’re not going to welcome us before we start shooting them? This isn’t the way to greet potential allies.”
“We’ll see,” Connor said.
As they got close enough to speak, Connor raised his right hand, palm outward. “Hi. We’re Travelers, explorers. We just want to look around your world. Do you understand me?”
Without warning, the pygmies raced shrieking toward the Travelers.
“What the—?” Ben took an involuntary step back.
Liv, too, was stunned by their speed. It reminded her too much of the demons.
“Well, Peacemaker,” Connor said to Jordan, “what do you think now?”
“It may just be a test of our bravery or something. The aboriginal Muruwari have a similar rite.” Jordan answered. “If we fail, we may never gain access to any place in this world where people live. Don’t shoot. Just hold your ground.” However, he also pulled his guns, holding them loosely at his sides, muzzles pointed toward the ground.
The pygmies, still running, opened their mouths wide, showing rows of pointed teeth, and spit something like globs of pitch into their palms.
“Ugh. What are they doing?” Gin asked.
The pygmies pulled their arms back like major league pitchers, and their hands suddenly blazed with fire. While still running, they threw the flaming spitballs toward the Travelers.
The first fireballs landed short, splashing against the lichen-covered ground and snuffing out.
“How about now, Jordan?” Connor asked with a bite in his voice.
Jordan watched as the pygmies, still racing toward them, repeated the spitting, the windup, and the pitch. This time, fireballs rained down around them.
“Yeah, this looks like an attack. We should probably try to deter them.”
“Warning shots,” Connor commanded.
Connor, Gin, and Ben raised their guns to fire a shot above the pygmies’ heads, with no appreciable effect.
“Nagano, try your stars,” Connor said. “We’ll see if we can turn them back without shooting them.”
Trent exchanged his sidearm for a stack of throwing stars. He could aim to injure without causing as much damage as a bullet.
He blurred into motion, shooting three stars at three different targets in the space of a breath. He hit all three, grazing an ankle, an arm, and a thigh. The injured pygmies shrieked like birds, but didn’t even break stride. The others took up the cry.
“I still don’t think we should kill them!” Jordan shouted over the screeching. “We need access to any technology or medicine lore they have.”
Another salvo of fireballs rained down, and Ben ducked and held up an arm to block one from hitting his face. The fire splashed onto his sleeve, but instead of going out, it clung like tar and began to spread.
Connor aimed at the nearest pygmy. “Shoot to wound.”
Liv, Gin, Connor, Jordan, and Trent fired one shot apiece into the shrieking horde. Ben was busy beating his arm against his pant leg, which also caught fire. Their shots struck targets in the arm, leg, or shoulder, but nothing changed except the volume of the pygmies’ shrieks.
Another round of fireballs rained down.
Liv called, “Ben, heads up,” since he was still attempting to quench his sleeve instead of watching the sky. The team dodged the raining fireballs, but barely.
“Sir, either we get out of here or we kill them,” Trent called.
“Fall back,” Connor said.
They ducked more fireballs as they retreated. The pygmies overtook and completely surrounded them, dancing in a circle that flickered with the flames they held in their hands.
“Think they’ve seen X-Men? This is the best Pyro impression I’ve ever seen!” Ben yelled, still beating at his burning sleeve and pant leg. Gin tried to help by beating his sleeve with her jacket, but it caught fire too and she discarded it.
“We need to get out of here!” Gin shouted as fire splashed up from the ground and caught her pant leg.
“I thought that like, five minutes ago!” Ben yelled.
Connor’s eyes fixed on Ben’s burning pant leg. He said clearly but quickly, “Safe World on my mark, one-two-three-mark!”
Liv reached for nothingness and swirled into the space between worlds. She reappeared in their Safe World, Q-435G, just before Connor popped into existence next to her.
She looked around and saw a red sand plain. That was pretty much what they saw here no matter where they Traveled from—the whole world was a post-apocalypse desert. The hot air was breathable, barely, thanks to surviving microorganisms, but there was no human or animal life. Safe World served as a buffer to ensure that no one followed them from a hostile world to one where people lived, or to Home World, which would be even worse.
As they arrived, Ben attempted a jaunty grin that looked a bit sick as he peered through the charred hole in his pant leg to the reddened flesh underneath. His voice wasn’t entirely steady as he said, “Oh good, it turns out fire is one of those things that doesn’t Travel. I wondered.”
Liv’s
heart dropped when she saw the damage to his clothes, and she immediately moved to look him over.
Connor joined her as she inspected Ben’s missing pant leg and the red hairless skin beneath. She held out Ben’s blackened arm, trying to see beneath the soot so they could see how badly he was wounded.
“Here, let me,” Connor said. He soaked his jacket sleeve with his canteen and gently wiped Ben’s arm. The skin came clean.
Liv breathed a sigh of relief. “You were lucky. Your skin is barely singed.”
Connor walked over to Gin, who also sported blackened pants, but she waved him away. “It didn’t get to the skin.”
“Everyone else okay?” Connor asked.
The team responded with variations of yes.
A thought struck Liv, and she glanced up at Ben’s face. “You know why this soot Traveled with you?”
Ben shook his head mutely, and she frowned at him. Ben was hardly ever at a loss for words.
“I totally wondered,” Gin said, laying the sarcasm on thick, her usual method of dealing with fear for a teammate.
“Your hair and skin singed. The Travel Authority decided the soot belonged to you.”
“That is so good to know,” Gin said with a scowl at her own blackened clothes.
Liv smiled at her and looked back at Ben. “You sure you’re okay?”
He appeared to unlock his tongue. “Yeah. It was weird, though—I couldn’t beat the fire out, and I couldn’t brush it off. It was like it was sticky or something.”
As Liv stepped away, Jordan said, “I think it was sticky. When it hit the ground, it splashed like liquid before going out against those lichens.”
Trent turned to Liv. “How do you think that fire worked?”
“I don’t know. We’d need to test their spit to be sure.”
Gin grimaced. “Awesome. Who wants to ask them to stand still and open wide?”
Jordan said, “I wish we could. That’s the only way to tell what it was and how it evolved.”
“We can go back and see if there’s any left on the lichens in that area,” Liv said.
“They sure pelted enough of it down on the ground,” Ben said.
Trent asked, “How could humans evolve to spit fire?”
A Despair of Demons (Travelers, Book 1) Page 8