by Brandt Legg
“Mom, it’s not your fault. Dad would know that. He does know it. These are the same people who killed him.” That sent her into more tears and words I couldn’t decipher. Finally, mercifully, Josh took the phone. We spoke briefly, and he promised she would be okay.
The next few days were endless video recording sessions of me describing the truth of what happened since Lightyear first came after me. We left out the supernatural aspects of the story, knowing they would use it to discredit me. With the help of one of Booker’s assistants, we added slides and data from Lee Duncan’s documents. It ended up being a ninety-minute presentation. The hard drives and discs from the mausoleum contained enough data to help our case against Lightyear, but Booker warned that Lightyear—and the government in general—were masters of propaganda and media manipulation. “In the end, we’re going to need nothing short of live TV, Internet feeds, and a massive crowd on hand to get these guys,” Booker said. We made numerous copies of all Lee’s material and our new video. Booker set a plan in motion to distribute them to multiple points around the world.
Booker returned to the mainland. It was my first chance to bring out the roll of papers from Hibbs’ safe. Discussing things from this lifetime with Booker was fine— Lee’s stash, Lightyear, even portals and mystics. But for some reason I wasn’t comfortable talking to anyone about the Jadeo or Hibbs’ documents unless they had been there too. Spencer could remember a large number of his past lives without interruption, as if all his incarnations had been one long life. Thanks to Wandus, I was developing the same ability. It made our conversation easier.
“I assumed you went to Graydon for these,” he said, when I laid the roll on the table.
“Why didn’t you ask?”
“They’re yours. And just as I said a hundred years ago, it’s the Jadeo that matters, nothing else.”
“But these papers are connected.”
“To the Jadeo? Impossible.”
“Not to the origin of the Jadeo but to the preservation of it. These documents will unlock secrets. They’ll give us the way to protect the Jadeo.”
“You haven’t even opened them.”
“I read them on the yacht using Vising and it all came back. I should have taken action in my lifetime as Hibbs.”
“They’re a distraction.”
“Why do you always say that? Just listen.”
“I know what’s in them.”
“Then you know that we can use this information to bring the world’s most powerful group to help stop Lightyear,” I said, hitting the roll against my hand.
“No.”
“Why not?” I was exasperated.
“Because they already control Lightyear.”
I looked at him, completely deflated. The implications were seismic, our situation more desperate than ever. “Then we can’t win.”
“You keep forgetting; the universe is where the power is.”
“But the battle is on earth, in the human realm, with humans,” I shouted.
“Remember what you’ve learned,” he said quietly.
28
Most of my time on the island was filled with meditating, wandering the astral, and trying to penetrate the veil that separated the living and dead. I needed to communicate with Dad and Aunt Rose. Spencer worked with me, but his teaching method had always been too much lecturing and not enough practical demonstration. Still, we were getting along better than ever.
It was late morning on the seventh day when a vision of Amber, Kyle, and Linh came. Federal agents ambushed them. It was violent, bloody, and only hours away. Linh was going to die; the others would be arrested. For some reason they were unreachable over the astral. I had to get to Oregon. Instead of arguing, Spencer arranged with Booker to have the jet fly me to Medford. Since soul-powers would alert Lightyear to my whereabouts, hope was my only companion during the uneventful flight. The timing meant it would be possible to just stop the arrests. A car, driven by another one of Booker’s men, was waiting for me. Spencer said Booker had four people in Ashland, and there would be three more before I got there. That meant seven against however many government agents showed up to arrest my friends.
There was about an hour of daylight remaining when the plane landed; the vision showed the attack occurring at night, so there was time. Still, it would take twenty-five minutes to get to the Shakespeare theater in Ashland, where my friends were meeting. I told the driver to drop me off at the plaza entrance to Lithia Park. It meant a couple of extra minutes, but agents might already be watching the theater. The door was a problem; the lock was too sophisticated to pick without Gogen. There wasn’t time to think. If the agents weren’t already here, they would be in the next twenty minutes. As soon as Gogen got me in, I reinstated Kellaring while running into the cold open-air theater. Kyle, clearly startled, was the first to notice me racing down the steps.
“Oh my God,” Amber said, following Kyle’s gaze.
Linh looked up, smiling, but her smile quickly fell away when she saw my face.
“We don’t have much time. Agents will be here any minute,” I yelled. “Follow me. The park’s our only chance.”
But it was too late. A helicopter rose over the center tower of the Elizabethan stage and entered the opening in the roof. This hadn’t been in the vision.
“Run!” Linh screamed.
The helicopter spun and fired a small missile as we scattered. I ran toward them, but agents entered from the side. The missile hit as I dove behind some seats. The explosions and screams melded into a horrific noise. I flung Lusans blindly until, thinking there might be enough cover, I peered up and sent flames to roast two agents. Another one fell across from me; four of Booker’s mercenaries had arrived. I Skyclimbed to the stage while shots hit all around, and then I quickly scrambled backstage.
Amber and Kyle were across the room huddled around Linh; she was injured. I panicked, but even before reaching her with a Lusan, it was obvious this wasn’t the fatal blow I’d seen in my vision. I pushed the healing sphere into Linh’s hands. Amber had escaped unharmed altogether; Kyle had some scrapes but would be fine.
“How do we get out of here?” I asked Kyle.
“The best way is back up the way you came because they entered from the street side.”
“Let’s hide in the tower,” Linh said, having spent more time in the place then all of us combined. “There’s a way out onto the roof and a concealed ladder down to the street.”
“Get on my back,” I said.
She hesitated for only a second before allowing me to carry her up the steep steps. Amber was behind me, and Kyle came last. From the top, we were able to see the battle coming to an end. I had no idea where the helicopter was. Among the fires and crater, I counted nine agents, and five of Booker’s guys, down. This was a disaster and would bring massive attention and reinforcements soon. We had to get out fast. Kyle helped Linh down the outside ladder. Amber wanted to wait for me, but because our tower location offered a great advantage, I wanted to take out a few more agents before leaving.
“Go. I’ll be right behind you.”
She stared.
“I need to make sure no one follows us.”
“I’m staying with you this time. We don’t need to be apart.”
“Let’s talk about that when we’re not trapped.”
“Then come down now.” I sent flames into two more agents then ran to Amber. “Hurry!” she cried.
She climbed through the hatch that led to the ladder. Everything suddenly vibrated; rotating blades forced a windstorm. I turned back and saw the helicopter deploy another missile and shoved Amber ahead, then pushed through after her. “Jump!” I yelled, an instant before the rocket hit.
Everything exploded. The tower was obliterated. Steam pipes burst. Splintered wood, metal shrapnel, and glass showered down on us as I bounced off the exterior wall of the theater and hammered onto broken concrete and debris below. Unable to move, blood blocking one eye, I saw Amber crumpled in the
grass ten feet away. Kyle ran toward me, his mouth was moving, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. He used Gogen to pick me up and, while I was draped over his shoulders, pulled Amber up as we passed. She was scoured black and limping, but moving nonetheless. “Where was Linh?” I tried to ask, but all that came out was blood.
I awoke lying across the back seat of a car I’d never been in before. My head was on Amber’s lap. Her hands and my face were soaked in blood. She was using Foush, trying to heal me, but time was running out. I was going to die. My last thought was of Linh.
29
It was dark, the kind of blackness that swallows everything. There was a wisp of breath in my lungs. Human life still existed for me, it seemed. The pain was worse than before, but in fewer places, which scared me knowing that could mean paralysis. With labored breath, people carried my mangled body on a stretcher without using Gogen. The smell of sweat, pine sap, earthy mulch, and moss filled the cool air. Trying to speak only brought a choking cough. A distant voice penetrated my haze. It may have been Amber or it could have been a guide from another realm, even Aunt Rose.
It was maybe a day later, or maybe just a minute—time’s a funny thing. Life, if it still existed in my body, was slipping. No other pain remained except an icy burning in my fingertips. The depths of darkness were split by erratic stingings of light. My eyes closed, and when they opened again I knew I was dead. Swirls of colors blurred past while I drifted through space, almost able to touch the stars. It was different than my near-death experience after Fitts had tossed me over the cliff and I had awakened blindfolded on Trevor’s boat. This was final.
Amber pulled my body from the tangle of wildflowers, bringing me back to a conscious state. We lay there on the grassy bank of Floral Lake for quite a while before my brain caught up and realized that we were at Outin. I was alive and safe.
“Are you there?” she asked in a gentle whisper, full of hope.
“I think so.” My voice sounded strange. I sat up, remembering the attack. “Where’s Linh?”
“With Kyle.”
“Alive... how bad?”
Amber laughed. “Linh didn’t get hurt. She did the hurting. If it weren’t for her, we’d have never gotten out of there. Skyclimbing, Gogen, even a few well-placed Lusans—she was a superhero.”
“Wow.” I shook my head.
“If she hadn’t made a Lusan for you to hold, we never would have made it to Outin. It kept you alive, just barely, until Floral Lake could work its magic.”
I shivered. I’d come to save Linh and instead she saved me. Something was changing; maybe the mall attack and the girls’ deaths could be avoided. “How did you guys find Outin?”
“Crowd.”
“How did you find Crowd?’”
“After Linh’s performance at the theater, we escaped to Lithia Park. When Linh saw your injuries, she lost it. Kyle got her calmed down. I still don’t know if he was using Solteer or if he’s just Mr. Meditation and was talking her into some sort of Zen state.” She paused and lightly moved her hand through my hair. “Are you up for this story right now?”
“Yes. But I’m a little cold.”
She draped a blanket over us. “Better?”
“Yeah.”
“So Linh pulled herself together and made a Lusan. It was enough... I mean, Nate, you were minutes from death.” She hugged me close and kissed the back of my head. “We had to keep moving. Kyle knew a guy who didn’t live too far. Someone from the university, I don’t know who, but he lent Kyle a car. Linh and I waited in the trees while the helicopter did flyovers. We could see all kinds of flashing lights in the distance and started hearing cops, agents, soldiers, getting closer. It was intense.”
“Yeah, can you just get to the good part?”
She laughed. “The good part isn’t until now.”
“Crowd?”
“Okay, so while Kyle was gone, I had the idea of getting you to Outin. I remembered your story about Floral Lake being so healing and figured it was your only hope unless Spencer showed up, but he didn’t. Anyway, the car was some big Buick or something; we weren’t sure it would make it to the edge of town but we got onto I-5 and headed south. I have no idea how we beat the roadblocks, but somewhere around Yreka we saw a hitchhiker. I’m the only one who knew Crowd, and it wasn’t until we passed him the third time, in like five miles, that I looked close enough to recognize him. He jumped in the front next to Linh and started giving Kyle directions. Once we got to the parking area on Shasta, he pulled some canvas and straps from his pack and quickly found a couple of downed trees for posts.”
“He made a stretcher?”
“Yeah, said we couldn’t use powers. We had to carry you.”
“What about the Lusan?”
“Apparently that’s only traceable when it’s being made. Once it exists, it’s just energy, like everything else.”
“How long have we been here?”
“Three days.”
“I must have been just about dead if it took three days in Floral Lake to bring me back. This makes twice that you and Crowd have saved me.”
“It’s Crowd and Linh. In San Francisco I didn’t do anything other than scream. I would have made you a Lusan, but I still can’t get much more than a marble-sized one going.”
“It’ll come. Don’t worry.”
“I know.”
“Where are Kyle and Linh?”
“Looking for Dustin.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dustin’s here. We haven’t found him yet, but he’s at Outin somewhere.”
30
Crowd hadn’t come through the veil when they came to Outin, but he did give them a hand-drawn map showing the four lakes of Outin and the lodge. Between the map and my stories, they had a pretty good sense of the place. Once they had me floating in Floral Lake and could do no more, they took shifts staying with me while the other two went exploring. As soon as they got into the lodge, they saw Dustin’s stuff. No wonder no one could find him. He must have come straight here once he left Cervantes.
“Amber, he could have gone through a Window and be living in Paris in 1922, for all we know, or another reality altogether.”
“I know. We don’t have any idea what’s possible here.”
“It’s Outin, everything is possible... things we can’t even dream of.”
Linh and Kyle ran up.
“I knew you’d wake up today,” Linh said, hugging me.
“So you acted like a great ninja warrior at the theater.”
“No, I didn’t do much.”
“That’s not what I heard. You kept me alive... thanks.”
“I just did what you taught me.”
“We found something,” Kyle said.
“Dustin?”
“Not him, but a note he wrote.”
“Is he okay?” I was suddenly concerned he might end his life.
“I don’t know.”
“He went through a Window,” Linh said. “At least that’s what he says in the note.”
Amber eyed me.
“Let me see it.” I read silently then handed it to Amber. Dustin found a Window that might allow him to fix some mistakes in his life, made by him and others. He thought, at the same time, he could do some things to help our cause.
“Oh, Dustin,” I said. “We’ve got to find Spencer. Dustin’s wandering around some other dimension trying to change things. He’ll screw everything up and get us all killed.”
“But it’s another dimension. How can it affect us?” Linh asked.
“All the dimensions, all the universes, all times are all connected. They ripple in and out of one another.”
“It’s confusing.”
“It’s actually very simple: there’s really only one thing, it’s just that it’s infinite.”
“That clears it up.” Linh laughed.
“What Window did he go in?”
“No clue,” Kyle said. “They move, you know. There wasn’t a
Window near where we found the note.”
“What’s he mean by fifth lake?” Linh asked.
“Maybe he’s trying to distract us. All it says is, ‘Don’t look for me. Instead, go to the fifth lake of Outin.’ He really is crazy to think I’d fall for that.”
“I didn’t know there was a fifth lake,” Amber said.
“There isn’t. It’s his way of trying to throw us off. He has no idea how serious this is.” None of them really did. Only Spencer and I knew the truth about the Jadeo. It wasn’t safe to tell the others yet.
“How can you be so sure?” Kyle asked. “Dustin was here for a long time. Maybe he found something.”
“Why wouldn’t Crowd have told us about it?”
“Maybe you weren’t ready for it then,” Amber said. “Time’s a funny thing.”
They were right. I was too angry with Dustin to think clearly about his motives or his struggle. “Okay then, we need to find the fifth lake and Dustin. We’re safe here, and with Outin’s reverse time dynamic, there’s no rush. So let’s figure out the best way to track down which Window he went through. And if Dustin found a fifth lake alone, then four of us ought to be able to locate it together.”
After another dip into Floral Lake under my own power, I felt strong and ready to face the mirrored world of Outin. We drew a grid on Crowd’s map. Linh and Amber would stay together but Kyle and I would go out on our own. They still couldn’t use Solteer to initiate a conversation over the astral, but I could keep in touch and coordinate all of us.
“Why were you meeting at the theater anyway?” I asked, as we walked toward the lodge.
“I had a breakthrough with the coded pages,” Linh said.
“And I found two more of the nine names. Only three to go,” Kyle said.
“You guys have been busy.”
31
“The pages each have a separate topic,” Linh began. “Because you thought they were connected to Rose, I asked her each night before bed to show me the way to unlock their meaning. On the third night I had a dream about Travis Curry, some kind of expert on Mayan culture and mysticism speaking at the university, but someone assassinated him during a dance. We did a search online, and he really exists and has a book out about Mayan mysticism.” She looked at me like I should be shocked and amazed.