‘This is serious, Josie,’ Blake says. ‘Do you understand that? The suits can help with propulsion and oxygen feed, but I’ve never travelled too far beyond a lightpath. I don’t know what’s out there.’
‘You need me,’ I snap back. ‘You’re stronger with the thread, remember? Together we’ve got more of a chance of finding her and getting back alive.’
Blake opens his mouth to protest more, but I cut him off.
‘Don’t argue. I’d never be able to live with myself if Cora dies out there when I could have done something to help her. So, let me help.’
‘Cora doesn’t have much time,’ Jeremy calls out, panic in his voice.
Blake looks frozen, but I see the fear etched in his eyes. I stab a finger at him. ‘You hear that? We’ve got to move!’
Blake blinks, then begins to pull his suit up, his worried eyes fixed on me. Jeremy hurries forward to check I’m secured inside the suit. His face is pale, but he moves with purpose. He helps me fit the helmet over my head—it pulls at my hair as he fastens a clip under my chin. There’s a loud click and then a small hissing sound as the suit pressurises. The suit is skin tight, but I can move my limbs about easily.
I look at Jeremy. He nods and gives me a thumbs up, letting me know everything looks good. Blake finishes securing his own suit before coming over to double-check mine.
His visor is up and his face is tight with worry. ‘You’ll do as I say.’
I nod. ‘Okay.’
‘If I abort the mission, we leave. No questions.’
‘I said okay.’
Blake looks at Jeremy. ‘If we’re not back in ten minutes, raise the alarm.’
Jeremy nods and follows us as we hurry into the slider dark-room, a light overhead blinking red as we step through. Standing beside Blake, I squint around, but only see a silky darkness and a soft blue light inside Blake’s helmet that illuminates his face.
He presses a button at the side of my helmet. There’s a beep and my visor snaps down. The world turns dark blue and small pinpricks stab at the base of my neck and my inner elbows. The pain only lasts a moment, then my vision turns crystal clear, save for a digital readout of my vitals at the bottom left of my visor.
Blake pulls a cord from his suit’s belt and secures it to my own belt. My breath sounds loud in my ears and my heartbeat speeds up. Blake’s hands find mine.
‘Last chance to change your mind.’ His voice comes over the comms link in the helmet.
‘No chance.’ I wrap my arms around him and my talents bound out, delighted to find Blake’s talent waiting patiently, scorching bright. His arms tighten around me as the lock between us comes into focus. It’s a braid of consciousness, our talents woven deep within it, and the sensation is both beautiful and terrifying.
‘Don’t let go of me,’ Blake says.
‘I won’t.’
Then we fall.
CHAPTER 25
My stomach plummets as we drop. The darkness roars as it devours us, then we’re skimming inside a dazzling lightpath. Blake and I are locked around each other as we shoot forward, the thread pulling tight like an intimate embrace.
With a twitch of his shoulders, Blake propels us up, close to the top of the tunnel. He squeezes me in warning, then there’s a blinding flash as we burst through the ceiling of light. Some of the roaring fades and our pace slows. Till now, my eyes have been secured on Blake’s shoulder, trying to ignore the cold sweat bathing my back, the readout telling me my heart rate is too high.
I dare a peek out and see we’re surrounded by a glistening darkness that courses like water. It’s studded with light and the top of the lightpath skitters beneath us like a snake of stars. My ears pick up a soft buzzing noise and it attracts my TP’s attention—it thinks it has sensed an interesting consciousness. My concentration breaks as Blake and I twist and I realise my sense of up and down is inverted, followed quickly by the revelation that up and down really have no meaning here.
‘Can you sense anything?’ Blake asks.
My eyes rake the ocean of starry darkness. The thought of leaving Cora out here to die is horrible. My TP unfurls, slipping in all directions, searching for any sign of life. A headache sets up a thumping rhythm at my temples and I realise the buzzing noise has grown louder.
‘I think there’s something out there,’ I say.
Blake’s helmet swings around, searching. ‘Cora?’
‘No.’ I squeeze my eyes shut and try to sharpen the focus on my TP. I suddenly get the distinct impression we’re being watched by something very large. ‘It’s big and I don’t think it’s happy to see us.’
‘Another slider?’
The buzzing noise rises and I wince at a strike of pain in my head. With it comes a flood of thick emotions.
Thirst. Hunger. Rage.
‘Something is out here with us,’ I whisper. ‘Not human.’
Alarm crosses Blake’s face. ‘We’re leaving. Right now.’
‘But Cora—’
‘She knew the risks, Josie.’
‘We can’t leave her.’
‘We have to. These are dangerous, unchartered areas. Who knows what’s out here?’
Blake shifts our trajectory, the thrusters on his suit helping propel us forward, augmenting his natural ability to slide through this environment. In the distance, I spy the bright coil of the lightpath we left. We’re close to it when my TP snags on something … no, someone.
Cora.
‘I found her,’ I say. ‘She’s not far.’
‘Where?’ Blake slows our speed. ‘Hurry.’
My TP flares bright and I point to a nearby pocket of darkness. ‘There.’
Blake grunts and then we’re hurtling in that direction at great speed. As we get closer, I spy Cora. Her body is limp and she spins gently, her arms drifting loosely around her.
‘Hold on to me tight,’ Blake says. ‘This is going to happen quick.’
I squeeze my arms around him as he reaches for Cora. My TK tries to tug her towards us, then we body slam into her, one of Blake’s arms hooking tight around Cora’s waist. In the confusion of limbs, I feel myself slip within Blake’s grip. He’s grasping us both, but we’re travelling fast towards the lightpath and the closer we get, the more resistance there seems to be. Blake shouts something, but I can’t hear him. The buzzing noise is back and it fills my head with pain, vibrating through me so loud that my teeth hum.
We’re nearly at the lightpath when a wave of darkness bumps into us. My stomach gives a sickening lurch as Cora and I are shaken from Blake’s grip. Then we’re freefalling away from him, and I hold on to Cora. The safety line between Blake and myself unspools, then jerks tight, knocking the breath from my body.
Blake concentrates on smoothing out the slide and we pick up speed, sliding faster. I’m in a spin, trailing behind him, my senses disoriented. We’re nearly at the lightpath and my muscles burn with the effort of holding Cora against me. There’s a pop of multi-coloured light, and then we’re inside the lightpath, free of the swirling dark void and the strange buzzing noise. I concentrate on my grip on Cora and then something yanks at my waist. Eyes dropping, I see the connecting rope begin to pull loose, the joint fatigued by my spinning.
Blood beats loud in my ears. ‘Hurry up, Blake!’
‘Hang on.’
‘The rope!’
I risk shifting one hand from Cora to reach for the centre of the rope, but it breaks and my arm snaps out, slipping—
No!
—Blake’s hand grasps my wrist in a brutal hold. Then a gasp of air shudders over us and we tumble to the ground, back in the slider dark-room.
‘How are you doing?’ Blake passes me a mug of hot chocolate.
I’m sitting cross-legged at the top of Cora’s bed, Blake at the end. He’s just come back from raiding one of the break-out rooms and a stash of biscuits sit between us.
‘I’m fine.’ My voice is a croak. The rich fragrance of the hot drinks curls around the room. ‘S
hould we call the medical centre again?’
‘It’s only been twenty minutes.’ Blake sips his drink. ‘They said she was stable and to return in the morning.’
The medical centre had its own slider dark-room and we’d stumbled out earlier, Blake carrying Cora and shouting for help. Since leaving a lightpath was a serious matter, we kept the lie simple: Cora was somehow thrown off course and lost consciousness before Blake could retrieve her. After Cora was pronounced stable, Blake contacted Jeremy and told the story we’d given the medical staff.
Blake then convinced me to slide with him back to Helios, though it had taken a little while for me to come around to the idea. I only agreed after he’d pointed out that catching a bus back to the academy in the nanosuits might raise some questions we’d rather avoid. I kept my eyes shut the whole way.
‘How are you feeling?’ I ask him now. I’m weak and tired, but I know I won’t be able to sleep. Needing privacy, I’d returned to Cora’s room to wait for word on her status. Blake had insisted on coming with me, and I was grateful for the company. Even more so that he hadn’t suggested we go to his place to wait. I was still trying not to dwell on the potential consequences of threading with Blake, but knew I’d had no choice.
Blake sips his steaming drink. ‘I feel invincible.’
‘Huh.’ I snort. ‘Typical guy. We all nearly die and you walk away feeling like a king.’
‘By all rights, Cora should be dead. We pulled off a minor miracle tonight.’ His amused look fades. ‘You said you thought something was out there with us. What did you mean by that?’
I take a gulp of my drink again, the hot liquid soothing my dry throat and my body welcoming the sugar rush.
‘It felt like we were being watched,’ I answer. ‘That there was another consciousness out there. It wasn’t like anything my TP has touched before. Could anything be alive there?’
Blake blows on his drink before answering. ‘There’s always been speculation that other life forms might exist, but never any proof. The atmosphere of the biosphere isn’t conducive to the development of life in general. Intelligent life would be impossible. At least, to our understanding.’
‘What should we do?’ I ask. ‘Something was out there, I didn’t imagine it. We need to warn other sliders.’
‘We can’t tell anyone officially without an invasive investigation being launched into what happened with Cora. There are others in the slider community I could warn. But without any proof, I don’t know what else we can do.’
I’m not happy about keeping quiet about what happened, as the consciousness I’d touched had felt very vast, very alien, and very hungry. But I follow Blake’s logic. ‘Whatever you think.’
Blake drains his drink. ‘I should go.’
‘Can you stay for a bit longer?’ My voice is small. I know I need to at least rest, but I’m afraid to close my eyes, worried that if I do sleep, I’ll dream of falling endlessly.
Blake hesitates. ‘Just for a bit.’
We finish our drinks and biscuits, then I shuffle under Cora’s bright pink covers. Blake lies down beside me, his warm breath close to my ear.
One of his arms settles across me and it feels so natural that I don’t object. Nor do I say anything when his lips brush my neck and he buries his head in my hair. His body feels good against mine and the last thought I have before sleep claims me, is that something that feels so good can’t possibly be real.
CHAPTER 26
When I wake in Cora’s bed, Blake has gone and I feel his absence keenly. I call the medical centre and they tell me that Cora hasn’t woken yet, but her vitals are strong and they expect her to wake around mid-morning.
There’s time enough for a quick shower before my morning session with Vogel, but I’m ten minutes late and Wendell spends another ten minutes chewing me out about cancelling last night.
‘If you don’t want to be here, you just have to say,’ she snaps. ‘Don’t waste my time.’
‘I want to be here.’ I glance at Vogel, who’s drinking coffee, lips a startling pink. When she sees me eyeing her cup, she smirks and offers me the rest. I’m tired enough that I don’t mind her seconds and drink it in three gulps.
‘Lay off her, why don’t you?’ Vogel says when it looks like Wendell is gearing up for another bout of yelling. ‘We’re wasting time. Let’s just get this party started.’
‘Fine,’ Wendell mutters.
I put the mug down and sit. Vogel settles across from me, but after ten minutes of talent wrestling she stops, a worried look rippling across her face.
‘Just a minute, Josie.’ She rises from the chair and talks to Wendell in a hushed voice. When they finish, Vogel returns to her seat and Wendell stands behind her, looking apprehensive.
‘Something you want to tell us?’ Vogel asks me. ‘You said you cancelled last night because you weren’t feeling well. Anything else happen?’
I concentrate on not looking guilty. No way am I going to admit to being with Blake, because then I’ll have to explain about Cora getting lost. ‘Why?’
‘The lock is weaker,’ Vogel explains. ‘The edges of it feel paper thin. I have no idea why.’
‘Oh. Okay.’ It takes all my nerve not to break down and confess everything.
‘Did anything unusual happen last night?’ Wendell asks. ‘Think about it carefully. Nothing is too small to mention.’
‘No.’ I shake my head, avoiding Vogel’s eyes. I know I can’t explain what happened, though I’m no doubt seconds away from Vogel finding out anyway when she pushes into my mind. But telling them would cause trouble for Cora. Not to mention Eckhart would go apocalyptic after he’d warned me to stay away from Blake, even if it somehow helped with weakening the lock. So I confess nothing.
Wendell disappears from the room and Vogel stares at me like she knows I’m a big liar.
‘Were you drinking booze?’ she asks. ‘You can tell your Aunty Vogel.’
‘No.’
‘Drugs? Pop a couple of stims?’
‘No.’
Vogel grunts and sits back in her chair, looking unconvinced. ‘Something put a tremendous pressure on the lock.’
The door slides open and Eckhart walks in, Wendell close behind.
‘Josie.’ His eyes are calculating. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Fine.’
‘I’m told you skipped a session last night. Were you unwell?’
‘Bad headache,’ I tell him, trying to look sincere.
Vogel turns in her chair to face him. ‘I’ve read of a case where this happened, with the lock disintegrating with enough time. We should hit it now, while we have this window of opportunity.’
Eckhart gives me a crooked smile. ‘Are you ready for that?’
‘Of course,’ I tell him, finding it ironic that the key to breaking the lock was the very thing I’d been told not to do.
Vogel reaches across the table to pat my hand. ‘There’s a chance there will be some psychic trauma involved. But don’t worry. I’ll be with you every step of the way.’
I take a breath and remind myself why I’m here. A random thought floats through my head, that I’m betraying Blake somehow. I firmly push the thought from my mind. ‘I’m ready.’
‘Then do it.’ Eckhart backs up a bit, taking Wendell with him. ‘Let’s make this happen.’
Vogel’s smile looks more like a grimace. She takes my hand. ‘Ready?’
I suck in a deep breath, wondering if she’ll see my lie. ‘Ready.’
Vogel closes her eyes and I do the same. A second later, her TP spears through my mind like a blistering hot lance. Pain spikes my spine as white lightning and agony sever all rational thought. Pressure smashes through my skull like a swinging hammer and a heat presses against my eyes. It’s a moment I don’t feel I can take another second of …
Calm.
The pain retreats like a tide. My thoughts are sluggish and flop limply about. A sense of peace overcomes me once again and my inner eye can se
e a plait of light running through me. Something flickers at the corner of my closed-eyed vision, but when I try to focus on it, it winks away. I turn my attention back to the braid, mesmerised by it. The flickering comes back and this time it streaks across my vision. I realise it’s Vogel. Her TP moves like a scythe, simmering in a brilliant arc of blazing light as it slices through the darkness. When the blade hits the braid, it severs it clean and the cut ends quiver, bleeding out a glittering dust, while Vogel’s TP hesitates nearby. Watching. Waiting. As if expecting the ends to attempt to re-knit. But they just drift in the darkness, looking lost.
Shock roars over me and scorching heat licks my skin. Vogel’s TP tears brutally forward, slicing up more of the thread. It’s like she’s trying to rip something from my chest. My ribs ache; my heart pounds. It’s hard to breathe, and my talents retreat against this onslaught with a whimper. When I think I can’t stand the pain anymore, it suddenly retreats. I open my eyes and am somehow surprised I’m still upright. My muscles are locked, my hands grip Vogel tight.
‘It’s done.’ Vogel’s face is covered in a sheen of sweat. ‘How you feeling over there, Josie?’
‘Fine,’ I lie, my voice hollow and tinny in my ears.
‘Excellent.’ Vogel looks relieved and she wipes her forehead. ‘Guess I don’t need to warn you against getting all cuddly with Blake. He might be a sexy beast, but if you thread with him again, there’s a good chance the lock will come back. And I mean permanent like.’
Something tickles my mouth and I swipe at it, then frown when I see blood. More red drops splash onto my hand, and I can taste metal in my mouth. Vogel is on her feet, helping me tip my head forward.
‘Easy now,’ she says. ‘Breathe. Bloody noses are common after any sort of psionic shocks to the system.’
‘I don’t feel so good,’ I mumble.
Eckhart’s face is suddenly close. ‘We should take her to medical, just to be safe.’
I want to tell them I’m okay, but the words are hard to form and my face feels numb. My vision narrows to a pinprick and suddenly I can’t tell which way is up. I hear Vogel saying something in the distance before my thoughts stutter to a halt and flatline out.
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