“Including you?”
A long moment. “Including me.”
Nat understood her warning. Be careful. Even now.
He said, “Seb and I go our own way.”
Another silence, broken by Argos. He addressed Nike in his calm, deep voice. “My previous role has come to an end. I can be of help to Nathaniel.”
Nat looked at him, surprised and grateful. Was Argos offering his company? If so, he would welcome it. He said in a low voice. “Are you sure?”
“My ancestors were the temple dogs at the time of the earthquake,” Argos replied. “They lived with the Zen priests in the Garden and passed down their knowledge of the diagrams. You saved my life—I wish to help you.”
Nat said, “Why did you let the guard capture you and beat you like that? You’re strong—you could have defended yourself.”
“I’m not a violent person,” said Argos. “My life is one of meditation.”
Nat smiled. “A guard dog? Definitely the wrong job for you, Argos. That guard could have killed you.”
“Perhaps,” said Argos, “but you returned to help me.”
“I nearly didn’t.”
“But you did return,” Argos said mildly. “You could have escaped when you had the chance. Instead, you came back.”
Nat’s throat tightened. Argos had understood his fear. For the second time he owed Argos a debt of gratitude.
“You need someone to keep you out of trouble,” he said gruffly. “We can help each other.”
Nike interrupted. “There is more to be resolved.”
“Norika—I left her there,” said Nat. “Where is she?”
Nike said, “You will join her soon. But now you will listen.”
* * *
Japan, 2013
Norika was concerned. Nat had been gone too long—something must have happened. She strained to see through the fence but could see nothing in the dark.
It was her fault—she’d wanted to go back to help Argos. She knew Nat had been afraid. Now they were both in trouble. She started when she saw a shadowy figure approaching along the fence. Someone tall. She heard her name spoken.
“Seb?” she said, and waited, thinking she’d misheard.
When he reached her, all doubts went and she moved into his arms. After a while he pushed her gently away from him. “I came to get you. Nat and Argos are with the Committee.”
Norika said, “We didn’t complete the map.”
“You will,” said Seb.
“What does it matter?” she said, “Nat’s doing this to protect you, but you’re safe, you’re here with me. Isn’t that enough?”
“You know it’s not.”
She kept her voice calm. “Why can’t we be together?”
Seb looked away. “We’ll be tracked wherever we go. I don’t want to be moving on, always repositioned. Nat needs to find the solution. If anyone can do it, he can.”
On the other side of the fence the guard was shouting in the distance. There was more shouting as others joined him.
“Let’s go,” Seb said. He took her hand and they turned back towards the road. As the guards reached the fence they were gone, lost in the streets. They wandered aimlessly, discussing what Yoshiki had told each of them before he died. By early morning they were seated on a park bench, pale and grave.
Norika said, “Yoshiki was ill. Can we be sure of what he said in those final days?”
“He didn’t know all of it. The original records have been lost. The ancient Greeks were the first to record transition and their accounts came to be regarded as myths. In reality, many of their myths simply recorded what they saw. The gods they followed were often real people with powers beyond their own—Survivors who transformed.”
“Like the Birds of Ares,” Norika said.
“Two-thirds of the population of Zelos repositioned here over thousands of years. The planet’s composition was similar to Earth’s and most species corresponded to ours. There were differences but not so great they were noticeable. And that’s what happened—we didn’t notice them.” He stopped. “Until now—”
Norika looked at him. “—we are them.”
Seb said, with the trace of a smile, “You and me both. I recognise in you qualities I share. We’re both hybrids.”
“This is our home,” she said, “Earth has a future and Zelos hasn’t.”
Seb frowned. “Until my father was killed, Yoshiki believed the Second Transition would be like the first, a peaceful integration. Zelos is accelerating to its destruction, a fate they’ve known for thousands of years. They developed their science to form a long-term emigration plan, by means of material transference. When Ascendants started to eliminate those who opposed them, including my father, Yoshiki waited for the right time to warn me.”
“They’re still coming even as the planet is dying?”
“The planet still exists,” Seb said, “and Zeleans have a strong sense of place—many were reluctant to leave until now, when to stay longer is to die.” He stood and drew her towards him. “Nothing’s changed with us.”
She smiled. “I know.”
He bent and kissed her mouth.
She said, “Where to now?”
Seb hesitated. She said, as if she knew, “I’m going with you, Seb.”
He looked at her. She was resolute. He wanted so much to be with her he ached with it. For the first time, his craving for solitude was replaced by his need for another—for her.
“Then we’re going home,” he said.
She was surprised. “To St Annes?”
“To Shearwater Beach. Rick asked me to meet him there. Today is the day the shearwaters arrive. I used to see them come in, only to die. I didn’t understand why they did it, year after year. Now I do.” He turned to her. “He’s my friend, Norika. And I owe him.”
“I know.” She took a moment. “I’ll wait for you.”
“We’ll go together.”
* * *
Tasmania, 2020
Norika knew Shearwater Beach well. It was the longest in a series of remote beaches stretching north from St Annes to the lighthouse on the point. The isolated wind-blown beach lay on the flight path of the shearwaters, from their wintering grounds in Alaska to their southern nesting grounds. Each year the birds returned at this time, always on the same day, and each year hundreds died on the journey, many of them washing up on the shore where she and Seb now stood. The reason for their deaths remained uncertain.
Norika turned her face against the wind and recognised Rick walking towards them across the sand—his long coat, his casual defiance, his easy stride. She glanced at Seb watching his approach. As Rick drew near she quietly stood back. She knew this was a meeting in which she had no part.
The two friends faced each other. Seb took a step towards Rick and held out his arms. For moments they stood in a close embrace and when they drew apart Seb was smiling.
Rick returned the smile. “You’re still alive then, Seb.”
“Without you I’d be dead.”
Rick shook his head slowly. “There were times I would have killed you. Don’t thank me for sparing you, it was myself I spared.” He looked past Seb to Norika and smiled. “Norika.”
She smiled back. “Rick.”
The wind increased. Seb said, “We should head for the dunes.”
They started walking out of the wind until they found a sheltered area at the base of a large dune, where they stood waiting for the shearwaters to arrive.
“Why meet here?” Seb asked Rick.
“Because you need to know your enemies, what form they take.” Rick paused. “I’ll be with you. You’ll see what could happen, how we’d change. You’ll see the difference you can make. It’s not too late. They want to kill you because you can destroy their plans, but if you escape your code they can’t track you. It’s your decision.”
Seb’s voice was cool. “What decision? You don’
t know my future.”
Rick flushed. “I know you. Sometimes you ignore what’s happening, you don’t see things the rest of us do. You see only your own reflection.” He added softly, “beautiful as it is.”
A long pause.
“The fish I saw in the storm,” Seb said, “it was you.”
Rick glanced towards the beach. The waves were high and crashed on the sand in a wide band of white foam. “I tried to tell you. You wouldn’t listen—you nearly ruined it by trying to stop me from going overboard. Now you know everything.”
“Not all of it,” said Seb.
Rick was silent a moment. “I didn’t take it seriously enough—why we were in St Annes, what we were meant to do. I didn’t want to kill you, I didn’t want to kill anyone. I was there to escape my parents. I thought the only way to save you was to disappear.
“The sea off the Cormorant was a portal. I waited for the forecast and talked Jake into going out. The storm was a perfect cover—everyone would think I’d drowned at sea.” He gave a short laugh. “Everyone except Cade—I knew he’d track me. I thought the rock was my only chance of protection. When I discovered Yoshiki had given it to your brother, I returned here to get it. It was risky.” He turned to Norika. “And then you and Nat got involved and I realised the Committee was tracking me as well.”
Norika said, “You saved us at the summerhouse, when Nat and I were shot at. Who were you protecting?”
“My mother, Eileen Wincroft.”
Norika stared at Rick in shock. Was it possible Lady Wincroft had betrayed them? Norika had admired her, even liked her. She wondered about the others—Sir Hugo, Edward, Emmeline. Did they know?
“My mother and her followers are Ascendants,” Rick said. “They want to take over our history—Earth’s history—from the time of the First Transition, replace our science, our learning with that of Zelos. I wanted to believe in her but she was wrong.” He paused. “She wasn’t always like that. I went back to try to stop her.”
“Is Sir Hugo involved?” Norika asked.
Rick frowned. “I’ve never understood my father. He was distant, concerned with other things. I’m not even sure he knows how disturbed she is. If he does, he protects her. Or—” His voice trailed off.
“Or what?” Norika said.
“It’s just something I’ve felt at times—that my father is there to watch her, to guard her.” Rick looked at Seb. “If she were to find you, she would kill you.”
Seb said, “The Delaneys—who are they?”
“Cade Delaney was my controller—a fanatic, like my mother. He would have done anything for her. Sarah Delaney was different.”
“Different?”
Rick hesitated. “Sarah was an infiltrator. It was Sarah who saved me from my mother’s influence. After that, we worked together to protect you.”
Norika asked the question that mattered most to her. “What are the Committee’s plans for Seb? What do you know about his future?”
Seb turned to face her. He held her by the shoulders. “Stop, Norika. Rick can’t tell you what my future is, he doesn’t know it.” He relaxed his hold. “None of us knows what’s ahead. We can visit the past, but not the future.”
She walked a short distance from them, shaken. It was clear Seb had plans he didn’t want to share with her. Was she a part of them? She turned to find Rick had followed her.
“You knew, didn’t you?” he said. “About Seb, how I feel about him?”
She said, “I love him too, Rick.”
“I know.” He smiled at her. “Why do we love those we can’t have?”
The rock had started to hum, soon joined by another low humming sound from the north, the beating of wings. They ran onto the beach and looked up as the sound grew louder and still louder until it was almost upon them. The shearwaters had arrived. Within seconds the sky was full of birds flying south.
Norika gasped. “Look—above them!”
Seb followed her gaze. High above the shearwaters a formation of strange birds had appeared and was flying steadily towards them. The birds were exceptionally large but their striking feature was their wings, covered with metal-tipped feathers flashing bright in the sun with every downward stroke.
“The Birds of Ares,” said Rick. “This is the enemy, Seb. Watch what they’re capable of doing, and never forget it.”
As they watched, the Arean birds released a shower of feathered darts raining down on the defenceless shearwaters. Stricken, dozens of birds dropped to the beach. More fell at sea, bobbing on the waves as the tide came in. Those still alive flapped their wings feebly in a futile plea for help.
Rick yelled, “Run!” They turned and ran for the dunes as the Arean birds circled, holding their darts back for their main target. They were now flying directly for Seb. As they swooped Seb raised his arms to protect himself. Before they could release their arrows, Rick rushed forward and flung himself on Seb, knocking them both to the sand.
Norika watched, sickened, as Rick took the full impact of the glinting arrows meant for Seb. His body shuddered with each strike and then was still. Their target lost to them, all the birds but one abandoned the assault and banked to the south. The remaining bird landed further up the beach.
She went to them. Rick was dead. Several long, feathered darts protruded from his back. Seb freed himself from the weight of his friend’s body and stood beside Norika, his arm around her shoulder, comforting her. They clung to each other, silent, while around them lay hundreds of dead and dying shearwaters. Norika thought she had never before seen so bleak a sight.
Seb knew the Birds of Ares would return. Brushing away tears, he removed the arrows from Rick’s body and covered it with sand to be taken out with the tide, as close to a burial at sea as possible.
Norika said, “He knew this would happen one day, he just didn’t know when. He wanted to be with you—to save you.”
“It was more than that,” said Seb. “He wanted to show me a future without compassion, the future of Ascendants, so I would care enough to prevent it.”
As he and Norika walked in silence towards the dunes they heard a voice behind them.
“They’re here.”
Startled, Seb turned and saw a massive black dog looking at them.
Norika stared in disbelief. “Argos!” She went quickly to him. “Is Nat with you? Is he okay?”
“I’m okay.” Nat came from behind a dune towards them. He went straight to his brother. “Hey Seb.”
Seb thought later he’d never been more happy to see anyone as he was to see Nat that day. He thought Nat looked older, wiser. “Nat. You got through the barrier.”
“Argos disabled it. He was the one who created it. He knew you’d be in danger if you tried to meet me. I was being tracked.”
Seb turned to Argos. “Yet another Guide.” His voice was cool.
Argos said quickly, “I’m more than your Guide. I protect you from a distance. Your contempt should be replaced with gratitude.”
Seb stared a moment. “You’re right, Argos. Thank you.”
They all talked together in quiet voices—about Rick, about the birds.
Argos said, “The Arean bird that landed on the beach—where is it now?”
Norika looked at Seb. “Maybe it’s still there.”
“We need to check,” said Argos.
“Let’s go then.” Nat started towards the beach.
Seb said to Norika, “You go with them. I’ll catch up.”
Norika hesitated. Holding back tears, she walked ahead, away from him.
Nat led the way, with Argos and Norika following behind. They stood looking along the beach, into the wind. Nat picked up one of the feathered darts remaining in the sand. It was identical to the one he and Norika had found near Korinna.
The rock began humming softly.
The bird had moved and was now quite close, watching them. Nat glanced back at Arg
os, uneasy. When he turned again the bird was closer still and the rock’s humming had become louder.
Argos stopped, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling. He gave a low warning growl.
The bird was now directly in front of them.
“Nathaniel,” the bird said softly.
Argos moved quickly to Nat’s side.
Nat knew the voice. When he looked again, the bird had transformed. It was Cade Delaney who stood on the beach before them.
Cade’s voice was smooth. “We didn’t finish our conversation, Nathaniel. Never mind. Plenty of time for that.”
Nat said to Norika, “Go back to Seb. Wait for me there.”
“Don’t bother,” Cade said. “I’m sure Seb will come to us.”
“It was you who killed Korinna,” Norika said.
“Nathaniel found my feathers, that was unfortunate.”
She stared at him. “Korinna did you no harm.”
“She discovered our plans to destroy Sebastian and her son Alexios.”
Nat was startled. “Alexios? Why?”
“Alexios is someone of future interest to us. Like Sebastian.”
Nat said, “Why do you kill the shearwaters each year?”
Cade Delaney gave a slight smile. “Our kind have always been mercenaries and assassins. On Zelos we were feared, respected. But that changed.” Anger reddened his face. “We were part of the First Transition, but the other Survivors cast us out. Our own people. We were banished and became known as the Birds of Ares. When we escaped from our island prison, shearwaters were sent to track us and report our movements to the Committee. They were simple-minded, too diligent for their own good.”
“So you kill them,” Norika said, “year after year.”
Cade smiled again. “Every year we attack them on the beaches. They’re hard-wired not to divert from their flight path and so they die.” His tone changed. “But our banishment is over. When Sebastian dies, we will be celebrated for destroying the main threat to our dominance. The Age of Akropolis is upon us.”
Argos spoke quietly. “No one has a right to kill the innocent. Here on this planet you are guilty of murder.”
Cade laughed. He made a sudden forward movement and grabbed Nat, twisting his arm behind his back and holding him fast from behind.
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