“Why are the edges black?” Kensei asked.
“Actually, the whole Riftkey is black. The shiny part is only a protective casing. According to Mister LaGrange, when activated, the edges break electromagnetic bonds.”
“For what purpose?” Adriana asked.
“To unlock the Terminal, one must reshape the flow of its interior. Only the Riftkey can do this.”
Kensei moved closer to the Riftkey. “If I win the contest, then I can go to outer space.”
“And if I win”—Adriana stood next to Kensei—“then I could save all the Selkans.”
Kett’l stood in front of the display case and put out an arm to hold them back. His voice took on a menacing tone. “Do not touch it.”
“Why not?” Kensei asked.
“When an Æon touches the Riftkey, they become bound to it for life.”
“For life?” Kensei gulped.
“Until the winner of the contest is announced, the Riftkey will not leave my protection.” Kett’l spotted the burstepi on Jenny’s back. “Oh. You’re wearing one of my bags.” He ran the material between his long fingers. “Yes, this is one of my first successful builds. A nice bit of weaving, if I do say so myself.”
Kett’l stood close enough for Jenny to smell the musk on his fur. “Yes,” Jenny said. “It’s Lin’s. She loaned it to me after my bag was ruined.” Kett’l continued to inspect her bag. I have to do something, Jenny thought, before he looks inside and finds the Riftkey. Then she remembered the impossible patterns Kett’l had been weaving inside the device. “You’re an Æon, aren’t you?”
“No.” Kett’l stepped away from the large box.
“Then what were you doing inside that thing?” Adriana asked.
“It’s called a forge,” Kett’l said.
“I saw the patterns inside your forge,” Kensei said. “You are an Æon.”
“I should not have shown you my work.” Kett’l growled. “Please do not tell anyone.”
“No one else knows?” Jenny asked.
“No.”
“Then how do they think the forge works?” Kensei asked.
“They think I know a secret to it, and I would like to keep it that way.”
“We won’t tell.” Adriana stared at Jenny and Kensei until they nodded in agreement. “But, why do you deny it?”
“Yeah, you could use the Riftkey to unlock the Terminal,” Jenny said.
“I know it is selfish.” Kett’l sighed. “But one day, I wish to return to my home system.”
“What do you mean?” Adriana asked.
“Do you not know?” Kett’l searched their confused faces. “Being a Terminal master brings much power, but it is also a great responsibility. Once you are bound to the Riftkey, you are duty-bound to the operation of the Terminal until death.”
“Death?” Kensei whispered.
They looked at one another, and Jenny knew they were all thinking the same thing. Am I willing to be stuck here, in this universe? Do I want to be bound to the Terminal? Jenny thought, I may be bound to the Riftkey, but now there’s another one, right there. I don’t have to be the one to unlock the Terminal.
“Maybe we should just let Sadi have it,” Kensei said.
“No,” Jenny said, surprising herself with her ferocity.
“Jenny’s right. It’s worth the sacrifice if we can save the Selkans,” Adriana said. “And I’m sure we can still visit home anytime we want.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll figure something out,” Kensei added. “They would have told us we would be stuck here, wouldn’t they?”
“Well, one thing is for sure,” Jenny said. “There’s no way I’m letting Sadi have that kind of power.”
Adriana and Kensei nodded in agreement.
“Oh. I almost forgot.” Kett’l pressed a button on the forge, and the opening disappeared. Instead of a deep interior, there was only a black wall. Kett’l walked to a shelf and picked up a long, forklike brass device. “This is the device Mazu needs for her expedition.”
“What does it do?” Jenny asked.
“It detects nexum, the material that makes up the Terminal, Waypoints, and their keys. It should be able to find the virosuit.”
“Thank you, Kett’l.” Jenny took the Locator and turned to Adriana and Kensei. “Let’s hurry and get this to Mazu.”
25
Possession
The air quality improved as they traveled farther from the workshop. It felt like returning to daylight after a long night. Soon, Jenny, Adriana, and Kensei reached the base of the stairwell, and in a burst of energy, they raced to the top, eager to be the first to escape the dungeon-like engineering level. As they reached the top, they rounded the corner and stopped short.
Sadi stood in the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest. Aindriu and a gray-uniformed recruit Jenny didn’t know stood next to her. Sadi’s eyes focused on the device in Jenny’s hands.
“Is that the Locator?” Sadi looked up at Jenny’s face, and her eyes widened. “You’re taking it to Mazu, aren’t you?” She reached for the Locator. “Hand it over. I’ll take it to her.”
“No.” Jenny jerked the device away. “Lin asked me to deliver it.”
Sadi’s eyes narrowed. “Why you?”
As Jenny read Sadi’s face, she grew terrified. “Because I asked to help.”
“You seem to be in the middle of everything,” Sadi snarled at Jenny. “I’ll give you one last warning, Tripper. Hand it over, or else.”
“No.” Jenny clutched the brass device to her chest.
Sadi glared at her, and a faint pressure built up in Jenny’s skull. Dread chilled her body when she recognized a familiar itching on her tongue. Jenny scraped her tongue against her teeth to relieve the itch, but it only made it worse.
“You were here earlier, weren’t you?” Sadi smirked. “No need to answer. I recognized your pain. How did you hide?” Sadi looked at Adriana. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
“I-I—” Adriana stammered.
“Leave her alone,” Jenny said. “It was me.”
“Run!” Kensei yelled.
Jenny hugged the Locator to her chest and ran away from Sadi. She needed to get away and reach Mazu. She would tell Lin about Sadi’s behavior. With any luck, her rival would be disqualified from the contest.
They made it halfway around the curve when Sadi’s voice rang out behind them. “Pain, pain, come to stay, Little Sadi wants to play.”
Jenny whimpered as her tongue exploded with pain. A searing heat cooked it like meat on a grill. Her heart slammed in her chest like a jackhammer, every pulse a flare of pain. Her tongue felt like pulp in her mouth, and she collapsed to the floor from the mind-numbing pain. She hardly noticed the Locator ramming into her breast, or her chin hitting the hard laminate.
“Pain is in the mind,” Sadi said, “and your mind is under my control.”
“Please, please, no,” Adriana begged. Tears poured down her cheeks and dripped onto the white, polished floor.
“I heard that you’re both sisters, and Gypsies.” Sadi stood over Jenny’s prone form. “You know, it used to be legal to kill your kind. Why don’t we reenact some history?”
“Don’t do this, Sadi,” Kensei pleaded. “It’s not worth it. You’ll be kicked out.”
“Only if somebody finds out.” A rictus grin split Sadi’s face. “I promise I won’t leave a mark.”
Pain spread over Jenny’s body, wrapping her arms and legs in sticky, scalding tar. It reminded her of her worst sunburn, times a hundred. She pictured her flesh crisping and burning.
Sadi looked down at Jenny with passionless eyes. “You don’t belong here. Death and pain have followed you. First, you stumble over Trey’s body, then you’re at the heart of the Acacia City raid. With you three out of the way, the Selkans will have a better chance at survival.” Slowly, she reached down and pulled the Locator from Jenny’s shivering hands. “And I’ll be sure to win the Riftkey.”
Jenny screamed as
the waves of pain slammed into her body like a sledgehammer. She felt the flesh on her cheek sizzle, then bubble, before falling from bone like hot wax. Jenny was on her side, and the floor was cool against her skin. Her muscles curled her body into a fetal position. Shadows pressed into her vision. Her hands and legs spasmed out of control.
A corner of Sadi’s mouth curled up into a smile. Her lips quivered a little, like she was trying to hold back a laugh.
Adriana shook her head violently. “Stop it, Sadi. Please. Stop.”
Aindriu looked down at Adriana, then at Sadi, with horror. “What should we do with them?”
“We’ll take them downstairs and lock them in a maintenance closet. By the time anyone finds them, the contest will be over. But first, I’m going to take a look inside this backpack.” She rolled Jenny facedown and pulled at the burstepi.
No! Jenny shouted in her mind. Her hate for Sadi and her need to survive warred with the feeling of pain. Her consciousness stretched and pressed against her skull. Something yielded inside her mind, and the pain was gone. Jenny was outside her body. Her new form glowed with light, and a single bright thread connected them.
New colors transitioned into view, as if her eyes were adjusting to a dark room. The auras she had seen after the ADD treatment had returned. The other people in the hallway glowed in different hues of color. Formless blotches moved at the edge of her vision. They were only there, really there, when glimpsed from the corners of her eyes. Sounds were felt as much as heard.
Sadi pulled the burstepi off Jenny’s shoulders, stood and worked at the straps. Jenny roared and charged at Sadi. Instead of colliding with the freckled girl, Jenny felt the world disappear.
Jenny was a little girl, but not herself. She sat on a couch in a living room she didn’t recognize, watching a TV show she’d never seen before. She could hear two men talking at the front door.
“Cassadi is special, Mister Stevens, and Cabin can help her understand her gift.”
“Go away,” Mister Stevens said. “I don’t need your help.”
“We just want what’s best.”
“Are you implying that I don’t know what’s best for my family?”
“Not at all.”
“I don’t like your tone. I have half a mind to come out there and whoop your ass right now.”
“That’s not necessary, Mister Stevens. I’ll be on my way.”
The scene changed, and Jenny was sitting outside on the grass watching a large gray squirrel stuff hazelnuts into its cheeks. She laughed at the funny feeling of her cheeks stretching. A dark shape swooped up from behind the squirrel. There was a great rush of air and a flurry of wings. She felt a searing pain in her chest as the owl clutched the squirrel in its talons. She screamed from the pain of it and collapsed to the ground. A moment later, someone lifted her and wrapped her in their arms. They wiped hot tears from her face and whispered comforting words into her ear.
“There’s something wrong with that girl,” Mister Stevens said.
“She’s just sensitive,” a woman answered.
Are these Sadi’s parents? Jenny thought.
The scene shifted again. Jenny was having dinner with Sadi’s parents in a small, dirty kitchen. She smiled at them. She always liked having family dinner.
Daddy took a bite of a chicken breast and turned to Mommy in disgust. “It’s undercooked.”
Jenny felt a pit in her stomach. Her skin grew cold and clammy. She breathed in quick gasps.
“No, it can’t be,” Mommy said.
“Are you calling me a liar?”
Jenny hugged her legs tightly to her chest.
“I can heat it up for you.”
“Why bother? You’d probably mess that up too.”
Mommy stood up and took the plate. “It’s no trouble.”
“I wasn’t done with that.” Daddy grabbed Mommy’s wrist and twisted. The plate fell to the floor with a crash. “Now you’ve done it!” He slapped her across the face with the back of his hand.
Jenny massaged her sore wrist and jerked back with the impact of the slap. “Stop it!” she screamed, but Daddy kept hitting Mommy over and over. Jenny felt each impact as if he were attacking her. She cried.
Time slowed as Daddy shoved Mommy into the table. Glasses spilled, along with Daddy’s beer. Uneaten plates fell off the table and shattered, scattering food across the floor.
Jenny focused on Sadi’s father at that moment. His eyes were wide, showing the whites above and below the iris. A fleck of white spittle formed in the corner of his mouth. Tendons and blood vessels stood out on his neck.
Mommy curled herself into a ball and shouted, “Not in front of Sadi.”
Jenny closed her eyes. The pain stopped, but her mom was still screaming. She wanted more than anything for Daddy to stop. Something broke inside her mind. With tears flowing down her cheeks, she forced her eyes open and shouted, “Leave Mommy alone!”
The first thing she noticed was that her parents were glowing. Mommy was red, and Daddy was blue. Maybe if Daddy were red, then he would stop. She concentrated, and a moment later, Daddy clutched his head and screamed. He yelled at her to stop, but it felt good to make Daddy go red. He begged her to stop, but he didn’t stop when Mommy begged, so she kept making Daddy red.
Daddy fell to the floor and twisted around like a snake. Spittle flew from his mouth and he clawed at his ears, but she wouldn’t stop. Daddy turned black. This felt wrong, so she stopped. She knelt down next to Mommy and tried to wake her up, “Mommy, it’s okay, Daddy’s asleep.” She kept shaking Mommy’s shoulder long after she turned black.
The scene shifted. She was older now and had just joined Cabin. It was the happiest day of her life. She met a boy there who understood her like nobody else before. She finally felt like she belonged somewhere, and she allowed herself to be happy for the first time since she was a child.
Now she was standing in a forest, looking down at the dead body that had once been the man that she loved.
A feeling of revulsion flooded Jenny’s mind. The memory of Trey’s dead body brought Jenny back to the present, but Jenny was no longer in her own body or the glowing angelic form. She was in Sadi’s body. It was eerie to be standing over her own unconscious body.
“Well, c’mon,” Aindriu said.
“Yeah, let’s see what’s inside,” the other gray said.
Jenny looked from the burstepi in her hands to Aindriu and the other gray. Their auras were still visible as ghostly blue light. Sadi’s ability tingled at the edge of her mind. After experiencing Sadi’s memories, Jenny knew how to use this power. To find memories of pain and enhance them.
Using the Waypoint key hanging around her neck. Jenny visualized a red waveform and focused her energy on it. Instantly, the blue auras around the two grays turned red.
“Sadi, what are you—” Aindriu said as he dropped to the floor.
At the same time, a wave of pleasure exploded inside Jenny’s mind. It felt like getting a body massage while soaking in a hot tub. They screamed for her to stop, but she couldn’t, it felt too good. All too soon, they fell unconscious. Their auras had turned black, and her ecstasy ceased. She sighed and shook her head as she came to her senses.
Adriana looked up at her with a mix of curiosity and hatred.
“Hey.” Jenny knelt down and looked at her sister. “It’s me, Jenny. Somehow, I’m inside Sadi’s body.”
“What?” Adriana looked over at Jenny’s real body. “How?”
Kensei sat up and looked from Sadi to the unconscious grays. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain on the way.” Adriana picked up the Locator. “Right now, we have to get this to Mazu. Jenny, can you move your body?”
“No. I’m trapped in here. I’m not sure what I did.” Then a pressure, like the sudden urge to vomit, pushed against Jenny’s mind. She moved in jerky motions as Sadi struggled to regain control.
I have to get away. The thought wasn’t Jenny’s.
&
nbsp; Without saying a word to her friends, Jenny rushed down the stairs and sped through the maze of corridors. As her mind started to tear, Jenny threw herself against the grated steel floor. Like a rubber band drawn to its breaking point, Jenny’s consciousness snapped back to her own body. Exhaustion overwhelmed her, and she passed out.
26
Moon Pool
Jack sat at a corner table in the mess hall with a view of the entire room. He was drinking his third mug of coffee when Mazu entered. She held a package under one arm and scanned the room. Jack had to admit the woman interested him, and his mind had wandered to her more than once.
Mazu approached Jack’s table and dropped the package next to his empty platter. “I hope it’s the right size.”
“What is it?” The contents of the package were flexible and weighed more than they looked like they would.
“A wetsuit.” Mazu tapped her foot. “We’ve gotta go.”
“Wetsuit, as in water?” Jack’s blood froze in his veins. “Right now?” Damn. Jack thought. Victus, where are you? You strand me here, then leave as soon as I send proof of the Selkans. What am I supposed to do, just wait here until you come back for them?
“Didn’t you review the mission briefing?”
“No, I thought I had until tomorrow.” Jack’s leg bounced with excess caffeine and nerves.
“Well, c’mon, I’ll fill you in on the way. But hurry, we don’t have much time.”
“How long will we be gone?”
“Not long. The cave is only ten kilometers away, and we’ll need to do some spelunking. I’d say six hours round trip, tops.”
What if Victus arrives while I’m gone? Jack thought. Would Victus just leave me behind? I wish I knew when he was coming. If they discover I can’t swim, my cover will be blown. I’ll just have to say no to the mission.
“Are you coming or not?”
Jack looked at Mazu, and his mind went blank. “Count me in.” Damn it, Jack thought. He drained his mug, picked up the package, and followed Mazu out of the mess hall.
The Key of Astrea Page 29