Dreams of the Damned

by Lindsey Sparks

Silently, I backed out of the gephyra chamber, then turned and ran back to the stairs. I continued my journey downward, heading into the sublevel beneath the ground floor, and found my way into the mainframe. The labyrinth of complex machines and control panels was swarming with Order scientists studying the alien equipment.

  I snuck through the maze of machinery to the heart of the mainframe. The column in the center was untouched, and I wondered if the scientists had yet to figure out that the chaos stone was stowed within, hidden as it powered the city around them.

  Moving on silent feet, I made my way closer to the power core generator situated off to the side of the central space. The generator was dormant, and I could see the brand-new power core Hades had ordered cradled in the machine’s well. I reached into the well, and gripped either side of the power core, but hesitated before tugging it free.

  Stealth mode wouldn't work here, not when I needed to actually interact with my environment. The four scientists dissecting the immediate vicinity may not have been able to see me, but one of these turds was bound to notice a power core floating on its own across the room.

  This would require a different type of deception—a disguise rather than invisibility—but altering my appearance would require a massive output of psychic energy. I wasn't sure I wanted to exhaust myself here and now when I still needed to free the others and escort them safely through the gephyra.

  I considered abandoning the power core, but then we would have to wait for the generator in the frozen settlement to create one—assuming it was even in working condition—and there was no saying how long it would take Henry's people to figure out the gephyra’s controls. I couldn't risk them rebuilding the bridge and invading our refuge before we were able to get the Elysium up and running.

  Making a split-second decision, I hurried out of the central clearing and ducked into a small side alcove, where I dropped out of stealth mode. I took a deep breath, then closed my eyes and concentrated on generating a widespread field of perception-altering psychic energy, just as I had done when I had disguised Fiona to sneak her into the Atlantea Project building. Anyone who looked at me from within the field’s area of effect would see someone else entirely. They would see Henry Magnusson, the one person nobody would dare to question when he did something strange like, oh say, walk off with a power core for no apparent reason.

  Disguise in place, I straightened my shoulders and donned an air of haughty, masculine entitlement, and then I marched back into the clearing at the heart of the mainframe like I owned the place.

  I was noticed immediately, but only one of the scientists actually approached me, and he was easily put off with a silent glare. Sweat beaded on my brow as I retrieved the power core as quickly as possible. Hyper aware of the eyes on me, I tucked the power core under my arm and navigated my way out of the underground maze of machinery. I was five steps from the doorway to the hall that would take me back to the spiral staircase when the real Henry Magnusson strode through the doorway.

  He froze, his eyes meeting mine, widening in shock.

  I panicked, dropping the disguise and activating stealth mode, and charged at Henry. I knocked him onto his back, snatched up my doru, and fled down the hallway, running as fast as my legs could carry me.

  24

  I raced up the spiral staircase to the first administrative level, two floors above the gephyra chamber. Following my link to Meg, I wound my way through the warren of offices and cubicles, pausing just around the corner from the room where I sensed Meg’s mind. More familiar minds surrounded her, but I focused instead on the pair of unfamiliar minds belonging to the Order soldiers guarding the door to their prison.

  I set down the power core so I could grip the doru with both hands, and then I stepped out from behind the corner and hit each guard with a quick, stunning energy blast. They dropped to the floor, unconscious, and I grabbed the power core and rushed forward.

  I burst into the room and found Meg and the others on their feet, waiting for me. Meg stood directly in front of the doorway, crouched and ready to fight. My mom and Emi stood off to Meg’s right, one hand each on the childlike Tsakali scout’s arms, its wrists still bound together behind its back, but its head and mouth uncovered. Fiona bounced on her heels to Meg’s left, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. I scanned the room, peering behind the others, but Raiden and Hades were nowhere to be seen.

  “They’re not here,” Meg said, straightening.

  My brow furrowed, and I shook my head.

  “Henry took the guys,” my mom said, then spat, “the bastard.”

  My lips parted, my heart beating faster. “Took them where?” All of us needed to go—now.

  Emi shook her head, but it was my mom who spoke. “Henry mentioned an experiment,” she said, her tone laden with disgust. “Said it was going to ‘change the world’.” She used air quotes on the final three words.

  “Damn it!” I hissed, my grip tightening on the doru’s grooved shaft. Why couldn’t it ever be easy? Huffing out a breath, I marched toward Meg and handed her my doru and the power core, then raised my hands to the golden collar encircling her neck.

  The collar popped open with a click, and I chucked it across the room. Meg handed the power core and doru back to me, then brought her hands up to her neck, rubbing the exposed skin as gratitude flowed through our bond. I placed my hand on her shoulder in a silent your welcome before turning to my mom.

  “I'll get you guys through the gephyra,” I told her, my focus sliding over to Emi. “And then I'll come back for Raiden and Hades.”

  There was a ferocious glint in Emi’s eyes. “We can help you,” she said, her voice razor sharp. Henry had taken her son, after all.

  Much as I admired her courage, I shook my head. “You'll only get in my way.”

  Emi looked stricken.

  “Cora!” my mom admonished.

  I flashed them both an apologetic smile but didn’t take it back. “I'm sorry, Mom, but it's true. Besides, the fewer of you who are here, the less leverage Henry has against me.” How many times now had he used my loved ones against me to get what he wanted? Four times? Five? More? I had lost count.

  My mom scowled but didn’t argue further.

  I turned to Fiona and handed her the power core. “Think you can get this thing hooked up in the Elysium?” She had been trailing Hades around everywhere he went, soaking up as much knowledge as she could about Olympian tech and how it worked. I just hoped it was enough.

  The corner of Fiona’s mouth tensed as she studied the power core, adjusting her grip on the heavy device. After a long moment, she nodded.

  “Good,” I said. “Prep the ship as much as you can. As soon as we join you, we'll power up and take off.” I scanned each of their faces, finally settling on Meg’s. “Ready?”

  She nodded, and I could sense her desire to crack some Order skulls through our bond.

  Doru at the ready, I lead the group down the spiral staircase to the gephyra chamber. We paused on the landing outside the cavernous room, ducking out of sight of the Order minions working within. Once again, I was relieved to find the bridge to the frozen settlement still active.

  And yet, something felt off. After our encounter down in the mainframe, Henry must have known I would free the others. Why hadn’t he sent any of his people after me?

  I caught Meg’s eye, refocusing on the task at hand. “Can you send a psychic blast into the room that will stun everyone in there?” I wanted to preserve as much of my psychic energy as possible for rescuing Raiden and Hades. There was no predicting what that might involve.

  Nodding, Meg closed her eyes. A moment later, she vanished from sight. I could still sense her mind, but I couldn’t see her as she moved through the doorway and into the gephyra chamber.

  A dull concussion popped my ears, followed by the thunks of bodies hitting the floor.

  I peeked around the edge of the doorway just in time to see Meg wink back into sight barely a dozen paces into the chambe
r. She was the only one standing, with at least a dozen unconscious people sprawled all around her.

  “All right, let’s go,” I said, waving the others into the room as I hung back. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t encountered any Order soldiers yet, but I wasn’t willing to count on our luck holding out for much longer. “Hurry!”

  Meg led the way to the gephyra, and I guarded the rear. Fiona crossed the bridge first, then my mom with the Tsakali scout, and then Emi. Meg climbed the first step of the platform but paused and turned to face me. I could sense her desire to stay. To help.

  I shook my head. “Keep them safe,” I said, a plea in my voice. “They mean everything to me. I wouldn't trust anyone else with the job.”

  Meg stared at me for a long moment, then nodded and turned away from me. In two steps, she was gone.

  25

  I was alone—surrounded by unconscious humans, but alone, nonetheless. Leaning on my doru, I stared at the quicksilver orb marking the opening to the interstellar bridge, wishing we all still had our comms patches, or at least that my bond with Meg could span the lightyears that now separated us.

  Sighing, I turned away from the gephyra and jogged over to the control panel near the side of the chamber. I stopped and worried my bottom lip as I scanned the three unconscious people lying on the floor behind the curved desk, considering which to wake. I needed intel—where had Henry taken Raiden and Hades? And what, exactly, was he up to? Figuring the oldest among them was most likely the one in charge, I crouched down beside a man lying on his back with short, salt-and-pepper hair and lined, leathery skin.

  I planted one knee on the floor and placed my free hand on the man’s forehead, then closed my eyes and concentrated on his dormant mind. I probed psychic fingers into his brain, deeper and deeper until I reached the hypothalamus, then sent out a micro shock to stimulate the region.

  I opened my eyes and watched the man’s eyelids flutter, shifting my hand from his forehead to his chest, directly over his heart, before he had fully roused. A moment later, he blinked up at me, and confusion twisted his features.

  “I can stop your heart before you can even think about fighting me off,” I told him, speaking English rather than his native Arabic, since a quick dip into his mind told me he was fluent in both. “Don’t try to sit up. In fact, best not to move at all.”

  He gulped as fear replaced his confusion. It seeped out of him, flavoring the air.

  While he came to grips with the situation, I plucked a few relevant pieces of information about who he was and what he did for the Order from his mind. His name was Kahlil, and he was a physicist—one of the Order’s top guys—and he spent most of his time in labs studying alien tech, not out in the field, being attacked by the aliens themselves. He had a wife and three grown children, two of which had children of their own, and he was terrified that he would never get to see them again. Perfect. I could use that fear.

  “Here's the deal, Kahlil,” I said matter-of-factly. “You tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you live to see your family again. You don't tell me what I want to know, and, well . . .” The implication that I would kill him simply for withholding information from me was a lie, but he didn't need to know that. I would simply stun him back to deep unconsciousness, then wake one of his buddies and start the whole process over.

  “Wh—what do you want to know?”

  I flashed him a razor-sharp grin. “Where is Hades?” I asked. Not that I wanted to find Hades more than I wanted to find Raiden, but I figured it was far more likely that Kahlil, here, would have some idea of where Henry had taken the alien than the human.

  “I—I—” Kahlil stuttered, fear paralyzing his tongue. In his mind, I sensed that his fear of Henry and what the maniacal leader of the Order would do to him should he talk was greater than his fear of dying at my hand. I could also sense that he knew where Hades was—where Henry had taken both Hades and Raiden.

  I bared my teeth at Kahlil. “Where are they?” I demanded. Lucky for me, I didn’t need him to actually tell me where they had been taken. I just needed him to think about it.

  Sweat broke out on Kahlil’s forehead, but he remained steadfastly silent.

  Narrowing my eyes, I dug a little deeper into his mind and snatched the information I needed. They were in the Genetec tower, next door. There was something about a test or trial of some kind, but Kahlil didn’t know the details.

  Without another word, I sent a stunning pulse of psychic energy into Kahlil, returning him to unconsciousness, then stood and ran back to the spiral staircase, activating my suit’s stealth mode as I went. I raced down to the ground floor, across the lobby, and out through the main doors. Once I was outside, I sprinted across the grounds to the Genetec tower.

  Dozens of Order soldiers patrolled around the tower, telling me this was why nobody had hunted me down after I knocked Henry on his ass and fled from the mainframe. They had cut their losses with me and the others and regrouped—here. But why?

  As I drew closer to the building, I cast out my psychic radar, searching the sea of minds for any familiar mental signatures. I could feel Henry’s mind back in the central tower. Was he in the gephyra chamber now, admiring our wreckage? Or perhaps on the fourth floor, confirming that the others had escaped? It didn’t really matter, so long as he was elsewhere. Not here.

  I focused my psychic radar on the way ahead. As I slipped into the Genetec tower, Raiden’s mind pinged my radar, closely followed by Hades’ mind. I barreled across the lobby and up the broad, open flight of stairs leading to the second floor. Following the lure of their minds, I slowed to a jog as I made my way down a hallway to the transference lab.

  Once upon a time, this lab had housed the Alpha site’s most prized tech—the equipment that would have transferred Olympian consciousnesses into human hosts, giving my people a second chance at a natural existence. Poseidon had put an end to that plan the second his god delusions drove him to sabotage the equipment.

  I slowed to a walk as I neared the door to the transference lab. This was the most guarded lab in the entire tower and had been equipped with every possible security measure, including a field that would suppress my psychic gifts the instant I stepped into the lab. I could already feel my psychic powers stuttering out here in the hallway.

  I stopped at the door, knowing the second I stepped foot in the lab, my powers would be gone, and my doru would be downgraded to a fancy looking fighting staff. I silently berated myself for not commandeering any of the guns I had come across since escaping from my prison cell. Too late now.

  While I still had tenuous access to my powers, I inched closer to the door, focusing on the minds within. I wanted to gather as much information about what was happening in there as possible before storming in half-cocked.

  I could tell that Raiden was afraid and that Hades was angry. No, he was beyond angry. He was enraged. But with my powers weakened by the anti-psychic field, I couldn’t glean much more than their general emotional states. There were two other minds in the lab with them—Order soldiers acting as guards, I assumed—one hovering near Hades, the other near Raiden, their attention focused on their respective charges.

  That was it, just the four of them. Nobody on the door. It wasn’t a worst-case scenario, which was kind of nice, for once.

  Crouching low, I reached into the door panel with psychic fingers and slid the door open as slowly and quietly as possible. Hades, Raiden, and their guards were on a raised, circular dais in the center of the lab. Dozens of workstations encircled the dais in three consecutive rings, steel desks with stacks of drawers tucked beneath and topped with sleek Olympian equipment, providing me some cover. Once the door panel was open just enough for me to squeeze through, I crept into the lab and manually eased the door shut again.

  Quickly, silently, I crawled to the nearest workstation and huddled behind a set of drawers, then peeked around the desk to scan the situation. Hades was perched on a stool in front of a curved desk trimmed with golde
n orichalcum, a holoscreen hovering in front of him. Based on the desk’s extravagant appearance, I figured it was the control panel for the transference equipment.

  Hades’ attention wasn’t on the holoscreen, but lower, on the tech built into the desk. He held a small tool of some kind in one hand and sat hunched over the surface, focused on the inner workings of the control panel. An Order soldier stood behind him, his assault rifle trained on Hades’ back.

  I ducked behind the workstation once more and focused on taking slow, even breaths. I needed to keep calm, to act, not react. One wrong move, and Hades could be riddled with bullet holes.

  After one last long, slow deep breath, I peeked around the other side of the workstation and studied Raiden on the opposite side of the dais. He was gagged and sitting in something that looked an awful lot like a high-tech electric chair, his arms, shoulders, and head held immobile by steel restraints. My view of the lower half of his body was blocked by another workstation, but I assumed the rest of him was similarly restrained. And like Hades, Raiden was being held at gunpoint.

  The sight made my blood boil, and I gritted my teeth, ducking back behind the workstation. I could move from workstation to workstation until I was close enough to incapacitate Raiden’s guard, then use his weapon to take out the guard on Hades, if Hades wasn’t able to overwhelm the guard himself. It was far from a sure thing. It would either work, or some or all of us would die. But I had to try.

  Before I could scuttle to the next workstation, the door panel to the hallway slid open, and Henry strode into the lab, flanked by six more Order soldiers. He stopped two steps into the lab and let his guards glide in past him.

  All six immediately trained their weapons on me.

  26

  “We must stop meeting this way, ancient one,” Henry said, clasping his hand behind his back, clearly pleased by discovering me here.