by Alex Leopold
That couldn’t be it. “Even with three dead we still have more than enough to hunt down the Great Inventor and his family. They would’ve understood that. They eliminated our broadcaster for a purpose.”
“I don’t care, I want to know how this happened?” Hangman replied bitterly as he examined the burns covering much of his right side, including his face.
“The Watcher told us she saw a vision of us leading prisoners into Harvardtown tomorrow or the day after. How can that happen now?”
An answer pushed itself into Control’s mind. It seemed wildly improbable but as he focused on it everything started to fit into place.
“Are you sure the fugitives headed east?” He barked at Khnum.
“I am.” The Sekhem responded his eyes still locked on the spot in the forest where Mayat had escaped into.
“There’s nothing for them east.” An annoyed Hangman replied.
“Harvardtown is there.”
The Hangman looked at him blankly.
“What if the Watcher wasn’t wrong?” Control grunted as he dragged his drugged body up onto his feet. “What if a predictor did see Myrmidons entering Harvardtown. Except, it wasn’t us. It was them.”
“What are you talking about?” The Hangman asked. He was panting heavily in order to keep up with his leader.
“We underestimated the Great Inventor.” Control said forcing his legs to move faster. “He knew from the start our predictors would be watching this area and would supply us with their future visions. He knew it was an asset we trusted without question, and he used that against us.”
“So, why kill our broadcaster?” Drill, his skin-reader asked.
There was only one logical reason.
“Cause with her dead, we have no way of contacting Harvardtown. We can’t warn them the Great Inventor plans to enter the city disguised as a Myrmidon, and use the gateway to escape.”
They staggered back through the forest to where their horses were tied. Running like a drunk, Hangman lost his footing in the darkness and tumbled to the ground.
“This is madness!” He grunted smacking his palm into the dirt. “We shouldn’t go anywhere until we’ve recovered.”
All the Myrmidons had been doped by sting before, but they’d never been stung like this. This doping was so extreme Control wouldn’t be surprised if some of his men died from it.
The Hangman would’ve stayed lying in the dirt if it weren’t for the cold barrel of Control’s pistol that slid down the side of his face and pressed itself against his cheek.
“If you stay, you stay for good.”
Control pulled back the pistol’s cocking handle.
“Even if you’re right, how are they going to get passed our psychic army?” Hangman argued as he pulled himself up.
“It’s the psychic army who are going to get them into the city.” Control pointed out.
“And where will they portal to? All the gateways are under our control.”
“And they’ll need Myrmidon masks to get passed the checkpoints as well.” Drill added more calmly. “Ones that can be authenticated.”
“I don’t have those answers for you.” Control looked down at his own mask. The plate had shattered during his fall and was now useless.
“But I’m certain the Great Inventor does.” He said tossing the mask away and forcing his legs to keep moving.
If this night had proven anything it was that this was a man of infinite resources. A man who could build a device like the one they’d found in the house and who could set in motion a plan that killed three Myrmidons would have a solution to these issues. Of that Control was sure.
50
It had been wrapped tightly in several yards of cloth and took Riley some time to unravel. When she was finished she took a quiet moment to admire the smooth reflective mask staring back at her.
“Try it on.” Her father prompted.
“I will. I just need a minute.” She replied as she ran a hand over the glass surface.
The last time this mask had been worn, her mother had died. That was a lot for Riley to process.
“These belonged to the Myrmidons who were holding you captive, correct? The one’s we saw Acadia kill in your memory?” Cooper asked as she fitted her own mask over her face.
“That’s right.”
“Why’d you take them?”
“I thought I might need them to escape Sancisco that night. I never thought I’d need them to break back into a Directory city.”
Riley put on her own mask. Though completely reflective on one side it was no different than looking through a plate of glass on the other.
“How do I look?” She asked Acadia.
“Like a Myrmidon.” He replied sincerely.
“Not a very tall one, of course.” He teased as he ran a hand from the top of her head to barely the middle of his chest.
“Don’t listen to him, Miss Riley. I see you coming at me dressed like that, with a spark in your hand, I won’t need anymore convincing.”
“Thanks, Red.” She said and in response to the Houndsman’s compliment she tried to grow the electric flame in her hand.
“I’ll work on that.” She conceded after it sputtered a few times before forming.
“Well, you’ve got the time, cause we’re stuck here for another ten hours.” The grizzly grumbled then addressed their father.
“You sure we can’t leave sooner?”
He shook his head. “The Myrmidons are at the ranch. Even riding hard it’ll take them a day to reach Harvardtown. The Watcher would know that, and would not expect anyone to return to the city until sunset tomorrow. If we enter any earlier, we’ll risk raising her suspicions.”
“Okay, but we have to assume the Myrmidons will have figured we plan to use the Harvardtown gateway to escape. They’ll be coming back to the city. If we wait until sunset tomorrow they won’t be more than a few hours behind us.”
“One hour, by my calculations.” He agreed.
“One hour? That’s crazy tight, Quill!” A stunned Acadia responded.
Then seeing the incredulous look on their father’s face and realizing how his comment might overly concern the twins, he corrected himself.
“But I’m excited about the opportunity to wave at those blank-faced bastards as we portal away.”
“Don’t worry.” Riley tried to ease his concerns. “Remember what I told you. I saw a vision of us inside the gateway. I️ saw us bathed in the accumulator’s blue light before we portal down to Hellanta. We’re going to make it.”
This one vision possessed Riley with such limitless confidence that no level of doubt could ever diminish it. Every time she focused on them in the gateway, she felt the pull of it, as if it were dragging her to her destiny.
By sunset tomorrow, they’d have made good their escape, she was certain. And Varick would finally be by her side.
All she needed to do now was ensure the future happened how the last prophecy intended it.
“Are you sure this plan works with only Cooper and me disguised as Myrmidons?” She then asked her father. “You have three masks. Why not use them all?”
He explained.
“If Nakano is right, the Watcher’s predictors will see everything in advance of it actually happening at Harvadtown.
“Already they’ll have hazy visions of things to come tomorrow. But within two hours of our arrival they’ll know everything we do with crystal clarity.” He explained.
“When that happens I want the Watcher to be focused on what the Myrmidons have returned with, and not on anything else.”
“What will the Watcher see the Myrmidons returning with?” Riley asked.
“Nakano.” He replied. “And my dead body.”
“And what don’t we want her focusing on?” Cooper asked.
“That there are only two Myrmidons.” Their father began.
“And that the other two prisoners are me and this dummy.” Acadia added, and smacked the back of Redtail’s
head for effect.
“What’s wrong with Myrmidons taking us prisoner?”
“They’d never do it. More likely they’d kill us first.”
“In that case, maybe I should wear the third mask?” Redtail suggested.
“Here.” Acadia tossed it to him. “Try it on for size.”
“A little tight.” Redtail gritted as failed to fit it over his long ears and snout-like mouth. Then he gave a defeated look to the others.
Cooper watched this farce play out from behind her mask so Riley couldn’t see the incredulous look on her face. But she heard it in her voice.
“How sure are we the Watcher will believe this deception?”
Their father let Nakano answer. She spoke slowly, taking deep gasping breaths between every couple of words
“I served the Watcher for fifteen years. Trust me, she places her full confidence in the abilities of the Myrmidons and her army of psychics. She’ll have no reason to question what is happening.”
“The trick is not to do anything that might give her a moments doubt.” Their father added. “Which means you have to play your part and act like you’re one of the most feared killers in the nation.”
“Right”, replied a concerned Cooper. “How do I do that?”
“Just be like Mayat on one of her more pleasant days.” Acadia suggested with a knowing wink.
“Like this?” Riley asked straightening her back, and coiling every muscle in her body so she looked like the human form of a weapon, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
“Chills!” Redtail shivered enthusiastically.
“That’s perfect.” Their father agreed. “Especially when you’re giving the order. Speaking of which, have you decided which one of you is going to give it?”
“She is!” Cooper quickly pointed at Riley.
“Age before beauty.” She added through the tap.
Behind her mask, Riley rolled her eyes at her sister before answering her father.
“When we get to the first checkpoint, I’m to send an order to the sheriff to suspend the city’s snoopers and broadcasters.”
“And why?” He pressed. “It’s important.”
“Because we suspect rebels loyal to the Great Inventor are operating in one of those departments. And we don’t want them to learn of who we’ve taken prisoner, and try to stop us.”
“If you say it aloud, the Watcher will hear it from her predictors, and will expect it to happen.” Nakano reminder her.
Her father turned serious.
“This whole plan relies on there being no active broadcasters in Harvardtown. As much as two hours before we portal down to Hellanta, the Watcher’s predictors will learn they’ve been duped. If she’s able to communicate with the city, they’ll alert their forces and we’re cooked.”
“No pressure..” Cooper nudged Riley and let out a nervous chuckle.
“None at all.” She practically gulped and felt the strength of her confidence momentarily waver as her heart started to beat rapidly.
She calmed herself with a long, drawn-out breath as she lost herself in the vision of herself in the gateway chamber with Varick, and the promise he’ll make to her.
“Wherever you go, that’s where I’ll be.”
It’s going to work, she told herself. As far as the future is concerned, it already has.
“The predictors won’t see the actual moment the Myrmidons capture Nakano and kill you.” Acadia pointed out. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“When Quill and I are seen entering the city, the Watcher will assume it was missed.” Nakano argued. “The Borderlands are a big place with lots of caves like this to hide in. It’s more than possible the event was hidden from them.”
“Remember, the Watcher doesn’t know about the accumulator.” Their father said. “As far as she is concerned all the gateways are controlled by the Directory. For her, there’d be no logical reason for anyone to attempt what we’re about to do.”
“But with the accumulator we’ll be able to portal all the way down to Hellanta, correct?” Cooper asked.
“It’s what I️ originally designed them to do.”
“But you’ve never actually done it before?”
“No, but the theory is sound.”
“Well, if you’re wrong, I probably won’t be around long enough to say ‘I told you so’.” Acadia grumbled.
“This plan will work.” Riley argued. “Even if we didn’t know the future, it’s still the best plan we have.”
“It’s the only one we have.” Cooper reminded her.
“A minor detail.” Redtail chuckled.
“There’s still time to come up with another one if we want to?” Their father offered.
“Nah, I’m already dressed for the party.” Cooper slipped the black hood over her mask. “Hate to have to change.”
They chuckled and for once Riley was grateful for her sister’s quick wit.
“Without another gateway on the other side how will our portaller know where to send us?” Acadia asked.
“I’ll direct him through the connection. I’ll use the energy in the accumulator to see where his portal is taking us. When we get to Hellanta, I’ll land the portal and we’ll go through.”
“Hellanta is a big place, you don’t want to just send us anywhere do you?”
“As long as it’s in Hellanta, I don’t care.”
“Malthus.” Nakano gave a tired sigh. “You will bring us to Malthus.”
Her father and the ursinian looked at her carefully and Riley was reminded of what Acadia had said the other day about Malthus. “It could be a trap.”
“What makes you think that?” Her father asked.
“When I close my eyes I see him all the time now.” She said slowly. “I feel fate pulling you to him.”
Her father judged her for a second, then shrugged. “As long as he’s in Hellanta then I don’t care.
“Now, what can you tell me about the building which houses the gateway?” He asked Nakano changing subject. “How well is it guarded.”
She did not answer.
“What’s the matter?” Riley asked her.
Nakano was covering her lower face with a cloth and when Riley’s father removed it they gasped at the level of blood seeping from her nose.
“I’m sorry.” She mustered before collapsing to the floor.
51
Time seemed to slow and all they could do was watch Nakano’s body shake and wrestle itself in his arms. When the seizures grew more extreme, he pressed his fingers against her temples and used his abilities to try and calm her mind. It seemed to help, and eventually the storm passed, but it would be more than a dozen minutes before she finally returned to them.
“I saw you both in a vision.” She began dreamily after opening her eyes and looking at the twins. “You were running down a street in Sancisco. It was morning, and I could see the sun reflecting off the dome of the Great Hall far behind you.”
Weakly she reached out and pointed a finger at Cooper. “You’d grown your hair out. It was so long, I could barely tell the two of you apart.”
“Why were we there?” Asked Cooper, taking Nakano’s hand in her own.
“You were helping two people escape the city. They had information for you on Valaris and the Immortal Warrior.
“You were there too, Quill.” She smiled warmly up at him from where she lay in his lap. “You were waiting for them in another part of the city. You helped them get away.”
“Who’s Valaris?” Asked Riley.
“I don’t know, he’s someone important to Malthus.” Nakano sighed with frustrated amusement; an acknowledgement that her visions always raised more questions than they answered.
“But don’t you see?” She shook Cooper’s hand excitedly. “The vision I saw, your future. It means you’re going to make it through the portal tomorrow. You’re going to get out of this alive.”
“We are all going to get out of this alive.” Quill correct
ed her and looked to his daughters to ensure there was no lingering doubt.
They nodded their agreement.
“Let’s try to get some sleep.” He announced. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
As he watched his daughters leave, Quill fought the urge to tell them he’d made himself a promise. When this was all over, he was going to make time for them so they could get to know each other the way they were always supposed to. Reset, and talk of things he’d kept secret for too long.
He could feel the words trying to escape from his throat, but before they did he swallowed them back down. He needed his daughters focused and this would only serve as a distraction.
“What do you have planned for me?” Nakano asked with a self-deprecating smile when they were alone. “If you don’t fully believe in the prophecy, why keep me alive?”
“You give my daughters hope, I need that right now.” He handed her a tonic from his satchel. It would help her recover.
“Then can I ask you to keep me alive long enough to get what’s in my head to the resistance?”
He looked at her frankly. “I️ don’t think you have more than another day to live.”
“One day is enough. By tomorrow, we’ll be in Hellanta, and the Pathfinder will be with the rebels. At that moment, you will believe in the prophecy and I️ can die happy.”
“And if that’s not what happens?”
She gave him a deprecating smile. “I’ll be dead anyway, and it won’t matter.”
He had to give her that. “Okay, that sounds like a good deal. And so I can help keep it, let me try and fix some of the damage in your mind. Buy you the time you need.”
She gave him a relieved smile as he placed his fingers around her skull.
“I wouldn't go routing around while you're in there.” She said as she closed her eyes. “I don't think you'll like what you find.”
Nakano had been right. Her mind was broken.
The trauma she’d inflicted on herself when she’d transferred the last prophecy into her brain had wreaked havoc over every part of it. He’d used his abilities in the past to help fix soldiers wounded in battle. Yet, that was to reset broken bones and close wounds, this damage was so extensive he couldn't fathom where to begin.