by Tim Kaiver
Ehli squeezed another mouthful of the orange juice with a hint of lemon, which cooled as it filled in her mouth and washed smoothly down her throat. "I could've grown used to these on Setuk. Our vitamins were mixed in with our water and didn't taste anything like fruit. Nor was it ever cold."
Cullen twisted the cap back on his and offered it to her. "Here, have mine. I've had plenty, and—"
"Oh no. You keep it. I'll be fine. Thank you."
Cullen didn't retract his offer. "I know I will be, but I'm still not taking it back. Please. I'm the one who's been pampered on a ship docked at a port with anything I could order. Nor was I recently bitten by a snake."
Ehli rolled her eyes at his cheeky smile and accepted his drink. She set it down by her pack and lifted her container, cap off. "Where'd you grow up?"
"In the city."
"But where? What did it look like? I've never seen a city. Pastures and mountains are where I grew up and began a family."
A world of shining buildings reflecting the sun opened in Ehli's mind. Flying cars flowed around them like streams through interweaving channels. Their speed and motion seemed impossible to control, and yet they danced without crashing.
"Wow."
Cullen chuckled.
"What?" Ehli asked.
"If you expect to find a girl who'll just read your mind without you needing to tell her how you feel, you're gonna be waiting a long time," Cullen thought.
"You have to wait long?" Ehli asked, and winked.
"You heard that." Not a question. An admission. He shook his head, smiling. "Torek told me that. If he'd added, 'and she'll be married,' then that really would have been prophetic."
That dampened the mood, but she fought against it because being married and what that meant was too much for her in that moment. She wanted to see more of Vijil. "What was your family life like? I haven't heard anything about your mother."
A woman with lovely blonde hair tucked in tight weaves on top and hanging free to her shoulders appeared, stood on the other side of a wall of bars. Her blue eyes, rimmed with red and brimming with the gloss of tears, pierced hers as she gripped the bars and looked between them. The point of view rose as hands—Ehli looked down to match them to Cullen's—cupped over the woman's. His mother, she realized. The beautiful woman wept and rested her head in defeat against the bars.
Ehli forced her mind free of that memory, closed her eyes and pushed away. "I'm sorry. That's not the image I meant to evoke."
"It's okay." Cullen touched her shoulder. "I embrace that moment because it is the epitome of all my mother's love for me. It hurts to lose, but I've seen plenty since then who've never known such love. She blessed me for as long as I'll live with that memory. Sure, it came with sadness, and there are times when it hurts still, but I can't believe she'd want me to take that memory as a source of pain to live with. As confused and angry as I was at my father for letting the council take me away, I at least knew that my mother had tried everything. That moment, in her sobs, she told me everything I needed from her—that she loved me, and that she gave everything to stop what she inevitably couldn't."
"And now you're here and you learn your dad had a plan, and you might get home after all. How does that change how you feel?"
"It makes me wonder if Mom knew." He chuckled. "And if she killed my dad when she found out."
"I might have," Ehli said, laughing.
"You might have. Because you're a great mother."
Ehli smiled. "You could tell that because I let someone I met in prison turn me and my son into telepaths, and then lose him in a jungle?"
"Or lose your son to exile," Cullen chimed in. "Situations outside of her control don't make her a bad mother. I know that her love and efforts were often all she had to give. And I know the same goes for you and your son."
At the thought of losing her son to exile, a swell of weakness embraced by love left her unable to speak and fighting back tears. She looked Cullen in the eye and saw a man wiser than his youth. It took her back for a moment, seeing him as more than a ship's captain who was probably more arrogant than he deserved to be, as an equal. "It's good to have you on our side." A stubborn tear loosed from her eye. She cut it off at her cheek with a knuckle and laughed. "Sorry, what you said about your mother—she'd be so proud to hear that. It made me think of losing Emmit like that."
"You won't if I have anything to say about it. And I will."
Ehli took a breath. "Thanks." She took a drink of her juice and finished it off, then watched Cullen smile as she took his.
"That's right. Enjoy." He turned around and checked the passageway leading into the tunnel. "Can you feel him coming?"
She couldn't. At least, the idea that he was probably coming wasn't the same sense as she'd get by telepathically connecting, was it? "I don't know. I don't think so."
"I'm sure he's close. Schaefer hasn't said anything more to you, has he?"
She shook her head and finished lifting the juice to her mouth. The citrus wash fizzed over her tongue, leaving a wave of sour aftertaste.
He was thinking of their holding hands. With the juice container blocking her view of his face, she hid her smile at his bashfulness, at how he knew what he should say but was holding it in. Poor guy. Didn't wake up thinking you were going to fall for a telepath, that's for sure. The further classification of a married telepath added guilt to the thought.
She lowered the empty juice container and cuffed off a sliver left on her chin. He pretended to look in his bag for something she knew he had no intention of finding; he just didn't want to look her in the eye, and a slight wall of muffled thought indicated resistance to her reading his mind. Except, in his case, he also liked it. He just didn't know how to react to, or hide from, it.
"Let's try," she said, and grabbed his hand. As soon as their skin touched, she knew Emmit was less than fifty meters away, jogging, with Adi right behind him. The sudden awareness hit like an angry headache. She snatched her hand back from Cullen. "Ow."
Cullen rose to help.
Ehli waved him off. A notification had entered her mind.
Skill: Conduit-focused pathing reached Level 1. 10% boost to pathing target when touching a willing conduit.
+5 XP to Ehli.
"I'm okay." The headache throbbed, but its sharpness faded. She stood and brushed the dirt off her butt and pants. Why did that hurt?
"What happened?" Cullen asked.
"Mom? Are you okay?"
Emmit's voice drowned out something Cullen said. She saw his lips move, but only Emmit's voice made it to her ears—better, his voice was the only sound in the vast cavern that was her head.
I'm not sure, hon. Please, just wait until you arrive. Then we'll talk.
20
Why doesn't she want me to talk to her? Emmit thought. Did I hurt her? Prior to her linking with his mind, he'd followed a map from his dad. Now he knew exactly where she was—as though her location was the distance between a hand and foot. He cut a fast corner in the narrow corridor. "Hustle up, Adi."
He found his mom sharing a look with Cullen, standing close enough to awaken jealousy for his dad.
His mom saw him and ran to greet him in a strong hug that almost made him fall backwards.
"What's happening, Mom?" He wanted to add, "Are you okay?" but the first question needed priority.
She pulled back and her eyes rolled. "I don't know. I'm sorry. I... Somewhere, I should have done something differently. I must have seen the signs. I should have taken you away."
"What are you talking about?" Emmit asked. "Is there something wrong with me using telepathy with you? I felt it hurt you a minute ago."
She kissed his forehead and rose to her full height. "Hi, Adi. Come here." She gave him a hug.
Cullen watched, reminding Emmit of how Jonas's stepfather used to look at him and Jonas when they came in from playing. He read anxiety about how he fitted in with their lives.
Mom said not to talk to her, but didn
't say anything about him, he thought to himself. He probed Cullen's mind.
No words. Only a sense of empathy for his mom, Adi, and himself.
+5 XP – successful telepathy practice.
Cullen immediately bent over, clutching his head. "Agh."
Emmit let go, taking a stomach-full of guilt for his misdirected anger. Cullen was willing to sacrifice himself for the three of them. Why, Emmit didn't know.
His mom glanced at Emmit as she started back toward Cullen. He didn't need telepathy to know she judged him responsible.
Cullen let go of his head, but remained hunched on his knees as he caught his breath.
"I'm sorry," Emmit said, and started toward them.
His mom looked back. "What did you do?"
Suddenly it was her and Cullen against him. How did that happen? He considered the value of truth in this moment, or if it should wait.
She took Cullen's hand and a spike of sun, energy, or light, opened in his mind, so forceful he had no chance of stopping it. "I asked you a question."
I.... There was no hiding thought from thought when they both held equal rights to the territory of his mind. In a flash, he recapped the memories, from finding the moss-covered entrance to his invasion of Cullen's mind.
And then the light left, leaving his head feeling smaller, heavier, and aching from the strain of being stretched beyond normal.
His mom released Cullen's hand and stood. "Cullen saved my life."
The way she said his name, something had happened between them since he saw them last, and it irritated him on his dad’s behalf—if he truly was waiting at Fel Or'an. Emmit put on his best appreciation face. "Way to go, Muscles."
"You're welcome, Emmit."
Well played, he thought, acknowledging that Cullen had taken his mom's safety seriously.
"So, are we leaving now?" Emmit asked. "Dad, or some representation of him, showed me a massacre at a village I assume is near Fel Or'an."
"Massacre?" Cullen and his mom asked.
"Yeah,” he said.
Ehli touched his back in a gesture meant to calm, but the contact spread like electric shock.
They jumped away from each other—more like fell, as Emmit couldn't stop the inertia that pushed him to land on his side. Cullen caught his mom, who shook her hand as though it were on fire. Emmit's back radiated with heat in the after-effect of her touch. "What was that, Mom?"
Conduit between telepaths – Failed.
"I guess we have our answer," his mom said, and walked over to help him.
"No." Cullen pulled her back. "I'll do it."
Emmit put out a hand to stop him. "I'm good." He slowly stood, easing tight muscles. He licked his lips when he noticed a buzz itching in his mouth. "Here I thought there might be some good to telepathic abilities."
"Try with me," Cullen stepped closer to Emmit, palm out.
"Mind explaining first?" Emmit asked.
He glanced at Adi, then back at Emmit with a silent keep-our-secret look. "When your mother and I touch...."
The words twisted against what little Emmit liked about the guy.
Cullen seemed to read that and rolled his eyes. "Relax. It's not like that. When we touch, try to reach out with your mind through me, as though I'm a boost to your power source. Adi, as soon as I touch Emmit, think of a number between one and a hundred."
"Forty-seven," came to Adi's mind right away. Emmit could have read it without the boost, or even without telepathy. He put his hand on Ehli's shoulder. Emmit tried focusing his energy through Cullen's touch.
"He thought forty-seven," Emmit said. "If I can read his thoughts already, how will this help your theory? I spoke to him before, telepathed, when I was alone in the cell, and helped him find me without any human contact."
"And we've both heard from and spoken to Willo." His mom pointed to Cullen and herself. "Without touching, but telepathing isn't as reliable as you'd think, and is less draining when using a conduit. We're all trying to figure this out."
Conduit, Emmit thought. Good word.
"It wasn't mine," his mom 'pathed. "Do what Cullen said and you should see what we mean."
"Okay," Emmit told Cullen. "Adi, think of a different—"
"Forty…" Adi thought.
"No," Emmit said, laughing. "Wait until he touches me."
"Sorry! I can't help it." Six new numbers pathed into Emmit's mind from his friend.
"Stop." Emmit laughed again. "Think of your foot."
Adi obeyed.
"Good. Now, keep thinking of your foot until he touches me." Two numbers entered through Adi's thoughts before his focus returned to his foot. Emmit shook his head. "You're killing me."
Adi chuckled. "Foot. Got it."
Cullen lowered his hand toward Emmit's shoulder. "Focus, now."
When his hand landed, Emmit heard him think, "Conduit-focused pathing extends your ability to those you're in contact with," he said without moving his lips, but as clearly as if he had spoken, "as well as enhances that ability. We don't hear either you or Schaefer unless we touch."
This time there was no electric charge. The touch was as normal as any other, aside from a little nervousness at what might happen.
"Now the test," Cullen said, again without moving his lips. He left his hand on Emmit and glanced at Adi. "Adi, can you hear us?"
Adi jerked back as if he'd seen a spider. "Yeah."
What number? Emmit 'pathed.
"Two."
Skill learned: Conduit-focused pathing.
+5 XP to Emmit.
Emmit smiled at Cullen, then his mom. She returned his joy. "Good job. Keep practicing it so you can gain levels in it."
He nodded. "Thanks," he told Cullen.
"And as suddenly as your powers have developed," Cullen said, "my suspicion is that Schaefer's over his head in this experiment. It's a good idea to use whatever help you can so that your body can adapt as gracefully as possible."
"Captain Re?" Adi asked.
"Yeah."
"When we were in... the light from the pole took us to a place where we talked to his dad."
"The net," Emmit added.
Cullen nodded, and indicated for Adi to continue.
"He showed me a... my dad flying a ship, looking for Vijil. Emmit's dad said I can talk to him if we make it to Fel Or'an."
Cullen glanced at Emmit, suspicion in his gaze, but not directed at Emmit. He checked back on Emmit's mom. "Sounds like a backup plan."
"Yeah?" his mom asked.
"Adi's leverage. It might not seem like a vital piece, but I'll bet he is."
"What do you mean?" Adi asked.
"You're just as important as the rest of us." He looked off in thought. "So many pieces, yet we're out here fighting deadly snakes and tigers that throw lightning from their tails. What kind of plan is this, Schaefer?"
"And someone's attacked his base," Emmit added. The idea of his father's plan nearing failure made him a little sympathetic that it hadn't worked out as he’d intended, that maybe it was just the efforts of a man with more passion than preparedness. He saw the Osuna as an evil that he couldn't let alone, and in his attempt to put a thorn in their side, they'd nearly crushed him and his family.
His mom started to reach out, then stopped. She wanted to touch him. "Your father wasn't always as successful in his experiments and goals as he'd hoped."
He nodded. His attention drifted to Cullen, who looked ready for whatever challenge lay before them. What would Emmit do if it came down to picking between Cullen and his father?
"I suggest we start moving," Cullen said. Then, to Emmit, "You and Adi are buds. Adi, as long as it doesn't hurt, let Emmit use your contact to strengthen his telepathy."
Adi nodded. "Yes, sir. It doesn't hurt." Adi gave Emmit a look of trepidation.
"Not yet," Adi thought. "Please be careful."
I will, Emmit 'pathed back.
***
Cullen helped Ehli with her backpack, put his own on, then led
the way up the ladder. As he walked, he remembered having silenced the notification about the text download. He pulled it up with a thought.
The download showed three items in his Cipher window:
Key #1
Key #2
Writings of Cusaugh: block one.
The keys were written in Veltuk, the language of Rucien's first generation post-transport. He translated Key #1 as: The … of the three will ride, but couldn't remember how to define the adjective modifying "of the three." Is it "nation?" Family of three? Is that referring to Ehli's family?
He also translated Key #2 as: shall shine a light that will bless.
The block of Cusaugh writings had a table of contents with outlines and headers about ultras, the Cipher and Future War. One subsection of a chapter on ultras had a title “Rejects.” As they neared the ladder, he opened it for a quick glance.
The format was Veltuk quotes with translations and commentary, similar to what his dad had assigned for him from the big library at their house.
The quote at the top of page one read: The minds of scoffers infect the minds of the unstable. They twist truth and plant lies to destroy.
The first line of commentary started: I have made the scoffers. How do I uninfect when I don't know the truth? If I don't, this verse says we could be destroyed.
Cullen reached the ladder and had to clear the Cipher text from his view. As he climbed, he mulled the words over. He too was fearful he didn't know the truth entirely. How do the minds of scoffers infect the minds of the unstable? Am I unstable?
He had a relatively clear mission, and the Cipher was still there, so his reckoned his stability was marginal. As far as being a Veltuk scholar or some kind of prince of faith in the Cipher… he was far from that. He hadn't kept up with the training he'd received, so there was a large gap between truth and what he had right then.
At the top, the sunlight had dimmed behind the gray cloud cover just visible through the cracks of the canopy. An inhale of the hot, humid air enhanced the pressure in his sinuses. The jungle was preparing for a storm.