by Tim Kaiver
He scanned the trees and bushes, but figured a hidden mara could avoid detection. They needed to get moving. He pressed a discharge button on his rifle to fill the vesparan up to 100%. This was his first drain from the top of the five cans stored in the slide along the rifle's barrel.
Ehli appeared at the top of the ladder.
He reached down and took her hand, thinking to share the texts he'd read. As their hands met, his vision spliced, much like two cameras on a heads-up display. The new view showed someone swiping at tree branches and charging through bushes as though being chased. The other showed his present, as Ehli calmly used his strength to pull herself out of the hole. She stood before him and relaxed her grip in his palm. He clenched to keep her hand in his.
The person running through the jungle cut left around a tree and headed down the top of a ravine.
She looked him in the eye. "What?"
He tried to project the view, focusing his gaze on hers as though doing so could strengthen their connection.
"I see it," she said.
Cullen's head hurt from the strain. He rubbed at the pits of his eyes while keeping her hand in his. The green terrain passing by in his mind's eye looked similar enough to what was around them, and the elevation could be part of the rising slope to his left—the direction his compass indicated for both the next transmitter and Fel Or'an.
"I can't read your thoughts." Ehli stepped in front of him and put her other hand on his cheek. "It's too jumbled. Part of it is Veltuk, some phrases, and—" She closed her eyes. "—someone running down a hill?"
The figure dodged branches with as much grace as it had strength in breaking through bushes. Cullen detected a growing urge to hurt whatever the figure was hunting. His pulse rose as the adrenaline made it hard to keep still.
Ehli opened her eyes. "They're coming? Where?" She followed his gaze up the ravine as he tried to match the pattern of trees from a different angle. The effort made him dizzy, and after a few seconds he had to close his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Emmit asked from behind him.
"Do you need to hold my hand?" Adi asked.
"Yeah."
The vision cut out. He tore his hand free from Ehli's grip and stumbled away, falling to a knee in the soft earth.
Even with the absence of that second viewpoint, the intent lingered. It wanted to kill. Made him want to kill as well. No. Why? The desire overpowered reason as he found less ability to resist. With the last fragment of discernment before full-bore rage, he knew he had to leave.
He bolted from the group. They called for him to stop, but his plan remained the only sound thought he had left. All he could do was hope to put enough distance between them and himself before the rage was too strong to hold down.
21
Rage surged like an electric charge up Ehli's arm. Cullen tore his hand from her grasp. He didn't look back as he sprinted away.
"Where are you going?" she shouted.
She cast out a telepathic line that sank and faded. Cullen disappeared at full speed into the trees without a second glance. Is this thing still on? she asked the Cipher, fearing her powers were short-lived or ineffective.
Telepath link failed.
Thanks, Cipher. Help a girl out. She turned off the notifications for failed links.
"Ehli?"
Willo's voice made her jump. She spun, expecting Willo to be standing behind her. She wasn't. Of course. I can't handle this…she thought as she scanned the trees beyond the swamp for Willo.
"You need to run," Willo pathed. "I'm sorry. They used me to find you. Find cover or prepare to fight."
About two hundred meters away, along the rise of the ravine, something shook the bushes. A dark shape emerged. She thought it was an animal, but then its height increased and she saw it was bipedal. She watched as it leaped over a fallen tree. The speed and dexterity of its approach was breathtaking until she realized it was headed straight for her.
Suddenly, Cullen's sudden exit made sense. He'd long since disappeared. Why didn't he warn us?
"Run, boys," Ehli shouted as she took off in the direction Cullen had taken. Why didn't he take us with him? Who are we supposed to fight? Why?
"Your husband's former experiments. Unlovingly called rejects. Their minds snapped under the accelerated testing. I've tried to contain them so you could get to Fel Or'an, but I wasn’t able to hold them long enough. I'm sorry."
To her relief, Emmit and Adi were at her heels as she entered the jungle. She unsheathed her blade and swiped at the vines and prickers.
Ahead, closer to the swamp, the trees thinned out. As she looked over it, she realized there was enough dry land to cross it. If they could reach it. The path to it was blocked by bright green vines and white thorns.
"Mom," Emmit said, concern in his voice. "Something's not right."
That much was obvious, but his tone suggested more.
"Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"We're being hunted."
"I know." The encroaching presence closed in, much like the clouds above: imminent and ominous. "I think we'll have to fight."
"How?" Emmit asked.
"There's Captain Re," Adi cried, pointing off to their left.
Cullen had taken the long way around the swamp. His speed and posture indicated ease of movement.
"Let's go." Ehli took her machete out and sliced through a barbed vine.
"Mom?"
She turned as he pressed his machete into a tangle of vines. "Yeah?"
"What did you mean by fight?"
Ehli tightened her grip on her machete. "Use these until we can't."
"And then?"
Ehli projected her memory of holding her hand over the ants and how they stood still, then scattered at her will.
"These are much stronger than ants, Mom."
You said you moved Adi to your cell. Do something like that, except stronger.
***
Emmit thought back to how his dad had told him to try to imagine himself in the boy's mind.
A white flash blinded him. The air had cooled. Boom! A fist of thunder punched him in the chest. He lost Adi's hand and flew backwards. His link with his mom disappeared. A violent fissure severed a nearby tree's trunk up to three branches high. He sensed danger greater than lightning, but couldn't track its source. Whatever was out there, it was coming quickly, and was more than he and his mom could handle.
He swiped his machete through the vines that remained following his mother's clearing efforts. He took another step, and the forest eased up enough for him to stand at full height. Heavy rain pelted fat plants buried in the dirt, and tapped his water-resistant clothes. The cool drops felt good as they soaked through his hair to his scalp.
His mom flicked a thorn from her palm and watched the rain wash off a spot of blood.
Emmit scanned the jungle. What he could see of the rising terrain was full of trees and thick vegetation. Emmit could sense their enemies descending in a wide swath, but saw none. The rise to the northeast contained more... or stronger?… threats.
Adi came up behind him. "Do you see anything?"
"This way." Emmit's mom waved them toward the west, where Cullen had gone. "Let's go. Faster now."
She picked up the pace, and Emmit and Adi followed.
As they ran, Emmit considered how he'd connected with Adi. First, he'd pictured Adi's distinguishing features—which doesn't help if I haven't seen these things—then empathized with Adi's state of mind—again, never met these things... Are they people?
As he dodged trees, he knew what his final option was. He didn't like it. Speak to their minds. Just the thought of doing it felt like opening his mouth over a wasp's nest. Yet, it was all he had. He wasn't going to be able to overpower them physically.
"Just pretend they're a scared, lost friend."
What do you want?
The thought bounced back as though slapped. His temples tensed. He kept running. Their resistance made him try harder. I didn'
t come here to let anyone hurt me, my family, or my friends. If that's your plan, you will fail. His confidence surprised him. He wondered if the Cipher's quest was pushing him forward like an ambassador with authority.
Why are you coming for us? he asked. At his question, the resistance lessened. A point of weakness? He pushed harder. Is there anything we can do for you?
The question eased the pressure on his temples further. Whatever was coming was interested in this line of thought. That's right. Let me in so I can help. We can be allies. We had no idea this planet existed, nor what was going on with the inhabitants. If there's something you're upset about, we want to help.
Emmit's footsteps pounded up into his head, and the pain becoming harder to ignore. His mom had picked up a lead, with Adi between them. His mental grip loosened, much to his brain's relief. He stopped and leaned against a tree, placing a hand on the smooth bark as rain coursed beneath his fingers. Adi turned, saw he'd stopped, and doubled back.
"Em," Adi whispered. He was soaked, water running through his short hair and down his face. "What's wrong?"
Beyond Adi, his mother stopped and looked back. "What're you doing?" she 'pathed. "Come on."
I... My head hurts, he thought back.
His mom glanced around, then headed back to Emmit. He wanted to keep jogging, but each step was like a nail being driven through both sides of his cranium. Maybe I need a drink. He took out a bag with liquid inside, unscrewed the cap and took a sip of sweet... mango?
He shared it with Adi.
"We have to power through," his mom said as she came up behind Adi. "We're running out of room to avoid a fight."
"Maybe we shouldn't have that frame of mind," Emmit said. "Maybe they don't want to fight." Emmit accepted his drink back, took another sip, then tightened the cap and stuffed it in his pack. "I made progress with getting into their minds."
"Willo said to hide or fight," his mom said. He read her memory of Willo's words, how the people hunting them had used Willo to find them. "I don't want you trying to speak to them."
He started reaching into her memory to pull out who Willo was, but only grabbed confused pieces of some strange lady helping them. Emmit didn't like his mother's lack of faith in him, or her concern that she'd have to handle this by herself. Adi's scared face distracted him.
He set his hand on his friend's wet neck. Adi's worry about not getting to see his dad inserted itself into Emmit's mind without invitation. He tried to push it out to keep it from stealing his focus. "It's okay, Adi. Aligning with whomever is coming doesn't mean you can't see him. We need information, and they might be able to help us."
"Emmit." His mom started for him.
Emmit pulled Adi into a path that put thick bushes between them.
"Emmit, don't you dare."
A bush taller than his mother hid her behind its dark purple and red leaves. The dread he and Adi shared bit back. Emmit fought against it until he'd boxed it in a safe corner while he reached back out to the...
"They call themselves 'rejects.'" The woman's words came with a silent introduction that she was Willo. Her warning got his full attention.
I know. My dad told me.
"Then you should know they're not the ones to get answers from. All they want is to release their mental demons. If you stay, it must be to fight. They'll infect your mind and take you away from your mother and friend for good."
Emmit didn't want to believe her, but the prospect terrified him. The presence of hiding places behind trees and bushes scraped like a claw over gooseflesh. Maybe it was foolish to pretend that claw was meant for anything other than harm. How do I fight?
"Push them away. They're a swung fist. You either dodge or deflect. If you can, once they're off balance, then you strike or run."
Thirty meters away, a tuft of hair passed behind the blades of a young tree, only to hide behind a thicker one.
"If you've seen one, now is your chance. They rarely make that mistake."
An uneasy need to sprint filled his thoughts.
Adi broke off at a run, and snapped a stick on his first step. Emmit's nervous fear lessened, as though the claw had been pulled back, but their cover was lost. His best course was to follow.
His mom started to turn away, but stopped, staring behind him. Her machete-wielding hand rose, and she took a determined step forward.
Emmit was torn between running and turning to see the threat. As he neared his mother, his inclination was to stay beside her and fight. Too long had they been victims behind bars. The power he'd felt in the last few hours was too tantalizing to ignore. "Adi, stop!" He put volume and telepathic power into his shout, daring anyone to track his voice and enter the fight—if it would be a fight.
Adi slowed abruptly, quick, uneven steps that would have sent him tumbling had he not found a tree to catch himself on. He turned as Emmit ran for him. "We're not running."
"No!" his mom yelled behind him.
A shrill shriek rose from the bush beside him. Emmit spun. A woman with dirt and dried blood smeared from nose to throat leapt out, eyes wide and mouth open. He adjusted his feet to brace for impact. His ankle twisted in the mud, making his knee buckle beneath him. Desperate, he swung his machete as he fell back.
The blade struck the hard casing of her sleeve and the machete jolted out of his hand. As she landed, she struck him in the chest with her other elbow, knocking him over. His breath left his lungs.
An aroma of feces and old sweat clung to her. He gagged. Her wild hair fell over his face, blinding him as she sucked in air. This was it. The energy emitted from her mind indicated a final strike.
You will not! Even though he couldn't breathe, he still fought. She paused beneath his mental assault. He grabbed a handful of her greasy hair. His grip slipped as he yanked upward, and she drove her head forward. His nose exploded in pain. His head spun and splatted in mud.
Adi shouted somewhere off to his right.
A hand gripped Emmit's throat and pinched his airway shut. He tried to focus on the woman, but his tear-filled eyes let him see only a vague shape. Her weight and thick frame were too much to heave off, and his vision swam from the lack of oxygen.
You picked the wrong kid to tackle, he 'pathed.
The hoped-for effect fell flat as her grip tightened enough to make him whelp out a precious store of oxygen.
"I've crapped tougher squirts than you," she 'pathed back. "Let me in and I'll show you true power?"
Her words bludgeoned through his meagre defenses, and his mind filled with visions of death. A tree branch collided with a face and the man's eyeball bloated... a machete impaled a boy not much older than himself... a girl drowned in a river....
Emmit fought back, straining to block her before she convinced him he'd never escape. Her cackle echoed off the walls of his mind, as though to remind him that in his new imprisonment, her taunting would last as long as the assault of images.
The grip on his throat eased just enough to let in air to keep him alive, but her weight remained and he was too weak. He thought of his dad, and wondered how he could let this happen if he loved him—as he claimed.
The images ceased. "Your dad is going to relive your death a thousand times after I'm done with you."
Her elbow pressed on the pocket where Dy was hiding, but he couldn't afford the mental reach to see if he was okay.
The reject's anger became sick glee.
You think it's funny that I've succeeded where you failed? You're jealous—weak, incapable of what I've made real.
Before she could recover, he forced his confidence down her mental throat, pinching hers as she had his, and tapped into every second of rage bottled away during his years in prison. Her weight eased, then fell off.
The glee became his as he freed a leg enough to kick her onto her back. He opened his pocket and checked. Dy's eyelids opened as he looked up to find Emmit. Sorry, Dy. He stroked his little gecko's head and closed the pocket. His eyes stung from sweat, but with muddy
hands, he had to use his sleeve to wipe them clear.
The reject twisted her head to glare at him.
His mental grip clenched her throat and kept her down. The word "Cherl" entered his mind. Her name. Hi Cherl. I'm the son of war you didn't see coming. I won't kill you if you and your group of failures want to join us.
He didn't think he could kill her, but it sounded threatening enough.
"Emmit!"
Emmit spun. Adi rolled away from a teenage boy who scrambled to catch Adi and yank him back.
No! Emmit threw a mental jab at the teenager’s sternum. The boy bent under the blow and grabbed his chest right where Emmit had imagined himself striking. After a split second of amazement, Emmit threw another punch, this one into the boy's gut, into his face... Emmit stepped closer with each attack.
A jolt hit Emmit in the back, throwing him face first into the mud. A weight pinned him down, preventing his face from escaping the mud.
I didn't say you could get up! he told Cherl.
She released him with a shocked cry. He swung his elbow into her ribs as he opened his mouth to suck in a breath. Extending his hand, he grabbed the side of her head and slammed it into the mud as he twisted out from under her and reversed their positions. As he held her head, he channeled his conduit-focused pathing and telescoping skills with the Charm he'd learned when he rode Sprinkles down the quarry. Everyone stop! His mental shout was aimed at every mind focused on harming himself, his mother, and Adi.
Adi rose and lifted a foot to stomp on the teenager lying on his back.
"Adi!"
His friend stopped, knee bent above his waist, and looked at Emmit, curious.
"Wait." Emmit turned to locate his mother. She wasn't where she'd been. He stepped around the path of a tree that blocked his sight. His mom was nowhere near the path they'd taken. "Mom?"
Mom?
Stepping away from Cherl, his reach diminished. He still held the rejects within a fifty-meter range, but his mom's connection had slipped away. His head throbbed as those he held captive tried to resist.