“Then go in there and contain him!” Rhodes ordered, locking Benedict in a chokehold. Not that it would help if they had the same power as Janiya. “Take Coro.”
Carr wiped his palms on his thighs then grabbed Coro by the ankle and dragged him back to the room.
“How did you escape?” Rhodes demanded, squeezing Benedict’s neck.
The elevator door whooshed open and Parker exited, but ducked back into the lobby the moment he saw the scene.
“It’s safe, sir,” Rhodes grunted. “They’re not armed.”
“Did they get to her?” Parker asked, going to Janiya’s cell and using his palm print to open it. He’d hoped that by separating Hawk and Janiya, one would teleport to the other.
“Everything should be as you left it,” Rhodes said. He dragged Benedict back to the room with the other two men and shackled him to the wall. Benedict whimpered in fear, and Rhodes reveled in it. Carr turned green, and backed out of the room.
“Wait,” Rhodes ordered, considering forcing the man to watch. The flash of anger in the hall was a fluke. It would take more work to groom Carr into a useful soldier. For one of Solvere’s pets, he was surprisingly straight laced. “Take Hawk back to Parker,” he decided.
They already knew the man was a hybrid, and Rhodes didn’t want Hawk freeing his prisoners again. And while he had time, he was going to make sure the other two were properly punished.
Amanda’s skin itched and her ears rang. The gravity grenade explosion was one in a series of triggers that were making it harder and harder to maintain sanity. She could hear Johann screaming, and even knowing it was an auditory hallucination, she ran toward his voice.
“Wait,” Saskia hissed. There was no cover in the hall, and nowhere to go but back through the metal wall they’d just blasted.
“Why? So Rhodes can kill him?” Amanda demanded.
“Hawk’s not in there,” Saskia said.
From outside, Amanda could see Rhodes crushing Johann with a grav-device until his bones turned to dust. Then reality collided with the hallucination, Johann was dead and gone, and Coro screamed in his place. She kicked the door and it swung open. “Step away from him, Rhodes!”
Colonel Rhodes spun around, skewer raised. His lips curled into a sneer. “There’s your brown-haired stowaway, Mr. James. Amanda Gray. I can’t believe you’d show me your face.”
He charged toward her, the skewer aimed high at her throat. Amanda dodged, toppling his toolbox. She grabbed a corkscrew from the scattered torture implements and threw it at his face. His hands came up to deflect.
Amanda picked up the pick, the wrench, and the rod, chucking one thing after another at Rhodes’ head. She’d thrown knives before, but these devices weren’t meant for throwing. The last thing she grabbed was the multi-lash whip. It had sharp objects woven into the lashes, but its reach was nothing compared to Rhodes’ skewer.
Rhodes’ slashed through the air, his skewer connecting with Amanda’s cheek, busting the skin. Amanda swung the whip, but it fell short. Sneering, Rhodes lunged forward again.
“I don’t want to kill you, Gray,” he growled, driving her back against the wall. “I know you’re one of them.”
Amanda grabbed the toolbox from the table and threw the whole case at Rhode’s head. Rhodes brought his arms up in defense and Amanda swung the whip again. This time, the lashes cut into his arm.
“You killed Jo!” she hollered at him, grabbing the skewer. The end was red-hot and soaked in Coro’s blood. Rhodes held on, but she yanked it down, throwing him off balance. The hot tip seared her shirt, grazing her flesh.
“Is this what you did to Jo?” Amanda asked, swinging the whip at his wrist until he let go of the skewer. “Is this what you do to everyone?”
Rhodes plowed into her, tackling her. They bounced against the table, the edge impacting hard on Amanda’s spine, and then they fell to the floor, rolling until Rhodes had her pinned.
“Is this how you killed Tavos?” Rhodes said, raising a wrench.
“I didn’t.” Amanda rolled, using her momentum to shove the pick into Rhodes’ neck, puncturing the skin. A split second later, she heard the blast of a stunner and Rhodes’ body went flying. “Maybe I did.”
Hawk’s legs felt better with the morphine, but his skin burned as the guard roughly redressed him. His spirit eyes opened wide and the new room they tossed him in glowed with energy. It wasn’t like the glow of the electrified wall; it was something far more beautiful. It felt like the room was alive with energy conduits, some going around him, some going through him.
“I won’t help. I won’t help,” he panted, feeling his legs get stronger. Lt. Carr adjusted his grip as Hawk stood straighter. “Benedict. Bring him back.”
“You’re in no position to make demands,” Parker said, raising his hand. Hawk recognized the camouflaged stunners now, and he jammed the firing mechanism.
Parker snarled. “You can stop a weapon, but you can’t stop this!”
He jammed a needle under Hawk’s skin, and Hawk felt ice in his veins. The energy in the room shifted and his spirit eyes lost so much light, for a moment he thought he was blind again.
“Do you know why you’re here?” Parker asked.
“No,” Hawk answered, feeling a pressure on his chest as if the air had been forced out of him to form the word.
“Do you feel the difference in this place? In this room?” Parker asked. “Do you feel stronger? Do you feel power?”
“Yes.” Parker looked human and the guard did as well. They were dull next to everything else. The woman in the cage glowed. The light pressed at the edge of the cage, then was reflected around it. It reminded him of the way the avalan in Sky’s grav-gun focused the energy.
“You’re planning to kill me but you can’t,” Parker crooned, clawing Hawk’s face, forcing Hawk to look at him.
“Are you controlling me?” Hawk asked. He felt like he was standing on his own, but he couldn’t fight. He prayed for Sky. He didn’t want to be a slave.
“I will,” Parker smirked.
“You’re not hybrid,” Hawk said.
“But I will control your kind,” Parker said. “Open your hand.”
“No.” Hawk cried as his palm turned up. He tried to curl his fingers and close his fist, but he couldn’t control his hand. Laughing, Parker placed a small sphere in Hawk’s hand.
“A grenade?” Hawk asked, seeing tendrils of light coming from the side, like some kind of spirit-jellyfish.
“A Confluence, my boy. Why would I blow you up?” Parker chuckled, pinching Hawk’s cheek. “You’re on my world. You will serve us.”
“Us?” Hawk repeated.
Parker motioned his guard away from Hawk, then lowered the shield on Janiya’s cage.
“Touch her hand,” he ordered. “I’m sure together you can bring him here.”
“No,” Hawk said, fear rising. The glow of light around Janiya grew brighter and radiated into the room. They weren’t holding hands, but they’d formed a circle and the force of energy through the room escalated. “No, you’re destroying… something. Something.”
With a blast of ice-cold air, a tall, grotesque, winged creature appeared. The creature bared his teeth and swiped his talons, but Parker caught his hand.
“Hello, Galen.”
31
Danny landed the Bobsled on the roof of the nearest café. It was high enough to be out of sight of the locals, and low enough that they could jump to ground level. Now that Santos knew his family was safe on Oriana, he seemed more determined to help, but he lacked confidence about facing Parker, and Danny found that disturbing.
Diana Solvere hobbled up the steps to the Marble, one arm clamped across her torso. She wasn’t in uniform, but her dark, auburn hair triggered his memories, and he was glad Santos hadn’t let him go into that basement. Although she wasn’t in the basement, and he worried for his crew that she might be going now.
“Will the other Guard listen to you over her?” Dann
y asked, choking to get sounds out.
“They won’t listen to her at all,” Santos said. “They’ve been ordered not to. There was a shift in power after she attacked your brother. Rhodes is in charge now.”
“Will Rhodes listen to you?” Danny asked. His vision blurred and feeling the ground shake, he dropped into a crouch. There was no flash of light or rumble of thunder to indicate an explosion. It was hard enough walking into the lobby of the Marble next to a retired Guard, and he worried the tremor was a flashback to the Revolution.
“Did you feel that?” Santos asked, his hands going out to the side.
“What’s happening?” Danny asked, still not convinced that what he’d felt was real. He hadn’t had a vivid hallucination in years, but after what happened to Chase, everything seemed to set him off.
“Gravity gradient,” Santos said, edging toward the Marble, keeping his balance low. “I’ve never felt that outside of a malfunctioning therapy chamber.”
“Look. Is the building cracking?” Danny asked, pointing to a dark shadow up the side of the Marble. He’d shattered the window, and already caused some damage to the stone, but he knew the Bobsled couldn’t crack a building down to the foundation. The sound of alarms radiated into the Plaza, and there were a handful of guards at the window, rigging a shield.
Santos took Danny by the elbow and charged into the Marble. Danny’s heart raced, unprepared to play the role of prisoner, but Santos dropped his hold once they were in. A single guard at the desk had eyes on a security monitor and relayed information to the other guards dispersed through the building.
“Report,” Santos said, leaning over the desk, checking the monitors. During the Revolution, this place was depressing and run down, but now everything was polished, and the only imposing part was the barrier between him and the opulent lobby space.
“I don’t report to you,” the young Guard said, seeming to delight in the fact that she could ignore a former superior. Her build and demeanor were similar to Saskia’s, and Danny did not doubt she was deadly.
“So much for doing more from the lobby,” Danny commented.
“Evacuate the civilians,” Santos tried.
“Evacuate yourself. There’s an armed strike force holding the Governor hostage,” the woman replied. “The civilians are staying sheltered until it’s safe.”
Feeling woozy, Danny put an arm out, but he was further from the wall than he’d thought. His feet felt like they were glued to the ground and he slowly lifted his heel, the ball of his foot, and then his toes. Sky had said Parker’s plans could completely alter the gravity of the world, but he’d imagined a sudden, global shift, not a localized shear force tearing them apart. He edged across the room, testing whether the feeling became more pronounced.
“The gradient is stronger this way,” he said.
“You can’t go there!” the Guard cried, leaping from behind the desk, then tripping as her feet were caught in the gradient. It felt like the gentle pull of a river current. It wasn’t strong enough to knock her over, but she hadn’t accounted for it when she took the step.
“We have to get downstairs,” Danny said.
“There’s a crack in the side of the building,” Santos said.
“There’s a crack in the floor,” the guard said, touching the stress mark in the marble tile.
“We have to get everyone out. It’s spreading,” Santos said. “You have to evacuate.”
“What’s spreading?” the guard asked, scooting back to her desk. “How do we contain it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe someone at Tamrin Lab knows. We shield gravity sources on a small scale all the time,” Santos said.
“I’ll dispatch someone,” the guard decided.
“We’re in danger. Evacuate the civilians,” Santos insisted.
“But the Governor,” the guard stammered.
“Lieutenant Teff, you see that crack and you feel that strange pull,” Santos said curtly. “The Governor can’t make that go away.”
Danny couldn’t help Santos win this argument. He looked for a stairwell to go to the basement. For all the times he’d woken up there, he had no idea how he every got down. All he saw was the elevator lobby, filled with guards trying to pry open the doors.
“Tray, did the ground tremor in the 4?” Danny vrang.
“No. But I lost my visual of the basement,” Tray replied. “Lost all the visuals, actually. Every feed coming out of the Marble cut off.”
Danny glanced back at the desk. Half the security monitors were dark. “Tray, I think you need to leave Terrana.”
“It is on my to-do list,” Tray acknowledged.
“I mean now,” Danny said, his depression flaring. “Something’s going on with the gravity. All that doom-saying Sky predicted about the dimensions colliding. I think it’s happening.”
“The domes are still here,” Tray said.
“Tray, it feels like the inside of a grav-therapy chamber in here,” Danny urged. “Your body will disintegrate in an artificial gravity field. You can’t risk staying here.”
There was a long pause. “Then get back here. Get in the ‘sled and get back here. The others are really good at saving themselves. Amanda’s going to Disappear to Elysia anyway. And Saskia… Danny, come home.”
“Think about Hero. Go to him,” Danny said, desperate to keep detached. He cut off the vring, then called Morrigan privately. “Morrigan, can you hear me?”
“I heard everything you said to Tray,” Morrigan said. “Danny, you’re breaking him.”
“Go to the bridge,” he instructed. “Nolwazi will help. Alex can guide you in when you get back to Quin. There are simulators—”
“Danny, I have a medical degree and I don’t trust myself to be a doctor right now. I can’t fly a ship,” she protested.
“Then get to orbit,” Danny continued. “If we solve this, I’ll help you land again. But if you don’t leave now and this gravity thing spreads, you’re going to have another patient.”
“They’re taking off?” Santos asked.
Danny shrugged, feeling helpless despite the arsenal he had to fight with. “They’re really bad at following orders. I’m sure they’ll take a vote.”
Sikorsky felt like his body had turned to ice, and it nearly shattered when he hit the floor. Something had radiated through the spirit realm like an explosion. The ice-cold feeling meant he’d teleported.
“Sir?” Turner called, casting a long shadow over Sikorsky’s face as he ran behind. His footsteps reverberated through Sikorsky’s body like bell-strikes. The ringing in his ears reminded him of the Tamrin Lab incident.
“Vlad!” Cheoff said, rolling Sikorsky onto his back. The floor-to-ceiling windows said they were in the Marble’s cafeteria, but they hadn’t been here a moment ago. Cheoff patted Sikorsky’s cheek until he groaned and acknowledged the irritant.
“What was that?” Cheoff asked.
“It felt like a bomb,” Turner said.
“It felt like a gravity blast,” Sikorsky said, feeling blood tickling under his nose. “We’re too late.”
“Don’t think negative,” Cheoff said. “We were in the elevator. How did we get here?”
“Is this how the Disappeared go?” Turner asked, fear coloring his tone.
“Why did you teleport us?” Cheoff asked.
“I didn’t mean to. There was this wave of… wave…” Heaving, Sikorsky rolled away from Cheoff and vomited. His brain was on fire, and the ringing in his ears getting louder. “Parker won.”
“If we were too late, the dimensions would have collapsed and the domes disappeared,” Cheoff said. Sikorsky gave him a look and he returned a stern gaze. “I listened to your apocalypse story, Vlad. I didn’t believe half of it.”
“Don’t you feel it? I feel like I’m being stretched and pulled like a piece of putty,” Sikorsky said, blinking to clear the spots from his vision. Then he realized they weren’t the kind that needed to be cleared. The explosion had broken a barrier.
Whatever had kept him in the Marble the first time no longer limited him. He could see so many escape paths, some to the surface, most to the tunnels underneath. When he saw a way to the basement, he gave Cheoff a push.
“What did you do!” Turner cried, pointing his stunner at Sikorsky. “Bring him back.”
“Can’t,” Sikorsky said. “He’s in the basement now.”
Turner stammered, conflicted. “You’re under arrest.”
“When I take over Terrana, I’ll be sure to pardon myself,” Sikorsky sneered. He was about to throw up again, but he liked watching the young man squirm. “Parker is down there waiting to kill your Governor. Are you going to let that happen?”
Swearing, Turner ran back to the main part of the building. Sikorsky checked for the path to the basement, but he didn’t see it come up again. He saw the spaceport, and felt the urge to flee the painful pull of varying gravity. But he also wanted to take Terrana from Cheoff and Parker. Rolling through the nearest pathway, he teleported to Cheoff’s office, surprising the guards that were trying to seal the broken window. His vision blurred. He couldn’t handle the waves of pressure through the spirit realm, and if he didn’t leave, he’d pass out. Rolling again, he found himself in the cockpit of the microcruiser, in the 4. There were fewer spots here, and he didn’t feel the putty-pull on his internal organs. Maybe the gravity disruption wouldn’t destroy the whole settlement and there would be a throne to claim.
32
Parker felt his strength increase ten-fold the moment his hand touched Galen’s. He felt the Confluence, both by the weight of the stone in his hand and the flow of thoughts between his mind and Galen’s.
“Brother, what are you doing?” Galen asked, his voice quivering.
“What I promised. I’m bringing us together,” Parker said proudly. He’d expected a window to open, but the combination of Janiya and Hawk somehow sucked Galen into this realm.
“You can’t. Not like this. It’s not safe,” Galen said, touching his shoulder.
The Confluence: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 6) Page 23