Aurora Rising (11 page)

“Like today?” Tankin asked the question.

“Yes, we know for certain now from evidence at the site and what the boy you rescued saw, that multiple explosions were set. I also believe whoever is behind this is trying to keep you busy, separated and worn down.”

“But why?” Orn asked.

“That we don’t know for sure, but it is an organized plot, of that I am certain. These are three people the security got images of from the transport dock when they tried to abduct Aurora.” On a screen behind him, the footage played. “Any of you recognize anyone?”

“No.” The answer came from around the room.

“Are they talents?” the man next to Orn asked.

“Yes. And from what we’ve observed, quite powerful.”

There was a murmur in the room but Hiymm didn’t stop. “This is from the explosion two nights ago. Unfortunately, the images are not as clear. This is as good as the techs could do.” Another set of images. He paused letting them study the pictures before continuing. “These are from today, taken from Rori’s IPI viewer.”

Rori was shocked when a scene from her mind came into view, though she realized she shouldn’t be. She knew they were under full monitoring. At the sight of the man a shudder passed through her as for an instant she was taken back to the creepy compulsion she felt.

“That’s the man and woman from the transport dock,” Sansa pointed out with agreement coming from the people around the room.

“Yeah, he’s the fire guy,” Ultin added.

“Yes. We are still trying to identify them but are not having much success.”

Rori knew from the shocked expression on several faces that was an unusual circumstance. Before she could think much of it, Orn leaned forward in his seat.

“I know that man.” He stood, moving forward, his focus on the other man.

At Hiymm’s direction, the fire talent and woman’s face faded away and the image of the remaining man’s image enlarged.

“I know him.” Orn turned to the man who had been seated next to him. “Mit?”

“He does look familiar.” Recognition showing on his face, he looked to Orn. “Drasc.”

Orn turned back to the image. “Drasc Creed.” The name came out like it was a bitter taste.

Hiymm nodded. “Yes, Drasc Creed.”

“Who is he?” Alee, a woman on the other team asked.

Orn answered, his eyes still locked on the image. “He started the program about twenty years ago. He was on a team with Mit and me for a short time. Pretty full of himself. Pushed people around. Thought they should be subservient to him. Jattin was constantly having to rein him in.” Orn stopped to think for a minute. “There was one time when we went out to rescue a small farming community. It was difficult to get there. I remember Drasc saying something like, why bother, they’re not worth our time or effort, something like that. I thought Jattin was going to take him apart. He was in such a fury, energy crackled around him. Creed did other things. Not long after that he was forced to leave.”

“Wow,” Ultin let out.

Orn turned back to face them. “It didn’t set well with Creed.” Orn looked at Mit, who nodded and took over.

“I was in the equipment room when he burst through. Burst being the definitive word. He blew up several things as he passed. He slammed stuff around, then said ‘who needs you’ and some other unflattering words, then stormed out. Never saw him again.”

Now, Hiymm came in again. “My memory of Drasc Creed is similar. We only had two teams back then. Jattin had just been moved up over the Guardian program but was still a team leader. I was on the opposite team but still Jattin’s assistant. We met all the time. It was how we kept track of everything. Jattin was very concerned about Creed. In fact, he’d approached the council about him back in his training. Creed was a rogue, but that wasn’t why.”

He glanced at Rori. “Your grandfather and I were rogues, but Creed’s problem was he didn’t care how he got things done, if people got hurt, so what. That concerned Jattin. Creed believed the end justified the means. If he thought he’d got the job done, made his mark and got recognition, all was good. And the more recognition he got, the more he wanted.”

“Sounds like a god complex,” Ultin put in.

“Exactly.” Hiymm met them straight on. “He was always a little stuck on himself but, as time went on, it got worse. I’m not trying to make light of it. You must understand this. Attention feeds him and he is too powerful to ignore. Creed came from a wealthy family that wielded a lot of power. That’s why, when Jattin first brought up his concerns, the council went against him. Creed showed so much talent, it was just another family coup and they were not going to lose that. To be honest, he was one of the strongest talents I’ve seen, rivaled with Jattin−maybe even Keyen.”

“What was his talent?” Cassie asked curiously.

“He’s telekinetic but showed signs of energy talent, being able to manipulate it. One of the first double talents we’d seen.”

“So what happened to him? Why have we never heard anything about him?” Bass asked.

“Tasc is working on that. What we’ve found out is pretty sketchy. He disappeared for a while after he left, then his father died of heart trouble. Shortly after that, his brother died in an accident. There is evidence that Drasc took over the family holdings. He has been quite a recluse. His estates are like fortresses.”

An image came up of an overhead shot of a huge estate sitting on low cliffs over the ocean. The mammoth main house was surrounded with various sporting arenas and nearly a dozen other buildings. Everything had a grand appearance, including the massive fence that encompassed the whole property. A cove with a dock and several water crafts could be seen, plus what looked like several beach houses.

“Raebent hues.” The exclamation escaped Ultin. “You weren’t joking when you said fortress.”

The room was silent again, a minute passed before one of the other team members spoke up. “So what do we know about the others?”

“The one’s a pyro. What’s the woman?” Sansa asked.

“Some kind of telepath,” Hiymm answered. “She tried to knock Rori out at the transport dock or, at least, calm her to the point they’d have no problem taking her.”

“What’s going on here?” Orn motioned to when Rori focused on them in the crowd after rescuing Tomma.

“Rori?” Hiymm turned to her.

She had to swallow before she dared speak. “I felt a strong compulsion to go to him, Drasc Creed.”

There were several intakes of breathes from people around the table. Keyen tightened beside her, his hand resting on the table clenched into a fist.

“Someone’s strong enough to do that?” The question came from Cassie.

“Yes,” Hiymm said plainly. “Their difficulty is Rori is equal or stronger than her.”

“Or maybe they are going after her because she is more susceptible?” Keyen pointed out.

Hiymm shook his head. “I don’t think so. They’d have no way to know. We didn’t know until after she was here and tested that her empathy was that strong, and they were waiting at the transport dock for her before that, but that may make them want her more.”

“What do you mean want her?” Sansa asked.

“It’s something else I wanted to bring up. Since the attempted kidnapping using talents, we decided to check on other high talents not active in positions.” Hiymm pursed his lips and a shadow seemed to fall over him. “So far, we have found three who have gone missing in the last two years. All are women and all under the age of thirty. No connection was made because they were far apart, different areas, and two were moving because of changing jobs, but we haven’t been able to locate them anywhere. One of the missing is Carin Geac.”

Rori didn’t recognize the name, but it was obvious everyone else in the room did.

“No,” Cassie and Bass’s denial was joined by Keyen and Tankin.

“Can’t be.” Ultin got out.

“You’re−” Whatever Sansa was going to say died on her lips with shock.

Hiymm just nodded. “She left on a vacation after she left the Guardians six months ago and has not returned. There has been no contact with her. She was feeling burned out and wanted to be on her own, so her family didn’t think too much about it, though they’ve been getting very concerned.”

A heaviness settled over the room.

“Okay,” Orn injected after a full minute of silence. “Where did the other talents come from? High talents are logged at testing.”

“That question came up earlier, and now that we know about Creed, we may have come up with a possible answer. One of Creed’s companies has a research division on talents, how they are affected by chemicals and other stimulants. A couple years ago, a missive was sent to the council that they were doing testing to artificially boost mid-level talents, ones measurable but not strong enough to really use in high level positions.”

“I haven’t heard of this,” Orn said.

“That’s because there was no real investigation.”

“Why not?” The woman from the other team asked.

“The man who made the claim died of a heart attack before the meeting. There was an inquiry, but the company said the man had been let go and was disgruntled.”

“Convenient,” Ultin added.

Rori had to agree then the thought struck her. “Drasc Creed’s father died of a heart attack.” The words slipped out in hushed words but everyone else heard her.

“Yes, and Drasc can control energy.” Keyen followed her line of thought, looking up at Hiymm.

“I hadn’t thought of that.” There was no doubt he was now. “Well, I want all of you to use extreme care especially when you are sent out on rescue. Be aware of everyone around you, watch each other’s back. I want you to stick together in downtime too. No one goes anywhere alone, always in a minimum of twos at all times.” The director stood. “That’s all for now. I will give updates when we learn something new. Dismissed.” He turned and walked out of the room leaving the group talking behind him.

Anger, frustration and speculation were only some of the emotions that radiated off the two teams of Guardians, and after the already taxing day Rori had endured, it didn’t take her long to be drained by them. She needed time alone. She wanted to go running down on the beach, but after what Hiymm had said, that wasn’t going to be happening. Still, she had to get away.

“You want to go with us?” It took Rori several seconds to register the other team had left the room and Cassie was talking to her.

“Pardon?” She tried to come up with what they’d been talking about.

“Evening snack,” Tankin gave helpfully, an excited expression returned to his face.

After the last hour of tension, it was a soothing release and she smiled. “No. Thanks. I’m kind of worn out. I think I’ll head up to bed.”

The others filed out until Keyen was the only one left in the room with her. He stopped in front of her. “Are you okay?” His golden eyes took her in, and for a moment, she felt soothed then she started to feel heat rise within her.

“Yes.” She stuttered over the word, feeling herself flush. “It’s just … it’s been a major emotional gambit for me today, after quite a week.”

“Would you like me to walk with you?” He shifted a little closer.

“No, you can go join the others. I’ll be okay, I promise.”

His hand bumped into hers and caught giving her a light squeeze. “See you in the morning.”

“Goodnight.” Rori felt breathless as he walked away. It took a minute to calm her heart before she followed. A few minutes later, when the door to her chambers slid closed behind her, sealing out all the stray emotions, she sighed in relief. Instead of heading to bed, she changed into her sleepwear and settled into a stretching routine she used to relax and free up her muscles. She was just finishing up when her comm-link sounded. Her grandfather’s image came into view as she activated it.

“Rori, how are you?” She had to rely on his image to read his concern but it wasn’t difficult to tell.

“I’m fine.”

“I just got done talking to Manning. He said you were amazing on the rescue today.” There was pride in her grandfather’s words.

“I don’t know about amazing but it went well. I think I will fit in just fine.”

“They are a good crew. I remember when each of them came for training. They were all so young. But they have developed nicely. What do you think of Keyen Saegun?”

Rori picked up a craftiness in her grandfather and wished she could read him but it was impossible through the comm. Still she studied him. “You’re not trying matchmaking, are you?” Before she could stop it the image of Keyen came to her mind along with a disturbing flash over her senses.

Her grandfather laughed. “No, but I am pleased the way that boy turned out.”

“He said you helped him, watched over him.”

“He was so hurt when he arrived and so full of not just talent but power. Fortunately, he was such a good boy, and now he’s grown and learned to handle his talent. He’s a good man. I’m proud of him. I guess you can tell. He needed me, and I think I needed him because I had such limited access to you back then.”

Rori understood what he was saying. Her grandfather regretted not being able to be there for most of her growing up years. “I knew you loved me,” she said gently.