Birth of the Alliance (37 page)

On a more practical level, the Aliomenti were also looking for the Alliance, and wanted nothing more than to find the mythical Alliance headquarters. Their overwhelming numbers could be brought to bear, eliminating the Alliance threat with swift finality. The more frequent the use of Energy in the Cavern, the more habitual would be its use Outside, and the greater the risk of eventual exposure of more Alliance members and the ultimate exposure of the Cavern’s location.

With all of those lessons learned, long-range teleportation was something few Alliance members ever performed. No activity used more Energy than teleportation, and the amount required grew with the distance traveled. They had the ability to compute just how far everyone
could
travel. Distances calculated include a “safe limit” which would leave them with at least some Energy remaining, and an “absolute maximum” distance that would leave them fully drained when the teleportation hop ended. You only wanted to do that if you knew you’d land in the company of friends, because the first person to find you in that state could capture or injure you without any difficulty. The situations which warranted the use of absolute maximum teleportation were thus exceedingly rare.

Judith’s situation was one of those rare exceptions where such absolute maximum teleportation would literally mean the difference between life and death.

Eva’s Defense Squad had detected Judith’s communication and acted quickly. They’d established various safe houses throughout the world, positioned to maximize the number of Alliance members they could reach quickly in the event of emergencies. Judith had spoken the code word to activate her invisible hands-free communication link, reporting that the Hunters had located her and were engaging her in battle.

Eva’s teams typically received adequate notification of problems. Alliance members would recognize through their Energy bands that they’d emitted enough for detection and speak to the Defense Squad, noting humans likely to be targeted by the Assassin. The Defense Squad would secure the humans away and encourage them to forget the time isolated away. They’d use scutarium clothing able to deflect Aramis’ Damper and visible body armor designed to deflect interest in sword fights. Where the Squad arrived in time, the Hunters had learned to leave and fight another day.

In Judith’s case, though, the call came in too late.

They reached her after she’d performed multiple teleportation hops, engaging the Hunters in swordplay each time. The fighting and teleportation had both taken their toll on her. When Eva and her team arrived, decked out in their armor and ready to fight, Judith was down, bloodied, and suffering the devastation of the Damper.

They were able to extract Judith from Aramis’ Damper through a bit of remote teleportation, and then chased the Hunters away. The Hunters would never admit defeat, telling anyone who listened—namely, Arthur Lowell—that they always got their target. Eva bristled at this statement, primarily because it was true. Captures were delayed, never permanently thwarted.

Once the Hunters had gone, the Squad assessed the situation. Judith was rapidly losing consciousness, but did relay to them that the Assassin had executed two humans in the area before the Hunters had set upon her. She had several gaping wounds near vital organs and was bleeding profusely. Her right arm dangled at a gruesome angle, held together by a single tendon that had survived the severing slash from a Hunter’s sword. Eva marveled that she’d managed to teleport away at all, in her condition.

The stark reality now, though, was that Judith needed immediate, massive medical intervention to survive. And the closest facility they could use was farther away than they could move her in the minutes she had left to live.

Eva muttered her code word, activating her comm link. “This is Eva. I need to do a long range teleport to our outpost on South Beach.” South Beach was the code name for a small island uninhabitable by humans, located off the southern tip of South America. It was one of their ports providing underwater Alliance transport to and from the Cavern, joined by similar ports off the southern coasts of Africa ("Sahara Beach") and Australia ("Coral Beach"). The underwater docks for the submarines featured Cavern-like cities on a smaller scale, akin to resort hotels, with temporary lodging, and restaurants. More critically for Eva’s purposes, they also boasted medical facilities that would be able to save Judith’s life.

“Confirmed. Red room.”

“Negative,” Eva replied. “I have a severely injured Outsider coming with me.”

“Affirmative. Green room will suffice for two people.”

“Eva out.” The teleportation rooms were simple rooms lined with scutarium inside and out, and allowed Alliance members to teleport to or from the ports without leaving a traceable Energy signature on the port side. All traveling Outside would visit one of the rooms at the port nearest their final destination and memorize the room. There were several rooms at each port of identical design, save for the wall color. The operators would ensure that only one person teleported into any given room, much like air traffic controllers ensured planes avoided collisions in the air. Rooms were intended to be used by a single person, which would be a problem in Eva’s case. The green rooms, meant to allow Outsiders to bring recruits into port, were larger, and that was a fit for Eva’s situation. She also wanted the operator to know she was bringing an injured person requiring medical attention.

Eva knew the distance to the green room, roughly half her maximum teleportation distance. But she’d need to move Judith as well, requiring Energy expenditure at her absolute maximum. Eva knew she needed to move quickly, but coming up short would be disastrous for both of them. She spent a moment concentrating, letting her Energy stores replenish from the brief fight with the Hunters.

She glanced at the members of her Squad. “I’ll see you back home. You might want to stand clear.”

They nodded. Long-range teleportation of the sort she’d try was rare, and the Energy burst would be much as if she’d set off a bomb. They moved well away, far enough to avoid injury from the upcoming explosion, but near enough to act if the Hunters were to make a surprise return.

Once her team was clear, Eva seized Judith healthy arm, pictured the green room, flooded both of them with equal amounts of Energy, and teleported them.

The familiar displacement, normally just a brief sensation, lasted a noticeable amount of time. The exhaustion from the effort was overwhelming. Eva only had enough time to recognize that they’d made it to the green room, to stretch out and push the door open, before she lapsed into unconsciousness.

The teleportation rooms opened into a central space where new arrivals would congregate before walking down to the undersea port complex. Two members of the Alliance were on duty at all times, handling incoming communication, requests for usage of each teleportation room, and to handle any emergencies that might arise. Archibald, an Alliance member for a mere seven years, had taken Eva’s call and watched the door of the green room, waiting for her arrival. She’d spoken of bringing an injured person with her, and he wanted to be prepared to assist if necessary.

He watched the door to the green room open. But no one emerged. He heard no sound within the room. Concern seized him. How badly hurt was the person Eva brought with her? Was Eva injured as well?

“Got me covered, Ash?”

Ashley, on shift with him, glanced up and nodded. “Sure thing, Archie. Something come up?”

“Eva reported that she would be teleporting an injury victim to the green room. The door just opened, but nobody came out. I’m wondering how serious it is and want to go check it out.”

“It’s probably nothing, but it can’t hurt to check, can it?”

Archibald rose from his chair and moved toward the green room. The light was on, indicating that someone had arrived. He frowned. Why hadn’t Eva left the room?

Then he saw the two women lying immobile on the floor, blood pooling beneath them. “Oh, no,” he whispered. He whirled around and raised his voice. “Ashley! Call the medics! We need them here immediately! Two women are unconscious in the green room, and at least one of them is bleeding very badly!” He raced to the green room while Ashley scrambled to contact the medical team about the situation.

Archibald dropped to the floor as he entered the room. Eva was unconscious and pale, but was breathing regularly. He checked for a pulse, noting with relief that it was still quite strong. “Energy fatigue,” he muttered. Energy fatigue was a term used to describe the effect of having one’s Energy stores fully drained. Archibald hadn’t experienced Energy fatigue himself just yet, but had heard enough to understand that though it was terribly uncomfortable, Energy fatigue was not fatal. Eva wasn’t injured. She was simply exhausted, and needed nothing more than rest.

The second woman, however, was a mess. Archibald quickly identified the source of the blood: the severed right arm. He tore off his shirt and wrapped it around the arm as a tourniquet, using it to staunch the flow of blood. He realized it was likely too late, that any damage and blood loss had already occurred, but didn’t want to stand around doing nothing. He directed Energy at the injured woman, bathing her in a steady stream, willing it to help her body to halt its decline and begin the healing process.

The medical team arrived only a moment later, and quickly transported Judith to the miniature hospital within the underground port city. The last medic to leave glanced at Eva, then at Archibald. “She just needs food and rest. It’s safe to move her or carry her.” He shook his head. “As powerful as she is, she must have teleported an enormous distance to be so thoroughly drained. If Judith had arrived here even five minutes after she did…” He shook his head. “When she wakes up, tell her she's a hero. The early prognosis is good for Judith. She’ll live.”

Archibald nodded. “I’ll tell her.”

Once the medic departed, Archibald gently scooped the unconscious Eva into his arms and walked out into the central room. Ashley was standing away from her desk, watching the entire scene unfold. “I'm guessing I need to keep covering for you?” she asked.

Archibald nodded. “I’d appreciate that. This woman is a hero. She drained herself teleporting an unconscious injury victim here in time to save that woman’s life. I want to make sure she’s well cared for.”

Ashley nodded. “Take your time. I doubt—and severely hope—that nothing quite so exciting will happen until you get back.”

He marched down the hall, oblivious to Ashley’s appraising and approving glance.

He found the main desk for the port, where those entering and leaving submarines for transport to and from the Cavern and elsewhere made arrangements. The staff found his shirtless appearance amusing, but identified an empty room for Eva.

“Can someone check on her every few hours? She did a max teleport and saved a woman’s life after an attack by the Hunters. Totally drained herself to do it. She’s a hero, and—”

“We’ll take care of her, Archie. But you’ll need to find your own shirt.”

Archibald grinned weakly. He carried Eva to her assigned room and ensured she was sleeping comfortably on the bed. After a short trip to his own room to retrieve a fresh shirt, he returned to his post.

Ashley smiled at him. Archibald blinked. “What? Did I do something?”

Ashley lowered her eyes back to the desk, but her smile remained. “I liked your outfit better when you left.”

Archibald blushed.

●●●

Eva woke several hours later, uncertain as to where she was. She found a warm plate of food and, sensing no hostile Energy around, ate her fill. She was momentarily surprised to find blood on her clothing… and then she remembered Judith. Realization dawned. She’d made it to the green room, but had lost consciousness due to the immense expenditure of Energy required to complete the dual teleportation effort.

That meant Judith should be here as well.

Eva opened the door to the bathroom and found fresh clothing. A note near the clothing confirmed that Judith had arrived in time for life-saving surgery and blood transfusion. Relieved, she took a long, hot shower, donned the fresh clothing provided for her, and tossed the bloodied outfit into the trash chute. Refreshed and cleaned, she walked out, got directions to the hospital wing, and headed that way.

The hospital wing was structured in a fashion similar to the teleportation wing, but on a large scale. Rooms for patients ringed a central hub area with a desk, where trained Alliance healers milled about.

One of the healers looked up and spotted Eva, and a smile crossed her face. “Hello, Eva.”

Eva nodded by way of greeting. "How is Judith?”

“Alive, thanks to you. If you’d gotten her here even ten minutes later… I’m not sure we’d be making that statement.” She nodded toward a room to Eva's right. “She should be awake. Go on in.”

Eva felt a wave of relief wash over her. She walked into Judith’s room and came to a sudden stop. Judith looked up with a weak smile. Her coloring had returned, she was clean, and her Energy levels were strong once more.

But the lower portion of her right arm was gone.

Judith noticed Eva’s stare. “It’s gone," she said simply. “It had been severed so completely that there was nothing they could do to save it.”

“I wasn’t fast enough,” whispered Eva. “I should have gotten you here sooner. I—”