Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (5 page)

Devon
nodded but remained silent.
Rae
glanced
at
him
,
but his face revealed nothing
.
What
kind of
job does the Privy Council have you doing
?
When Carter began speaking, s
he
turned
back
to
him
.

“
They thought all might be lost without the audio
,
but
when I sent a copy of what Rae wrote down about her father’s speech, we were able to put it all together
.
” He
interlaced his fingers and moved his hands up and down in emphasis as he spoke
.
“
Y
our father
’s speech is the key
,
the video
the lock
.
The only recording we have of
Simon Kerrigan
is an old
narrated
taping
from a class here in the Oratory
—
some reading of a book. Almost a full chapter, actually.
Back when
he
was a pupil
here
.
Back when the
y
held classes along with tatù sessions here
in the Oratory
.
”

Rae leaned forward and tensed
.
Whatever
Carter
was about to say,
it
made
him uncomfortable
.
He
was
babbling
. H
e never babbled.

Devon
stood, clenching and unclenching his hands.

Carter
cleared his throat and pulled at his tie.
He
stared at the wall behind them
.
“Using the
old tape and computer technology, we made a digital reading of the speech you wrote for us, in your fat
her’s voice.” He looked straight at her
. “
I’ll ask you again.
When you were in the tower, did you directly watch the video and listen?”

Rae
stared at the carved ornate scenes along the walls
as she thought
about that terrible evening a
t the spring dance
-b
eing
kidnapped
and the shock of hearing her
dead
father’s voice
. She thought back to the video.
She had
been trying to figure out how not to get killed and then
she had
discovered something new about her
tatù
.
“No, I
don’t think I
ever did both.
I
never
watched it.
I
was too busy trying to figure out how to escape.
At the time, I thought I
could
only mimic
a
tatù from the last
tatùed
person I touched.
That’s when I figured out I could use any I’d ever mimicked
.”
Her tongue ran over the rough spot on the i
nside of her cheek.
The tension in the room suddenly
ratcheted up
.
“
I still hear
his
stupid speech all the time.
Why?”

“When do you hear
it
?
At night
?
During the day?
”
Carter
stared intently at her
, leaning closer to her. “What happens when you hear it?”

Rae
opened
and closed
her mouth but
could not
get
any
words out.
What am I supposed to say?
I know the speech, it haunts me like there’s a hidden play button inside my brain?

“
We emailed a couple of times this summer.
She mentioned
she would
hear it at odd times
.”
Devon
sat down and
patted
her knee
, letting his hand remain
.

Encouraged by his strength, she found her voice.
“
I might’
ve
dreamt
about it
this summer a few times
but
didn’t
really pay attention.
Sometimes it starts repeating out of the blue.
I know it by heart
,
so I just ignore it.”
Rae shrugged
, not understanding why
Carter acted so oddly
.
“Why’s it so important?”

Carter straightened.
“The technician
– our tech --
who watched and listened to the video tried to kill two members of the Privy Council.”
His
words dropped
into the conversation
like a bomb.
Rae was blasted by waves of disbelief.

“What?”
she
whispered
,
wincing
when
Devon
’s fingers painfully squeezed her knee.

“That’s the guy?”
Devon
choked out.

“Yeah,
the
skinny computer
whiz.”
Carter
nodded.

“That
wasn’t a nerdy
computer
geek
.
The
guy was
lethal.”
Devon
’s confusion was plainly written on his face.

She looked back and forth
between
the two of them.
What
a
re they talking about?
How did
Devon
know so much?

“
We believe the
video and
audio
is a
brainwashing device.
When you--
”
Carter
pulled his eyes away from
Devon
and looked at
her
. “W
hen we captured the man, he
told
us nothing.
We
knew he wasn’t a snitch
, I’d personally used my tatù on him.
He hanged himself before we could question him further.”

“Shit!”
Devon
push
ed
himself up and
knocked
his chair over in the process.

A
n overwhelming sense of helplessness washed
over Rae
, making
her stomach lurch.
“I don’t understand what’s going on
.
What has
Devon
got to do with this?
”
Her eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them.
Feeling like
she was
drowning in water she couldn’t see, she wanted them to clue her in to what was really going on.
There
’
s a bigger picture here
that I
ha
ve
no access to
. It seemed important
to
learn all she could.
She
raised
an
arm, straightening
Devon
’s chair with
l
evitation,
mentally using
the move to reassert her control over her world.

Carter huffed.
“
Devon
’s working for the Privy Council as a tracker.
” He turned to
Devon
. “
E
xplain
that
to her later
.
I’m sure the Council won’t mind.
”
He
rubbed the bridge of his nose
. “
Your father
invented
a
brainwashing technique
.
I
t
works
through the video
feed
you saw
.
The Privy Council believes it
now
has
the only copy
.
Lanford
must have
planned
to destroy
the Council
,
and probably more.
No one
outside
the Privy Council
, and
now us
,
know
s
; o
ther than the
computer
tech
,
and he’s out of the picture now
.
”
Carter flashed a wry grin
.
“
We’ve divided the video and
audio
into four parts
.
Each has been secretly placed in one of the four corners of
Britain
.”

Rae
froze, saying nothing.
What the heck’s the “four corners of
Britain
?”
She didn’t know and at
th
at
moment, she
did not
really care
,
either.
Her father
had not
been much of
a
dad, let alone a man,
and
Carter
’
s
words confirmed it
to a degree she had not experienced before.
“What’s this got to do with me?”
And how could I hear audio when no one else did?

“I’m not completely sure. I just thought—” Carter began but Rae interrupted before he could finish.

“That I might become brainwashed and turn into my father?” She blinked, surprised at her own words
.
Deep down, she wondered
how much more
she
could accomplish with her tatù th
an
her father.
Her parentage was a weighted yoke she wished she could throw off. However, she knew her parentage effected much more than just her in their world.
“Sorry, I guess that was uncalled for.”

Carter nodded, as if understanding her inner thoughts or agreeing with her. “Not to worry. You appear to be completely yourself.” He gave her a small
smile, which
failed to reassure her in any way
.

“What do we do?”
Devon
asked
the headmaster
.

“
T
he Council wanted you to be aware.
I
f something should arise,
you’ve been informed
.
We hope to find a way
to disable the brainwashing but, at th
e
moment,
we’re not willing to risk any of our men to find a solution.”

“Why hide the information?
Why not just burn it?” Rae asked.

“
There’s no proof this
is the only
cop
y. So
w
e need to find a way to disarm
the brainwashing
in case another copy ever surfaces
.
Until we are better prepared
,
and have more information, we can’t destroy it.
”

When he
did not
continue,
Rae
rose
.
She turned,
grab
bed
the chairs and stack
ed
them against the others
, keeping her hands busy so she didn’t freak out.

“
I’m sorry
that
this is the new
s
I
greet you
with
on your first day back.
”
The concern on Carter’s face gave her pause
.

Real or part of some act? I didn’t trust you last year and I’m not about to hop on the band wagon, even if
Devon
already appears to be on board.
“
I’m glad you
told me
.
”
It was shocking
, but it didn’t
really
change anything at the moment. In a weird way, she felt empty. “
I don’t like what I’ve heard
,
but what am I going to do?
I
don’t get how I wasn’t
brainwashed
that night
,
but I’m
glad it didn’t happen
.
” She shoved her hand
s
in her pockets. “You want to know something else?
I’m glad
Lanford
slipped and killed himself.
If
he had
been successful, I would’
ve been his pawn.
It didn’t happen, so it doesn’t matter.” She shrugged her shoulders.
She disliked herself for sounding so cold
. I
t reminded her of her father.
She almost wished he was alive
.
She would
burn him
the way her mother had
.
The large room
suddenly felt
stifling.
S
he wanted
fresh air and
sunshine.