Transient Echoes (19 page)

Crap. How did the old woman know about that? Mei hadn’t filed a report on it. Did someone on the team let it slip? A flutter ran through her chest before landing in her stomach. “How did you—”

“Relax. If I wanted to shut you down, I would have,” said Tremaine. “I don’t want to get rid of you, and I don’t care if you lied to Prescott about being sick. I get why you did it. The man is shortsighted and he probably would’ve tried to get you transferred. But you’re reporting to me now, and I’m no fool. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you,” said Mei.

“You’re quite welcome. Now, let’s get down to business,” said the old woman, clearing her throat. “You’re going to tell me everything from front to back. Don’t leave anything out.”

******

Mei sat in her tent after an extended conversation with Doctor Tremaine. The old woman had asked her to call as soon as she returned to camp, and to do so privately. Mei obliged her request and spent a solid hour telling her everything she wanted to hear. Mei explained the entire situation, beginning with her early excavation work, followed by the radiation bloom and Travis’s death, and finally the decision to use the coils as a means of controlling the spread. For the most part, Tremaine seemed to already know the bulk of the story, including events Mei neglected to report on, probably by monitoring her team’s emails and personal reports. She may have even gone so far as to plant a few bugs around the camp. Such a thing was not unheard of. It didn’t matter if spying were illegal. People with power rarely played by the rules.

Thankfully, Mei’s true goal remained a secret. She’d never revealed her actual motives or plans to anyone, not even John, for fear of discovery. If the board ever found out that the only reason she’d proposed this project in the first place was to study the original portal in order to find out what happened to Terry, there’s absolutely no way they’d let her continue. They’d call it reckless and a waste of resources, say her perspective was warped by her own personal feelings. Hell, maybe they’d be right. But Terry was gone and probably dead, Mei knew. She had to know why.

She wondered what Tremaine would say if she knew the truth. Would she yank Mei from the team and reassign her like she did Prescott? The Science Division favored objectivity, teaching against personal investment, no matter what. The moment someone’s individual motivations began affecting the experiment, the results could no longer be trusted.

But department philosophy and practicality were not always parallel. There were instances in the past where noted scientists had acted on behalf of personal motives only to achieve exceptional results. Doctor Archer, for example. He’d single-handedly reshaped the entire division and created the Amber Project, all because of his personal history with Variant. He worked in secret, broke laws, and walked the moral line, because in his mind he knew the end would be justified.

Mei shuddered at the thought of comparing herself to Archer. Was she truly like him? Had she let her personal issues lead her down this path toward some awful conclusion? Was she also on her way to a barred cell, scribbling notes to pass the time as she deluded herself into thinking she was still relevant?

No, of course not. She had no intention of following in
those
footsteps. Archer sacrificed the lives of children to get what he wanted. All Mei needed were answers. She’d never be so cruel.

Her stomach turned at the thought.
Of course you would,
she heard herself say.
You killed Alex with your own hands, drove that piece of metal right through his chest.
She remembered the look on his face and the terror in his eyes as he realized she’d killed him. But that was different. He was trying to hurt her friends. It was self-defense.

She wanted to understand the rift and to find out what happened to Terry, but she wouldn’t risk anyone’s life to do it. She was trying to save people, to end the threat before it found them in the first place. The radiation problem couldn’t be ignored.
I can’t stop now
, she thought.
If I do, more people could die.

The radiation was coming from somewhere, and she had an obligation to fix it, to end the spread and see this mission through to the very end. If she could somehow find a way to fix it, maybe no one else would have to die.

******

Sky Forest, Kant

January 15, 2351

Terry sat on a thick branch, perched high in one of the silver-leafed trees deep in the forest. Ludo had asked him to stay there and wait while he set a few traps. It had been an hour, but Terry could hear his friend working and moving in the distance. The man was thick and tall, yet light on his feet and graceful. He hardly rustled the grass when he ran, never broke any twigs or branches.
Useful skill
, thought Terry, and made a note to ask about it later.

Terry held a knife in his hand, small and narrow like the kind Ludo had used to kill the wild animal on the day they first met. Ludo called the blade a Killing Metal, saying they were never to be used for anything but hunting and personal defense. Terry couldn’t help but wonder if Ludo had ever used one to defend himself against an actual person. After all, the man was so docile and kind. Was he really capable of such violence? It was hard to imagine.

Ludo arrived after several minutes, clinging to one of the branches of a nearby tree. He swung around and motioned to Terry. He crossed two fingers and displayed them—a sign Terry had learned meant “quiet.” Terry returned the sign, and Ludo grinned.

They waited for a while. Terry concentrated on the sounds of the forest, scanning with his ears and eyes for any signs of movement. He filtered out the insects and the birds, focusing on whatever remained.

Ludo seemed to do th
e same, waiting patiently on his branch. When anything made a noise, Ludo’s pointed ears would twitch, almost instinctually, but the man himself would remain unphased.

After several minutes, two of the traps went off. Ludo checked on them, keeping to the treetops, but returned empty-handed. One had sprung accidentally, while the other had been triggered by a beavermite.

Shortly thereafter, Terry heard stomps coming from the south. He raised his hand to get Ludo’s attention, but he was already moving. Terry was amazed by Ludo’s hearing at first, but as he quickly discovered, this was not the only trait they shared. Ludo’s strength was on par with his own, and he could even see in the dark. Terry suspected the Variant atmosphere had something to do with it, but he didn’t know why.

When they arrived at the source of the noise, they found an average-sized creature digging its hooves into the soil, shredding the weeds and sticking its long tongue into the ground. This animal was called a cheche, named for the sound it made as it grazed. The cheche yanked its tongue in and out rapidly, sending little clumps of dirt into the air around its face. It did this in an effort to find and eat insects. Sure enough, a few seconds later, it pulled a fat bug from the soil. Terry watched the process, intrigued at the sight of an animal
operating naturally in the wild.

Ludo motioned at Terry, holding one of the knives in his hand and pointing to the creature on the ground. He seemed to be telling him to attack. Terry nodded, grabbing the blade as he prepared to deliver the kill.

He pressed his thumb to the butt of the knife and twisted it in his fingers, staring at the beast. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the blade at the animal, watching as the metal cut through the air like a slow bullet, passing by the beast’s leg and plummeting into the ground. The animal flinched, jerking its head up to scan the area. Terry took another knife and aimed a little higher. He threw it again, this time with some success, hitting the creature in the neck and severing an artery. Blood exploded from the wound, spraying and covering the nearby plants with a red blanket.

Ludo launched two other knives, piercing the animal in the belly and ankle, causing it to buckle and fall. Guts spilled from its side, mixing with the shredded grass beneath its hooves. He leapt from the branch, landing a meter from where it lay. He took the scruff of its neck and quickly slit its throat, holding it there to let the blood drain. “We thank you,” he told the beast as its breathing came to an end. “Sleep now and be at peace.”

Terry jumped from his branch and joined him. There was a large pool of blood surrounding Ludo and the carcass, sinking into the dirt. “Messy,” he said in Ludo’s native tongue.

“This one was full of life,” replied Ludo in English. “We must make good use of its gift.”

Terry nodded. Before meeting Ludo, he’d killed a few animals to survive, but this was different. It was almost spiritual in a way.

Ludo tied the animal’s feet together and hoisted it on his back, splattering blood on himself. He’d need to bathe in the river once they were finished. “Time to go home. We shall eat well tonight.”

Terry beat his chest, a sign of agreement.

Together, they left and found the road—the same one Terry had discovered while wandering aimlessly alone several months ago. They followed it towards the valley.

“Ludo,” said Terry, after they had gone a short distance.

Ludo gripped the leg of the dead animal around his neck, repositioning it. “Terry.”

“I wanted to ask if I could meditate with you and Talo tonight.”

“Truly?” he asked, wide-eyed and smiling.

“Yes, if you don’t mind.”

Still grinning, Ludo beat his chest. “I am honored.”

Terry didn’t join them often for the meditations, but he enjoyed the occasional session. He found them relaxing, and the more he practiced, the better he became at calming his mind.

As they neared the edge of the woods, Ludo stopped in his tracks, his eyes distant and focused. His nostrils flared, and he licked the air, something he’d done many times when they were out tracking an animal.

“What is it?” asked Terry.

Ludo didn’t answer. He only stood there, facing the direction of the farm, his eyes empty and distant. He was listening to something far away.

Terry closed his eyes and did the same, focusing his attention towards Ludo’s home. He heard some crackling sounds, followed by laughing. But not from Talo or Ysa. No, the voices were too deep and masculine.

Ludo dropped the carcass from his shoulders. “Danger,” he said before looking at Terry. “We must go!” Suddenly and without warning, Ludo exploded into a dash through the woods.

Terry followed after him, trying his best to match his speed, but never managing to catch up. “What’s going on?” he yelled, calling after his friend.

But there was no answer.

A moment later, the two of them broke through the tree line and into the wide valley. In the distance, like a beacon in the field, a stack of gray smoke rose steadily from a burning farmhouse, the rising cloud blending with the red sky.

******

Terry arrived shortly after Ludo, but the fight had already begun. The farmer had three men surrounding him, each of whom Terry recognized. They were the same individuals he’d met in the woods on his way to Ludo’s farm.

Red aimed his gun at Ludo. “Give us the woman,” he said. “You do not have to die today, traitor.”

“He is too afraid to speak,” said Scar.

Ludo responded by stomping the ground. “This is not your land. Leave here at once!”

Terry rushed the strangers, coming up behind Scar, unleashing one of his knives. But the man turned to see him, lifting his rifle, and deflecting Terry to his side and knocking the blade into the grass. “Look!” Scar shouted to the others. “The foreigner is here, too!”

Their eyes fell on Terry as he tumbled into the grass, righting himself in the process. “Take him if you can,” said Red. “But our priority is the priestess. Do not forget!”

Charlie kept his rifle on Ludo while Red and Scar charged at Terry, stopping a few meters from him with their guns raised.

Terry dove forward between them, clutching one of the rifles and swinging it free, smacking the other’s gun as he fired. The shot missed, hitting the dirt behind him. With both of his hands on the barrel, Terry hit Scar in the face with the gun, causing him to stumble and almost let go.

Ludo grappled with the man with the black hair, each of them fighting over the rifle above their heads. Ludo seemed to be handling himself, but there was no reason to wait and see how things played out. The last thing Ysa and Talo needed was for Ludo to get himself killed.

Red and Scar tackled Terry together, knocking him down. As his back hit the ground, he pressed his boots into both of their guts and kicked them away. The two men flew several meters to each side, and Terry launched himself to his feet. As Scar hit the dirt, he finally released the rifle, flinging it into the window of the farmhouse, shattering the glass and releasing a cloud of smoke.

With both men still on their backs, Terry dashed at Red, leaping high and crashing down on his chest with both his knees. Several of the man’s bones snapped and he let out a mad shriek. Still clasping the gun, Terry slammed the butt of the rifle into the man’s face, breaking his nose. Blood gushed as he screamed.

“Stop him!” cried Red.

Before anyone could respond, the door to the house exploded open, shattering to pieces and knocking Terry down.

From the depths of the fire, the man with the purple eyes came flying through the air on his back. The old man twisted so his feet hit the ground first, and he rolled. A second later, he was standing, breathing steadily and waiting.

A loud cry came from inside the house, high-pitched and terrible. A gray cloud burst out of the doorway, and a figure stepped forward, small flames covering her clothes. It was Ysa, holding a staff in her hands and marching toward the purple-eyed man.

Terry gasped as he saw the flames on her body. She didn’t seem to notice or care. He ran toward her, hoping to put the fire out, but one of the men tackled him, wrestling him to the ground.

Ysa raised her bo staff at the old man and charged, but he did not flinch. Instead, he held his arm up and touched her bo with his palm, flicking it aside. She slid her hand under his arm and stabbed him in the stomach with her fingers. He exhaled slightly and moved beside her, kicking her in the back of the knee and knocking her down. As she rolled, pieces of her burning clothes fell away, revealing her naked flesh.