Tundra 37 (34 page)

“What?”

“Us.”

Gemme almost melted onto the chrome floor on the spot. Her knees weakened and she struggled to keep the chest level. “I’m glad that hasn’t changed.”

“So am I.”

As much as she feared the chest, its powers had brought her and Brentwood together like nothing else could, and she couldn’t deny the visions it presented them. Even now she wondered just how far back in time their previous lives stretched. Did they exist in the medieval era? At the rise of the Roman Empire? The roped holding the chest loosened and a sliver of green caught her eye underneath the lid. If only she could peek in and see what the crystal was trying to tell her.

“We’re almost here.”

Brentwood’s voice roused her from her trance and she yanked her head up. They stood in front of an elevator shaft.

“This will take us right to the main control deck.” He studied her passionately. “Are you ready?”

Embarrassed by her sudden urge to look inside, Gemme wanted to ditch the chest as soon as possible. “More than ready.”

“Let’s finish this.” He elbowed the panel, but the screen remained black. Gemme’s heart crawled into her throat while they waited. “They must have cut the power to the elevators.”

“I’m not lugging this up ten flights of stairs.”

Just as Brentwood spoke, the portal dematerialized, and the elevator panel set to deck sixty-seven. Gemme stumbled back and almost dropped the chest. She whispered under her breath, “They know we’re here.”

Brentwood shrugged as if he wouldn’t let the Seers ubiquitous powers scare him. “Guess that solves that problem.”

They stepped onto the platform and the elevator rose to the command center at the helm, ushering them so quickly, Gemme could feel the pull of gravity weighing her down. Misgivings nagged her. She never thought she’d have to see the Seers, never mind confront them. “What do they look like?”

Brentwood tapped his toe while the elevator brought them up. “Wires, machines, and missing parts.” His shoulders moved as if a chill crept across them. “Be prepared.”

She didn’t know if anything could prepare her for this moment.

The elevator beeped, and the portal dematerialized into a dark corridor lit only by sparks from frayed wires. They stepped carefully over the debris from the crash.

“Nothing’s changed since I was last here.” Brentwood kicked part of the ceiling panels out of their way. “Either they haven’t allowed anyone up since, or no one’s overseeing the operations.”

“We need this ship running, Gemme.” He gave her a serious look as if to warn her about the fragility of the Seers, and how important they were. She knew the risks they took in bringing the chest, but Brentwood was right about determining their motives. She’d rather piece the parts of the ship together herself than have two crazy twins at the helm.

“I’ll do everything in my power to uphold that.” Gemme kept her reply general. She didn’t want to speak so openly about their intentions. Who knew what the Seers heard?

The portal dematerialized to the main control chamber as they approached and cool, regulated air flowed out, chilling Gemme’s cheeks. Wires hung from the ceiling like dead foliage in a forgotten forest, and she ducked to avoid their broken ends. Some of the loose cables brushed her head and shoulders as they parted their way into the dark room, sending shivers down her neck. She stumbled over a pile of debris. The chest pitched, but Brentwood held it up as she regained her footing.

The glow from the orb on the floor illuminated the main sight panel ahead of them. Thick snow piled up against the glass, covering the helm. The ship must have crashed head first into a snow mound. She wondered how long it would take to shovel themselves out and reminded herself it wasn’t necessary. The
Expedition
would never fly again.

“Place it down here.” Brentwood instructed. They crouched low to the floor before setting the crystal chest down as gently as they would a baby’s cradle.

Rustling came from the ceiling behind her. Gemme craned her neck and stumbled back, falling over the chest onto her butt. Two fragments of human beings hung in suspension, like two giant spiders with eight thousand long wiry legs.

Leave us.
The skeletal face on the left jerked up, two blind eyes lolling. Although her lips didn’t move, Gemme heard her voice clearly in her head. She looked to the other one, but her torso was rigid as a robot. The other twin had one dark eye that looked almost normal, and in it Gemme saw a tremendous amount of fear and pain.

How could the biologists leave them like this?

Brentwood gave her a reassuring nod as he offered his hand to help her on her feet. Gemme grabbed his hand and forced herself to keep her ground beside him.

He spoke up. “No, we stay.”

The blind one tilted her head.
You would disobey us?

“I’m here to protect you.” Brentwood’s voice was firm. “This chest holds the past; it sucks you right in and tempts you to stay until you forget everything going on in the real world. It’s not safe, and I suggest we destroy it.”

No!
Her voice roared in their heads. Gemme’s hands shot up and she squeezed her palms over her ears.

Leave the chest with us.

Brentwood’s hand hovered over his laser. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Wires rustled behind them like mice scurried underneath the chrome floor. Gemme whirled around as a thick cord poked through the metal grating at her feet.

Brentwood shouted, “Look out!”

She kicked at the cord as it extended toward her and climbed up her leg, coiling around her calf.

“Miles! Help!” She screamed as it pulled her to the floor. Brentwood fell beside her, wires and cables winding around his arms and legs. Her fingers dug around the coil to yank it off just as a cable shot out from the wall and wrapped around her wrist. A plastic tube, thick as her arm snuck up behind her, slipping along her neck.

Gemme struggled to breathe. The tube would so tightly, any movement would choke her. Brentwood grunted beside her as he struggled against the restraints holding him down.

Her heart squeezed to see him debilitated. “Are you okay?”

His eyes were bright with adrenaline. “Can you reach my laser?”

A wire held her hand inches away. She wiggled her fingers. Her pointer grazed the cold surface of the holster. “I almost have it.”

A cable shot up, wrapped around the barrel, and dragged his laser into the bowels of the ship.

“So much for that.” The muscles in his face strained as he fought to find a way out.

The blind Seer lowered herself to the floor. One by one, the wires connecting her to the ceiling broke loose. Gemme’s heart pounded. Would she come over and suffocate her with the tube?

The Seer glanced once in her direction, blind eyes intense, and using the wires and cables, slithered toward the chest.

Bysme, please. Please don’t go.
This voice sounded different, deeper. Gemme saw the other Seer blink her one good eye. A tear trailed down her pasty cheek.

Why didn’t she do something? Gemme wanted to shout at Mestasis to stop her twin, but then she saw what was happening. The Seer’s body was rigid because the tube running into her spine had been pulled halfway out, pink liquid dripping to the floor.

You’ve kept me here long enough, Metsy. I’ve always done what you wanted us to do, and what’s it gotten us? Trapped in the same room for hundreds of years, waiting for a planet we’ll never be able to enjoy. Don’t you get it? Once we reached Paradise 18, we’d be done for. The ship would be abandoned and we’d be left to die. I want out, and this chest will let me live my life all over again.

Gemme wondered how she could hear their mindspeak. At this point, the Seers must be shouting so loud to one another that they didn’t care.

What about the people we swore to protect?

I’m done living for others. It’s time I lived for myself.
Her voice dripped bitterness.

Mestasis twitched, trying to move without the body fluid to enable her atrophied muscles. A joint in her neck snapped as she turned her head to her sister.
You steered the ship into the comet shower, didn’t you? You wanted to land here, all for the chest.

Abysme dragged herself forward, unhindered by the accusation.
I’ve been planning it for years. Ever since we found the orb. I’m not going to let you or anyone stop me.

You’ve gone crazy, Bysme. Let me go. Let us help you.

Abysme approached her sister and the loose wires around her torso wound around the links keeping Mestasis in place. One by one, she yanked them out, disconnecting her sister from the system. Each broken connect racked her sister’s body with a shudder.
You will join me. I’m in charge of our futures now, and we’re going into the chest.

Stop! If you do this, we’ll both die.

The ship’s shot to hell. We’ll die anyway. Why not pass on in the comfort of our mother’s arms?

Mestasis yelled, her eye burning with intensity.
I gave up James for you, for us to have a safe life together.
Pain filled her voice, making it quiver. If Gemme weren’t tied down, she’d run to comfort her. She looked to Brentwood, but he busied himself squirming in his restraints to find a weakness.

And now you can see him again.

He’s not in there, Bysme. No one is! They’re your own memories, pulled from the recesses of your mind. James, our mother, all the people in our past died hundreds of years ago. There’s no way to get them back.

They’re real to me.
Abysme yanked more wires loose.
You said you’ve always known what’s best for us. I stood by and let you make all the decisions, and I’ve had it with being passive while opportunities for true happiness passed us by. Now, I know what’s best. We’re going in.

Mestasis’s dark eye turned on Gemme, pleading with her to help. Gemme stared back at her and shook her head. Her sister was gone. She’d totally lost it. How could Gemme possibly right her sister’s wrong? Undo all of the death and devastation she’d caused? There was no way.

“We’ve got to do something,” Brentwood whispered as he struggled, his face turning red. “She’s going to kill them both. We need at least one of them at the helm.”

He was right. Mestasis hadn’t done anything wrong, and she could still help them save the ship. Lights flickered above them as the last twin disconnected from the system. Warning alarms wailed in the control chamber and down the hail, echoing one after the other. The ventilator above them shut off, the familiar buzz dying to complete silence.

Pushing her thumb into the palm of her hand, Gemme popped the digit out of her knuckle. She bit her lip as the streak of pain shot through her arm. Then she pulled her hand free.

Too distracted by disconnecting her sister, Abysme didn’t notice her escape. With her free hand, Gemme unwound the tube around her neck and pulled her legs from the coiled wires. She moved to help Brentwood, but he shook his head and flashed his eyes at the scene behind her.

Gemme whirled around. Abysme had disconnected Mestasis and dragged her limp body to the chest. Gemme threw herself across the floor and landed on top of her, the wires on the Seer’s back poking into her stomach like a porcupine’s quills.

Aaaaaah!
The Seer’s voice screamed in her head as Gemme wrapped her arms around her. The torso writhed beneath her, layers of old skin flaking away underneath her fingernails. Wires lunged at Gemme’s face trying to poke out her eyes, but she buried her head into the Seer’s back held on, stopping Abysme from reaching the chest’s light.

The reek of dead skin and decomposition gagged her. Gemme had feared the Seers since her childhood, hoping she’d never had to meet them face-to-face, and now she sprawled on top of one, the Seer’s thin wisps of gray hair tickling Gemme’s cheek as they wrestled. Everywhere on Gemme’s body, her skin crawled.

But she had greater problems than her worst fear come to life. The wires scratched at her back, tearing into her thermal coat. It would only be a matter of time before the frayed ends ripped through the outer layer to her skin. One look at Brentwood told her he wasn’t able to help. She took a chance and released an arm to swat the wires away.

There were too many to keep at bay, and they scratched her arms leaving thin ribbons of blood. Abysme squirmed out from underneath her, and Gemme lost her grip, her sweaty hands slipping down her back.

The Seer’s wires reached toward the light. Anger welled inside Gemme as she thought of all the people Abysme had inadvertently killed. People she’d sworn to protect. Now, the Seer wanted to run away, leaving them all here on this frozen, forgotten planet to pick up the pieces. Gemme grabbed her main spinal tube trailing behind her and yanked her back. “No you don’t, you selfish bitch.”

Abysme turned and hissed, white eyes wide as two moons.

“Gemme watch out!” Brentwood shouted, his voice hoarse with alarm.

The wires flew through the air, trying to pierce Gemme’s body. She ducked and caught one in her hand, inches from her throat just as another shot through her pants leg and grazed her calf.

Gemme collapsed to the floor in pain, but she wouldn’t release the tube. The Seer crawled toward her on her wire limbs. Gemme scurried back, favoring her leg. The blood ran in a streak across the chrome. Abysme gained on her, squirming up her legs to her chest.

Wincing, Gemme expected a wire to impale her or shoot through her gut, but the Seer stopped inches from her chin.

Abysme’s face contorted into sheer surprise, toothless mouth opening wide. She whirled around just as a wire moving against the rest plunged through the air above her and stabbed her in the back and through the heart, protruding out of her chest.

Gemme froze in shock and glanced behind Abysme to her sister. Mestasis lay on her back, head rolling to the side. The Seer’s voice resonated in her head.
You and Lieutenant Brentwood have the love that I once had. Don’t ever let it slip away.