Unity and Destiny Pt. 03

The group was humming together, Nicola's voice in the center. And Esther realized that Unity's glowing connections stretched well beyond this group. They curled against the edges of the ancient place's geometry, and stretched farther, beyond Esther's ability to follow. To other Chosen? To the vast unknown regions of otherspace? She couldn't tell.

She began to sense the images and feelings the others groped towards. Disjointed and fuzzy scenes like in the canyon, punctuated by moments of clarity. These were mostly familiar to the others, though only a few like Diana could see clearly, and without immersing herself in Unity, Esther was limited to what the Chosen perceived. A childbirth ceremony, the dedication of the lodge. Familiar, beloved events now in the past. But other scenes briefly flashed past, not all of them familiar to the group. The network of connections deep into otherspace pulsed, and Esther understood the group was seeing parts of the distant world as Esther could. But only in brief instants, and most of it meant nothing to them without Esther's context. Some scenes Esther could make no sense of herself.

As time passed, she began to touch Nicola's senses more and more closely, replacing the strands of Unity with a more intimate connection to herself. She could feel Nicola's confusion, her struggle to understand, and her growing arousal. It was such a delicate thing, and Esther didn't know if it would work.

The minutes passed, and she sensed the anticipation and fear of the group as they felt what was coming. Unity was a sacred ceremony for these people, and Esther was about to pollute it with fabrications. It felt like a sacrilege, but it was the best she could manage. Esther needed to let them see all of it before she interfered, so that she could be as convincing as possible. And she shared their terrible need to understand what these visions meant.

The first bleak view of San Francisco struck her like a hammer. She'd sat with Javier once up in Marin, a lifetime ago, gazing down at the city he found so beautiful, and she'd understood. This dark view was from a similar vantage, and it was all too realistic. The darkness stretched south of the city, down the Peninsula, though she couldn't change her perspective to see farther. The refinery burned somewhere out of sight to her left, lighting the entire opposite shore with a sickly yellow flickering. Nothing about it felt invented, but she couldn't sense where the vision came from. Unity's connections disappeared into the distance, and if she chased them too far she would miss her chance here. Or she might not come back. Now she found herself pulling close to Nicola, anchoring herself to her friend even as she tried to separate Nicola from the others.

She saw everything that Javier had relayed, but with the vivid detail of direct experience. She could smell the cool, damp, ash-filled air of that night. Feel the warmth of the sun and the rumble of the jets overhead. There were other scenes as well, fuzzy glimpses of destruction she couldn't make sense of. A massive plane, flying far too close to a building. Rubble and dead bodies, a long section of elevated highway collapsed on its side like an accordion. Probably the aftermath of an earthquake. But most focused on the future of this colony, the sense of desolation and coming together against the horrors of the outside. And then she sensed it was time.

A rubble-strewn street, some place perhaps in Mexico. A building half-collapsed, people screaming and crying on the streets. And then a single small man, staggering out of the building, carrying a woman and two children on his back. Cries of disbelief on the street, even as the man disappeared back into the building.

Waves of shock and curiosity emanated from the others as they processed this new vision. And just as suddenly they were jolted into a new scene. A pristine classroom, elementary school students each sitting in front of a huge flat computer screen, working on some collaborative puzzle and laughing with their neighbors. The teacher circulated with a small glass screen in her hand, encouraging the students. One of the boys had mismatched eyes, and a hint of a strange freckle showing on his neck. No one seemed to care.

More scenes, fuzzier but the gist clear enough. A world years in the future, people living their lives. Esther decided the point had been made, and she slipped towards the edge of the woods as the meditation ran its course. Nicola was walking with Javier now, and Mark stepped forward to take her in his arms. By the time the others fully roused, Esther was hidden completely in the woods, leaving Javier, Selena, Nicola, and Mark to face the Chosen. Esther quietly called Kat on the radio, telling her to signal Raj, who had driven much of the way to the gate once Selena had drawn away the road guards for Mark to ambush and disable.

"The Way does not belong to any of us," Selena repeated loudly. "We all see at most part of the world's truth. And even in your desperation, you have no right to impose your vision on others. None of us knows the full truth, and that means we must all be permitted to strive for harmony in our own ways. The choice you pretended to give Nicola and José was really no choice at all."

Esther could feel Diana searching frantically for any sign of her, and the confusion of the others as they tried to make sense of what had happened. There were more guards approaching from the other side of the lake, ones Mark hadn't disabled. Javier and Selena turned, Mark picked up the naked, exhausted Nicola, and they walked quickly towards the path to the road, trying to make their escape before they could be challenged.

"Was it all a lie, then?" Diana called after them, her anger barely controlled.

Javier turned, looking unhappy.

"No, of course not," he called. "May the harmony of the Way be with you."

* * *

Javier relaxed when he heard the sound of Raj's car. Mark kept slowing down, and Nicola was starting to beat at his chest in anguish. Diana and a few guards were following them at a cautious distance, and it could all go wrong if Diana realized how difficult this escape was becoming. Esther was sneaking alongside in the woods, doing what she could to make it easier, but it was obviously barely enough.

"It's OK, Nicola," he said, brushing her hair before he noticed the hostile look Mark gave him. "Just a little further. No, Mark, keep going. She doesn't really want to go back. You don't either."

Selena had her lips pressed tightly, her eyes fixed ahead. And finally Raj pulled up and turned around in a cloud of dust. Javier opened the passenger door for Selena, who climbed in mechanically and belted herself in. Then he cajoled Mark into setting down Nicola in the back seat, giving a last shove to Mark to get him in before closing the door and running around to hop in his side.

Nicola was crying and squirming distractingly against him as he leaned over to belt Mark in first, and then Nicola, trying not to think about her naked skin under his hands, the way his fingers brushed accidentally through her pubic hair. Raj saw they were as ready as they could be, and he slammed his foot on the gas.

"No!" Nicola screamed, and she struggled, but thankfully she didn't seem to understand the seat belt. Mark was equally flummoxed, though Javier winced when he smashed his elbow against the window, hard enough to crack the glass.

"I'm OK now," Selena gasped from the front after a bit. "God, my head."

The other two stopped struggling as well, and eventually Mark grunted and turned to put his arm around Nicola, trying to console her. Javier found a thin blanket under his seat and folded it over Nicola so they wouldn't get pulled over by the police. He looked weird enough in the green robe he'd accidentally stolen. Well, hopefully the Chosen wouldn't find any more opportunity for this color.

The radio buzzed and Esther's quiet voice reassured him.

"Still — — can make it. See you soon——"

He wished they could have taken her as well, but she couldn't have stayed invisible from Diana if she'd popped onto the road. If she got stuck on her way back to the truck, only Javier could get her out, and now they were moving away from her at high speed. He felt a strong burst of Morse signal from her, reinforcing her message, and he tried to relax. She would be moving slowly, of course, but only because she was so tired. All of them were.

Nicola didn't stop crying for at least twenty minutes. And she kept trying to reach for Javier.

* * *

Esther moved as quickly as she could, costume stowed again in Mark's pack. Diana had retreated when the others escaped, and now she was directing a group on a systematic search. The escape must have looked horribly pathetic in Diana's eyes, raising her suspicions. She obviously didn't buy Esther's disappearing act, and why would she? It was the same kind of theater Diana understood herself.

Esther knew she could stay hidden, but she was more concerned about the truck. Eventually someone would range far enough to find it, sooner if they considered the possibility of a second vehicle. The truck was in too obvious a spot. But there wasn't anywhere closer Esther could meet it, so all she could do was keep hurrying and try to nudge attention away from that direction.

"Still OK," she gasped into her radio to Kat. "Another half hour."

Nicola was suffering. Esther's influence had been enough to get her away from the Chosen, but healing would take time, and maybe more than that. Selena was right: this place shouldn't exist. That was impractical, but at least they couldn't be allowed to take anyone else. Esther didn't know if she could add that to her responsibilities, but who else would be able to do it?

When she finally neared the truck, she was utterly exhausted and starved. She'd already eaten the snacks in Mark's pack, and all she could think of was bananas and a loaf of bread, waiting in the car. That and Javier.

"Go," she said weakly to Kat, shoving herself into the back seat. Grace came back to join her, and then Kat started the truck. Esther did what she could to reduce the noise, but she suspected the closest guards might have heard it. Well, so be it. They were getting out of here.

"You did it," said Grace, tearing off chunks of bread to feed to her. "You got them out of there. Hardly anyone even hurt. We won, Esther."

She nodded vaguely, feeling herself sliding towards sleep. "Thanks to your idea, Grace," she mumbled. Esther had to hold on to this victory, so she didn't have to think about the other things. "All of you. Love you all."

"And we love you," she heard from somewhere, but maybe she imagined it. She was so tired, but her mind did the necessary preparation before her awareness lowered. Esther would keep Watch through her sleep as always. Her family would stay safe.