Unity and Destiny Pt. 03

"That's right, put down the tools," the woman said. "Stand up slowly. Don't do anything foolish. I believe you can guess how fast I am. We're not here to hurt you, and indeed we will eventually release you if you insist. But first we will take you away so you may learn the way of the Chosen."

Javier shook his head angrily, but he wasn't foolish enough to argue. Nicola was holding precisely still, obviously still looking for a way out. But there wasn't one.

"Where is Mark?" the man asked. "They said he should be with Nicola. Mark is the most powerful one."

Javier and Nicola stayed silent.

"I will look," said the woman.

In a panic, Esther pulled Mark tightly to herself, drawing in his own senses to hers, wrapping them both in the tightest quiet space she could manage. Mark stiffened with the sudden intimacy, but he understood what she was doing.

After a few seconds the woman shook her head, and Esther let out her breath slowly, but she kept herself still against Mark, her heartbeat matching perfectly with Mark's more powerful one.

"Nowhere near," the woman said. "Perhaps he's still at that camp, wherever it is. You still think you can find it?"

The man shook his head. "It wasn't where he thought it was. And there are many, many dirt roads back there. It would take forever to check them all."

The woman sighed. "When Nicola comes to understand, she will tell us where to find him, and she will convince him to join us. We must have patience, Samuel."

"Yes, mother. But we should warn the others to watch for him."

The woman nodded, and then gestured to Samuel. He carefully lowered the gun, putting it on the ground well behind him, then pulled something from his jacket pocket. A hypodermic needle in a plastic case. Esther closed her eyes and tried to think what she could do, but there was nothing. She couldn't count on distracting that woman long enough to make a difference. Even now she could barely sense her. Mark was fast, but the woman could shoot him just the same.

"Don't be alarmed," Samuel said. "It's an anesthetic, for all of our safety. Less chance of someone getting shot along the way. Heed what my mother said. We allow people to make choices, even if that means rejecting the Way. But it must be an informed choice."

With that he grabbed Nicola's arm. She instantly kneed him in the groin and shouldered into him, sending him sprawling as she turned to lunge for the gun. Esther had anticipated the move, hoping to help, but the older woman was far too fast. In a blink she had Nicola in a chokehold, her gun trained on Javier.

"No," she said softly, as Nicola gasped for air and pried desperately at her grip. "No more of that. I will try not to kill you if you persist, but that is my son you hurt."

Something in her tone caused Nicola to fall still, and the woman eased her hold slightly. Samuel retrieved the needle case and stood up with grunt, moving towards Nicola.

Finally Nicola lifted her arm weakly. She grimaced when the needle went in, and then the older woman forced her towards Javier. Quickly Samuel pulled out a second needle for Javier, and then they hurried both of them across the parking lot, loading the pair into the back of a van. Already the drug was taking effect, and Esther could feel the two fighting to stay awake.

The van started, and Esther pulled Mark to hide behind a car. Then the others were gone, driving into the distance. Esther could easily feel Nicola and Javier, their breath stilling into a drugged sleep, and she could sense Samuel driving the van.

The mystery woman had disappeared altogether from her senses.

* * *

"We have to save them," Mark said angrily as they hurried to the car. "You should have let me try, Esther. We can't let them hurt Nicola."

"Maybe I should have," said Esther, starting the car. "I'm so sorry, Mark. But I didn't sense that woman, and that terrified me. And she had a gun. It won't be difficult to follow them, and we can talk about how to rescue them."

Esther was concentrating carefully to conceal the car as she drove, but she spared some attention for Mark. He was breathing deeply, doing the exercises he needed to control his temper. And in a minute, he was still again. Centered. He was already much better at this than he'd been when she first met him. And still, Esther had treated him like a child, or an animal. She swallowed the bile in her throat.

"Mark, I should never have restrained you with my abilities. It was a panicked reflex, but that is no excuse. I won't ever do it again."

"I understand why you did it," said Mark. "I think you were right. Sometimes I move too quickly, without considering consequences. It is something Abuela always warned me against. I trust you, Esther. What you did with your abilities is no different from what I might do, if I had to. If Nicola was about to do something foolish. You should do what you think best, even if it angers me briefly."

Esther shook her head. Mark had a point, she supposed, but taking control of another's senses was something very different from grasping their arm. It was far too reminiscent of what Franklin had done.

She needed to change the subject. "What were you able to sense of that woman?"

"She was strange," Mark said. "Like you, but quiet in a different way. I still might have found her if I'd been looking, just like I often can with you. But maybe not."

Esther had quickly probed otherspace during the van's closest approach. Now she mulled over her impressions.

"I think I could find her," said Esther. "Now that I see what she's doing. The hole she left should have been noticeable. But I've never looked for anything like that. Mark, how dangerous do you think she is physically?"

"I don't know. She was so hard to sense. But when she fought, she moved extremely fast." He leaned back in frustration.

"We'll find them," Esther said. "The drug will make it hard to rescue them. But when it wears off, we will get them. That woman can't guard them forever, and I can't imagine there are many like her. They expected to grab both you and Nicola, and they seem to know what you're capable of. They would have sent their best."

Esther drove onward, following many miles behind, hoping it was a safe distance. Shortly Mark fell asleep. It was logical, of course, and he was always able to sleep when he needed. But without even his silent company, Esther's mind began to race. What would the Chosen do with Javier? They'd barely seemed interested in him, and that seemed dangerous. Why were they so convinced that Nicola would want to join?

And could they truly be willing to let them go? That didn't make sense. Except it did, horribly. If they could do what Abuela had done, making people forget—

It didn't matter. They would rescue them first.

They were going north and west. When they reached I-5, Esther pulled off for gas, and she made the best of the sorry selection of snacks. Mark barely opened an eye when she returned. She wished he could drive, but even if he wanted a license, from the state's perspective he didn't really exist as a person. He'd never even told any of them his last name, and no one was about to go digging for a past he wanted left alone. Maybe they should get him some new ID, though. Javier would know how to do that.

She blinked. Her mind was wandering dangerously, and she was exhausted. The sky was brightening with dawn, and she turned on the radio, trying to stay alert. She settled on the first station that was playing Spanish songs, and she tried to imagine Javier singing along.

The van had finally turned off the highway ahead, towards the east. They were in Oregon now, and the massive volcanic cones of the southern Cascades loomed against the brighter sky, fresh early-season snowfall glinting at the peaks. It was beautiful in a way unlike even the Sierras she'd grown to love. She felt drawn forward, in the direction the van had turned. Safely behind them, she followed on the minor road.

Twenty minutes later, she screeched to a halt, trying to slow her breathing.

It wasn't the general beauty of the place that was drawing her ahead. This was a sickening, familiar feeling.

"What's wrong?" Mark asked.

"You can't feel it yet? There's a place far ahead, like the canyon. Mark, I can't go in there. Neither of us can."

Mark considered that. "You are affected more strongly than me. Do you think you could get closer?"

She nodded slowly. "But I might not know when I've gone too far."

"But I will," Mark said. "Or soon after. I will keep watching you, and I will stop us. I can turn around and drive back a while if I need to."

Esther nodded. It was reasonable enough, and of course Mark could easily overpower her. But what more would they learn by doing that? She would find it increasingly hard to concentrate as they went.

"I have another idea," she said. "We stay here, and I wait until they arrive. And then I very carefully reach out to find what I can about this place. Having Nicola and Javier there will help keep me focused. Then we think about what we can do, or we turn around and get help."

Mark nodded, and they settled in to wait.

The pull wasn't really so terrible from here. It was just the shock of recognition, like a punch to her gut. She breathed into a calming meditation, and then carefully opened her eyes to otherspace.

Nicola and Javier were moving slowly now, the van creeping along a bad dirt road. The van stopped while two armed men opened a gate, and then continued on. They were heading around the flank of one of the old volcanoes, and she vaguely sensed a small body of water ahead of them. The pull was centered near that small lake. Disorienting shapes and colors surrounded it in otherspace, something like the cage she'd sensed in the canyon, but here it was less concentrated. The pull was steadily weaker the farther she roamed into otherspace. Whether it was the distance from her own body's senses or simply seeing the confusing structure laid bare, it was more tolerable this way. But she wouldn't fool herself into thinking she could simply walk in and then walk back out. Still, Samuel and his mother had presumably done exactly that, just as the dreamers in the canyon had. There were puzzles here.

The van stopped and two other men arrived to meet it. They helped carry her two unconscious friends down a short path to the water, and then along the shore. Their destination was a building with a beautiful swooping front facing the pond and the great volcano beyond. Inside were perhaps twenty individuals, scattered among a number of rooms. She tried to sense finer details, but it was exhausting to probe inside the strange geometry. She distantly sensed as Javier and Nicola were dropped onto beds in an empty room near the back, and then her vision wavered.

Esther blinked and took a deep breath, pulling herself carefully out of otherspace. She still needed to be careful about that. Sometimes it felt as if she could lose herself in there, the way Abuela seemed to lose herself in her map near her last days.

She was starved. Mark had opened the snacks, and she shoved salty potato chips in her mouth, licking her fingers.

Esther wiped her hands and grasped Mark's arm.

"We'll get them," she said. "But we can't do this alone. At least not yet. They promised they wouldn't hurt them, and that they'd eventually be allowed to go if they wanted. I think they were telling the truth."

Mark shook his head. "What if there's someone like Franklin there? What if they can convince them to stay? And Nicola won't be able to leave even if she wants. I don't like this, Esther. I know we can't go right in, but I don't want to leave them."

Esther sighed and leaned to give him a hug. There was nothing else to say. If there was someone like Franklin, she would have to beat them. The woman hadn't shown any such powers, but the fact she'd hidden herself so effectively wasn't a good sign.

"Come on, Mark," she said. "I'll drive us away from here, and then I'll find a phone and we'll get everyone together at my house. Jacob, Raj, Kat, Selena, even Lukas if we have to. We'll get them back."

* * *

Javier groaned and tried to open his eyes. The world was turning sickeningly underneath him, and he flailed, trying to find something to hold on to. His arm struck warm flesh.

"Stay still, José. It's the drugs. They'll wear off eventually."

He wanted to hold on to Nicola, but she was sliding away with everything else. Then he felt her leaning onto him, holding him still with her weight.

He turned his head to the side, nearly retching. But his vision was clearing, and he groaned as he remembered what had happened.

"Where are we?"

"Locked up in a room," Nicola said. "It's not too bad, actually. Smells like pine trees. Maybe they didn't take us too far."

Javier turned his head and saw Nicola's face not far from his. She smiled slightly. Her body had fought off the drugs better than his, obviously. But the room wasn't spinning so much anymore. She patted him on the shoulder and got up, returning with a plastic cup of water.

"We've even got our own bathroom," she said. "Indoor plumbing. What will they think of next?"

He levered himself up partway, gratefully accepting the water. He was on a narrow bed, one of three in the room. It was pretty sparse aside from a few other pieces of furniture. The walls were plaster, but the rafters were thick logs, and the door looked very solid. There was a single set of windows high in the back, too small to get out even if they opened. Sunlight lit the room.

Nicola sat next to him, and Javier carefully handed her the water, lying back with a groan. "How long have you been up?"

"About an hour. I felt about as bad as you look now, so I don't think you've got too long. And before you ask, no, I can't break down that door. Or the walls. We're stuck here for the moment. But it was like they promised. They haven't hurt us. I guess we'll just have to listen to their recruitment speech, right? Maybe it'll be convincing. God knows I could use a cause again."

Javier squinted at her, but even in this state he could work out what she was getting at. Play along. They might be listening. That would be trivial if they had anyone sensitive around, and whoever that woman was—

He groaned. He couldn't understand what had happened to Esther and Mark. He'd felt the warning from Esther, and then before they could do anything, the woman was there. She must be unbelievably fast, but from what their captors said they hadn't known about Esther or Mark. So their friends had hidden successfully, and now they'd already be working to spring him and Nicola. The thought made him feel better.

But that meant the woman had somehow snuck past Esther, up to the last minute, which was an unnerving thought. And he couldn't discuss any of this with Nicola, not safely. She must have already thought it all through. With a grunt, he got himself partway up again. Easier this time.

Nicola was eating a banana of all things. She smiled at his expression and gestured to a modest pile of fruit and bagels on a table across the room.

"See? Every need taken care of. You up for food?"

After a bagel he felt steady enough for a trip to the restroom. Generic, modern. No real clues about where they were aside from Nicola's comment about the pine. He could faintly smell it, but maybe that was just the exposed logs.

When he returned, he sat next to Nicola again. To his shock, she put her arms around him and gave him a serious kiss on the lips, one that he returned awkwardly. Was she playacting? She must be. His lips kept tingling when she pulled away.

Nicola sighed and cupped his head with her hands, then leaned to kiss him firmly above his ear.

<< Can you hear me? Don't speak. Twitch your left hand if you understand. >>

Her voice was painfully high-pitched, an alien buzzing in his skull. Quickly he twitched his hand.

<< I'm pretty sure they can't hear this. I didn't know if it would work. Do you understand what I'm doing? My plan, I mean? Left hand, yes, right hand, no. >>

She was using her voice somehow to vibrate his skull directly, like putting a tuning fork on your temple. It was brilliant, really. But he had no idea what she was planning to do. He signaled as much.

<< They want me, and they want Mark. They don't want you. That makes me nervous, so I'm going to make it obvious you're someone very important to me. Which you are. As a bonus, maybe it reduces their expectation of using me to get Mark. Now, it might mean they try to separate us and use us against each other, but somehow that doesn't seem like their play. They seem like religious fanatics or something. Believe they're in the right. That means what they want most of all is for us to believe as well. Better to let them think they have a chance, with both of us. >>

He'd figured out the last part himself. He twitched a yes to show he understood.

Nicola got up and refilled the water. When she returned, she sat up against the wall.

"Here, sweetie. Just lie against me until you don't want to throw up. I promise it'll be soon enough."

Awkwardly, he lay back against her, his head resting comfortably against her breasts. But of course she'd want to keep talking. Embarrassed, he shifted higher, until Nicola sighed and rested her lips against the back of his head.

<< I want you to try something. Pretend you're saying a couple words, but don't actually make noise. Don't move your mouth, or try not to. Just your tongue and throat. I want to see if I can still make out what you're saying. >>

Javier thought, and then he tried as she suggested. It was harder than he'd expected.

<< If I'm the ventriloquist, what does that make you? >>

After a pause, Nicola made a very small sound, covering it up in his hair.

<< Cute, Javier. I see why Esther keeps you around. Clearly you've got a dexterous enough tongue. Christ, sorry, I'm nervous as hell. So I know more than I said. I woke up a bit when they carried us in here. We're in a building that looked like a big resort lodge. There's a little pond, some hills blocking the view except for a single giant snow-capped mountain rising in the distance. But the trees are pretty familiar. I think we're in Oregon. And given where the sun is, the driving time matches up. >>

Javier was almost enjoying this strange way to talk. << Great. That means Esther and Mark would have followed us easily. I bet Esther will get in touch soon, the way we practiced. >>

After Esther's misadventure, they'd worked out a way to signal: good old Morse code. Esther could sometimes send more than that. But images or words weren't entirely reliable, while the sharp pulses she could send were. Javier had memorized Morse code in elementary school, and though Nicola had rolled her eyes, she'd picked it up perfectly in two minutes.

<< Javier, here's the bad news. Wherever we are, it has a power like that awful canyon. I can feel the way it's pressing in on me, and there's little chance I could leave this place on my own. That means Esther and Mark will know they can't come in, either. Worse, we don't really know if Esther will be able to signal us, or if it's safe for her to try. >>

<< I have a feeling she'll try, safe or not. So we'd better be listening. But for me it's like last time: I can't feel anything special. So, we steal a car, I tie you up, and then drive out at top speed? >>

<< That's about how far I got >>, Nicola said. Until then we play along and look for our chance. You brought your fake ID along, didn't you? We'll go with that if they ask. >>