Unity and Destiny Pt. 05

Selena let out a nervous laugh. "Well, at least there's an up-side for you then. And you would have to touch me?"

"Probably," said Esther. "Skin to skin. But we could try avoiding that."

Selena turned off the water and started to pace nervously. "No, I'll do it," she said finally. "Whatever you think will work fastest. Maybe in my sleeping spot? Though it's pretty cold."

"That won't bother me," said Esther. "If it's what makes you most comfortable."

Selena nodded and wiped her brow.

"The pain really is terrible," she admitted. "But I'm sure you know how hard this is. Give me five minutes, no more."

When the five minutes were up, Esther walked over to Selena's little spot tucked against a storage shed. It was extremely dark inside, as Selena hadn't wanted any windows. Esther could see just fine anyway, as Selena knew.

"You can squeeze in the bag with me," Selena said nervously. "Lucky you're small. Esther, no one can sense us, right? You're hiding us away?"

"Of course," she said. Not even Nicola would spy at a time like this, but Esther knew that wasn't the point. "I'm going to take off my shirt. Is that all right?"

Selena let out something like a hiccup. "Sure. Is that enough?"

"Yeah," Esther said, taking off her shoes and top layers. "You could leave your bra on."

"Esther," Selena said uncertainly. "I'm naked. You didn't know?"

"No," Esther said. "I sometimes slip up with other people, but I've always managed to avoid looking at you."

Selena digested that for a bit, then let out a long sigh.

"That is so sweet, Esther. Maybe that makes this harder for me. I always assumed you knew everything about my body without even meaning to."

"You can get more clothes on," Esther said.

"No, just get in the bag," Selena said. "I'm losing my nerve."

Esther slipped in as quickly as she could, barely touching Selena's back. The other woman was shivering, her skin frigid, so Esther used some energy to send a lot of warm blood to her own skin. As a bonus it stopped her nipples from being quite so pointy.

"God, you're warm," Selena said nervously.

"OK, I'm going to put one arm around you, on your stomach, and the other along your arm," she said. "Start one of your relaxing meditations and let your breath synch up with mine. OK?"

"OK," Selena said.

The older woman was thin and muscled, her stomach flat, her body all wiry strength. She was still shaking, but her breath synchronized with Esther's, and she felt Selena diving into the discipline she'd worked so hard on these last months. Such a short time, and Esther felt so close to her. She reached into otherspace, the shortest distance possible, and let her perspective drift just a bit. Selena gasped once, instinctively trying to escape from the intimacy, and so Esther waited.

When Selena finally held still, the pain hit Esther hard, even with all her preparation. Selena was right: she was functioning far better than she had any right to be with this amount of pain. Her life had prepared her to handle something like this. Well, Selena didn't need that burden any longer.

Quickly Esther found her shortcut, severing herself from the glowing strands of the vision while still holding herself aligned with Selena's glowing body. The relief was immediate, a burst of euphoria that sent blood rushing to all sorts of uncomfortable places in Esther's own body. She ignored it as best she could, and then she slid all the way inside Selena's senses.

It was a terrible intimacy to expect from Selena, but the other woman didn't pause her careful breathing. She was even shaking less than before. Carefully Esther tried to lead Selena in the right direction, but Selena was ignoring her, with an almost desperate concentration. Of course. It would take time.

Esther's body was doing all the things it had with Nicola, and from this position she couldn't really manage any of the tricks she sometimes used to control her arousal. She had to stay rooted in her own senses, and Selena's as well, no matter how distracting as it was.

Finally Selena began to understand her persistent nudging. She was quick to catch on from there, and before too long Esther felt the last connection to the vision break.

Selena gasped suddenly. "Out," she grunted, her body shaking, and Esther quickly pulled herself out of the bag, hastily getting her shoes on. Her own body was quivering with arousal and guilt.

"No, no, Esther, it's OK," Selena said before Esther could get out the door. "It was just that one moment. I'm all right. God, I'm better than all right. Can you stay a minute?"

Esther put on her shirt and knelt again, trying to steady her breathing.

"Esther," Selena finally said. "Just to be clear, I'm not attracted to women. Not even you."

"I understand," Esther said. "I'm sorry. It's just automatic—"

"Yes and no," Selena said, laughing nervously. "But it's all right. You did me a remarkable favor. And I lived. For the record, I think I felt more of your own senses than you expected. I'm starting to think I've underestimated what my abilities extend to."

"I've thought the same," Esther said. "But the most important thing was to get you more comfortable with the noise first."

"Well, the bad news is that's back," Selena said wryly. "Or it will be when you stop silencing it for me. But I'll take that problem."

There was a long silence.

"Anything else, Selena?"

Selena sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying it. Look, Esther, I try not to snoop, but it's hard not to notice that you and Javier seem, ah, rather open in your relationship."

Esther smiled, understanding. "Do you want me to ask him? I know he finds you attractive."

Selena coughed. "Ah, you jumped way ahead. I'm sorry, this is a foolish train of thought. Inappropriate, for sure."

"Maybe," Esther said. "But it's hard to imagine a sweeter, more gentle lover than Javier. Uh, when that's what I want."

Selena sighed. "You two deserve each other. I don't know how you've made it work with everything you've both gone through. Esther, I wasn't thinking about sex. I'm not sure what I was asking about. Thank you so much for relieving me of this pain. I should get dressed and go to sleep."

"What should I say to Javier?" Esther asked as she stood up.

"It was mostly an idle thought. Just say whatever you think you should, or nothing at all. I trust you."

* * *

There it was again, Esther thought as she approached her cabin. Trust. Everyone always so willing to trust her, just because of some genetic accident and the powers that felt more of a burden every day.

It was windy and beginning to snow again, so she had to stomp out her boots at the entryway. Grace and Kat were huddled together inside their nest on the floor, and they smiled at her when she came in. Under the blankets they were mostly naked, though that wasn't something Esther had meant to notice. She smiled back and turned off the light, undressing and slipping into Javier's arms.

"Success?" Javier asked softly.

"Yeah," she said. "Selena's a lot better off too."

She was exhausted, but she did her pre-bedtime check in otherspace, looking more carefully at the things her subconscious had gathered in the last few hours. Everything was still fine back at the farm house, and no one had stopped by. Geoff was working late. Javier's Mamá was asleep at home. There was something odd, though. She held still, letting her mind put together the pieces at its own pace.

The aircraft, twenty minutes ago while she was with Selena. A small plane, not uncommon out here. But unusual in weather this poor. She should have realized that. And when she thought back, she remembered another plane about two hours earlier, from a different direction. No, not another plane. Exactly the same engine. In fact, it had passed a third time as well, more distantly.

Carefully controlling her heart, she flung herself fully into otherspace. Quickly other details began to fit together. The strangers had been cautious, but she'd been a fool not to have caught it already.

"Get up," she mumbled, before she'd pulled herself properly from otherspace. "Up! Everyone! We've been found."

* * *

Javier crowded with the others in the dining cabin as Esther explained quickly.

"We don't have much time. The same plane overhead, three time. Maybe they have good sensing equipment, even in this weather. And there are vehicles, coming from both directions. Men with uniforms, weapons. FBI, I think. One not in uniform, a slightly sensitive woman. And military as well. Two military trucks, some—snowmobiles? And a truck carrying a heavy vehicle, something with treads?"

"A fucking tank?" Nicola said. "What? That must be a convoy. They're going over to Honey Lake or something, right? Not here, surely."

Esther shook her head. "No, maybe not a tank. But it has heavy weapons, and I think it could handle the snow easily. And I can make out a bit of conversation. They're talking about the access road. Targets."

"Into the truck, right away," said Javier. "Eight of us? Shit. We could squeeze in for a while. We have to make it to the turn—"

Esther paused, then shook her head. "No, there's another car I didn't think was with them, but it just made the turn. They have a radio, and one of them's looking at a topographic map. They'll get to the bottom of the hill before we can. I can't fool them all into missing it, not if they're all looking for it, not if the plane already located us."

"The back entrance," Raj said urgently. "That logging road's not on any maps. Is it still clear?"

Nicola frowned. "I haven't checked since two weeks before Christmas, before it snowed. We had to cut a couple trees then, and I didn't actually drive all the way down. It'll be tough no matter what in all this snow.

Esther had her eyes closed, and Javier knew she was deep in otherspace. Slowly people fell silent. Kat moved to the computer, quickly opening the case to remove the hard drive. Nicola began dumping food in a sack.

"The back way is clear enough, I think," she said. "It's so hard to know. No large trees down."

"How did they find us?" Kat asked.

"Doesn't matter," said Nicola. "We have to go. Everyone, get your warmest clothes and anything identifiable. Then into the truck and hope to God we can get out fast enough."

"Wait," Selena said. "No, it does matter. We might want to split up, or even some of us stay here to be caught and pretend ignorance. Esther, you were watching the farm house, weren't you?"

"Yes," she said. "No visitors. None to Raj's house, Geoff's apartment, or Kat's either."

Everyone paused, and then the implication struck.

"Myra Jackson," Javier said. "That snake. She sold us out. Told us to run, but she'd already tipped off whoever else was coming. She took note of the vehicles parked outside, and someone watched the roads closely enough to know where we were going."

"But why not just grab us in our houses, then?" Grace asked.

"Because they couldn't have found Mark that way," Selena said. "Or Nicola, but my money is on Mark. That's the way those military people's minds would work. Enough people knew how dangerous he could be, and now they can't afford to leave him loose. Jackson played us for fools. We ran to our safe house, leading them right to Mark."

"I will disappear," Mark said. "They would never catch me. I can live in the forest until it's safe, however long that is."

"No," Nicola said angrily. "No, you're not going back to that, Mark."

"I'll go with you," Selena said. "We'll escape on skis."

Mark shook his head. "They want me, and I'll be faster on my own."

"Yes," Selena agreed. "But we'll still be fast enough. And I'll take a phone, and Esther can send me messages in Morse code if that doesn't work. We need to stay connected, Mark."

Mark looked suddenly angry, in a way Javier hadn't seen for a long time. The beating that Mark had endured as a child had robbed him of his literacy, and much of his memory for details. He couldn't translate Esther's Morse code, nor could he really function on his own in the outside world, and he hated being reminded of that.

"She's right," said Esther, and Mark nodded his acceptance. "Now let's all get moving."

* * *

Mark reached down from the snowbank to grip Nicola's hand, and then he and Selena were off. Esther went to squeeze in back of the truck, but Javier forced her to sit up front with Nicola.

"No distractions," he said, getting in behind her and squeezing her shoulder. "Belt yourself in and help Nicola however you can."

Raj wound up crammed in the middle in back, with Grace on Kat's lap. But no one complained as Nicola jumped in and started the truck.

"That first car is definitely coming," Esther said. "And one of the cars with armed men has turned off highway 49 as well. Hard to imagine they'd be going anywhere else but here at this hour."

There was a tremendous lurch as Nicola hit the considerable snowpack covering the road out. But the truck climbed over, and soon they were bumping along at terrifying speed in the dark. Nicola was silent, all her effort going towards sensing the twisting road beyond her headlights.

"Small tree across the road ahead," Esther murmured. Nicola nodded, and the truck bumped right over it.

Javier rarely got carsick, but he was already feeling nauseous from the jolting of the truck, interspersed with terrifying slipping motions. But Nicola didn't slow, even when the truck's front bumper flung snow right up into the windshield.

"The car's stopped at the bottom," said Esther. "They're calling the others on the radio. Telling them to get ready for the snowy road."

Another minute passed, and then suddenly the truck slammed into a deep drift, skidded slightly, and stopped. Nicola reversed, but the wheels spun.

"Out!" she yelled, but Javier was already grabbing his folding shovel. They'd expected something like this, though not so soon.

Soon all four of them from the back seat were wading through snow to dig, with shovels and gloved hands. Kat was cursing softly, and Javier was simultaneously freezing and sweating from the effort. Then they got behind the truck, pushing with all their strength as Nicola rocked it back and forth, until it leaped ahead again. They staggered through the snow and squeezed back in, soaked and miserable.

Without a word Nicola gunned the truck forward. But she'd turned the heat up all the way, and Javier silently blessed her.

"Snowmobiles coming up," Esther said. "They're faster than we are, at least so far. And one of the big trucks is managing the road, too. They're unloading that treaded vehicle now, and a whole lot of soldiers are squeezing in. Military weapons."

"Goddamn," hissed Nicola.

"What the fuck are they preparing for? A war or something?" Kat said.

"Mark," said Nicola tensely. "God, I'm glad now he escaped. I don't know if we can."

"He'll really be OK out there?" Grace asked.

"Yeah," said Javier. "And with him Selena will be safe as well, as long as they need to hide. This was the best plan."

"Quiet," muttered Nicola.

A few minutes later they had to get the truck unstuck again, and Javier could practically feel their pursuers behind them. The snow was coming down heavily now, the wind swirling. Maybe it was enough to obscure the ski tracks, though certainly not enough to hide the immense ruts the truck left behind it. When they got back in, Javier pulled off his gloves and stuck his hands under his shirt, trying to feel his fingers.

"Roadblocks," said Esther. "They must suspect there's a back entrance. Police cars at the intersection of 49 and 89. More police coming."

"Jesus Christ," said Nicola. "Just tell me where to go. Left at the first intersection, assuming I even notice it?"

"Another half mile," Esther said after a while. "Yes, left. The first snowmobile's waiting below the parking area. On his radio now, telling the others we're gone. That he sees the track we left."

They jolted over another small downed tree. By the time they reached the turn, all the snowmobiles had reached the camp, along with the high-clearance truck and the heavily armed men.

"They're checking the camp," Esther said eventually. "Ten men, split in two groups. Checking each cabin, but not searching inside. Now they're moving to the smaller buildings. I don't think they noticed the ski tracks. Too much snow filled in."

"Thank God," said Nicola. "Though good luck catching that pair on skis."

The new road was no better than the previous one, but at least they'd stopped gaining elevation. The snowstorm was in full progress now, and Javier was amazed that Nicola was managing to keep on the road.

By their third effort to dig out the truck, they were clearly slowing down, and Nicola's exasperated yells weren't helping. Kat's cursing had become a kind of quiet mantra, and by the time they finally got it moving, Esther had bad news.

"Snowmobiles are following quickly," she said. "The truck couldn't make it any farther, but they got it out of the way, and now the treaded vehicle is coming as well."

"Is there anything you can do?" Javier asked. "Distract the drivers? Break their engines?"

"No luck on the engines," said Esther, "And I've already distracted them as much as I can. One hit a tree, though he's all right. It's too blunt, Javier. I'll kill someone, or at least they'll start to suspect what I'm doing. These people might have an idea what Franklin was able to do."

"You're right," Javier said. "We can't let them think we have powers like that. These assholes would probably call in an air strike."

"I have to do something," Esther said slowly. "There must be something. Quiet, everyone."

* * *

Eddies formed by peculiar accidents of wind. Snow shifting and compacting, the movement partly predictable and partly pure chance, or perhaps the accumulation of countless small events too numerous for Esther's brain to encompass. There would be a butterfly, a folding of geometry, if only she could find it in time. Probably there were thousands of them, but her mind was too slow.

The snowmobiles were only minutes behind. One more forced stop and it would be too late. So many decisions had led them to this place, mistakes obvious in retrospect. She couldn't think about that. Focus on the glowing strands, the twisting sheets, the realm of possibilities.

Well ahead, the road cut across a very steep slope, the trees opening up below. An old avalanche? Esther searched and searched, but she found nothing. No butterfly. She knew she was pushing too hard, not opening herself to all the possibilities.

Everyone trusted that she could do this. If she couldn't believe in herself, at least she could believe in their faith. And so finally, she flung herself free, the way she'd practiced.

The true nature of otherspace didn't involve place or even time. Just topology. Only the anchor of her Watch could keep her oriented, and as always she struggled with the vertigo. But there was something her subconscious had been trying to tell her, and the jarring change in perspective finally brought it to mind.

Above them on the forested slope ahead there was a single immense red fir. In otherspace it was simply a particular nest of shifting lines and warped planes, but her mind had learned to extract information from the chaos. Hundreds of years old, this tree had survived fires and avalanches that destroyed its smaller neighbors, and the steep terrain had saved it from loggers. But the tree was slowly dying, a storm three years ago having tipped it slightly, exposing its roots under the snow. Its majestic crown overtopped its neighbors by a hundred feet, and this storm's winds were battering it downslope. Still, it was anchored firmly and would weather the storm barring an improbable series of coincidences.