Isaura (14 page)

I glanced back at Joshua wondering what the next part of the
plan would be. We saved one girl, how was this any big mission? Any great step?

“Come with us, please.” Joshua helped her stand. She had the
same dazed look on her face I had when I'd first woken in the basement.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, standing up unsteady
on her feet. I helped her walk as Joshua opened the door and we rushed across
the hall towards the next room. Sitting her down in a chair opposite the bed, I
kept an eye on her while Joshua administered another dosage to a different
patient. The same steps repeated themselves and we disappeared with her towards
the third room.

By the time we'd finished the twelfth floor Joshua and I had
rescued fifty-two women. Most had questions, unsure where they were and what
had been going on. All had been in a dream-like state where they'd been
promised wealth and fortune.

“What's going on?” a red-haired woman asked me. “Where are
we?”

I didn't know how to explain it. I was glad Joshua offered
an answer. He raised his arms to get everyone's attention, the commotion and
chatter hushed to a minimum. “Did any of you volunteer for the pregnancy
initiative?” A murmur moved through the crowd. No one said yes. “We've provided
you an antidote to the medication you've been given. It will take a few hours
to run its course.”

“What did they do to us?” another voice echoed through the
crowd.

“They put you all under a heavy sedation. They did the same
to me,” I offered, trying to quiet the crowd.

Hunter stepped off the elevator. “We're done. Let's go!” he
announced gesturing towards the elevator. “Ten at a time. We're going down to
the second floor. Olivia you're with them.”

I gave him a curious look and glanced back at Joshua.

You'll be fine. Go,
Joshua told me. I squeezed into
the elevator with the other women, heading down to the second floor. I had no
idea what awaited us.

The elevator chimed and I stepped off first. Hundreds of
women crowded the hallway. Hunter stepped out behind me, grabbed my arm and led
me down the corridor through the massive pack of women and towards a long
mirror attached to the wall. “We need you to do your thing.”

“My thing?” I asked already suspecting but not sure it was
the best idea.

Gavin chimed in. “Yes, Olivia. They need a safe place to
hide out for a while. Spade seems like the place to transport.”

I'd never held a window portal open long enough to
accommodate so many people. I had to try, though: They all deserved a second
chance. My hand reached out, touching the mirrored image and within a few
seconds the metal shifted and rippled to a silver glow. The shimmer expanded as
I stepped aside leaving the window between here and Spade open. I glanced
around. “Where are Henry's guards?”

“I'm here!” chimed the tallest one. “You go through first,”
I announced. “I need you to secure the other side. Make sure they know we're
coming and we need help.” The guard hesitated before he stepped through and
vanished. “Come on, all of you, one at a time.” I instructed sending them
through the portal.

The line of women never seemed to end. From a distance I
could hear the elevator ding and another group of ten followed to the back of
the line. My attention focused on the window, the open portal between points to
ensure it stayed open.

The building shifted with the slightest quake. “What was
that?” A woman's voice echoed in the crowd as gasps and screams erupted around
us in fear.

“Quickly!” I ushered them through faster. Isaura must have
been close. I eyed the far end of the hallway. I hadn't heard the ding of the
elevator and hoped everyone had already made their way to the second floor.
Joshua
where are you?

He pushed through the crowd coming to stand beside me. “Right
here,” he announced beside my ear. The hallway was filled with fearful chatter
and though it was loud I could hear him clearly. “Come on!” He helped them
through while I focused my attention on steadying the mirror with each quake.

“What's going on?” another woman shouted from the back of
the line. A third tremor erupted through the building sending everyone bouncing
on their feet. “What was that?”

Joshua steadied their hands, helping them into the
shimmering portal as I hoped they made it through safely. One by one they all
made it to the other side. Gavin and Hunter followed then Joshua. “I'm right
behind you,” I promised, waiting for him to step through. He did and as I
stepped forward the portal shut, the mirror fell to pieces at my feet, tiny
slivers and then vanished. A steady laugh erupted through the corridor.

“Hope your boyfriend made it through safely,” Isaura laughed
and as I turned around I took a step down the hallway, backwards towards the
panel window.

I gritted my teeth and spat back, “He's my husband.” I
couldn't think about Joshua right now. I couldn't concern myself with the fact
the portal had been destroyed while he'd crossed through to Spade. All I could
do was hope he'd made it there safely.

“Soon to be a widower,” Isaura cackled as a wave of smoke
spun around her. “Where do you think you're going?”

Her eyes narrowed as I tentatively took another step
backwards and closed my eyes. I imagined Spade once again, but a different
room, my room. The chambers where I'd stayed and felt safe and warm. I crossed
my arms and threw myself backwards against the window, flying through it and
tumbling downwards. My back hit the floor hard as I gasped for air, relieved to
see a castle ceiling staring above me.

Joshua!
I screamed for him, knowing he couldn't hear
me if I used my voice. I'd brought them all to Spade but a larger location, the
city square. I tossed the door open, running from my room. I ignored the cuts
and scrapes that burned my skin where glass had pierced through me. It didn't
hurt. Not like the feeling had when I'd witnessed the portal close on Joshua.

Olivia?
Although he hadn't answered me right away,
the moment he did a wave of relief washed over me. I ran through the tower,
spiraling downhill as I threw myself into the city square scouring the town for
Joshua. I hadn't seen him yet. Hundreds of women lined the square, some sitting
and others standing.

The moment my eyes caught sight of his mop of brown hair and
blue eyes, I rushed forward. Throwing my arms around Joshua, he embraced my
small frame. “I thought you were right behind me.”

“I was,” I gasped for air. “Isaura destroyed the mirror.”

I felt his lips descend on mine and my fingers weaved
through his dark locks. “How did you get home?”

“The window at the far end of the hall.” I took a chance that
paid off. It could have been a suicide mission, but it wasn’t. His lips grazed against
and my eyes closed, savoring the moment knowing it wouldn't last.

The women we'd brought back from Torv were given temporary
quarters, bunking up with other families. Henry, Joshua and I sat in a room
together studying the familiar maps I'd snuck a peek at just days ago.

“What do you suggest?” Henry asked letting out a heavy
breath. “There are too many mouths to feed. I can't make room long-term for an
additional three hundred people.”

“I know that,” I agreed. “We have two options. We expand the
borders of Spade or we form a new town.”

Henry raised an eyebrow. “Expand Spade how?” He didn’t
oppose growing the community. He was right though, space was limited. There had
been room for guests but not more than the entire population of what Spade had
been.

Joshua pointed at the map. “You have land going west of
Spade that's unaccounted for.”

“Actually it's not,” Henry answered. “It's where we keep the
drones we've taken down.”

“We could move everyone to a western city? Someplace by
Thena or Shadow?”

Joshua frowned. “Those cities were destroyed. Transferring
everyone through another portal is too risky and traveling through the
Gravelands would be deadly. Spade has better defenses. We have a fortified wall
we can expand and enough soldiers and new people willing to fight.”

Henry laughed. “You're going to send women to stand on the
battle front?”

“Why not?” I narrowed my eyes.

Henry held up his hands in surrender. “I'm not speaking
about you, dear. I know what you're capable of. You're different though.
Stronger, tougher. Most of the women out there are terrified.”

“Wouldn't you be?” I questioned. “They believed they were in
a different world, happy, taken care of and woke up to realize they'd been in a
medical lab for God knows how long!” I stood up, pacing the length of the room.
“We can't abandon them.”

“We won't,” Joshua interjected. “They’re our greatest asset
right now.”

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

Joshua stared at me, a faint smile at the corner of his
lips. “They're all like us now, Olive. They've all been treated with
Mindonsiphan.”

I realized it had been mentioned before. I hadn't quite
known why we had administered the antidote. I'd assumed wrongly that it had
been to counteract the Mindonsiphan, but they'd told me Isaura had another
compound she'd given them. “What's this mean for us?” I asked walking towards
the window. I stared down at the corridor. A few women walked outside but it
wasn't crowded like it had been.

Henry studied the map before glancing over at me. “It means
we have a greater army, a better defense than we could have ever imagined. We need
to work fast though, reinforce the western walls and build another settlement
to house our newest families.”

My gaze turned towards Joshua. “Are we to train them?” I
understood what they were suggesting. “They could retaliate and decide they
want to return to Torv. They have families there,” I reminded them walking away
from the window as I glanced at the maps. “There has to be another way.”

Henry agreed. “There is, Olivia.” He sat down behind his
desk. “We send word to their families. Offer them an alternative, a place to
live, here.” He pointed at the map. “We go in and strike Torv here.” His finger
landed on the state building and justice center.

I hung my head, confused. “How is that going to help
anything?” I didn't want another war or uprising. One rebellion was enough. Did
we not fight for justice and independence? Did we not fight for the freedoms we
deserved? Had we not been granted what we asked for?

Joshua spoke up, “It'll bring light of the conspiracy and
corruption within the new government. It's not our best option but it seems our
most direct.”

I held up a finger to pause him. “What is our best option?”
I wanted to hear all of it before making any rash decisions.

Joshua sat in his chair, his eyes locked with mine. “We go
to Torv and negotiate a treaty. I doubt it'll work, though. Isaura is in
cahoots with the leaders of the new government. They want everyone treated with
Mindonsiphan along with her concoction. We don't actually believe there to be
any effects on women being able to conceive.”

“Then why? What's the point in it?” I didn't understand what
Isaura was planning. She had me and I escaped. Why had she wanted me in the
first place?

Joshua stared at me. “She wants to destroy you.” His voice sounded
grave, his tone sad. “You're the key to everything. If you're dead, she has
ruling power.”

I grimaced. “No. If she wanted me dead, she'd have just
killed me. She had me sedated for a reason.”

“She was gathering information. Do you remember any of it?”
Henry asked.

“Of course!” I groaned, “I told her about both of you and
Cate. At the time I thought I was talking to Joshua, but I realize now…” My
words trailed off. “She knows you're both like me.”

Henry stood up, glancing towards his bookshelf where he
found and retrieved a text. He carried it over and placed it on the table
beside the maps.

“What's that?” I asked.

He blew the dust from the cover and wiped it clean. I
couldn't read the archaic language. “It's a series of stories, mostly fables,
some fairytales, except I'm not sure everything is mythological.” He admitted, “While
you were both gone I did some studying… I was reading to Adelaide.” Henry said,
“The portals that you make only work in mirrors and glass. Correct?”

“Right,” I agreed.

“Have you ever heard of
Through the Looking Glass?
” Henry
asked.

Joshua stood up, walking towards the book to see what he was
talking about. “It was a children's story we read in school. What about it?”

“In the same way Alice can travel through a mirror, you've
unlocked the key for traveling to another place in Cabal.” Henry paused trying
to explain it to me. “Fairytales may be more real than we think. I believe
Mindonsiphan has been used for generations. I did a little digging and there
was a physicist, Gerald Feinberg, who introduced the idea that telepathy
existed due to elementary particles he called mindons. It was all hypothetical
in his lifetime.”

“When was Gerald Feinberg alive?” I questioned.

“The twentieth century. Now, I recognize that
Through the
Looking Glass
was written long before he was born and Mindonsiphan does
more than just telepathy. However, it doesn't change the fact the elementary
particles, mindons, existed all along.”

Joshua glanced at me and I felt his arm wrap around my
waist. “It makes sense,” he reasoned.

“I guess so.” We had no idea where the drug had originated
only that Chancellor Collins had administered it in Shadow. Had he found the
concoction on his own or the ingredients to make it buried away in Shadow?

“Suppose it's true. What does it mean?” I asked Henry. “You
can't tell me the children's story is
real
.” There were some fantasies I
couldn't believe.

Henry held up a hand. “I'm not saying everything we've ever
read is factual. I'm saying some things may be based on truths. Stories we've
often overlooked. My point is our abilities are all limited on what we see and
know. If we study these ancient texts, perhaps we can uncover something else. A
way to stop Isaura and maybe even make Cabal fertile again.”