The Embers Of My Heart (10 page)

"I took the assignment."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "So?"

"Something feels off about it."

"And I'm supposed to care?"

I spread my hands wide. "Can we talk about this like adults?"

"Implying that I'm not?"

"Look, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" She shrugged one shoulder. "I'm sorry I made a big deal about a silly commercial romantic holiday. I'm sorry I pressured you. I'm sorry I fell for your stupid trick. I'm sorry I ever said a damn thing. Is that ok?"

"No," I said. "I'm the one who fucked up."

"Sure."

"It bothered me. It hurt me and I took it out on you."

"Ok."

"Nikki, please," I said. My heart hammered in my chest. "I just want to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you. If I did, I would have taken the mission."

"Just want me to rot in hell instead?"

She blushed. "Ok, yeah. I'm sorry for that."

"I want to work this out," I said. "I don't know how you feel, but I want to make things right."

She looked me over for a moment without answering before uncrossing her arms. "Look, Kevin, I need some time to think. We both said some things we shouldn't have, but now I need some time away from you. I don't know if we're going to work out if this is bothering me so much."

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "I don't know what else to say. How much time do you think you'll need?"

"As much time as I need. I can't give you a date for it. Go do the assignment. I want to clear my head and talk to people."

I shivered. The situation didn't seem hopeful. She was turning away from me and I felt powerless to do anything about it. "I still have a strange feeling about this assignment."

She looked up at me. "Why?"

"The Order of Chaos is a joke, but this plan isn't. Even so, they're sending me, a trainee, by myself. Why isn't the Establishment treating this seriously?"

"The Order is a joke. Even their good plans leak ahead of time. They try to bite off more than they can chew on a regular basis. They're the types who can screw up a perfect plan." Nikki shrugged. "Everyone has better things to do than commit actual forces to do what a half-trained monkey could do."

"Are you calling me a half-trained monkey?"

"You're more like three quarters trained."

We both cracked smiles. "I'm still not sure, but thanks for that."

"You'll be fine."

"You sure you don't want to come with me?"

She shook her head. "Sorry."

"All right. I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yes." She nodded, paused, then added, "Be careful."

"Always."

The telepresence link broke and I cleared my mind of psionic power. I stepped away from my computer and took a quick shower before leaving the dorm. A can of generic shaving cream sat innocently on the floor just outside our door. I picked it up and shoved it in a pocket.

I headed for the bus stop. Most schools in the region had an agreement with the local bus system to give free rides to their students. I paid cash for a day pass. I didn't think they tracked who got on their buses, but there was no reason to stand out to a driver as a student from Troy heading into Albany early on a weekday. I transferred to a different line halfway there and found myself among a host of workers heading to the state government buildings in and around the capital.

I kept to myself and followed a particularly glum cluster of people down into the Concourse, long, boring stone halls with distinctly dim lighting. The entire place felt monochromatic, stale and stagnant. People dipped aside here and there, heading for their offices. I caught sight of an Albany police officer down the hallway and ducked into a bathroom. Stupid. Nothing like acting suspicious around a cop. I sighed and took out the can of shaving cream. It felt just like a normal can, right down to the fact that it got cold when I shook it. If the Establishment could cook up such a convincing modification, couldn't anyone else? I aimed it at the mirror and gave it a quick spray. No cream, just air.

"Some sort of fraternity initiation?" I hadn't heard the bathroom door open. I turned to see the cop I had avoided.

He leaned against the door with a half-smile on his lips and one hand near his service weapon. "I didn't think the schools around here pulled that sort of shit anymore."

"I, uh, no sir."

"Let me see that." He held his hand out. I hesitated and his eyes narrowed. "Now."

I handed the can over. He hefted it and frowned, turning it over in his hand. He turned and aimed it at the garbage can and pressed the cap, letting it hiss. "That's funny. This feels lighter than normal, but it's not sputtering like it would if it was empty." His eyes came up to meet mine. "This some sort of joke?"

"Yeah, it's just a joke can."

He pointed the can at me. I flinched. "You're not acting like this is a joke."

He stood between the door and me. He was bigger, older, and armed. In fact, he pulled the strap off the holster and placed his hand directly on the butt of his gun. I tried not to shake as I held my empty hands out in front of me. "Look, sir, it is a fraternity thing, like you thought. I don't know what the brothers meant, they didn't tell me shit, just go spray some bathroom in the Plaza and take some pictures."

"Which frat?"

I hesitated. "Lambda Alpha Pi."

"Never heard of them, and I spent a lot of my school time getting drunk with as many frats as I could. You're lying to me about something. Where do you go to school? Let me see your ID."

"I don't want to get anyone in trouble."

"Son, right now, you're already in trouble."

I took a step back and his hand moved. I didn't know whether he was going to call in backup or draw his weapon or what, but I didn't have the time to hesitate. I tapped into my power and pushed.

Power exploded from my mind, nearly dropping me to my knees. The officer flew into the wall behind him with a crunch telling me something had broken. He dropped to the floor in a heap, knocking the garbage can over with a clatter. Before he could recover, I reached into his brain and twisted, shunting his short-term memory into a void. He grunted and went limp. A quick biokinetic scan showed me a broken elbow and probably a concussion. Shade would have murdered me for that lack of control. My power's instability was getting out of hand.

Before I fled the scene, I grabbed the can of shaving cream and sprayed it wildly in the air. Once it stopped hissing, I rinsed it under the sink, wiped it clean with paper towels, and buried it in the trash. The cop stirred and groaned. I stepped over him in a hurry to get out before he woke up.

"Hey, you ok?" I froze as I opened the door. A young woman stood just to the side of the door. "Sorry, I heard a crash from inside."

"Oh, thanks, I tripped over my own feet and knocked the garbage can over," I said, trying for a sheepish grin.

"No problem."

She smiled back at me. "Oh, all right. Have a nice day!"

"You too," I said as she walked off. I walked back the way I had come and tried not to rush myself. Something in the back of my mind screamed danger. Adrenaline was pumping. I forced myself to breathe slowly. I stepped through the revolving door and out into the open. The shock of frigid air let me settle my senses. I looked back and forth and saw a pair of cops moving quickly toward the entrance to the Concourse, one of them speaking into his radio. I turned away and walked toward the bus stop.

"Sir. Sir!" I walked until I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I flinched and looked over my shoulder. "Albany PD. We need to talk to you." Both of the cops were on me, one hanging back while the other held my shoulder. "We've had a report of an incident in the Concourse and you match the description. Could you come with us, please?"

"But I really need to get to class," I said.

The grip on my shoulder tightened. "It's not a request. Sir."

I sighed and nodded, my heart clenching in my chest. Something had gone wrong. My twist hadn't done enough. "All right." I looked to the side before tapping my power, hoping neither of them could see my eyes. I used telekinesis and thrust the cop holding my shoulder toward his partner. They tumbled to the ground together and I poured power into my muscles to give me the strength to run.

Their shouts and curses chased me around the corner. I stopped dead as soon as I was out of their sight and tapped my power again. I stepped to the wall and used a technique Absynthe had taught me. True invisibility wasn't possible at my skill level, but I could project a field encouraging people to overlook my presence. Within seconds, both cops came barreling around the corner, weapons at the ready. "Shit, where'd he go? No way he could run that fast. Call it in. Something's fucked here." The description called in could match hundreds of college age kids like me.

Once they moved on, I took my coat off and folded it under one arm, then settled in to wait for the bus. When the bus pulled up, I walked on and sat far in the back. Once I felt sure that no one was looking, I let the masking effect fade and stared out the window. Once I reached the transfer point and boarded the other bus, a feeling of safety washed over me. Mission accomplished. I almost fell asleep as Albany fell behind me.

I got off the bus at Ripley. To my surprise, Absynthe was waiting for me. "Not bad," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She linked arms with me and led me away. "Getting away from that mess."

I stopped walking and she tugged on me. "Wait. You were watching?"

"We were listening in," she said.

"You don't trust me?"

"Trust?" She snorted. "Trust has nothing to do with it. We needed to know if you blew it so we could get a backup plan rolling as soon as possible. We listen to the police channels. You pissed off a lot of Albany today. They're looking all over the place for you."

She pulled on me again and we continued walking. "So I got it done, right?"

"More than you think. The officer in the bathroom and the woman outside the bathroom got some of it, and then all the officers who investigated. It'll spread nicely from there. Congratulations, Kevin. We beat the Order to the punch this time."

"And me, of course."

"Of course. You probably spread it to half the people on those buses." She chuckled. "It probably won't affect you too much, but be ready for a couple of days of sniffles."

"Wonderful." I sighed. "I just want to sleep for the rest of the day now, and it's not even noon."

"Too bad. Alistair wants to congratulate you personally for this."

"Really? Can't it wait?"

"You'll have to deal with it."

Chapter Seven

I went from having no free time to all free time in the space of a week. Midterms were over, my roommates were often away with their girlfriends, and my training schedule was erratic at best. Absynthe apologized and gave me exercises to do by myself, but never explained why she didn't have time to train me herself. After congratulating me on the successful mission, Alistair hadn't been in contact. Even the student council group was quiet, our final meeting of the trimester two weeks before everyone switched into finals mode.

Nikki had also congratulated me on not fucking up the mission. I had chatted with her a few times since then. Each time she kept the conversation light, not addressing anything serious between us, but she gave me a hug the last time we spoke. The one time I brought up our relationship, she said she was still thinking and dealing with things, and that she'd let me know when she was ready. With that in mind, all I could do was wait.

While I waited, I kept searching PSInet for juicy information. I avoided the Illuminati pages for the first couple of weeks. I didn't want to take any risks that someone was tracking my access. Tonight, I felt safe enough and opened up their Resistance wiki I hadn't had time to look through yet. The summary was the first page I hit. To my surprise, the Resistance was younger than I was. Their first open act took place when I was twelve. Ever since then, they had kept relatively quiet, not claiming credit for many things, but the Illuminati had dug in enough to make educated guesses about what they had done.

Their cell system hadn't been broken. Ever. I took that with a grain of salt. The Order operated in a cell system too, and their structure was rotten to the core. The Illuminati believed the Resistance structure depended on computers and a master server operating somewhere on the dark net. Examination of captured Resistance computer didn't reveal any clues. The wiki put forth a few theories, the most popular of which was that Resistance leadership used psionic communications to provide their members with the necessary encryption keys to access the network. Another theory stated that the network was a complete red herring and they coordinated through other means. I chuckled. Star had been on her computer daily. Their network existed.

Unlike other organizations, the Resistance stayed quiet. There was only one public announcement on file, a bland statement of purpose. They stood against tyranny, they would act to make sure that other factions would not abuse their psionic abilities, they would fight those would enslave normal people, so on and so forth. Star had said as much. I sighed and tried to scrub her from my brain, but my current relationship status let her pop in more and more often.

The next page held a roster of their known members. The list was too short. I reloaded the page, but it was just as short as before. Todd Green, their leader and founder, was the only highlighted name on the list. I read his biography and shuddered. He had been part of an unnamed organization in the US, and due to disagreements with their leadership, he broke ties with them and went into hiding. Probably the Bureau. About six years later, he made their single public statement after the first known Resistance action. After that, they acted around the world, but primarily in the US. No other public statements were on record.

The Illuminati classified him as likely still living. He'd be around fifty years old these days. The page stated, "Green is a clear and present threat to all psionic organizations. His statement regarding a 'psionic aristocracy' is a clear threat to the eldest organizations. If encountered, we strongly advise retreat or immediate termination."