THE ALGAE VOICES OF AZULE

Finding the Lost

Mark Cheverton

Copyright 2013

Gameknight Publishing

 

 

CHAPTER 1

Billy’s pulse raced as he crept through the shadows, his back pressed to the rough, stone wall, a shiver of fear sliding down his spine.  The passageway’s ceiling loomed high over his head, holding back tons of stone and dirt.  It always made him a little nervous when he thought of all that weight overhead.  Shuddering, he pushed the thought from his mind and focused on the task at hand.  Gathering his psychic power, or Gift as it was called on planet Azule, Billy reached out gently, probing the tunnel for other people, hoping to detect without giving away his presence.  He felt Luff first, the hulking boy hiding somewhere ahead in a side tunnel, then he touched Sparks and Katrina, both hiding together; the teachers never could seem to separate those two girls, no matter how hard they tried.   Looking back the other way, he probed the opposite direction, careful to gently brush the tunnel with his Gift and feel for reflections as they’d been taught.  The spikey return from Kalen stabbed back at him, the older boy probing as well, but using too much force and far too little finesse.  Billy quickly pulled his Gift in and tried to merge with the rocky tunnel, attempting to remain unseen and unfelt.  The angry probe passed him by and bounced clumsily off the girls illuminating them all, showing their locations to any other Gifted nearby, especially to their psychic hunter.

Standing up, Billy ran quietly down the tunnel and ducked into an empty side passageway.  Move and listen, move and listen; those had been Farzin’s instructions.

“Keep moving and keep listening,” Farzin had said in class before the exercise had started.  “Those that just stand still will be caught.  Those that hammer away with their Gifts will also get caught and likely get the people near them caught as well, and you don’t want to get caught by me today; trust me.”

It had sounded like good advice, though there was also a hint of a threat within the instructions.  Billy didn’t want to get caught this time; he wanted to win.  Listening again, brushing his Gift carefully like a gentle breeze, he moved to a new position, trying to stay clear of Kalen; that bully scared him.  Running down a dimly lit tunnel, Billy found a large boulder nearly his height, which wasn’t saying much.  Crouching behind, Billy reached out with his Gift as he pressed his body against the rough piece of granite, dust filling his nose, making him want to sneeze.  Pressing his finger under his nose, Billy listened.  He felt Sparks and Katrina, and Luff nearby, and . . . suddenly Luff disappeared, his Gifted presence just evaporating like he wasn’t there anymore; he was caught. And then Sparks and Katrina disappeared, one of them yelling out before they were suddenly silenced; the hunter was getting nearer.

Standing up, Billy continued running down a side passageway, hoping for a utility tunnel or access-way he could use for shelter.  He could feel Kalen moving too, getting nearer, but could also feel something else, another presence behind him; their pursuer.  Running faster, Billy projected his Gift forward, lightly feeling for others.  He felt something ahead, maybe Stubbs, or perhaps just a reflection off a power crystal.  Billy also felt his sister Ali probing quietly in the darkness.  She was hard to find, but Billy knew what to look for — the subtle spark of brightness that was always attached to his sister, that tiny flicker of goodness and joy that she always seemed spread to those near her.  And suddenly, he found her, the ember of her Gift shining in the darkness.  She was near Kalen, getting closer. No, Kalen was getting closer to her.  Kalen was stalking her.  What was that idiot going to do?  Billy knew he had to get there and warn his sister that Kalen was nearby.  Running faster and sacrificing a little stealth, Billy moved through the tunnel, took a ladder up to the next level, and kept running, closing on Ali’s position.  Stopping to catch his breath, Billy felt for Ali and Kalen.  They were nearby.

Moving quietly, Billy crept towards his sister, wanting to warn her of Kalen’s presence, but he didn’t dare reach out to her with his Gift; he’d be caught instantly.   Peeking around the corner, Billy scanned the long tunnel looking for his adversaries. Of course, he didn’t see anything. The lighting panels overhead illuminated only small patches of the tunnel every twelve feet or so, each circle of radiance separated by dark shadows.  Anyone could be within those shadows.  He could tell that Ali and Kalen were in the tunnel somewhere, but where?  Suddenly, Billy could feel Kalen’s Gift gathering, then shot out toward Ali.  She screamed as Kalen’s Gift wrapped her, pinning her arms to her sides.  The bully then pulled her out of the shadow and into the light.  Billy could see her clearly, her strawberry blond hair matted to her forehead in sweaty clumps as she struggled against the psychic bonds.  Billy stood up and ran to his sister.

“It’s OK, Ali, I’ll help,” Billy said, trying to keep his voice low.

“No, don’t,” Ali replied as she struggled to pull her arms free from her sides.

Billy reached his sister and pulled on her elbows, trying to pull them away from her body, but they were held firmly to her sides.  If he weren’t so small, he’d been able to lift his sister and move her back into the shadows, but his small size kept him from even trying.

“Kalen did this?” Billy asked, concern filling his blue eyes, the whites also shaded blue from the Algae that had infected him and his sister in the past.

“Of course, he did; who else?” Ali snapped, her eyes also blue within blue.  “He’s tied his Gift off somewhere nearby.  Find that and cut the connection, quick, before we’re caught.”

Billy turned and faced away from Ali, feeling for the source of the Gifted restraints that wrapped around his sister.  Kalen was exceptionally good at wrapping his Gift around people, immobilizing them, then anchoring his Gift to an inanimate object and charging it with psychic power, keeping the person trapped without Kalen having to stay nearby, ‘tying it off’ as it was called.  Billy probed the shadows, looking for something that would be blazing with psychic power.  He could hear Ali struggling behind him, trying to get free, but then suddenly went silent, disappearing from his mind.  Oh no.  Turning around quickly, he saw her lying on the ground, eyes closed, the psychic snare set by Kalen now gone.  Reaching out with his psychic powers, Billy probed for his sister but couldn’t sense Ali’s presence, her Gift completely gone. She’d been masked, separated from her Gift.  She was caught.

Turning to run, Billy was suddenly standing face to face with their hunter, Farzin.  His long black hair and mustache seemed to blend in with his dark skin, making him a part of the shadows, a specter or dark ghost.  With the slightest wink, Farzin reached out with his psychic powers and formed a barrier between Billy and his Gift, masking him as well.  It was the worst feeling Billy had ever experienced.  He felt hollow, half-empty, as if a part of him were suddenly ripped away, leaving a gigantic void of nothingness that seemed to scream out to him.  Billy collapsed, overwhelmed by the emptiness, and fell in a heap next to his sister, a cloud of dust rising from the rough stone floor to envelop them both.

Looking up, Billy saw Farzin glaring down at him, shaking his head, a look of disappointment on his teacher’s face.  He then sprang away into the darkness, moving like a predatory cat on the prowl, hunting his next quarry.  In only minutes, Billy could hear Kalen’s scream of frustration as Farzin masked him, then projected his thoughts into all of their minds.

“So much for staying hidden,” Farzin thought to his students.  “The only one that was able to stay relatively hidden was Stubbs.  Good work, Stubbs.” 

Farzin released the masks from all of the students with the flick of a thought, allowing their Gifts to flow back into them.  It was like a waterfall in the desert to a thirsty man; the flow of his Gift filled that void within him, making him whole again.  Billy looked at Ali next to him on the tunnel floor and smiled, sitting up.

“You OK?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she replied.  “Just feel stupid. I was listening for Farzin and didn’t pay attention to Kalen.”

“Why should you? We were all supposed to be on the same team.”

“I don’t think Kalen is on anybody’s team, other than he own,” Ali said, condemnation in her voice.

“Why did he tie you up?” Billy asked.

“He said that he was ‘staking out the bait’ just before he left me,” she spat.

“I think he was staking you out for me, hoping I’d come to your rescue,” Billy explained.

“And that’s exactly what you did, Billy,” Farzin thought to the students.  “You should never do what’s expected; always do the opposite to keep your adversaries off-balance.  And Kalen, you shouldn’t have sacrificed your team members.  One day, they may just save your life.”

“Or maybe not,” Billy thought to his sister and smiled.  He could feel Farzin smile at the comment, though it was only sent to Ali.

“I did what I had to do, to win.  You told us that was the objective,” Kalen thought.  “Was I wrong?  Did I misunderstand the purpose of this lame exercise?”

“Yes, you completely misunderstood the purpose,” Farzin snapped.  “You were supposed to work together, all of you!  But instead, you all got into your little cliques and worked independently.  If you had pooled your resources, combined your powers, I would have never been able to find you, but instead, you made it easy for me!”

They could all feel the anger in his thoughts, the frustration and disappointment, and tried to pull back a little, all but Kalen, who was laughing.

“Maybe I didn’t play the game the way you wanted me to, but you have to admit it, I almost won,” the arrogant boy boasted.

“Almost winning means dead outside of Haven, Kalen,” Farzin said in a monotone voice that had an edge of dangerous rage to it, like the silence before a lion attacks.  This time, even Kalen pulled back.  “You’ll never learn anything if you keep working on your own instead of together.  That’s how the Inquisitors capture the Gifted in Azule City, by working together and separating their victims from the herd and picking them off one at a time.  That’s how your President, Macab, has been able to take control of all the planets in this solar system; one at a time, without anyone working together.  The individual is never as strong as the group.  All of you need to learn this if you expect to graduate and go to the next Gifted level.”

Silence was the only correct response, silence and humility, for they all knew Farzin was right. Their differences and arguments were a barrier to their Gifted growth, and now it really sunk in.

“We’ll continue class tomorrow with something new.  All of you go home and think about what you’ve learned,” Farzin thought to his students, then disappeared from their minds, his silent form streaking down the tunnel to some unknown destination.

Billy stood up and then reached down to help his sister.  They brushed off the dust from their clothes, Billy picking some debris from her hair.

“Come on, let’s go home,” Ali said as she turned and headed for the sweet smell of freshly baked bread and warm cookies, toward home.

 

CHAPTER 2

The twins made it home in record time, their stomachs driving their haste.  They knew that their mother would be pulling some fresh loaves of bread from the oven to help feed the people of Haven, and it was always a good thing to be nearby when they came out, a warm slice probably their favorite thing in the whole world.

They had a house in the Great Cavern, far from the crystal tower that sat in the center.  The Cavern, it was theorized, was built by the Ancients, a race of beings that once inhabited Azule millions of years ago.  Back then, the Ancients had covered the surface of the planet with a great civilization, using incredible technology that would dwarf anything ever created by humanity.  They built great crystal cities that stretched up to the clouds and great fleets of starships that extended their reach throughout the galaxy.  With extraordinary advances in medicine, art, philosophy, and science, they were at the pinnacle of their development.  And then, suddenly, they disappeared.  Evidence left behind suggested that there was a great war that had ravaged Azule, destroying everything on the surface as well as pounding the neighboring planet of Dormus Prime, the current seat of government for the solar system, the center of President Macab’s iron fist of control.  Some remnants survived the savage war, signs of the great society created by the Ancients: the occasional technological artifact found on the ocean floor near the great algae beds that much of Azule relied upon for food, or the large power crystal found buried deep in the Outlands, or even surviving technology discovered on planet Skia, the closest planet to their dual suns.  In fact, Macab had a weakness for Ancient artifacts, paying good money for anything that could be found, as long as it was authentic.  If Macab knew about their Great Cavern and the crystal tower that sat at the center, he would mobilize the army and take it by force.  It was the greatest secret in the solar system.

Billy looked up at the crystal tower that stretched up to the cavern ceiling as he ran, his blue within blue eyes glowing bright with awe.  It always made him wonder how such a thing could be made; a tower made from a single crystal, with no seams or metal or supporting material, just pure crystal.  It was worth a king’s ransom, or more, with hundreds of rooms and chambers riddled throughout, some filled with machines that no one knew how to work or what they did.  He slowed to look at the needle-sharp spire that touched the ceiling and was bumped aside as Ali bolted past, her head down, arms pumping hard.  She made it to the door first and burst inside, smiling back over her shoulder as she panted for breath.

“Winner,” she said in a loud voice as she gasped for air.

“No fair, I was looking up at the tower,” Billy complained as he entered.

“So said the loser,” Ali replied, smiling.

Billy growled, then smiled at his twin sister.  They closed the door behind them and looked across the living room to the kitchen; their mother, as always, was baking something wonderful.  She was wearing her favorite apron, the one that they’d decorated for Christmas one year, their finger painting adorning its length.  Golden blond hair flowed down her back like a fountain, tied in the back to keep it out of her face and out of the dough.  Her skin was pale from living underground these past months, the dual suns of Azule nearly a distant memory, but when she smiled, her face seemed to light up with all the power and color of those dual suns, shining bright.

“How was class today, kids?” their mother, Diane, asked from the kitchen.

“It sucked,” Billy said quickly.

“William . . . language,” Diane snapped.

“Sorry, mom.”

Ali snickered.

“Now tell me about school,” Diane continued.

Ali moved to the sofa that sat against a bare steel wall, a few pictures hanging here and there, decorations from the previous family.  They had no decorations of their own, all of their belongings left back in the city when they fled for their lives.  Billy sat in a wooden chair next to the front door and took his shoes off, flicking one of them off, then the other without using his hands; he was quite proud.  Ali rolled her eyes, then wiped her strawberry blond hair out of her face, pulling it behind her ear.

“It was terrible again, Mom,” Ali began.  “We were picked on all day.  Somebody drew an ugly picture of us on one of the holo-boards, then they somehow put lots of pepper in our lunches.  We had to go get new lunches and got in trouble for wasting food.”

“Yeah, and then in the afternoon, we failed a test with Farzin,” Billy added.

“What do you mean failed?” Diane asked.

“Well, we didn’t really fail,” Ali explained.  “We just didn’t win, and it was because of that bully, Kalen.  He tied me up with his Gift and made me get caught.”

“Did he hurt you?” their father, Charles asked.

Ali shook her head.

No one had heard him come into the room.  Their father was a big man, with muscular arms and shoulders from working the nets in the algae fields all of his life, well, until now.  His skin was dark, cracked, and wrinkled from a life under the dual suns every day.  It was unlikely that subterranean life would ever make that sun-hardened skin go pale.  His dark brown hair looked as if it hadn’t been combed in days, the scruff of an unshaven beard sprinkled across his chin and cheeks.

Moving slowly through the kitchen, Charles shuffled into the connected living room and sat opposite Ali in an old leather chair, the arms stained and cracked with age.  A table sat between father and daughter, with a bowl of green spotted astral fruits in the center, a worn grey rug underneath.  Charles reached out and grabbed one of the fruits, then took a bite.  The pink juice from the astral fruit ran down his chin and dripped onto his white shirt that was already stained and dirty.  Billy laughed and was greeted with an angry glare.

“My pride was the only thing hurt,” Ali said softly, her head down.  “Why are we always the target of abuse?  Why can’t we be big like everybody else?”

No one answered, just an uncomfortable silence filling the room.

“I don’t know why you have to waste your time with all this Gifted training,” Charles said as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt.

“Use a napkin, Charles,” Diane snapped.

Picking one up, she walked across the room and handed the cloth to him, then went back to the kitchen and pulled out a tray of freshly baked breadsticks from the oven.  Billy instantly stood up and walked casually to the kitchen and hugged his mother, pretending that was why he was there.  Diane smiled and gave him a steaming breadstick.

“We have to, Dad,” Ali said.  Charles scowled.

“Sorry . . . Father,” Ali corrected, then continued.  “All Gifted have to go through training so that they’ll know how to use their Gifts.  Farzin, the leader of the Haven Council and chief of all the Gifted, says that we have to know our Gifts so that we can know ourselves.”

“Blah blah blah,” Charles said, rolling his eyes.  “You should be in school learning something useful, not wasting your time with that Gifted crap.”

“Why do you hate our Gifts so much, Father,” Billy asked, then ducked behind his mother, hoping to avoid the scowl that he knew would follow.

Surprisingly, Charles just looked at the ground, his shoulders slumped.  A look of pain covered his face as he was lost in terrible memories from the past.

“Something isn’t right,” Ali thought to her brother.

“What do you mean, with what?”

“Our family,” Ali thought.  “Something just isn’t right.  It’s like a puzzle, but the pieces don’t fit together correctly, something about Dad.”

“You mean Father, of course,” Billy added sarcastically.

“Do you feel it?”

“Yeah, I’ve felt it ever since coming to Haven,” Billy thought.  “Something disconnected; not right.”

“We don’t need to talk about that right now,” Diane said as she put a new tray of lumpy white mounds of dough into the oven, bringing the twins back into the discussion.  “Tell me about this test that you say you failed.”

“Ali and I were doing good, getting to the end of the test without getting caught by Farzin,” Billy said proudly.

“We were in the lower tunnels, trying to hide from Farzin,” Ali said excitedly.  “But I think the other kids had it out for us.  A couple of times, I caught Sparks and Katrina shooting looks at me before the test, whispering like they were planning something. Then, during the test, they knocked over some stones near me, trying to get me caught.  I hate those girls.”  She sighed and looked at the ground, then continued.  “And then, Katrina tried to trip me up with her Gift when I was near her.  I could hear them laughing and making jokes about me and my size.  Why do all of them always have to be so mean to us?”

“Because you have something none of them have, sweetheart,” Diane said warmly, “a best friend that’s also your brother.  I bet none of those mean kids have any friendships as you have with your brother, someone that will always be there for you, to help when you need it, or just to make you laugh when you’re down.”

Diane turned to smile at Billy only to find that he’d stuffed two breadsticks into his mouth so that they stuck straight down like two giant tusks.  Ali and Diane smiled but then laughed when Billy tried to pull the breadsticks out only to find that they were slightly stuck because they were so big.  Billy finally was able to pull the breadsticks free. He tossed one to his sister as he started to gnaw on the other.

“It still sucks,” Billy said solemnly.  “The bigger kids never stop.  They always have another remark to make, always need to take another stab at us.  We must hear it from them in normal school in the morning, and then we have to hear it from them in Gifted school in the afternoon.  We hate it.  Why can’t we just stay home?”

“Because knowledge is power,” Charles interjected.  “The government has been cutting back on school hours, not because there isn’t stuff to learn, but because it limits what someone can learn.  One of the most ruthless dictators from old Earth said: ‘Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns; why should we let them have ideas.’  The enemy he was talking about was the people, his unfortunate subjects. That dictator knew the power of education and controlled it as much as possible.  Education will create opportunities for you and your sister.  You have to stick to it and endure.”

“But sometimes it’s so hard, taking the constant abuse, the public ridicule,” Ali complained.

“Yeah, being laughed at on a daily basis, the punch line of jokes, the target of every practical joke,” Billy added.  “After a while, we just want to give up and hide.”

Charles crossed the room and sat next to Ali, then motioned for Billy to come and sit next to him.  He put his arms around each of them and hugged, an uncharacteristic display of emotion.

“You two are each strong and resilient, but when together, you’re stronger than anyone I know; that’s your real gift.  There is a spark of something within each of you that seems to attract people like flies to honey; everybody loves being near you, even the bullies.  But more importantly, this spark, whatever it is, gives you a positive, optimistic outlook on things that can give you power and strength when things are tough.  You two proved this when you saved Frank and defeated the spiders in the Outlands.  I’ve made it no secret that I don’t like all this Gifted stuff here in Haven, and I feel a little lost being stuck in this big hole in the ground instead of out on an algae harvester on the ocean, but this is where we are now, and that’s that.  But make no mistake about it, I love both of you and have faith that you two can do anything.  And no matter how difficult or scary something is, the two of you can overcome it if you have faith in each other and in yourselves.”

Billy sniffled as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve.  He glanced over at Ali and saw that she, too, had tears running down her cheeks. The feeling of love and acceptance from their father was nearly overwhelming and unexpected.  They had no idea that their father felt this way about them.  Billy and Ali had always thought they were a disappointment to him because they were not big and strong like other kids, not to mention the fact that they were Gifted, but apparently, they’d been wrong about their father.

Charles gave them another hug, then stood up.

“Now enough talk, I think it’s time to eat,” Charles said as he turned and smiled at his wife.

“I guess my timing is perfect, as usual,” said a voice from the door.

Billy and Ali looked to the voice and found their older brother Francis standing in the doorway, smiling, as always, rubbing his stomach to let everyone know that he was hungry.  He was wearing old dirty overalls with holes and stains everywhere, with grease smudges on his arms and face.

“You know, you don’t have to use your face and clothes to clean up the oil that you spill,” Billy said with a smile.

“Yeah, Francis,” Ali added.

Charles grumbled something under his breath.

“I mean, Frank,” she corrected.  Their father insisted that they call him Frank now, a grownup name.  She stuck her tongue out at her older brother and smiled.

Frank ran across the room and jumped on the twins, allowing his weight to squash them into the sofa, squeezing the air from them.

“Get off them, Frank,” Diane said, “and get changed, we’re having dinner in five minutes, and we’re not waiting for you.  William, Alison, you two set the table.  Everyone get to work.”

Billy and Ali were able to finally push Frank off them, and they all fell to the floor, laughing.  Getting up slowly, Frank rustled the twin’s hair, then headed to his room to change.  Billy and Ali then headed to the kitchen to get plates and silverware to set the table.  Diane came out of the kitchen to make room for the twins and stood next to her husband.

“You said some nice things to the kids, Charles,” Diane said as she put an arm around her husband.

“Yeah, well . . .” Charles grumbled.

“Did you mean what you said, that you feel lost here?”

“I’m an algaeman, Diane. I belong out on the ocean, not underground.”

“But you could learn to do something else.”

“I know that I could learn something else, but that’s not who I am.  Being an algaeman has been all I’ve ever wanted to do since I was fifteen.  I know the algae, how it grows, how it drifts in the currents, and I know the ocean, how it interacts with the algae.  Sometimes I think I’m part algae,” Charles said with a hint of sadness.  “To think that I’ll never again smell that wonderful aroma of a ripe algae bed or the salt in the air. It makes me feel hollow inside and lost.”

“Well, you need to decide on something soon,” Diane said, trying to sound sympathetic.  “You know the rule here in Haven, ‘everyone works for the benefit of all.’”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Charles said as he gently brushed some loose strands of hair out of his wife’s face.  “I’ll figure something out soon.  I just need to get the algae out of my blood first, and then I can move on and find something.”

“Well, ask for help if you need it,” she said.  “I know you’re not very good at that, but this is important.  Not having a job doesn’t just hurt us financially; it hurts you inside and attacks your self-esteem.  A person without a job can feel like they have no value, and that’s not true with you.  It’s important that you feel like you’re taking care of us because that’s your real job, and you need to get back to that as soon as possible. We need you to take care of us.  So get with the program and get it done.”

“Yes, dear,” Charles said mockingly and gave his wife a kiss, then went into the kitchen to help Billy and Ali.

Diane turned on the holo-vid to hear the news in Haven.  The holographic projector formed a three-dimensional image of a reporter that floated in mid-air.  The reporter was dressed in dazzling colors, bright reds, greens, and blues that all assaulted the eyes in complicated strips and patterns.  Dressed in the characteristic fashion of Alpha Centauri, called Alphans, the reporter spoke with a booming drawl that almost sounded lyrical.

“The food shortage across Azule City has become critical,” the reporter said with a thunderous voice, deep and low.  “Sources say that the algae harvests are at record levels, but food seems scarce across the city.  Holographic propaganda posters have been seen throughout the city, blaming the food shortage on the Gifted.  President Macab is likely creating this food shortage to generate more hatred towards the Gifted.

“In local Haven news, another chamber has been flooded with seawater from the nearby bay.  It seems that there are cracks and fissures in the ceilings of some of the satellite caverns, allowing the seawater to seep in.  Maintenance engineers moved in quickly with breathing gear and spray-crete to seal the cracks by spraying quick drying rock on them.  The chambers are being pumped out, and soon people will be able to move back into their homes, though it’s likely that the saltwater ruined any food supplies in that cavern.

“In Haven politics, the Council has . . .”

Charles turned off the holo-vid, the newscaster dissolving from view.

“Come on, everyone, time for dinner,” Charles said as he carried a small plate of warm algae cakes and steaming vegetables to the dinner table.

After setting the plate of food down, Charles moved back to the living room and stared at the place where the holographic newscaster had been floating.  Something in one of the stories seemed to tickle the back of his mind, something important but hidden, just lurking in his subconscious, waiting to be noticed.  He couldn’t figure out what it was, and the harder he looked for it, the more distant it seemed to be.  Shaking his head, he walked back to the dinner table and sat down with his family to eat, the hint of something undiscovered still floating in the back of his mind.

 

CHAPTER 3

Billy and Ali left home early the following day after a delicious breakfast of fresh crescent rolls with algae jam and katharos berries.  On the way to school, they dropped off large canvas sacks of bread, rolls, cookies, and other tasty treats to be distributed throughout Haven.  They made it to school just before the bells rang, running to their seats without incident.

School passed quickly, with history, writing, science, and math a blur of seemingly continuous lectures and homework reviews.  They enjoyed the safety of the classroom, the abuse from the peers limited to guarded whispers between bullies but not directly acted upon, that is, until lunch.

The bell rang, and Ali’s stomach suddenly felt as if she’d just swallowed a large stone.  She looked across the aisle at her brother, a similar look on his face.  It was time for lunch—the dreaded ordeal of the cafeteria.

“You ready,” Ali thought to her brother.

“Yeah, let’s get this over with,” he replied.

Billy and Ali got up slowly, allowing the rest of the students to leave the classroom first, avoiding the expected bumps and accidental toes stepped on.  Gathering their school supplies, they filled their backpacks and headed out of the classroom.  The hallways were, of course, pandemonium, a place ruled by the students and avoided by the teachers.  Billy and Ali looked back at their teacher, Mr. Kirchhoff.  He saw the two kids eyeing him and quickly looked down at some papers, trying to avoid any involvement in the affairs of the hallways; that’s student business.  He was fond of saying, ‘you have to figure out how to solve these problems for yourselves,’ though the truth of it was he just didn’t want to get involved.  Sighing, Billy and Ali left the safety of the classroom and stepped into the hallway.

Dull grey lockers lined the hallway, each with a thumbprint scanner as a lock.  The floor was a similar pale grey, both made of plas-steel, the combination of plastic and steel, easily moldable and light like plastic, but with the strength of steel when cured.  It was the preferred building material on Azule.  Billy always wondered why the color had to be so drab and unremarkable.  He fanaticized for a moment about a bright red floor and alternating yellow and blue lockers but was brought back to reality when a wet, balled-up piece of paper flew past his head and struck the wall.  It had begun.

“Remember what Farzin taught us,” Ali thought to her brother.  “Try to extend a circle of disinterest, of nothing remarkable to see.  Make the others look away.”

“I’ll try,” Billy replied, “but I can’t tell when I’m doing it right or not.”

“Just try to project a smooth, even transparency in how you look and how you feel.  Gently slide eyes away from you to something more interesting.  Make it so nobody wants to look at us.”

Billy concentrated his Gift on being uninteresting, extending a circle of complete transparency and disinterest, shifting gazes to louder kids and active clusters of students.  And surprisingly enough, nobody seemed to notice them.  Either the other students didn’t care about Billy and Ali’s existence, or they were successfully making themselves disappear, or maybe both. Billy didn’t care; as long as nobody tried to trip him, bump into him, or take his backpack, he was happy.

The twins wended their way through the crowds, walking single file, careful not to bump into anyone, for direct contact would make the illusion dissolve, and they would be noticed, and that was the last thing they wanted.  Sometimes they had to stop and allow groups of students to pass by. Other times speed up or slow down so that they can navigate the maze of shuffling bodies, finding the clear path through the chaos.  They saw Stubbs being teased by some of the older students, but he just ignored them and stared at nothing, letting the bigger boys taunt him with names and accusations that fell on empty air.  He gave Billy and Ali a smile and moved casually in line with them, the equally small Gifted sliding into their circle of disinterest and fading from view.

“I think you’re doing it,” Stubbs said excitedly.

“Shhh,” Ali said quietly.  “Extend your Gift and help.”

Stubbs focused his psychic powers and formed another sphere of ambivalence that joined with the others, making the three of them disappear for sight.  Walking leisurely, they made it safely to the cafeteria and selected a table in the corner, far away from the center of activity.

They ate their lunches in silence, keeping their backs to the wall, a watchful eye on the masses.  A few missiles of potato salad flew their way, but nothing that couldn’t be easily avoided.  The minutes clicked by at an agonizingly slow pace on the holographic clock projected onto one wall.  Billy counted the minutes as they ate, trying to accelerate time so that lunch would end sooner.

Ten minutes to go.

A plastic tray slid across the floor and banged against Ali’s chair, spinning to a stop under their table.  A cheer went up in the room, someone shouting TWO POINTS, a game they sometimes played, calling it loser table hockey.  The goal was to get your tray to land under Billy and Ali’s table, with extra points earned if you could also hit their feet.

Five minutes to go.

Another tray slid across the floor, ricocheting off a chair leg and never making it to their table, laughter and boo’s emanating from the audience.

Two minutes to go.

No more trays.  It looked like the three outcasts might make it through lunch unscathed when Billy saw Kalen, Sparks, and Katrina get up from a table and come sauntering over, walking as if they owned the place, trays of half-eaten lunches in their hands.

“Look at the three little rats hiding in the corner,” Kalen said, laughing.

“They look so scared,” Sparks said, glaring at Ali.  “I wonder what they’re so afraid of?”

“Maybe it’s those terrible clothes,” Katrina added.  She always wore the best clothes; her mother was a seamstress, and her father a tailor.  “I’d want to hide, too, if I were wearing those rags.”

“Just get lost,” Billy said, hoping they’d just leave them alone, though not very likely.

“You gonna make me, little blue runt,” Kalen barked.  Sparks laughed.

“What do you three want?” Ali asked, eyeing the trays of garbage.

By now, the entire cafeteria had become completely silent, all eyes on the conflict in the corner.

“It’s not what we want, runt,” Kalen said.  “It’s what we can give you.”

That was apparently the signal because all three of them dumped their trays of garbage forward onto Billy, Ali, and Stubbs.  Ali, however, was ready for them and threw up a wall of hardened air, causing the trash to bounce back and land at the attacker’s feet, shoes getting coated with pieces of half-eaten algae cakes and pink astral juice.  The room erupted in laughter and cheers.

“You!!!!!  Look what you did,” Katrina screamed, her precious shoes stained.

“Aaaahhhh!  I’m gonna kill you!” Kalen screamed.

Sparks just stood silent, her face red with rage to match her vibrant red hair.  Ali just sat and smiled at the three bullies, holding the wall of air firm.  Billy was already planning their escape, hoping to run out of the cafeteria and back home without getting caught.  These three were undoubtedly stronger than them, but they couldn’t match their speed.  Billy pushed his chair back a little, ready to grab Ali’s hand and run when a voice boomed throughout the room.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

The voice echoed around the Gifted, reverberating not just in their ears but also in their minds.  They had to all cup their hands over their ears to block out the volume, but of course, it did not help much, the voice reverberating in their brains as well.  Billy and Ali both pressed on their ears and shut their eyes, trying to stop Farzin’s words from ringing inside their head, but to no avail.

And as suddenly as it had started, the ringing in their heads stopped.  Seeming to materialize out of thin air, Farzin was now standing before them, his bright blue eyes glaring down at them, an angry scowl painted on his dark face.

“You know the rules,” Farzin snapped.  “You cannot use your Gifts on anyone here at Haven.  They are not play-things.  Your Gifts are weapons, not toys, and you have to learn how to use them safely and responsibly.”

Ali released the wall of air and looked down, feeling guilty at what she’d done.

“Don’t look down, Ali. Look at me.”

Ali brought her eyes up and looked at Farzin, his dark mustache seeming to quiver with anger and disappointment.  He leaned forward and glared at her.

“You should have known better,” Farzin accused.

“Well, technically, she didn’t use her Gift on them,” Billy said meekly.  “She used it to protect us, to separate them from us.”

“Be quiet.  You know what I mean.”

Kalen smiled and elbowed Katrina in the side, but somehow, Farzin had seen this and spun to face the three bullies.

“And what’s wrong with you three.  When are you going to get it that we’re all on the same team,” Farzin lectured.  “All of us here in Haven are in this together, like family.  We can’t afford to have this petty bickering, and I know that you three are frequently the source.”

“We didn’t use our Gifts,” Kalen objected.

“No, you just attacked three smaller kids because you think that your size gives you the right,” Farzin growled.  “By your logic, it would be OK if I started picking on you.”

Farzin took a step forward, his muscles tight under the baggy clothes, ready to spring into action.  He always moved like a predatory cat, weight on the balls of his feet, ready to strike out and attack in an instant.  Farzin Arash was a dangerous man, probably the most wanted individual by President Macab and his machine of oppression.  He’d run Haven for many years. No one was sure when it started, and no one knew how he’d come across the Great Cavern.  Some rumors suggested that this had at one point been the center of organized crime on Azule, with Farzin near the top of the chain of command. But those days had been long ago, the crime families having dissolved after the death of their leader, Kan.  Farzin had somehow converted the Cavern from a place for criminals to a place of salvation and hope.

Kalen took a step back and looked down at his feet, a little afraid.

“Don’t look down and defeated,” Farzin snapped.  “Always look your adversary in the eyes.”

Kalen pulled his gaze up but was afraid to look at Farzin directly, so he focused over his shoulder at a spot on the wall.  Billy saw this and smiled.

“Now, here’s what we’re going to do,” Farzin explained, his anger subsided a little.  “Kalen, Katrina, and Sparks, you’re going to clean up this mess, then you’re going to follow Billy, Ali, and Stubbs to the Gifted classroom without incident.  You three,” gesturing to Billy, Ali, and Stubbs, “go to the classroom now.”  Farzin glared at each one of them, then continued.  “Make no mistake about it, if I think any of you are unsafe and cannot be trusted with your Gift, I will mask you from it and keep you like that for as long as I wish.”

Kalen started to object, but Farzin silenced him with a pointed finger.

“Don’t,” Farzin advised.  “Now get this cleaned up.  You three, go, now.”

Farzin spun around and stormed out of the room, his whole being still boiling with anger.  Billy, Ali, and Stubbs stood, slung book bags over their shoulders, and sulked out of the cafeteria, the entire school body still sitting in silence, watching, no one daring to laugh.  Billy heard a weak thought, barely a whisper, projected into his mind on their way out.

“This isn’t over, runt,” the thought said.  He wasn’t sure who had said it, the three bullies not very good and projecting thoughts, but the threat was clear.

Looking back over his shoulder, he saw the three picking up pieces of food and empty wrappers and dumping them into the trash, none of them looking towards the three smaller kids.  He glanced at Ali and gave her a timid smile.  She looked at him and then turned away.

When would this end, Billy thought to himself as he followed his sister.

 

CHAPTER 4

The Gifted classroom was a large unfinished cavern with rough stone walls and floor.  The ceiling was high, at least twenty feet from the ground, with pale white breathing membranes pulsing and billowing as they drew fresh air in from the surface.  A thing created by the Ancients, the breathing membranes were the only living thing in the Cavern when it was discovered, that is, if they are alive.  No one really understood how they worked or what kept them alive, but they were essential to subterranean life; fresh air was all too critical.  Lighting panels were mounted in the ceiling, all of them powered with power crystals, the energy source that was the lifeblood of humanity’s civilization in the Pateras solar system.

At one end of the cavern were desks for the students and a holo-board against one wall. The other side of the cavern was filled with large obstacles, huge wooden crates or boulders big enough to hide behind. This was where they practiced their Gifted skills, having mock battles and contests.

Billy, Ali, and Stubbs entered the classroom and already found Luff sitting in one of the desks.  The three took their usual seats and waited for the others Gifted.  They expected more kids to fill the classroom, but only Kalen, Sparks, and Katrina entered, the other, younger students apparently directed somewhere else.  Everyone sat in silence, tension thick in the air but no one daring to speak out and reignite the conflict from earlier.  Luff looked around at the others in the class, his hulking form barely fitting in the chair.  Being nearly as big as Farzin and probably as strong, Luff was an interesting contrast of opposites.  He was brutishly big and strong, yet he had an incredibly gentle spirit, kind to a fault.  Lacking any real intelligence to speak of, Luff had been the butt of people’s jokes for years, that is, until Billy and Ali arrived at Haven.  No one was really sure where his name came from, Luff standing for something, but the big twelve-year-old would never say. Now, Luff just existed, cruising through life without any apparent cares or desires, just to live.  Billy was sometimes envious of him, his sense of peace and contentment seeming very attractive at times.

Farzin entered the classroom wearing a long dark cloak, its edges worn and frayed, his long dark hair flowing down his back in a tangle of knots and curls.  His bright blue eyes scanned the room as he entered, always instinctively looking for threats.  The chief of the Gifted was a cautious man, and these instincts had saved his life on many occasions.  His anger at the kids had seemed to cool down, though none of them thought to test him today.

“Everyone stand up and move your desks to the edge of the room,” Farzin commanded

All complied, having learned long ago not to ask questions when in the Gifted classroom and just do as told.  After moving the desks, students gathered back before Farzin.

“Now find a place on the ground and lay down,” Farzin said, gesturing to the dusty ground.

Everyone complied, lying down on the ground, the stone floor cold and uncomfortable.  Farzin walked between his students, looking down at each.

“Today, we’re going to practice linking minds,” Farzin explained.

“I thought we’d already done this?” Katrina asked.

“Yes, you did, but this time instead of linking with another person, you’re going to practice linking two other people with each other without having any help.”

“You mean do it against their will,” Ali asked.

“No, not against their will, just without their help,” Farzin said.  “For example, I want Katrina to try to get Billy and Sparks to link.  And Stubbs, I want you to try to get Ali and Kalen to link.  Luff, I want you to observe with your Gift and watch what they’re doing, especially Ali and Kalen.”

Luff nodded.

“But . . .” Ali started to object.

“What?” Farzin snapped.  “You have an objection?”

“No sir,” Ali replied sheepishly.  Kalen giggled.

“Excellent, now let’s get started.  Everyone close your eyes.  The ones doing the linking gather your Gifts and reach out to the two people and try to draw their minds together,” Farzin said.  “It’s important that you do it gently.  If you’re too aggressive, you’ll cause your subjects to put up mental obstacles that will block the link.”  Farzin paused to let his instructions sink in, then continued.  “OK, Katrina, go ahead and try.”

Billy tried to relax, but it was difficult knowing that Katrina was about to mess with his mind.  He gathered his Gift and tried to sense what she was doing.

“No, Billy, don’t use your Gift,” Farzin said, “just relax.”

Billy sighed, released his Gift, and tried to relax.  He then felt a kind of tingling in the back of his mind, like something was there, trying to get in, then it faded away.  It came again, tickling the back of his brain with subtle strokes, and then went away again, never fully entering his mind.

“Grrr,” Katrina growled.  “I can’t do it.  I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.  How about a little better instruction? Give us a hint here.”

“That’s fine, Katrina, just relax and watch.  Now, Stubbs, you try.  Ali and Kalen, relax and open your minds.”

Ali took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and relaxed.  She could hear Kalen’s heavy breathing near her feet, the bigger boy not sounding very relaxed, probably trying to resist on purpose, though Farzin would sense him using his Gift if he tried.  And then the back of her mind started to itch and tingle, like a tiny sparkle of light was growing back there.  The glimmer seemed to grow, becoming louder and louder, somehow, though Ali wasn’t sure how a sparkle of light could have volume, but that’s how it felt.  The sparkle of light started to form into a brighter ball of light that screamed in her mind, like the raging noise of a waterfall, but in light instead of sound.  And then the ball of light completely consumed her and disappeared, leaving Ali in complete darkness, everything utterly silent except another voice.

“This is ridiculous. Why would I want to link with a runt like her?” the voice said.  “This is a waste of time like most of what Farzin teaches us.  I don’t need his help.  I already know everything I need to know about my Gift.”

It was Kalen’s thoughts reverberating in her head, but apparently, it was only a one-way connection, Ali being able to hear him, but Kalen not being able to hear Ali.  But then she started to feel the tickle form in the back of Kalen’s mind.  It grew from a tiny sparkle to a giant fiery ball of light, then it consumed Kalen, forming the link in both directions.

The blue algae within Ali’s mind could feel the connection being established, a new mind linked to theirs, and extended to touch it.  A flood of blue voices reached out to Kalen, probing his thoughts and memories.

“What’s that?” Kalen thought.  “What are those voices?  Oh my god, the voices, it’s the Voices, the alien algae.  Get out!  Get out of my head!” he screamed both within his mind and out loud.

Stubbs severed the link, Kalen’s screams causing him to break his concentration.  Farzin moved to stand beside Kalen and reached out with his Gift to calm the boy.

“What the hell was that?” Kalen shouted.  He stood up and turned to face Ali, who was still on the ground. “You’re some kind of mutant, with alien bugs in your head.  You stay away from me, both of you.”  He pointed to Billy and Ali, his hands shaking.

“Just calm down, Kalen, you’re fine,” Farzin said calmly, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Kalen pushed his hand away and scowled at his teacher.

“What do you think you’re doing, making me link with that thing,” Kalen shouted, his face starting to turn red.  “I won’t ever do that again, and you can’t make me.”

“That’s fine, Kalen,” Farzin said, then turned to face the rest of the class.  “Kalen, Sparks, Katrina, Luff, you can leave for the day.  Billy, Stubbs, Ali, you stay. I want to talk with you three.”

“What did we do?” Billy asked.  “Was this because of the cafeteria?”

“That incident is in the past,” Farzin explained and waited for the others to leave, then continued.  “What we need to talk about is the future.  Class dismissed.”

The other four walked away, with Kalen making comments purposely loud enough to be heard.

“It was like a bunch of aliens in her head,” Kalen grumbled.  “She’s probably contagious.  I hope I didn’t get any of her alien diseases in me.  We should kick her out of Haven; let the spiders have her.”

“Yea, and the blue-eyed runt of a brother,” Katrina added loudly to make sure she was heard.

Ali sighed as they left the Gifted chamber, their comments further widening the gap between outcast and acceptance.  She noticed that Luff seemed to stay away from Kalen and the two girls.  She wasn’t sure where he stood with the three bullies; sometimes, he went along with them, silently following them, giving tacit acceptance while other times trying to say separate.  Sometimes, Ali felt that Luff had the potential to be a good kid. He just needed the courage to stand up and be heard.  Taking a tired breath, she turned and faced her teacher.

Farzin smiled at the small girl as he gathered his Gift and pulled four chairs towards them from across the room.  Gesturing to the chairs, he sat in one, waiting for the kids to do the same.

“The future?” Ali asked.

“Yes, the future,” Farzin said.  “I have a plan, and I need your help.  The Resistance needs your help, and only you three can do this.”

“Is it dangerous?” Stubbs asked.

“Yes.”

“Will it help Haven?” Stubbs continued.

“Yes.”

“Then I’m in,” Stubbs replied.

“Wait a minute, what are we talking about?” Billy asked.

“I’ll explain what I have in mind, then you three must ask your parents.  We can’t do this without their permission.  But make no mistake about it, this is very dangerous, but it will help many people who are suffering and help the Resistance.  Are you ready to listen?”

The three kids nodded.  Farzin then leaned in and explained his plan in a low whisper, accentuating the danger at every step.  Billy felt a shiver run down his spine as their teacher explained, the danger making his soul run cold, but knew that they had to help, no matter what the cost.

 

CHAPTER 5

After their class, the twins raced through the tunnels, anxious to talk to their parents about Farzin’s plan.  Sprinting down a central passageway, they dodged other pedestrians until they reached the Great Cavern.  Ali always loved the look of the Cavern from the edge, the translucent blue-white crystal tower rising above the ramshackle collection of man-made homes, all made from different materials; whatever could be acquired or stolen from Macab.  Looking at it from above was like looking down on the drab patchwork of a quilt, all of the pieces fitting together in irregular patterns but with a shining focal point of light at the center.

The crystal tower seemed to fill Ali with hope every time she saw it like this, its absolute purity of form and construction taking her breath away.  Sometimes, when she reached out to it with her Gift, she’d swear she could hear voices murmuring as if something were trapped within the crystal facets, somehow.  It sounded ridiculous, so she never mentioned it to anybody, even Billy, just keeping this revelation to herself, her own little secret.

“Come on, quit gawkin’ and let’s go,” Billy said as he headed off towards the transportation node.

“Hold on, wait for me,” Ali objected and hurried to catch up to her brother.

The transportation node was something that had just been installed within the Great Cavern.  Engineers had somehow stolen these from Macab, removing the whole thing, bolt by bolt, and building it again, here in Haven.  The transportation nodes were places where transportation discs docked to pick up passengers.  The discs were round black pieces of plas-steel with anti-gravity generators underneath.  They moved along navigational beams, bright red lasers that pointed from one transportation node to the next in a spiderweb-like network that zigzagged across the Cavern, a modern-day bus system.

Billy had heard that it was a big deal when they finally turned on the transportation discs for use, but that was before Billy and Ali, and their family had come to Haven.  People started calling it ‘riding the beams,’ but now they just refer to them as ‘the discs.’  Billy loved riding the beams, floating high overhead, drifting noiseless across the Cavern, seeing all manner of people living their lives on the Cavern floor.  He couldn’t wait to get soaring out into the open air.  But for now, Billy and Ali had to wait for the next disc to arrive.

“Do you think Father will agree to let us go with Farzin?” Billy asked.

“I doubt it,” Ali answered.  “You know what he thinks of Farzin, the head of the Gifted in Haven.  He’s not exactly Father’s favorite person.”

“We need Francis’ help.  If we can get him on our side, maybe he can convince Father,” Billy suggested.

“That makes sense,” Ali replied.  “Francis is the logical person to help, for obvious reasons.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.  Oh, here comes a disc.”

Billy and Ali stood on the transportation node, anxiously waiting for the disc to arrive.  It was empty, with no passengers.  Billy could see the red navigation beam underneath, the disc staying glued to it somehow.  The blue glow of the anti-grav generators shaded the beam a deep purple near the edge of the disc, the colors mixing nicely with the crystal tower in the background.

Noiselessly, it slid up to the node and stopped.  Billy stepped on first, then turned and waited for Ali to board.  Once she was on, Billy pressed the activation button on the control pedestal.  A series of symbols were then illuminated on the control screen, each corresponding to a different transportation node.  Billy selected the one nearest to their home.  Instantly, a red containment field formed around the perimeter of the transport disc, rising to shoulder height to keep people from falling off.  The anti-gravity generators underneath the disc gave off a bright blue radiance as the disk lifted off the node and noiselessly moved out into the open air, heading towards their next destination.

Billy stood next to the containment field and looked down, watching people drift past.  He always hoped he’d see someone he knew, but he never did.  Looking back over his shoulder, he checked on his sister.  Ali was just standing in the center of the disc, lost in thought, her eyes cast outward towards the great crystal tower.

“What are you thinking about?” Billy asked.

“What happened today.”

“You mean in the cafeteria?”

“No, I mean with Kalen and Stubbs,” Ali replied.  “It was like Farzin did that mind connection thing just to test Stubbs.  You notice he didn’t give your experiment any attention.  He just let Katrina try and fail without giving any instruction and advice.”  She paused to shift her book bag to her other shoulder, then continued.  “I was watching Farzin during your test.  He wasn’t even watching you or Katrina like he wasn’t even interested.  He just watched Stubbs the whole time, measuring him up or something.  What did he do when we were doing our experiment?”

“I don’t know,” Billy replied.  “I wasn’t watching. I was listening with my Gift, trying to hear what Stubbs was doing.”

“Were you able to sense anything?”

“Well, it kinda looked like he was weaving something with his Gift, like the way Gramma used to knit those sweaters, only it seemed a lot more complicated.”

Suddenly, the transportation disc slid to a halt, the red containment field dissolving away.

“We’re here,” Ali stated.  “Come on, let’s get home and talk with Father.”

“Not until Francis is home, remember.”

“Right.”

The twins raced down the steps from the transportation node, running through the streets towards home.  They could have certainly walked, but rarely does a ten-year-old walk when they could run.  Darting between houses, they made it home in record time, this time Billy getting there first.

“Winner,” he chanted as he crossed the threshold into their home, Ali right on his heels.

Father was there, in the living room, reading on a holographic data-cube reader, the pages of text hovering in the air before him.  He reached into the floating text and expanded an image, a three-dimensional picture of an algae harvester now forming before their eyes.  Charles spun it this way and that, then pulled it towards him so that the view enlarged, zooming into to see the fine details.  He then wiped it off to the side with a quick flick of his hand, the image disappearing replaced by text.  Grumbling something about the new harvester, Charles continued reading, not looking up to greet his children.

Their mother was in the kitchen, as always, baking something extraordinary for the people of Haven, doing her part to help their community survive.  She was humming something while she baked but stopped to look up and smile at her twins as they entered their home.

“You’re home early,” Diane said from the kitchen

“Yeah,” Ali answered.  “We had a really short lesson in Gifted class today, and Farzin sent us home early.”

“Didn’t your leader have any great tidbits of wisdom to impart to you?” Charles said sarcastically, not looking up from the holo-magazine.

“He did,” Billy said excitedly.  “We learned about linking other people together.”

“Linking them together?” Charles asked.  “You mean, like holding hands?”

“No,” Ali replied.  “Not linking them together physically.  We started learning how to link people’s minds together.”

“What a waste of time,” Charles grumbled softly, shaking his head.

“It wasn’t a waste of time,” Ali snapped, but then was sorry she spoke up.

“What possible circumstance would require you to link two other people’s minds together?” Charles asked, now looking away from the data reader and staring straight at Ali.  “Maybe to put out a fire . . . oh no, you use a hose for that . . . maybe to fix a ground speeder . . . oh no, you use tools and a mechanic for that.”  He looked at Billy and then back at Ali, challenging them with his glare.  “Why do you need to know how to do that, huh?  Tell me, why?”

“Charles, be nice,” Diane snapped.  “You’ve been grumpy all day, just sitting there with that data reader, looking through old Algae Harvester holo-mags.  You need to get out of this house and do something useful with yourself.  I’m sick and tired of you just sulking about.”

“I’ll do something useful when I’m good and ready,” Charles snapped back, but his voice did not have the typical ring of confidence that it usually had; there was something else there, almost an echo of uncertainty.

“You notice that?” Ali thought to Billy.

“What?” Billy thought back.

“Father, his voice,” Ali replied.  “It almost sounded . . . scared.”

“Scared . . . our father . . . I don’t think so.”

Just then, the front door opened, and Frank walked in, a big smile on his face, as usual.  He strode into their home wearing his standard apparel, dirty, greasy overalls with stains of oil and dirt on his face and arms.

“Do you purposely try to get oil all over you every day?” Ali asked her older brother with a smile.

Frank took two steps into the living room and stopped, leaving the front door still open.

“Actually, I bring it home so that I can rub it on you,” Frank said, then started to run towards Ali, chasing her throughout the living room.

“Hey, were you born in a barn,” Charles snapped, pointing towards the front door.

“What?” Frank said as he grabbed his sister around the waist and proceeded to smear the oil on his cheek all over her forehead.  “He was right behind me.  I left it open for him.”

“Him?” Charles asked.  “Who’s him?”

“I’m him,” a deep voice sounded from the doorway.

All eyes turned to find Farzin standing in their doorway, patiently waiting to be invited inside.

“What are you doing here?” Charles asked with an accusatory tone.

“Didn’t your children tell you?” Farzin responded, giving Billy and Ali a questioning look.

Charles snapped his head around to glare at Ali, then Billy, then turned back to Farzin.

“What do you mean?” Charles snapped.  “Billy, Ali, what’s this all about?”

“Well, ahhh . . . we were going to tell you . . . but ahhh,” Ali stammered, her voice cracking with nervousness.

“Mr. Asonti, let me explain,” Farzin began.

“Oh, please call him Charles,” Diane interjected.

Charles shot her an angry glare, then turned back to Farzin, clearly not wanting to be on a first-name basis with this Gifted.

“Ahh, yeah,” Farzin continued.  “As I was saying, Mr. Asonti, I need the help of your children.”

“For what?”

“To free hundreds of people that have been discarded and left to die by the government of Azule,” Farzin explained.

“You mean Macab,” Charles stated as if catching him in a lie.  “You want my children to help you with all this Resistance stuff.  Isn’t that right?”  He stood up from his chair and pointed an accusatory finger towards Farzin.  “Why don’t you just say it the way it is instead of dancing around the real issue?  You want my kids to be part of the Resistance.”

“They’re already part of the Resistance,” Farzin corrected.  “And so are you.  All of you became part of the Resistance when you reached out for our help.”

“We didn’t reach out to you,” Charles snapped.  “We just had no choice; nowhere else to go.”

“I’ve heard this kind of complaint before.  People claim they were forced here for one reason or another because they’ve pissed off Macab or one of his oppressive dogs.  I don’t care why you came here.  In fact, I don’t care why anyone comes to Haven.  We’re here to help the people that have nothing left, that have been chased out of their homes and driven from society by the dictatorship that rules this planet.”

Farzin turned and closed the door, then stepped into the living room and took a chair opposite Charles, slowly sitting as he gestured everyone else to grab a chair.

“So I don’t care why you’re here,” Farzin continued.  “All I care about is that nobody betrays Haven, and everybody pitches in and helps.”

His words made Charles avert his eyes for a moment, looking guiltily to the ground.  Reaching out to turn off the holo data reader, he looked back at Farzin, a stern look of stubbornness on his face.

“So now it’s my children’s turn to pitch in, whether they want to or not?” Charles asked.  “Is that it?”

“I’ve already explained what I want them to do, what the dangers are, and what we could gain,” Farzin said, looking to the twins.  “They agreed to do what I asked, but I insisted that their mother, father, and brother agree with what I’m asking them to do.”

“What do I have to do with any of this?” Frank asked.  “I’m not Gifted. I’m just a greasy mechanic.”

“That’s for sure,” Billy interjected, receiving a grin from his brother and a scowl from his father.

“You have a lot to do with this,” Farzin added.  “You provide a unique perspective here.”

“So, what is it that you want my children to do?” Charles asked.

“We’re going to free hundreds of men and women from the Voices,” Farzin said calmly, his voice ringing with confidence.

“What are you talking about?” Charles asked, leaning forward to sit straight upright on the overstuffed sofa.  “There weren’t that many people in the hospital when Frank had the Voices.”

“That’s because they’re taken to a facility on t11he north side of Azule City, just inside of the spider line.  They put hundreds of people there that were inflicted with the blue algae.  Macab leaves them to rot there and die.  Medical services are almost non-existent, with just food and water administered through IVs.  On average, someone with the Voices has a life expectancy of about two years.  Macab blames the blue algae, but the truth of it is that no one cares about them, and the people just waste away.”

“You’re telling me that there are hundreds of people with the Voices, and Macab is hiding them,” Charles said, disbelief ringing in his voice.

“That’s right.”

“And that you think you can free them from the Voices?”

“I know we can,” Farzin said proudly, looking at Billy and Ali.

“And why should we do this?” Charles asked.  “Why should we take the risk?  Are these people part of the resistance?”

“No.”

“Are they important people?  Do they have lots of money and power?”

“No.”

“Do they have special skills that you need here in Haven?” Charles asked, suspicion in his voice.

“No.”

“Then why take the risk?  Why should this be done?”

“Because we can,” Farzin answered confidently.  “We can rescue these people and expose how Macab has been treating them.”

“I see now,” Charles said, rising to his feet.  He walked to the kitchen table and grabbed a fresh roll that had just come from the oven.  It was hot and burned his fingers as he picked it up but took a bite anyway.  “So, you want to do this for the publicity you can claim.  Use it in your advertising campaign, showing Macab as a bad guy.”

“That’s right,” Farzin replied as he rose to his feet, “as well as to save these people.”

“And why didn’t you try this before?” Charles asked, a tone of accusation in his voice.

“Because we didn’t know it could be done until your twins saved their brother,” Farzin explained.  “A thing that can be done once can be done again.”

“But why take the risk for these unknown people,” Charles said, his voice lacking the conviction and confidence of Farzin.  “Why help a bunch of strangers.”

“They aren’t strangers . . . to you,” Farzin said, in a loud, confident voice.

“What do you mean?” Charles asked, his voice getting louder with frustration.  “Quit playing these games and say what you mean.”

Farzin walked into the kitchen and stood almost nose to nose with Charles, daring him to step back.  He stood his ground.

“They’re algaemen . . . like yourself . . . like your son,” Farzin said softly, his eyes glued to Charles.  “It could have been your son there.  It could have been you.  If you’d kept working in the algae fields, it probably would have been you.”

At that, Frank stood up quickly from his chair and turned to face his father.

“I want to go,” he blurted out.  “I want to help.”

Farzin held his hand up to silence the oldest boy but kept his eyes glued to Charles.

“I have it planned out, timed to the second,” Farzin said, his gaze unwavering.  “It will be me, your twins, Billy and Ali, and one other boy from their Gifted class, Stubbs.”

“Stubbs?” Charles said, confused.  “I’ve seen their class and never noticed a boy named Stubbs.”

“That’s right,” Farzin agreed as he finally broke his gaze from Charles and picked up a roll.  Taking a big bite out of the fresh-baked goodness, he continued.  “He is a very strong Gifted.  I haven’t seen anyone as strong as him or your children.  They’re all-powerful in the Gift. We’re going to use their strength to free those with the Voices and give them their lives back.”  Farzin paused to finish off the roll, then turned to face Diane.  “I’ll be with your children the whole time, and we’ll always have help nearby, as well.  There is a risk here, but I think it’s manageable with careful planning and preparation.”

Charles turned to look at Diane, his eyes asking the question.  Smiling a subtle smile, she nodded her head, a tear leaking from one eye, driven out by fear for her children.  Charles then turned and looked at Billy and Ali.  Their faces were bright with confidence, each nodding vigorously.  He then turned to look at Frank.

“What do you think?” He asked his oldest.

“They’re algaemen, dad.”

A scowl formed on Charles’ face.

“I mean . . .Father,” Frank corrected.  “We have to help them.  They’re part of us, no matter who they are.”  He paused and stepped closer to his father.  “You told me that I’d never be alone on the oceans, or alone on a harvester, or alone anywhere.  You said that algaemen are family, and they take care of their own.  Well . . . here’s our chance . . . to take care of our own.  We have to try.”

Charles paused to consider his son’s words, then turned to face Farzin.

“Only on one condition,” Charles said in a confident voice, daring Farzin to challenge him.

“Name it,” Farzin said, a stern look on his face.

“I’m going with you,” Charles said in a commanding voice.

And then, uncharacteristically, Farzin smiled.

 

CHAPTER 6

The ground speeder bumped over the uneven landscape of the Outlands as it headed towards the outskirts of Azule City.  The preparation for Charles to join Farzin’s team had been almost effortless.  It was as if Farzin had already planned for Charles to accompany them on the trip.

Had the chief of the Gifted always expected him to want to go, Charles thought to himself, or maybe he’d done something to him with his damn Gift.  He wasn’t sure if he could trust Farzin or not.  Can you really trust any Gifted?  Thinking back to his mother, Charles felt rage bubbling up within him.  Gifted . . . they’d taken so much from him; he won’t allow this one to take his children away from him.

“We’re getting close to a checkpoint,” Farzin said for everyone in the speeder to hear.  “Remember how we practiced it; give short answers to all questions and look them in the eye.  Don’t be afraid. I can take care of anything they do.”  Farzin flipped a switch on the dashboard, putting the speeder on auto-pilot, then turned to face the three kids in the backseat.  “You kids remember the names I gave you?”

The three kids all nodded.

“You bet, Farzin,” Billy said.

The chief of the Gifted scowled the young boy.

“Sorry, I mean . . . you bet, Mr. Bernoulli,” Billy corrected.

“Remember, only use names when necessary,” Farzin advised.  “Now relax, we’ll be there in just a few minutes.

Turning back to face the front, Farzin turned off the autopilot and put his hands on the steering wheel.

“Are you still OK with all this?” Farzin asked Charles in the seat next to him.

“You bet, Mr. Bernoulli,” Charles said, making his voice high pitched, like Billy’s, then laughed.  “Not like I had much choice,” his voice now serious.

“We always have a choice, as long as we’re willing to accept the consequences.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Charles replied as they pulled up to the checkpoint.

Farzin slowed and approached the laser fence that stretched across the security checkpoint, tall plas-steel walls lining either side of the road.  The laser fence glowed an angry red and shaded everything a soft crimson.  The blue light from the anti-gravity generators mixed with the red light from the fence and made the ground around the speeder glow a beautiful purple.  Billy, Ali, and Stubbs all held out their identification papers to the security officer, looking straight ahead, trying to look bored, as per Farzin’s instructions.  Their identification papers were taken, looked at briefly, and returned without incident.  The laser fence dimmed and dissolved into nothingness as the security officer waved them through.

They accelerated away from the checkpoint, all breathing a sigh of relief.  As they drove, Farzin handed Charles a wrist band with a photo of Stubbs on it.

“Put this on your wrist,” Farzin said to Charles.

“Why?”

“Because of Stubb’s Gift.”

“What?  I don’t understand,” Charles said, turning to look back at Stubbs.

“Stubbs, explain it to him,” Farzin commanded.

Stubbs swallowed, clearly nervous about explaining.

“OK,” Stubbs said, his voice cracking a little.  “My Gift is a little different from other people’s Gifts.  I can’t do things like Kalen, tie things up with psychic power, or like Sparks, moving things, or even like Luff, making fire.  My Gift is making people forget me.  I can’t control it.  As soon as people move away from me, they completely forget me.”

“That’s crazy,” Ali interrupted.  “I’ve always known you since coming to Haven.”

“It doesn’t work on Gifted,” Stubbs explained, “only on non-Gifted, like your dad.”

“But I still remember you,” Charles said, confused.

“That’s because you haven’t been away from me yet.  As soon as we separate, you’ll forget you ever knew me.  I hate this power.”  Stubbs sighed, clearly sad.

“Why do you hate it so much?” Ali asked, putting an arm around the boy next to him to comfort him.

Stubbs just looked down at his feet, trying not to cry.

“Tell them what your Gift does,” Farzin commanded.  “They have to know so they won’t be surprised later.”

Stubbs sighed again, then explained.  “My parents are Gifted, but my older brother isn’t.”  He paused for a moment, then continued.  “Gabriel never remembers who I am.  He’s always shocked to see me and is sometimes afraid.  When I was little, Gabe used to get really scared when he’d see me in our home, especially at night.  I used to cry and cry when he’d yell at me, telling me to get out of our house.” He sniffled, then continued.  “One time, he thought I was a burglar and hit me in the head and then chased me out of the house.  I was so scared.  It was like I didn’t have a brother, like I was alone.  My parents put one of those pictures on his wrist every day so that when he sees me, he can see the picture and not be so afraid, but it rarely does any good.”

Stubbs sniffled.

“That’s awful, Stubbs,” Billy said.  “But you’re not alone when you’re with us.  Right Ali?”

“That’s right,” she added.  “You’re one of us.  We’ll be your siblings, like you’re part of the family from now on.  Isn’t that right, Father?”

“Ahh . . . yeah . . . sure,” Charles stammered, trying to process the information.  He looked down at the photo on the wristband, then put it on.  “I’m sure I won’t need this, but I’ll put it on anyway.”  He reached back and rustled the boy’s hair, drawing out a smile, then turned and faced forward.

“OK, that’s out of the way. Now, we need to get serious about this mission.  From here on, stick to the names everyone’s been given,” Farzin instructed, his tone sounding serious.  “Any mistakes could cost us this mission, so get serious and no mistakes.”

They continued to drive into Azule City, the largest of their suns, Pateras, nearing the horizon, the smaller red dwarf, Gios, still high in the sky painting the terrain with soft red shadows and hues.  Taking a meandering course, Farzin zigzagged through the city, heading for the poorest part of town, called Pobre by those who lived there.  Billy noticed the change in the buildings lining the streets as they drove.  They changed from high-quality shops with brightly colored holographic signs over their doorways to those with older holographic signs, displaying only two colors, to stores with only flat 2D signs made from fluorescent tubes.  Some of the stores, he noticed, were completely vacant, with plas-steel sheets over doorways, some with gaping holes where windows once stood.  Billy could tell by the number of broken windows and the look of disrepair that they’d entered Probre.

Farzin slowed as pedestrians started to fill the streets, the vehicles apparently no longer the owners of the roads.  People waved to Farzin; many knew him by sight.  He waved back, making no attempt to keep a low profile or go unnoticed.

“I thought you said we didn’t want to attract attention,” Charles said, his voice sounding annoyed.

“We’re amongst friends down here,” Farzin replied as he pulled the speeder to the side of the road and turned off the anti-gravity generators, the vehicle slowly settling to the ground.  “These people have felt the pressure of Macab’s boot heel for years.  They’ve been made examples of and been the scapegoats on many occasions.  These people know who I am and what I represent, and they know that the Resistance is their only hope of a free society.  The citizens of Probre can be trusted, and I’d stake my life on it.”

“And our lives as well,” Charles added.

Farzin ignored Charles’s last comment and got out of the speeder, gesturing for the others to do the same.  Not waiting to see if they complied, Farzin moved to the back of the vehicle and opened the trunk.  He then pulled out large canvas sacks filled with something.

“Kids, come help,” Farzin said, motioning to the trunk.

Billy and Ali came over quickly, Stubbs hanging back, a little nervous about the surroundings.

“Pull out these sacks and hand them to someone,” Farzin explained.  “Tell each person to distribute the contents to those who need it.”

“What’s in the bags?” Ali asked.

“A gift from your mother, of course,” Farzin answered, smiling.

Billy quickly opened one of the sacks, stuffed his face in, and inhaled.  It was that smell he loved so much—the fresh yeasty smell of warm bread.  Closing up the sack, Billy handed it to the first person he saw, a thin, gangly looking man that must have been at least eighty years old, his thinning grey hair showing a speckled scalp.  The old man looked as if he hadn’t eaten in a month, his arms covered with unhealed scars.

“How do you know they’ll share this food,” Billy asked as he handed out another bag.

“Did you notice that old man, the one you gave the bag of food?” Farzin asked.

“Yeah.”

“You see his arms?”

Billy nodded, unsure if he wanted this conversation to continue.

“Those scars are from an Inquisitor’s whipping rod,” Farzin explained.  “They do that to remind the people of Pobre who’s in charge.  They do it to them all, just to make an example out of someone.”  Farzin handed a bag of bread to Ali, who gave it to a short woman with a baby in one arm, scars across her bare shoulders.  “All of these people feel the lash at one time or another.  They have a saying here; ‘whip one of the people, whip all of the people.’ The citizens of Pobre, with all their different backgrounds and varied ethnicities, have been brought together through suffering.  It’s like one giant family down here in Pobre.” He paused to look about him at the poor and haggard people on the streets, then raised his voice to that all heard him.  “No one can be free if one is left behind.”  The people cheered.

Gesturing down the street, Farzin pointed out people pulling loaves of bread from the canvas sacks and handing them to anyone hungry, and that was everybody.  Billy smiled, feeling good that his mother’s bread was helping so many people.  Turning, he reached into the back of the speeder for another sack but found the trunk empty; no more food.  Farzin still had a small bag in his hand that jingled as if it were full of coins.  Slamming the trunk closed, he gestured to a long-haired man with a full beard and mustache, his skin color similarly dark.  He then handed the man the bag of coins.

“Waseem, take this money,” Farzin said, his voice now with the tone of command.  “Distribute it on the east side of Azule City.  Spread the word that Farzin Arash will be near the Guardians.”  He paused for a moment, then looked directly into Waseem’s eyes.  “Make sure that Macab hears.  You understand?”

The long-haired man nodded, then ran off with the coins, motioning two others to follow him as he headed to the east.

“You’re just going to trust them with that money?” Charles asked.

“Of course,” Farzin replied.  “They’re part of Resistance.  They know what’s at stake and will do their part.”

“Why do you want people to know you’ll be near the Guardians?” Billy asked.

“This will draw the security forces to the other end of the city; a diversion,” Farzin explained.  “Now, everyone, back into the speeder, we have to get to the holding facility before first sunset.”

They piled into the speeder as before, kids in the back seat, adults in the front.  Farzin activated the anti-gravity generators, causing a blue glow to surround the vehicle as it rose off the ground.  He headed towards the holding facility, slowly weaving around pedestrians and merchant carts.  In minutes there were out of Pobre and cruising along busy streets filled with other vehicles, some civilian, some military.  Moving with the flow of traffic, they didn’t try to avoid the military cruisers. They just looked away and tried to be invisible, as everyone did on Azule.  The shops and markets, with their colorful holographic signs floating high in the air, lined the clean streets, the sidewalks filled with shoppers.  The world had transformed from the dingy and dirty streets of Pobre, with the inhabitants all looking out for one another, to a world of clean streets, bright holographic signs, and people that didn’t look at each other, not wanting to help out or get involved in the lives of their neighbors.  It was an interesting contrast.

“Notice how nobody looks at each other?” Billy thought to his sister.

“Yeah,” Ali replied.  “I think I liked it better back in Pobre.”

“Me too,” Billy thought.

Moving casually, Farzin drove through the shopping district, continuing north.  The shopping district slowly changed to a mixture of shops and homes, with few kids about as it was a school day, most of the houses were dark, adults likely at work.  Traffic thinned out on the road, making travel easier, letting Farzin speed up a little.  As they drove, Billy could see a red glow on the horizon; the spider line.  Pateras was getting lower and lower in the West, casting long crimson shadows on the ground, the darkness filled with the red light from Gios, still high up in the sky. Farzin slowed and pulled to the side of the road as the spider line drew nearer, then turned off the ground speeder, the blue glow from underneath slowly fading to darkness.

“We go on foot from here,” Farzin instructed.

He pulled out a backpack from under the driver’s seat and slung it over his shoulder.  He opened a panel on the door and pulled out two lase guns, handing one to Charles.

“You know how to work one of these?” Farzin asked.

Charles nodded, holding the gun at arm’s length as if it were a poisonous snake.

“I don’t like guns,” Charles snapped.

“Too bad,” Farzin replied.  “This gun just might save your life.  Switch it on and put it in your coat pocket.”

Charles gave Farzin an angry scowl, then thumbed the power button on, making the lase gun come to life.  He then stuffed it into his jacket pocket and stepped out of the speeder, the three in the back slowly filing out.

Billy stepped out of the speeder and looked down the street.  He could see the homes abruptly ending, with the rubble from destroyed buildings lining the edges of the road.  At the end of the street, perhaps half a mile away, was a large grey structure, the sides featureless with no windows and only a single door, two guards standing nearby.  A laser fence ringed the building, the beams glowing an angry green.  Touching the fence would likely cost an arm or leg, something to be avoided.

“We have to get in there?” Charles asked.

Farzin nodded.

“Past the guards and the laser fence?”

Farzin nodded.

“But how do we get close?” Ali added.  “All the buildings have been knocked down.  There’s nowhere to hide.”

“Yeah, Farzin, how are you going to get us up close so that we can get in?” Charles asked, a hint of disrespect in his voice.

Farzin glared at Charles, then moved into an abandoned home, the door lying on the ground, torn from its hinges, the outline of an army boot in the center.  Motioning everyone to come near, he spoke in a low voice.

“OK, here’s what we’re going to do . . .”

 

CHAPTER 7

Stubbs started walking towards the nondescript grey building, Farzin’s plan still echoing in his mind, the dark chief of the Gifted right next to him.  Farzin was extending a circle of disinterest around them both, making the guards want to look elsewhere, find anything more interesting to look at than the two approaching Gifted.  It didn’t work as well on Stubbs as it did on Farzin, so there was a risk that the young boy would be seen.  That was why Farzin needed Stubbs. A person who can be forgotten in an instant was a person who could truly disappear.

They walked slowly, careful to make as little noise as possible, avoiding stepping on any debris from the annihilated homes near the facility.  Farzin had one arm around Stubbs, holding him close to him.  The young boy was shaking, terrified, though the chief of the Gifted projected calming thoughts into his mind.  Stroking the boy’s short brown hair, he looked down at him, finding two soft green eyes looking back up, afraid.

“It’ll be OK, Stubbs,” Farzin thought to him.  “We’ll be done with this in just a few minutes.  No big deal.”

Stubbs nodded, his pale skin actually looking as if it had some color under the red light of Gios, the freckles on his cheeks standing out.  He smiled up at Farzin, trying to look brave.

They continued, moving slowly towards the guards.  When they were within arm’s reach, Fazin sent a thought to one, suggesting that they should go in and check on the patients.

“I better go check on the patients,” said the taller of the two guards.  “You stay here and keep your eyes open.  You don’t want to get caught sleeping on watch like the last one that had this post.”

“What happened to him?” the shorter guard asked.

“You can ask him yourself. He’s back there with the other patients, on a cot.”

The man swallowed roughly and stood a little straighter, eyes peering out to the surroundings.  The taller guard turned to face the door, a seven-button access pad set in the center.  As the guard started to punch in the code to open the door, Stubbs stepped forward and reached out with his Gift, switching it on and off, making any non-Gifted nearby completely forget about him.  Peering around the guard’s arm, he watched him input the code.

“Hey, who are you?” the guard snapped as he saw Stubbs out of the corner of his eye.

The first number was 3.

Farzin quickly pulled him back into his circle of disinterest, making him disappear from sight, Stubbs’ Gift making him disappear from their memory as well.  He stepped forwards again, watching the guard’s dirty fingers punch in the code.

The next number was a 1, and then a 4, and then . . .

“Who are you?  You aren’t supposed to be here.  Where . . .”

Stubbs disappeared again back within Farzin’s sphere of ambivalence.

The guard had a confused look on his face.

“Who are you talking to?” the shorter asked.

“Ahh . . . what?”

“I said who are you talking to?”

“Ahh . . . I don’t know,” the taller guard said, sounding confused.  “Leave me alone and watch the street.  Something is going on over near the Guardians.  Keep your eyes open.”

He turned back and started entering the access code again.

The next number was a 1, the next, 5, and the last number, a 9.

The taller guard entered, opened the door, and went inside, lase rifle held at the ready, closing the door behind him.  The aroma of unwashed bodies wafted out of the doorway, making Farzin lose a little bit of concentration, his circle of disinterest wavering a bit.  This allowed the shorter guard to see Stubbs for a moment.

“Hey, who are you?  How did you get here?”

Before Stubbs could stay anything, Farzin’s foot shot out and kicked the man’s weapon out of his hands.  Pulling Stubbs back behind him, Farzin released his circle of disinterest, seeming to materialize out of thin air.  The guard’s eyes went wide with shock, but only for an instant as Farzin spun and hit the man on the side of his head with a spinning kick, knocking him to the ground and into unconsciousness.  Grabbing his weapon, Farzin threw it out of arms reach, then motioned for Charles and the twins to approach.

Pulling restraining bands from a pocket, Farzin wrapped the guard’s hands and feet, then activated the restraint fields, the bands glowing a sickly green, binding the man firmly.  Hearing footsteps pounding towards them, Farzin looked up to see Charles and the twins running up to them.  The instant Charles saw Stubbs, he skidded to a stop.

“Who’s that?” he asked, looking towards Stubbs.

“Look at your wrist,” Farzin said.

“But who’s that behind you?” Charles asked, confused.  “Is it one of them?”

Charles fumbled for the lase gun and pulled it out, raising it to point it at the young boy, fear and confusion creasing his brow.  Farzin stood directly in front of Stubbs and put a gentle hand on Charles’ shoulder.  He then reached down and grabbed his hand and twisted it so that his wrist pointed up.

“Look at your wrist,” Farzin said with a firm voice, squeezing the wrist to make him look.

Charles looked down at his wrist and saw a photo of Stubbs, with the word FRIEND written across the picture

“He’s a friend,” Farzin said, his voice edged with the sound of command.  “Point the gun somewhere else.”

Farzin pushed the gun aside as Charles recognized Stubbs as the same person in the photo.

“Friend?”

“Yes, friend,” Farzin said firmly.  “I had him meet us here.  He’s here to help.”

“Ahh . . . OK,” Charles said, lowering his gun.

“Now come on, let’s get inside,” Farzin said.

Punching in the code, 314159, the door clicked open, the smell of dirt and filth seeping around the opening.

“Everyone get back,” Farzin commanded.

Peering around the door, he could see a long hallway with another locked door at the end, a guard sitting in a chair behind a desk.  He stood quickly and drew his weapon, shooting towards the open door.  Beams of high energy light struck the door, heating the plas-steel so that the surface glowed for just an instant, then faded away.

“Charles, shoot at him,” Farzin snapped.

“I’m not a killer like you.  I don’t know how to hit anything.”

“Then get lucky and shoot in that direction,” Farzin said, pointing towards the locked door.  “I need something to make him keep his head down,” Farzin said quickly

Charles shot his lase gun around the edge of the door, not really aiming at anything, just shooting to make noise.  He heard some glass break and a table fall over, but didn’t look to see what had happened, just kept firing.

Farzin crouched low under Charles’ shots and pulled something out of another coat pocket, a compact metal ball with small lights on it, all of them dark.  Pushing an unseen button, the lights suddenly came to life, blinking brightly.  Holding it in one hand, Farzin rolled the ball into the hallway.  After traveling halfway to the guard, small thrusters came to life, propelling the ball into the air, making it streak towards their adversary on tongues of fire.  When it reached the guard, it hovered for a second, then shot out small darts in all directions, each trailing a metallic thread.  The darts embedded in the soldier, then high voltage shot down the wires as the ball exploded, electrocuting the man into unconsciousness.

Taking advantage of the noise and confusion, Farzin ran forward, his lase gun drawn, but the soldier didn’t stir; he was out cold.  Attaching another set of restraint bands to ankles and wrists, Farzin motioned for the others to approach.

Closing his eyes, Farzin reached out with his Gift, searching for more adversaries.

“When do we start saving the people with Voices?” Ali asks.

“Not until all threats are eliminated, come, follow me.”

Farzin lifted the guard and held him in front of a door, pulling open his eyelids to allow his retina to be scanned.  A blue beam of light shot out from the access pad and scanned the unconscious man’s eye, reading the pattern of vessels in the retina, then blinked twice, and the door slid noiselessly open.

“Come on, everyone.  Stay together, stay low, and stay quiet.”

They entered the next room.  Farzin reached out with his Gift and shorted out the overhead lighting panels, causing emergency lights near the floor to flick on, filling the room with faint illumination, not enough to see very well, but bright enough to be able to move through the room without tripping.

They moved through the darkened room and entered the next one, a vast space that seemed to stretch out forever.  The floor was covered with maybe a hundred cots, each filled with a prone figure.  Feeding tubes hung down from the ceiling, a needle on the end, the sharp metallic barbs stuck into veins.  Bright overhead lighting panels filled the room with a harsh white radiance that hurt their eyes.  Charles noticed that a few of the lights had plastic covers over them, with a subtle reddish-yellowish tint that made the illumination almost seem like natural sunlight.  He found this interesting; it seemed important for some reason.

“Here they are,” Ali said excitedly.

“This is only one room,” Farzin said quietly.  “There are more rooms, with more people.  We focus on the threats first.”

Just then, a laser beam streaked through the air and hit the wall near Ali, causing the paint to burst into flame.

“Get down,” Charles yelled as he instinctively fired back at the guard, his randomly aimed beam hitting the soldier square in the chest.  The guard’s lase rifle clattered to the floor as the man fell in a heap, his heart pierced by Charles’ shot.

Farzin and Charles ran towards the soldier, lase guns held ready.

“Stay back, kids,” Charles said over his shoulder, his heart beating wildly, adrenalin pulsing through his veins.

They approached the man that was now lying between two of the cots.  Farzin leaped over the cot and landed on the balls of his feet, moving swift and silent like a cat.  He kicked the rifle away, making it skid under the cots, then bent down and checked the man’s pulse.

“He’s dead,” Farzin said, his tone flat, emotionless.  “Nice shot.”

“Nice shot?  You think that was a nice shot,” Charles snapped.  “I killed a man.  I’ve never killed someone before.  You’ve made me into a murderer.”

Charles stepped forward as if he wanted to hit Farzin.  The Gifted held his ground.

“You did what you had to do to keep your children safe.  Sometimes you have to kill to keep your loved ones safe.”

“Maybe in your world you do, but in my world, I don’t kill,” Charles said, his fists clenched tight.  “I hate you for dragging my kids and me into your world.”

Billy and Ali were shocked at how their father had spoken.  Nobody spoke to Farzin like that, well, nobody who didn’t end up on the ground on their back.  Billy was afraid Farzin would hit him, but he didn’t dare speak up now.  Instead, he just stood and watched.

The tension was thick, with Charles standing tall, his fists still clenched tight. Farzin glared back at the man, his own chest thrust out, chin held high.  Neither man wanted to be the first to give in, both standing their ground until a sad whimper echoed through the room.  It was Ali; she was starting to cry.  She’d just noticed the melted wall next to her head and realized that she’d almost been killed.  Charles heard the sound and turned his eyes towards his children.  He saw his daughter crying and pushed past the chief of the Gifted.  Kneeling, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight, wiping tears from her cheeks.  Charles gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

“I’m afraid, Father,” she said between sobs.

“It’ll be alright, Alison,” Charles said reassuringly, then stood up only to find Farzin right next to him.

“All three of you kids, I want to teach you something that will help you when you’re afraid.  It’s called the Mantra of Fear, and it was taught to me by my teacher, Kan, many, many years ago,” Farzin said.  He paused to make sure he had all of their attention, then continued.  “Repeat after me:

 

Fear is a demon that hungers for courage

A demon of emptiness,

A demon of the void.

I will stand against this demon and release my fear.

I will let the demon fly high on the winds

back into the darkness

leaving the brilliance of my courage

to shine through the darkness,

lighting my way.”

 

The children repeated each line, and their fear seemed to fade as they recited the mantra.  At the end, the children were looking up at Farzin with bright, courageous eyes, smiles starting to show through brave faces.

“Let’s get this done,” Charles said in a low, monotone voice.

“Everyone, follow me,” Farzin said as he dashed through the room and to the door.

The next room was similarly filled with cots, an unconscious person in each, their eyes open wide, darting about in all directions at once, their arms and legs twitching slightly.  The room had the smell of disinfectants lightly covering the odor of unwashed bodies, the two aromas competing for dominance.  Reaching out with his Gift, Farzin searched for the last security guard and found him instantly.

“There’s one more guard,” Farzin said in a whisper.  “All of you stay at the other end of the room and hide.  When you hear him come in, make some noise, I’ll do the rest.”

Not waiting to hear confirmation, Farzin streaked off to the other door and stood next to it, waiting for it to open.  He motioned the others to hide, then spoke out in a gravelly voice.

“Hey, help,” Farzin said, projecting his voice with his Gift.

They could hear boots on the other side of the door, standard-issue stomping on the floor as the guard ran.  He burst into the room, his phase rifle in hand, looking for a target.  The soldier was a large man, muscular and fit, with wavy blond hair that might have been attractive if it hadn’t been on one of Macab’s military thugs.

Charles grabbed a nearby stool and knocked it over, making it fall into the aisle, the metal legs ringing as they hit the ground.  A blue sparkling beam of distorted space-time struck the stool, putting a hole clean through the seat then going on to put a hole in the floor.

Moving like lightning, Farzin shot out from behind the door and struck out at the man like a predatory cat.  He kicked the phase rifle out of his hands, making it fly through the air and land on one of the occupied cots with a thud.  The guard then faced Farzin, his attacker.  Slowly, the soldier pulled out a long knife from a sheath on his belt and held it before him, no fear in his eyes.  He stepped towards Farzin, blade at the ready.  Lunging, the soldier attacked, trying to stab Farzin in the stomach.  Instead of holding his ground, Farzin stepped backward, making the soldier extend his reach and get off balance a bit.  Taking advantage of this, Farzin squatted low and spun around with one leg extended.  His well-trained leg swept the feet out from under the soldier, making him land hard on the concrete floor.

Getting up slowly, the soldier switched the knife to his left hand, his right balled in a fist, ready to strike.  This time he led with a fist aimed at Farzin’s jaw, the knife following after.  Jumping high in the air, Farzin spun around with his leg extended, heel aimed at the man’s head.  A loud crack sounded when heel hit head, taking the soldier off his feet and driving him to unconsciousness, the battle over.

Reaching down, he grabbed the knife and slid it across the ground towards Charles.  Farzin then pulled out two restraint bands and wrapped them around the man’s arms and legs.  Switching them on, they glowed bright green as a restraining force field wrapped itself around the man’s body, the last threat eliminated.

“Ali, Billy, Stubbs, now it is time,” Farzin said in a loud, clear voice.  “Charles, help me to clear off three cots.”

Farzin and Charles lifted three men from their cots and set them on the floor, feeding tubes still attached.  Motioning for the three kids to lay down, Farzin knelt next to Stubbs.

“OK, here’s where you do the mind connecting,” Farzin explained.

“But I only did it once,” Stubbs complained.

“I know,” Farzin said, “but you’ll find it easier on non-Gifted.  Here’s what we’re going to do.  I’ll reach out with my Gift and find all the Voices, and then I’ll link with you.  Channel your Gift through me to all patients and then pull them together towards you.  I’ll then bring Ali and Billy to you.  They can then do their Voices-thing.”

Farzin paused to let his instructions sink in.

“Do you all understand your jobs?” Farzin asked.

The three kids nodded, fear painted on their faces.

“What do you want me to do?” Charles asked.

“Go to the front door and watch out the window,” Farzin commanded.  “Warn us if anyone is coming.”

Charles gave Billy and Ali a reassuring smile, then streaked off to his post.

“Let’s do it,” Farzin said in a calm, relaxed voice.  “All of you close your eyes and focus your Gifts.”

They closed their eyes and tried to relax.

Stubbs gathered his Gift and reached out to the unconscious souls nearby.  He found one, then the next, and then the next, but it was slow going, having to collect each person individually.  There were hundreds of people here; this was impossible.  Then suddenly, another presence burst into his mind, but it wasn’t just a single person. It was hundreds of people, their faces popping abruptly into his psyche, eyes darting about as if pulled on by marionette strings, someone else in control.  They were tenuously held together, with the faintest psychic thread connecting these faces.  Reaching out with his Gift, he drew all of these faces towards him, strengthening the link between the minds and drawing them in.  Weaving the psychic connections together, Stubbs folded the threads of Gifted energy around each other, over and under, back and forth, until he’d knitted them together into a complex pattern of overlapping structures, each supporting the others, adding to the strength of the connections.  And in that instant, they were all like one mind, closely intertwined so that you could not tell where one mind started and the other ended.  He’d done it; he’d linked all the minds together.  Now his job was to hold onto the strings of consciousness; hold on tight.

Next, Billy and Ali joined the woven fabric of minds, a protective shell around each.  From their psychic point of view, it looked like a sea of faces, all completely relaxed except for their eyes which darted about.  As soon as they connected, they were able to hear the Voices screaming out from the unconscious minds, the flow of blue lights jumping from one set of eyes to the next in a cacophony of noise and luminosity.

“How are we supposed to do this?” Billy thought to his sister.  “There are too many of them.  We can’t shield this many.”

Ali said nothing, though Billy could sense her fear, the frightening reality of what they were trying was overwhelming her, making her shield waver.  Some of the Voices felt this weakness and started to streak towards her, the disembodied voices crying out, “where am I?” “what’s happening?”, “where’s my body?”, “am I dead?”  The sadness and despair in their voices too much for Ali to handle.

And then Billy spoke, reciting the Mantra of Fear.

“Fear is a demon that hungers for courage, a demon of emptiness, a demon of the void.”

And then Ali started to recite it with him, her courage returning, her mind working again.

“I know how to do this,” Ali said confidently.

“How?”

“We don’t,” she replied.  “The Blue does.  Reach out with your Gift to the Blue Algae.  Connect to them.”

Billy reached out with his Gift and felt for the Blue Algae that permeated every cell in his body.  He found them instantly, their million voices suddenly filling his mind.

“We are us,” a thundering voice said within their minds.  “We are the many. We are the One.  We are the Blue.”

“It’s us, Billy and Ali.  We need your help,” Ali projected, a sense of urgency driving her thoughts.  “We need to protect these minds, block them from your voices.”

“The voices are not us, they are you . . . human,” the Blue thundered as if a million voices were speaking all at once.

“I don’t understand?” Billy thought.  “How can they be humans?”

“Listen and learn,” the Blue said, their voice echoing as if a million miles away, but right next to them at the same time.

Billy listened, picking out individual voices from the acoustic storm.  First, he heard a mother afraid for her children, “how will they get along without me?”  He then heard an old man’s voice, “am I in the algae fields?  Where is my harvester?”  And another talking about a beloved sister, and another looking for their wife, and another . . .  It was the saddest thing Billy had ever heard, all of these voices completely confused and terrified.

“What happened to all these people?” Ali asked.

“These people died, and the echo of their minds came to us, as all do on this planet,” the Blue explained, “but they could not accept what they found.  These minds do not seek to hurt the unconscious humans before you. They just seek a place to hide, a refuge from their confusion and fear.  They do not understand what has happened to themselves, and they thirst for another answer but find none.  All they can do is seek out that which seems familiar, another human mind.”

“How can we help these people,” Billy asked.  “Not just the unconscious people near us, but the Voices as well.  We must help them all.”

“Guide them to us,” the Blue said.

Billy was confused, unsure what this meant or how to do it.  Guide them? How was he supposed to do that?  Looking out over the sea of faces, the blue streaks of light zipping from one set of eyes to the next in a seemingly random pattern, and then he noticed structuring starting to form in the madness.  Something was drawing the voices together into a chaotic ball of blue light.  It was Ali.

“What are you doing, Ali?”

“I’m gathering all the Voices to me and holding them within a bubble of psychic energy, but I don’t think I can hold them all.  I need your help.”

“But we can’t hold all of these voices,” Billy thought.  “We aren’t big enough; we aren’t strong enough; we’re just kids.”

“I know, Billy, but we have to try.  We can’t just abandon these Voices; we have to do something to help, somehow.”

“But it’s impossible,” he complained.  “We aren’t strong like Farzin, or Stubbs, or the others in our class.  We’re just a couple of little kids, nothing else.”

And then a million voices of the Blue Algae spoke, the thundering sounds coming from everywhere and nowhere, all at once.

“We are the Blue. We have been everywhere, seen everything, heard every thought, observed the creation of many things from star systems to the smallest microbe, from great fleets of starships that dwarfed the size of planets to the smallest work of art.”  The Blue paused, letting the echo of their words fade into the vastness of their mental universe, then continued.  “Through all of our observations of humans, we have learned one thing; it’s not how strong one is on the outside that counts, it how strong you believe you are on the inside.”  The Blue paused again to give Billy and Ali time to absorb their words.  “The two humans should consider this.”

Billy absorbed the words from the Blue and somehow felt a little stronger.  Sending out a thought to his sister, he could tell that she felt the same, the faith that the Blue had expressed, filling them with confidence.

Sending out a smile to his sister, somehow, in this universe of thought, Billy extended his Gift out towards her.  He was shocked to see what she had started.  Ali had a bubble of psychic energy surrounding her body but then had another bubble maybe three to four times larger, completely covering her, one bubble within the larger.  The space between her psychic shield and the outer bubble was filled with the Voices.  Blue streaks darted between the two barriers, hammering away at each, trying to break through and find a vacant mind to occupy.

“We can do this, Billy.  Help me to gather them together,” Ali thought to her brother.  “And help me with the shields.”

Buoyed by her overwhelming confidence, Billy moved his shielded self towards his sister, passing through her outer shell and into her inner.  He then wrapped his mind around hers and added his psychic shell to hers, strengthening it so they couldn’t hear the Voices anymore.  Pushing their presence across the field of floating faces, they gathered every Voice they touched, drawing the frightened mental projections into their holding sphere.  Moving like a vacuum cleaner, they collected all of the Voices, their sphere getting bigger and bigger, their protective barrier getting thinner and thinner with every Voice.

“I don’t know if we can hold all of these voices,” Billy shouted to his sister.  “We have to stop.”

“No, we have to save them all.  We can do this!  We can’t leave any behind.  You remember what Farzin said back there in Pobre.  ‘No one is free if one is left behind.’  These are our people, the Blue Voices.  They are our responsibility, and we can’t abandon any.  We save them all, even if it costs us our sanity and our minds.  Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Billy replied, proud of his sister.

They continued to collect the Voices, seeking out the stragglers that hid in the corners of the field of faces, the last few difficult to find.  It took all of their combined strength to hold them together, but buoyed by the courage of the other, they prevailed, collecting them all.

“Billy, hang on to me,” Ali said to her brother.  She then sent a thought out to the one holding all of these minds together.  “Stubbs, release the weave of minds and let the patients go free.”

Suddenly, the sea of faces disappeared, leaving Billy and Ali in complete darkness, their surroundings lit only by the blue light of the Voices.  They were hammering away at their psychic shield, Billy and Ali, the only mind in which they could exist.  Panic started to spread through the collection of mental echoes, driving the blue streaks of light faster and faster, hammering the shell that protected the twins.

“We have to do something, fast,” Billy thought, panic rising in his mind.

“LISTEN TO ME,” Ali shouted with her mind to the Voices.  “YOU DON’T NEED TO BE AFRAID. JUST GO TOWARDS THE BLUE ALGAE.  YOU’LL BE SAFE.”

Nothing happened.  The blue streaks continued to pound away at their psychic shield, moving even faster now.

“It didn’t do anything,” Billy said, fear in his voice.

He could feel their psychic shell getting weaker.

“They don’t understand,” Ali said.  “They don’t know that they are just projections of their previous minds.  They don’t know that they can exist within the Blue; the algae is just too foreign to them.  I have to lead them.  Billy, let go.”

“I’m not going to let go.  You’re my sister.  I’ll never let go.”

“Billy, it will be alright.  Let go.”

“NO.”

“Remember to come to get me,” Ali said in a soft voice as she projected the image of a beautiful ocean into Billy’s mind.

And then a thin sliver of psychic energy started to form between brother and sister.  It slowly became thicker and thicker until it formed a solid barrier between the twins, separating Billy from Ali.  He could feel Ali reach out with her mind, gathering all of the Voices to her, then released her shield.  The blue shafts of light drove into her, overwhelming her with their fearful shouts and screams, piercing her mind like arrows through flesh.  Gradually, the mental image of his sister started to fade, slowly changing to a ball of glowing blue light, her mind completely consumed.  It then started to move away from Billy, moving faster and faster until it was just a speck of light in the distance, then disappeared altogether.

Billy’s eyes opened, and he sat up quickly, looking to his sister that lay next to him, her eyes already open, darting about in all directions at once.

“ALI . . .” Billy screamed, then started to cry.

His sister had the Voices, but worse than anyone before.  She had all of the Voices.

A hand settled on his shoulder.  Looking up, Billy saw the concerned face of Farzin looking down on him.

“I saw what she did.  I was watching.  It was a courageous thing to do, taking on all of the Voices,” Farzin said in a soft, reassuring tone.  “Did you know she was going to sacrifice herself?”

Billy shook his head.

“She was fearless,” Farzin said solemnly.

“Is very brave.  She isn’t dead,” Billy snapped.

“She might as well be.  No one could survive long with all of those Voices in their head.  Her sanity is probably already gone.  She won’t be able to hold out long . . . why would she just sacrifice herself?”

“She wasn’t sacrificing herself,” Billy said angrily.  “She was taking them to the Blue Algae to save the Voices.”

“What?” Farzin asked.

“The Voices aren’t a disease, they’re people who have died, and the Blue Algae somehow created a copy of their minds.  The Blue Algae created the Voices, but those minds didn’t understand and started to panic, attacking any mind they could find that was linked to the Blue Algae.”  Billy looked up at Farzin and started to get frustrated; he didn’t get it.  “The Blue Algae is alive.”

“Of course it’s alive,” Farzin said.  “It’s like a plant that grows on the oceans here on Azule.”

“No, you still don’t get it,” Billy shouted.  “The Blue Algae is intelligent; it’s self-aware and has lived on this planet for millions of years.  It’s traveled throughout the galaxy on asteroids and on the surface of spacecraft.  It has incredible psychic power, more than anything else in the universe.”

“What?  Alive?  Intelligent?” Farzin said, confusion fading from his voice to be replaced with the tone of command.  “Why didn’t you tell anyone about this.”

“I don’t know,” Billy said, now looking down at the ground, feeling guilty.  “We didn’t think it was essential.”

“Very important,” Farzin snapped.  “Information is always important.”

“But what do we do now,” Stubbs said in a meek voice.  “We have to help Ali, somehow.”

Farzin closed his eyes and reached out to Ali, carefully probing her mind.

“I can’t sense Ali at all.  I think we’ve lost her,” Farzin said.

“What?” a voice said from the doorway.

It was Charles.

“My little girl is lost?  What happened?”

“Well . . .” Farzin started to say but was interrupted.

“I know what to do,” Billy said hurriedly.   “I know where Ali is.  We have to go.  Someone carry her. We have to get back to the speeder before it’s too late.”

“Where do we have to go?” Farzin asked.

“I’ll tell you on the way,” Billy answered, his voice ringing with confidence.  “Just do what I say, NOW!”

 

CHAPTER 8

They piled into the ground speeder, Ali lying across Charles and Billy’s laps, Stubbs sitting in the front seat.

“Head for the coast,” Billy commanded.  “We need to find some blue algae fields as quickly as possible.”

“Where do I find blue algae?” Farzin asked.  “It could be anywhere.”

“I know where,” Charles said.

“That’s right.  My Dad knows everything about algae.  He can find it,” Billy said proudly.

Charles gave his son a frown, then turned to Farzin.

“Head towards Pacato Cove,” Charles said to Farzin.  “You know where it is?”

“Yes,” Farzin answered.  “Why there?”

“There’s always blue algae there.  Nobody can harvest anything near that cove, the blue getting mixed in with the green, making it worthless,” Charles explained.  “It’s called Pacato Cove because there are never any waves, the algae keeping the waters peaceful and flat.  That’s the closest place.”

Farzin punched in the destination of the dashboard computer.  An overhead view instantly popped up above the controls, the holographic projection showing them where to go.  Farzin accelerated, following the directions on the holographic map, speeding across the Outlands for a few miles.  Piranha spiders scurried out of the way; those too slow were crushed by the ground speeder.  Many clicked their teeth in frustration, but most just wanted to stay clear of the speeding vehicle.

Billy closed his mind and gathered his Gift, then reached out to his sister.  He could barely feel any mental presence, Ali or the Voices.  She was almost an empty shell, nearly void of psychic energy.

“She’s getting weaker, hurry!” Billy shouted to no one, to everyone.

Bringing his wrist up to his mouth, Farzin activated the communicator.

“Mission successful. Broadcast the message,” the dark Gifted commanded as he disengaged the safety limits and accelerated a little more.

“Acknowledged,” said a voice on the other end of the channel.

Farzin then tilted the rearview mirror and looked into the back seat, worry creasing his stoic face.

“It’s OK, Ali,” Billy said softly to his sister, stroking her strawberry blond hair, tears rolling down his cheeks.  “I’m coming for you.  Just wait for me.  Just wait.”

Billy kept talking to his sister as they rumbled across the Outlands, more to reassure himself than her, his whole being overcome with fear for his sister.  Her eyes continued to dart about, seeing nothing, her hands twitching slightly in his.  His father reached out brushed some loose strands of hair back behind her ears, and for the first time, Billy noticed fear on his father’s face, his dark eyes looking down at his daughter filled with trepidation.

“Don’t worry, Father,” Billy said, trying to reassure.  “We’ll get there in time, and she’ll be waiting for us.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” Charles said, his voice cracking with emotion.  “She’s right here.”

“Her body is right here, but her mind is out there,” Billy said, pointing to the ocean that just came into view as they crested a small hill.  “Ali’s in the Blue Algae, intertwined with the alien mind that floats on the surface of the cove and across all of the oceans of Azule.  She took all the Voices there, bringing them to where they could exist without fear.  I know she’ll be there. I just know it.”

“I hope you’re right, William.  I hope you’re right.”

Charles was filled with pride when he looked at his son and down at his suffering daughter.  They’d used their Gifts to save rather than destroy, give others a chance at life instead of taking one.  He wished his mother and father could be here to see their grandchildren, how strong and confident they’d become.  If only things had been different; if he’d only been in time, he could have saved . . .

“We’re almost there, Ali,” Billy shouted, “almost there.”

The ground speeder shot down the hill towards the waiting cove, the water smooth and flat, a cerulean film coating the surface; the Blue Algae.  Farzin accelerated until the last second, then slammed on the breaks, smashing through a low fence that lined the coastline, hoping to keep people away from the Blue.  They skidded to a stop on the sandy beach just above the waterline.

Farzin threw open the door and leaped out, reaching back to pull Ali from the back seat.  Charles then jumped out and took her from the Gifted’s arms.

“OK, William.  What do I do?” Charles asked.

“Nothing, give her to me,” Billy replied.  “I have to do it.”

“But you can’t carry her,” Charles said.  “You’re too small.”

The words of the Blue echoed through his mind – it how on the inside, and Billy stood up straight and tall, his size measured from within.

“Not today.  Give her to me,” Billy commanded, his voice ringing with confidence, and fear.

Stepping forward, Billy took Ali from his father’s arms.  He was right, she was too big for him to hold, but he had to do this to save her.  Holding her in both arms, Billy walked towards the water, his steps uncertain, wavering.  Charles stepped forward to help his son, arms outstretched.

“NO!  I can do this,” Billy snapped.  “Just wait.  We’ll be back soon.”

Gathering his Gift, Billy reinforced his legs, helping him to bear this load.  Ali’s eyes still darted about, out of control, her twitching causing him to almost lose his balance.  Pulling himself up as tall as he could stretch, he stepped into the water, the Blue Algae and the waterline waiting.  It spread out as he entered the cove, forming a clear patch of water around him.  Continuing to walk forward, Billy went deeper and deeper into the cold water until it was chest high, his body starting to shiver.  He then stopped and waited.  Closing his eyes, Billy gathered his Gift, and he reached out to the Blue, connecting his mind with the alien awareness. And then he fell, dropping his sister.

The Blue Algae moved in quickly, completely surrounding them, forming a floating cushion that held them aloft, heads above the water.  Charles started to run to the water when he saw his son fall, but Farzin grabbed his arm and held him back.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Farzin said reassuringly.  “Trust him.”

Charles sighed and nodded to the Gifted, holding his ground.

Billy saw all this through the Blue’s eyes, his father looking terrified at the water’s edge, Farzin looking strong, yet scared as well.  Turning his vision from the beach, Billy focused his mind into the Blue.

“We are us,” a voice echoed within Billy’s mind.  “We are the many. We are the One.  We are the Blue.”

“ALI, ARE YOU THERE? . . . ALI . . .” Billy shouted with his mind

No reply, only silence.

Driving his senses deeper into the Blue, he searched for his sister, but the Blue was like the vast ocean before him, extending in all directions, seemingly endless.  All he could hear was the echoes from the Blue, their millions upon millions of voices reverberating throughout the mental landscape.

“We are the many, we are the one, we are part of you . . . we are the many, we are the one, we are part of you . . . we are part of you . . . we are part of you . . .”

Then he remembered how he’d found Ali in the tunnels two days earlier, her spark.  Gathering all of the psychic energy he could muster, Billy focused on Ali’s spark of peaceful goodness, the flame that could never be extinguished.  He searched in all directions but saw nothing, only feeling the faintest tingle at the edge of his perception, but he wasn’t strong enough to reach that far.

“We are part of you,” the algae voices said to him from a million miles away and from within.

Then Billy realized what he must do.  He had to give himself over to the Blue and become a part of it, completely surrendered to the alien mind, and then he’d have the strength to save his sister.  Opening his mind, Billy released any bit of shielding or distance surrounding him, allowing the voices of the Blue to permeate his very being, envelop him completely.  And suddenly, he was amongst the stars, soaring through space on an alien starship. Billy was on a distant planet, tall, red ant-like creatures everywhere. Then he was on a sailing ship on an alien ocean, tall beings that looked like walking alligators crewing the vessel.  He was everywhere across the galaxy, communicating with every spore of Blue Algae that was alive.  It was exhilarating, amazing, overwhelming.  There was so much to see, so much to experience, so much to feel, and taste, and hear . . .  His senses were overwhelmed with stimulation, unable to drink in all the sensations fast enough to quench his thirst for more.  Feeling like he was expanding through the galaxy in all directions at once, Billy felt like he was getting lost, becoming nothing and everything simultaneously, and it felt so good.  To experience the entire galaxy, every light-year, every parsec; it was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.  He could almost feel himself start to fade away and become an indistinct part of the Blue when a voice in the distance brought him back.

“Billy, where are you . . . I can barely feel your mind . . . where are you . . . come back . . . come back . . . your sister needs you.”

It was Stubbs.

“Sister . . . my sister . . . Ali!”  These thoughts shot through Billy’s mind, bringing him back from the abyss of infinite knowledge, back to the present, back to the Blue.  “Ali,” he thought, “I have to find Ali.”

And then he felt it, Ali’s spark. The unmistakable bit of her being that shone brightly within Billy’s mind.

“Ali, it’s me, Billy,” Billy thought to his sister.  “Can you hear me?”

“Isn’t this amazing,” Ali thought back to him.  “We can go anywhere, everywhere.  We can travel to alien planets or the other side of the galaxy at the speed of thought.  All we have to do is think it, and we’re there.  I could do this forever.”

And then she was gone, exploring some alien world or watching a supernova somewhere in the galaxy.  Billy could still feel her spark, her very being flitting from one part of the galaxy to another, jumping thousands of light-years from thought to thought, taking in every sight and sound she could absorb.  The more she took in, the more she wanted, moving faster and faster until her spark was just a streak of light zooming in all directions at once.  He was going to lose her to the Blue.

“Ali, come back . . . come back,” he pleaded.  “Nooooooo . . .”

And then Billy started to feel afraid that he’d lost her.  It was a sensation that the Blue was not used to; fear.  The Blue feared nothing, yet it was feeling it through Billy, a fear that was deep and terrifying, overpowering Billy’s mind.  And so he did the only thing he could do.

“Fear is a demon that hungers for courage, a demon of emptiness, a demon of the void.  I will stand against this demon and release my fear.  I will let the demon fly high on the winds, back into the darkness . . .”

And then a second voice joined him, finishing the Mantra.

“. . . leaving the brilliance of my courage to shine through the darkness, lighting my way.”

“Billy, I’m here,” Ali thought to her bother.

“Ali, we have to leave this place, now, or we’ll be trapped here, forever.”

“Would that be so bad?” Ali thought.  “Look around you.  Look at how much there is to learn and experience.  It goes on and on and never ends.”

“Ali, look here,” Billy thought, focusing his psychic vision to a spot on the beach, on their father.

Ali focused her sight, following Billy’s Gift, and found their father.  He was kneeling on the beach, looking helplessly towards their floating bodies, tears streaming down his face.  Ali could tell he was saying something.  Reaching through the Blue, she listened.

“Come back to me, Alison and William,” Charles sobbed.  “You can’t leave me. You have to come back.”

“I’m sorry, Charles,” Farzin said in a solemn voice.  “I can’t sense their minds anymore.  Their bodies are like empty vessels now.  I think they’re gone.”

“Nooooo . . .” their father wailed and sank to his knees.

“We have to go back,” Billy said.  “That’s our universe, not this.  Our parents, they’re our universe.  Haven is our home, not this Algae, not this alien mind.  We belong at home, with our family.  Come with me.  Come home.”

The mind of the Blue Algae was calling to Ali, tempting her with images from all parts of the universe, pulling her in all directions at once, making her feel lost and alone.  But the one thing that gave her some comfort, some direction, was her family, her brother and father, and mother.  She reached out to her brother and wrapped her Gift around his, using it as an anchor to steady her, draw her in.  Billy then drew their minds back into their bodies, back home.  And suddenly, Ali’s eyes opened, and she was staring up into Billy’s smiling face.

“Hi there,” Billy said with a smile, tears of joy running down his cheeks.

“Hi,” Ali said as she floated on a layer of Blue Algae.

Billy wrapped his arms around his sister and started for shore, the Blue Algae moving away from the twins, releasing them from their tempting grasp.

“I was so lost in there,” Ali said as she brought her feet down, her arm still around Billy.  “I was everywhere and nowhere, all at once.  I’d lost myself, my sense of being, and you found me, Billy.  You found me.”

“That’s my job,” Billy replied with a smile.

Charles stood up quickly and splashed into the water, putting his arms around his children and pulling them to him.

“I thought you both were lost,” their father said, his cheeks stained with tears.  “Farzin said that you were gone, your bodies empty, but then you came back.”

“Billy found me and brought me back,” Ali said as she hugged her father.  “He saved me.”

“I think he saved us all,” Charles said, smiling down on his son with pride.

Splashing out of the water, they walked up the sandy beach to where Farzin was standing, next to the ground speeder, Stubbs at his side, smiling.  Pulling some emergency blankets out of the trunk, Farzin wrapped one around each, the silvery blankets starting to warm instantly.

“Is everyone OK?” Farzin asked.

The twins nodded.

“What happened out there?  You were gone for a while, completely disconnected from your bodies.  I thought you’d died, but your hearts were still beating,” Farzin said.  “What happened?”

“We were in the Blue Algae,” Billy replied.

“What?”

“The Blue Algae,” Ali explained.  “It’s alive.”

“I know, Billy explained, but I’m not sure if I understand,” Farzin said, sounding confused.

“The Blue Algae is intelligent, has a mind of its own,” Ali said, smiling to her brother, “and can communicate with us wherever we are.  It stretches across the whole galaxy.  It’s been everywhere, is everywhere.  I got lost in there, and Billy found me, pulled me back,” Ali explained.

Farzin patted Billy on the back, giving the small boy a proud smile.

“I couldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been for Stubbs,” Billy interjected.  “He was the one that really pulled us back.  I was starting to get lost in the Blue, and he pulled me back.  Stubbs is the real hero here.”

Farzin turned and looked down at the brown-haired boy, his warm green eyes looking up, pride beaming for probably the first time on the freckled face.

“But what happened to the Voices?” Farzin asked.

“I took them into the Blue and released them.  They exist now with the Blue,” Ali said.

“But what were the Voices anyway?” Charles asked.

“They are copies of people’s minds,” Ali explained.  “Anyone that dies on Azule and is buried either in the ground or at sea is copied by the Blue; their spores are everywhere.  The Blue’s does this out of a thirst for knowledge.  It copies the chemical traces in the brain and then reforms them within their algae matrix, making a copy of their personality, filled with all of their thoughts and experiences.  Some of the minds can’t cope with this and look for something familiar to occupy, the minds of people infected with the Blue Algae spores.  They attack the minds and try to get in but quickly overwhelm them, putting them into the blue algae coma.”

“I think the Blue Algae now understands what it is doing and can keep it from happening again,” Billy said confidently.  “I don’t think there will be any more cases of the Voices.”

Just then, a reconnaissance flyer streaked overhead, its cameras undoubtedly pointed downward at them.

“We have to go, now,” Farzin said, his voice again filled with the sound of command.

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” Charles agreed.

They climbed back into the speeder, three kids in the back, two adults in the front, and headed for Haven, for home.

 

CHAPTER 9

They reached home without incident, passing through the security checkpoints as they did before, their fake identification papers apparently very convincing.  Billy could tell when they were getting close when Stamen Cove came into view.  It was the body of water that seemed to continually leak into the outer caverns of Haven, making those caves uninhabitable.  Green algae could be seen growing over the surface of the Cove, large algae harvesters moving across the surface, raking in the nutritious resource.

Charles saw the harvesters and yearned to be out there on the ocean, the smell of salt and algae wafting over him.  He didn’t want to go back underground, into Haven.  He wanted to be out there, where he had a purpose.  Sighing, Charles turned away from what he could no longer have and looked forward, towards Haven.

Farzin drove the speeder into a small ravine that led to the secret entrance to Haven.  Pushing a button on the dashboard, he entered the access code, causing a large boulder to move aside, revealing a dark tunnel.  Driving straight into the tunnel without slowing, they plunged underground, the entrance closing behind them.  Breathing a sigh of relief, Farzin finally relaxed.  They were back home, safe.

The tunnel led them back to the Great Cavern, the crystal tower standing vigilant at the center.  Pulling into the parking garage, they found a group of people waiting for them, Diane and Frank with them.  They stopped before the crowd of people, maybe a hundred in all, and climbed out of the speeder to the sound of applause and cheers.

“What’s this?” Charles asked as he got out of the ground speeder.

“They must have heard the transmission,” Farzin replied.

“What transmission,” Stubbs asked in a meek voice.

“After we’d freed the people with the Voices, I had a transmission sent out.  We hacked into the public holo-vid system and announced that the Resistance had freed the hundreds that Macab had left to die.”

People now gathered around them, slapping a hand on their backs and giving hugs to all five of them.  They were heroes.  For the first time, Billy noticed Stubbs stand up a little taller, a flicker of confidence on his face.  A man, wife, and son shook Billy’s hand, then moved to Stubbs, giving him giant hugs.  The son, a few years older than Stubbs, glanced at a photo on his wrist, then smiled and hugged Stubbs, brothers momentarily reunited, until they separated again.

Diane and Frank pushed through the crowd to reach their family.  Frank reached Billy and Ali and picked them up with his strong arms, hugging them warmly as Diane ran to Charles.

“You did it,” Diane said as she hugged her husband.  “We saw the broadcast, all of the Voices cured.  People are streaming to that facility to collect their loved ones.  It’s like a riot, too many people for the government to control.  The military is just staying out of the way, trying to stop the broadcast, but the Resistance keeps shifting the frequency so that it can’t be blocked.”

Charles smiled a weak smile.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s just . . . we’re back,” Charles said, uncertain.

“I know,” Diane said excitedly.  “I’m so glad you’re back.  I was so scared.  And now you are all heroes, famous, in Haven anyway.”

“Yeah, but what next?” Charles said, his eyes looking to the ground.

Suddenly, the holo-vid formed in the air, broadcast from some nearby holographic projector.  The image showed people streaming from the holding facility with loved ones in their arms, helping them to walk or be carried away from the place.  The image then switched from the exterior to the facility’s interior, using the internal surveillance system somehow.  The picture showed the room with hundreds of cots, many of them now empty.  Overhead, they could see the harsh lighting panels casting their abrasive light on the room, the occasional lighting panel with the red-yellow filter over them to projecting illumination the same as sunlight.  And then images flashed through Charles’ mind; the red-yellow filters, the harvesters on Stamen Cove, the flooded chambers, the hungry masses in Pobre, and green algae, lots of green algae.  The pieces of the puzzle coming together in his mind, his purpose refocused.

“I know what I need to do,” Charles said excitedly to his wife.

“What are you talking about?” Diane asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said, giving his wife a hug and a kiss.

He then moved quickly to Farzin, whispering something into his ear that caught his attention, the two of them walking away from the celebration, deep in conversation.  Billy and Ali saw the conversation and wondered what it was about but became distracted by another of Frank’s rib-crushing hugs.  Something important had happened, but they weren’t sure what.  Only time would tell.

 

CHAPTER 10

Months later, Charles was ready to unveil his secret.  He and Farzin would not talk about what they were conspiring to do, keeping it a secret from everyone in Haven except a select few.  Now it was time to unveil their creation.  Gathering at the nearest transportation node, Charles pulled his family onto a disc and punched in their destination, the cavern that constantly flooded with seawater.  The red restraining field rose and formed around the edge of the disc, keeping the occupants safe.  It then floated noiselessly into the air, traveling along the nav-beam to their destination.

“Why are we going there?” Frank asked.  “I don’t feel like getting wet today.”

“Be patient,” Charles said.

“But what have you and Farzin been doing,” Billy asked.  “Are you going to tell us now?”

“No.”

“No?” Ali asked.  “You aren’t going to tell us.”

“No,” Charles answered.  “I’m going to show you.”

Just then, the disc slowed and settled onto the transportation node at the edge of the Great Cavern.  They stepped off the disc and followed Charles down the steps and to a huge, locked door, big enough to drive a hover-truck through. Standing next to the door was Farzin, an uncharacteristic smile on his dark face.

“Are we ready?” Charles asked.

Farzin nodded.

“Then let’s open it up.”

Farzin turned and pushed the button on the access panel, making the huge door slide open.  Behind the door was a massive chamber filled with water.  Large lighting panels were on the ceiling, with yellowish-red filters on each, casting light with the same spectrum as sunlight.  A gentle breeze could be felt flowing across the surface of the water, carrying with it the smell of salt and algae, the surface covered with a green velvety layer, growing healthy and strong.  Men in shallow bottomed boats moved across the algae field, using long poles to push themselves about, careful not to disturb the algae too much.  They were experienced algaemen, the whites of their eyes still blue from their experience with the Voices, people that Billy and Ali had rescued from that facility.  They all waved at their saviors, then got back to work, tending the algae.

“This is incredible,” Diane said proudly.  “This field is huge. It will feed hundreds.”

“This is not the only one,” Farzin said.  “Charles, here, has engineered multiple chambers to grow green algae. We’ll be able to feed thousands with this, not just here in Haven but in Azule City as well.  We can put a stop to Macab’s food shortages and break his monopoly on food.  This is going to help the Resistance immensely, and it’s all due to Charles.”

“Everyone has to do their share,” Charles said, pride in his voice.  “But it’s not really due to me. It’s because of Alison and William.  They showed me the way.”

“How did we do anything?” Ali asked.

“If I hadn’t gone with you to free the Voices, I would have never have thought about the light filters, or connected the flooded caverns to growing algae, or seen the harvesters out on Stamen Cove.  I wouldn’t have put all the pieces together if I hadn’t followed you two on that crazy mission.  By going to save those with the Voices, those that were lost within the Blue Algae, you kept me from being lost.  You didn’t just find those poor unfortunate souls at that holding facility; you found me as well.  I’m no longer lost; I have a purpose.”

Charles reached out and hugged each of the twins, then pulled his family into a giant hug, enveloping them all in his strong arms, then released them, tears on his twin’s cheeks.  Billy looked at Ali and smiled.

“You feel it?” Ali thought to her brother.

“What?”

“The pieces of our family,” Ali thought.  “They all fit together again.  We are whole.”

Billy smiled, looked at his family, and nodded to his sister.

“What is it?” Diane asked.

“Nothing,” Billy answered, “just happy.”

Diane smiled and kissed her son on his head, then hugged the twins, contentment flowing from her like a crashing wave, enveloping the twins.  Billy looked at Ali and smiled, the emotions from their family making them glow with warmth to their Gifted eyes.

And again, life was good.