Arrows of Time (44 page)

An’ Lawrence approached him, adjusting his sword belt. ‘I guess I owe you my gratitude.’ He said it like his teeth ached.

‘I don’t require it.’ Teg waved it aside. He didn’t want to be distracted right now. There was something at the edge of his thoughts, like a spark trying to ignite. He needed to focus.

An’ Lawrence stepped back. ‘Kali, I think you need to teach your apprentice better manners.’

Teg flashed his eyes at the Sword Master. ‘You’re welcome,’ he said. Teg knew it didn’t sound genuine, but he was preoccupied. It was taking all his concentration to control his emotions, and the presence of An’ Lawrence and his reprimand tipped the scales. His defences were activated. He barely acknowledged the introductions being made. He nodded his head towards Shane and Selene but didn’t speak. Being rebuked publicly by An’ Lawrence wasn’t endearing him any more to the man. He leaned his back against the wall and avoided everyone’s eyes. Kreshkali hadn’t said a word. Something wasn’t right.

He was relieved to see her safe, wondering what he could have heard. There had been fear and danger in her voice before, or was it simply his own thoughts bouncing back to him? Now he wasn’t so sure. His confused feelings around her were not easing. Had he crossed the line when he touched her? It felt as if, in that matter, he had had no choice.

There is always a choice.

He heard Kreshkali voice her only rule, but it was a memory, not a direct communication. He glanced her way. She seemed apprehensive somehow, which was strange. He had always known her to unwind in the corridors. This time she was on edge, though imperceptibly so. What was going on? Was he imagining it? He felt Jarrod studying him.

‘Teg, is it?’ Jarrod asked.

‘Aye.’

‘The new apprentice?’

Teg nodded.

‘How’s it going so far?’

Teg felt all eyes on him.

‘Brilliant, thank you.’

He looked directly at Kreshkali, and she grinned. It was a curious expression—detached, diffident. Had he gone too far? If so, there was no obvious way to jump back.

You can never go back.

Again the memory of her words filled his mind. He closed his eyes. He was plummeting into a dark underworld. Something was wrong, but he was falling too fast to recognise it.

‘
W
orking late tonight, Mr Kelly?’

‘When am I not, Nessa?’

Her question was directed to him, but her eyes drifted to Grayson. The other man gave her a smile, which seemed to be what she was after. Everett wished he had cautioned Grayson against engaging with the staff or even making eye contact. If he uttered more than a few words, his accent would be obvious and his other ‘differences’ would surface as well—the last thing they wanted in this crazy venture. They needed to be unremarkable and quick—get in and get out. How they could pull it off was still unclear, but if they attracted attention it’d be impossible, and if they were delayed much longer, the authorities would find them. He’d be questioned, of course, and possibly held responsible for the fires and the disruption. He might even have his memory wiped. How he’d got into this mess a few short months before he graduated, he couldn’t work out. He only knew he felt compelled.

‘I haven’t seen you here before,’ she said to Grayson. She ran her finger along the edge of the monitor screen.

‘Dr Slay’s from Sector Nine,’ Everett said, hoping it would satisfy her.

It didn’t.

‘Are you here for the seminars?’ she asked.

Everett shook his head.

‘Yes,’ Grayson said, smiling wider.

Everett cringed.

Nessa’s face was animated, her lips parting. ‘Will you be speaking, Dr Slay? I didn’t see you on the program, but I’ll be there, you know. I’m a tech-supervisor.’

‘I am speaking, yes.’

Everett tightened his fists. What was this man doing?

‘Oh, you’ll be grand,’ Nessa said. ‘You have a great speaking voice. What’s the topic?’

Everett readied himself to rescue Grayson, but it wasn’t necessary.

‘Cryptocryonics and the reorganisation of ribosome constructs in post-traumatic isolation syndrome.’

‘Oh, excellent. I’ll be listening. Front row.’

‘Thank you.’

She was glowing. ‘Did you hear what happened on the north blocks? A dozen sirens went by not long ago. Something about a fire. It’s on the news,’ she said, as if recounting a joyous event.

‘Didn’t notice,’ Everett said, starting to walk away and pulling Grayson with him.

‘But that’s your building, isn’t it, Mr Kelly? You must have heard something.’

‘There were some explosions,’ Grayson said.

Everett tightened his grip on Grayson’s sleeve and tried to guide him away.

‘Did you see them? What happened? Was it a robbery?’ Nessa asked.

Everett shook his head imperceptibly when Grayson looked at him, but the man kept talking anyway.

‘I don’t think it was a robbery. A kitchen fire, I suspect. We were leaving when it all erupted.’

Everett tugged harder. Was he trying to blow their cover? He couldn’t believe he was engaging the woman. And where had his accent gone? Everett was forming a clear request for the tech that would take her away from the desk when she jerked forward, cradling her neck. She closed her eyes and moaned, her brow furrowing.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked, pushing Grayson aside.

‘It felt like I got hit with a crowbar.’

‘Let me see your eyes.’ He wondered what she was playing at now, but her pupils were unequal. She actually did look as if she had been hit with a crowbar.

‘You better get that scanned,’ he said. ‘Do you want me to call relief?’

‘It’s fine,’ she said, still rubbing her neck. ‘I should just get back to work.’

He punched in a sequence to her com link. ‘They won’t be long. Best get it checked out.’

Grayson was frowning as they headed down the hall.

‘What was that about?’ Everett asked. He lengthened his stride as they passed another central station; there was no telling who he’d start chatting with next.

‘I thought it best to engage her.’

‘Had I not made it clear? The goal is anonymity.’

‘She was curious about me. If I hadn’t talked to her, she’d have run a search. We both know what that would have come up with.’ Grayson adjusted the pack on his back. At least the pup was quiet.

Everett turned the corner and led them into an open elevator. As the doors closed he squared off in front of Grayson.

‘What happened to Nessa? She looked like she had a concussion.’

‘Rosette, I suspect.’

‘Rosette?’

‘I think she’d had enough of the banter.’

Everett was about to question him further when the elevator door opened. Three med students entered, wheeling a gurney. On it lay a comatose patient—a woman whose skin was as grey as the walls, eyes staring at the ceiling, chest rising and falling with the forced pressure of the ventilator. The students were chatting about their case, debating the merits of putting her in deep cryo while waiting for organ synthesis, or a donation from a feral. The one nearest him looked up, indicating the control panel. Everett raised his eyebrows.

‘Cryo,’ the student answered, pointing towards the top floor.

Everett nodded, his body going rigid. He had no idea how they would get Rosette out now with a troupe of med students underfoot.

I wish he’d relax. He’s like a racehorse at the gate.
Rosette sent her thoughts to Drayco, more to keep herself calm than anything else. She knew her familiar could sense what was going on from his side of the ‘wall’, as he called it. Still, she longed for the comfort of his voice in her mind. Mind? She laughed. Do I even have a mind any more?

Of course you do, Maudi.

Really? Where is it? I’d love to know.

Drayco didn’t answer but followed her earlier thought.
The man’s somewhat jittery, I agree. Looks like the new arrivals aren’t helping.

Oh, but they will!
Rosette flattened her energy against the top of the elevator as the med students
loaded on. Their presence was just what she needed, a stroke of luck. They would provide plenty of distraction, giving her time to weave her glamour. She was getting the hang of it, affecting matter with thought. She’d had enough practice at Treeon, of course, and with Nell, but her body had acted as a conduit. She realised that now. Without physicality her energy blasted out in all directions unless she focused very clearly, like a pinpoint. The trick was staying relaxed and keeping the energy flowing. It wasn’t going to be that hard. All she had to do was conceal her corpse with a glamour long enough for Grayson to get her to the portal. She could do it. She had to do it.
Can you hear Scylla at all, Drayco?

I can’t even rouse Fynn. What did they do to him?

Everett gave him more sedatives.

Perhaps he should have taken a dose himself.

Rosette undulated in laughter.
That’s an idea, but let Fynn be. We don’t need him bounding out of that pack and yipping down the halls just now.

There are no four-legged creatures here.

Not in this healing centre, you’re right.

That’s not what I meant, Maudi. There are no other four-legged creatures in this world.

Rosette felt a chill down her back.
How can that be? This is Earth. A future one, but Earth just the same.

It’s a future without quadrupeds.

Rosette got lost in that thought for a moment before rushing out of the elevator to catch up. They were on the top floor, heading for Cryo, heading for her frozen body. It was going to be okay. Grayson knew she was there. She trusted that. This would work.

How long will it take, Maudi?

She detected the unease in his voice.
Depends on how these two go, and my glamour.

Grayson’s confident.

Rosette felt her energy light up.
He is, isn’t he? I love that about him.

She floated down the hallway, skimming the ceiling. There was neither warmth nor cold from the lights and vents as she passed them. There was not even the sensation of motion, though she knew she moved. What she sensed was an awareness of her relationship to everything else, a curious impression that was beyond empirical analysis. It wasn’t sounds that she heard, or colours and shapes that she saw, but an awareness of the energy of sound, and colour, and light, and thought. In this state she had no trouble picking up on anyone’s mental voice, if she chose to tune in, yet oddly it was only Drayco who could hear her.

The group of students chatted together; Everett and Grayson remained silent. They exchanged a few looks. Everett’s face was pale and strained, Grayson’s placid, a mask. At the tech station the attendant startled at seeing so many people entering the ward at once. Rosette could sense he was unaccustomed to that much activity here on the ‘top floor’ and viewed it as an annoyance. He deferred to Everett, though, once he introduced Grayson as a visiting pathologist, and gave them immediate attention. The other students appeared to be much like other people’s children to him—something to tolerate, at best.

The tech scanned Everett’s ID and offered to guide him towards the tank where Rosette’s body was kept. Everett declined. He had the numbers and knew the way. The students went off in different directions, data-screens in hand. One student stopped at a tank directly opposite Rosette’s. Tricky. She was hoping for a bit more privacy.

As Everett unclasped the vat and raised the lid, billows of subzero air rose around them before rapidly
sinking to the floor. When it cleared she saw again the ice crystals, like tiny gems, covering her skin. She shivered, not from any cold that could be felt.

The impact of facing her corpse was curious. It was like looking in a mirror, seeing an image she knew was not real, mere reflection. She wished someone had brushed her hair before they froze her. It should have been put in braids, as if for sleep—a long sleep. She wavered, a feeling of weakness washing through her, remembering how Jarrod used to comb out her tangles long ago, when she was just a girl, just little Kalindi Rose.

Maudi?

I’m all right. It’s confronting, that’s all.

I can imagine. I’m a little disturbed myself. If I couldn’t hear your voice, I’d be
…

But you can hear my voice, sweetheart. You can. Let’s stick with that thought.
She moved closer, watching Grayson and Everett work. They were unrolling a thin casing, the cryo-transport that would keep her at subzero temperatures until revival.

When they had her body sealed, Everett hesitated. ‘Now what?’ he asked.

Grayson stared at the black body bag. She could tell it was getting to him as well. ‘We wheel her out of here.’

‘Just like that?’

‘I hope so. Where’s a gurney?’

Everett clicked his tongue and went to the station, returning with a narrow, stainless steel gurney. Rosette waited for them to make the transfer. When the body bag was settled evenly, she went to work. She wanted to weave a spell that concealed her without attracting too much attention from the Elementals. They were starved on this world, ravenous for any hint of conjuring, willing to blow holes through walls or
warp time just to dance with her. Well, maybe later. She was grateful for their support and she told them so. Easy does it. This was to be a subtle glamour, simple, invisible, quiet. Very quiet.
Hush, hush, please, my beauties.

‘I can still see her,’ Everett said as they closed the lid on the vat.

‘Just make sure the numbers read as if she’s still there. We want to avoid alarms for as long as possible.’

‘But I can see her here on the gurney. You said she’d be glamoured—invisible.’ Everett spoke softly while he recalibrated the readout parameters of the tank.