Council of Peacocks (49 page)

“Does Mother know?”

Richard shrugged. “Of course not. She’s about
as clueless as a brick. Helps for an easy marriage. I think you
realize your little invasion has failed. Give up before anyone else
gets hurt.”

Josh felt sick. He knew the man before him
better than anyone else in his life; yet it turned out he did not
know him at all. Year after year of lies, and now this callous
betrayal.

“A father is supposed to protect his son,” he
said. “Wisdom was right about you after all.”

“I thought I taught you better than that.
Never listen to the advice of vain men, my son, and he’s about as
vain as you can get. He actually thinks he’s protecting the world
with all his little games and intrigues. You know what Wisdom is?
He’s a joke. The Council of Peacocks, on the other hand, we can
change the world. And now that we have you, we
will
change
the world.”

“Father,” Josh said as he clenched his fists
and strengthened his psychic shield. “You don’t have me yet.”

***

Echo heard the fighting long before they
reached the bottom of the stairs. Then everything went deathly
silent.

“The others?” David asked.

Todd squinted for a moment. “They’re fine.
Still alive but in trouble. We should get to them as fast as….”

A spear of shadow shot out at Todd and struck
him in the temple. He fell to the ground, his body convulsing.

Echo spun, looking for the attacker. Before
she could react, another spear of darkness shot forward. It stabbed
her in the gut, threw her back against a wall and pinned her there.
David raised his hands but, before he could ignite anything, three
Edimmu flew out of the shadows and knocked him to the ground. Then,
another figure stepped out of the shadows.

Echo went pale.

“Propates,” she said.

He looked her up and down, then backhanded
her.

“Why couldn’t you stay out of this?” he said.
He hit her again and her head bounced off the wall. “Why are you
making me do this?”

“No!” David erupted, pale blue flame shot out
from his body in all directions, instantly consuming the Edimmu. He
rose on trembling knees and directed the full force of his flame at
him. Propates waved his hand and the fire deflected off an
invisible barrier.

“You know, you demonspawn are getting a tad
tiresome. Why don’t you go to sleep?”

David scowled, took a step forward, then
fell.

He was snoring before he hit the ground.

“Now, my dear,” Propates said as he turned to
face Echo. “Let’s get back to you.”

***

Richard Wilkinson knew what was coming a
moment before it happened. He didn’t have enough time to react.
Josh used his mind to grab one of the dead Edimmu and hurled it at
his father, throwing him far outside the circle. Following his
lead, Garnet struck out with the full force of her flames. Thick
curtains of flame rained down in concentric circles all around them
as she set the very air on fire. Edimmu screamed as their bodies
burned. Elaine picked up her sub-machine gun again and fired out
through the flames, not caring what she hit. Jessica did likewise,
flinging bolt after bolt of lightning at unseen foes.

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep this
up,” Jessica said. Her nose was bleeding and her eyes were
bloodshot.

“We have to push on,” Elaine shouted over the
roar of the fire and her weapon. “Wisdom is counting on us to
destroy the processing room.”

Then the ground started to shake. What
started as a low rumble built steadily into a full-fledged
earthquake. Walls cracked, the floor twisted and broke. Josh
struggled to stay on his feet as a voice filled the corridors.

“Time has come.”

This was their signal.

The voice of Wisdom.

***

The earthquake knocked Propates back several
feet, which gave Echo just enough room and leverage to kick out at
him. Her foot struck him in the lower ribs and he doubled over. She
grabbed the quasi-solid shadow spear in her gut and yanked it out.
It dissipated as soon as it was free. Moving as quickly as she
dared with a stomach wound, Echo clasped her hands together and
brought them down hard to the back of Propates’ head. He fell the
rest of the way to the ground.

‘Time to leave,’ she thought. Wisdom was
right about her being no match for Propates. Her long life had
taught her sometimes it was better to jump into a fight and other
times it was better to run from one. This was definitely a running
situation. She opened a portal of light and ran toward it. She saw
Todd rising to his feet, disoriented. She motioned for him to
follow her and he started to move. Then, next to her portal of
light, the air shimmered and rippled. A second portal of light
appeared and Wisdom stepped through.

“Echo!” Wisdom’s face glowed with a smile
wider than she’d ever seen on his face. “I did it.”

“Did what? Killed your father?”

“Oh, well, that too. But I…Oh God, I’m just
glad you’re alive.”

Relief like nothing she had ever known rushed
through her. Echo ran into his arms. They kissed. For a moment, she
forgot all the centuries of violence. She pulled away and looked up
into his eyes.

Then Wisdom took a slow step back.

“What’s wrong?”

The color bled from his face. He grew paler
with every moment.

“What is it, Wisdom? You’re scaring me.”

Wisdom stared at her, looked down at her
chest. Tears fell down his face.

“Too late,” he said.

Echo followed his eyes down to her chest. She
saw the spear of darkness that pierced her chest.

“I don’t feel any pain,” she said, her voice
weak. She looked back at Wisdom for answers.

Then she died.

Wisdom watched the body as it fell before
him, grief and rage warring within him. Then rage won and he looked
back at the man who, once again, had killed Echo.

“He told me, you know.” Propates brushed dust
off the edges of his colorful robe. “Your father. He told me you
jumped back in time just to save her. What I don’t get is why? You
never loved her like I did. She was just a toy to you. We all
were.”

“She was my salvation.” Wisdom took a half
step forward then stopped. He could not trust the strength of his
legs. “Do you know the myth of Andromeda? She was the daughter of
vanity. Her mother, Cassiopeia, was full of pride. She believed she
was more beautiful than the sea nymphs. So the gods demanded
recompense. Poseidon forced her to give up her beautiful virgin
daughter to a sea monster. Then along comes Perseus, her knight. He
saved her from the beast. I guess I thought that if I could save
her, maybe I could be her Perseus. Instead, I’m just the
monster.”

“You’re pathetic.” Propates shook his head
and stared at Echo’s body. “She wasn’t a princess who needed
saving. She was a person and you were never good enough for her.
Maybe if…”

“Die.”

Wisdom focused his rage and all the futility.
Propates’ body twisted and flopped until it seemed a
two-dimensional image, bent paper in a three-dimensional world.
Liquid shadow the consistency of oil bled wherever a bend appeared.
Wherever the shadow-blood hit ground, it bubbled and ate through
concrete and dirt like sugar under water. When Wisdom tired of the
torture, he opened a portal and flung Propates through it.

He fell to his knees and cried silently for a
long time. Afraid to move, everyone simply watched him until he
rose again to his feet.

“Where did you send him?”

Wisdom shrugged and stared down at Echo's
body. “The center of the sun. It’s a faster death than he deserved
but I want to make sure he’s dead.”

Todd's eyes went wide. A rush of footsteps
came from the stairs. He turned toward the sound, ready for a
fight. He relaxed as Josh and Elaine entered the storage room. A
moment later, Garnet appeared. She carried Jessica in her arms.

“Is she....?” he asked, rushing toward
them.

“She's just tired.” Garnet lowered her to the
ground. Then her eyes fell on Echo and she moaned. “Oh, my God.
What happened?”

Elaine knelt beside Echo. After a moment she
stood and shook her head. “You could try again, Wisdom.”

Josh looked back and forth between Elaine and
Wisdom. “What do you mean, you can try again?”

Surprisingly, Wisdom smiled. “That's just the
thing, Elaine. I have tried again. I've tried over and over. This
was the fifteenth time I travelled back through time to save her.
She dies a little different every time. But she always ends up
dead.”

Josh rubbed the back of his neck. “You
traveled through time? Then, couldn't you have stopped this? If you
went back to the beginning, you could have saved Brian. You could
have stopped me from ever going to Quebec. You could have...”

“Josh…” Garnet put a warning hand on his arm
but Josh shook her away.

“This is the first time you've been a part of
this, Josh,” Wisdom answered. “Maybe if I tried again I could do
those things. Maybe not. That's beside the point. I'm
finished.”

“Wisdom....” Elaine said.

“I've made up my mind. You're right about one
thing, Josh. You can change things when you travel through time.
The first time I made the trip, it was mostly out of pride.
Propates won, killed Echo, and turned you all into killing
machines. It was insulting. I went back several months, had Ms.
Ryerson increase the training on the Anomalies. I saved them all
from being killed by the Edimmu and killed Propates in his sleep.
My father came by and killed Echo while we celebrated. Each time
after that I did things a little different. Each time I lost Echo I
realized a little more how much she meant to me. It became the only
important thing. I found my odds were better if I weakened my
father instead of saving the Anomalies from the Edimmu. With all my
power I can’t be in two places at once. No matter what choices I
make, all paths end the same. Echo dies.”

“What if you, I mean, couldn’t you just kill
Propates and your father at the same time?”

Wisdom rolled his eyes. “Gee, why didn’t I
think of that? Why does everyone think I’m stupid? Of course I
thought about killing them both at the same time.”

Josh gulped. “I just mean… if you can travel
back through time, isn’t anything pretty much possible?”

“Apparently not. Because, like I said, I
can’t be in two places at the same time. I can’t even be in two
times at once, which I guess is actually the same thing. There can
only be one of any given thing in at a certain time. I don’t claim
to know everything about time travel, but I know the way those
portals work. When you step through, it destroys your original
body. All that transfers through the circle of light is your
consciousness and a stream of energy that reconstitutes into a new
version of your body. It’s the consciousness that’s the key. Your
consciousness exists outside of time and space. I can’t create
another one. That’s why I can’t be in two places at once. It’s why
I can’t kill Propates and my father at the same time.”

Now Garnet knelt beside Echo. “Did she
know?”

“No.” Wisdom's voice cracked. “Not this time.
Things were harder on her the times I told her. No matter what I
said, she wouldn't run away. Once I even forced her. Kidnapped her.
I wiped her memory and moved to New Zealand. My father found us
eventually. That's why this has to be the last time. I hoped
finding Josh would change things. But in the end....” Wisdom shook
his head, smirking at a private joke. “It looks like even Wisdom
can't change destiny.”

For what seemed an eternity, no one said
anything. Then Wisdom opened a portal directly under Echo and her
body disappeared. Only then did he turn back to the Anomalies. “Did
you destroy the processing room?”

Josh looked back at Elaine and then spoke.
“No. We couldn’t get to it. Too many Edimmu. After your signal,
Jessica felt out where you were. Josh collapsed the ceiling of the
tunnel but the Edimmu will be here soon. We came to regroup.”

Wisdom nodded slowly. “That was smart. We
should move quickly. While we’re regrouping, so are they. I know
you’re all wounded but we have to keep going. I found out what the
Council has planned. It’s worse than I could have ever expected. We
have to put them down once and for all. Not to be melodramatic and
all, but the fate of the world may be in our hands. Let’s try not
to screw it up.”

Epilogue

Josh looked across the coffee table at his
mother and watched her sense of reality steadily crack. She wore a
flowery summer dress that seemed both whimsical and formal. It was
totally inappropriate for this conversation. She had just come back
from church when he'd arrived with Wisdom and the others. Two hours
later, he finished bringing her up to speed. She took it all very
well. In fact, Josh was surprised at how easy it was for her to
believe even the strangest parts of the story.

“I should have known,” she said. “Not all of
it, because how could anyone know? But there were signs. I knew
your father kept things from me. I just convinced myself it was
because of his job. The job with the government. Still, when you
disappeared like that and he didn’t make a big deal out of it, I
knew something was wrong.” She looked past Josh out the front
window. “Do you think your father is dead?”

Josh shook his head, tears welling in his
eyes. For a moment he was too choked up to speak. Then he cleared
his throat. “No. I don’t think he’s dead. When we went back to
destroy the processing room, we saw a lot of Edimmu. But most of
the Council got away. We think they felt Propates die. Wisdom says
even the first stage of Eyeness makes you sensitive to things like
that. By the time we got to the processing room, there was no one
left. We smashed the equipment. Wisdom transported a bunch of files
and computers back to his offices. He’s having people look them
over for clues now. By the time we made it out of the underground
tunnels and into the apartment complex, everything else had been
cleared out. We don’t know where the Council went but we’ll find
them. They took the other Anomalies with them, too. I’m pretty sure
Dad is still alive. I think I might feel it if he was dead.”