Operation Hydra

Ontariese

Ontarian Cycle 99

E’Lanna dar Aune woke up screaming. Her tiny body trembled as her mind scrambled to differentiate between reality and visions, the physical and metaphysical planes. Her twin sister’s arms encircled her, but Echo’s unexpected presence made E’Lanna shriek.

“Lanna, all is well,” her sister cooed. “You were only dreaming.”

Echo’s softly lilting voice should have soothed her. Any other time, E’Lanna would have been comforted by her twin’s familiar face. But death loomed before her still. Cold, sightless eyes freezing her very soul.

A low rumble vibrated the room and a transport conduit materialized in the nearest wall. Her parents rushed from the vortex together. E’Lanna cried out, raising her arms toward their father.

Tal dar Aune sat on the edge of his daughter’s sleeping station and pulled her onto his lap. She clutched him, her entire body shaking. His hair blanketed her protectively, and he rocked her, waiting for the terror to recede.

“Daddy,” Echo said uncertainly, drawing his attention.

She had wrapped herself around her mother like a Bilarrian long-limbed primate. Her legs encircled Charlotte’s waist, arms looped around her neck. Charlotte held her close, trying to comfort her, but Echo’s luminous violet eyes were fixed squarely on her twin.

Nine cycles, could it really have been so long?

Shifting his attention back to the little girl in his arms, he eased E’Lanna away and assessed her ashen features.

A face so young.

Eyes so old.

E’Lanna’s perfect, bow-shaped mouth trembled as she valiantly fought for composure. “Take your time,
leyanti
. If you release the fear, it has no power over you.”

She drew in a long, shuddering breath before she spoke. “I saw the woman’s face again, but she was screaming and screaming. She wouldn’t stop screaming. The younger one held her, oh so tight,
then
the bad man took her away.”

E’Lanna sobbed, collapsing against his chest. Grief radiated from her, inundating him with unbearable sadness. He looked at his beloved life mate over their daughter’s head, heartbroken to see that Charlotte understood. Echo refused to leave her sister, so Tal tucked them in together. They clung to each other, E`Lanna sobbing softly, even in her sleep.

He took Charlotte’s hand and nodded toward the door. She paused, kissing each twin on the brow,
then
joined him in the corridor. The privacy panel slid closed behind her.

“Krystabel is
not
dead,” she insisted.

Tal sighed and gently squeezed her hand.

“Do you think I wouldn’t sense my sister’s death?” They walked out onto the covered gallery. Dawn had broken, splashing the horizon with crimson, purple and mauve. The distant peaks beyond Mystic Brook glowed with violet light.

Tal made no response. He trusted his soul’s mate. If Charlotte said she still sensed her twin, then Krystabel yet lived.

“It’s so frustrating,” Charlotte said. “For ten cycles I’ve done everything in my power to find Krystabel. Time and again I’ve exhausted myself, and exasperated everyone around me.” She paused. “You could at least disagree.”

“The Ninth Code teaches us to value honesty.”

She smiled.
“Why E’Lanna?
Why send the visions to a child who is terrified by them and cannot interpret them? Why couldn’t these visions have come to me?”

“What did you sense as she spoke of the vision?”

“It was definitely Krystabel. I think the other woman is her daughter. There is a bond between them and there is a definite resemblance in their features.”

She nibbled her bottom lip as she did so often when she was upset. Turning to stand beside him, her swirling turquoise gaze stared out into the distance.

Tal wasn’t surprised when his mentor, Vee, stepped out onto the gallery. Vee’s senses were so finely tuned he felt the faintest disruption in the energy surrounding the Conservatory.

Vee’s
dove
gray robe rippled fluidly as he glided toward them. Though ancient of days, Vee’s features remained smooth and flawless, his eyes a bright emerald green.

“What did the child
see?
” His voice was in harmony with the dawn.

“She saw my sister die,” Charlotte whispered. Tal put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close against his side.

“Krystabel is dead?” Vee didn’t seem convinced.

“
No
, but E’Lanna felt the grief of someone who believes she is.” Charlotte sounded stronger, more resolved.

Tal felt a subtle tremor pass through her and looked down into her face as she slumped against him. The swirling in her turquoise eyes slowed until it was nearly imperceptible.

“Is her mind still linked with E’Lanna’s?” Vee asked, noticing the change as well.

“Likely. When E’Lanna is troubled, Charlotte often leaves the link open.”

Tal swept his wife into his arms, carrying her to a nearby bench. Her hands were tangled in his long black hair and her eyes gazed unseeingly beyond him. He sank slowly, gently into her mind, unable to see what she saw, only able to offer his energy. He felt Vee do the same, while they waited for Charlotte to emerge from the trance.

* * * * *

Charlotte felt E’Lanna’s terror and projected herself across the metaphysical plane. Desperately, she tried to absorb the images before they reached her daughter, but the vision passed right through her and exploded within E’Lanna’s mind.

Rage! Murderous, unadulterated rage ripped through Charlotte, stealing her breath, before it slammed into her daughter, making the girl scream. In an instant, Charlotte understood. These were not visions of the past or future — E’Lanna was a FarSeer. She witnessed events as they took place in locations far, far away. Charlotte surrounded her daughter with a protective shield and mentally scrambled for her best course of action.

Ye are a FarSeer, too, Shar Lott.
Vee’s voice sounded within her mind.
Meld with thy child and focus the meld through the catalyst. Trace the pulses back to their source.

Charlotte laughed, harsh and desperate. Vee made everything sound so simple. The catalyst was her most powerful gift, the psychic mechanism that allowed her to amplify any of her own gifts, or the gifts of others. It was also the hardest to control.

Tal infused her with Mystic energy, utterly saturating her levels. She found E’Lanna’s narrow signal and joined with it, weaving the two together until one was indistinguishable from the other. Activating the catalyst, she waited.

When the next pulse came, she stepped through the catalyst and into the energy flow. She projected herself along the stream, searching for the source of the image. The blackness of space enveloped her, consumed her. She focused, pulling strength from Tal’s silent presence, Seeing farther than she had ever imagined possible. The catalyst groaned. She shuddered. She couldn’t hold on to E’Lanna and follow the stream.

Let go, Charlotte. I protect our children.

She released her hold on E’Lanna and surged onward, using the raw emotions, the blinding fury as her guide. Suddenly, she burst into the physical realm, barely containing a startled cry. Her psychic essence melded completely with the younger woman from E’Lanna’s dreams. Charlotte saw what she saw, heard what she heard, and felt everything the stranger felt.

“You stinking bastard!” the woman screamed, pounding the heel of her hand against a large mirror. The woman’s tear-streaked face stared back at Charlotte, wide, swirling purple eyes boiling with anguish and rage.

“You didn’t have to kill her! I would have… I would…”

Kicking the wall, the woman slammed her fist against the reflective surface, until it rattled. A diagonal crack shot across the pane, but the mirror remained intact.

“Lower the barrier,” she shouted, clawing uselessly at the mirror. “Let me go to her! Let me…” Dissolving into harsh, aching sobs, she sank to her knees. Her nails raked the wall, making her fingertips bleed.

Charlotte spotted a date on the cover of the magazine crumpled beneath the woman’s knee. Hope shot through her, making her spirit soar. All the terror had not been in vain, all the years of frustration and longing. It made sense, now. The stranger closed her eyes. Charlotte finally knew where to begin her search, so she surrendered to the energy stream.