The Compendium (24 page)

Chapter 34

A flash of a brown-haired bun caught my attention at one of the cubicles. The girl stepped out from behind the divider. Melissa had come a long way from her days as a preppy downtown receptionist. She wore a white thermal shirt, still dressed in the stiff vinyl dirt biking pants I had seen in my mind. A stone pendant hung from a leather cord around her neck.

“You bitch!” I snapped at her. Melissa whirled around with a shocked expression. Her features relaxed as she evaluated me.

“Nice to see you too, Irina. Don’t you want to know why I’m here?” she said.

“I should have known you were still with him. Fine, talk,” I said.

“I’m not with him anymore. Not now. That’s why I’m back in this godforsaken desert,” said Melissa.

“And what pray tell made you change your mind at this point?” I said.

“I overheard Ivan and Tatiana talking about releasing a virus,” said Melissa.

“You didn’t know that’s what those fantastic variant bees are for?” I said.

“No, I didn’t. I knew they were working on some kind of variant colony. I could get on board with that. But once I saw what their virus will do to anything not a variant, I came back,” said Melissa.

“Came back . . . from where?” I said slowly. “More to the point, where is everyone else who works at this farm? Where are Rose and Sage and Casey? And my sister!”

“London,” said Melissa flatly.

“England?” I said.

“Of course, England. You think I’d send them to Ontario?” said Melissa.

“Send them? You’ve lost me again,” I said.

Melissa looked me squarely in the eye and turned to face the wall beside her. She traced the outline of an oval about three feet wide and seven feet high. The air shimmered with liquid silver following the outline made by her finger. When she closed the loop, a rippling metallic window hung in the air.

“It’s a portal. Not to where I left them in London, that’s too dangerous at the moment. If you step through here, you’ll be back in our old office in Victoria. If the landlord hasn’t leased the space, it should still be empty,” said Melissa.

My jaw dropped. My eyes widened. Of all the variations I’d seen, this one took the trophy for most bizarre. How had I never seen this before? Why hadn’t anybody told me that Melissa could do this?

“Do the others know?” I said.

“Jonah, Cole and Faith–
your
buddies? No, they don’t. Ivan asked me to keep it confidential and I did. I did whatever Ivan asked me to do, without question.”

“So if I walk through this . . . thing, I’ll end up back in Victoria?” I said.

“Test it. You’ll be in Ivan’s office. More or less,” she said, not as confidently as I would have liked.

I went closer to the portal and touched the surface. It felt like liquid on my palm, but when I pulled my hand away, the skin was perfectly dry. I ventured larger test, pressing my hand into the liquid, pushing my arm through up to my elbow. I couldn’t see where my arm went, but I felt dry air on the other side.

I took a deep breath and pinched my nose as though I’d be plunging underwater. I glanced at Melissa. She rolled her eyes. I turned back to the liquid portal, closed my eyes, and plunged in until my head submerged.

I opened my eyes and I was in Ivan’s abandoned office, precisely as we’d seen it last. I felt a push from behind and I stumbled the rest of the way through the portal. Melissa followed behind me.

“And here we are. Innoviro Industries, Ivan’s office specifically,” said Melissa.

“Did we travel through time?” I said uncertainly.

“Of course not,” said Melissa.

“No, of course not. Silly me,” I said sarcastically.

“So now you understand me. I already know everything about you, including your newly developed telekinesis. Now you need to decide if you want my help. Do you still want
The Compendium Transmuto
?”

“What!? You’ve got it?”

“I will have it. Once I complete the file transfer from the Mojave network to the ten gig netbook I left in the mobile,” said Melissa.

“What is
The Compendium
?” I said.

“It’s what you think it is. Ivan has counterparts at two other variant research firms, Evonatura in Europe and Jinhua in China. They’re rich and powerful variants who are losing patience with the glacial pace of remaking the world for variants alone,” said Melissa.

“And you’ve now decided their mission is unacceptable,” I said.

“All along, talks were about sowing seeds and reaping changes on a generational level. Humans are doing no less. But now, it’s getting darker and more aggressive. It’s gone beyond science. They’re starting a bloody war humanity won’t even recognize for what it is. They don’t stand a chance. It’s not evolution, it’s extinction they’re after now. I could see letting humans do it to themselves, but I can’t be a part of global murder,” said Melissa.

Car engines and the sound of a saxophone street musician drifted up from the street. We were really in Victoria.

“We need to get back to the Mojave,” I said.

Melissa and I both whipped our heads around at the sound of a door opening down the hall.

“The property manager!” whispered Melissa.

“Open another portal!” I hissed back.

Melissa created another shimmering oval and we hopped through it.

We were back in the Mojave, only this time we were outside the trailer with my friends looking on from the edge of the property.

“Irina!” called out Jonah.

“Who is that?” yelled Faith.

“It’s me! Melissa,” she shouted back.

“Is there anything worth salvaging in the trailer? After we download
The Compendium
, of course. Should we bother picking through the specimens and files?” I asked Melissa.

“In terms of files, everything is covered by
The Compendium
. But specimens are another story. Your crew showing up here rushed his transfer to London. Ivan left material behind I know he wanted to come back for in the near future. He took my loyalty for granted. Without me, he can’t return quickly, but there is work in progress here on creatures and plants he wants to turn loose in the new world.”

“Then we’re better off to wipe it all out, even the species or projects we think are benign. You go finish the download. I’ll see what I can do about the trailer.”

Chapter 35

Melissa turned on her heel and marched into the mobile. I ventured a quick peek inside Ivan’s fifth wheel trailer. The foul odor of decay hung in the air. I flicked the light switch next to the door. Nothing happened. I heard a scratching sound from inside a caged at the far end of the trailer. A shrill
SQUAAAAK
pierced the air. It sounded like a cry of pain. I backed out of the trailer and closed the door. Faith needed to burn the trailer to the ground.

An idea struck me. I moved to the front of the trailer and the exposed hitch. I pulled on it. Of course nothing happened.

“Irina, what are you doing?” called Jonah from the edge of the site.

“Moving a trailer!” I called back to him.

I let go of the hitch and tried to pull the vehicle forward with my mind. It budged. I pulled with all my focus, walking backward, towing the trailer with a gap of several feet between us. I felt the weight of the thing resisting, trying to remain stationary in spite of my draw. Against everything I knew of physics, the wheels rolled forward, picking up speed as I did. I reached the edge of the property where my friends waited.

“Faith . . .” I stopped to catch my breath. “Burn it to the ground. Turn it to ash.”

Faith smiled. “No problem!”

She rounded her arms towards the trailer and from her upright palms, two thick hot streams of intense fire blasted the siding. The blaze consumed the trailer quickly. The windows shattered and curtains on fire flared out in front of us. Another cry of
SQUEEEE
sounded briefly, silenced by the
WHOOOOSH
of flames racing upward. Tinkling and crackling continued as the trailer’s exterior blackened. Moments later, the roof fell in and a fresh plume of smoke billowed out.

“I think you got it there,” said Ilya as he placed his hand on Faith’s shoulder.

Melissa ran towards us with a netbook under her arm.

“We should burn the mobile too. If you want to be sure.” Melissa walked over to Faith and placed her necklace around Faith’s neck.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” I said with my hand on my face.

“You needed practice anyway.” Jonah burst an irrigation pipe several yards away and funneled the water onto the crispy husk of one-time trailer.

Faith ran to the mobile and kicked in the door. Without so much as a glance around, she unleashed an inferno on the interior. She backed out and went to work on the exterior.

I took my rune necklace off and placed it around Jonah’s neck so he could follow behind and douse her flames as he now automatically did. Every time I watched them work together, I knew I would always be reminded of their romantic connection, however far behind them it might be. As they burned and doused, we waited.

“So what’s the story with the portal thing?” said Josh. He looked intently at Melissa.

“I can open a connection between two known locations. It’s not time travel. It’s just bending space,” she said.

“Just bending space!” said Cole.

“It’s the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. And we’re in the business of seeing seriously weird shit!” said Ilya.

“More importantly, why are you with us now? Weren’t you working for Ivan literally moments ago?” Josh eyed her with palpable distrust.

“You all used to work for Innoviro!” Melissa accusingly stared around at all of us. “I supported a slow progression in our favor. It made sense to me. Now that I know about the pathogen those bees carry–he calls it
Terra Nova
-I’m done!”

Jonah and Faith rejoined us and I was relieved to see a healthful glow on my boyfriend’s face. Finally, after so much worrying and caution, he’d become stronger than ever.

“So where to now?” said Jonah.

“London,” I said.

“What if she’s leading us into a trap?” said Josh, to me, ignoring Melissa. The latter crossed her arms angrily.

“I believe her,” I said.

“Ilya, listen to her. Dig as deep as you can,” said Cole.

“If you don’t trust me, then screw off and let
The Compendium
roll ahead,” said Melissa.

“What’s a little hand-holding among friends? I can hear you whether you let me in or not, but it’s easier this way,” said Ilya.

He reached out to Melissa, looking at her with a playful grin. My brother was hard to resist when he felt like charming someone. Melissa relaxed, rolled her eyes, and held her hand out to Ilya. He closed his eyes and held her hand with a thoughtful expression. I wondered how Faith’s temper fared.

“It’s okay. She’s telling the truth. My father was absolutely livid when they detected us here in the Mojave. He scared the hell out of her,” said Ilya after a long moment.

“Can we get on with it now?” Melissa demanded impatiently.

“Where, exactly, in London are we going,” said Josh.

“I sent Ivan, Tatiana, Casey, Rose, Sage, and your sister Gemma, to an alley outside Piccadilly Circus. It’s a nice secluded spot that’s within walking distance to Evonatura’s London office,” said Melissa.

“So we follow them to Evonatura and throw down?” said Cole.

“No, we’ll hide in Soho. That’s where Evonatura’s office is, but Ivan hates the neighborhood. It’s too ‘weird’ for him. He won’t be there any longer than he needs to be. We’ll case the office and come up with a plan before we make a move,” said Melissa.

“Is there any chance Ivan could accelerate some of the more catastrophic elements of
The Compendium
if we spook him? Is he ready to turn loose this
Terra Nova
virus?” said Cole.

“I think that’s exactly what he’ll do. And I think he’s in a position to do it now. I’m sorry. I really didn’t know how far this had gotten. I’m kicking myself now and I will be for years to come,” said Melissa.

“You’re doing the right thing now. That’s what counts,” said Jonah.

“Do you need to go back to your cars? Are you all ready to go now?” said Melissa.

I looked around at my friends’ faces. I saw apprehension mixed with uncertainty.

“We’ve got everything we need to be in a city. The stuff we left in the Jeep and Cole’s car is camping gear,” said Josh.

“I’m game,” said Faith.

“Me too.” Ilya grabbed Faith’s hand.

“Yeah, sure, why not,” said Cole.

“Fire up your portal,” I said to Melissa.

She swooped her arm through the air, up, down, and around re-creating the liquid silver oval. Smiling, she stepped through her portal.

The rest of us stood gawking at each other for a moment. A hand, Melissa’s hand, appeared floating in midair through the portal, beckoning us to come.

I took her hand and let her pull me through the portal. I emerged next to a greasy dumpster in an alley reeking of rotting meat and diesel. I looked to my left and saw a brick wall. To my right, a party was going on. Pedestrians cleared and I saw a slim man dressed in a black speedo and a black policeman’s hat, dancing to club music in a shop window. Another man stepped into view in the window, dressed in a giant white feather boa, silver glitter makeup, and bright white short shorts. They danced together grinding groins and hips.

“Welcome to SOHO,” said Melissa.

“I can see why this is the perfect place to hide from Ivan and Tatiana,” I said.

“You’d better hope we can stay hidden, especially if he finds out this facility was destroyed. Now that I’ve betrayed him, he’ll be as dangerous as a coiled cobra if we meet him,” said Melissa. “Or should I say, when.”

I reached my arm back through the portal, as Melissa had done, and beckoned to friends I couldn’t see. I felt someone take my hand and I knew the wildest leg of our now international quest was about to start. We had a lot left to do, but somehow I felt a new hope that we could defeat Ivan.