The Traveler (42 page)

"Can you hear me?" Gabriel said.
"Maya?"

She wanted to speak to him-say one last thing—but someone had stolen her voice. A black liquid gathered around the edge of her vision and then it began to spread and darken like a drop of ink in a glass of clear water.

Around six o'clock in the morning, Nathan Boone glanced up at the sky over the research facility and saw a hazy patch of sunlight. His skin and clothing were covered with soot. The fire in the tunnels was supposedly under control, but black smoke with a harsh chemical odor continued to pour out of the vents. It looked as if the earth was burning.

Fire trucks and police cars were scattered around the quadrangle. At night, their flashing red lights had seemed bright and demanding. In the early morning, the lights blinked feebly. Canvas fire hoses snaked from the pumper trucks to the vents. Some of the hoses were still spraying water below while firefighters with blackened faces drank coffee from cardboard cups.

Boone had made a general assessment two hours ago. The explosion in the tunnels and the resulting power failure had caused damage in every building. Apparently the quantum computer had shut down and part of the mechanism had been destroyed. A young computer technician estimated that it would take nine months to a year for everything to get running again. The basements were flooded. All laboratories and offices were blackened with smoke. A computerized refrigerator in the genetic research laboratory had stopped working and several splicer experiments were ruined.

Boone didn't care about the destruction. As far as he was concerned, every building in the compound could have collapsed into rubble. The real disaster was that a Harlequin and a known Traveler had been allowed to escape.

His ability to start an immediate search had been undermined by a minimum-wage security guard sitting in the gatehouse at the entrance to the facility. When the explosions started, the young man had panicked and called the police and fire department. The Brethren had influence throughout the world, but Boone couldn't control a team of local firefighters determined to do their job. While the firefighters set up a command post and sprayed water into the tunnels, he helped General Nash and Michael Corrigan leave the quadrangle in a guarded convoy. Boone spent the rest of the night making sure that no one found Shepherd's body or the three dead men in the administration center.

"Mr. Boone? Excuse me, Mr. Boone ..."

He glanced over his shoulder as a fire captain named Vernon McGee approached him. The stocky little captain had been in the quadrangle since midnight, but he still appeared to be full of energy—almost cheerful. Boone decided that suburban firefighters were bored with checking hydrants and retrieving cats from trees.

"I think we're ready to start the inspection now."

"What are you talking about?"

"The fire is knocked down, but it will take a few hours until we can go into the maintenance tunnels. Right now I need to enter each building and check for structural damage."

"That's impossible. As I told you last night, the staff here is involved with top-secret research for the government. Just about every room requires a security clearance."

Captain McGee rocked back slightly on the heels of his boots. "I don't give a damn about that. I'm fire captain and this is my district. I have the right to enter any of these buildings for reasons of public safety. Feel free to give me an escort if you want."

Boone tried to conceal his anger as McGee swaggered back to his men. Perhaps the firefighters could do an inspection. It was possible. The bodies had already been wrapped in plastic and dumped in a van. Later that day, they would be shipped down to Brooklyn, where a cooperative mortician would cremate them and throw the ashes into the sea.

Boone decided to check out the administration center before McGee started nosing around. Two security men were supposed to be in the third-floor hallway, ripping up the blood-stained carpet. Although the surveillance cameras were dead, Boone always assumed that someone was watching him. He marched confidently across the quadrangle as if everything was under control. His cell phone rang and, when he answered it, he heard Kennard Nash's booming voice.

"What's the situation?"

"The fire department is going to make a safety inspection." Nash swore loudly. "Who should I call?
The governor's office?
Could the governor stop this?"

"There's no reason to stop anything. We've cleaned up the significant problems."

"They're going to find out that someone started the fire."

"That's exactly want I want them to do. Right now, I have a team at Lawrence Takawa's apartment. They'll place a half-made explosive device on his kitchen table and write a revenge letter on his personal computer. When the arson investigators show up, I'll tell them about our angry employee—"

"And they'll start looking for a man who has already disappeared." Nash laughed softly. "Good work, Mr. Boone. I'll talk to you this evening."

General Nash ended the phone call without saying goodbye and Boone stood alone near the entrance to the administration center. If he reviewed his actions during the last few weeks, he had to acknowledge some mistakes. He had underestimated Maya's effectiveness and ignored his own suspicions about Lawrence Takawa. He had given in to anger on several occasions, and that had influenced his choices.

As the fire died down, the smoke changed color from black to dirty gray. It looked like car exhaust just ordinary pollution—as it came out of the vents, drifted up into the air, and disappeared. Maybe the Brethren had suffered a temporary setback, but victory was inevitable. Politicians could talk about freedom, their words thrown into the air like confetti. It meant nothing; the traditional idea of freedom was fading away. For the first time that morning, Boone pressed the button on his wristwatch and was pleased to see that his pulse rate was normal. He stood up straight, squared his shoulders, and entered the building.

Once again, Maya was held captive by the dream. Standing alone in the dark tunnel, she attacked the three football thugs and escaped down the staircase. Men were fighting on the platform, trying to smash the train windows, as Thom grabbed her with his right hand and pulled her into the car.

She had thought about that incident so many times that it had become a permanent section of her brain.
Wake up,
she told herself.
Enough.
But this time she lingered in the memory. The train lurched forward and she pressed her face against her father's wool overcoat. Her eyes were closed as she bit her lip and tasted blood in her mouth.

Maya's anger was strong and loud, but another voice was whispering to her in the darkness. And then she knew that a secret was about to be revealed. Thorn had always been strong and brave and sure of himself. He had betrayed her that afternoon in North London, but something else had happened.

The Underground train lurched forward, leaving the station, and she looked up at her father and saw that he was crying. At the time, it seemed impossible that Thorn could ever show weakness. But now she knew it was true. A single tear on a Harlequin's cheek was a rare and precious thing. Forgive me. Was that what he was thinking? Forgive me for what I have done to you.

***

SHE OPENED HER eyes and saw that Vicki was looking down at her. For a few seconds Maya lingered in a shadow land between her dream and the waking world; she could still see Thorn's face while her hand touched the edge of a blanket. Breathe out. And her father disappeared.

"Can you hear me?" Vicki asked.

"Yes. I'm awake."

"How do you feel?"

Maya reached beneath the bedsheet and felt the bandage that covered her injured leg. If she moved her body quickly, there was a sharp pain, like being jabbed with the point of a knife. If she remained stationary, it felt like someone had burned her skin with a branding iron. Thorn had taught her that you couldn't ignore pain; you tried to reduce it to a specific point that was isolated from the rest of your body.

She looked around the room and remembered being placed in the bed. They were in a beach house on the coast of Cape Cod, the curving Massachusetts peninsula that jutted into the Atlantic Ocean. Vicki, Gabriel, and Hollis had driven her there after spending several hours at a private clinic run by a doctor in Boston. The doctor was a member of Vicki's church who used the house as a summer retreat.

"Do you want another pill?"

"No pills. Where's Gabriel?"

"He's walking on the beach. Don't worry. Hollis is guarding him." "How long have I been asleep?"

"About eight or nine hours."

"Find Gabriel and Hollis," Maya said. "Pack everything up. We have to keep moving."

"That's not necessary. We're safe here—at least for a few days. Nobody knows we're at the house except Dr. Lewis and he believes in Debt Not Paid. He'd never betray a Harlequin."

"The Tabula are looking for us."

"No one's walking on the beach because it's too cold. The house next door is empty for the winter. Most of the stores in the village are closed and we haven't seen any surveillance cameras."

Vicki looked strong and sure of herself, and Maya found herself remembering the timid church girl she approached in the Los Angeles airport just a few weeks ago. Everything had changed, moved forward, because of the Traveler.

"I need to see Gabriel."

"He'll be back in a few minutes."

"Help me up, Vicki. I don't want to be in bed."

Maya used her elbows to push her body up. The pain came again, but she was able to control the expression on her face. Standing on her good leg, she threw one arm around Vicki's shoulder and the two women moved slowly out of the bedroom and down a hallway.

With each halting step, Vicki gave Maya more information. After they had fled the EvergreenFoundationResearchCenter, Dr. Richardson had kept her from dying as Hollis drove to Boston. At this moment, Richardson was traveling to Canada to stay with an old college friend who owned a dairy farm in Newfoundland. Hollis had parked his truck in a poor neighborhood and left the keys in the ignition. Now they were using a delivery van owned by another member of Vicki's church.

The beach house had a thick Berber carpet; the wood and leather furniture was clean and simple. A sliding glass door led to a deck and Maya got Vicki to take her outside. When Maya lay down on a chaise longue she realized how much effort it had taken to walk thirty feet. Sweat covered her face and her body began to shiver.

Vicki went back into the house and returned with a blanket. She wrapped it tightly around Maya's lower body and the Harlequin began to feel comfortable. The house was built next to sand dunes dotted with wild rose and beach grass and dark green heather. There was enough wind to push the dry blades of grass back and forth and Maya could smell the ocean. A solitary tern circled above the women as if searching for a resting place.

Wooden steps led from the deck to the beach. The tide was out and Gabriel stood about five hundred feet away from her at the edge of the sea. Hollis sat on the sand, halfway between the house and the Traveler. He had something on his lap, wrapped in a bright beach towel, and Maya assumed it was her shotgun. There was no need for a Harlequin at this peaceful, isolated house. Vicki and Hollis had arranged everything without her. She was supposed to protect Gabriel, but he was the one who had risked his life to carry her out of the tunnels.

The overcast sky and the gray-green water merged into each other; it was difficult to see the horizon. Each wave collapsed with a hushing sound, the water flowing across the packed sand and then returning to the sea. Gabriel wore jeans and a dark sweatshirt; it seemed that if he took just one more step he would be absorbed by the grayness and
vanish
from this world.

The Traveler turned away from the water and looked back at the house. "He sees us," Vicki said.

Maya felt like a child wrapped up in the blanket, but she sat quietly as the men left the beach and climbed up the steps to the deck. Gabriel stood near the railing while Hollis grinned and approached her.
"Maya!
How you feeling? We didn't think you'd wake up for a few days."

"I'm all right. We need to contact Linden."

"I already did that from a cybercafé in Boston. He'll send money to three different locations in New England."

"Is that all he said?"

"According to Linden, Sparrow's son has disappeared. I guess the Tabula found out that he was—"

Vicki interrupted. "Let's make some coffee, Hollis."

"I don't want any."

"Other people might." There was a slight change in Vicki's voice that reminded Maya of the soft pressure from someone's hand. Hollis appeared to get the message.

, "Right.
Of course.
Fresh coffee."
Hollis glanced back at Gabriel, and then followed Vicki into the house.

Now they were alone, but Gabriel still didn't speak. A flock of seabirds appeared in the distance, the black specks circling into a tight funnel that slowly began to descend to the earth.

"Dr. Lewis said you'll be able to walk in a month or so. You're lucky that the bullet didn't shatter the bone."

"We can't stay here that long," Maya said.

"Vicki has a lot of contacts through her church and Hollis knows people from the martial arts world. I think we'll have plenty of places to hide until we get false ID cards and passports." "Then we should leave the United States."

"I'm not sure about that. People want to believe there's a tropical island or a cave in the mountains where you can hide, but that's not true anymore. Like it or not, we're all connected to one another." "The Tabula will be searching for you."

"Yes. And my brother will be helping them." Gabriel sat beside her, looking tired and sad. "When we were growing up, I felt like Michael and I were fighting the whole world together. I would have done anything for my brother. I trusted him completely."

Maya remembered the dream of the Underground—her father's sadness—and allowed herself to feel pity for another human being. She offered her hand and Gabriel held it tightly. His warm skin touched her coldness; she felt transformed. It wasn't happiness. No, happiness was a childish, temporary illusion. The pain I her melted away and she felt like the two of them had created a center,
a constancy
, a whole.

"I don't know if my father is still alive, and Michael has turned against me," Gabriel said. "But I feel connected to you, Maya.
You`re important to me."

He looked at her with an intense energy in his eyes, then let go of her hand and stood up quickly. Their closeness was painful; it felt as if they had crossed a line.

Alone and unprotected, Gabriel walked back down the steps to the sand. Maya remained on the deck, trying to control her feelings. If she wanted to protect this Traveler, then she couldn't allow herself to care for him. Any emotion would only make her hesitant and vulnerable. If she allowed that weakness, she might lose him forever.

Help me,
she thought. It was the first time she had ever prayed.
Please help me. Show me what I need to do.

A cold wind touched her black hair and she felt
a quickness
in her body, a gathering strength. So many people drifted through their lives, acting out roles for others and not recognizing their true destinies. All the doubts and hesitations she felt in London had vanished. Maya knew who she was: a Harlequin. Yes, it would be difficult, but she would stay with Gabriel.

She sat up slightly and looked toward the ocean. The flock of seabirds was resting on the beach and, as the Traveler approached them, they rose up to heaven, keening and calling to each other.

The End

Book One of the Fourth
Realm