Threader (23 page)

I suddenly know why Darsh wanted to tell me this now, after my fight with Jasmine.

As if he could read my thoughts, he says, ‘Jasmine's parents were technical assistants on the project. Both were killed.'

I hand his slate back, feeling ill. ‘How did my parents survive?'

‘I don't know,' Darsh says. ‘I found a heavily censored report that suggested everyone blamed them. There were also a few psych reports that stated your mother was becoming paranoid. She was convinced there was something in the shadow biosphere that was coming for her.'

My head sinks in my hands and I concentrate on taking long, deep breaths.

‘The academy buried what happened,' Darsh says, ‘but I guess Jasmine did some digging and found out.'

Grief rises inside of me, unexpected and unwanted. When I look up, Darsh's face is stricken and he looks like he wished he'd kept his mouth shut. He goes to say something, then his eyes skip over my shoulder and he frowns.

‘What?' I ask, just as Blake comes alongside our table.

‘Josie, can I talk to you for a minute outside?' he asks me politely.

‘No. Leave me the hell alone,' I reply, just as nice.

Blake's face tightens. Darsh takes a breath and gets to his feet. ‘You heard her.'

Blake blinks at him, as if only just realising he's here. ‘This doesn't concern you.'

‘The hell it doesn't.' Darsh puffs his chest out, but I can see his hands give a tremble. ‘Josie told you to … get lost … so … you'd better leave, or else.'

Blake heaves a sigh, then turns from Darsh, dismissing him, his dark eyes fixing on me. ‘This is important, Josie. Please.'

My lips press tight and I stand. ‘Fine.'

Darsh opens his mouth to protest, but I touch his arm and give him a reassuring smile. ‘I won't be long.'

He glares at Blake, then says to me, ‘If you're not back in ten minutes, I'm coming to look for you.'

Blake nods at him, then walks close by my side as we head out. The night air is fresh and we walk slow. The information Darsh gave me whirls through my head, filling it. A group of cadets pass and I hear them whispering among themselves, hear my name. Blake and I both ignore them.

All of James's paranoid warnings have some context now. But even though I can understand my past a little better, it doesn't distil the low simmering anger I have. What happened with the Ciliary Gate isn't my fault. Why should I be the one to suffer for my parents' mistakes?

‘I heard—' Blake's voice cuts off as more cadets emerge from a nearby building, heading towards us. Grabbing my arm, Blake pulls me off the path and into the shadows of a nearby tree. I yank my arm from his grip.

‘What do you want?' I snap. ‘You want to tell me again how I'm not your type?'

Blake doesn't say anything at first, just stands there, breathing in the dark. Then he says, ‘I heard you got into a fight with Jasmine Harper.'

‘So?'

‘So?' Blake sounds like he's ready to explode. ‘I heard you used your talents against another cadet. You could both get kicked out of Helios if someone wants to take this further.'

The fight with Jasmine and the reason behind her hatred feels like a fresh wound. One that I don't need Blake pouring salt on, so I just glare at him. He runs a hand through his hair, clearly agitated.

‘Look. I'm sorry for what I said before,' he finally says. ‘I really am.'

‘Forget it.' My lips press thin and I'm not sure what else to say. I'm still angry, still hurt.

‘What was the fight with Harper about?' Blake gestures to my healing lip, then leans forward, squinting at my face in the darkness. ‘What's that green stuff on your eyelids?'

‘Make-up,' I mutter, then look away, confused. ‘You said some pretty nasty things to me, you know. And now you're all Mister Nice Guy, so we're just supposed to be friendly now?'

‘I said I was sorry,' Blake says. ‘Things got out of hand and I reacted badly.'

‘Great. Apology accepted.' I turn to go.

‘Josie, wait.' Blake steps in front of me, his hands brushing my waist. ‘Don't be angry.'

‘I'm not.' I touch his hands with the intention to shove them off, but they just rest on his, unmoving. ‘I don't trust you.'

‘I'm sorry.'

‘Stop saying that.' I pull away now and he lets me go.

‘Say you forgive me,' he says, his hands falling to his side.

‘And if I don't?'

‘I'll just keep pestering you.' Blake pauses, then adds, ‘I can be very persistent.'

‘Fine.' I roll my eyes. ‘We're friends. Happy now?'

‘Ecstatic,' he says gravely. ‘And since we're friends now, walk with me? I'm supposed to check in on some cadets.'

I hesitate, knowing it's not a good idea, but I'm unable to resist the temptation of being with him just a little longer.

‘Okay.'

We stroll slowly along a hedge laced with night flowers, their sweet smell drifting over us. Blake is quiet and I'm too wrapped up in my thoughts about the past to find a safe subject for us. We stop outside a classroom and I try to think of something general to say before heading off. Blake attempts to smile, but it's strained.

‘Are you upset about what happened with Aaron at the party?' he asks finally.

‘No.' I shrug. ‘We're not together or anything.'

‘He would make a good partner.' Blake's eyes drop from mine. ‘I heard Eckhart's been on the hunt for a compatible threader and technopath team for a long time. No one would object if you were locked with my brother.'

‘Locking my talents isn't something I intend to do again,' I say. ‘I don't think I could take it.'

His eyes dart back to mine. ‘What do you mean?'

My laugh is short and a little too loud. ‘I don't know. I get this familiar feeling when I think of you, like I've always known you. But when we talk, I realise you're so far away.' I shrug. ‘It hurts.'

Blake frowns. ‘I'm sorry,' he says again.

‘Don't worry about it. Hey, like you said, I'm not your type.'

He clears his throat. ‘I might have overstated that a little.'

‘Oh?'

‘I might have given you a second glance.' He smiles, but I don't return it.

‘No. You wouldn't have,' I say. ‘The lock creates a false sense of intimacy between us.' I suck in a deep breath. ‘In fact, I don't know you any better than Aaron.'

The smile drops from Blake's face, but I know it's for the best. Just as he knew that night in his room.

‘Josie—'

Before he can say anything more, the classroom door opens and a red-headed guy rushes out. He sees Blake and stumbles over.

‘Jeremy?' Blake grabs his arm to steady him. ‘What happened?'

I realise this is the infamous Jeremy Murphy. Registering the panicked look on his face, my unease spikes.

‘There was a tremor,' Jeremy gasps out. ‘I got out, but she was torn from the lightpath.'

‘Who are you talking about?' I ask, but I already know the answer. My uneasy feeling evolves to panic.

‘Cora.' Jeremy wipes a shaky hand across his brow. ‘We've got to find her. She's off the lightpath.'

‘Was she wearing a suit?' Blake asks. ‘Even if she doesn't hit the emergency beacon, we could track the suit number.'

‘No.' Jeremy shakes his head. ‘She said she wanted to go without one.'

Anguish crashes across Blake's face, then drains to nothing. He strides into the classroom and Jeremy and I hurry behind him. Blake walks to where the nanosuits hang and almost rips his shirt off.

‘I'll get help.' I start for the door.

‘No time.' Blake kicks off his shoes. I stop and stare at him.

‘What are you going to do?' I ask.

‘I'm the only one who might have a chance at finding her,' Blake answers, unbuckling his belt and stripping to his underwear.

‘I'll prep the dark-room,' Jeremy says.

‘And a suit,' Blake instructs. ‘Send me your last known co-ordinates.'

Jeremy nods, then hurries over to one of the doors and begins tapping into the control panel beside it. A chill settles against my skin. Blake was going into the deep to find Cora.

‘But a slider can't survive for too long beyond the lightpath,' I say.

Blake pulls a suit from its mount and starts pulling it on. ‘I'm strong enough.'

‘What if you're not?'

His jaw clenches. ‘I am.'

‘You don't know that,' I say, because I know he's not. I cross the room and strip quickly before grabbing a suit for myself. The decision to risk my life for someone else comes easy enough to me and a small part of me is surprised. I wonder what Bobby would think, with his lone wolf code.

Blake stops what he's doing and stares at me. ‘What are you doing?'

‘You need me,' I say. ‘More importantly, Cora needs me. If we thread, you'll be strong enough to find her and come back. I can use my TP to hunt for her as well.'

His eyes widen, then narrow. ‘Forget it.'

I don't flinch at the steel in his tone. ‘Don't waste time, Blake. Working together through the thread will make us strong enough to find her. You told me yourself my thread strengthened your talent.'

‘The lock—'

‘This is more important than the lock.' I struggle with the suit. The material is difficult to manoeuvre, sticking to my skin as I pull it up. Finally, with more pulling and twisting, it slides snug over my body and feels somehow organic. My fingers fumble as I try to secure the many buckles and zips.

Blake is just staring at me, his suit around his waist.

‘We're running out of time,' I tell him. ‘Cora's running out of time.'

‘This is serious, Josie,' Blake says. ‘Do you understand that? The suits can help with propulsion and oxygen feed, but I've never travelled too far beyond a lightpath. I don't know what's out there.'

‘You need me,' I snap back. ‘You're stronger with the thread, remember? Together we've got more of a chance of finding her and getting back alive.'

Blake opens his mouth to protest more, but I cut him off.

‘Don't argue. I'd never be able to live with myself if Cora dies out there when I could have done something to help her. So, let me help.'

‘Cora doesn't have much time,' Jeremy calls out, panic in his voice.

Blake looks frozen, but I see the fear etched in his eyes. I stab a finger at him. ‘You hear that? We've got to
move
!'

Blake blinks, then begins to pull his suit up, his worried eyes fixed on me. Jeremy hurries forward to check I'm secured inside the suit. His face is pale, but he moves with purpose. He helps me fit the helmet over my head—it pulls at my hair as he fastens a clip under my chin. There's a loud click and then a small hissing sound as the suit pressurises. The suit is skin tight, but I can move my limbs about easily.

I look at Jeremy. He nods and gives me a thumbs up, letting me know everything looks good. Blake finishes securing his own suit before coming over to double-check mine.

His visor is up and his face is tight with worry. ‘You'll do as I say.'

I nod. ‘Okay.'

‘If I abort the mission, we leave. No questions.'

‘I said
okay
.'

Blake looks at Jeremy. ‘If we're not back in ten minutes, raise the alarm.'

Jeremy nods and follows us as we hurry into the slider dark-room, a light overhead blinking red as we step through. Standing beside Blake, I squint around, but only see a silky darkness and a soft blue light inside Blake's helmet that illuminates his face.

He presses a button at the side of my helmet. There's a beep and my visor snaps down. The world turns dark blue and small pinpricks stab at the base of my neck and my inner elbows. The pain only lasts a moment, then my vision turns crystal clear, save for a digital readout of my vitals at the bottom left of my visor.

Blake pulls a cord from his suit's belt and secures it to my own belt. My breath sounds loud in my ears and my heartbeat speeds up. Blake's hands find mine.

‘Last chance to change your mind.' His voice comes over the comms link in the helmet.

‘No chance.' I wrap my arms around him and my talents bound out, delighted to find Blake's talent waiting patiently, scorching bright. His arms tighten around me as the lock between us comes into focus. It's a braid of consciousness, our talents woven deep within it, and the sensation is both beautiful and terrifying.

‘Don't let go of me,' Blake says.

‘I won't.'

Then we fall.

My stomach plummets as we drop. The darkness roars as it devours us, then we're skimming inside a dazzling lightpath. Blake and I are locked around each other as we shoot forward, the thread pulling tight like an intimate embrace.

With a twitch of his shoulders, Blake propels us up, close to the top of the tunnel. He squeezes me in warning, then there's a blinding flash as we burst through the ceiling of light. Some of the roaring fades and our pace slows. Till now, my eyes have been secured on Blake's shoulder, trying to ignore the cold sweat bathing my back, the readout telling me my heart rate is too high.

I dare a peek out and see we're surrounded by a glistening darkness that courses like water. It's studded with light and the top of the lightpath skitters beneath us like a snake of stars. My ears pick up a soft buzzing noise and it attracts my TP's attention—it thinks it has sensed an interesting consciousness. My concentration breaks as Blake and I twist and I realise my sense of up and down is inverted, followed quickly by the revelation that up and down really have no meaning here.

‘Can you sense anything?' Blake asks.

My eyes rake the ocean of starry darkness. The thought of leaving Cora out here to die is horrible. My TP unfurls, slipping in all directions, searching for any sign of life. A headache sets up a thumping rhythm at my temples and I realise the buzzing noise has grown louder.