Threader (34 page)

The air in my suit is becoming thin and I try to take short, small breaths. Try not to think about suffocating. A motion in the distance draws my eye and I travel towards it. Coming closer, Blake floats into view. He's near a pocket of silver gas clouds, staring at a distant pinwheel of stars as if it's all he has the strength to do.

As I draw closer, I realise with horror that his face is covered by a dark dusting of shadows, similar to what I saw in my vision of Eckhart's past. Refusing to believe I've come so far to lose him, my talents charge for him, grabbing hold of his own bright slider talent and threading tight. There's a shove back, something that wants to claim Blake for its own, but I refuse to let go, pushing everything I have, every ounce of energy into Blake. As the braid tightens, a pulse of light flashes behind my eyes and the dust on Blake scatters, drifting away.

Blake turns, his eyes fixing on me. ‘Josie?'

He looks confused at first, then anguish fills his face. He pulls me to him.

‘What are you doing here?' he asks as my body bumps into his. When he sees my distress, his grip tightens. ‘What's wrong?'

‘No … air.' Trusting the thread with Blake is in place, his slider ability shared with me now, I disengage the visor. The air I suck in is thin and not much better, but my body is relaxing now, my heart slowing.

‘Aaron and I shut the gate,' I manage to say. ‘I came to rescue you.'

‘I wish you hadn't.' His voice is full of sorrow.

My hands tighten around him. ‘I couldn't leave you here.'

Blake checks the control panel on my arm and listens as I tell him everything that happened. While I talk, I try to make out what Blake's doing, but he's pressing buttons fast. A heavy lethargy is settling on me now.

‘Is this thing … this consciousness near?' Blake checks around us. ‘Do you think you could sense it, like last time?'

‘It's not here that I know of, but I don't think it's too far away,' I tell him. ‘And whatever it is, it had a hold of Eckhart, controlling him. Wore his body right down, which must be why he was so ill.'

‘And it made him spend all those years trying to find a way to open the gate again,' Blake finishes for me. ‘I can't believe he managed to hide it all these years.'

He returns his attention back to the control panel. After pressing a few more buttons, my boosters engage with a click. We travel together in silence for a while, our bodies rocked more and more by rough eddies of darkness. Our thread is tight, but I find myself beginning to slip into deep exhaustion, instinctively knowing Blake is weary as well.

‘There.'

He points and in the distance, I spy the twisting line of a glowing lightpath. ‘We just need to get there.'

Hope swells in my chest. I muster what strength I have, trying to help us get closer. But my talents flounder, pushed beyond their limits. The air is thin and I can't catch my breath. Blake's hands tighten around me and he glares at the distant lightpath, as if daring it to stay out of reach. We drift towards it, achingly slow, when a strong riptide begins to push against us.

‘We won't make it,' I say breathlessly. My hope is only a flicker now and my vision is narrowing.

‘—
Josie
—'

My breath catches. ‘Darsh?'

‘—
got
—'

‘Darsh?' I'm shouting now, but all I can hear is crackling through the comms link in my suit. My eyes meet Blake's, panicked and hopeful at the same time.

‘Darsh?'

There's a crackling sound, a hissing of static, then—

‘
Josie?
Can you hear me now?'

‘Yes!' I shout. ‘I can hear you.'

‘I've got your location. Help's on the way.'

‘Who's coming?' Blake asks when I relay Darsh's message. Before I can answer, we both see a rainbow pattern rippling out on one section of the distant lightpath. A figure glides smoothly through the path, just a flicker of shadow at first, before coming together to form a solid silhouette. Panic grips me. What if they can't get to us? What if we're missed? There's a spasm of lightning as the figure bursts from the lightpath and plunges straight for us. One hand lifts, aiming a grappling hook our way. The hook sails towards us, curving almost too high, but Blake lunges out a hand and the hook whips around his wrist.

‘Hey.' Cora's voice is in my helmet, strained but determined. ‘Hold on tight. My first time as a tow truck, so you're probably in for a rough landing.'

Then she's heading back to the lightpath, pulling us with her, the grapple winching us in. Light bursts over my vision, temporarily blinding me, and then we're back in the lightpath, skimming the surface. Blake holds me tight as we travel through the tunnel. There's no fear in me now. I only feel relief that Blake is in my arms again. After all, I'm a Ryder and I know I can handle anything, especially with friends at my back.

Three months later …

‘Ready?'

Turning, I spy Cora coming up behind me. I push off the wall I've been slouching against.

‘Ready,' I tell her.

‘She's coming up now.'

Cora ducks away just as Wendell walks past, and I hurry to catch up with the techie. When I come alongside her with a broad grin, irritation crosses her face before smoothing out when she recognises me. With the newfound success I'd found with Aaron, Wendell is still being super nice, even though her fight with Eckhart has left her with a permanent cybernetic brace around her neck and right arm.

What the techie doesn't know is that my talents have locked again with Blake. But something is different this time and I'm able to thread with Aaron for short bursts, though not as strongly as before. But after the trauma of what Eckhart put us through, no one has pushed me, least of all Aaron, who blames himself for everything.

‘I just wanted to show you something,' I tell her.

Wendell stops and gives me a tight smile. ‘I'm in a bit of a hurry, Josie.'

‘I won't be long. I heard you had some more issues with the Skymmer android and I had an idea.' I pull out my slate, expand the screen and open the program Darsh installed. Instantly, a high-pitched whine pierces the air. Wendell winces as I make pretence to quickly turn it off.

‘Sorry, sorry,' I say, acting flustered. ‘Guess I haven't worked out all the kinks yet.'

‘Josie.' Wendell sighs. ‘I really have to go. Why don't you leave all the technical work to Aaron and myself.'

‘Okay, sorry. Maybe I'll get it fixed and show you later.'

Something closely resembling warmth fills Wendell's face. ‘Message me after dinner, Josie. I'll be happy to have another look at it then.'

‘Thanks,' I say, and wave her off with a smile.

Watching Wendell disappear into Central, the tiny comms link Darsh gave me chirps in my ear.

‘No alteration in her heat signature,' Darsh says.

‘And I didn't see anything from my angle,' Cora adds into the conversation. Looking back, I spy her lowering the binoculars.

‘She's clean.' Blake comes alongside me, and one of his hands cups my back. ‘She isn't infected.'

‘I'll put her on the
probably not
list,' Darsh says. ‘But just for the record, I'll feel better when we confirm the tests actually work. After all, we don't know if Eckhart was telling the truth about others being infected.'

‘Well, all this detective work is making me hungry,' Cora says. ‘I'm getting lunch. Who's with me?'

‘I'll pass,' I tell her. ‘I had a late breakfast.'

Cora mutters something about me being kept up all night and I ignore her. So does Blake, though his thumb begins to stroke the small of my back.

‘Give me ten minutes,' Darsh tells Cora. ‘I'll meet you out the front.'

I wave as Cora heads off, then look at Blake, who's taking the comms link out of his ear with an amused look.

‘What are you laughing at?' I ask as we start walking.

He entwines his fingers around mine. ‘Are those two dating yet?'

‘Nearly there,' I tell him. ‘Don't pick on them. They'll find their way.'

‘Right.' Blake leans over to kiss the top of my head and butterflies twist my stomach. Smiling, I pull away as I scroll through our list, detailing everyone who had a connection with the Ciliary Gate project. So far, we've struck three people off the list, or at least, temporarily, as we still have no clear idea of how to pinpoint anyone who might be infected like Eckhart was.

In the aftermath of the gate collapsing in on itself, everyone at Helios pinned the blame on Director Eckhart for clandestinely authorising the revival of the dangerous project. Aaron and I were cleared of any wrongdoing, especially after my revelation that Eckhart had been a threader and was manipulating everyone around him. When Bobby found out what had happened after his successful heart operation, he'd nearly stormed Helios with his ex-Ranger buddies. I managed to talk him down, with promises of extra visits home. Then, I told my friends about what Eckhart had told me—that there were others like him. After we examined what was left of the security footage of that fateful night and confirmed Eckhart's reaction to the high-pitched alarms, Darsh created the high frequency program with the theory it would cause a reaction in someone infected. Now, after our third negative testing, I'm starting to worry if Eckhart's reaction had been something else entirely.

I pack away the slate and take Blake's hand as we walk along, a cool wind whipping past us. Reports are a cold front is moving across the country, bringing with it acid rain and sub-zero temperatures. And though Blake assures me the abrupt change in weather shouldn't last long, I'm already sad to see the clear skies begin to disappear.

‘What do you want to do?' Blake glances down at me. ‘We've got the whole morning to ourselves.'

I smile at him. ‘I'm fine with just walking for now.'

Blake arches an eyebrow, but continues to stroll with me along Helios's grounds. Another wind breezes by us, ruffling my hair, and I tuck stray strands behind my ears, replaying Wendell's reaction in my head. Darsh's program isn't perfect and we aren't even sure Eckhart had been speaking the truth. So far, we haven't managed to find anyone who's infected. But this is just the start. I've glimpsed the ageless enemy that James and Alice fled from, and I'm not going to ever stop looking.

Rebekah Turner was born in sunny Queensland, Australia, but has lived all across the country, including stints in Bundaberg, Townsville, Adelaide and Melbourne. With a degree in graphic design and a raging coffee addiction, Rebekah escaped the corporate world to now freelance in between sensible adult jobs. She rides a scooter called Skittles, owns two dogs who don't get walked enough, and can never seem to find a blue pen when she wants one. She's a dedicated movie gal, with a special affection for old sci-fi and action movies.

My eternal gratitude to Dion, who taught me I could dream an impossible dream. A massive thanks also to Charlotte Nash, Rebecca Freeborn, Jo Mackay, Laurie Ormond, Tara Goedjen, Julia Knapman, Kim Wilkins and the Sisters of the Pen - you all rock, ladies!

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First Published 2016

ISBN 9781760374433

THREADER

©2016 by Rebekah Turner

Australian Copyright 2016

New Zealand Copyright 2016

Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher.