The Embers Of My Heart, page 9
"Is it in yet?"
"Max, I'm going to be fucking with your brain chemistry. Do you really want to piss me off right now?"
He chuckled and shut up again. I tapped my power with only a twinge of pain and called my Sight, focusing down into his brain until I targeted the right parts of the complex chemical soup. His chemistry was notably different from mine, so I took a moment to recalculate what to do before reaching in to tweak a cluster of cells.
Energy erupted from his mind, malevolent and dangerous. It slapped my psionic touch away. Electricity seemed to rush through the connection between us. I clenched my teeth and shunted the backlash away. As suddenly as it had appeared, the power vanished, but now I could sense it waiting. "Max, you need to relax," I said.
"I am relaxed."
"Right." I tweaked another cluster and the energy lurched to resist me again. "Are you fucking with me?"
"What?" He opened his eyes.
"You're fighting me. Stop it."
"I'm not doing it on purpose!"
That had to be true. Max wasn't a psion, but he had the mental defensive reactions of one. "Just relax." My power quivered as I called it again, but this time I used a lighter touch and tweaked fewer places at a time. The energy in his mind stirred at each touch, but stayed quiet until I finished. It had taken twice as long as I thought and sweat rolled down my sides by the end. "Holy shit. That sucked. How do you feel?"
He shook his head. "Lightheaded, but all right. Did it work?"
"We won't know until you study and tell me how it goes. It only lasts for a day or two at a time for me, so we'll need to go through this a few more times."
"Great. I can't wait to study. God, that sounds lame." He shook his head again, then looked me in the eye. "So what the hell do you mean I was fighting you?"
"Your mind," I said. "Like you were screaming 'bad touch'. Let me try something." I reached out to him with a telepresence link. His mind reached back to me and for a moment, I felt like I was about to link with him. Before the link completed, his mind withdrew and slapped me away. My head rang before I could cut my power off. "Shit, Max, you're an asshole."
"I know, but for once I'm not sure why."
"I think you're latent, Max." It made sense.
"What's that mean?"
"You've got psionic power locked up in your skull," I said. "But you can't use it. Can you?"
"Can't say as I've ever tried." He shifted to rubbing his temples. "And here I was bitching about you being something other than human when I might be on that train myself. So can I learn how to use it?"
"Not without having your power awakened. You need some sort of trigger."
"How do we get that to happen?"
"Beats the hell out of me," I said. "But I'll look it up."
"Ugh." He continued to rub his temples. "I think that brain thing you did is working. When you said that, I just remembered my crazy uncle saying that all the time when I was younger. Beats the hell out of me. Haven't thought of him in years. He actually did try to embezzle money and make for a tropical island. Almost got out of the country clean. Shit, maybe he wasn't so crazy after all."
"Crazy uncle?" I sat and rubbed my own temples. Something about a crazy uncle seemed familiar, something I had heard when I was younger, maybe just in passing? I tried digging through my oldest memories. Christmas. Five years old. My parents were still together. Christmas? They divorced when I was six. I shunted aside those particular memories and hunted through my memories of that Christmas. Toys. Candy. Conversation.
"Is Todd coming this year?" My dad had asked.
"I'm afraid not," my mom said. "I haven't heard from him."
"Your family's hard to pin down."
"It's a Green family tradition."
My eyes snapped open. My mom's maiden name was Green. They'd never talked about her having a brother in front of me when I was older. Was it a coincidence? I looked down at my hands and found them shaking. Did it mean my parents knew about psionics?
"Kev?" I looked up at Max. He had grabbed a book while I waded through my memories. "I'm heading to the library to try and study. If Jess comes looking, tell her I'm studying and trying not to be a pain in her ass."
"Right," I said.
He paused as if expecting something, then waved as he walked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, I called home. My dad picked up after a couple of rings. "Kev? What's up?"
"Hey Dad, just wanted to ask you something."
"That doesn't sound good."
"Nothing too serious, just doing some research and needed to pick your brain."
He grunted. "What sort of research?"
"Family research for a sociology class."
"All right."
I took a breath before asking. "I'm trying to complete a basic family tree, but I don't remember meeting any of Mom's brothers or sisters."
There was a long pause. "Kev, what are you talking about?" Maybe it was a coincidence, or I had made a mistake. "Your mother doesn't have any sisters, and you only met her brother a couple of times when you were little. He, well, left."
"Left?"
"Your mom doesn't like to talk about it."
"What's his name?"
There was another long pause before he answered. "Todd. Todd Green."
"So, Uncle Todd?"
"Kev." Dad dropped into his full serious tone. "Your mother will have my head if she finds out you were asking about this. She doesn't associate with her brother and neither of us wants you in contact with him. I only met him a few times myself, but I always thought he was a sketchy type, maybe a dealer. Not the sort of guy you want to associate with. I don't know what research you're doing, but don't tell your mother you're looking into this, and don't tell her that I told you anything. Got it?"
"Got it. How old is he? Just for references."
He sighed. "He's a year or two older than your mom. He'd be fifty or so if he's still around."
"Ok, that'll work. Thanks, Dad."
"That all you called for?"
"Well, yeah, it's getting close to finals and I'm getting a jump on this project."
"Ah." He sounded almost approving. "Well, keep it up. Coming home for the break?"
"Not sure yet. I'll let you know."
"All right. See you."
I hung up and tried to contain my excitement. That matched the Illuminati timeline. Now, all I had to do was confirm his prior presence in the Establishment. There was a simple, easy, and possibly fun way to do that. I locked the door once again before stretching my mind out to contact Absynthe.
The telepresence kicked in and I grinned at her as soon as the link stabilized. "Kevin," she greeted me. "What's on your mind?"
"Todd Green."
All around me, her mental realm shifted to flat matte black. Her clothing shifted in tone and intensity, deep black and fiery red. Her expression didn't change one bit. "Who?" she asked.
"My uncle."
She sighed. "I knew giving you more access to PSInet was asking for trouble."
"He was purged from Establishment records, wasn't he?"
"Of course." She frowned. "We'd never..."
"Never what?" I asked as she trailed off.
She unfolded herself and stood up. Absynthe wasn't taller than I was, but in her own mental realm, she towered over me. "How did you make that connection?"
"Educated guess," I said. "I knew someone named Todd Green left the Establishment. I knew my uncle's name is Todd Green. It could have been a coincidence, right?"
She sat back down and studied me. "Dangerous territory, Kevin," she said quietly. "I can't say anything. As far as the Establishment is concerned, there was never a Todd Green within our organization."
"You knew him, didn't you?" I asked. "Tell me about him."
"What?"
"He's my uncle. Tell me something about him."
"You're in no place to demand things from me!"
I stepped forward. "Look, he's family. I want to know about my family. If you don't tell me, I'll keep researching and digging around. We'll see what I find. Maybe I can track him down and go right to the source. Bet there's a lot more you don't want me to know."
Her face flushed red. "You are crossing the line."
"I'm fine with that. What did he do, Absynthe? Why'd he leave?" I paused for a moment. "Why'd he found the Resistance?"
She hissed a long breath out between her teeth. "Better people than you have failed to track him down."
"Tell me."
"He opposed Alistair."
"Why would that make him leave?"
She flung her arms wide. "Why do you think? The Establishment was in transition all those years ago. There were multiple factions, ideas, concepts. Were we going to go big? Were we going to specialize? Were we going to change everything? Sure. Some people wanted it all. Like Alistair. His plan was ambitious. Ballsy as fuck, as Shade said. We were younger then. We took risks and we liked it. It'd take years for it to pan out, but the payoff would be tremendous. We were young!" She slapped the arm of her chair. "Todd wanted us to go in a different direction. They were both aiming to be the next director."
"And he lost."
"Brilliant deduction. He lost. He waited for years, played the part of the gracious loser, and then stole what information he could and vanished. I hunted him myself. Years of nothing. Nothing! Then he popped up and made that ridiculous statement. We still can't find him, but do we care? Probably not. Alistair won and the Resistance can't stop him. That's all there is to it."
"But they're still a thorn in your side," I said.
"Naturally. Half their training came from our books. The other half, they learn on their own. It's hard to fight someone who knows all your basics, but is still unpredictable. They all cross train. Their powers are so mismatched and patched together, you never know what to expect."
"Unlike us."
"Unlike our trainees, who specialize. Sometimes to the point of utter idiocy."
"Like me, until you got me out of that rut."
She smirked at me and flicked her hand. "You're welcome. Now, this conversation is over, it never happened, and if you breathe a word of it to anyone, especially Alistair, you'll wish Shade was your mentor again. Understand?"
I bowed my head to her. "Message received."
The telepresence link snapped. I let my power fade away and pondered my next step. I still didn't know anything about him other than his Establishment history and his relation to me. I could ask Mom, but the way Dad had acted made that a last resort. Plus, now I knew there was a significant possibility that psionic power ran in the family. That would explain a great many things in my childhood.
I grabbed my coat. One option remained, her phone number locked in my memory. I was sure that the Establishment listened in on any phone calls I made. A chill ran down my spine. If they cross checked my classes and realized I wasn't in a sociology course this trimester, there might be consequences from the call I made to my dad. If I called a Resistance agent, the consequences might be dangerous.
I walked down to the student union while considering my options and cover story. College students sat at tables, their phones sitting next to them, sometimes unattended. Borrowing someone's phone made sense. Doing it on campus didn't. Anyone here could be an Establishment agent or trainee. I obeyed my paranoia and left, walking until I was a few blocks off campus. I ducked into a coffee shop, covered my eyes and used my powers to mask my presence in the same way I did in Albany. I didn't hesitate before swiping a phone off a table.
I punched in her number from memory and let it ring. Two rings and she picked up. "Sarah here."
"Hi."
"Who? Kevin? Is that you? I can't believe it, I thought..."
"That I was never going to talk to you again?"
"Well, yeah. You were a little upset." I could hear the smile in her voice.
"I didn't think I was going to, either," I admitted. "But I've found out a few things, and I need your help."
"Found out a few things? Like how I'm so much better for you than your crazy girlfriend?" Her tone was teasing, but I could hear a bit of tension behind it. Asking her for help was a dick move. Still, she was the best option I had.
"Kevin, I never took you for the type to just use me. So cruel!"
"Well, I'll help you out if you help me out."
"Oh, really? I have a few ideas in mind. What were you thinking?"
"I'll be your loyal manservant for a month?"
She gasped and giggled. "Wow. You surprise me sometimes. It must be serious if you're willing to submit to my every depraved need for a whole month. What's on your mind?"
I sighed. "You're not going to like it."
"Tell me."
"Todd Green."
Dead silence, just as I had expected. "Who?" she finally replied.
"I've done my homework. Don't give me that."
"I cannot confirm nor deny the existence of a man by that name," she said. All the playfulness in her voice fell away. I'd never heard her be so serious.
"That just tells me you know about him. I mean, you work for him, after all."
She grunted. "Look, hot stuff, there's some stuff I can't talk to you about. For real. We're technically enemies, remember?"
"Not in bed."
"Don't go there. We're not playing right now."
"Sorry. I need to know more about him."
"Not a chance, not unless you join us. It's not a question of me trusting you, because I do trust you. It's a question of a lot of people trusting you."
"Star, he's my uncle."
Another long moment of silence. "Bullshit, Kevin."
"He was part of the Establishment. He opposed Alistair Ripley. He's my mom's older brother. He disappeared when I was around six to form-"
"Bullshit! Shut up!" I couldn't tell if she was surprised or angry. "You know way too much for me to be comfortable with. Please tell me you're not calling me from your own phone."
"I'm off campus and I borrowed some random person's phone."
"Good. At least you're doing paranoia right. How did you figure any of this out?" I told her about my PSInet research and the deductions I made. She hissed out a few choice curses. "Look. Drop it. I can't tell you anything and you're going to get yourself twisted by your own people if you keep digging. Why in the flying fuck would you think they won't find out? You have no idea what you're dealing with here."
"He's my uncle, Star. He's family. I have the right to know. He's part of this puzzle for me, there's something deeper here, and I'm on the verge of finding out about this. I need to find him."
She sighed into the phone. "I can't blame you for that. Honestly. I know you need to find out what's going on behind the scenes over there, and I'm curious too. But this is a lot to ask. You don't understand."
"Like I said, manservant for a month."
"Not just a manservant," she said. "I'm going to teach you a few things and blow your mind. Among other things."
I chuckled. "One track mind."
"You know it, sexy pants. Damn you, Kevin. I thought I'd never see or hear from you again. I was this close to getting over you. This close! Then you pull this? You're a dick. A complete asshole."
"I'm sorry."
"I still want you. I want you with me. I want you to join us."
"I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing. Just promise me you'll listen and you'll think about it."
"I can promise that much," I said. "My uncle?"
"I cannot confirm nor deny anything," she said. "But, hypothetically speaking, if you carry through on your end, if he actually exists, I may be able to convince him to talk with you."
"That's all I can ask." My power flickered. "Good timing. I can't mask much longer."
"All right. Let me know when you're ready to meet me."
"It's too late for me to make plans for this spring break. Probably August for summer break. Sound good?"
"Perfectly lovely. Kevin?"
"Yeah?"
"I miss you." She hung up.
Chapter Eight
"I'm not sure you're authorized for that information. I'll check with President Ripley." She picked up her phone and pressed a button. "Yes. Mr. Parker is looking to visit his previous mentor in the secure infirmary. Yes. Yes. I'll let him know. Thank you."
"What's the verdict?" I asked.
She smiled as she hung up. "President Ripley approved your request. An escort will be here shortly."
I tried not to frown. I had hoped to be alone, but at least I'd get to check on the beast. "Thank you so much."
A man showed up to the office within a few minutes. I followed him to a nearby building I'd never set foot in before. The campus infirmary wasn't anywhere near here. We took an elevator down to the basement and walked down a brightly lit hallway to a secure door. My escort took a badge and held it up to a sensor to let us in.
Inside, it resembled a basic hospital wing, complete with a nurse's station up front. The primary difference was that the nurses were staring me down as I stepped through the doors. The one I took for the head nurse, an older man with a short grizzled beard, approached us with his eyes glowing a faint green. "May we help you?"
"Mr. Parker is here to visit Shade," my escort replied. "Alistair approved the visit personally."
The faint glow winked out. "Ah. Follow me."
I'd never seen Shade without his heavy coat. He lay on a bed surrounded by monitors, an oxygen line feeding his nose, and a pair of IVs embedded in his wrists. His arms were thin, noticeably thinner than when we had fought only four months ago. "He looks awful," I said.
"There's only so much we can do for someone in his condition," the head nurse said. "Alistair's authorized experimental procedures, but nothing seems to get through. It's a horrific twist. Nothing I've ever seen before. I suspect he's still conscious of his situation, though not his surroundings. If I had to compare it to anything, I'd say he's effectively trapped in sensory deprivation."
"That's horrific," my escort said. "Isn't that considered torture?"
"It could be, yes."
I shuddered, not bothering to disguise my reaction. I hadn't known the real effects of what I had done until now. "Do you think there's any chance he'll wake up?"
