Convergence (36 page)

“I had no idea,” Fil whispered.

Adam nodded thoughtfully. “That’s why you asked her to be the one to activate it in the end.”

Will nodded. “We wouldn’t have had the option without her.”

“What made the weapon seem so appealing, though?” Adam asked. “I mean, I get that it’s disruptive, obviously, but…”

“We always stressed living our lives in a very Energy-less manner,” Will explained. “When we traveled Outside, we did so with very little Energy use, both to ensure we offered options the Energy-less could use, and to avoid detection by the Hunters.”

“I think I understand, then,” Adam said. “In a situation where Energy vanished from everyone in an instant, we’d be far better able to recover and win a battle.”

“That’s part of it,” Will said. “And if we didn’t recover, if the odds were so horrific that we ended up eliminated? The remaining Aliomenti would have far less ability to control those in the world around them.”

“The ultimate weapon,” Adam nodded. “The world would be transformed regardless of the outcome of the fighting.”

Will nodded. His tablet chimed again. “More love from those affected, I suppose. I’ll check in again later.”

Anna walked up to them. “We’ve got a few people insisting on riding out of the Cavern through the pods again.”

Fil chuckled. “Old habits die hard, don’t they?”

With teleportation no longer available, the primary transport mechanism into and out of the Cavern ceased being viable. They’d built one pod with a more standard door, but the first submarine able to set up a secure hatch at those depths was months away from completion. They’d set up another half dozen portal sites in the Cavern, allowing those in the Cavern to leave at will. The first portals in the undersea Ports were due for completion in the next few weeks. Thankfully, all of the underwater sites had plenty of air, fresh water, and food in the interim.

“So… what do I tell them?” Anna asked.

“They can feel free to hate me,” Will said. “But the reality is that the single usable pod, at the moment, is nothing more than an amusement park ride.”

Anna chuckled and Fil moved to her. “I’ll come with you and talk with them.”

She smiled, grateful for his support, and they moved away.

Will glanced at Adam. “You know what’s bothering Hope, don’t you?”

Adam stiffened. “I… what do you mean?”

“You’ve been watching her quite closely since Arthur’s death. I’ve seen you talking with her. She’s not told me what Arthur said to her that so deeply troubled her.” Will began to pace. “I know you know, Adam.”

Adam smiled faintly. “Years ago, you told my father that there was a reason you wouldn’t tell him where Eva and Hope had gone, and when he pressed you about it, you said, essentially, that it wasn’t your news to share. Do I know what Arthur said? I do. I know why it’s bothering her.” He clapped Will on the back. “Your wife is a strong woman, Will. She’s loved you for dozens of lifetimes. She just needs time to process something, and when she does, she’ll tell you.”

“Will?”

Hope stood there, and he whirled around.

She looked as radiant as ever, but something about her face had changed. The distant look she’d expressed for the past week was gone, replaced with determination.

“Hey.”

“I’m ready to show you what he said.”

Will paused. “Show me?”

She nodded. “He told me something. And he projected an image that would give me far more detail. I’m ready to go learn the truth.” She looked at Adam. “You’ll come with us, right?”

Adam nodded. “Of course.”

Will frowned. “Why, though? No offense to Adam, but why does he need to come with us? And what’s this truth we need to learn together?”

Hope glanced at Adam. “The truth about who my parents really were.”

Will stared at her. “Wait
. What?”

She grabbed his arm. “Let’s go. I’m only going to be strong enough to do this once.”

Will let her pull him along, too surprised to offer any resistance. She led him through the various former Aliomenti and Alliance working on Eden, most of whom were still learning to live life without Energy. Many were here because they wanted to learn to live in that manner before heading off into the world once more. Many remained because they feared what the outside world now meant.

They walked along the river bisecting the island, walking in silence. Adam maintained a respectful distance behind them, close enough that he’d not lose sight of them, far enough away that he’d not overhear a private comment.

Will looked at Hope as they continued their journey. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going back. To where I died.”

Will blinked. After living for so many centuries with full knowledge of future events, he’d been confused a great deal in the past few weeks. None of that confusion neared the complete bafflement he felt now.

They walked up the hills, passing the caves where once they’d found the blue-hued rock they’d called scutarium, and Will glanced back at Adam. The man had stopped moving, standing atop one of the grassy hills atop the caves, his head bowed and his eyes closed. Will felt himself slowing down, and Hope pulled him along, forcing him to take his eyes off the friend who seemed more mysterious, not less, with each passing day.

They reached the beach a few moments later. Adam joined them after mere seconds. Hope pulled a remote from her pocket and clicked, turning the flying sphere visible and opening a door to the inside. She climbed aboard, followed by Adam. Will watched, wondering what was happening, before finally climbing aboard himself.

Hope locked the door of the sphere, and seconds later they were flying, soaring over the waves of the Atlantic, moving to the northeast. Will felt his mouth tighten. Were all secrets found to the northeast? The craft accelerated, and soon they were cruising long at maximum speed.

Hope watched the water.

Adam watched Hope.

Will finally broke the silence. “Sorry. Did you say… we’re flying somewhere… to learn who your parents really were?”

Adam, not Hope, nodded. Hope continued watching the water. Will glanced at the man. “You know already, don’t you?”

Adam nodded. “She knows too, Will. For her, it’s the context that matters now.”

“You’re telling me that Genevieve and Arthur Lowell are not her parents.”

He paused a fraction of a second. “That’s what I’m telling you.”

Will frowned. That pause meant something. “Adam, is Genevieve Hope’s mother?”

He nodded.

Will felt a chill creep down his spine. “Are you saying… you’re telling me that Arthur isn’t her father?”

Adam looked at the water.

They rode in silence after that.

The sphere flew over England. The land had changed greatly since Will’s first visit to this much large island so many centuries before. Modern roads and housing and transportation filled the landscape now. They moved along, until they reached a curious pairing of rivers, settling down on an open field between the two.

The trees were gone. But Will knew. This was the site of the old North Village.

Dams had changed the flow of the water. He couldn’t distinguish them now by the rate at which the water moved. But it felt right, for the most part. He just missed the comfort and company of the old trees.

The sphere settled to the ground, and Hope hit the remote, opening the door. Adam hopped out first. Will, hesitant, followed.

Hope’s face made it clear she was losing her nerve. She didn’t move.

Adam reached for her. “It’s okay, Hope.”

She looked at Will, and he reached out a hand as well. She accepted his hand and let him help her step out of the craft. She glanced at Adam. “Do you know where it is?”

He nodded, marching with confidence away from the sphere. Will watched him. “How does he know so much, Hope?”

“I don’t know. One day, I suppose, he’ll talk more. This… for right now, I don’t want to know more than this. And I’m not sure I
want
to know this.”

They followed Adam, who’d stopped at a bare patch of earth twenty yards away. He concentrated, and a shovel formed in his hands. When they reached the spot, Hope made a shovel of her own. Will, still uncertain what they were doing, followed suit.

They put their shovels into the ground and began to dig. The dirt here was compacted, and the work was grueling. They dug, moving earth and rock, setting it aside. Periodically, Will or Hope would stray outside a boundary only Adam could see, and he’d pull them back in.

Thirty minutes later, Will stood in a hole that left only his head above the ground. He thrust his shovel in once more.

The sound told him he’d hit something.

Their pace accelerated, and they soon uncovered something.

When Will realized what it was, he dropped his shovel and scampered away.

Hope backed away as well. “I don’t… I can’t be the one to open it.”

Adam nodded. “It’s one of the reasons I agreed to come. Will lowered this box into the ground with you inside so long ago. You nearly died inside. I understand neither of you would feel comfortable opening it.”

Adam knelt down next to the submerged coffin of nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Lowell, who’d died in the year 1021, gripped the edge, and pulled it open.

The smell was musty, like an abandoned house, and small bits of dust kicked up. They waved their hands, driving the dust away, and peered inside.

Will saw the red velvet pouch.

It once held the last known possessions of Genevieve, Hope’s mother. Arthur had seen fit to hand the pouch to Will as they prepared to bury his apparently-dead daughter. Hope kept the hairpin and necklace, but they’d left the pouch behind. Will had returned here once, leaving a warning message inside the pouch for Arthur.

Somehow, Will knew the pouch once more held a message.

Adam stepped inside the coffin and retrieved the pouch. “Do you want to stay here?”

Hope shook her head.

They climbed out of the hole. Adam dissolved his shovel and set his nanos to work pushing the dirt back inside. “Just like Angel,” he muttered.

He sat on the ground, and Will and Hope joined him. He offered the pouch to her first. “Do you want to read it?”

Hope looked conflicted. Then she nodded, accepted the pouch, and opened it.

She pulled out a piece of electronic paper and began crying, finally handing the letter to Will. “Read it. I think I know what’s in it. I just need to know who it is. I need certainty.”

Will nodded and began to read.

It was an astonishing confession from a man he’d known for centuries, one he’d clashed with from the start. It was a confession from a man he’d considered evil for his treatment of his daughter and for the way he’d long sought to manipulate and control those around him. It was a letter, in short, from a man he’d never truly known at all.

He read of Arthur’s horrific upbringing, the child of court jesters who kept him chained every hour of the day, preventing him from even relieving himself without the permission of others. He read of the humiliating “entertainment” the child Arthur was forced to perform. Arthur came to understand the world in two shades. One was for those being controlled. And one was for those providing that control. After his upbringing, he’d vowed that after living his life so deeply in the former camp in his childhood, he’d move into the other camp in his adulthood.

His parents died. He was too weak to perform. His owners lacked the pity and compassion to kill him outright, and instead set him free. He’d made it two miles before he collapsed. He woke to find the most beautiful young woman he’d ever met near him. She told him her name was Genevieve.

They were captured and forced into slavery two hours later. It was cruel, harsh work, but Arthur survived because she was there. He met others, notably a woman named Eva and a man named Adam. They eventually claimed to be siblings, but Arthur knew better. He was suspicious of Adam from the start, because Adam did the unthinkable, in Arthur’s mind. He fell in love with Genevieve.
His
Genevieve. Even enslaved, Arthur wouldn’t stand for the competition. He did all he could to prevent any bond between the two. He told lies about Adam that Genevieve would hear. He’d made sure that if he couldn’t be with Genevieve, there’d be no one.

They escaped. The North Village appeared. Genevieve began to show feelings for him, just as he’d convinced the others to ban any type of relationship until they established some level of stability. They grew through their single-minded focus. Arthur sat by Genevieve at communal meals. Adam sat on the other side, ignoring the pining looks from Eva. They reached the point where they could afford to trade. They went to nearby villages. Arthur was an excellent trader. Eva was better. But he noted that though they argued, such trips put them in close contact at all times.

He heard stories of people with amazing abilities at the inns. He asked questions. A man told of hearing that such people lived near the sea to the east, and you could catch them in the act if you were lucky. A plan formed. Arthur asked the village to let him go seek out these people and learn from them. If they could accomplish this, he told them, they’d never live in fear of anyone again. It was agreed. He argued that he needed a second to go with him, to bring the message back if he fell ill or died during the journey. They agreed. His heart rose. Genevieve raised her hand with a shy smile.

The idea met with resistance. The others had noticed his quiet courting. Genevieve’s acceptance could mean only one thing. It was with much regret that they insisted upon a third traveler, a chaperone, to ensure nothing improper happened. Arthur pouted. Genevieve looked annoyed. And Adam volunteered.

They departed. He escalated his efforts at courting. Genevieve’s attentions divided between the men, unable to decide. They visited another village for the day for a harvest festival. He found a necklace for her. They ate and drank heavily. He planned to ask for marriage the next day, but passed out, with no recollection of the events that followed. When he woke, Genevieve looked frightened. They began the journey home a month later.