Kinetics: In Search of Willow (31 page)

"How... who?"

"Harry is a well-trained Isiroan
Kinetic. He has been using Isiroan technology to cast an illusion
of another person. This "person" has been the one you see using
water powers. But really Harry is the one who is in
control."

I felt a chill run down my body and
all my blood turned to ice. I fell heavily to the chair where I had
sat earlier and buried my head in my hands. Harry, the one person I
thought I could trust during this whole excursion had turned… had
always been one of the enemy.

"I'm sorry it had to turn out like
this, Eugene." Jacob said softly. The sudden softness was also
something I hadn't seen in… well… ever.

"It changes nothing," I bit out and
looked away from Jacob and the repeating video of Harry's betrayal.
"No matter what anyone says or does, I'm going to save Willow from
that bastard alien. No matter who gets in my way."

It was silent from Jacob's end for a
little while, save for the sound of him repacking the recorder and
a few other things he had lying out on the table. Then he said
this, "Then let me help you. I want Isiro dead just as much as you
want to save Willow."

"You really want to help?"

Jacob nodded. He leaned on the table
and looked up at the milky skylight above out heads.

"In three weeks' time Isiro will be at
his weakest. When the transfer is to take place the minds of
himself and Willow will be balanced. And there is where we must
strike."

"It won't hurt her, will
it?"

"Unlikely. There is a measure of
danger involved but Willow hasn't gone through the full five month
process like most hosts do. The integration is not as
deep."

"Oh."

He leaned forward. "Of course the best
possible situation would be to get to her before the process ever
starts."

I looked up at him, hope finally
filling my chest.

"All you have to do is listen to what
I tell you and all with be all right." His lips twitched into a
proud smile. Pride rose in my chest alongside that hope and I felt
better than I had in weeks.

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll go over specifics later on, but
for now we are going to get out of here and find the best way for
you to infiltrate the Laramie base."

"'For me?' You're not coming with
me?"

"You were going alone before this,
weren't you?"

"Yeah, but..."

Jacob grabbed my arm and led me
through a pair of double doors and into a long hallway. "Don't
worry about it. Everything will be fine."

We walked in silence for a moment and
then a thought occurred to me. "How do I know you won't turn me in
to Lancaster the next moment you get the chance?"

"Because I wouldn't do that to you. I
promise." His voice was sincerely grim. "And you know that I always
keep my promises."

I felt a shiver, but my worry was
silenced. If there was one good thing about my brother, he did
always keep his promises. There was never a time that his
dependability ever came into question.

"Okay." I said. "Thanks."

Jacob let go of my arm and we walked
side-by-side down the hallway.

"Another thing, Lancaster doesn't have
quite the power that most think she does. She is dependent on the
Council for all military decisions. I wouldn't depend on her if I
could possibly help it, and I certainly wouldn't turn you in to her
for a petty promotion. I have my own way of making gains in this
world." Jacob grinned.

"Really?" I glanced at him out of the
corner of my eye, unsure. Jacob was extremely ambitious. I wasn't
sure what he would do to rise in the ranks, but it was sure to be
very aggressive.

"You know, sometimes when you want to
get something of such importance done, it takes more than just
working within the established system. You have to break down
everything and start fresh. The old ways just don't work
anymore."

Jacob pushed open another set of
double doors. I was hit with a wave of hot air and a searing lance
of sunlight.

Almost the second my eyes adjusted to
the new light I saw Harry flanked by two Alliance officers and
being led toward an armored van. Any thoughts or words I had about
Jacob's 'new system' were quickly forgotten. He saw me and his eyes
widened. "Eugene, help me!"

I flinched at the desperation in his
voice and turned away.

"Don't believe anything he says! It's
all lies!" He called out again.

I snapped my head up to
retort that he'd 
lied
 to 
me
. A rumble like that of a plane flying over tore through the
air interrupting me. Then a bolt of lightning speared down from an
impossibly clear sky and struck the armored car. The engine of the
car exploded sending people and debris flying.

Jacob pulled me out of the way just as
another bolt of lightning socked the ground just feet away. I
looked around wildly, knowing that this couldn't be natural. It had
to be a Kinetic.

Suddenly, one of the Alliance soldiers
was clutching his head screaming. "Ahhh! No!"

I could see his eyes. They were glazed
and faraway; he swung his hands out as if to protect himself from
something that was chasing him. His waving hands released bolts of
highly charged electricity.

"Stop!" A gruff voice yelled from
around the corner of the warehouse, just in time for me to see
Laura bolt out from behind the corner and point toward the Alliance
officers who were trying to regain their standing after being
thrown yards from where they had been standing. Lighting struck the
ground next to them and unfortunately one of them wasn't fast
enough to get away. He fell to the ground screaming and burning.
Laura was controlling the other Alliance soldier though his
nightmares.

Jacob regained his composure the
fastest and the moment I saw his hand wave outwards I rolled away
from the direction he pointed. A seemingly harmless waist-high rock
next to Laura exploded inward then outward and rained dust down
onto us, casting everything into shadow.

All were silent for only a
second. Laura only just escaped the exploding rock and ran for
cover behind a jeep. The only problem was that it would do nothing
to help her. Jacob could explode 
anything
. I pushed myself to my feet
and cradled a bruised arm.

"Jacob, let me talk to her!" I yelled
to my brother who looked ready to blow up something
again.

He stared at me intensely and then
jerked his head toward her. I sprinted as fast as I dared over the
uneven ground and skidded to a halt next to the jeep.

"Laura?"

She grabbed my shirt and pulled me
behind the jeep. "Quick! I'll distract them and you grab
Harry!"

"Wait."

"We can't wait!" Her voice
cracked.

"Laura!" I grabbed her arms and forced
her to pay attention to me. "He lied."

"Huh?" Her shoulders
tensed.

"Harry played us all for fools! He
called in the strike that killed your parents."

Her face went impossibly pale and she
fell to the ground. "No." She sobbed.

I backed up and waved my brother over.
I saw Harry being pulled toward another armored car not far
away.

Suddenly Laura's sobs turned to rage.
"I'll kill him!" She scrambled up and ran around the jeep and right
toward Harry. I felt the air cracking with energy as Laura's
influence called up another bolt of lightning. I had no choice but
to run after her. I reached her just as the bolt came down, and
made the mistake of grasping her hand to turn her around. The bolt
hit so close to my arm that I felt the burn immediately. I hit the
ground hard. The skin on my arm was singed and fire red.

Laura gasped but stood mannequin
still, staring at her handiwork with horror. Jacob waved over one
of the Alliance men. The man touched my arm and the skin tingled
and itched incessantly. Seconds later the skin was red only with
fresh skin. I mumbled a 'thanks' and looked up to make eye contact
with Harry one last time before he disappeared into the armored
car.

HARRY GLEESON

The last that I saw of Eugene his face
was a mask of hurt and betrayal. I hadn't wanted him to find out
like this. Part of me had been prepared the whole way from Ohio for
an eventual unmasking. I didn't expect it now, what with us so
close to our destination. Jacob Yoshida's men had clamped huge
cuffs around my hands and snapped them together behind my back. The
metal in the cuffs was something unique to the Alliance. It created
an electromagnetic field that negated the powers of the person in
close proximity.

They had taken away my Illusionary
projector, so even if I did have access to my abilities, I was
without any protection or easy escape. Yoshida's men dragged me
into the back of a van and pulled a black sack around my head. I
heard muffled conversation and the van roared to a
start.

The drive could have lasted for
minutes or hours, but it felt like an eternity. I was left with the
muted sounds of travel and the other occupants of the van didn't
talk. My thoughts were louder than anything. I had to start
planning. Yoshida was a smart man. And if I had any clue as to what
he planned for me, I was in for a world of trouble. Stories always
floated in from the teams that came in close contact with Yoshida
and his men, stories of torture and week-long interrogations,
stories of men and women returning to the Isiroans with their minds
shattered and their abilities so out of control that they had to be
put under deep anesthesia to prevent them from hurting themselves
or others.

I tried to flex my hand, but the
shackles kept my fingers from moving out of a clenched fist. He had
to think I was weak, that I was worthless to him. Maybe then I
would be able to escape with my sanity intact. I had never really
lied to anyone, never been in a play or theater production in
school, I had little experience with acting. Even with Eugene,
while I was playing a ruse, I never really lied to him outright.
Misdirected, told partial truths, yes, but what was facing me now
was the play, the production, the theater that could save my life.
I had to act better than ever. They couldn't believe that I was
something weak and nonthreatening.

The men in the van with me started
talking again, in low voices. I took a deep breath and started to
make crying noises. If they took the bag off my head they would see
dry eyes, but I was taking a gamble that they would leave it alone.
The men stopped talking as my muffled sobs got louder. They started
laughing, and one of them kicked my leg, knocking me
forward.

"Oh, now you cry!" One of them said
with a laugh. I smiled between loud sobs. This was only the
beginning.

CHAPTER 23

"Things fall apart; the
center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the
blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of
innocence is drowned; the best lack all conviction, while the worst
are full of passionate intensity." 
~
William Butler Yeats.

EUGENE YOSHIDA

O
ne of the things that I really loved about our neighborhood
was all the people. 
Willow knelt in
the grass and picked a dandelion and blew at it, sending the seeds
flying.
 Different kinds of people,
different kinds of ideas and thoughts all bouncing off each other
like a thousand pin balls ricocheting around a small game
board.
 She smiled as the seeds
swirled around her head like ethereal fairies.
 Isn't it interesting? 
She
touched one of the floating seeds and bright light consumed the
world.

It was a dream. A dream of fire. But
no. It wasn't a dream. It was a memory. I was surrounded by bars.
The walls were made of roaring flames that chewed at the ceiling
and filled the whole room with boiling smoke. I tried to shake the
bars loose but they wouldn't budge under my fragile fingers. I
screamed wordlessly out to the world beyond the flames for a
savior.