The Embers Of My Heart (19 page)

"Worth it?" He stepped closer to me, almost within arm's reach. "Don't make it sound like his life is worth less than yours."

"It is!" His head snapped back. "He tried to kill us in cold blood. None of this fair play bullshit, he and his agents came up into our territory, fought two Establishment trainees, threatened them with straight up death, and the only reason we made it out alive is because we're not complete assholes and worked with someone else! Do you know how he died, Davidson? He locked my partner in place and jumped at her. Knees first, aiming right for her neck. Who the fuck are you to tell me I shouldn't have done everything I did to save her?"

"Are you done yet?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

"I haven't even started," I said, and threw my power wide open. Before any of them could react, green light flared from my eyes and a burst of energy exploded from my mind. The standard Establishment procedure for danger was to throw a mindflare and hold on tight. The psionic grip on my legs loosened and I broke free. They'd all be dazed for a moment. If I could take one or two down now, I could escape.

"Get him. Quickly." Davidson didn't even seem flustered. I focused my senses and dodged a wave of force by throwing myself forward, bouncing into a flip off the pavement. Another attack left a bright red line across my vision.

I formed a quick shield to deflect another attack, then used a momentary lull to yank someone off balance. Another blast to the ground sent me off balance and I stumbled into the streetlight. I used that momentum to swing on it, lift my feet off the ground, and throw myself feet first into one of the agents. He fell back and his head hit the pavement with a thump. The red glow in his eyes faded. One down, but that wasn't anywhere near enough.

"He's one target!" Davidson shouted. "Avoid crossfire and take him down." Something cracked against the side of my knee. I shifted my weight to my other leg before my knee gave out and threw raw kinetic energy in the direction of that attacker. I felt the impact as they flew and hit something with a crash of breaking glass. Two down.

Another jab to my injured leg forced me to leap into the air. I yanked myself up to the top of the streetlight and balanced on it with a little bit of psionic tethering. The height advantage didn't give me any advantage in this sort of fight, but at least it got me out of the direct line of fire. I created another shield and deflected a series of fiery bursts away.

My luck ran out when I realized the fire was only a distraction. With only a moment's warning, Davidson and one of the other agents electrified the streetlight. I tried to jump free, but the psionically directed surge blew the light out a fraction of a second before it jumped into me. My vision flashed white, then black, and then I hit the ground. I couldn't scream. I couldn't even breathe. I could only hope nothing was broken. My muscles shook uncontrollably and my heart thumped out of rhythm.

After what felt like forever, I managed to roll myself onto my back. The stars in the sky twisted and I shivered. Why hadn't they finished it already? "Congratulations, Parker," I heard a voice from the side. "You didn't kill anyone else tonight. Are you in pain? If not, we can fix that."

I focused my eyes and saw a red glow just a couple of feet away. "Hurts just fine," I managed to say between chattering teeth. "Could go all night."

"Could you?" The red glow brightened and I felt another surge of electricity arc through my body. It wasn't as strong as before, but it still tore a scream out of my already raw throat. "Would you like some more?"

"What do you want?" I asked as soon as I caught my breath. "People are going to find you. If you're not leaving me alive, get it over with." My power was unstable and it'd be a risk to use it, but there wasn't much of a choice.

"Maybe I want to make it look like an accident," he said.

"You're an accident," I said. "Your mom told me last night."

He snarled and I felt his power surge. He'd hit me with electric attacks back in Washington, too, and I had been able to deflect them with a shield back then. I threw a shield in his teeth and red sparks flashed to each side. He intensified the attack and I felt my shield sagging. The other Bureau agents added their own attacks and no matter what I did, I couldn't keep the shield up forever. Before it completely failed, I pushed forward, angled the shield to deflect his blast, and rushed him. Even if they killed me, I'd count it as a win if I could deck him again.

He caught my fist. "Do you really think that I'm going to fall for the same trick twice?" he asked.

"Worth a shot."

He squeezed until bones creaked and snapped, dropping me to my knees. With his other hand, he pointed his fingers at my forehead. "Now you're about to have a stroke. I'm sure your parents will be so very disappointed and sad. Their precious little boy, dead of a massive cerebral hemorrhage that no one could have seen coming. Shit happens, kid."

"Go to hell," I snapped. "I'm not going to die like this!"

Red sparks snapped out of his fingertips in slow motion. They'd fly across the inches to my forehead, burrow in, pop a few blood vessels, and that would be it. I'd be dead and everything would be over. Hopefully it would be fast enough to kill me before they could pull the phone number for Star out of my head. I closed my eyes and waited.

An eternity later, I opened my eyes. Everything looked the same, but duller, matte in color and aspect. Davidson's face still twisted in a snarl of hatred. My body felt sluggish and drained of energy, my hand and knee both screaming in pain, but in my mind, I had never been more alive. I knew this feeling from once before.

I reached out and took control of his power. Silver lines connected me to his red sparks. They were simple constructions and it took no effort to redirect them. The sparks flicked away on new vectors as I released my power. Screams rang out from all around me as time snapped back to normal. Davidson staggered backwards, his eyes wide and bright as his agents collapsed one by one. "What did you do?" he shouted at me.

"Not die," I said, and took a step toward him. My knee buckled and I dropped to my other knee. The pavement was as bright as day as I stared down at it. I knew this power could restore my knee and my hand to complete health, but I didn't have enough practice or focus to make use of it. I also had another priority. When I looked back up at Davidson, he turned and ran. He didn't make it more than a couple of steps when a burst of green light dropped him in his tracks. I stayed in place as Professor Burke strode toward me, Absynthe just a couple of paces behind him.

"Parker," Burke greeted me in the same manner I'd expect him to speak to someone late to class. "I'd suggest you cut your power now."

"Not sure I can," I said as I slumped sideways. My eyes fell out of focus as brilliant white power kept surging through my brain, refusing every command to stop. "Help?"

Someone touched my cheek. Everything went dark.

Chapter Twelve

"Agent Charles Davidson, have you anything to say in your defense?" I watched him from the other table.

Davidson stood, another suited man at his side, neither even glancing in my direction. Onlookers sat silently around the edge of the room and on benches in the back. It wasn't exactly a courtroom, but the layout was close enough.

"Sir, I state again, my actions were of my own volition and free will. I intended to remove a clear and present danger to the country before the situation could spiral out of control. My formal judgment of this situation is on record and the Bureau will release internal documentation upon request." He didn't even blink. "Unfortunately, I failed. The situation is already out of control."

Absynthe's hand pushed down on my knee. "Don't." I didn't think I had even done anything. I looked to her and she shook her head. "You'll get your turn."

"I've never been called a clear and present danger before," I whispered. "I'm not sure whether that's a compliment or not."

"As your advocate, please restrain your smart ass mouth before it gets you in trouble."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Agent Davidson, you acted with intent to cause terminal, irreversible physical harm to Kevin Parker, student of Ripley University, member in training of the Establishment for Psionic Order. You have openly admitted this before this tribunal." There were two men and one woman at the front, judges in all but name. The one in the center was doing all the talking. "Are you aware of the penalty for such an action?"

"Sir, I do."

"Agent Davidson, you inflicted severe injuries to three of your fellow agents in the process. Do you accept responsibility for their injuries?"

"Sir, I do."

"Agent Davidson, are you aware of the penalty for reckless endangerment with deadly psionic force?"

"Sir, I do."

The central judge looked down and noted something on a piece of paper, then passed it to the right where a somber woman took it and placed it in an envelope. "Agent Davidson, if you are found guilty, you will be dishonorably discharged from your agency, your psionic powers will be permanently and irrevocably reversed, and your memories will be permanently modified. In addition, you will be remanded to civil custody to stand trial for reckless endangerment. Is this clear?"

"Sir, I understand."

The central judge nodded and looked to each side. The others nodded back to him. "Agent Davidson, this is an unorthodox hearing, as you have freely admitted your actions of your own will."

His straight back impressed me. In his position, I'd be terrified, but he wasn't showing it. "Sir, I request permission to explain the circumstances. The Bureau considers this an affirmative defense."

The central judge glanced toward the other man. "You have our permission."

Davidson came to parade rest, hands clasped behind his back. "Sir, last year, in late summer, I was on field duty in Washington DC. I had been given the task to track and apprehend a local cell of the group of psionic terrorists known as the Resistance."

Absynthe's hand came down on my knee again. I nearly jumped out of my chair. "Don't worry about it," she whispered. "You did nothing wrong."

"You knew?"

"Of course we knew. We got a formal complaint about your actions."

I sighed. "I'm not scoring any points here, am I?"

"We enlisted the assistance of Mr. Parker," Davidson continued. He still didn't even glance at me. "With his assistance, I was able to flush the Resistance cell from hiding and disable their ringleader. However, at that point, Mr. Parker took the side of the remaining Resistance members, disabling me and inflicting a mindtwist that took nearly six months healing. I was only recently approved to return to active duty."

"Mr. Parker," said the judge. "Is this true?"

I stood up as Absynthe jabbed my knee. "Sir, Agent Davidson is leaving out some important points. It's accurate in general, though."

"And those points are?"

"He intimidated me and my roommates, who are normal untalented students, into helping him. He threatened me when I was confused as to who the legitimate authority was in that situation. I wasn't as knowledgeable then as I am now, so I assumed he meant harm instead of memory modification and acted to defend myself. Also, I wasn't the one who twisted him. I didn't know how to mindtwist back then. My mentor can vouch for that."

"Agent Davidson, do you have any response or clarification?"

"I will admit to pressuring Mr. Parker to assist me, though I did provide him and his roommates with standard contractor rates for their assistance." He had paid for our drinks. I was tempted to bring that up, but something told me that the tribunal wouldn't find underage drinking amusing in the least. "Also, I apologize for the lack of clarity. Mr. Parker's interference allowed one of the terrorists to twist me."

"So noted. Thank you, Mr. Parker. Please continue, Agent Davidson."

I sat back down and Absynthe patted my knee. "While I was in recovery from my injuries, a mission was dispatched to a college in this area to destroy a prototype device that may have been able to sense the presence of psionic power. As per the Second Treaty of Beirut, keeping the knowledge of psionics from the general population is an overriding directive for our agency."

"One moment," said the female judge. "Why would the Bureau take action deep within the heart of Establishment territory? That seems questionable, at best. Was the Establishment informed prior to this act?"

Davidson shrugged. "I was in an induced coma at the time. I cannot speak as to the reasoning of my superiors, though I thought it was irregular as well when I found out."

"My apologies. Please continue."

"During the course of that mission, our agents encountered an agent of the Kaze." That caused a few whispers to echo around the room. "Mr. Parker and another trainee member of the Establishment were in that agent's company. There was an altercation. During that altercation, Mr. Parker killed one of our agents."

Another round of whispers echoed around the room and I felt eyes on me. Davidson was staring at me now. His eyes were empty, without a trace of mercy or humanity. To my side, Absynthe stood. "As Mr. Parker's advocate and mentor, I would appreciate permission to address the tribunal on this topic."

"This is irregular," said the man.

"I will provisionally grant permission," said the lead judge. "You may speak on this topic and this topic alone."

"Thank you." Absynthe drew herself up straight. "The death of the Bureau agent was an unfortunate accident, ruled as such after the investigation. Mr. Parker's testimony indicated that the Bureau agents used deadly force from the very beginning of their encounter and only escalated from there. Furthermore, our trainees both testified that Mr. Parker was defending his partner from a lethal attack. We contacted the Kaze for a statement from their agent as well. The Kaze not only verified their testimony, but also complimented their abilities and thoughtfulness. Based on that independent verification, we found Mr. Parker not at fault, though we noted that he has a tendency to underestimate his own strength. As his advocate, I would respectfully request the past event to have no bearing on the issue at hand."