The Energy Crusades (16 page)

About an hour into the ride, we came across a riderless bicycle. I glanced at Atticus as we slowed to keep pace with it. Cruising around the field a few lanes to my left, there was an energy suit plugged into it, draped over the handlebars but free of the pedals. It was going a respectable speed without a human rider. I smiled inwardly, knowing just the person who could figure out how to generate energy without actually getting off the couch. As there was nothing I could do while fulfilling my debt to the University, I filed the information away for later and planned to visit him as soon as possible.

"Is that a joke?" Atticus bellowed, angry all over again. He searched my face for answers but I shook my head, letting a smile touch my lips. I wanted him to stay calm.

"Wish you would have thought of it first?" I teased, but he failed to see any humor in it. Thankfully, we both managed to complete our punishment without losing our tempers. We logged off our bikes as a small crowd of Students watched. It was dark, long past dinner, and they should have been in their dorms by then. We
'
d just ridden for two hours under a microscope, hadn
'
t eaten anything, and our patience was stretched to the limit. I took Atticus by the hand and steered him away from the fields. He gripped my hand back with such ferocity, I had trouble feeling my fingers.

"Relax," I begged him. He was full of tension. When we got far enough away, he loosened his grip and let my hand fall. I was grateful he did, especially since as we neared the dorms, we could see Ajax waiting outside for us.

"It
'
s a good thing your boyfriend didn
'
t catch us holding hands," he laughed, and I felt the blush on my cheeks. At least some of the meanness was gone from his demeanor. It was nice to see him be a little less hateful toward Ajax.

"I saved some food for you," Ajax said as we approached. He pulled a brown paper sack from his pack. He
'
d managed to pilfer a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some fruit, nuts, and a few cookies. Atticus looked away from the food, but I knew he had to be just as hungry as I was.

"Thank you," I said to
Ajax
, touched by the gesture. Atticus started to walk away but I grabbed his shirt. "We share, okay?"

We sat on the steps leading into the dorms and devoured the food as Ajax sat with us quietly. It wasn
'
t the most comfortable grouping. No peanut butter and jelly sandwich was going to make the two of them suddenly become friends, but at least it was less tense than before.

"Thank you," Atticus dipped his head at Ajax when we had finished. I could see his discomfort. For all his big talk, he was just as awkward as I was. Ajax nodded at him.

"See you around, Kaia," Atticus said casually. Perhaps he wanted to say more, but he held his tongue. "Ajax," he nodded at him before heading to his dorm.

When we were alone, Ajax stood and held out a hand to help me up. I took it and heaved myself up on tired legs. "Feel better?" He asked, no emotion in his voice. Our hands unclasped as soon as I was upright.

"I do feel better, thank you. That was thoughtful of you to save some food for us."

He shrugged and headed into the dormitory. I followed him up to our rooms in silence, my feet dragging at the thought of another dreaded night alone, knowing Tory would not be returning to our room. I hoped my fatigue and a shower would help me to sleep.

"Well," I said, as we lingered in the hall outside our doors, "I
'
ll see you tomorrow?" Little prickles of sweat tickled at my forehead. I tried not to think about how good it felt to sleep next to Ajax, how I
'
d slept for the first time in ages.

He didn
'
t answer me; he just stood there, leaning against my door, thereby blocking my entrance. His necklace was twisted again at his throat and I reached a hand out to straighten it. Again he intercepted it, taking me by the cuff on my wrist as he
'
d done in the Healing Rooms. I pulled my hand away.

"It
'
s just your necklace. It
'
s always twisted," I explained.

"So?"

I didn
'
t have an answer for his indifference, just a frustrated sigh.

"Well move it then. I need a shower."

He straightened himself up and opened my door.

"Goodnight, Kaia," he moved aside to let me pass. There was no sense in hesitating, or in hoping Ajax was going to say something and ask to sleep near me.

"Goodnight," I called over my shoulder, letting the door shut behind me.

When I was cleaned up and in my pajamas, I sat for a long time on my bed, staring out at the hydroponic farms. I reached out and touched the glass, imagining my brother could reach out to me across the universe.
Where
are
you
Tiergan?
I
wish
you
were
here. I sent those thoughts out to him and felt his loneliness project back to me. He was out there. He missed his sister and he was lonely too. Tears stung at my eyes. What am I going to do about Ajax? I wanted to as
k my brother. There was no easy answer for me; I had to figure it out on my own.

I put my head down and tried closing my eyes, but no matter what I did, I couldn
'
t fall asleep. Remembering how soundly I slept the night before only made me more restless. It made me uneasy, the way my body responded to Ajax. The emotions were new and wonderful and terrifying.

I got out of bed and put on a long sleeve shirt and some tennis shoes, leaving my energy suit plugged in so I couldn
'
t be tracked. Though I knew I didn
'
t have permission to leave campus, I planned on doing it anyway. If I couldn
'
t fall asleep, I might as well get something done and it was as good a time as any to pay the owner of the riderless bike a visit. If nothing else, I could confirm my hunch was correct. Since he often went to sleep as the sun started to rise, I needn
'
t worry about waking him up. His propensity to stay up all night was one of the reasons a riderless bike would serve him well.

I opened my door as quietly as possible and peered into the darkened hallway. It was empty. I stepped out and gently shut the door, careful not to make a sound.

"What are you doing?" Ajax
'
s voice boomed from behind me. I think I jumped three meters.

"Geez, Ajax!" I cried out, my heart leaping into my throat. "You scared the heck out of me! What are you doing?" He stood close to me in the hallway, and I backed up against my door. In his gray t-shirt and shorts, his eyes look quite gray too. As usual, his hair was a little messy and it fell over his ears. It didn
'
t look like he
'
d been sleeping.

"I couldn
'
t sleep," he answered, "and I heard you sneaking out."

"You heard that?" With his super ears, it would be impossible to sneak out of my room.

"Where are you headed, Kaia?" he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall next to my door. I stalled a bit before answering.

"I saw a riderless bike tonight on the energy field," I admitted. There was no sense lying to him. Who knew when I
'
d be able to ditch him?

"Oh yeah? Derek Bussey?" he smiled and we shared a little laugh. Ajax knew exactly what I was thinking. Of course he would. We
'
d had the same childhood for several years. "You
'
re sneaking over to see him without me?" He didn
'
t find that part funny.

"Don
'
t you think he
'
ll be glad to see me?" I missed the neighbor who was like a brother to me almost as much as I missed Tiergan, and it hurt he hadn
'
t bothered to visit.

"Do I think he
'
d be glad to have a pretty girl knock on his door in the middle of the night? Is that what you
'
re asking?" He smirked. I felt my cheeks color but I tried to ignore it.

"So, you think I
'
m pretty?"

"Not really," he smiled.

"Then go back to bed and close your ears." He couldn
'
t take it back. He said I was pretty and it made me happy.

"No way. I can
'
t sleep without you. You know it, I know it. What do you want to do about it?" His frankness surprised me, but it was nice to have it right out in the open. I felt a weight lift from my shoulders and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"It
'
s true, right?" I asked. He nodded, his arms still folded across his chest. "Why is that?"

"I don
'
t know," he shrugged and looked away from me. "But now that I know I can sleep, I can
'
t just lay in there all night."

"You
'
ll come sleep in my room?" I was hopeful. I never considered the possibility.

"No, you come sleep in mine."

I thought about it. Ajax didn
'
t have a roommate. He used to room with Cadmus and Tiergan, but now he was alone.

"Are we allowed to do that?" I wondered.

"What do you mean
'
allowed
'
? Who
'
s going to stop us?"

"Gee, I don
'
t know, your mother?" I couldn
'
t imagine what she would say.

"C
'
mon," he tugged my arm and opened up his door. "Quit worrying about my mother."

Easy for him to say, getting in trouble with her was something he was used to. I followed him into his room. It was dark, but he had his orb on top of his desk and it was illuminated, casting a faint glow to give the room a bit of light. I wished I had thought to do the same. There were three beds lined up under the windows against the far wall. They were spread out as far from each other as possible. It was obvious Ajax slept on the one to the very left; the other two were neatly made. I walked over to the middle bed and pushed it closer to Ajax
'
s, leaving a little space between us.

After I kicked off my shoes, I lay down facing him, but he lay with his back toward me. I reached out and touched his black hair. He jerked up and whipped his head around.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Touching your hair," I answered.

"Well don
'
t," he insisted.

"Why? Why does it bother you if I touch you?" He didn
'
t answer, he just turned back around and put his head down. I didn
'
t push the subject.

"I
'
m going to go see him tomorrow." I told him. No matter what, I
'
d find a way to get off campus.

"We
'
re going to see him tomorrow," he corrected me. I sighed.

I stared at the back of his head while my eyes grew heavy. Before I fell totally asleep, I rolled over so my back was toward him. Probably he had the right idea. We should stay away from each other, not touch. As I drifted off, I thought of him, lying next to me, and wondered what he was thinking. His feelings were guarded and he rarely let me have a glimpse of them. I wished we were closer and that he would talk to me, reminisce maybe, or try to form a friendship again, but he did no such thing. We kept our backs to each other until sleep took us.

Derek Bussey

I was lulled awake by a feeling. It enveloped me, wrapping itself around my body like a cozy blanket and gently tugging me from my slumber. When I opened my eyes, I found I no longer had my back to Ajax. Instead, I was as close to him as possible and he as close to me. The chasm between our beds was larger than it had been in the Healing Rooms, where he
'
d butted our beds together, so I wasn
'
t curled against his chest, but his arm reached across and lay over me. Ajax, however, was not the cause of the feeling. I jerked myself upright, and as his arm fell away, he opened his eyes too. Professor Baal stood peacefully at the foot of our beds and I had no idea how long she
'
d been there and how long she
'
d watched us sleep.

"Ajax?" she met my eyes briefly, but fixed her attention on her son. He sighed heavily and sat up. I didn
'
t dare look at him, my stomach queasy at being caught partially dressed and in bed next to my professor
'
s son.

"You
'
re sleeping, Ajax?" She asked him, and I heard her voice catch. A flicker of emotion crossed her features, one I couldn
'
t quite place. Hope? In a rush, the air seemed to shimmer all about her skin and I swear I saw her glowing like…like a Descender? I shook my head as if to shake the image from my eyes, wondering if I was imagining things. The memory of her hands upon my back in the healing rooms and the way my skin tingled beneath her touch flooded my thoughts, and I recalled her unusual gait and unnatural hair color. Professor Baal
'
s head pivoted in my direction as if she heard the thoughts in my head. Whatever I had seen a moment ago vanished in an instant, and a new thought popped into my head: I was imaging things.

I held her gaze, unwilling to let go of what I
'
d seen, although I felt her trying to clear my memory of it. She had powerful mind control.

"May I have permission to leave campus today, Professor?" I took a chance on catching her off guard, hoping she
'
d grant me permission without thinking about it too much.

"Yes, I
'
m sleeping," Ajax chose to speak up before she could answer me. Her presence retreated from inside of my head as she regarded her son again. I could no longer see any sort of glow about her. Maybe I was imagining things.

I saw Ajax nod at his mother from the corner of my eye. Her gaze stayed upon her son for what felt like an eternity while beads of sweat collected at my temples. Whatever private thoughts passed between them were interrupted by the buzzing of a mailbox inside her pocket. A wave of nausea swept over me. Of course it was my mailbox, and I had a sinking feeling about who was calling. Did this have to be the moment Professor Baal chose to return it to me?

"I
'
m actually looking for you," she said, fixing her piercing eyes on mine. "I
'
ve had enough of your brother." She accepted the file and my brother
'
s voice filled the room.

"Good morning again, Professor," he began, politely. "I see you still find it necessary to keep my sister
'
s mailbox, even though she has done nothing but be an accomplished Athlete—"

"Save it, Tiergan," she cut him off, clearly having heard his speech before. "I was actually just bringing it to her, but it took me a while to find her." She handed my mailbox back to me, only suddenly, I didn
'
t want it. She left the room as abruptly as she
'
d entered.

I held the device in front of me, stunned by the turn of events. "Are you in bed with Ajax?" Tiergan looked stunned as well. Whatever he had expected to happen when he called Professor Baal this morning, it wasn
'
t this.

"Umm," I stammered. Was I? "No," I managed to say. I was embarrassed, but the realization Tiergan had been calling my mailbox continuously and pleading my case to the Professor made me giddy. I wanted to hug him. He did things for me, even when I didn
'
t realize it.

"Then why are you in bed next to him this early in the morning?" I looked at Ajax, who only smirked at me. He seemed to be enjoying this.

"Actually, I am in bed with Ajax. I slept with him last night." I said the words but knew they didn
'
t sound quite right. I only meant to tell the truth.

My brother
'
s face flushed red and Ajax reached over and grabbed my mailbox. He wasn
'
t smirking at me anymore.

"Don
'
t lose it Tiergan, she didn
'
t mean it like that." He shot me a dirty look. "She slept in my room okay? That
'
s all.
I
can sleep when she
'
s next to me," he admitted.

Tiergan didn
'
t say anything at first. He looked from one of us to the other and then said, "You sure did change your tune real quick, didn
'
t you? It wasn
'
t long ago you were pretending you didn
'
t know her."

"Tiergan, please don
'
t," I pleaded. He flashed a look at me, his face softening as he met my eyes.

"I miss you, little sister."

"I miss you," I answered back.

"At least she gave your mailbox back. I succeeded in bugging the heck out of her, which is much easier when you
'
re light years away," he grinned, and even Ajax smiled. "I called you every day, at least once, but usually two or three times. I can be a real pain, you know Ajax?"

"Oh, I
'
m aware," Ajax answered, unfazed.

"I wasn
'
t the only one calling either," Tiergan smirked. Ajax glared at him, and maybe they would have gone on staring each other down, but I wasn
'
t having it. It
'
d been too long since I was able to speak to my brother.

"Talk to me Tiergan. What
'
s happening on Danu?"

He told us about how they were trying to track a band of people they believed were part of the Resistance. Their communications were continuously being intercepted, and they finally traced where the disturbance was coming from. They were headed into the Indium Mountains.

"Call every day," I reminded him, before he had to close our connection and get some sleep. On Earth it was morning, but on Danu, the sun had long since set.

After speaking with my brother, I went to my own room to wash and dress. I spent the day with Ajax. First, we went to the Healing Rooms to check up on Tory and Balor. They were both much better, and a touch bitter about having to stay in there an extra day. Malik worked alongside the Healers in order to train and also stay close to Tory. He hurried Ajax and I out, before we could be too much of a distraction, intent on Tory and Balor getting fit and healthy, so we could resume our training as soon as possible.

"Tennis?" Ajax shot me a grin as we left the Healing Rooms. I nudged his shoulder.

"You sure you
'
re up for it?"

He shook his head and let out a little chuckle. We loved to battle it out on the tennis court. I
'
d never met anyone who could match my stamina on the court the way he could; not my brother, not any other Athlete I
'
d encountered. We could spend hours hitting to each other, back and forth, and we no longer bothered to keep score. Just as when we trained together, sometimes he was better, sometimes I was, and we just balanced each other out.

"Let
'
s eat first," he said, and I followed him to the cafeteria.

All day long we stayed together. He accompanied me to each of my classes, sat with me as I worked in the food lab, and then faced me across the tennis court. Finally, as the light was fading in the sky, we had a light dinner and headed for the perimeter of Virtual Guards beyond the Energy Field. Professor Baal had given permission for us to leave campus after dinner, and I ran across the lanes in anticipation of seeing Derek.

We halted at the line of Guards, displaying the insides of our wrists for their inspection. They allowed us to pass, bowing to me one by one as we did so, the same as when I entered the University. I felt my cheeks color and kept my face away from Ajax. The bowing continued as we left the University behind.

My pace quickened as we neared our block, until I was practically running by the time we reached Derek
'
s. Ajax had lingered behind, but now caught up, taking my arm a moment, and coming to stand at my side. I took a look at my own home, its garden mingling completely with Derek
'
s. It was all one big garden, truly, for my parents cultivated it and fed Derek as they fed themselves. Their lights were on now, but I didn
'
t want them to see me. It was Derek I had come to visit.

Looking into the front windows, it seemed as if the interior of the house was a well-organized, cozy space. Derek had figured out long ago how to mask his windows to hide what was truly going on inside. After the death of his parents, he
'
d left the University and resisted all manner of earning energy or conforming to the Reformation. He blamed the Descenders for the death of his parents, who died while serving on their Crusade out in the deserts where a microbial outbreak spread like wildfire in the harsh, dusty climate. They
'
d been working to salvage the resources from the windblown, hot lands to the southeast of us, when the virus was stirred up from the dust and spread swiftly among the Crusaders working there. There
'
d been speculation about the Reformation being slow to respond, slow to heal when called upon, and it was an idea Derek held onto. He was an only child, left an orphan had it not been for the Baal and Robi families, who took him in and raised him among their own children. Tiergan and I helped provide his energy so he could continue living in the house his parents built.

Ajax tapped on the door and we waited. I was torn between being angry Derek hadn
'
t come to visit, and being ecstatic about seeing him again. The two emotions battled inside of me, but Derek allowed for none of it. He opened the door, casual as ever, as if no time had passed at all, and leaned against the doorframe as he regarded us with the same wry expression he always wore.

"I see you got my message," he said to me, lazily. Behind him, the house looked nothing like what the windows promised.

"I see you took your time sending it," I answered, anger winning out over happiness. "You can
'
t bother to come see me?" He smiled his slow, crooked smile then reached out and pulled me into a bear hug, squeezing tight and kissing me on the head.

"I
'
ve seen you, little sister; don
'
t you doubt it." When he let me go, we followed him inside. Derek was the only human I knew who carried any substantial extra weight. Shorter than Ajax, and much wider, his cheeks were chubby, clothing unkempt (he didn
'
t wear an energy suit), and his light brown hair flopped greasily into his eyes. He took a seat on the couch while I looked around.

The house was a bit of a maze, packed floor to ceiling with a variety of things Derek had collected throughout his twenty-one years. In the kitchen, stacks of food lined every surface: counters, tables, chairs, and floor. Most of the food items were illegal due to their over-processed nature, but Derek loved the sugary, spongy cakes with cream filling that never seemed to spoil or lose their yellow color. He had a fascination with pre-war humans, including the kinds of foods they ate, and he would scour ruined cities, foraging for many of the items filling his home. Ajax and I had accompanied him on many such missions before I left. So had Cadmus and Tiergan. Most likely, the Baal brothers had continued the quests with him, while my brother and I were shipped off to play tennis.

Derek collected actual books, which were stacked floor to ceiling in every room of the house, and also toys he called matchbox cars, which were tiny replicas of vehicles once used as transportation on Earth. Ajax and I had spent many hours reading books or playing with those cars, whenever we could steal a bit of luxury time. I felt a pang of jealousy on missing out while the Baal brothers got to spend a lot more time with those treasures from the past than Tiergan and I did.

Derek
'
s other passion was technology, both old and new. In the living room, a whole wall was taken over by a dozen or so monitors. On some of these, he would play video games, such as they used to play before the oil wars. On others, he monitored various parts of the outside world.

"How did you get these cameras in place?" I asked, fascinated by all we could see from the seat of his couch. One camera monitored the exterior of his house. He also monitored my parents
'
home, the Baal home, the hallway outside my dorm room (both mine and Ajax
'
s doors were visible), the Energy Field (there was his riderless bike, pedaling away in the fading light), and many other places I did not recognize.

"It
'
s easy, if you know what you
'
re doing," he answered. And then one of the images caught my eye. My heart did a flip flop in my chest.

"What is this?" I questioned, stunned by the image of the building we
'
d just encountered on our training exercise. It looked the same, but different.