Edge of Time (12 page)

A
lec paced. Six long strides one way, six back. Anna sat at the table, as usual. She'd said nothing to him as she handed him his breakfast, nor did she speak as she cleaned up the mess when he threw the bowl across the room. Other than a distinct tightening of her jaw, there was no expression.

Alec told himself he didn't care. He focused on staying angry. It wasn't too difficult. He was miserable here, separated from the only people he knew and forced to try and study something he didn't want to, day after day after day. The confinement was driving him crazy. He hadn't been able to go for a run in
ages
. On top of that, his mom would be frantic and his dad would be ballistic by now. He'd missed all his exams and that would mean repeating a grade. His summer on the provincial team was over before it had even started, and that was the only thing he'd been looking forward to in ages. Someone was going to pay for this.

He was concentrating so intently on his internal fury that he didn't hear Logan's footsteps. He nearly paced right into him. He scrambled away as fast as he could.

“Alec, remember June thirteenth.” The Commander gave no greeting.

“Huh?” Alec's heart lodged in his throat. “Why?”

“Obey me,” Logan demanded. He stepped closer.

The edge of the table hit the back of Alec's thighs. He glanced for help at Anna, but she was staring rigidly straight ahead. “I don't remember,” he croaked.

“You do.” Logan stopped an arm's length away. He pulled out his own orb and held it out, palm upward. The light within was slightly yellow and pulsing. “Don't move,” he instructed.

Anna took a breath, as if she were about to disagree, but didn't actually speak. Alec tensed. He wasn't going to just stand here and let that …

Logan reached out with his free hand. Alec faked left, then turned right, ducking under the Commander's hand. He wasn't fast enough. Logan lashed out and grabbed Alec's wrist, twisting it cruelly up behind his back. Alec couldn't stop the cry that tore from his lips as his shoulder was nearly dislocated. He dropped to his knees.

“Disobey me and you are punished, Alec. Learn this well.”

Tears welled up in his eyes. It was only the barest of touches, but Logan's fingers burned. Alec started to jerk his head away. Anna slipped behind him quickly and her hands gripped his shoulders. She was tremendously strong. He couldn't move.

The power probed and scorched as it moved through Alec's temple and into his mind. If he was screaming, he couldn't hear it. As quickly as the invasion started, it was over. Logan removed his hand. Alec would have collapsed if Anna hadn't been holding him.

“Instinctive. Spontaneous,” Logan said to Anna. He seemed interested as well as angry, but Alec was still reeling and heard the words without comprehension.

“Is it certain?” Anna asked.

“Appears that way. Triggered by extreme anger. It's all there. Beyond extraordinary.” Logan stepped towards the doorway. “He did it without an orb, Anna. There may be power we cannot detect. He's too dangerous to keep.”

“Inside he's shielded. He will not cause any further damage.”

“We cannot be sure of this. It is prudent to negate danger once identified. You grow sentimental for this race.”

“I only wish to explore his potential. Should he be able to harness this, the possibilities are endless,” Anna replied in an even tone.

“Your argument was similar about Finn.”

“And Darius has completed all levels of his training. His evaluations were exemplary. Despite your personal feelings, Logan, he surpassed any expectations we had of a Terran. Alec may do the same.”

Logan said nothing. He turned and left, his footfalls almost silent. Anna let go of Alec's shoulders and took her place at the table. When the nausea had passed and he was finally able to look up, he saw she held her head in her hands.

“Are you ready to begin your lesson?” she asked quietly.

Alec gave her the finger. A woozy, shaky retort, but all he was capable of.

“We will continue with the concentration exercises and emotional control. It is vital.”

Alec climbed to his feet and staggered across to his bed. He collapsed onto the lower bunk and stared with unseeing eyes at the underside of his bunk.

“I do not wish to use physical force, Alec.”

He didn't respond, other than to clench his fists. Sure she didn't. Who held him down – Santa Claus?

“Your anger controls you, Alec. It dictates your actions. You realize this as well as I. Once you let go of it and immerse yourself in the training, you will be much more at peace. When you attain a certain level of control, I will lift the restrictions you live under. You will be able to socialize with your peers.”

Alec refused to look at her. He wasn't
that
naïve.

“I wish you didn't make this so difficult,” she said, so quietly he almost couldn't hear her. “Why are Terran males so implacable? My experience is limited to two, but both of you are a study in frustration. There must be something in the water here that limits your ability to surrender to imposed instruction.”

Alec still didn't say anything.

“It took less time to convince him, but he still dug his heels in at every new concept,” Anna murmured. “It was a wonder he ever finished the training. But now, he's one of the best we have. You could be like that.” She paused for a moment. “Do you understand what Logan was saying?”

Alec turned his head to the wall.

“Alec, you're anything but stupid, but what you fail to understand is that time is running out. The violence is worsening hourly. We've done our calculations. The genetic resistance is far too low to protect your planet. Unless we intervene, your society will destroy itself. Once North America dissolves into chaos, the rest of the world will follow.

“Logan is convinced that your uncontrolled power constitutes too great a risk. If you don't comply and learn to harness your emotions, he will have no choice.”

The silence stretched on for several uncomfortable minutes. Then Anna surprised him. She got up out of her chair and skirted the edge of the table. She looked over her shoulder as she sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. She leaned over and whispered. “Alec, he'll have your mind erased. For the sake of your own life, please, stop fighting me.”

Alec sat bolt upright. Without question, he knew she wasn't lying. He took a deep breath to calm the wild beating of his heart and stared at the opening of this tiny cell. Could you live with a blank mind?

“No,” Anna said, leaning over and speaking closely to his ear.

A cold sweat drenched his body.

“Start your training in earnest. He'll leave you alone if you seem to be no danger.”

Alec didn't want to give in, but being brain-dead wasn't much of an option. Could he trust Anna? Could he trust
any
of them? Was he a coward or being sensible? “What's he looking for, in my head?” Alec croaked.

Anna looked away. “Alec, I–”

“I have to know. It's my mind he's messing around with.”

Anna stood up abruptly. She walked over to the opening in the dividers and stared out at the Bunker. The lights were low in the main section. It was rest period and most of the occupants were sleeping. Finally, she turned around. “Logan is convinced that the Tyon power you unleashed last June caused the initial rip in the fabric of time and space. It was that rip which allowed the Others to gain access to your world. He fears your power may open the rips even further.”

If Alec hadn't already been sitting, he might have fallen over. How in the world had he done something so,
so unbelievable
?

“I d-didn't,” he stuttered.

“You did. The confrontation with your father was the catalyst. Can you remember it?”

Alec turned his face away. Sure, he could remember. It was damn hard to forget. But force an opening between this dimension and another? No way. Wouldn't he have noticed?

“You were angry, Alec. Remember?”

Alec's fingers clawed into the blanket around him. “I had good reason.”

“Tell me.”

Alec's jaw clamped shut. It was still so raw, so painful, that even thoughts of that evening, when everything had fallen apart, caused him to break out in a sweat.

“Alec, I need to know what triggered that sort of hatred. If I don't, I can't protect you or teach you how to avoid it again. Logan will consider you unreachable. He won't hesitate to remove any threat.”

Alec flung himself off the bed and started to pace.

“What did your father do to provoke such anger? What did he say to you?”

“He didn't
say
anything,” Alec ground out.

“But you engaged in a physical altercation. I saw it in your thoughts. You tried to kill him.”

The words triggered the memory, as bitter and heartbreaking as it had been the night it happened.

“Stop making excuses for him,” Alec's father yelled. Red-faced, he swung around to face them. Alec's mother stood framed in the doorway of the kitchen, still clutching the principal's letter, and Alec cowered in the dim light from the bathroom halfway down the hall.

If only his dad hadn't lost another job the same week Alec got suspended for fighting. He should have let those guys make their empty threats and walked away. Let his bookworm brother fight his own battles.

His father took an unsteady step forward and the reek of the afternoon's binge assailed his nostrils. Alec couldn't help the grimace.

“Wipe that grin of your face, you worthless little shit,” his father growled.

“That's enough.” His mom stepped in between them. “I've dealt with the school and with Alec. I'll handle it. I handle everything else nowadays.”

He knew it was the wrong thing to say the instant he heard it. Alec almost didn't see the blow. One minute his father's lip was curled in disgust; the second, his arm was swinging through the air. His mother's face jerked towards him, so brutally that the flecks of blood from her mouth and nose flung outwards and splattered the far wall. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear.

Time stopped.

Nothing Alec had ever seen or heard or felt compared to this. The anger exploded inside him. He literally saw red. He stopped thinking.

His own arm swung wildly and connected with his father's stubbled chin. His father grunted and toppled to the right. He slumped momentarily against the wall. Lost in the conflagration of wild rage that consumed him, he barely noticed his father's returned blow.

He fell slowly, almost in slow motion, and landed on the thin carpet in front of his open bedroom door. He was only dimly aware: the desk light shining weakly inside his room; the bitter taste of copper filling his mouth; denim-clad legs walking towards him. Then, the legs halted and the bedroom door closed.

He heard shouting in the distance. A slow, insidious darkness crept in around the edges of his vision. Straight ahead, in the corner of the hall, a tiny speck of sparkling lights danced and shimmered. He tried blinking but it didn't help. They were still there.

I'm going blind: the thought drifted across his mind, just before the darkness claimed him.

“Damn him to hell,” Alec spoke out loud. He glanced up in time to see the noticeable distaste on Anna's face. “Did you get that?”

Anna turned away. For a moment, her long hair obscured her face. Then, she turned back. Her emotions were once again masked. Without a word, she crossed over to the storage cupboard and pulled out another bowl of food. She carried it over and placed it on the table.

“Protection of those weaker is always commendable,” she said.

Alec stopped his pacing. For a moment, their eyes locked. “And cowardice?”

“Peter has to live with his actions, the same as you do. He had his reasons for not standing up for either you or your mother.”

She pulled out the chair and signalled he was to sit. Alec didn't move. Now that they'd been unleashed, the memories were playing in a continuous loop. He bit his lip. There was something there, hovering on the edge of his consciousness, something he should pay attention to. What was it?

“What did you see before you lost consciousness, Alec?” Anna prompted.

His eyes locked with hers as he remembered.

Logan was right. In the hall of their apartment.

Sparkles.

R
iley lay on her bunk in the dim twilight of rest period, working her way through a multitude of options for escape. It was the only time she could be reasonably sure no one was listening to her thoughts. She stifled a yawn. So far, every idea was overflowing with flaws. There was only one door and it was guarded around the clock. She couldn't teleport past the perimeter, even if she knew how. Dean rarely left her alone and her orb was linked to his somehow, meaning he'd know if she used it to force her way outside. And besides, they were hundreds of metres below the surface and she had no idea how to get on top of the island or how to get off it once she did.

A slight rustling caught her attention. Someone was creeping along the divider wall that separated the sleeping quarters from the main chamber. Riley sat up and squinted. There was something familiar about that silhouette.

The shadow slid up to her bunk and a hand whipped out of the darkness to clamp across her mouth. “Shh,” Darius hissed. “Stay quiet.”

Riley peeled his hand away. “Just what the–”

Darius gave her shoulder a shove and dropped down onto her bunk beside her. He lay back, tugging her arm so that she would lie beside him. “Don't attract attention,” he whispered.

“Get out of my bed,” Riley ordered as she shoved him.

“Just a sec. We have to talk.”

“We can talk at meal times,” Riley began, her voice starting to rise with annoyance.

“And everyone will see us,” Darius said quietly. “Haven't you noticed they're keeping us apart?”

Riley's jaw clenched. She'd been planning to casually sit next to him at a meal or “accidentally” wander into his work station, but this was way too obvious. If Dean woke up …

“Do you have your orb?” Darius asked.

“Sure. Always,” Riley nodded. No one had told her to do it, she'd just felt odd, leaving it on the pillow or in her locker. Like taking off her arm and leaving it somewhere else.

“Good. Never let it out of your sight. You're the only one of the three of us who has one now.”

“Doesn't Alec?”

“No. They're preventing him access. I have a good idea why, though.”

“So?” Riley shoved his arm with her elbow. “Spill.”

“No one has told me directly. Anna's not talking.” He sounded bitter about it. “But I've looked in Logan's files and overheard a few things.”

“Does Logan know you're rooting through his stuff and eavesdropping?” Riley interrupted.

“Don't be an idiot.”

“Oh for heaven's sake, Dare,” Riley said. “He'll have your nuts in a sling if he catches you.”

“He's gotta catch me first.”

She could almost hear the grin in his voice. He rolled over onto his side. His breath was warm on her cheek. “Look, Riley, here's the point. Logan's convinced that Rhozan has somehow tapped into the kid's mind and is using his knowledge of this world against us.”

Riley sat up with surprise. “What the–”

“I know, it's crazy.” Darius grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back down until her head lay on the pillow beside his. He was silent for a moment. When he did speak his voice was low and urgent. “Logan's only given another two work periods for Anna to break through and get Alec under control. Or else.”

“You've got to be kidding.”

“I'm not.”

“Then you're mistaken. Logan's the Mr. Spock of this little party. He's hardly going around yelling ‘off with their heads.' I've watched this guy for a week. He hardly has any emotions.”

“I don't know who this Spock fellow is, but I know Logan. He's seriously worried. And when Logan gets worried, he gets rid of whatever worries him. I've worked for the guy for years, remember?”

Her heart did a nasty twist inside her chest. Logan had seemed pretty pissed the day she arrived, even if he hadn't shown a flicker of it since. “What are we going to do?”

“That's my girl. I've got a plan.”

Of course he did. Darius' eternal optimism that he could work things out was one of the most attractive things about him. Next to his lips, his smile, and of course, his killer eyes. She hastily amended her thoughts, in case he tapped into them. Which wasn't easy because he smelled really nice and his lips were so close he could just … She forced
those
thoughts out of her mind completely. “How are we going to stop Logan from–” she couldn't make herself say “kill”; it sounded so melodramatic “–doing Alec in? Can we get him out of here?”

“Anna's watching him around the clock. She's pretty tough to outwit.”

“But you have, right?”

She heard his smile. “I have the access codes to get in and out of the Base. And I know the way to the surface. But without an orb I can't use the codes, get past the guards and transport us off this island.”

“What about a ship? How close are we to the mainland?” Riley's mind was racing. They'd need transportation, ID and probably money. Did she still have her wallet somewhere? What had Dean done with her clothes?

Darius shook his head. “You can barely see the main island from here, and only in good weather. A few fishing vessels pass by, but you can't count on one being there when you need it. And besides, the bloody rock above us is completely surrounded by cliffs. We couldn't get down to the water's edge, even if we saw a boat.” He rolled on his back and clasped his hands behind his head. “Getting off this island is going to be a huge problem.”

“Can't Alec transport us? He did before.”

“Pure instinct is one thing, trying to do it under pressure is another. Even with me guiding him, just the off-chance thought, and we could end up in Outer Mongolia. Look what happened last time.”

“That's better than Alec dying here,” Riley summarized succinctly.

Darius gave a deep sigh. “Yeah, you're right.”

Without warning he partially sat up and leaned over. The kiss was warm and quick and threw her heart into overdrive. “I hate to leave a lady curious,” Darius chuckled as he slipped off the bed. Within a second, he'd rejoined the shadows and disappeared to his own bunk at the other end of the row.

Wow. The man really knew how to kiss. It took ages to fall asleep.