The jane colt trilogy, p.47
The Jane Colt Trilogy, page 47
She wouldn’t stand aside and let shit happen again. Devin was still her teammate, her friend, her responsibility.
She didn’t want to be around when Devin and Rourke finished their conversation, so she strode to the elevator.
“Take a vacation,” Rourke said. She snickered. All right, then. I’ll take a damn vacation. What are vacations for, if not doing what you like doing?
There was nothing Adesina liked more than getting answers.
Chapter 6
Wait Till Nightfall
Jane swept her arms to the flow of her piece. The baton was her wand, and the orchestra’s scintillating voice her enchantment. She felt her power over the audience growing stronger with each crystal note.
With a flourish, she flicked her wand to lift the spell. The last echoes of her symphony faded.
The audience sat in stunned silence, then they started clapping, one by one, until they filled the auditorium with a roar of approval. Her friends from school stood in a cluster at the center. They’d traveled from whatever corner of the galaxy their home worlds lay in to see her. In the front row, Adam smiled up at her. She heard someone call her name and turned to the side. Devin stood just offstage, clapping. He’d made it after all.
They were all there for her, surrounding her with their admiration and love. She grinned and started to bow—
Jane opened her eyes, then let them fall shut again, hoping to return to her paradise for just a few more minutes. She smiled to herself. The dream will be real soon.
Her mind sharpened with wakefulness. She opened her eyes again, and her surroundings became clear. She blinked, confused. Before her, a lake shimmered in the white light spilling in from a small stone archway.
The memories came back—jumping into the lake, swimming through the archway, running up into the crypt, hoping that even if Devin found the Cavern, he wouldn’t think to look inside the temple. And then returning to the Cavern as dawn neared.
I can’t believe I’m a fugitive again.
She lifted her head. She’d fallen asleep on Adam’s shoulder, sitting against the Cavern’s stone wall. Her body ached from having spent so much time on a hard surface.
Adam smiled at her. Bits of gray dirt from the not-so-clear lake streaked his white shirt. He’d apparently been awake, for he had the Book of Via open on his lap. I’ll never understand why people still like those heavy paper things.
Jane yawned. “What time is it?”
“No idea,” Adam replied.
“I guess it doesn’t matter, since we can’t go anywhere until sundown.” She stretched and stood. The cream-colored cloth bag that had been on her lap—the one some temple choir member must have left in the crypt—fell. She glanced at it and, remembering what was inside, quickly scooped it up. Without the stack of cash discs she’d withdrawn from a campus banking machine the previous night, she wouldn’t get very far. Sneaking out had been risky, but she wasn’t the one ISARK was looking for.
Wait till nightfall, then get offworld and find someone who can figure out what’s going on with Adam. She bit her lip. How am I going to do that?
Adam seemed to notice her worry. “Are you okay?”
Jane sank down beside him. “What’s happening, Adam? Why are we hiding in an ancient basement? And from my brother, of all people?”
Devin’s harsh words echoed in her mind. How could he call Adam an illusion? He believed Sarah when she said she’d awakened. Nothing makes sense right now.
She leaned her head back. “I thought that after the whole Pandora thing, this was my happily ever after. I’ve got everything—a start for my music, a place to call home, you… Why am I on the run again?”
Adam paused. “You don’t have to be.”
Yes, I do. Several times the previous night, Adam had volunteered to turn himself in. Each time, she’d cut him off with a “Like hell!”
Jane shot him an annoyed look. “As if I’d let ISARK take you. Adam, you once risked everything to run with me. What makes you think I wouldn’t do the same for you?”
Another pause. “Devin was innocent of the crime he was accused of. I’m not.”
Jane didn’t want to think about the deaths Adam had supposedly caused. From what she could gather, Adam had unknowingly sent attack commands to the other AIs in his sleep. She knew the AIs were connected through the Net, since that was how Pandora had once commanded them, but she’d never imagined that one could affect another.
Though in her mind, Adam couldn’t be blamed for something he didn’t know he was doing, the deaths clearly weighed on him, and she couldn’t hide from them any longer. “Tell me what happened.”
“Pandora.” His voice was soft. “She’s in my head. I hear her speaking to me, claiming she’s the Absolute and that she still has control over me. I even see her sometimes, reaching for me.”
Jane listened as he told her of what he’d seen while unconscious, what he’d done, and how he’d realized too late that his actions carried over into the physical world. Horrible as the AI attacks were, she saw no reason to blame him. They seemed so distant, unreal. The facts presented themselves, but her heart seemed incapable of letting their impact land. I guess it’s because they’re just facts to me. She hadn’t experienced the horror of seeing the bodies, and she hadn’t known whom those people had been. But that’s why I can see things clearly. My mind’s not clouded with guilt and sorrow like Adam’s.
Pandora had scattered AIs through the human population. Pandora had created whatever connected Adam to the others. And it must have screwed up somewhere.
No one would blame Adam if he had some form of psychosis. If he did, I could take him to the best doctors in the galaxy. But where can I find a doctor for someone like him?
The only people who even knew Adam was an AI were herself, her brother, and Riley. Wait… and the Seer. The Seer, the enigmatic programmer who had helped Jane and Devin figure out what Pandora was doing months ago, must have known a lot about how the AIs worked; he’d helped Adam escape his physical form once. Perhaps he could figure out how to stop Adam’s nightmares.
Adam gazed at the ground, and his eyes glistened. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Jane reached toward him and wiped away a tear that fell down his face. “Have you seen Pandora since?”
Adam nodded. “I didn’t dare sleep again after what happened with Jonathan King, but she speaks to me even when I’m awake.”
“You haven’t slept in all this time?”
“I don’t know what’ll happen if I do.” He craned his neck back, gazing at the ceiling. “I wonder how long an AI can go without sleep.”
Again with the AI thing. “Please don’t talk like that.”
Adam brought his gaze back to her. “I’m sorry.”
Jane wondered what more she could say. Adam was usually the one who counseled her, and she wasn’t sure how to respond since the tables had turned. Dammit, there’s a reason I hate writing my own lyrics. I suck at words.
“Pandora’s not real. You are.” Jane drew a breath. “You of all people know how powerful faith is. I may not be religious, but I know what it’s like to believe.” She put her hand on his face. “I believe in you.” That wasn’t so bad. To seal the promise, she pulled him close and kissed him.
Adam gazed her with an expression of wonder, as if he couldn’t believe that she was there for him.
Jane waited for him to respond. When he didn’t, she grinned nervously. “What is it?” Did I say something dumb?
Adam opened his mouth to reply, then closed it and shook his head with a self-conscious smile. “Nothing.”
Jane found it cute that he could still be a bit shy with her, and she nudged him. “C’mon. Tell me.”
After a moment, he said, “You could be with… anyone, and yet you’re here. Why me?”
How can I tell you? Jane contemplated her answer, wishing she were a poet so she could compose a sweeping sonnet. All her words seemed inadequate. Less than inadequate—they seemed worthless. She chose to try explaining anyway. “Because… with ‘anyone,’ I turn on the charm, and they drink it up. I’ve never had to do that with you. I know I’m difficult. Most people run when they find out who I am behind the pretty smiles. You’ve seen me at my ugliest, and you still think I’m beautiful. I guess the real question is: why me?”
Adam didn’t respond; she didn’t expect him to. The look of wonder remained in his eyes—eyes that, to her, outshone the Kyderan sun. She loved them not for their bright peridot color or gentle shape—although she enjoyed those too—but for the honesty they carried.
Her gaze shifted up, and she noticed the hair covering Adam’s forehead had parted, but the injury he’d received from the explosion wasn’t visible. She swept his hair to the side. Nothing. “Your scar’s gone.” She lowered her hand, relieved. “Sometimes I envy you.”
Adam traced his finger across his forehead. “Why?”
“If I’d been the one who ended up facedown in broken glass, it would’ve taken a surgeon and a crap ton of skin products to make my scar go away.”
“Would you really want to be synthetic?”
Jane shrugged. “I’m just saying that it’s not all bad. Think about it: you’ll never get sick, you’ll always look perfect, you don’t have to deal with random health issues… being organic is so messy!”
“Pandora built us to last.” Adam’s expression became distant. “We don’t have to eat either. Or drink. Those are just more deceptions.”
Jane realized she’d steered the conversation back to the topic she should have avoided. Hoping to change the subject, she glanced at the open Book of Via. “Thought you had that thing good as memorized.”
“I do, but I still find comfort in the presence of the words.” Adam placed his hand on the crinkled yellow page. “It may be just paper and ink, but something about its touch gives me a sense of connection.”
Curious, Jane looked briefly through the words on the page. Adam had been in the middle of a story about demonic possession. “I know this one. Well, the holodrama version. A woman gets possessed and sees her kids as monsters. She kills them, thinking she’s defending her home. Is that how it is in the book too?”
“Yes.” Adam looked past her with a contemplative expression. “The story ends with her waking from her possession, then killing herself before the demon can possess her again.”
What the hell? Why’s the Book of Via so morbid? Horror rushed through Jane as she realized what “lesson” Adam might have taken from the story. “Does it say anything about the Absolute? Did the Absolute blame her?”
“The Absolute isn’t mentioned in this tale—it’s a story of human vulnerability. I’ve contemplated it many times, but I still can’t say. The Absolute can’t be spoken of as though human. Our minds are too feeble to comprehend the eternal mystery that lies beyond this world, that can’t be captured by words.” Apparently noticing her puzzled expression, he smiled. “We can’t begin to understand an Absolute Being whose ways transcend our ability to think.”
What kind of answer is that? Jane realized that whatever arguments she had, he must have already pondered. There was no way she could use a morality tale she was only vaguely familiar with to convince him to forgive himself. But she had to let him know that he wasn’t the only one whose life and future were at stake. “Adam, do you love me?”
Adam looked at her as if that were the strangest question she could have asked. “I’ve loved you since I first saw you, and I’ve loved you more every day since. Each time I think my heart can hold no more, you prove me wrong.”
Jane smiled. Once, she would have scoffed at words like that. But when they were meant for her, she wanted to wrap herself in them and hear them over and over.
Enough with the gooey grins! I had a point to make.
She firmed her expression. “Then please, let it go. You have to find a way to forgive yourself, or it’ll destroy you. If it does, what’ll become of me?” Perhaps she sounded selfish, but knowing Adam, he’d sooner move on for her sake than for his own. “I’ve got a plan. The Seer was able to help you before—maybe he can help you again.”
Adam shook his head. “I tried contacting him several times, but he hasn’t responded. It’s as if he’s disappeared.”
Damn. It’s never easy, is it? “Maybe he hasn’t been on the Net lately. At least we know where he lives. If he’s not on Viate-Five… Well, I’ll find him somehow.” A thought occurred to Jane. “I’ll find a communications dead zone where you can hide until everything gets figured out. That way, ISARK won’t be able to find you, and you won’t be able to send signals to the other AIs.” Why didn’t I think of that before? “Just follow my lead, okay?”
Adam gave her a sad smile. “Of course.”
Needing to clear her head, Jane stood and walked around the underground lake. She mentally ran through her options. The only ship she could access was the Stargazer sitting in the hangar of her childhood home. But if she’d thought of the possibility, surely Devin would have as well. He could be waiting for her there.
It seemed so absurd that she was hiding from her own brother. Devin had always protected her, whether she’d liked it or not. Before the previous night, he’d been the constant in her life, the one person she could always turn to. If anyone else had been chasing her, her first move after escaping the temple would have been to run to him, thinking he’d know what to do. He’d never feared anything, and he surely would have come up with a better plan than what her panicked brain could conjure.
As for her—she feared everything. The powerful, the unknown, even herself. She feared her own helplessness, the inability to stand by her beliefs or protect the things she cared about. Most of all, she feared losing people. She’d already lost so many—not only her fallen parents, but friendships she’d been unable to maintain, relationships she’d been unable to keep, partnerships she’d been unable to preserve.
She couldn’t lose Adam too. Or Devin.
I’ll get Devin back on my side. He’d been under orders when he’d pulled out that gun, which must have been set on stun. If his mission were truly more important to him than she was, he could have shot her on her way out of the tower, or fired down at her once she was in the lake. But he didn’t. If he had, I could’ve drowned.
Considering the strange state of mind he’d been in since losing Sarah, his thoughts must have been jumbled by ISARK’s coldhearted logic. If she could talk to him out of their reach, she could convince him that the AI attacks weren’t really Adam’s fault, and that they wouldn’t happen again since she would find a way to cure Adam. Devin would go rogue for her sake and somehow mess with ISARK to make Adam disappear from their radar.
Then she could go back to her life. It occurred to Jane that she only had a few days before the music festival. Would being on the run mean she had to miss it? Not necessarily. I’m not on ISARK’s target list.
Transportation was fast in the IC. She could take Adam to a safe planet with a communications dead zone, and he could hide there while she returned to Kydera. That might even be the safer thing to do—make it seem like she didn’t know where he was either. The festival seemed like such a stupid, selfish thing to think about when Adam’s life was at stake, but she couldn’t help it. That opportunity was her best—and possibly her only—shot at the future she wanted.
Ethereal voices, muffled and distant, filled her ears with ascending scales. She gazed at the stone steps in the corner, the ones leading up to the crypt. The choir must have been rehearsing. She hoped they didn’t have any evening activities planned. The crypt was her only way out. Swimming wasn’t an option—the disturbance of the water would surely attract attention. Would ISARK be waiting if she ventured out?
No, they won’t. Their mission’s gotta be secret; otherwise they would’ve arrested Adam instead of setting off that electromagnetic bomb.
The choir finished their warm-up and intoned the opening notes to a cantata. Whoever composed that piece was a true magician with melodies. Jane wondered if she possessed the depth of mind to create something so sublime. Even her most inspired pieces seemed hollow in comparison.
Except one: a motet she’d written months back, when she’d been running from Pandora. That piece had also been Adam’s requiem during the agonized hours when she’d thought him dead. It would never be heard again, even if it ended up being her one decent composition.
Knock it off. I’ve got more important things to worry about right now.
Putting her focus back on the present, Jane ran through a handful of escape scenarios in her head. Her best bet was to go someplace random via public transportation. That way, no one—not even Devin—could predict her movements. She and Adam could blend into the crowd and throw ISARK off their trail. Unfortunately, public transports required identification and travel docs.
I’ll have to hire a private craft, one with a captain who won’t ask questions.
She could probably find one in Kydera City’s Outer Ring, as she had months back when she’d been searching for a getaway vehicle before busting Devin out of prison. A shudder shot through her at the thought of returning to that place. The Outer Ring wasn’t exactly friendly, and she’d lost her stunner in her jump from the tower.
I’ll need a new one. And a new slate. Jane was so used to having the resources of the Networld at her fingertips, not having something with which to access them was like being deaf and blind. If she’d had a slate with her, she might have already found a getaway ship and negotiated a price. Perhaps even made contact with the Seer. Then again, ISARK could’ve traced my old slate. I’m sure I can find a veiled one in the Outer Ring.
Concerned voices in her head told her she was nuts, and that she was sure to get caught. Maybe even arrested.
