Prophets journey, p.32
Prophet's Journey, page 32
part #1 of Prophet of the Badlands Series
“Little colder this far north than what you’re used to.”
“Yeah.”
Teal gave a quick look around, took her by the hand, and led her down the street.
“We still need to let Kye out of the cage.”
“Huh? Cage?”
“The woman where you found me.”
“Oh. That’s not a cage. It’s a medical tank.”
“Medical tank?”
Teal spent the next few minutes explaining how, in the modern city, doctors had these giant fluid-filled chambers that they put people in so extremely tiny machines could go inside bodies and fix stuff.
“I don’t understand. If the box heals the person locked up inside it, it’s a ‘medical tank,’ but if the person locked in a box heals people, it’s a cage?”
“Someone put you in a cage before Puma?”
She nodded. “I was real small. I don’t even remember anything before I was in the Wagon Man’s cage.” She rambled about her time when she’d been about five or six, dragged back and forth across the Badlands.
“Good grief, kid.” Teal sighed. “You’ve had a rough life.”
Althea shrugged. “It’s okay. I never really cared about being kidnapped until I had a home and a real family. I’m more upset for making them sad and worried about me now than I am at being out here.”
Teal put a hand on her shoulder. “You didn’t make them sad. That was all us. Me and the other two guys who snatched you.”
“Where are they?” Althea clutched the blanket tight around herself at a sudden gust in the wind.
“They didn’t make it.”
“Make what?”
“Damn. I keep forgetting how literal you are. Our Starduster changed course all by itself, flying north toward this area instead of east where we wanted to go. When the anti-aircraft missiles came in, Frozz died instantly. The first missile nailed us right in the cockpit. We had an incoming fire alarm, so I’d been running to the cargo hold to get you out of that box. There you were by the breach in the hull when I walked in. I thought you got sucked out the instant I opened the door. So I ran back to an escape pod. Giordi blew up with the Starduster. And yes, I was really kinda messed up watching you go out the hole. Thought you died and it was my fault. After my pod landed, I sat there questioning all sorts of things about the decisions I made. But, then I noticed the tracker moving around. At first, I thought someone might’ve grabbed your body so I went to check it out. Lost the signal for a while, probably when you went underground at that settlement. Then I saw you walking with those other two kids. Followed you to the parking garage.”
“I didn’t feel anyone die when the flying machine caught on fire.”
“Frozz and Giordi were synthetics, too. The company hired a team of us specifically to kidnap a powerful psionic. Your abilities wouldn’t work.”
“Oh. Even if I couldn’t feel them die, I’m sad they did.”
Teal shook her head. “Wow. Come on, kid. You still want to find that queen?”
Althea nodded. “Yeah.”
34
Queen Kye
That night, Althea slept curled up beside Teal in the basement of a former high-rise. Upon waking, she ate the second-to-last food bar, which didn’t really taste like chocolate anymore as much as vaguely sweet, gooey nothingness. Her stomach objected to taking in so little actual substance, even if it did somehow magically provide her a day’s worth of food in a five-inch-long strip.
A red light flashed on the genesis canteen when she drank.
“Damn. The hydrogen’s almost out.” Teal shook the canteen. “That’s the only problem with these damn things. Can’t refill them with normal water.” She tossed it in the backpack. “Gonna have to find some supplies for you, soon.”
“I know plants to eat.”
“Yeah, but nothing grows around here.”
“They have food at the Transit village.”
Teal laughed.
“Why is that funny?”
“Transit means going somewhere. They’re living in an old subway station. Just funny that they don’t know what they named themselves.”
“Oh.”
Teal lifted her up to grab the bottom of the basement windowsill, then cupped her hands to make a step under Althea’s foot before boosting her out the window. Althea slithered forward onto the sidewalk and scrambled upright before looking around, on guard for killer robots. Fortunately, the area appeared clear. Teal climbed out and dusted herself off, keeping watch while Althea made water by the curb, then started walking, again as if she knew exactly where to go.
For a few hours, they dashed between ruined buildings, hiding whenever wheelbots or walkers came within sight. Teal could evidently hear them at long distances, and dragged Althea to hiding places seemingly for no reason a few times, well before the robots came close enough to spot them.
Dull aches nipped at her whole body as they walked, her limbs protesting all the boosting she’d done. Whenever they hunkered down to hide from robots, she turned her power inward, mending small rips in the muscle-shapes or bruising on the bones.
Upon reaching the edge of the huge open area surrounding the ‘Cursed Place,’ Teal crept up to the corner of the last building and gazed out over the swirling dust littered with wrecked flying machines.
“That’s about 275 meters of open ground. I hear something moving off to the right but can’t tell what or where. Could be a walker.”
Althea nodded.
“Hop on my back.”
“Okay. Don’t throw me off this time.”
Teal chuckled.
Grinning, Althea wrapped her arms around the woman’s neck and held on. Teal gripped her legs under the knee to support her weight a little better. She listened for a moment more, then took off at a run well beyond human speed across the dirt to the parking garage. Once they followed the ramp underground and out of sight, she slowed to a more human running pace, but didn’t stop or put Althea down, carrying her all the way around and around the four levels to the hallway covered in tribal markings.
A bowl that hadn’t been there before sat among the other, older tributes. It contained an offering of three buns that she recognized as the same bread-stuffed-with-stew she’d eaten while at the Transit village. She crouched by it, tracing a finger over the orange plastic. The notion that Ooru and Paama left it here in an effort to ask their gods to protect her made her smile.
She collected the buns. “Here. These are for us.”
“You’re looting temple offerings?” asked Teal in a fake scolding tone. “Naughty.”
“The kids you chased away left them here because they thought it would make the gods help me. I think they’d want me to have them.”
“Okay.” Teal stooped so she could put the buns in the backpack.
Althea closed the flap, then made her way through the space between the enormous doors to the annoyingly cold hallway beyond. She blinked at the vast white corridor with all the rooms and branching passages. “Umm. I don’t know where to go.”
“C’mon. I remember the room.” Teal took her hand.
They walked a series of hallways, deeper into the facility, passing six or seven dead silver-and-white robots.
“Do you remember everywhere?”
“No, just places like this. Set a waypoint when I came in here looking for you so I could find the way out fast if I had to.”
“Oh.” She walked for a moment. “What’s a waypoint?”
“It’s a dot on a map that tells me where to go.”
Since the woman didn’t actually have a map anywhere, Althea decided to drop the subject. Maybe Teal had landed a little too hard on her head. However, the woman did seem to know where to go all the time. When they reached the even colder part of the facility where condensation built up on the walls and floor, Althea frowned at the smear marks she’d left days ago while being dragged. Mostly, it bothered her because Kye had to wait for help and it made going home take longer. She had already forgiven Teal for abducting her.
A moment later, they entered the room full of tanks where Kye remained suspended in fluid. Teal hadn’t made a single wrong turn or even hesitated to look around. Althea rushed over and pressed her hands against the tank wall, peering up at the young woman… then smiled at the sense of thoughts still going on inside her head. “She’s alive.”
“Of course. She’s sleeping in a medical tank. Anyone who can die while they’re inside one of these is truly skilled. Or just has the worst luck in the universe.” Teal approached the display screen beside the tank.
“Can you open it?” Althea glanced at her.
“Yeah. One sec. This unit has got to be around eighty years old, but the control interface is still pretty much the same. Most of the upgrades these things go through involve software or new nanobots. And, this one is probably an advanced prototype, so for its time, it was way ahead of things. Probably why it doesn’t feel as ancient as it is. The tanks themselves haven’t changed much since they were invented.” Teal tapped at the screen, making the pictures and frozen speech change several times. “Okay, princess. Time to wake up.” She jabbed her finger at a large green square on the screen.
Beep.
Kye opened her eyes. For a moment, she held still, only glancing around… then opened her mouth as if screaming, but made no noise. She threw off a huge spike of panic mixed with fury and lapsed into a kicking and punching assault on the clear tube. Her hands and feet struck the barrier, making dull thuds that sounded much softer than seemed appropriate for the force involved.
Kye? asked Althea telepathically.
The woman stopped fighting the tank and stared at her, wondering if she had died and gone to a place called Disney World—where the spirits of good warriors go after death for an eternity of happiness. Upon noticing Althea’s eyes glowed with bright blue light, a flash of reverent fear took her.
I’m not a god. You didn’t die.
She looked up, confused.
My friend is going to open the cage and let you out. Elder Noema sent me here to find you.
Kye shook her head, thinking the elder would never have allowed someone not of royal blood to enter this place.
She did. When you go home, you can ask her.
Whirring started somewhere beneath the floor. Seconds later, air appeared above the peach-colored liquid filling the tank. Over the course of the next minute, the line separating air and fluid sank downward until the tank drained, leaving the young woman curled up on the floor wearing only a coating of shiny slime.
The pedestal base emitted a faint hiss, then the clear plastic cylinder lowered flush with the bottom. Kye gasped at the cold, wrapped her arms around herself, and shivered. Seconds later, her attempt to stand caused her feet to shoot out from under her, sending her sliding on her chest across the floor, leaving a long smear trail of syrupy liquid.
Teal laughed. “Don’t try to get up yet. That b-gel is slippery as hell.”
The young woman looked up angrily, however panic hit her again. Her attempt to shout spewed an eruption of peach-colored slime from her mouth and out her nostrils in thin streams. Kye clutched at her throat, gagging.
“Your lungs are full of that stuff.” Teal headed over to a row of lockers at the end of the room. “Stay down on all fours, ass in the air, and let it drain. Don’t freak out. It’s much easier if you stay calm. Kid, you might want to help her stay calm. If she’s not used to going into a tank, she’s going to panic.”
Kye attempted to assume the position, but her hands and knees kept sliding on the floor, dumping her flat. Her panic increased.
Althea ran to her, but upon stepping in the smeared gel, she wiped out, landed on her ass, and slid into Kye. The impact knocked another blast of goo out of the woman’s mouth. Althea rolled onto her knees, grasped the woman’s arm, and forced calm over her terror of drowning. While Kye coughed up the viscous fluid, Teal rummaged a white towel out of a locker and carried it over, carefully stepping around the gel on the floor.
“Here. Wipe that crap off.”
Kye sat back on her heels, exhausted from choking up the gunk. “Who…” She wheezed, then gave off a thick cough that sounded like a wad of phlegm did a backflip in her throat. “Who are you?”
“I’m Althea.” She grinned. “This is my friend Teal.”
While Kye toweled the gunk off, Althea explained meeting Ooru and Paama, going to the village, speaking with the councilors, and coming here to find her. She didn’t waste time talking about herself, being kidnapped, or the trip to the Great Forge.
Kye listened with a suspiciously raised eyebrow, eventually tossing the slime-soaked towel aside with a splat. “Where are my clothes?”
Althea shrugged. “I dunno. You didn’t have any when I found you. Just your spear on the floor over there.”
“How did you end up in that tank?” asked Teal.
Kye stood, managing a reasonably regal, confident stance despite being naked with her feet in a constant state of gradually sliding out from under her. “I have come to the Cursed Place to be judged by the gods to see if I am worthy of leading my people as their queen.”
“What exactly are you supposed to do in here?” asked Teal. “I’m guessing winding up in a medical tank wasn’t part of the plan?”
Kye’s confidence faltered. “I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought the gods would show themselves and talk to me, give me a test or a challenge. But when I got here, I found the halls empty… until the Silver Men attacked me.” She choked up. “I don’t know if the gods refused to show themselves because I am unworthy and sent them to kill me or if fighting the Silver Men was the test. When they attacked me, I fought back, but they were too many, too strong. They grabbed me and put me in that cage.”
“See?” asked Althea. “Told you it’s a cage.”
“Salty,” muttered Teal.
Althea giggled.
“Did they take your clothes before they put you in there?” asked Teal.
“No.” Kye shook her head.
“Then your clothes are gone. The nanobots in the breathable gel break down any inorganic material that goes in there.”
Kye blinked, tilted her head, then blinked again.
“I don’t know what she said either.” Althea shrugged.
“There are plenty of towels, though.” Teal returned to the locker and fetched two more.
Soon, Kye had improvised a skirt and top from them, tying them on as best she could.
Althea stood and walked over in front of her, this time taking care not to step in slime. “Queen Kye, I think you should lead your people away from this place. It is too dangerous here so close to the metal men.”
“I’m not sure I am a queen yet. The Silver Men defeated me in battle. Those who fail to gain the approval of the gods never return. Perhaps I have disobeyed them by escaping. You should have left me in there.”
“I hate to break it to you, kid,” said Teal. “But this isn’t a cursed place or a trial of gods or anything. It’s an old medical research facility built by Ancora Corporation. A place of healing. Those robots who grabbed you? They used to take care of patients, but they’re so old their programming went crazy. Now, I think they just assume everyone they see is a patient who needs to be stuffed in a medical tank.”
“Do not call me kid.” Kye held her head high. “I am nineteen. And do you dare challenge the gods?”
“Sure.” Teal looked around expectantly. “Bring it on.”
“You…” Kye’s eyes widened. “You’re one of them. You don’t have mind voices.”
Althea poked her in the side, wide-eyed with delight. “You can hear mind voices, too?”
Kye looked at her. “I am royal. I wield the magic of the gods.”
Teal whistled. “Wow.”
“What kind of powers do you have?” asked Althea, grinning. “I’m psionic, too.”
“The gods’ magic makes me stronger than any man, faster than the Silver Men, and I do not become tired.”
“Sounds like you’re probably a kinetic then.” Teal tapped a finger to her chin.
“You know about psionics?” asked Althea.
“Yeah. When I took the job to find you, I did a bunch of research. Gotta know what I’m getting into beforehand.”
“What blasphemy do you speak?” Kye narrowed her eyes.
“What you think of as magic is called psionics,” said Teal. “Kinetics have control over their bodies. Instead of outward manifestations of mental energy like with Telekinesis, a kinetic person turns their power inward, making themselves stronger, faster, or tougher.”
“I can do that. Am I a kinetic?” asked Althea.
“Nope. You do it with your healing ability. Remember how you said your muscles hurt when you force them stronger?”
She nodded.
“That doesn’t happen to a kinetic, and they’re also quite a bit stronger than you are. She can probably run as fast as me… if she really is one.”
“You are not royals. You don’t belong in this place.” Kye stormed toward her spear, but slipped in the gel again and landed on her back. After two seconds of lying still, she let out a furious roar.
Althea forced her anger away. “Don’t be mad.”
“What is this?” asked Kye, not bothering to move.
“Your anger grew so much so fast you were going to do something stupid. I made you not angry.”
“Made me?”
Teal smiled. “The kid’s a telempath. Strongest one on record.”
“I do not know these words you use.” Kye sat up.
“Teal really does talk funny a lot.” Althea made a silly face at the queen.
“Seriously though.” Teal picked up the spear and offered it to Kye. “This place isn’t cursed. It’s just an old hospital. Probably used to be a secret research project Ancora Medical set up out here in the Badlands. I don’t know why they abandoned it. Could be because the CRP made it such a pain in the ass to get here. No flying.”
