Astra: Synchronicity (21 page)

Neither of them said a word while they headed
in the direction of her vehicle. The vapor in the air descended in
a dense cloud on the city for the night. The lights of passing
hovercars made bright halos that hurt his eyes since he could not
squint to block out the brightness.

How could I have been such an idiot,
he thought.
I walked right into his trap
.

"Don't blame yourself," she said. She
unlocked her silver commuter and strained to open the rear driver's
side door. "That's what he does. And what he failed to realize is
you can't just give someone a less-than-lethal dose of the same
junk he kills people with to knock them out." She tried her best to
ease him inside, but he fell over and his head smacked into the
seat and jarred his senses. "Sorry."

From where he lay horizontally, he heard the
door shut and a front door open a second later. She sunk into the
seat, turned the key, and drove down Lancaster Boulevard. She wore
none of her usual arsenal of make-up, and her conservative clothing
belonged on someone else. Her black hair had none of its typical
sleekness and instead hung disheveled around her shoulders.

His breathing began to feel labored like his
lungs were ready to shut down. As he gasped for air, she took her
eyes off the road to glance back at him. "Shit," she whispered.
"Stay with me, Magnius. Just a little bit longer. You're going to
be okay…"

Her voice was the last thing on his mind
before he passed out.

***

Magnius woke to the raw soreness of his
throat, and the pain intensified by the second. His eyelids might
as well have been made of lead because of the effort it took to
open them. The brightness of the room blinded him and he
immediately shut it out. If he could've furrowed his brow, he would
have. He wanted to speak but the muscles of his jaw did not
respond.

If he hadn't found Nadine, he had no doubt
he'd be dead right now.

He felt a hand on top of his head.
Nadine,
is that you?

"I'm here," she said quietly. "You're going
to be okay. You're at Clairview Hospital. They had to pump your
stomach and can't do much about the pain without interfering with
the drug cocktail they gave you for the XTX."

He forced open his eyes again and gazed up at
her. An oversized pair of black sunglasses shrouded her stare, but
he could see the faint glow of her sclera behind them. Her makeup
and hair looked impeccable, as usual.
How long have I been
here?

"Almost twelve hours. It may take another day
or two for the effect of the XTX to wear off. Don't worry—Tiyuri
will never know you were here. It's where we come when we want to
keep visits out of the news. You're safe. I realize it won't feel
that way, but you have to trust me."

You saved my life. Of course I trust
you
.

"If the Xuranians extend an invitation for us
to go to Xur, I'd like you to come with me. Don't ask why. Just say
yes."

He was too out of it to wonder anything, but
it sounded important.
I can do that
.

"I'll stop by to see you tomorrow morning. In
the meantime relax and have some wonderful dreams." She dug a lip
gloss out of her purse and dabbed some onto her lips. "No more
fretting about Lyneea. It's over between the two of you. But don't
despair. The right woman's going to drop into your life sooner or
later. Not all of us can be lucky enough to get it right the first
time, but don't ever give up hope. The only person you're
shortchanging is yourself."

With one last fatal smile, she spun around
and marched away. The echo of her high heels continued long after
she'd vanished out the door.

He wondered how much of what she said she'd
seen in a prophecy. Nothing suggested any of it had been a vision
of the future. She chose her words with such care that it came out
like words of wisdom, not the voice of a Seer. He envied her in so
many ways. Nadine had it all—fame, power, and money—yet none of it
went to her head because she knew what it was like to have
nothing.

Only time would tell what she was up to. For
now, the wonderful dreams would do.

March 28
^th
marked the day of the
Chara Peace Summit. Spring emerged from the remains of the
unseasonably cold winter with vigor. Young leaves began to unfurl
on the trees, and a crop of early tulips around the capitol
flowered on cue as if they'd been commanded to by heaven. The clean
smell of morning dew lingered in the air, and patriotic music
echoed through the streets. All to honor the Xuranians.

Aliane had not been to Northampton since the
erection of the City of Dreams. She often missed the sight of a
normal sun like she'd grown up with on Earth, where everything
wasn't tinted red and nights were dark. Many of the streets in the
city had been shut down in order to keep excessive traffic away
from the Xuranian visitors, and security had been tightened.
Sensible precautions but not ones that could keep her and her
confidante out.

"Look," Aliane instructed as she pointed west
down the street. A gang of heated protesters waved orange flags
near a group of wary police officers. "That kind of madness makes
me glad I'm not a normal anymore. Idiots, the whole lot of them."
She spat on the sidewalk because the words left a dirty taste in
her mouth.

They continued on toward the Capitol. Even
though she mocked them, she understood their fear. By nature,
humans were intolerant—of both the unknown and the different. News
of contact with the Xuranians filled her with anxiety, but in a
brief glimpse of clarity, she welcomed the news she'd been waiting
to hear her entire life.

A week ago, she'd asked Zingeri how he felt
about a potential alliance between the Xuranians and the
psions.

"I've been up all night thinking about it,"
she'd said to him while he rubbed his eyes and tried to regain some
semblance of consciousness. "It would finally give us the chance to
be something more than the black sheep of humanity."

"You're serious."

"Yes, I'm damned serious. We've been stuck
here for over a hundred years because nobody wants us. The
Xuranians could provide us with a way out and the means to live a
better life."

"That's not the whole reason though, is
it…?"

She'd always promised they would have their
revenge on the normals who'd ostracized them for so long. She never
used to feel that way. Back then, she dreamed of a home where she
didn't have to worry about being on the wrong side of the law.
After a century of having everything she wanted, she began to yearn
for even more.

"I want to be on the right side if they
attack," she said with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "And they will
attack."

"Is there something in the prophecy?"

She flipped her hand to the side. "Oh, I
don't know. I've given up trying to understand it. They are going
to attack because we are going to make them."

And that was how she'd left it. The mere idea
exemplified evil. Normals deserved the comeuppance in exchange for
how they'd treated psions over the years, and instigating war might
be the perfect way to spell revenge. To their credit the Xuranians
wanted peace and were actively helping humans in that regard. But
her motivations, her desires trumped all others.

Zingeri never agreed with her wanton desire
for payback. Before she came along, he'd been a spineless loser
floundering through life without purpose. She'd opened his eyes to
the wonders of telepathy. At the end of the day, he'd follow her
because he had no one else.

<today.>>

She rolled her eyes as the two of them
climbed the steps of the Capitol Building. "Get off of your high
horse, already. And stop broadcasting your thoughts like you're
screaming or the Vice President's wife will hear everything."

They headed inside and followed the signs
pointing to the grand ballroom. An afternoon reception had been
scheduled for the delegates there, and Aliane decided this would be
the best time to have a word with one of the Xuranians. A throng of
security outside the ballroom patted everyone down and searched
their bags for any illicit items.

<>

Aliane's eyes started to sting when she
forced her will upon the crowd nearby. Through her strong
domination aura, she made both security and the guests waiting to
enter ignore both of them. She'd sharpened her gift of compulsion
to perfect execution in a way no normals could resist, enabling
them to step past the guards and head inside like the two of them
were invisible.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "You don't
have to conceal me. These people don't know me."

She nodded and released his mind from her
spell. Due to her status as a criminal, Aliane needed to maintain
the power, which would drain her mental energy. As a Tier-9
telepath, Zingeri didn't need her to shield him should the
necessity arise, though it wouldn't be long before Nadine sensed an
outpouring of psionics nearby.

They wandered into the center of the room to
investigate the scene. A host of delegates from the PAU and AC
milled around with fleet officers and other cultural notables.
Aliane had never found such gatherings enjoyable. Throughout her
life, she made every effort to not be the center of attention. As a
psion, the skill kept her alive more times than she cared to
remember. She knew Zingeri would've been content to mingle with the
high-standing politicos, but they were here for one purpose only—to
speak with a member of the Xuranian delegation.

For the longest time aliens had been nothing
more than the yarns of madmen. Maybe after all this time, they'd
been right. They might have shields that allowed them to travel
unseen through the galaxy, appearing only to those deemed worthy of
contact. Romantic notions swirled through the room of humans
finally being offered a place in the galactic kingdom after years
of struggle and hardship. Humanity stood on the precipice of
destiny, and Aliane positioned herself to cut their lifeline.

A handful of Xuranians engaged in
conversations throughout the room. All were about the same size as
humans. Two of them had near-black skin marred by numerous fissures
that ran across their skin in jagged gashes of luminous red. They
wore their thick black hair slicked back, revealing small pointed
ears. The whites of their eyes blazed in bright crimson, causing
their black pupils to stand out. Both of them wore black tunics,
highlighted by intricate gold stitching around the collar.

The others didn't resemble their companions
at all. Their leathery skin had a brownish tint in varying shades
of the hue. An inconspicuous bump marked their nose, and their
large violet eyes squinted from the bright lights. Part of her
wondered if they'd been the offshoot of an amphibious species due
to their rounded facial features and elongated muscular legs. In
place of hair a mass of dark tentacles curled around their skulls.
None possessed external ears, just a small hole obscured by their
long tentacles. The three were sheathed in blue tunics that
resembled taffeta.

A tall lanky male with an orange gem around
his neck and a female carried on a conversation with President
Scheidecker and Vice-President Taylor. The male carried himself
proudly so Aliane suspected their negotiations should be with him.
A shorter male also with an orange stone spoke to Chairman Dodd and
several members of his staff.

Zingeri's eyes flashed for a moment when he
planted a suggestion in the President's mind to draw them away from
the male. <Taylor? It would be the highlight of her day, I'm sure.>>

Aliane listened to their conversation from
afar to see if the subliminal message took.

The President turned to his trusted ally.
"Has Nadine had the chance to meet Eniqua? Now seems to be as good
a time as any."

Bryan Taylor shook his head. "I don't think
so. When I last saw her, she was speaking with Viktor
Kornienko."

President Scheidecker gestured for Eniqua to
follow him and they started toward the other side of the room. The
second lady stood against the far wall, laughing and making small
talk with the PAU emissary.

Mr. Taylor bowed to the Xuranian they left
behind. "If you'll excuse us, Havier."

The three of them distanced themselves from
the Xuranian, who stood alone contemplating the design of the room.
A few moments later, Aliane moved toward him and Zingeri shadowed
her. The alien's gaze oscillated back and forth between the two
psions. They had no reason to expect their mental abilities to work
on the aliens, but the fact it didn't disturbed her.

She shuddered as she stared at him. The
creepy tentacle-hair made him look more like a demon than an
extraterrestrial. His hands had three fingers with slight webbing
between them. He bore unsightly scars all over his body—a seemingly
random pattern of iridescent spirals and lines near his eyes and on
his cheeks so intricate it must've been self-inflicted. The marks
continued down the visible skin of his arms and legs. She tried not
to focus on his appearance; judging someone based on their looks
was a trait of the normals, and she would not stoop to their
level.

Aliane strummed her fingers through her hair
and lit up her face with the most realistic smile she could muster.
"Welcome to Astra. My name is Aliane. It is quite a privilege to
meet you."

He bowed his head toward both of them.
"Greetings. I am Havier, lead negotiator in the human peace
talks."

Her smile faded as she focused the
conversation on the reason they'd come here today. "How much have
you heard about psions?"