Away (14 page)

Indigo looked at Pathik and Fisher. “You two don't remember a time when our camp was ever plagued by Roberts men. Neither do your parents.” He glanced in Malgam's direction. “But there was a time. A time when they were many, and we were few, when we lived in fear of their attacks. They came at night to steal our women, or snatched our children from us in broad daylight. Those they took were never seen again, at least alive. Those who didn't hide their gifts were killed immediately; those without gifts, those who knew enough to hide them when they were caught, were taken as slaves. Often, their bodies were dumped on the edge of our camp when the Roberts were through with them, as a sort of warning. The bodies were always ruined; testaments to horrible suffering.

“That day, when they took me, I knew they were going to hurt me, maybe for a long time, and then kill me.” Indigo paused. “I killed them instead.”

There were gasps. Rachel looked around the campfire. Nandy, Malgam, and Pathik all had their heads bowed. It was clear they already knew the story. The gasps had come from Fisher and Peter. Fisher was staring at Indigo, his face a mask of shock. Peter was staring too, with something more like curiosity.

“That's your gift?” Fisher sounded horrified. “To kill?”

“As I said, I'm not certain it can be called a gift.” Indigo raised his eyes to Fisher's. “I didn't know I could do it until I did. I was so afraid, lying there, listening to their plans for me. I was already farther from camp than I had ever been, and I thought I would never see my family again. I began to cry so hard that I almost choked—the gag in my mouth made it hard to breathe. One of them got up and walked over to me. I thought he might help me, remove the gag at least, but he just kicked me, hard, and told me to shut up. The other two laughed. And my fear kept building and building until . . . something happened.

“I could see a picture in my mind, a picture of a tube. And there was liquid flowing, pulsing, really, through the tube, and it scared me, because the fluid was blood. The blood of one of the men. I knew that, somehow. I also knew that if I could puncture that tube, I would be safe. So I tried, in my mind, to poke the tube, to make a hole in it and let all the liquid out. But I couldn't. All I could do was make the wall of the tube thinner, in one tiny place. So while the Roberts men laughed and ate, and I lay shivering in the dirt, I worked on that. It was hard. I scraped and scraped at that one place with my mind, until it got so thin it began to bulge, from the pressure of the blood flowing through. It got bigger and bigger, like a bubble. And finally, it burst, and all of the blood that was pulsing through the tube exploded outward.”

Indigo had stopped seeing Fisher, or anyone else, while he told his story. He had gone to some inner vista, where that day he was captured was clear and vivid. Now his eyes refocused, and he was once again aware of the people around him.

“When that bubble burst, one of the Roberts men fell where he sat. There wasn't a mark on him, but it was obvious he was dead. The other two were confused and afraid—they didn't know what had happened to their companion. But soon enough their eyes fell on me; they started toward me and I knew they were going to kill me.” Indigo shook his head. “I killed one of them too, before I even really knew what I was doing. The third Roberts man ran—and when he reached his camp he told them about the killer boy with deep blue eyes.

“My father found me there just before nightfall, bound and gagged and sobbing, with two cooling bodies for company. He'd come looking as soon as the alarm was sent round that I was missing. I remember his face, one moment so filled with joy at the sight of me alive, the next filled with horror. I knew he understood, right away, that I had killed them.”

There was silence. Nandy placed a hand on Indigo's shoulder.

“That's why the Roberts won't come here at night, why they may not come at all. It's why they haven't come near our camp for decades. They believe evil thrives at night; they believe I am evil.

“My father and the elders of our camp made sure the Roberts thought I could kill them all. They dragged the bodies of the Roberts men to the edge of their camp. They shouted to them. They told them the time had come for all of them to die; that the child was born who would do it, a child named Indigo. They told them their only hope was to leave us alone—that they might be spared if they kept away.

“They went further, even than that, to ensure our camp's safety.

“My father told me on his deathbed that the council at that time knew they had to take action against the Roberts. When I killed those men I gave the elders something they could use to frighten the Roberts. In order to leverage that fear, the council did something even more horrible than what I did. My killings were an accident; I had no way to know what I was doing. But the council men, my father included, snuck into the Roberts camp at night in twos and threes and killed people. They killed people who were sleeping, or who had stepped away from the safety of the main camp to relieve themselves. They strangled them, so that it might seem as though they died the same way the men who abducted me did. And then they drew blue eyes on the bodies, and left them to be found. They did this for weeks. They left the bodies as warnings. And it worked. The Roberts stayed away from our camp. At least they did, until lately. But what a stain on our history.” Indigo looked sad.

“From your description, it sounds as though you were somehow able to cause aneurisms in those men, aneurisms that killed them almost instantly. No wonder the government wants to get their hands on subjects. I had no idea that your powers went that far.” Peter looked fascinated.

“What do you mean by ‘subjects'? And how do you know what the government wants? Unless you're working with them.” Rachel glared at Peter.

“I'm on your side, Rachel.”

“What about them? Are you on their side too?” Rachel gestured toward the Others.

Peter just shook his head.

“Enough of this,” said Nandy. “Right now we all need to rest, if we can.” She eyed Peter. “There will be time to uncover the truth about things when we're safe back at camp. I'm taking first watch.” She looked worried.

“Nandy's right.” Malgam stood. “We get as much rest as we can tonight and at first light we head for home.”

Nandy strode to the edge of the firelight. She took out her knife and turned toward the darkness. The others settled into their bedrolls around the fire and tried to ignore the night sounds.

CHAPTER 12

R
ACHEL.”

The voice was her father's. So soft and gentle. Rachel opened her eyes. She could see the outlines of the nearest trees clearly; dawn was coming soon.

“Rachel.”

It really
was
her father's voice—not a dream she had been having. Rachel sat up. He was awake too, a few feet away from her. She rummaged for a water container and brought it to him.

“Here. You should drink.”

He looked at her for a long time before he took the water. Then he drank, deeply. She saw that he was crying. She didn't know what to say to him.

“I can't believe it's you.” He whispered, so as not to wake the others.

“I feel . . . the same way. I—”

“. . . thought you were dead.” They spoke the same words at the same time. Rachel smiled, and Daniel reached out his hand. She took it in both of hers.

“Well. Neither one of us is dead, Rachel. And I am so happy to see your face.” He clasped his other hand over theirs, and squeezed. “I can see the three-year-old you in your features, believe it or not.”

Rachel didn't say anything.

“I know.” He nodded at her. “You probably don't remember me.”

“I saw digims of you.” Rachel wanted him to know he had been in her life.

“Only digims of me, and of a much younger me. I don't imagine I look anything like them right now.” Daniel fell silent. He squeezed her hands again. “Rachel. Your mom. Is she really . . .”

“She's alive.”

He bowed his head, his tears finally overcoming him. Rachel waited until he had wiped his eyes dry before she spoke again.

“She loved you, Dad. She still does. She never stopped hoping you were alive, all these years, even if she never said it out loud.”

He nodded. “I thought you were both dead. All these years, I thought you were both dead.”

“Dan.” It was Peter. “Are you feeling like you can travel?”

“Peter.” Daniel gave a half laugh. “I cannot believe this. You and Rachel, both here, both alive and well.” Daniel frowned. “And Rachel tells me Vivian truly is alive and well. You told Indigo's man she was dead.”

Peter looked confused. “What man?”

“There's a man in Bensen—Jard Thompson is what he goes by there. He's one of the Others. He's been there for many years—he was there before Indigo, even. He came to you soon after I was Called to Serve, didn't he? After they said I died?”

Peter nodded. “He did. He asked me about Viv, asked me if he could pay his respects for her loss. Everyone was under the impression you had died in the war, and that she was a widow. Even I didn't know for certain, though I had my suspicions that they had just used the Call to Serve as a way to get rid of you. He's one of them?” Peter looked astounded. “I thought he worked with you at the firm, or something like that.”

“Why did you tell him Vivian and Rachel were dead?”

“I didn't. I told him exactly what I knew, which was that the apartment was empty and I couldn't find them.”

Peter looked at Rachel when she snorted. “I tried to find your mom and you, Rachel. But the place where you lived was abandoned. I couldn't find any sign of you, or find out where you'd gone. I actually did think you were dead—I thought they came and took you. But that wasn't what I told Thompson—I only said I didn't know where you were.”

“I don't believe you!” Rachel sneered at Peter. She turned to Daniel. “He said he'd bring us a key, and he brought the EOs instead.”

“There's a misunderstanding, Daniel.” Peter was calm.

“Rachel.” Daniel reached out and took her hand. “Peter has been a friend of mine for many, many years. Let's hear what he has to say.”

Rachel wasn't happy, but she grudgingly agreed.

“I still don't know exactly what Viv was up to, Danny.” Peter smiled faintly. “She showed up out of the blue, after all those years—showed up on my doorstep asking for a key. It was right after they Identified Jolie and Trina—”

“They what?” Daniel looked horrified. “Oh Peter. I'm so sorry.” He frowned. “But who is Trina?”

“Trina was . . . is our daughter. She was born after you got the Call to Serve,” said Peter. “I still hope to see them again. I plan to use the maps, Daniel. I'm going to try to negotiate a trade.”

“I don't have them, Peter. I left them with Viv when I went to Serve.”

“I have them,” said Rachel. She answered Daniel's surprised look. “Mom put some things in my pack.”

Peter nodded. “She told me you had them that night when the EOs showed up at Ms. Moore's. That's why I Crossed. I hoped to find you and get you back to your mom, and also get the maps. I think they'll work a deal with me if I have the maps.”

“So you really brought her a key?” Rachel was still skeptical.

“I really did.”

“But you used a key to Cross.”

“I did.”

Rachel's lower lip was trembling. She did her best to sound brave. “So we can't get back.”

“Well, that's the thing . . .” Peter stopped speaking. Both he and Daniel stared at the tree line.

“What's that?” Rachel whispered. Something was growling, low and loud.

“Where's the laser saw?” Peter didn't take his eyes off the trees.

“It's here.” Rachel felt for the saw—she had tucked it in her bedroll before she slept. She found it almost immediately and held it up. Peter grabbed it.

“Try to get close to the fire. They're afraid of fire. Move very slowly.” Malgam spoke in a hushed voice. He too had heard the growl.

Rachel looked over and saw that everyone else was awake, all eyes glued to the tree line. Nipper appeared from nowhere and crouched in front of Nandy, a snarl coming from his throat.

“What
is
it?” Peter's finger hovered on the laser saw switch.

“It's a baern.” Malgam sounded grim. “It's hunting.”

“I guess it eats people?” Peter didn't sound happy.

“Yes,” Malgam whispered. “It eats people.” He stared at the tree line. “You and Daniel and Rachel are the closest to it. You need to move first. Get around to the other side of the fire as quietly as you can. Don't move fast.”