Edge of Time (15 page)

A
lec wished for the twentieth time that he had a watch. How long had Riley been gone? What would happen if she didn't come back? Was he supposed to wait in the bathroom forever? No one had come in since she'd left and the red lighting had deepened slightly, so that the walls and floor seemed like they were burning. It was pretty creepy.

The door of the bathroom opened with its almost silent
whoosh
. Alec gulped. He eyed the locking mechanism on the stall door, reassuring himself that it was fastened securely, and hopped up on the rim of the seat as quietly as he could, settling down to wait. Several long seconds passed. Then several more. He listened intently but heard nothing. Did someone know he was there and was just waiting for his nerve to break? The urge to peek under the stall door grew stronger. What on earth was going on?

“You really need to learn to blanket your mind.”

Darius' voice startled Alec so badly he fell. Slamming the wall with the palm of his hand to halt his fall, he glanced upwards. Darius was watching over the top of the stall next to him.

“Jeez, give me a heart attack, why don't ya.” Alec straightened up.

“Get out and follow me.”

Alec undid the lock with shaking hands and stepped out into the bathroom, only wondering a second later if Darius was alone or if he'd walked into an ambush. Relief flooded him as he glanced around.

“Good time to think about a trap, after you've come out of hiding,” Darius said with mild rebuke.

“Gimme a break,” Alec muttered.

“You're hunted now.” Darius wasn't smiling. His stony countenance indicated a harder and less sympathetic man than Alec had seen before. “Time to start thinking like prey and smarten up. This is not a game.”

The words sparked a chill down the back of Alec's neck. “Then what are we standing around talking for? Shouldn't we be going?”

“Absolutely. Stay close.”

Darius crossed to where the door had been. He leaned against the wall, almost as if trying to listen through the metal. Apparently satisfied, he pressed his hand against the wall and the door materialized and opened. Darius leaned out and looked around.

“We're heading to the entrance. Several transports are due in dock in a couple of minutes. With all the new Potentials arriving, there should be enough distraction for us to leave. The barrier will be down only for a moment, so we have to be ready to leave the instant I tell you,” Darius instructed quietly. “Follow me and stay right behind. Say nothing to no one. Don't look anyone in the eye. Pretend that you know what you're doing and that you belong here.”

“Won't everyone know who I am?” Alec whispered nervously as they stepped out of the bathroom and into the wide corridor next to a long series of bunk beds. “I'm supposed to be locked up. Won't they try to stop me?”

“The Collective is a bit distracted at the moment, Alec. Keep your mind blank and no one will pick up on your worry about being caught. My thoughts will indicate this behaviour is required. Now, quiet.”

Darius' reassurance made no sense to Alec, but he was not in a position to argue. Darius had already headed out of the sleeping area and was striding down a long, wide corridor. Alec sped up to catch up to him. All he needed was to get separated.

“What about Riley?” Alec muttered after they had crossed the computer terminal area and turned yet another corner. They were now heading towards the far wall of the cavern. He looked around nervously. If she didn't meet up with them in time …

“She has her instructions,” Darius said. “Concentrate.”

Alec bit his tongue and took a deep breath. He couldn't imagine what she was doing that was so important. Heart in his mouth he strode along, head down, as if lost in thought. It was a lot harder to manage Anna's exercises now than it had been at the little table in his quarters.

His heart almost stopped the first time a Tyon Operative turned a corner ahead of them and passed by so closely he could have reached out and touched him. It only started beating again once the man passed without a comment.

Darius turned right and headed through a more populated section of the Base. Operatives, all waving their hands furiously over computer consoles, paid no attention as they passed. The very air was humming with frantic activity. Once through that section, Darius turned right and stopped. The outer wall of the chamber was directly ahead, with a set of closed double doors only metres away. There was no obvious lock nor was anyone on guard. Could they just walk out?

“The guards are outside these doors.” Darius didn't bother with the semblance of politely ignoring Alec's telepathic broadcast. He backed up a couple of steps to return to the partial protection of a divider wall and gave Alec a slight push to keep him from stepping too far out, into sight.

Several Operatives marched into Alec's line of sight and halted in front of the doors. Eerily, no one spoke as they waited. A sudden pang of worry coursed through him. Darius' coveralls were not as loose as Riley's had been, but if Darius had an orb on him, Alec couldn't see it. Darius wasn't planning to get out and make a run for it unarmed, was he?

Darius turned his head and mouthed the words, “Stop worrying,” before turning back to watch the crowd. Alec took a deep breath and tried again to purge his mind of every thought.

Several Operatives ran through the milling crowd and skidded to a stop in front of the doors. Both pulled out orbs, held them in the palms of their hands and directed a brief flash of white-blue light towards the doors. There was a grating sound, like rock rubbing against rock. Then the doors swung open.

Alec tensed to run, but Darius reached out and held his upper arm. The two Operatives walked through the doorway and disappeared into the dark corridor beyond. None of the others moved. Like Darius, they waited for some sign. Alec felt rather than heard it. A weight he hadn't actually been aware of lifted off his shoulders. Around him, the Operatives surged forward. Darius did likewise. Alec followed.

The corridor was low, domed and cold. It was dark, too, and Alec would have tripped had the stone floor been uneven. Darius walked at his side, his shoulder occasionally bumping into Alec's as the crowd jostled them.

Almost as quickly as they had entered the tunnel, they exited into a large chamber with a low roof and several dark tunnels leading out of it. The room was filled with people. Alec had the impression of scores of teenagers, many crying, and at least twenty Tyon Operatives, grim-faced and wearing the ubiquitous grey coveralls. Several of them were holding blood-soaked clothes to their faces and their uniforms were dirty and torn. Whatever had happened to them, it wasn't pleasant.

Darius tugged him to the side and out of the way. The Tyons from the Base surged past them, dividing the group into many smaller clusters with the minimum of instruction, and set about sending them all into the main chamber with military precision.

“Follow me,” Darius whispered. He turned and walked around the perimeter of the crowd with every appearance of having something important to do. He nodded to several of the newly arrived Tyon Operatives but spoke to no one. Alec followed. He kept his eyes on his feet and off the frightened faces of the other kids. It took nearly a minute to circumnavigate the crowd.

Darius turned suddenly and stopped. Alec halted mid-stride, turned his back to the crowd and leaned in to hear Darius' whisper. “The tunnel right behind you leads to the outside. Riley will join us there. Don't look like you are making your escape. Be casual. I'll follow. Go.”

Alec nodded once. Glancing surreptitiously around him, he walked around Darius and headed towards the dark opening just off to his right. Heart pounding, he passed the tunnel opening and then paused, pretending to bend down and adjust his shoe. Once certain no one was paying attention to him, he stood up and ducked down the tunnel. The second he was sure he was out of sight, he broke into a run.

The tunnel was darker than the chamber, and the lights posted on the wall few and far between. Alec ran with his hand out, trailing it along the surprisingly smooth stone to keep himself oriented. There was a turn to the right and another to the left. The floor sloped gently upwards.

He stopped to listen. Other than the
drip, drip
of water pooling into the small puddles that dotted the floor and a faint whistling of the air as it blew past him, the tunnel was silent. Alec leaned against the cold wall. He had no idea if he'd run far enough or not.

The minutes inched past. No one approached and nothing broke the silence. Alec ground his teeth and started to pace. Where the hell was Darius? Had something happened? What if Anna stopped him? Sweat trickled under his arms, making him shiver in the cooler air. A soft scraping caught his attention. He whirled around.

Someone walked into the faint pool of light. The young man was tall and blond, with wide shoulders and angry, pale eyes. He came to a stop only a couple of strides from Alec.

Alec swallowed the profanity. There was no point in running. Whoever he was appeared to be in peak physical condition, and no doubt he had an orb. The best Alec could hope for was preventing Darius and Riley from walking into the trap. “Who are you?” he challenged loudly.

“I am Riley's Guardian, Dean.” The man cocked his head on one side. “Where is she?”

Alec shrugged. “No idea. What's it to you?”

“Riley's safety and training are my responsibility,” Dean said in his clipped and accent-less voice. “I must prevent her foolish actions.”

“What foolish actions?” It was pretty lame, but for the life of him Alec couldn't think of anything else to say.

“She plans to liberate an orb from another Operative and meet Finn here, in this tunnel. I cannot permit it.”

“Because she doesn't want to stay or because Darius is telling her to?” Alec hadn't missed the inflection Dean gave Darius' name.

“Both.”

“You don't like him, do you?”

“Finn is unable to maintain the impersonal distance required in the Collective. He's
attractive
.”

This was not what Alec had expected to hear. “So you guys don't like him, because you
like
him? That's totally weird. Not to mention stupid.”

“Attraction and personal feelings have no place in the function of the Collective. The only goal is to serve and protect against the Others. Emotional attachments are permitted once an Operative's duty has been discharged. Not before.” Dean seemed to tire of the conversation or he had realized Alec's purpose in keeping him talking. “Turn around, Alec, and start walking,” he ordered.

So Dean knew exactly who he was, which meant he'd also know to tell Logan. Fighting the sudden urge to lash out, Alec turned and took a step back down the tunnel towards captivity, his mind working furiously. If he could somehow overpower Dean, he might still make a run for it. He just had to catch him unawares.

He almost walked into Darius, who had been standing in the shadows.

“He's leaving with me, Dean.” Darius' voice was quiet but the menace unmistakable.

“Sometimes I wonder about you, Finn,” Dean said. His voice seemed to echo in the half-dark. “It's as if you just don't understand how sub-standard you really are to all of us. You have no orb. You're physically my inferior. And yet, you oppose me? There is little hope for this planet if you're a representative sample.”

“I know this is particularly difficult for you, after all the training we've done together. But I'm leaving now. And Alec is coming with me.
You
are not going to stop me.” Darius reached out and grabbed Alec's arm, shoving him roughly against the wall and out of his way before Alec could react. He took a threatening step towards Dean. “Let's just settle this, once and for all, why don't we?”

“This isn't Rec training, Finn. I won't hold back. You'll die.”

“Then kill me.”

A
lec held his breath. There was no way you could duck an orb blast. What the hell was Darius doing?

Darius grinned and didn't move. The light was so poor it was hard to tell for certain, but Alec couldn't see an orb in his hand. Was he just going to stand there and let Dean murder him?

“If you have a God, you should pray to him now,” whispered Dean.

“And
you
should hope that no one finds out that you plan to murder a fellow Operative in cold blood, without a weapon of his own. Logan will be severely annoyed to see one of his own defy the Code. But then, maybe your feelings for me drove you to it. A crime of passion, hmm?”

The swear word Dean used was completely new to Alec, but the hatred and hurt behind it were not.

Someone clutched at Alec's arm. Startled, he turned away from the two men for a split second. Riley was hidden by shadows and had approached so quietly he doubted the others even knew she was there. Dean couldn't see her, Alec realized. She could still get away.

He shook his head mutely, willing her to run. She didn't. Alec tried to yank his arm away from hers, but her grip was so strong that all he did was unbalance her. Riley stumbled against Alec, grabbing on to his other arm to break her fall. He felt an orb drop into his pocket. With a sudden flash of insight, he pushed her away again, hoping she'd understand and melt back into the darkness, now that he was armed. But she either didn't get his silent message or had an agenda of her own.

“Don't hurt him,” Riley gasped. Her voice echoed eerily in the tunnel. “You don't want to. I know you don't.”

“He's defying orders.” Dean managed to get the words out, despite his clenched jaw. “I must stop him.”

“You'll have to go through me first,” Riley challenged. She made as if to fling herself in front of Darius, but Alec grabbed her arms to stop her. He pinned her against the cold stone, shielding her from Dean.

“You're making a grave mistake. We're helping the Terrans. We're not the enemy, Rhozan is,” Dean said, his eyes never leaving Darius.

“Yeah, really?” Riley's voice was scathing as she squirmed impotently against Alec. “So why's Logan planning to kill Alec, eh? Explain that.”

Alec's breath caught in his throat.
What
? He barely saw Dean's eyes flicker from Riley to himself and back again. “There has been no order given to terminate Alec. You are mistaken.”

“There has and it is you who is mistaken.”

Dean whirled around.

Anna stepped out of the inky darkness. In her hand was her orb, its wintry blue glow strengthening with every step. Her expression was cold and unemotional. She might have been made from ice.

Alec's heartbeat racked up a notch.
What on earth had she said
?

“You knew all along what Logan was planning and you went along with it.” Darius sounded bitter. “You kept that from me.”

“I made my promise to Logan, long before I made mine to you.”

“Then it was all lies? Everything?” Alec couldn't see Darius' face but his back was rigid.

“No. Not everything,” Anna said slowly.

“Has Logan ordered a death mark for this boy?” Dean kept his eye on Darius but spoke to his supervisor. He sounded confused, or at least wary. “For what reason?”

“Alec is the strongest Potential ever created. Stronger than Finn,” Anna said without taking her eyes off Darius. “But unlike Darius, he's been tainted by contact with Rhozan. The link has been confirmed. That magnitude of power cannot be permitted to be corrupted.”

Alec recoiled. This couldn't be true. He'd know if someone that powerful came knocking at his mind. Wouldn't he?

“He's not in league with the Others, Anna,” Darius said, his voice persuasive. “You know it, as well as I. Any link that has been forged was done by them, not him. You've worked with him for days now. You've seen inside his mind. He's only a child. He can still be trained. Any link can be broken.”

Alec could hear that Darius was pleading for his life, and yet at the same time he couldn't help but bristle at Darius' description. The last thing he felt like was a child.

“You
agree
with Logan?” Riley shouted over Alec's shoulder. “You
bitch
.”

Alec tightened his hold on her as she squirmed wildly. “Let me go, you dork,” she grunted, kicking at Alec's shin with surprising accuracy.

Anna looked away from Darius and pierced Alec with a look he couldn't quite understand. Then she transferred her gaze to Riley. “Orders and obedience. Two concepts that continue to be unfamiliar to you, Riley. You cannot proceed with your training until you understand both of these.
Do as you've been instructed
.”

Riley stiffened. Then, before Alec could react, she reached into his pocket, grabbed at the orb. Alec tried to stop her. His hand succeeded in grasping around hers as she pulled it out, the warm smoothness of the orb only touching a fingertip. But it was enough. Darius' hand snaked out of the darkness and clasped over his.

“Now!” Riley shouted in the same instant Darius' message slammed into his mind. Alec had no choice. The power awoke inside him, straining to join in. He added his response to theirs. The light from Riley's orb flashed brilliantly in the confined space, for a moment searing an image of Dean, his hands upturned in defence, his own orb brilliant with power, and Anna, standing still, her hands by her side, into Alec's brain.

In the same instant, someone else was there, hovering at the back of Alec's mind, touching it tentatively, like a caress, but colder and impersonal. Alec shuddered. The sensation began to slip away.

The light faded to nothing, leaving the tunnel even darker than before.

For several seconds Alec could do nothing but blink furiously as tears streamed down his cheeks. On all fours now, he felt cold and disoriented. Wetness was seeping through the material on his knees. He was wrist-deep in a puddle. He couldn't concentrate.

“Get her orb,” Darius was saying in the distance.

“What about Dean's?” Riley called back to him. Both of them seemed awfully far away. Alec shook his head to clear it, but the cold,
touching
feeling was growing again. It was getting harder to think.

“Alec, get up.” Darius' hand grabbed under his arm and a forceful yank pulled him upward. He swayed. “Here, hold onto this.” Someone dropped an orb into his hand. It was all he could do to concentrate on closing his fingers around it.

“Dare, I think they're–” Riley wailed.

“Don't think about it,” Darius responded. His voice, too, was muffled.

“We can't just
leave
them.”

Darius said something indistinct. Riley gave a sob. Alec swayed again. His feet were miles away. He couldn't see. What had happened? Why didn't he care?

“Riley, we've got to leave. Now. Otherwise her sacrifice will be for nothing.” Darius was urging Riley and tugging at Alec's arm at the same time.

What sacrifice
? Alec reached up to rub his eyes and knocked the orb inadvertently against his forehead. Whose orb was this? Irritated and muddled, Alec slipped the orb into his pocket and stopped resisting Darius' tugging. He took a tentative step into the darkness, didn't fall, and took another.

He was pulled up the slope one laborious step after another. Lights came and went, creating faint pools of brightness, then fading to inky darkness once more. He felt as if he were somewhere else, then back again inside his own skin without any indication that he'd moved. He felt anger and triumph, then dizzy and confused. Pictures flashed through his mind. Battles, monsters, mayhem. What was real and what were fantasies? He couldn't concentrate.

The slope became steeper and the air around him warmer. The tunnel outlines took on clarity as the sunlight from the world outside filtered downwards. Alec was mostly oblivious.

By the time they stepped out into the sunshine, he didn't even notice.