Children of Evolution (The Gateway Series Book 2) (59 page)

He couldn't open that door. Emotion was a weakness he couldn't indulge. Cold logic was what he needed. Humanity couldn't afford for him to waver or hesitate, not now. The time for second-guessing was long past. His course was set.
 

Gideon looked at Savior, who was fixated on his simulations with unwavering focus, and he wondered, not for the first time since they'd arrived, which of them would betray the other first.

Nikki

Operation Two Birds, as Nikki was calling it, was about to start, and she was pretty sure she was going to be sick.
 

She swallowed the rising bile and took a deep breath, then went back to trying to wrestle the last cable from the back of the last monitor. It wasn't cooperating.

"Got it, kid," Mos said. He reached past her and gave the cable a twist and press and it popped free.
 

Nikki gave it the dirtiest look she could muster, which was filthy, thanks to her roiling stomach. Mos just smiled at her and wound the cable around his open hand.

"I can finish breaking this equipment down on my own, you know?" Mos said. "I'm a big boy."

"Yeah, I know," she replied. "I just—I don't know. I feel—" Sick. Scared. Conflicted. "—attached, I guess. I've been staring at this stuff for four days."

Mos laughed. "I getcha. I spent a week in the four-seater with Coop on a surveillance op one time."

"God," Nikki groaned.

"Tell me about it," he said. "Wanted to kill Coop, but I still have a soft spot for that passenger seat. We bonded."

Nikki smiled for the first time today and stepped back to look around as Mos detached the last monitor and slid it into the padded case.
 

From atop the sleeper module, she could see for what looked like kilometers now. The walls connecting the modules were gone, removed by the team this morning. The dome was gone as well, pulsed away in a much more dramatic fashion by Savior just minutes ago. What had looked like a single structure hours before was now just a handful of containers in a wide circle around the Gateway, which was currently catching the afternoon sun—soon to catch dozens of blood-thirsty creatures.
 

"Nikki, it's time," Elias said from below.
 

Nikki looked down and met his steady gaze for a second, then she nodded and walked down the ramp. Elias met her at the bottom and fell in beside her as she walked to the control module where the others were waiting.
 

She could feel the concern coming off him. He'd made his feelings about this plan known. He'd argued that Nikki should be well away from ground zero, with Sam a couple of klicks out to watch the creatures' approach, or even with Corso in the assault shuttle.

Gideon had overruled him. For this plan to work, Nikki had to be here. Actually, for this to work, she had to be on the other side of the Gateway.

Bird one: Open the Gateway to correct the mess Savior's partners had made of it.
 

That part of the plan was seconds away. Gideon and Savior were running final checks now, by the looks of things. Ace and Coop were in position on the dance floor, watching the Gateway.
 

Bird two: Draw all the creatures from this side through the Gateway, putting them back where they belong.
 

To make that happen, the "bait" had to go to the other side. Savior, Impact, and Nikki were the bait, hence her queasiness.
 

Cole was going through with them. Dealing with a pack of genesis creatures on the other side wasn't going to be pretty, and everybody agreed Cole was the master of not pretty. He was waiting on the dance floor near Ace, staring back to the west like he could see the creatures gathering out there.

Elias was going through as well. Nobody liked that part of the plan, but he was adamant. If Nikki was going in there, with Savior, Elias wanted to be right beside her. Nikki had told him she'd be fine, but apparently she hadn't been convincing enough.
 

What she hadn't told him was that she had a plan of her own. Once things got hairy, she was going to find out once and for all if she could draw energy from Savior. If she could, if his power could make her strong again, she had no intention of hiding behind his shield as planned.

"Market—Command," Kate's voice said over the com. "Impact has them herded. The package is ready."

Nikki took another deep breath to try to settle her nerves. She was so done with being scared of these things. She was done feeling weak. If there was any justice in the universe, that was going to end, today.

"Stand by for delivery," Elias replied. Then he looked to Gideon.

"Savior?" Gideon asked, his tone almost level.

"Power flow nominal," Savior replied without looking up from his screens. "It's ready, Marcus."
 

Savior's voice held a little more emotion, like he, at least, was feeling the gravity of what they were about to do.

Gideon didn't make a speech or savor the moment in any way. He simply input a series of commands and then lifted his uneven gaze from his screens to the Gateway.

Nikki turned as the buzz started, like a swarm of bees the size of cats. The little knobbies running along the outside of the oversized frame crackled one at a time as the buzz breached the pain barrier. Then the air in the center of the Gateway cracked, like a single bolt of lightning arcing from top to bottom, and the buzz died down to a deep hum Nikki could feel tingling in her chest.
 

"It's done," Gideon said, his voice cold.

For a second, Nikki didn't see any difference, but as the afterimage from the flash faded, she saw the bare earth on the other side of the Gateway where the back of the dance floor should have been—earth with a red tint, under a sky thick with hazy clouds.
 

They'd actually done it. She was staring into the future, or at another planet, if their original theory was right. Either way, Nikki was speechless.
 

"Gideon?" Elias asked.
 

He didn't respond.
 

Nikki looked back to see both Savior and Gideon staring at the Gateway—one with a look of wonder; the other with something closer to horror.

"It
is
the source, Marcus," Savior said, his tone vibrating with emotion. "Do you see it?"

Gideon didn't respond, but the way he continued to stare at the Gateway said he saw something all right, and he wasn't loving it.

Nikki looked back at the Gateway, but all she saw was the frame and the cracked desert floor beyond. Savior's excitement was infecting her though. The tingle was slowly spreading out from her chest.

"If the wormhole is the genesis source, it stands, Marcus," Savior said behind her. "The background levels we detected in that atmosphere—we put them there. When we opened the first Gateway, we created that world."

"Gideon?" Elias tried again.

Nothing.
 

He didn't react until Mos stepped up behind him and put a hand on his arm. Only then did Gideon pull his gaze from what he'd created to look at Elias. He looked down at the monitor in front of him.

"It is stable," he said, his voice little more than a whisper.

"Power levels holding," Savior confirmed from his console, then he stepped away from it to come closer, stopping beside Nikki to stare into the future.
 

"Mos, Coop, lock it down," Elias ordered.
 

Once Gideon stepped clear, they swung the sides of the module up and locked them in place, sealing the control equipment away per the plan, in case the creatures got distracted on their way through.

"Ace, if you would," Gideon said as he walked past them toward the com module. Ace followed.
 

They'd considered sending Gideon with Ace and the others in the transport, but their job was to secure this side of the Gateway once all the creatures were through. No one wanted to risk Gideon losing control in the confines of the transport.
 

Gideon stepped inside the module, and Ace closed the clear doors and sealed them with a mag-lock. Gideon stood just on the other side of the doors, staring through, but not at Ace, or Elias, or even the Gateway—his gaze was locked on Nikki.

"Command—Market," Elias said into the com. "Deliver the package."

"Copy, Command."

"Eagle—Market. Widen your pattern," Elias ordered. "I want to be sure we have them all."

"Copy traffic, Market," Corso's voice replied.

Elias looked back at Nikki. "OK, get ready."

Following his example, Nikki unfolded the light hood of the fitted suit they'd given her. Elias had to show her again how to open the slit in the top and slide the hood down over her face so it covered only her nose and mouth. The glasses she could figure out on her own.

Cole and Savior just watched. They didn't have anything to protect them from the hot, biting wind on the other side, but they didn't seem to care.
 

As soon as Ace got back and covered up as well, she and Elias walked to the Gateway and stepped through.
 

The wind was stronger on the other side. Nikki could see it pulling at their masks and tugging at the tight strands of Ace's bun. The two of them scanned every direction with their rifles and even disappeared around the edge of the frame. Ace reappeared and stepped back through to the present. Then Elias stepped into view and gave the signal.

Nikki walked forward with Savior on one side of her and Cole on the other, the tingle from the Gateway's hum spreading from her chest to her limbs as she got closer. She shivered as the tingle rippled through her, stealing her nausea as it went.
 

Heart pounding, Nikki crossed the threshold and—her breath caught. Stepping through the Gateway was like stepping through a wall of fire. She stumbled as she stepped through, but not out of weakness. Power flooded into her in the space of that single step, supercharging her muscles, hardening her skin.

The heat on the other side was heavy, like they'd stepped from early spring straight into the heart of summer, but it didn't weigh Nikki down like it did Elias. She felt like she could fly if she wanted.
 

She pulled the hood down around her neck and took in a deep breath. The hot wind was full of dust and tiny shards of rock sharp enough to cut, but Nikki barely felt them tickling against her skin. She couldn't help but laugh. Beside her, Savior did the same.
 

He'd stopped as well and turned back to stretch one arm out, his hand moving slowly over the threshold. He laughed again, softly, and breathed, "Magnificent."

"Nikki, put the mask up," Elias said. He stepped closer, eyeing Nikki and Savior. "What are you doing?"

"Feeling more powerful than ever, I'd imagine," Savior said.

Not even close. Not yet. The most powerful she'd ever felt was the last thing she wanted to think about right now though.

"She doesn't need protection now," Savior said, pulling his hand free. A gust blew a heavier stream of dust over them, but it parted around the shield half a meter in front of Savior. "Not the mask's, not yours, not even mine."

Elias looked at Nikki. She could just make out the question in his eyes through the light tint of his glasses.

"He's right," she said. "I'm good." She laughed again and bit her lip to stop it, but she couldn't catch the tear that rolled down into the pad of her glasses. "I'll be fine. Better than fine. You should go with the others."

Elias watched her for a second, then looked at Savior—two very different looks. "We stick to the plan. Let's move."

Keeping to a normal pace as they walked farther from the Gateway was a challenge. Nikki wanted to run, to leap, to charge something. She felt more alive than she had in so long. And she wasn't alone.

Michael was right beside her, almost literally. She could feel him with her as strongly as that day in the gym when she'd fought Cole. He wasn't pushing her out of herself this time though. True to his word, he was holding himself back. The only feeling flooding through from him was raging joy.

The four of them—five, really—stopped and turned to face the Gateway, and waited.
 

After a few minutes, Nikki felt the unused power coursing through her start to ebb. She could still feel the Gateway, the energy coming from it, but apparently two hundred meters was too far for her to draw it in. She started to fidget, a tremor of doubt twisting its way into her link with Michael.

It's OK, Nik,
he said, his voice strong despite his attempts to hold back on the volume.
If it starts to give—

"Can you still feel it?" Savior asked.
 

Nikki looked over to see a tiny wrinkle marring Savior's brow. "Can you still draw on it?"

Don't tell him—

She shook her head.
 

Or do,
Michael said.

"I can barely tap it myself from this distance," Savior said with a nod, his voice low, his eyes shifting toward the Gateway. Then he looked back and lifted one hand to her, his smooth palm up. "May I?"

She wasn't positive what he wanted to do, and Michael was more than suspicious, but neither of them was afraid. With strength in her body again, Nikki wasn't afraid of anything.

She nodded.

Power pulsed from Savior's hand. It was a tiny wave compared to what she'd seen from him earlier, a little pulse that might have blown a door off its hinges or sent a few people sprawling. It hit Nikki like a strong breeze, pushing her back a step, and sent a ripple of power coursing through her.
 

Savior smiled and nodded. "Just as I thought," he said.
 

Nikki might have laughed. She wasn't sure. The trickle of doubt was still there from Michael, but he couldn't hide the relief overpowering it.
 

A crackle came over the com, but if it had words in it, Nikki couldn't make them out. She looked over at Elias, but he shook his head. They'd expected the signal to fail through the Gateway, but the trickle of doubt from Michael increased.