Terra Nova (The Variant Conspiracy Book 3) (21 page)

Chapter 29

“What the hell?” Faith gripped the table. She released the wood tabletop and left charred black handprints.

“That can’t be a coincidence,” I said.

“Probably not. But I thought you said Ivan and Tatiana were weak,” said Jonah.

“They are. Or they were. Maybe it was Rose and Sage,” I said.

“Those two couldn’t send an email without help. You think they calibrated and engaged a fracking drill?” said Cole.

“Well, somebody did!” I glared at him. “Or did Kenya just happen to experience an earthquake the day after we tried to break Ilya away from Ivan?”

The cliff-side patio creaked under its own weight. I felt a rumble in the floor beneath my feet.

“This thing could go over any minute,” said Josh.

We stood up carefully. A loud creak groaned. Popping snaps crackled up from the wood. My friends bolted. I stopped to grab my backpack and Faith’s.

Jonah yanked hard on my arm. “Now!” he yelled.

I ran as hard and fast as my legs would carry me following my friends off the deck and up the path to the main building. I turned back to see the floor of the deck drop out of sight as our dinner table slid off the cliff.

“Oh my God!” I blurted.

Several club staff ran past us out of the main building in a hurry to assess the damage to their central outdoor dining patio. I heard shouts of alarm at finding it had gone down into the ravine. The remaining few staff on site were crowded around the bar, craning necks up to the television.

“This is the largest earthquake ever recorded in East Africa,” said a woman in a purple pantsuit standing near the edge of the Rift Valley. A roadside stand much like the Samburu Curio Shop lay collapsed beside her. Plumes of smoke rose from inside the heart of the valley.

“But the damage at the epicenter here in the Rift Valley is not comparable to the damage back in Nairobi. George, can you update us on what’s happening in the city?” said the reporter.

A young man in a white collared shirt stood next to an unrecognizable collapsed structure.

“I’m standing next to the Kenya National Theatre where some five hundred people are missing and presumed dead in the building’s collapse. Authorities are still assessing damage across the city, all while Kenyans are reeling from the news of the disastrous tanker crash in Mombasa. Locals are asking how an earthquake of this magnitude could have happened in East Africa. Meanwhile, two other large earthquakes in Peru and Indonesia are diverting some of the world’s most preeminent seismic experts. In fact, disasters have been on the rise around the world in the last twenty-four hours leaving first responders frightened and bewildered as they attempt to cope with the tasks at hand in their own communities.”

“What happened in Mombasa?” I asked one of the waiters at the bar.

“The crash? You did not hear?” said the man.

“An oil tanker tried to dock at a passenger terminal. There is now crude oil in the ocean from Mombasa to Malindi. They say it will take years to clean. Coastline may never recover,” said a young waitress behind the bar.

“Three major earthquakes in one day. Disasters on the rise everywhere. This smells like
The Compendium
,” I said.

“They’re really ready to release Terra Nova if they’ve escalated the rest of their plans,” said Cole.

“How are they pulling this off?” said Faith.

“We still don’t know what other Compendium factions are working out there,” said Melissa.

“If we can stop Terra Nova, it’s not too late,” said Gemma.

“I’ll try to reconnect to Ilya. Maybe if they’ve got so much happening all at once, that creature will be too preoccupied to keep me out.” I didn’t wait for permission. I walked outside and found a covered loveseat, situated for a view of the valley and hills. I sat down and tried to picture my brother’s face. My whole body shook.

Irina? Can you hear me?
Ilya’s voice came through suddenly loud and clear.

I jumped in my seat.
Yes! I tried to find you. Are you okay? Are you still in Kibera? I thought the whole thing might have caved in after the earthquake
.

I’m okay. This place fared surprisingly well, at least Ivan’s compound did. I tried an illusion—won’t bore you with the details. You’re not going to believe this. They have an invisible man here. None other than that Evonatura CEO, Claude Mueller. I guess my illusions don’t work on him when he’s invisible.

Sonofabitch!
Claude Mueller is there? The new variant! I guess that answers who’s been coordinating everything with Ivan and Tatiana out of commission. Are they still both too weak to be dangerous?

As far as I can tell Ivan is pretty sick, but Aunt Tat is recovering quickly, even without a healer. I can hear her thoughts. She’s getting ready to transfer that creature from Ivan to me
.

No! We still don’t know how to kill it! I think that’s why the thing kicked us out of Ivan’s mind. He knows a way to kill the parasite itself and end the creature forever. We have to get back in!

Where’s your other psychic?

He’s still here with me. Hang on
,
I’m going to get him
. I hopped off the outdoor sofa and ran back into the club.

Mr. Mbele had a concerned frown on his face. “I need you to come with me. We have to connect to my brother. He’s going to try to get us back into my father’s mind. That demon camped out in my father can be killed. We have to find out how.”

Mr. Mbele nodded and came with me. Useless as I knew my location was, I went back to the sofa and reclaimed my seat. I grabbed Ilya’s medallion and took a deep breath. Mr. Mbele sat next to me and I grabbed his hand with my free one.
Ilya, I have Mr. Mbele here. We’re coming to you. Try to get back into Ivan’s head
.

“Focus on Ilya’s cell in Kibera,” I said to Mr. Mbele. I closed my eyes and tried to picture my brother sitting on his cot. The blackness behind my eyes fell away and Mr. Mbele and I were in Ilya’s cell. I could hear the faint wail of distant sirens.

Ilya, we’re in, can you get to Ivan without standing next to his body?

“Let’s find out. Grab onto me if you can see me, because I can’t see you,” Ilya said out loud.

Ilya closed his eyes to concentrate while Mr. Mbele and I reached out each touching one of Ilya’s shoulders.

We snapped into Ivan’s cabin, but the room was full of a smoky haze. The once pristine forest outside the cabin’s bay window was in the throes of a major fire. The real Ivan had his back to us, tending something on the kitchen stove.

“Dad, you need to finish your story, fast! How do we kill it, Ulu?” said Ilya.

Ivan turned around and my heart stopped. His eyes were a cloudy pale blue. He looked at us, but he couldn’t see us. His wiry hair was matted with grease. Ivan opened his mouth, but whatever words he spoke were drowned out by an ear-piercing shriek.

The creature’s giant red eye stared in on us again. Smoke wafted between the eye and the glass window, but masked none of its ferocity. I saw the wildest rage I had ever seen in another animal’s eyes. I froze with fear, but suddenly an idea struck me. I was at a country club far outside the city. This creature was trapped inside Ivan’s body. It couldn’t hurt my physical body.

I stepped forward with my astral body and took a chance. I lifted my arms to focus my attention, but I knew it wasn’t my hands doing the work. I held the creature still. I concentrated on keeping the glass together, glass that had been restored after our last visit, which I knew wasn’t really there at all.

“I can’t hold it for long!” I felt the demon’s resistance, but I held firm. It felt like gripping a giant fish that fought me with every ounce of its life force. The ground rumbled.

“Mbele, you have to get into Ivan’s past. Help him remember,” said Ilya.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Mbele place his palm on Ivan’s forehead. Ivan dropped his wood spoon and red sauce splattered on the floor. Mr. Mbele murmured something in another language. The cabins walls caught fire around us. The rumbling around us evolved to shaking.

Ilya reached out and held Ivan’s hand, comforting him.

“It’s a dagger! It’s buried with Ulu’s body in Chester!” shouted Ilya. Mr. Mbele let go of Ivan and the creature’s rage overcame my power.

The window exploded and the sound blasted in knocking us with the force of a hurricane. A blow landed in my gut, knocking me back into the outdoor sofa outside the Ngong Hills Country Club.

Blood dripped down Mr. Mbele’s face from cuts on his forehead. Feeling moisture, I touched my cheek. My hand came away sticky with blood. I had never been harmed in a vision until now.

My heart pounded in my chest. I closed my eyes and focused on my brother’s face. I took a deep breath and tried hard to reconnect.

Ilya, are you there? What happened?

Irina, he’s gone. Dad’s gone. It’s only Ulu now
.

Where are you now? Are you safe? Can you get away?

Aunt Tat and Claude are dragging me down a stairwell. I think it’s going to happen now. I’m scared, Irina
.

Fight it! Fight the change! If you can, keep him out. I know you can do it! You can stop it all!

I’m in the same corridor as the snake bats. The things are still here. Now I’m outside. Ivan’s there, but he’s a zombie. He’s brain dead.

Concentrate, Ilya! You can do this! If you keep that thing out, it has nowhere to go
.

Aunt Tat is sitting down. Claude disappeared. Wait, no, someone is holding me from behind! Ivan’s opening his mouth. No, something is forcing its way out of his mouth.

It’s a tongue. It’s longer than a tongue.

It’s slimy with veins covering its skin. The thing has its own mouth! The teeth!

Oh God, it’s jumping at me! It’s got my neck. I can’t breathe. Can’t think. So tight. Let go! GET OFF ME! IT’S IN ME! ULLLLLLGHH
. . .

Ilya’s voice stopped suddenly.

Ilya? Ilya!
Come back!

Nothing happened. I waited, panic swelling my chest.

Ilya! Answer me!

Silence ensued for a long moment. I clung to my mental image of Ilya, picturing the horrid scene with that tentacle of red flesh wrapped around my brother’s throat.

A low growl, almost imperceptible at first answered back.

You’ve lost, child. My world is coming
, grumbled a deep chilling voice.

The creature’s words filled my bones with acid and I leapt up off the sofa. I buried my face in my hands. “It has Ilya. It has my brother. What are we going to do?”

“We go back and kill the red-eyed boy and the green woman,” Mr. Mbele said.

Chapter 30

My mouth felt full of cotton and my shoes full of lead as I walked back to the country club’s main hall. My friends still watched the news. The television showed Nairobi from a helicopter. The city had pockmarks of damage, but many of the major structures and green fields endured. I willed the camera to show us the urban slum that I couldn’t focus well enough to see in my mind.

“We’ve got to go. The demon got Ilya.”

My friends regarded me with wet eyes full of empathy and remorse.

“We find a weapon to kill creature,” said Mr. Mbele.

“Kibera might not even be there anymore,” said Jonah.

“I’ll open a portal and check,” said Melissa.

“You will not!” blurted Josh.

“There’s got to be a way to check and see if it’s safe,” said Gemma.

“I look now.” Mr. Mbele sat down at a nearby table and folded his hands in his lap.

“I’m trying, but I can’t see anything. My mind is a mess,” I said, wringing my hands.

“You want to go to Kibera?” said one of the waiters, bewildered at the thought.

“We were volunteering there. One of our friends was left behind,” I said.

“I’ve still got Nellie’s tablet and my laptop.” Faith pulled one after the other out of her bag. She handed the tablet to Cole.

“What’s your WiFi password?” Cole asked the waiter.

The man frowned with confusion, but when Cole pointed at the tablet and the laptop, the man understood. He pointed to a tent card on the bar. Cole and Faith had their devices connected while Jonah and I watched the news.

“Wait, look!” said Gemma.

We watched intently as the aerial view on television passed over the patches of Kibera that endured. Not all the slum had fallen, but we didn’t get a glimpse of our precious woods or the dreaded hedge site.

“Guys, I can’t find anything specific to our campsite,” said Faith as she clicked on her keyboard.

“Me either. People are talking about building collapses and casualties. Nobody’s making lists of what’s safe. I’m on BBC World, and they’re covering the disasters together. People are freaking out everywhere,” said Cole.

“These conditions could make transmission of Terra Nova even more rapid,” said Jonah.

“Campsite has been looted. Tents are gone. But woods are there,” said Mr. Mbele.

“Let’s go.” Melissa rose and we all followed, knowing instinctively that she meant to find a spot away from the club staff to open a portal back to the woods outside Kibera.

We followed Melissa to the other side of the club’s parking lot where a cluster of shrubs formed a wall next to an acacia tree.

She swooped open a silver portal and stepped through fearlessly. A few seconds later she came back. “Mbele’s right. Our gear is gone, but the woods are fine. You can see fire smoke in the air around the city. But Kibera still stands. The part we were near anyway.”

“I don’t know if this is good or bad.” Cole scratched the top of his head.

“We need to destroy the seeds laced with Terra Nova. We can’t afford to walk away until we know that’s done,” said Jonah earnestly.

A blend of grief and utter resolve filled Faith’s face. “I’m not walking away from Ilya.”

“Neither am I.” I took a supportive step closer to Faith.

“Then let’s go.” Melissa stepped back through the portal. Josh followed directly, then Cole, Faith, and Gemma.

Jonah moved to go and I grabbed his arm. “I feel like we’re finally getting close to the end and I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I do know that I love you.”

Jonah gazed at me with hopeful arctic blue eyes. I wished I had Ilya’s gift to pry into Jonah’s brain and hear his true thoughts. I’d have to settle for the words he chose.

“I love you too. We’re going to survive this. And,” Jonah stopped short of adding what I wanted to hear, that we would get Ilya back alive. Instead, he pulled me by my waist and kissed me.

I let my fear and panic fall to the ground, losing myself for just a moment in the kiss, hoping the sensation of Jonah holding me would stretch into infinity. Then he pulled away and stepped into the portal, pulling me in by my hand.

The woods outside Kibera were still as trash strewn as we’d left them. Where residents had spilled out to escape the riot, people just wandered with armloads of possessions, refugees from whatever parts of the slum actually collapsed.

The only trace of our campsite was Faith’s makeshift rock fire pit. There was no trace of our practically new tents and sleeping bags. We retreated farther into the trees away from the pedestrian traffic.

“Before anyone makes a move toward the compound, we need the dagger. There’s something buried with the creature’s original body. It’s a blade that can kill the parasitic demon’s essence permanently. I’m hoping that we can use it on Ilya, get rid of the creature, and get Gemma to heal him.”

Everyone stared at me in stunned silence for a moment.

“So your plan is to do what
this
guy wants.” Faith cocked her thumb at Mr. Mbele. “And flat out kill Ilya.”

“I can heal his body. I know I can.” Gemma didn’t sound as confident as her words suggested. Her eyes were full of doubt.

“I’ll take you back to Chester now,” said Melissa.

“The rest of us will stay here. We’ll take up positions around the hedge site,” said Josh, pointing to the locations in the distance.

“You better find this thing fast. If Tatiana so much as comes out, I’m going to kill her on sight. I can handle a little nausea,” said Cole.

“I know you can.” I hadn’t told him that in my vision, he thrashed Tatiana to death only minutes too late. I prayed he could get to her faster.

Mr. Mbele was right. We couldn’t change the future until we knew what to change. We tried to rescue Ilya and a riot broke out. Would it have happened if we’d hung back? I felt like I was making a plan to divert a river without knowing where to dig.

“With Ivan dead, maybe that curse thing he had going is dead too. Who knows? It’s not like we ever knew how that hex-y whatever-the-hell thing worked,” said Faith.

“I’ll take a small miracle for a change. Let’s go test that theory.” Josh and Faith bounded off eagerly.

Melissa swooped a fresh silver oval in the air, concealed by my remaining friends standing shoulder to shoulder. The sky had grown dim overhead, the sun having just dropped behind the horizon.

“Tomorrow morning could be the time from Mr. Mbele’s vision. If we don’t make it back . . .” I stopped. I didn’t have the heart to finish my sentence.

“You’ll be back in time,” said Gemma sternly.

“Wish us luck.” Melissa stepped into the portal.

I contemplated my friends’ earnest faces. I broke eye contact and forced myself to step through the portal.

Melissa had chosen her location well. We were back in the red brick ruins where no one could see us from the church windows or the nearby road. The sun hadn’t quite set in Chester, but an overcast sky made the world dark enough. A fine mist chilled the air, but I was too full of adrenaline to feel the cold.

“There’s an archeological site down the road. Excavated Roman ruins. That’s where we’ll find the dagger. I’m not sure how deep or exactly where to dig. I’m hoping I can figure that out when we get there.”

“Great. Lead the way.” She stepped aside to let me go first.

The mist turned to a drizzly rain and I pulled my hood over my head and leaned forward. We reached the excavation site and I marched down the wood stairs into the muddy gravel pit.

I squinted through the rain to see if I could make any sense of the hollows cut into the other side of the site. It looked more like the beginning of a building’s foundation than a remnant of the ancient world.

I found a square brick mound that might have been a table or a seat. I put my hand on the stone and felt it cold and wet under my hand. Nothing happened. Anger swelled in my belly. Why had my psychic abilities started to fail these last few days, when I needed them more than ever?

“Calm down, honey.” Melissa put a hand on my shoulder, squeezed, and let go.

I noticed the tension in my muscles and my quick labored breathing. A wave of nausea rose, but I pushed it aside. I took a deep breath and tried to center myself. I put my hand on the brick and pictured the ancient village from my vision, surrounded by golden wheat.

A bright flash transported me to a small dry hut where I had my hand on a smooth wood tabletop. I was alone in the hut, although the embers of a fire smoldered in a pit on the other side of the room.

I left the hut and found the village in the aftermath of the purple-clad priestess’s successful assassination of the alien demon that had taken her people prisoner. How long had that creature dominated the people it found when it crashed to earth? If only they had known how weak it was, how much it relied on its precious armor.

A rumbling sounded overhead and I whipped up to see a slim pod with strips of lights all over it descend toward us. The priestess marched down the stairs leaving the bloody throne and the dead demon behind her she crossed the field headed toward me and as she passed the town’s well, she pitched the bloody dagger into the pit. As though unzipping a suit, the woman moved her hand through the air in front of her, from her forehead down to her navel. Her purple robe disappeared and a luminescent white being took her place.

The brightly lit pod landed between my viewpoint and the alien priestess. A door must have opened for her. When the pod’s base re-ignited and the vessel took off, the creature was gone. Had I witnessed interstellar justice? I could only assume this was the case.

The town bustled with villagers running to see the slain demon. I peered over the edge of the well. The bloody dagger protruded from the bucket hanging mid-air.

I lifted my hand to release my grip on the ruined brick and I flashed back to the rainy twilight at Chester’s Roman ruins. I turned around to find Melissa examining one of the nearby pits.

“It’s in a well,” I shouted through the rain. “Is there anything around here like a well?”

“Yeah. I’m standing right in front of it. There’s a little sign that says so,” said Melissa. She pointed at a small plaque mounted on a new cement pedestal.

I ran to her. Where she stood, only a ring of stone showed through the earth. The original well had been deep. I kicked the dirt inside the well. My foot slopped in the shallow pool of muddy water.

“Can you pull it out . . . you know,” said Melissa, waved her hands back and forth over the brick ring.

I paused for a moment. Tampering with an archaeological excavation felt forbidden, like the destruction of a sacred piece of history.

“These old ruins are not that precious. Think about why you need it,” said Melissa, sensing my trepidation.

I placed my hands over the well and willed the dirt to come out. The puddle quivered and then belched mud. Earth flowed up and out of the well like a clogged toilet.

The sky darkened overhead, but I squinted focusing on watching the flowing mud for a sign of the precious dagger. Wet earth pulsed up and out of the well in waves until a glint of metal caught my eye. The dagger! I plunged my hand into the freezing mud and dug it out.

“I’ve got it!” I shouted.

“Is that it? Is that the right one? Do we need anything else?” said Melissa.

“No. Let’s get back. Now!” I said.

Melissa swept her arm through the air. The silver oval opened and we jumped.