“It’s okay, Coach,” said Will. “We’ll talk to her.”
Jericho, looking as skeptical as a bear could manage, stood back down but stayed at striking distance between Will and Brooke.
“Thank you, Will,” said Brooke quietly.
“What do you want, then?” asked Will, unwilling to meet her gaze, trying to keep the anger he felt raging inside him from his eyes.
“I know what you must be thinking,” said Brooke, earnest and calm. “All of you, about me. And I’m not going to tell you that you don’t have every right to feel that way.”
If all three of us focus on her at once, Elise sent to Will and Ajay, we can probably blow her head right off her neck.
Will glanced over. Elise was making no effort, or was completely unable, to hide her fury at their former friend. Exhausted as she was, the sight of Brooke was still enough to kick up Elise’s deepest reserves, and Will could see she was getting ready to launch an attack. If she was aware of it, or the thought even troubled her, Brooke gave no notice and simply stood her ground.
Let’s all remain calm, Ajay responded. At least hear what she has to say first.
There’s no point. She’s just going to lie some more—
But maybe she’ll say something inadvertently useful to us, Ajay continued. Please, Elise. We need to be mindful of the situation and not let our feelings run away from us.
Will saw Elise give the slightest indication that she’d stand down, for the moment. He exchanged a quick look of relief with Ajay; he wasn’t at all sure he’d have been able to dissuade her.
“Say what you want to say,” said Will.
“They don’t want to hurt you,” said Brooke, looking at each of them.
“Oh, yeah? Well, they got an absolutely hilarious way of showing it,” said Nick. “How’d you get here anyway?”
“I followed you to the Crag,” she said. “After you drugged me. And by the way, that really hurt my feelings, Nick.”
“I’ll give you something that hurts more than your feelings,” said Elise, stepping toward her.
“Easy.” Will put a hand on Elise’s shoulder. “Go on, Brooke,” he said.
“They know who you are, Will, and they know what you are to them.” Then Brooke corrected herself. “What we are to them. All of us.”
“You mean…genetically,” said Ajay.
“That’s right.”
“Interesting approach,” said Dave, and Will noticed that his voice seemed to be coming from somewhere else in the room; Dave could move again. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but since we last laid eyes on each other, I’m getting a notion you might have had a teensy falling out with blondie bits here.”
“What do they want from us?” Will asked Brooke.
“They want a chance to explain to you what they’re doing here,” said Brooke. “And why. They believe you’ll feel differently about it once you hear them out.”
“So they sent you in to sucker us out into the open, is that it?” asked Elise bitterly. “Bat your eyes at the boys, turn up the fake sincerity, and assume we’d still fall for your act. Try selling it someplace else.”
Brooke turned to Elise. Tears filled her eyes, and her voice broke. “I know you can’t forgive me for what you think I’ve done. I don’t expect you to. But you have to believe me…I’m just…trying to save your lives now.”
Will felt his heart surge, and for just the briefest moment he did believe her, before he slammed that door shut. Without looking at him, he sent a message to Ajay:
Is she lying?
Yes and no. It’s complicated, he replied. She may well be lying but apparently she believes what she’s saying. That’s one of the most interesting characteristics of the sociopathic personality, by the way, but I can’t say for certain that she absolutely fits the diagnosis. And that’s the bow tied onto the horns of our dilemma, isn’t it?
Will didn’t know what to do.
“She’ll ask you about me next,” said Dave, keying in on what Will was feeling so accurately it made him wonder if Dave could hear their telepathic conversations. “That is, if they sent her down to scout out the situation.”
For the first time, Brooke’s eyes drifted to the shattered remains of the jewel behind Will.
“What happened to your friend?” asked Brooke. “What was his name…was it Dave?”
“You know what to say, mate,” said Dave.
Will was encouraged to see that Dave was standing for the first time, leaning against the wall over near Jericho; if he wasn’t one hundred percent yet, he was trending toward ninety.
“Dave didn’t make it,” said Will.
“What happened to him?”
Will added a little extra emotion to sell her on the lie. “As soon as the rock broke open, he…he just disintegrated…like he wasn’t even there.”
“I’m so sorry, Will,” said Brooke sincerely. “I know he meant a lot to you. I’d heard that he was down here, but I didn’t know how to help him.”
Laying it on a bit thick, isn’t she? sent Ajay.
Brooke took a single step toward them. Everyone else, except Will and Jericho, took a step back.
“What do you think you should ask her now, my young friend?” asked Dave.
“I’d like to know how you think you can help us,” said Will to Brooke.
Dave gave him a thumbs-up.
“If you’ll come with me now, I can promise you safe passage,” said Brooke. “They won’t hurt you, any of you. They just want to explain. Quietly and calmly. Then you can decide for yourselves.”
“What, to sell out the rest of the human race, like you did?” asked Elise.
Brooke paused. Will noticed the slightest flutter of anger or frustration behind her eyes before she clamped it down and put up the peacemaker mask again.
“I think it would be best for us to share and examine all of our feelings,” she said. “Together. After you’re given the benefit of having all the information.”
Will decided to send a message to Brooke, just to make sure she couldn’t tune in to how the rest of them were communicating, with a few words he knew she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from reacting to.
Unless, of course, she really had turned into a completely irredeemable psychopath. Or been one all along.
I still love you.
Brooke didn’t blink or react or even flick her eyes toward Will. He felt relieved, in more ways than one.
So far, so good.
Now he sent a message to Elise. If we’re going after that portal, first things first: We need to get out of this hole safely. We’re going with her.
Elise responded without looking at him. You’re crazy. She’ll get us all killed.
If she makes the slightest move, against any of us, you’ve got a green light to take her out. And we’ll all help.
You won’t need to. One wrong move and I’ll blast her brain to soup.
With my blessings.
“It’s not just my decision,” said Will; then he turned to the rest of the group. “What do you think, guys?”
Say yes, he sent to Ajay and Nick.
“Yes,” said Nick. “And I don’t have the slightest idea why I’m saying that.”
“Yes,” said Ajay.
“Okay,” said Elise.
“Coach?” asked Will.
“Say yes,” said Dave, leaning in toward the bear.
“WHATEVER YOU SAY,” said Jericho, glancing to his left, annoyed, which led Will to wonder if Coach could actually see Dave at the moment.
“Lead the way, Brooke,” said Will.
Brooke clasped her hands together and closed her eyes in an effective simulation of deep emotion. “I’m so grateful that you’re willing to listen to me.”
“Just keep your hands to yourself,” said Nick. “No touching.”
Brooke made a refined gesture for them to follow and led them down the passage toward the elevator. She held up one hand and a perfect sphere of pale white light appeared
around it, lighting their way.
We’re not the only ones still evolving, Ajay sent to Will. I’m getting a very strong intuitive sense that she’s much more powerful than she appears.
Let me know if you notice anything else, sent Will.
They walked quietly behind her. Will watched Brooke closely, the elegant sway of her body, her long blond mane bouncing slightly with every step. Even in the depths of the Never-Was, her hair looked perfect.
Dave appeared, walking beside Will, watching Brooke as well.
“Didn’t figure that one for the treacherous type,” said Dave.
“Join the club,” whispered Will.
“Best keep a close watch on this one, mate, not that that’s rough duty under any circumstances,” said Dave. “Things are about to get messy.”
WILL’S RULES FOR LIVING #17:
KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE. KEEP YOUR ENEMIES IN A BAG AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER.
Brooke led them onto the waiting elevator platform. As soon as they were all on board, the gears engaged and they ascended. Brooke stood in the center. The rest of the group deployed around her in a full circle; all of them turned toward her, watching her raptly.
Brooke clasped her hands together, holding the ball of light she’d generated like a baby bird, and looked up toward a point on the wall above their heads, not focused on anything in particular, smiling blankly. It reminded Will of smiles he’d seen on political wives standing next to their husbands at public events. He realized it was probably a look Brooke had learned from her mother.
Dave walked over next to her, studied her, then walked around her, giving her the once-over from every angle. Brooke never gave the slightest indication that she sensed his presence.
“What are you doing?” asked Will quietly.
“I’m looking for where she keeps the darkness,” said Dave.
“Did you find it?”
“Oh, it’s there all right, but it’s way down deep. I mean, like the bottom of a mine shaft deep. She’s a gnarly piece of work, this one, mate.”
“Did you ask me something, Will?” asked Brooke, directing that spooky smile toward him.
“I said how did you find us,” said Will.
“I just seemed to know where you were,” she said. “I’ve always felt we had a special connection, Will.”
Brooke looked back up again. Light began to seep in from the room above. They were getting close.
Behind her, Nick stuck his finger down his throat and mock gagged.
“Not much longer now,” said Brooke to no one in particular.
She turned her hands over and the globe of light she’d been carrying gently popped and disappeared. The elevator slowed for the last few feet and clicked into place with a slight whoosh as the floor leveled into the foyer. The room was completely empty, just as they’d left it, but that didn’t mean much in the Never-Was. Will blinked on the Grid and confirmed they were alone.
“This way,” said Brooke.
She made her tour-guide gesture again and walked toward the doors. They swung open ahead of her, like doors at a supermarket, and she walked through.
Did you do that? Elise asked Will.
Will shook his head.
“That was me,” said Dave, appearing outside, holding the doors open as Will walked past him. “Old habit. A gentleman always opens the door for a lady.”
Brooke led them out from under the portico onto the broad patio in front of the dome where they’d left the horses. As she passed the animals, they stirred and whinnied nervously. The stallion that Brooke had ridden earlier reared up as if he was about to strike her.
Brooke turned toward it, hands up, instantly ready to defend herself, but Elise reacted more quickly, making a small gesture and sending a thought that instantly backed the horse down. It trotted away from Brooke, around to where Elise was standing. It nuzzled her arm and she patted his muzzle, calming him further.
Brooke papered over her anger, painted that bland smile back on again, turned, and continued walking toward the stairs.
Horses don’t lie, sent Elise to Will. They don’t even know how.
Keep them close by and ready, Will responded.
“You’re not even going to believe this,” said Dave.
Dave popped into Will’s vision, standing about twenty yards ahead of them at the top of the stairs, looking at something down below. Will blinked on the Grid, and at first couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing: The entire plaza at the foot of the stairs appeared as a sea of red. Ascending the stairs toward them was a line of towering figures, seven of them, at least twenty feet tall, moving slowly and steadily in sync.
Stop at the top of the stairs, Will sent to Ajay and Elise. Not too close.
Then he gave them a few instructions. Ajay handed Will something from his pocket.
“Can they see you?” asked Will quietly.
“CAN WHO SEE ME?” Jericho, padding along next to him, replied.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” said Will.
“Who are you talking to, then?” asked Nick, walking on the other side of Will.
Jericho shushed him, which sounded more like a growl.
“Like I said, they can’t see me, mate,” said Dave, looking down at the top of the stairs. “Not unless I’m in Wayfarer form. Your move now. Following your lead.”
Will whispered a few words to Dave, then turned to the others. “I’ll say when.”
“When what?” asked Nick.
“When it’s go time. Don’t show them you’re frightened.”
“Show who?” asked Nick.
“Them.” Will nodded toward the stairs.
Brooke stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to face Will and the others. They walked a few more steps forward until the plaza below came into their view: The entire space was filled, to the margins and beyond, with a mix of the black-clad guards and a varied assembly of the battalions they’d seen outside the walls.
Thousands of monsters.
Will sensed movement on their level, turned, and saw that to the left and right of their position more guards and creatures were rushing into position on either end of the broad veranda, forming a line at least ten figures deep that cut off any possibility of retreat.
“And them,” said Will.
He nodded toward the seven Makers floating into view up the stairs toward them. They at first appeared to be nearly identical, but the robes they wore were each of a slightly different hue, and their shapes and postures varied even more noticeably; taller, shorter, more fluid, less graceful. The hooded cowls of their robes concealed their faces. He wasn’t entirely sure how—something about its posture—but Will recognized the one just to the right of center as the Maker that had spotted them at the construction site. The taller one next to it, in their middle, possessed an unmistakable aura of authority, and its regal bearing radiated an oppressive sense of power.
“Diapers don’t fail me now,” said Nick.
“HOW’S THE PLAN WORKING SO FAR?” asked Jericho.
“Ask me in a couple of minutes,” said Will.
The Makers floated up and swayed to a stop at the top of the stairs, spreading out in a half circle around Brooke. The one Will took to be their leader hovered just behind her; it leaned over slightly and appeared to be conversing with Brooke, who was doing most of the listening, although Will didn’t hear any words. Dave blinked out from his spot near the steps and then reappeared between Will and Jericho.
“Recognize any of these mugs?” asked Will.
“I never got this close before,” said Dave; then he gestured toward the one leaning down toward Brooke. “But I’d take that one for the big enchilada.”
“Dad?” asked Nick, starting toward the one in the center, holding out his arms. “Is that really you? It’s me, Nick.”
Elise pulled him back by the collar.
“What do you think, Ajay?” asked Will.
Ajay’s eyes were huge and shining, darting around, taking everyt
hing in. Will was pleased to see that he didn’t appear the slightest bit frightened.
“Astonishing,” said Ajay quietly. “Their minds are extraordinary. The most advanced computers we haven’t even contemplated yet can’t touch the level of complex intelligence I’m sensing.”
“Why are you whispering?” asked Nick, whispering.
“I believe there’s a good chance they could pick up on anything that passes between us telepathically. That’s why it’s best we speak aloud, in which case there’s a good probability they can’t hear us very well if we keep our voices down.”
“But wouldn’t that be true of anybody?” asked Nick.
“LET THE GROWN-UPS TALK.”
“Can you tell what they want?” asked Elise.
“Not in the slightest. This is somewhat difficult to convey, but they seem to have moved beyond what we would normally think of or recognize as ‘thinking.’ ”
“Oh, no, that makes perfect sense,” said Nick. “Not.”
“By that I mean they don’t pair emotions with their thoughts, and they’re not connected to or driven by them. It seems they may not even possess feelings at all.”
“Of course not,” said Elise. “That makes it so much easier for them to annihilate things.”
“There’s something indescribably…remote about them. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s as if they aren’t all here.”
Will looked over at them and got an idea. “I can work with that.” He leaned in and whispered the idea to Ajay, who raised his eyebrows in interest.
“I will certainly try, Will,” he whispered.
“Just let me know,” said Will. “I’ll try to keep ’em busy until then.”
“Of course, Will. And, failing that, I suppose we can console ourselves with the idea that we’re making history here, my friends. Face to face with the first truly alien race.”
“THAT WON’T BE MUCH COMFORT IF THEY FLATTEN US,” said Jericho.
“So let’s hit them first,” said Elise.
“Soon,” said Will. “But not yet.”
Brooke appeared to finish her “conversation” with the central Maker. She turned back to them and took a few steps in their direction.