Frozen Fire Read online

  Great! Now she put him back on his guard. She sent after him, “I’m sorry. I just miss everyone and everything so much. I’ll be better tomorrow. Promise.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  “Deal.” She continued to her quarters and then flopped onto her bed without getting undressed. Nothing had ever felt so good in her whole life. Curling into the scrumptiousness of her blankets, she let herself drift away.

  * * * *

  It was late afternoon when Denefe felt a jab at her consciousness. Confused, she fluttered her eyes open and gazed around the dim light in her room. No one.

  She reached for Torenz and found him sleeping.

  In her mind, she asked, “Who is it?”

  “It’s me,” came Ardense’s strong voice.

  “It’s night there. I thought you didn’t like talking at this time.” She didn’t really try to hide the sarcasm that flowed through her words.

  He either didn’t notice, which was unlikely, or he chose to ignore it. “Denefe, we need to talk.”

  She sighed. There was no getting away from it. She might as well let him have his say so he’d leave her alone. “In case you haven’t noticed, talking is all we have anymore.”

  “I’m not sure what I said that upset you so much.” He waited.

  She just wanted out of the conversation and, by his beginning, this threatened to be a long one. “Nothing. It was nothing at all. I’m just in a bad mood.”

  “Denefe, I know you well enough to see when I’ve hurt you. Please tell me.”

  She relented. What did it matter now? “You said you’ll have to think about what I asked. This from the man who said he’d love me forever?”

  “So now you think I don’t love you.”

  “No. I don’t. I think you love my abilities or my looks.”

  “I don’t know what to say to make you understand. I love you. I really do. I would follow you anywhere if I knew you loved me too. You’ve never said it and you make plans that don’t include me. What am I supposed to believe? Should I give up everything for a woman who doesn’t necessarily love me? What kind of fool would I be?”

  So it was her fault then. No surprise there. Kaleen’s words came back to haunt her. Don’t mess this one up. You always do. Did she want to spend the rest of her life with Ardense? Yes. Absolutely. She wanted to tell him, but what came out was quite different. “I’m scared.”

  “I know that. It’s why I haven’t given up on you yet. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what frightens you so much.”

  Denefe swallowed. In for a dime, in for a dollar. Might as well confess it all. “I’m scared you’ll leave me, because you love me for some reason other than just me.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. You’re sure I’ll leave, so you withhold the one thing I need to hear to make me stay? And because I love you for some other obscure reason, then I won’t stay anyway?”

  Her mouth went dry. That was it in a nutshell. “Yes.”

  “Do you know how crazy that sounds? How crazy you sound?”

  Denefe’s anger built. She’d opened her heart to him. Told him her deepest fear, and he’d made fun of it. She said nothing, trying to swallow her feelings.

  After a moment, Ardense said, “I’m not the guy who’d do that. You know that, right?”

  Like a snap of her fingers, her anger dissipated. So did her fear. No longer was she one of the strongest telepaths on record. No longer was she a commodity owned by GlobeX. She was just Denefe, loved by Ardense. She nodded as she answered. “I know.”

  After another long pause, he asked. “Do you love me?”

  She teared up and whispered the words even as she said them in her mind. “Yes. I love you.”

  Chapter 43

  Silenced

  Nine and a half days. It had been nine and a half days since her sister had been snatched by the sidewinder. It felt like an eternity. Kaleen glanced at Ardense. His gaze was locked on the path he flew through the rainforest. The trees outside the skimmer flipped by them at an impressive speed. Green after green after green. It was dim there. The morning light couldn’t even make it through the dense canopy overhead.

  “Did Cardenza say why he was coming here?”

  He shrugged, but didn’t take his gaze off their target path. “He said he’d discovered something urgent and he wanted us to meet him at the airport.”

  She studied him. For two days, the corners of his mouth had been habitually downturned, but not today. “You and Denefe make up? You look happier.”

  “Huh?” Now he looked at her, clear brown eyes opened wide in surprise, the skimmer slowing. After a moment, he turned back toward the task of flying, and they picked up speed again. “Yeah. We made up last night.”

  “So, you’re going to let Bridger remove your microchip?”

  His face turned stormy and he spoke carefully. “No. Not yet. If she’s trapped in the past permanently, then I want to be with her. If what you and Bridger say is true, I can’t go if I have no chip.”

  Kaleen sighed. It was exactly what she’d been thinking too. It would be heartbreaking to leave Bridger, but there was no way she could live without her twin. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Did you tell Bridger your plan?”

  “No.”

  “Don’t you think he should know you might go to the past to live with Denefe?”

  When she didn’t answer, he straightened, and said, “You and your sister sure are hard on your men.”

  Her jaw dropped open and her face flamed in anger. She spat, “He’s not my man.”

  He looked her straight on, eyebrows raised. “Sorry. I guess I was wrong.”

  Slowly, Kaleen nodded. After a moment of silence in which Ardense returned to studying the path in front of them, she said, “Of course, the best option is to bring her home.”

  “Right.” He nodded.

  Silence returned to the skimmer. Ardense flew, and Kaleen watched the dense rainforest roll on, becoming thinner as they neared civilization, sunlight breaking through to mark the ground. Eventually, the green of trees and moss gave way completely to the gray of buildings. As they neared the airport, the green of grass became the black of tarmac and parking lots.

  They arrived late. Cardenza was already walking out of the gate, wearing a thick-browed frown. As they approached, he caught sight of them, smiled, and lifted a wave. Around him, the crowd streamed past, most people headed in individual directions, ignoring the man who now brought his hand sharply to his left temple. Even as he fell to his knees, people sidestepped him and continued on. It wasn’t until he yelled like a wild animal that they slowed.

  His head exploded.

  Ardense launched out of the skimmer without even stopping it first. Kaleen lunged across the seats and jammed the craft into park amid the sound of grinding gears and whining air engines. By the time she joined him on the sidewalk, she had to push through a large group of gawkers who surrounded Cardenza.

  What she saw when she looked down on him made her shudder. His face was barely recognizable, one intact eye staring vacantly at her. Over half of his head was completely gone. The memory of Staphershire’s injury superimposed over Cardenza’s. Same injury, same place.

  Ardense rifled through Cardenza’s pockets. He pulled something out of the shirt pocket, glanced at it, and abruptly stood, pulling Kaleen out of the crowd toward the skimmer.

  Chapter 44

  Cardenza

  Denefe napped, dreaming of Ardense. Once she woke up, almost four hours later, her stomach growled like a wild animal. Even though she now had a clock on her comm, she still felt disjointed, as if she were perpetually in night. How did people live like that?

  She cleaned up and then headed to the dining room where she found herself to be the only person present. That was what she got for sleeping through supper.

  She was halfway through a plate of fish and chips, or something made to taste and look like
it, when Kaleen called her.

  “Denefe.” She sounded strained.

  “Hey, you.”

  “I have some bad news.”

  Denefe checked on Torenz. It was daylight, and he was back to his listening game. To Kaleen, she began “Do you remember the time—”

  “Cardenza’s dead,” Kaleen choked out.

  “What? How?” She felt as if she’d just been punched in the jaw.

  “He was coming to visit. Apparently, someone waited for him at the airport and bashed in his head.”

  The biggest question was “Why?” but she knew the answer already—because he’d found something Hallen wanted kept secret.

  Kaleen continued. “I just wanted you to know. You two weren’t very close, but you worked for him.” She paused. “You started to say something? ‘Do you remember…’, or something like that.”

  Even through the stunned fog, Denefe understood that Kaleen had more to tell, but only in code. She flicked on her comm so she could type the conversation. She wouldn’t dwell on the message right now, not with Torenz, or any other telepath, possibly—probably—listening. She just needed what Kaleen said, verbatim. She would think on it later when she was sure no one listened. Her job right now was just to respond to Kaleen, make it seem like a normal conversation.

  “Do you remember I said you didn’t have to stay up at night to contact me, that you could wake me any time you wanted?” No need to mention the blue dress at that point.

  “Missing Cardenza kept me up all night. It’s just horrible.” Kaleen’s thought voice broke.

  “I guess it’s rough on you too.” More than a code, Denefe meant it.

  “It’s killed my appetite.”

  “Make sure you eat, even though you’re not hungry. You don’t need to get sick.”

  “I’ll chipper up eventually.”

  “I know you will.” She nodded, as if her sister could see it.

  “The message of his death took me by surprise.”

  “He was too young.”

  “Call Ardense. It’ll help him quit being so upset too.” Kaleen was finished, as she showed by her usage of the word quit, but Denefe had a message for her as well.

  “I will. Mine will be there a little bit longer, I think.”

  “I understand that.” Good, she got it. Sometimes, the word “mine” got lost in the whole secret code thing.

  Denefe continued, “I found that out the last time someone I knew died.”

  Now it was Kaleen’s turn to make the coded sentences seem normal. She responded, “It’s different for everybody.”

  “His exit from life stuns me.” This was one of the awkward sentences that came from making an impromptu code. Someone listening would question it, but there was nothing she could do. Her second word had to be “exit.”

  “I’m sorry. We all exit one way or another.”

  “Thanks, but as you said, we weren’t close.”

  “Still hurts, though.” More than just a response, Kaleen’s telepathic voice was thick with the hurt of losing someone she’d known. As far as Denefe knew, no one close to them had ever died. That man had gotten her out of jail.

  “The problems we had with those above us might be moot now. Maybe we won’t have to quit our jobs anymore.” Her message, “found exit but problems,” was done.

  “There is that.” Kaleen’s response wasn’t a question. She got the message.

  Quiet filled the void between them. Each seeking comfort in the presence of the other. Denefe wanted to hug her sister close, to console her. Finally, she just said, “Thanks for the news.”

  “Take care of yourself.” Kaleen was gone.

  Denefe turned off her comm and stared at her meal, not hungry. She had to eat, she’d told Kaleen to, but how could she? Cardenza was dead.

  Finally, she put her still-full plate into the dispenser and then went back to her quarters. In disjointed bits and snatches throughout the evening, she figured out the code sentences Kaleen had said—Cardenza killed chipper-chip-message Ardense.

  It was the microchip that had killed Cardenza, and Starry. Someone definitely wasn’t happy. She, Kaleen, and Ardense all still had chips in their heads too. How much danger were they in?

  Ardense had a message for her. From Cardenza?

  Chapter 45

  Last message

  In the dark of night, Denefe sat on her bed and stared at Ardense’s now decoded message. She was right, it had been from Cardenza. It had taken him nearly an hour to deliver it, via some kind of alternate code. It turned out he used an alternating keyword system that she was able break. Still, it took yet another couple of hours for her to decipher it in bits and snatches into one short sentence.

  Cardenza investigation rift irreparable degrading others spawning sidewinders everywhere must destroy from Denefe location get people out east arm.

  She couldn’t believe what she’d read. The dual bite of shock from the death of Cardenza, and now a final message from him, coursed through her like electricity. According to him, she had to destroy the rift and get all eighteen people safely across the desert and back into the future. How was she going to do that?

  The end of the sentence was a bit cryptic. East Arm…? Was she supposed to go east? To a city that had Arm in it?

  She stared at her parents’ photo. Slowly, it came to her. The last bit was from Ardense. He knew she was familiar with only a few locations in Egypt. Armana, where Staphershire had been stationed and snatched from, was one of those.

  First things first. Eighteen people across the desert. Very few of them would be able to stand the trek. She headed to the shuttle cart storage area. As far as she knew, they were the only other transportation for the facility. There, she inspected the fuel cells on the small machines. Most of them were viable, but a few weren’t. Those would be left behind. She was glad to see the tiny hitch beneath the chassis of each. They’d be simple to link together and join to the skimmer.

  All she needed now was some connector cables and tools. The area she was in was sparse and she didn’t remember seeing much of any equipment in the bay behind the wall either. Where would she get the tools she needed to disconnect and reconnect the fuel cells?

  Frowning, she walked toward the secret lab and skimmer. As she passed Jileah’s locked office, she remembered seeing a pair of medical clamps on a table last time she’d exercised. Maybe those would work as tools. She’d have to check it out in the morning.

  Once she stepped through the wall and entered the hidden bay, she saw a difference immediately. After her test drive, she’d carefully parked right back where she’d found the skimmer, just a little left from dead center of the outer door. Now, it stood distinctly to the right of the door.

  Torenz? Or did he have an accomplice?

  In a panic, she rushed to the machine, turned it on, and settled in for another test drive. The gauges showed fine and it still handled well. Perhaps it had just been maintained.

  Or there could be another reason it had been moved. She narrowed her eyes at the DNA lock on the door. Was she mistaken, or did it look new? She climbed out of the shuttle and went to investigate. Again, she scuffed her hands in grime and then pressed her thumb onto the lock. Instead of flashing green on the second try, as before, it took five more attempts and, in fact, ended up being the index finger on her other hand that triggered it to open. Behind the door was the same desert air as before.

  It occurred to her that she still hadn’t checked the tunnel. She needed to ensure there were no obstructions. She flicked on her comm and walked the length of it, arriving at the opening before she realized it. The vista opened before her, the light from a quarter moon reflecting dully from the light-colored sand.

  Denefe turned around and around, looking for east. Other than the tunnel entrance concealed beneath a rock overhang, there were no landmarks of any kind. She was glad she had her comm to act as a compass.

  The sky was magni
ficent, though. Millions of stars glinted in the depths of it, like glitter on black velvet. She sighed. If she wasn’t trapped in the past, away from everyone she loved, she’d be happy staring at that night sky for the rest of her life. Jerking her gaze from the beauty above, she took a closer inspection of the dunes. Storms drove them into different shapes and sizes. Tiny ridges echoed across the sand, like rings from something thrown into a pond. It made the dunes look alive, and powerful.

  After one last look at the sky, she returned down the tunnel and then closed the door again, carefully wiping the dirt from the new DNA lock. Had Torenz figured out she’d been there? Or was he just taking precautions?

  Returning to the skimmer, she inspected the skin mountings, her original reason for coming. If they were going to weigh the skimmer down with people and the shuttle carts tied behind, it had to take them the distance. She’d have to strip the machine as much as she could.

  The skin looked fairly simple to remove. Basically, they’d be flying just a skeleton with a motor. She’d like to do something to make it more aerodynamic. A pointed nose and a scoop on the back wouldn’t hurt.

  Her biggest problem would be how to protect the air intake more than it was currently. Everything she thought of would take time to build.

  She was going to have to fashion some kind of snowshoes for those who had to trek across the sand on foot. Perhaps she could punch holes into some of the metal skin to tie to their feet.

  Like it or not, she needed help.

  Chapter 46

  An accomplice

  “Denefe.” Jileah leaned close. “Where are you? You’ve been so distracted this morning.”

  Denefe shrugged. “I’m sorry. I’m just not sleeping well.” Or at all, she thought. Between her nocturnal activity and trying to retain a semblance of a normal-ish daytime life, she was exhausted. She shoved her breakfast to the side.

  “I can give you something for that. I have this great little chamomile blend that’ll knock you right out.” She sat back proudly and smiled.