“I can make no promises. When I find Prime Past, I’ll keep your words in mind, but will have to make my decision when the time comes.”
“I know you to be a fair and honorable man,” Sinclair Prime said after a moment. “I’ll trust your judgment when the time comes. Do not underestimate Prime Past. You may be the Prime of your own talented line, but Prime Past is that and Zxerah too. He has skills beyond your comprehension.”
“Perhaps after this is all over, I could learn some of those skills,” Grady Prime offered, only half joking. He was a soldier who enjoyed learning new methods. If there were truly Zxerah left in the universe, he would be a fool not to seek them out for training.
Sinclair Prime looked at him consideringly. “Perhaps.”
Chapter Two
Deep inside a mountain in what had once been called Colorado, sweat dripped down a man’s face as he spun into a high roundhouse kick. His opponent ducked, blocking the main force of the blow as he delivered a counterstrike. They’d been sparring for hours, but neither one would call a halt. Too many people depended on them and the other members of their elite group. Too many needed them to be in top form at all times—ready for anything.
“She’s coming!”
The scream was repeated down the cavernous hall outside the training area, echoing off cemented rock walls.
By silent agreement, both men stopped, ending their sparring session. One of their people needed them.
A moment later, a ragged woman ran into view. Her hair flew wildly around her ravaged face, her eyes wide with fear and not quite sane.
The leader reached out to her, folding the trembling woman in his arms as he’d done many times before, offering comfort.
“It’s okay, Tory. Everything will be all right.”
He soothed her as his lieutenant watched in sympathy. A flick of his head toward the hall sent Pierre after some of the others who would help settle Tory after the storm had passed. Sometimes it must really suck to be a seer, he thought. Tory suffered from the gift, and at times it drove her back into the madness from which she was only just beginning to emerge.
He murmured nonsense to her, hoping to ease her quaking shudders, but she remained agitated. She kept repeating that someone was coming. At times, he’d learned it was best to help her work through a vision rather than try to stop it. Perhaps this was one of those times.
“Who’s coming, Tory? A friend?”
Her wild gaze turned to him, and he had to stifle the urge to sigh. Tory had made good progress in the past year, but she still hovered on the edge of madness too much of the time.
“A friend?” She paused, seeming to think it over. “She could be, to us. She will also be friend to the angels. She will bring the angels to us.”
“Angels?” He didn’t like the sound of that. “Like the angel of death? Will she bring death to us, Tory?”
“Perhaps.” Tory’s eyes began to dim just slightly, giving him hope this episode was near an end. “The angels aren’t good or bad. They just are. They kill. They also protect. They’ll protect us, if we let them, and she’ll bring them. She’ll bring them. She’ll bring them.” Those three words kept repeating as she quieted, her words fading to a whisper as he tucked her close, stroking her back, offering the comfort of his touch—of his protection.
Poor, fractured Tory was under his protection, as were many other souls in this complex. He wouldn’t let anyone or anything hurt them. Angels, devils, Alvians or otherwise. He would defend his people to his last breath.
Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. Not yet at least.
Their destination was beyond anything Grady Prime had dreamed. Towering red trees made the people and buildings below look like miniatures. Sinclair Prime wove through the massive trunks of the behemoths with a skill and ease that Grady Prime respected and even envied.
“Are these trees real?” he asked in a hushed tone as he looked at one of the most glorious sites he’d ever beheld.
“Magnificent, aren’t they? The humans call them giant sequoia or redwoods. Some of them are thousands of years old. This area was hard hit by the tsunamis and was unstable for a long time, which is why the Council let us settle here. The trees are massive enough to hide our base and provide cover for our flight—though flying under the canopy is quite an obstacle course. Good for training too.”
Even as they made final approach to a very small landing area, Grady saw a winged man swoop down out of the branches to fly alongside the ship. He turned his head and looked right into the cockpit, raising one hand in salute as Sinclair Prime returned the gesture.
The man’s tawny wingspan was impressive, and the fact that he could keep up with a ship—even one slowing for landing—was shocking. Grady Prime’s eyes sought the place on his shoulders where the man’s wings joined his back. He realized that while the man’s musculature was brawny, the wings themselves were of light construction. Then he realized the man sitting at the controls next to him probably had wings just like this, hidden somewhere under his uniform. Grady Prime took a second look, but found it difficult to discern anything odd about the fit of Sinclair Prime’s uniform, though it was somewhat baggier than the norm.
“Hiding our wings is one of the first things we learn if we ever hope to see other people.” Sinclair Prime sent him a small grin. “The bones of the wings are light and resilient, and our wingspan is shorter than the ancient Avarel. It’s enough to get us aloft and we are good sprinters, but we cannot fly for prolonged periods as true Avarel could. We are only hybrids. Echoes of what they were.”
“Still, those wings are amazing.”
“Thank you. You’re one of the few who know our secret.”
“Frankly, I’m surprised the Council would allow me to know such things, especially considering my involvement in Mara 12’s experiment. Of course, I’ll bet that’s also the reason they allowed me to investigate this matter.”
“Participation in the experiment probably ended your career anyway you mean?” Sinclair Prime’s eyebrow rose in Grady’s direction. The man was quick witted, which Grady Prime appreciated.
“I expected to be put out to pasture and welcomed it if it meant I could discover what it was like to feel. Now that I’m back in the field again, I find that I missed being busy these past weeks. I missed working and interacting with other soldiers. I missed my men. Civilians are not the same.”
Sinclair Prime laughed aloud. “You will not get an argument from me on that point, my friend. I do not understand civilians at all. I do better with soldiers, but among the Zxerah is where I truly belong—even more so if they are winged. The unwinged members of the Brotherhood do not always understand the challenges I and my winged brethren face.”
“I can only imagine,” Grady Prime commiserated. “And yet, I confess I am feeling envy of your ability to fly. What I have just seen of your wings is a thing of great beauty, Sinclair Prime.”
Sinclair looked at him with a kind smile. “It means a great deal to me for you to say that, Grady Prime. I’ve often wondered how the rest of the Alvian population would react if they learned of our existence. Would they think of us as freaks and demand our destruction? Or would they accept us—even admire us?”
“I would bet on admiration and if they could feel it, envy such as I am experiencing. It is a novel feeling.” Grady Prime examined the sensations he was experiencing as Sinclair landed the small ship. “It is envy but not in a bad sense. It’s more wonder and wishing that somehow I could experience the marvel of self-propelled flight.”
“It sounds like you’ve become adept at analyzing the emotions you’ve been facing. To be honest, I was concerned when I realized you’d undergone the treatment so recently. The first weeks for Prime Past were confusing at best, I think. You seem to be making very good progress at integrating emotions into your life. You seem more stable than he was in those first days.” Sinclair Prime attended to the shutdown procedures and unstrapped his safety harness while Grady did the same.