Michael’s dreams scattered like startled cockroaches when the dawn sliced through the blinds. He was grateful for the disturbance. His dreams had taken an even uglier turn since landing in Miami. Bodies tumbling from the sky to pile up at his feet. Nathan holding a pistol with quivering fingers, pointing it directly at him.
He massaged his temples with a grimace. The Aberration pulsed, a heartbeat of darkness hundreds of miles off the coast, yet palpable as an incoming tsunami. Waves of darkness lapped against the walls of his mind like angry waves against a damaged levee.
Someone rapped on the adjoining door.
“Come in.”
Nathan entered, looking his usual neat and orderly self. He probably left his hotel room tidily arranged as well. Michael scrubbed the stubble on his cheeks and eyeballed the empty bottles and take-out wrappers that littered his room. He had considered a shave and some attempt at appearing civilized, but decided there was no point. Civilization was something they were leaving behind.
Nathan took a judgmental glance at the room’s disarray. “You change your mind?”
In answer, Michael clambered out of the bed. He was still fully dressed in the jeans and T-shirt he had worn the previous day. He pulled on his sneakers. “I’m good to go. Just need some coffee and I’ll be a new man.”
Nathan held out a tall Starbucks cup. “Double espresso. Hotel lobby has a coffee nook downstairs.”
Michael accepted it gratefully. “Guess we’re really doing this, huh?”
“Guess so.”
“Think your message will broadcast on schedule?”
“I quadruple-checked it. No worries.”
Someone rapped on the door.
Nathan jerked a thumb that direction. “Hear the military precision of that knock? Guess our ride is here.” He opened to admit a uniformed man with a face made to blend into crowds, everyday features that would arouse neither suspicion nor interest even if staring directly at them.
Nathan looked surprised. “Didn’t expect the legendary Commander Steele to be our escort.”
Michael’s heart nearly froze. He squeezed his eyes shut. Not real. Can’t be real. But when he reopened his eyes, Commander Steele was still there. Michael knew him by another name, one he would never forget.
“Guy?”
“Michael.”
Nathan stared from one to the other, growing realization dawning on his face. Wait… you’re Guy? The Guy that vanished at the mill explosion site?”
Michael took an involuntary step back, staggered, and tumbled backward onto the pleather sofa. “I… expected you to show up. Sooner or later. Somehow I knew it would happen.”
“My God.” Nathan looked as if he might pass out. “You’re… the Blurred Man. Everything I’ve researched… all of my findings revolve around you.”
“Why do you think I leaked that data to you, Nathan?”
“That was you?”
“Yes. I knew the findings would stir up the right people. It was only a matter of time before someone made a move. In this case, Chimera. A corporation created to step on the necks of humanity to achieve their agenda will be the same corporation to pursue a mission to save humanity from the last Aberration. Ironic, in a way.”
Michael stared, trying to believe in the moment. Guy was really there. He felt a flash of anger. “You knew everyone around the mill would go insane, didn’t you? Is that why you never came back? Why you didn’t even bother to see if I was still alive?”
Guy didn’t even blink in the face of the outburst. “Of course I knew. Outbreaks of madness are always a side-effect of a Threshold opening in your world. I didn’t check on you because I could nothing about it. There are no connections in this business, Michael. No friends. Only dead faces, over and over again. That’s what my life is like. I figured it likely you’d be affected.”
Michael trembled. “And you didn’t even think to warn me?”
“About what? There’s nothing to be done about it. Don’t you understand?”
“Understand what?”
“That you’re already dead. All of you. Everything you see, everyone you know. Dust. I can’t save you. Whatever happens has already happened. I’m just discharged consciousness, trying to prevent this world from being devoured.”
“Stop it. Stop with the purposely vague explanations. I deserve more than that, after all I’ve been through.”
Guy studied him for a moment. “You’re right, Michael. I’m sorry. It’s been a very long time since I’ve called anyone a friend.”
“Then tell me exactly what’s going on. What have you been doing all this time?”
“Dealing with the residual effects of the Aberration at the mill. Often miasmas escape the central location, and have to be stamped out before they become just as destructive. And I had to enlist allies in order to prepare for this expedition.”
“Allies?”
“Dr. Mary Jane Kelley, for one.”
Nathan’s head snapped up. “The physicist that Blackwell recruited? She’s one of your agents?”
“Ally. She and I are working toward a common goal.”
“Which is?”
Guy shook his head. “That would take time, which we don’t have. I’m here to offer you a proposition.”
“Great,” Nathan said. “Every time I hear the word ‘proposition’, I feel like a few of years of my life gets shaved off.”
“I think you’ll like this one. I’m offering you and Michael the opportunity to sever ties with Chimera Global and this mission. You check out of this hotel and go home, or wherever else you want. I’ll take care of explaining it to Mr. Blackwell.”
Michael blinked in confusion. “Just up and leave right now? I thought they were depending on me to find the location of this place.”
Guy fixed him with an enigmatic stare. “I can find the facility on my own. It won’t be hard.”
“Wait a minute.” Nathan stared at Guy with suspicious eyes. “Why aren’t we hearing this from Sid Damon or Alexander Blackwell?”
“I’m making this offer, Mr. Ryder. That’s all you need to know. I’d have thought you would leap on the opportunity.” He swept his gaze toward Michael. “Especially you. In view of your… past experiences.”
Michael shivered as flashes of the mill attack swept across his mind. The last thing he wanted to face was another Aberration. No blood, no dismembered bodies, no madness. It was a tempting offer. There was absolutely no reason for him to turn it down.
Except Cynthia and Michelle.
“I can’t. Chimera won’t honor our agreement if I back out. I have to see this through.”
Nathan sighed and nodded in begrudging agreement. “Me too. I can’t back out now.”
Guy ignored Nathan, fixating on Michael. “Are you sure? What’s out there… it’s ground zero. You know what’s on the other side, Michael. This is your one and only chance to avoid going through it again.”
Michael felt the shadow in the distance, roiling with the threat of unchecked torment. He repressed a shiver. “I’m sure.”
“Suit yourself.” Guy quickly turned on his heel and headed for the door. “Corporal Davies is waiting downstairs to transport you and your belongings. I’ll see you shipside.”
“Wait, Guy.”
Guy paused at the door.
“You called this the last Aberration. Ground zero. Why?”
Guy paused, as if hesitant. “I’ve been protecting this world from Aberrations for ages. Every time a piece of me fades. I become disconnected, my memories scattered to the winds until the next attack.”
“But that changed with the Aberration at the mill,” Michael said. “You told me it was the last one. That you were going to end it by destroying the Other One. And now you’re… different. You’re not all hazy like before.”