Mountains had rapidly grown in the distance, and now they loomed over the vagrant caravan of antigravity transports. They had flown by small towns and wasted cities, but the vehicles hadn’t slowed. He didn’t know how far they had traveled, but he knew the distance was farther than he had ever expected to go in his life. Their caravan pivoted, racing south now, parallel to the massive mountains in front of them. He replayed the events of the last day over in his mind, again and again. Each time, it was harder to believe than the last.
“Handsome is still here, huh?” Stefani said sleepily a while later.
“Couldn’t jump out,” Jeff said, tapping the translucent shield above him. “Force field, right?”
“How are the missing limbs feeling?”
“They are missed,” Jeff said. Stefani’s sense of familiarity was unexpected, and it might have angered him before, but he appreciated it now. It was better than her complaining to Carlee about wasting time by keeping him alive. In fact, now that they were safe in the transport, she seemed like an entirely different person.
“Carl still asleep?”
“I think so,” Jeff said. “But it could be just one of your vagrant magic tricks or something.”
“I wish there was a way to press myself to sleep . . . unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.”
“How does it work?”
“Magicians never reveal their tricks.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure. That’s just how the saying goes.”
“Probably because then they would be out of a job,” Jeff said. He’d always been reluctant to teach anyone else in Fifth Springs how to fix technology, partially for that reason, but mostly because he didn’t really know how he did it. He would just tinker with things until he figured it out. That was a hard method to teach.
Stefani chuckled and straightened in her seat.
“Do you know how much longer we’ll be traveling?” Jeff asked.
“I’m not sure. We don’t usually move this much at once. I guess those Apostles were pretty hot on our tail back there.”
“Won’t they track us?”
“They’ll try,” Stefani said. Her relaxed tone was infectious. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked about pressing. Most people want to ask about our miracles, as they call them, want to know how it all works.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you couldn’t handle it, and we’re slowing down,” Stefani said as she got to her feet. “You’ve got bigger things to worry about. Jane is going to want answers.”
“What answers?”
“She’ll want to know why an Apostle left you alive and no one else.”
“I don’t know . . . I don’t know why any of it happened.”
“Good luck telling her that.”
5 ASPIRATIONS
“You are lucky to be alive,” Jane said.
“I guess that’s a matter of perspective,” Jeff said. “Many think the dead are the lucky ones.”
He was fairly certain this wasn’t a nightmare. Carlee was too pretty for that, and it was far from being worthy of a dream. His family was still dead, and his best friend had left him for dead. But here he stood, recounting most of the ordeal to the blond oracle.
“And you’re certain others may have survived?”
“I . . . believe so. Obviously, I didn’t see them. But I know I could have escaped if things had gone differently. It didn’t seem interested in being too thorough. I’m confident that at least some people escaped.”
He didn’t tell them about the mayor, Sean, or the braves. In fact, he told them as little as possible. It was too personal, and he didn’t trust them yet. In his heart, he knew that Dane had made it out. He could feel it, but he didn’t present that as proof.
“I see. The Apostle you encountered is a particularly heinous creature—Horus, offspring of Orion, one of the twelve originals,” Jane said.
Jeff nodded intently. He didn’t particularly care which monster it was that had destroyed his people—they were all the same to him—but he already felt like he had been too loose with his mouth, especially here, in front of the gathered vagrants.
They were congregated around a small energy cell that was configured to look and act like a small fire. It was late, but Jane insisted on hearing his account of the attack on Fifth Springs. He wasn’t sure why, as she seemed to know most of the details already. Of all the vagrants he had met, Jane was the one he wanted to be the farthest away from.
“But that doesn’t interest you, does it?” Jane asked.
“How do you know that?”
His question earned a slight chuckle from Stefani, which was the first audible clue that any of the people sitting around the fire were still alive.
“That answer wouldn’t interest you,” Jane said, “because it starts with the history of the Apostles that bore you so.”
She stood as if the conversation was over. Talon, the man who made Canon look like a child, stood with her. Jeff had never backed down from a fight before, but Talon would push his confidence if it came to it.
“Jane,” Carlee said, standing as well. “What are we going to do with Jeff?”
Talon looked annoyed by the question, but Jane didn’t seem surprised by the interruption. She looked over to Carlee, and the two shared a brief look. There was a connection between them that Jeff hadn’t observed with any of the other vagrants.
“You would have him stay with us?”
“I would,” Carlee said. “I believe he would benefit from our company.”
She picked her words carefully. It seemed that there was more to the conversation than Jeff understood. But that was hardly a new occurrence with the vagrants. Nothing they did or said made sense. Only Stefani’s flippant comments partially bridged the communication gap.
“He’s a liability,” Talon said. His solid voice was unexpected to more than just Jeff.
“Our wounded friend is an enigma to me,” Jane said. “I will search on it this evening. Please do the same, and we shall make that decision before we leave tomorrow.”
“We’re leaving tomorrow?” The Islander man whom Jeff had seen earlier asked the question. He sat next to two men who were older than Jeff and appeared to be identical. They even shared the same look of wanting to burn what was left of the world to ashes.
“There are many questions this evening, which lead to many paths. Currently, I plan on us helping the people of Dallas next.”
The vagrants gathered around the fire were not silent anymore. They didn’t go as far as to shout their protests, but the murmurs were loud enough to get the message across. Jeff didn’t know much about the world or history, but he knew of Dallas. Everyone did. It was the only human city that had survived the Ascension and the following wars. It was an extremely exclusive community that existed outside of the comparatively feeble coalition of humans. No one was allowed to enter or leave the land surrounding the city.
And no one was desperate enough to try to sneak in because Dallas was personally ruled and protected by Petra, the only Apostle Jeff knew by name, except for Bud.
“Dallas?” Stefani was apparently the only vagrant brave enough to question to Jane.
“Yes, that is correct,” Jane said. “Many paths are yet to be made, but right now, I believe it is where we should go.” She nodded her head and walked away toward her tent. Talon followed after her, taking a step for every three or four Jane took.
“Well that’s great for you, Handsome,” Stefani said.
“When did you start calling me Handsome?” Jeff asked.
“After I figured out that Carl didn’t want me calling you gimp, or pirate leg, or hollow head, or lopsided, or—”
“I get it,” Jeff said.
“Are you sure? Because I could go on.”
“No one doubts that,” Carlee said, entering the conversation. The vagrants buzzed in small groups around the fire, likely discussing Jane’s announcement.