Guardian Read online

  The alarm buzzed again, and they both yelled. Kirsten flailed at the nightstand until the noise stopped. They looked at each other; expressions of panic faded to laughter.

  “Okay. If you’re sure then… go get ready.”

  Evan ran off to the hallway bathroom while Kirsten used the autoshower in the one attached to her bedroom. Soon, they met in the kitchen. She took a gooey blob of Grandma Goodman’s Easy Eggs from the refrigerator―essentially a protein-based water balloon filled with liquid raw egg―and dropped it in a pan. After popping it with a fork, she whisked the slime into a scramble. Evan leaned on the counter by the reassembler, swaying side to side. It took her a moment to wrestle open a silver foil pack with eight three-inch ‘breakfast sausages.’ They tasted fine, far better than anything the reassembler could make from OmniSoy. Exactly what they were, she had no idea.

  “Mom, can I have coffee?”

  “Decaf.”

  Evan folded his arms. “The coffee gods look down upon your transgressions.”

  “Make it a half-caf… and a small.” She added another Omni-sausage and a little more eggs to his plate. His metabolism is already nuts… I need to check with medical about giving him coffee at his age.

  The machine whirred and beeped. By the time she sat at the table, he’d ‘semmed up two cups. He carried them to the table, and set the bigger one in front of her. It smelled of pseudo-mocha. A few minutes of quiet eating later, worry crept into her mind. I’ve had him for months, and he hasn’t had one nightmare…

  “Ev?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Was last night the first time you’ve had a dream about before I found you?”

  The way the happiness seemed to fade away from him punched her in the heart. He stared at his plate, no longer seeming interested in eating. “Yeah.”

  “Did something happen? Why would you have a dream like that all of a sudden?” She reached across the table to hold his hand. “For me, I’d see something little… the way one of the dorm attendants would stand over me would make me think of that bitch, or the way some other kid down the hall screamed in their sleep reminded me of a noise one of the ghosts made when I was too afraid to help them.”

  The sorrow in his eyes lessened. “Uhh, no. I don’t think so. I, umm, did kinda feel watched before I fell asleep. Maybe some ghost was tryin’ to scare me.”

  Kirsten clenched her jaw. The senator, Julia Dominguez, then Lamb… The idea that some asshat ghost had targeted her instead of those people brought fury to her eyes. Whoever it was had gone too far targeting Evan.

  “Mom?” He leaned back. “You look like you’re gonna tear someone’s nuts off.”

  She let out a meditative sigh. “I’ve had a few cases of prankster spirits messing with people, but it’s gone before I get there each time.” I can’t find a connection between the victims. Maybe it’s me.

  His eyes lit up with a weak white light after a few seconds of an intense look on his face. “We’re alone.” He looked around in a full circle before tilting his head at her. “Mom? How long did it take for you to always see them? Having to turn it on is annoying.”

  She chuckled and stabbed her fork into a bit of sausage. “I’m not sure it’s an advantage. There’s some things out there you might not want to see… but, for me, it happened on its own after I kept using it so much. I never really thought about wanting it on all the time. I was maybe eleven or twelve… only a few months before I got found and dragged back to civilization kicking and screaming.”

  “Dragged back?” He shoveled food in his mouth.

  “I’d gone feral… living in the Beneath since I was ten. I was terrified of adults… unless they were ghosts. There’s so many of them down there, having the sight on became routine. When the police found me rooting around a trash crusher for food, I thought they were going to take me back to that woman… so I panicked”

  “Will I get in trouble for havin’ it on alla time?”

  Kirsten gazed down. No sense bullshitting the kid. “There are some people who won’t react well to seeing your eyes glowing. When you’re at school or here, it’s not a problem. Out in public, it could cause unwanted attention.”

  He leaned back, his head a little to the side. “I’m not ashamed of being psionic.”

  Her heart melted. “Oh, Evan… I’m not saying you should be. But there are people out there who fear and hate us. I don’t want anyone to hurt you.”

  “It’s not my fault I have wimpy powers,” he yelled. A second later, his eyes widened to a look of terror.

  “Evan,” said Kirsten in a tone that failed to hide anger. “I’m not upset with you for shouting. I’m angry with the people who treat us like that.” She slipped out of her chair, taking a knee at his side and holding his hand in both of hers. “Please don’t look at me like you think I’m going to hit you.” Her rage collapsed into sorrow, and a tear ran down her cheek. “There’s no way I―”

  He looked at his lap. “Sorry. I didn’t. It… I never yelled at you before an’ whenever I used ta yell, I got hit.”

  She squeezed him again. “I’m not going to turn into my mother.”

  “Pff.” Evan gave her an incredulous look. “She was crazy. My mother isn’t crazy. She’s awesome.”

  Kirsten dabbed at her eyes. “I love you too, Ev.”

  They embraced until a beep from her NetMini a few minutes later made her let go to look at a text message from Captain Eze.

  Everything okay? You’re usually on the way by now.

  He’s watching my GPS? She blinked, and typed: Leaving soon. Kid issues. Nothing serious. Will explain once I’m in.

  Evan burst out laughing.

  Kirsten raised an eyebrow.

  “You ‘member that vid with the ghost crawling out from under that girl’s bed, and her mother kept looking her in the eyes and saying ‘no scary dreams in there’ when she wanted her to go to sleep?”

  Kirsten racked her brain. The boy devoured movies at a frightening rate; they all ran together. “I think so.”

  “Well…” He leaned forward, eyes wide. “Psionic moms can really look.”

  She giggled. “Come on. Get your backpack. We’re late.”

  van stopped at the double doors leading to the school wing of the Police Administrative Center. He hugged Kirsten, ignoring a few laughs from older kids making fun of him for having his mother walk him to school. It didn’t matter what they thought. She hurried off to the elevators. He swiveled around, faced the hallway, and concentrated on astral seeing. The grinning cluster of kids in the hallway traded in their huge grins for curious stares.

  “Hey Wren,” yelled a fifth or sixth grade boy. “You about to mind blast someone?”

  “No.” Evan kept walking. “I’m looking for ghosts.”

  “Cool.” A girl in a teal dress on his right kept pace with his stride. “I’ve never seen an astral before.” She bit her lip. “Are there any here?”

  “Not right now, but there is a ghost in the building.” He thought of Dorian. “Uhh, wait. Two… but one doesn’t come to the school.”

  “So what if he can see ghosts?” said Shawn Fields, forcing his way through the crowd. “No one’s afraid of that.”

  “Why do you want people to be afraid of you? Half the world hates us already.” Evan stopped and folded his arms, locking eyes with the much larger boy. Ghosts can tell me things… like about how you sleep with a teddy bear.

  Red flooded Shawn’s cheeks in an instant. He grabbed Evan by the shirt with both fists and pulled him up on tiptoe. His brain seemed to still be grinding on what to say back to Evan’s telepathic gauntlet; his lips twisted and parted, but he only made faces.

  “Go ahead hit me, but you’re wasting your time.” Evan’s eye-glow reflected back at him from Shawn’s glare. I wasn’t gonna say anything out loud about the bear. That’s like personal and stuff.

  “Yeah.” Shawn let go; Evan’s weight settled back on his heels.

  As the big kid stormed off, the
girl―Michelle?―blinked at him. “You were really gonna let him hit you?”

  Evan stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to act nonchalant. Having the attention of a fifth-grade girl with long, black hair scared him, unlike Shawn. “Yeah.” He choked back explaining about his birth mother’s asshole boyfriend. That would sound like he tried to play the pity card.

  Alas, he noticed the surface thought peeking too late.

  “Aww.” Michelle patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. My stepdad tried to hit me with a sword.”

  Evan gawked up at her. “What?”

  “Good thing I’m quick.” She blurred from his right side to his left side. “He was cheating on Mom. I ratted him out.”

  “You caught him or you peeked?” Evan resumed trudging toward class.

  “Peeked.” Michelle grinned. “It wasn’t a psionic hate thing… he was mad at me for making her leave him.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Not your fault.” She waved, and ran off ahead to her room.

  Evan pivoted on his sneaker and loped to his desk.

  Mr. Vasquez raised an eyebrow at him. “Evan? Eyes?”

  “Astral seeing. I’m trying to practice so it works like my Mom. Always on without glowing. She said I shouldn’t do it out in public.”

  “Oh.” He shrugged. “Don’t let me catch you cheating on any tests with it.”

  “I won’t.”

  Mr. Vasquez folded his arms, smiling. “You won’t what? Let me catch you?”

  “I won’t cheat. Besides, Abernathy’s so old computers stop working if he gets near them.”

  The class chuckled.

  Kirsten passed fourteen people on her way to the squad room, two of whom returned her smile. The rest looked away or in three cases―ran. By the time she reached the door to her unit’s office, she resolved to scream at the next person to give her a fearful look.

  Tom Morelli looked up from his desk as she entered, and paled.

  “What?” she shouted. “Why does everyone look at me like that?”

  Lieutenant Morelli fidgeted. “Demons.”

  “Well.” She set her hands on her hips. “I suppose I should be happier about that than more mind blast panic. This isn’t right.” She paused to keep emotion from tinting her voice. “We’re all on the same side here unless I missed a memo. And… and…”

  “She’s the sweetest, kindest, most innocent person in the entire building over the age of twelve.” Nicole telekinetically levitated a cup of dark mocha coffee over. The café stuff made the sludge from her ‘sem taste like ichor from a demon’s nether regions by comparison.

  “Tell that to them.” Kirsten waved at the door she’d entered from. “Ever since word got out I have rating in Mind Blast. Even if it is low.”

  “I heard Commander Ashford sneezed and knocked some guy back to mental infancy.” Morelli shrugged. “Sounds like BS to me.”

  “That’s because it is.” Kirsten pointed at him. “And no I don’t know firsthand. I did a lot of research. Wiping a brain takes a lot of concentration and a lot of time. It’s not something you can do off a sneeze.”

  “Actually,” said an icy voice from behind. “I did once make a man defecate by accident when I sneezed. Didn’t even need to use my gift.”

  Morelli sat pin straight at attention. “Commander.”

  Kirsten turned slow, and managed a professional smile (and salute) at the pallid man in the doorway to Captain Eze’s office. “Commander.”

  Nicole waved and emitted an “eep”; after two seconds of staring frozen, she saluted him. “Sorry, sir.”

  Commander Ashford glanced at Nicole with a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes. He waved Kirsten over. “A moment of your time?”

  “Of course, sir.” She walked past him into the office, brushing close in direct defiance of all the people who ran the other way when he showed up.

  Captain Eze settled the handful of butterflies in her stomach with his calm smile. “This is merely a formality.”

  Ashford walked in behind her and took the second seat facing the desk. “The brass are curious about your dealings with Senator Winchester.”

  “There’s not much to say. I put everything in the inquest record. Some reports of paranormal activity, watched feelings, noises, whispery voices… I noted a latent energy trace in one of the rooms, but by the time I got there, whatever entity had already left.” She picked at the coffee cup, desperate to drink some, but refrained. “I gave the senator my PID and asked him to call me if it came back… but so far nothing.”

  Captain Eze nodded, smirked, and grumbled. “I respect you too much to beat around the bush, Kirsten.”

  “Sir?” She raised an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”

  “No.” He raised a hand. “As you are well aware from your dealings with Commissioner Vernon, there are certain people in high places who become nervous when psionic individuals, even sworn officers, get close to someone with a senator’s position. However, it is on record that he requested your presence after specifically citing his opinion of your trustworthiness.”

  She nodded before taking a long swig of choco-coffee-awesome.

  “What I am basically saying here is… Whatever the senator asks you to do, it would be best for us all if you did it… barring anything unethical of course.”

  Kirsten sighed. “Money gets special treatment again.”

  “More clout than money, but… kid gloves, Kirsten. Kid gloves.”

  “Tread carefully.” Ashford’s ‘reassuring’ look would’ve worked for a mortician sizing someone up for a box. “Chances are, he’ll need a little special handling or TLC. Don’t feel that you need to compromise your ethics, or those of the Division. We are behind you all the way if something goes south―but… make sure you can prove anything with enough evidence to survive a Senatorial Inquest.”

  “You expect something to go wrong?” She looked from Ashford to Eze and back again. “Is Winchester dirty?”

  “If he is, he’s a master at hiding it.” Captain Eze chuckled. “Of course, only C-Branch would dare to even look… assuming he’s not one of the Five.”

  Ashford chuckled. “Isn’t that a rumor? Besides, even if true, Winchester’s far too young. The old boys wouldn’t let him anywhere near it.”

  Eze touched three fingers to his eyebrow before waving his hand. “Who knows?”

  “The Five? What, that conspiracy stuff about senators so powerful they control C-Branch or something?” Kirsten took another sip.

  “More or less. Unsubstantiated rumor.” Captain Eze leaned back. “Please… just be careful.”

  “Okay.” She glanced at her NetMini. “He might not even call. I have a new theory. So far, we’ve had three contacts with different victims with no apparent correlation. Last night, I think the same ghost gave Evan a nightmare. What if this thing is after me? Trying to play with my head by sending me off to chase shadows?”

  “An interesting theory. Is he all right?” asked Captain Eze.

  “Yes, sir. Whatever it did, it triggered a nightmare of his previous situation… in particular his birth mother’s abusive boyfriend. Since I’ve had him, he’s never had a dream about that… not even once. I’m sure there is an external influence involved. I was going to start running some pattern checks on all the vics to see if anything lines up.”

  “Nothing at all obvious?” Commander Ashford brushed a tiny speck of lint from his black trenchcoat.

  “No, sir. Nothing I’ve seen. One woman in her early twenties. Another woman pushing fifty. A male in his later forties. Debutante, military logistics clerk, NewsNet upper manager, and possibly my son.” Kirsten fidgeted. “Oh and I’ve received two inbound calls that terminated before I could answer. I had Sam check on them, and both came from virtual devices. He’s still trying to track them down, but it’s not easy.”

  Captain Eze nodded. “All right then. Anything else to add, Commander?”

  Ashford shook his head and rendered a crisp wave of
dismissal without lifting his arm from his lap.

  Kirsten stood, saluted them both, and hurried to her desk.

  An hour and ten minutes later, her terminal had exploded into an octopusine arrangement of holo-panels; eight satellite display screens hovered around the primary, each crawling with algorithms trying to pattern-match some commonality between the three people who had reported events. The software combed through everything from banking records to vid calling habits to work to GPS tracking of their ImDent chips or NetMinis to network activity… She’d even set up a sniffer to dredge the citycams system in the event they’d gone elusive and disabled their personal electronics to travel somewhere unnoticed. Senator Winchester didn’t seem to spend much time at all in West City, much less on Earth. Kirsten watched screens churn, tapping her finger on her cheek. Maybe it’s not the senator. Inspired, she opened yet another holo-panel and started searching for ‘Seraphina.’ She set to retrieve women age 18-25. Not much to go by, but there can’t be that many people with that name.

  185,722 results.

  “Crap.”

  Dorian sidled up alongside her. “Now you’re grasping.”

  “Do you think I’m worried over nothing? This could just be a new spirit having fun.” She crossed her arms. “No… it felt angry. It’s gonna do something as soon as it’s strong enough to.”

  “That could be decades.” Dorian reached for her coffee.

  She snatched the cup away before he could chill it. “That’s cruel. And, not exactly. You’re not that old and you’re able to manifest and touch people sometimes.”

  He studied the floor, tapping his foot. When he lifted his head, his expression had become as serious as she’d ever seen him. “I was angry.”

  Kirsten concentrated for a second, infusing her body with psionic energy. Once solid to spirits, she rested her hand on top of his where he gripped the desk.

  Dorian glanced away. “Feeling sorry for me isn’t going to help any more than you already have.” He sighed and summoned up a weak smile. “I kept telling you to leave Rene alone, but you got him.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Technically, Div 9 got him, but… Yeah.”