J. Mitchell - The Severed Tower

“But what the hell is it?”

“It is where everything began.” Gideon’s gaze shifted to Zoey again, or at least as much as it could. “And where it will end. The Tower is special. Unique, perhaps in all the universe, and it shapes the Pattern to its will. It has been doing so since the beginning. Orchestrating a symphony of events and choices all leading to this moment. To the return of the Reflection Box—and the return of the Prime.”

“Why?” Mira asked.

“I do not know,” Gideon admitted. “The Tower has a will, it is clear; I’ve seen too much to doubt it. But that will is mysterious. And unknowable.”

“A friend of mine believes, like you,” Mira said, “that the Tower is conscious; that it makes things happen.”

Gideon’s gaze shifted toward Mira but never settled on her. “The one who stole your Offering. The one who uses the relic of luck. He is right. And astute. He sees things in a different way. Perhaps he knows more than even I, who is to say?”

Mira stared back at Gideon with alarm and wonder. “How did you…?”

“Like everything, he and it pass through the Pattern and leave a wake behind them. That wake, those vibrations, show much to those trained to sense. If your friend manages to reach the Tower… then it is as designed.”

“You’re saying the Tower wants Ben to make it inside?”

“I’m saying that nothing happens by chance, where the Tower is concerned. If he lives and enters it, he has some role yet to play. And if he has your plutonium, then our path is clear. We must find him before he does so, otherwise the Prime will lose her chance. Which means… the Tower will have provided a way.” Gideon’s gaze, such as it was, moved back to the hulking silver walker behind Zoey. “Which brings us back… to this. Something else out of place. It cannot be coincidence.”

“His name is Ambassador,” Zoey informed Gideon. “He helps me feel better.”

“Then I am grateful. Tell me, what abilities does this machine have?”

“It doesn’t have any weapons,” Holt said. “Seems built for ramming. It’s got an energy shield of some kind, too.”

“And it can teleport, ” Mira said pointedly. Gideon raised an eyebrow at that.

“That’s right,” Holt agreed. “It teleported us. ”

“Ambassador calls it ‘shifting,’” Zoey clarified.

“And can it ‘shift’ anywhere?” Gideon asked.

Zoey started to shake her head, then stopped. It hurt when she did that. “No. Only to places he’s been before.”

Gideon thought another moment. “Zoey, can you ask Ambassador if it can shift to a location that someone else has visited?”

Zoey closed her eyes and reached out to Ambassador. His presence blossomed in her mind, a shimmering field of colors that was there and not there.

He responded instantly. Scion. These… are friends?

The walker was worried for her safety, and she didn’t blame him. They were surrounded by thousands of warriors, each bearing powerful weapons and the skill to use them.

Yes, Zoey thought, though it was more complicated than that. They want to know if you can shift to a place where someone else has been, even if you haven’t?

Ambassador did not reply immediately, the answer must have required thought. If they touch us, yes.

Zoey looked back to Gideon. “He can do it, but whoever does has to touch him. Holt and Mira couldn’t do that, so I did it for them. I touched their minds to his.”

“What are you thinking?” Holt asked, staring at Gideon suspiciously.

“I have been to the Tower, or at least as close as one might get without an Offering. If the Prime can touch our minds to the invader’s, it can teleport us there. We will make up the time that has been lost, and we will be able to catch your friend.” Gideon’s gaze hovered a few inches to the side of Zoey. “Girl, you must listen to me and answer honestly. How many do you think you can ‘touch’ at the same time?”

Everyone looked at Zoey and her face reddened at the attention. “I… don’t know. I’d never done it before.”

“How difficult was it?” Gideon asked her. “How difficult was touching two minds, including your own, to the invader’s?”

That one she could answer. “It was easy. It only hurt a little.”

“Good,” Gideon nodded, as if that was the answer he was hoping for. “Avril, prepare two Arcs, you and another will lead them, and I will accompany you. The rest of the Helix will disband Sanctum and make speed after us.”

“Wait a damn second,” a new voice yelled behind them. It was Ravan, and she and her men were advancing forward. “Avril’s not going anywhere but with me. That was the deal.”

“When we are assured the Prime has reached the Tower, then she will be yours. As is her duty, as is her obligation.”

Avril looked down, trying with difficulty to contain her frustration.

“You’re a damned liar and a crazy old man,” Ravan said.

“Rae…” Holt started, but she waved him off.

“I don’t believe in any of this, I don’t believe in fate or destiny, and I sure as hell don’t believe in some magical tower that pulls everyone’s strings. I make my own choices. I believe in my wits and my men and that’s it, and anyone who believes in anything more is an idiot.”

“No one has asked you to believe anything, nor do I proclaim to know anything. I simply observe. It is all anyone can truly do.” Gideon did not turn to Ravan as he spoke. “You are here. And the Prime would not have reached me without you. Perhaps the Tower is done with you now, who is to say? But Avril will not be yours until we reach it. If you want her, then you must come with us. This is why I feel you still have some role left to play.”

At the words, Ravan stared uncomfortably at Holt. He looked back with an equal level of discomfort. Neither of them liked the fantastical or the idea of fate, but both had come here anyway, out of obligation. They had a lot in common, Zoey knew. It was the source of all their feelings—and all their problems.

“Fine,” Ravan said, “but my men come with us, and that’s not negotiable.”

“That’s insane!” Mira exclaimed. “You’re talking about four dozen people at once!”

“I believe Zoey has the ability,” Gideon said simply.

“You don’t even know her,” Holt shot back, and Zoey could feel the anger in him. “She’s hurting, look at her! Every mile we go, the weaker she gets. What you’re talking about might kill her!”

“You underestimate the Tower’s influence. Look what it has done.” Gideon gestured to the silver walker. “Arranged events so that this machine would be here, at this moment, with its unique abilities. Only by doing so could we catch the one who has your Offering in time. The Tower wants Zoey to reach it, and so she will.”

“And who the hell says that’s a good thing?” Holt asked pointedly.

“I assume,” Gideon answered, “that Zoey does.”

Everything stopped. The people all looked at her again. Zoey knew she had to answer, and that she was making a choice by doing so. She wondered, though, given what Gideon thought of the Tower, if she had any real choice at all.

“I want to try,” Zoey said. “I think it’s important.”

At the words, Holt and Mira’s anger faded, but their trepidation remained.

Gideon turned and studied his disciples. His voice was loud enough for all to hear. “The Assembly are here, in force. They move slowly, but they are coming. Concentrate and you will feel them shift the Pattern, as I do.”

Murmurs echoed from the thousands of White Helix around them. Zoey knew Gideon was right. She could feel them, too. It was the Royal, and it would do exactly what it had told her. Find her, no matter what. The thought chilled her.