chAPTER 19

Heller, to my surprise, calmly listened to me while I told him everything that had happened since the plan to bust Nix out of the DUP facility began. He didn't interrupt, and he didn't ask any questions. I didn't know if he was forcing himself to do it, or if he really wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt, but he listened to every word from beginning to end. When I had finished, he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Cole," he began, but stopped himself. Taking a breath, he tried again. "Why didn't you tell us any of this sooner? We could have helped."

I sighed. "Look, this guy was serious," I told him. "He explicitly said that he didn't want DARPA in on this. If he had even smelled you guys, he would've been gone. And we wouldn't have even gotten close to the Ray Sphere."

"Which we still don't have," Heller argued. "Any idea who might've taken it? Was it the DUP?"

I shook my head. "They wouldn't have killed one of their own guys to get it."

"Maybe they were aiming for you, and missed."

"No, they were able to hit me as I was crouching down. Too good of a shot for that."

Heller frowned. "Well, I'll get my guy to track the energy source. They probably wouldn't have taken outside the city, so that gives us an advantage. We should be able to find it as soon as we get back."

"Get back?" I asked, confused.

"We found another one of those Echo things. This one's in St. Clark."

(Break)

The ride to St. Clark was quiet for a while, but soon I felt the need to speak up. Working together like we were, there was no reason to keep things awkwardly quiet between each other. "So," I began before clearing my throat. "How do you think we're doing? You know…. with the war?"

Heller sighed and shook his head. "It's really hard to tell," he replied. "We've done pretty good with the hands we've been dealt, but when you look at them all together, they don't seem to add to much."

I looked away. "Yeah," I muttered. "That's what I was afraid of."

I saw Heller look sideways at me, then pointed his eyes back at the horizon. "Look, we'll just double our efforts. Get more people on our side."

I scoffed. "The government's trying to lock us up and torture us, Humanity wants us dead, and anyone else is too afraid to do anything. I think it might take more than just doubling our efforts."

"Which is why we're heading to St. Clark. The more Echoes you find, the stronger you get. That should help make up for some of the people we won't be picking up." He frowned for a moment. "What's the deal with those, anyway?"

"The Echoes?" I asked. Heller nodded. "I don't really know," I admitted. "I guess he left them for me, somehow, after he died."

"He?"

"He. The Echo. Another version of me. He was there in New Marais with the Alpha." Heller's frown deepened, whether at the mention of the new Beast's name, or learning that there were two of me, I didn't know. He'd probably shit himself if I told him the truth about Kessler.

"So, what? You find the Echo, talk to a dead, alternate version of yourself, and then he gives you a new power?"

I shook my head. "No, I really don't think it's a new power. I mean, I've never made a crater blast, or called down a quick lightning strike before the Echoes, but I don't think it's the same as gaining a new power. I don't ever feel stronger. It's more like….. like I already had the capability to use that power, but not the knowledge. These Echoes seem to unlock that knowledge."

"So, the more you find, the smarter you get?"

I shrugged. "In a way, I guess." I frowned as I remembered the other part. "He also showed me other things. Visions. Telling his story from before-."

Heller held up his hand, silencing me, his eyes furrowed at something off in the distance. I followed his gaze and gasped at what I saw. A huge pillar of smoke was rising out of St. Clark. "That... doesn't look good," I stated, earning a sideways glance from Heller.

"I'll get you as close as I can, but the rest is going to be up to you."

He moved the chopper around the arch and toward the baseball stadium, stopping over the open space. I opened the door and dropped down, landing with a hard thud. I looked around the stadium for a moment, trying to find the way out. No sooner had I started moving toward the exit when bullets ricocheted off the ground near my feet. I quickly threw up a shield and looked up to see three or four gun wielding hostiles dropping from the sky. I jumped backwards to avoid them and held up my hand, ready to fire on them. Then I got a good look at them.

Vermaak 88. They were in St. Clark.

Not wasting any time, I blasted the nearest ice Conduit and drew the Amp to deal with the other two. I swung at one, only for him to duck and his buddy to slam the butt of his rifle into my face. I stumbled into the other guy, and quickly grabbed his gun, my electricity igniting the gunpowder. I kicked him away before the gun exploded, leaving him down and out on the ground. I turned my attention to the guy who clocked me, only to find that the one I blasted had rejoined the fray. Quickly, I ice-launched into the air, then used my height advantage to get a thunder drop on them, sending both of them flying. I ran to the clocker and quickly restrained him, which left enough time for his friend to stand up. I called down a lightning strike and finished him off, ending the fight.

The threats dealt with, I rang Heller. "Heller, it's Vermaak 88, those ice Conduits from New Marais," I explained quickly.

"What the hell are they doing here?"

"I don't know. Let me ask 'em." I ended the call and rounded on the 88 that I captured. Grabbing his collar, I ran some energy through my arm and held it close to his face. "What do you want? Why attack St. Clark?" I demanded.

The 88 tried to pull from me, but couldn't do much thanks to his restraints. "Go to hell," he said angrily.

"Wrong answer," I growled, before grabbing his forehead and shocking him. It wasn't enough to kill him, or even knock him out. But it would hurt like hell. He screamed aloud as he convulsed, and as he started to go limp, I let him go. He wasn't any good to me unconscious. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" I repeated fervently.

"We're here for the ashes," the 88 replied weakly. "He wants them."

"He?" I asked. "The Beast?"

The 88 nodded before passing out. I let go and stood up, trying to contemplate what I'd just heard. The Beast, the Alpha, whatever his name was, he wanted the Echoes. Why? What was he hoping to learn from them? Whatever it was, people would die if he got his hands on them. I needed to get there first. I called Heller back. "Where is the Echo, Heller? I need to get to it before they do."

"It's under the arch. I'm headed that way now."

"Keep your distance," I warned. "If Vermaak 88 gets their hands on you, you're finished."

"Copy that," Heller replied hesitantly, ending the call.

I tethered to the top of the stadium and jumped to a nearby powerline, grinding as quickly as I could toward the arch. A group of Ice Conduits fired at me as I sped ahead, making me pull up a shield to keep from being shot off. When I got to the point where I could get no further, I jumped off, drawing the Amp and swinging for the fences at the nearest 88 who was shooting. Another shotgunner sped toward me, hoping to catch me off guard. I raised a shield to deflect the shot and hit him with a punch blast, knocking him off his feet, before running up to him and restraining him.

The arch towered an over me as I scoured the ground looking for anything resembling ashes. "Heller, I'm not getting anything here. Where's this signal coming from?"

"South end of the arch," Heller replied. "You better hurry." I sprinted to the south, hoping it was there. As I reached the arch, I scanned for the ashes, finding them on the ground. I reached down and touched the pile, its energy pulling me into that white place once again.

The Echo was pacing, seemingly anxious. "You're starting to run out of time," he said. "The Beast is out there. And he's gearing up for a fight." He turned to face me. "You need to get as many people together as you can. Now."

"I'm trying," I replied. "There's a lot of obstacles getting in the way."

"I know. I saw what happened with the Ray Sphere."

"Do you know who has it?" I asked urgently.

The Echo shook his head. "No. But that's only part of the problem. The plague is getting worse. People are dropping dead left and right. If you can save them, that's people willing to help you."

"The only cute for the plague was the RFI, and that was destroyed in New Marais."

"You don't need a cure. Not right away." He reached his hand out before I could ask what he meant and touched my forehead, sending images into my head.

The death toll was rising, both from the fight between the Beast and the military, and the continued presence of the plague. I had done everything I could to save as many people as possible, but it was becoming increasingly clear that was easier said than done. My healing wasn't working anymore, thanks to the fact that the plague was in almost everyone. The more I failed, the more experimental I got with my healing abilities. It didn't always work the way I was hoping it would.

Then it hit me, out of nowhere. I was directing my energy in a way that targeted the plague itself, and suddenly, it was gone. The person was free and clear. Unfortunately, it didn't last. It was only a matter of days before the plague came back, killing her within a few hours. It seemed as though nothing could really stop the plague. Nothing except the piece of machinery that was now completely destroyed.

I saw what he'd done, what he'd been able to do, and realized exactly how I could do it. I looked over at the Echo. "How do I stop it for good?" I asked.

The Echo was silent for a moment, then replied. "The Ray Sphere. Dr. Kinsley can use it to repair the RFI."

The news hit me like a ton of bricks. Of course. The RFI was based on the Ray Sphere's technology. If Kinsley could build his own Ray Sphere, he could repair the RFI.

Suddenly, the white room vanished, and was replaced with the courtyard of the arch. Heller was touching the helicopter down and yelling at me to move my ass. I ran to the helicopter without so much as looking back, knowing full well Vermaak 88 was on my tail. I jumped into the chopper, and Heller pulled up on the flight stick, sending us both straight up into the air.

"We gotta get back to DC now!" I shouted over the rotors and machine gun fire.

"No shit!" came the reply. Heller pulled the chopper to the left, trying to get out of the way of the ice-launching 88s on our tail. I fired a punch blast at a couple of them getting too close, sending them hurtling to the ground. They'd survive, not that that was my concern. Heller finally got the chopper pulled up to a high enough altitude where we'd be safe, at least for now.

On the ride back to DC, I shared the Echo's information with Heller, who had numerous questions concerning the Ray Sphere and the RFI. I decided to leave out the part about the plague treatment, at least for now. That was a whole other hornet's I didn't want to kick, at least for the moment.

As we neared the warehouse, I looked out over the city. The DUP were all over it, looking for Conduits to round up. Humanity was out there, somewhere in the shadows, waiting to strike. The Beast was at the other end of the country, building up an army of Conduits. And finally, there was DARPA. I knew that we were on the same side, at least for now, but I couldn't bring myself to fully trust them yet.

As we landed, I walked briskly to the medical wing. Looking inside, I saw Nix sitting up, which was definitely welcome, and Zeke laying down. The plague was taking its toll on him, and I knew he didn't have a lot longer to go. I opened the door, ignoring the protests of the other doctors, and walked up to my friend, electricity crackling at my fingertips. I remembered what the Echo showed me, about how to direct my energy, and copied that, sending the healing pulse surging into Zeke.

One thing the Echo didn't mention was how much energy that kind of healing took out of me. The fight in St. Clark hadn't left me with all that much, and I hadn't had any time to recharge between then and now. First, there was a hell of a lot of pain, and then the last of my energy left my body. It felt like death. As I fell unconscious, fear gripped me. After all, who knew if I'd wake up again. But that was a risk I had to take. It was the only chance Zeke had.

The last thing I heard was some muffled shouts of surprise and horror.