Redemption

Redemption Part 35

"Vy..." I said weakly.

She looked down at me and smiled, her eyes benevolent. "It's okay, I'm here." Her hair streaked behind her like dark lightning. "Don't worry, I'm going to make us invisible, okay? Just till we get somewhere safe."

I nodded. Beneath the numbness the lightning had burned into me, my heart still thumped hard, as if I couldn't quite accept I'd been rescued. Part of me felt immense relief. Part of me, a bit unfairly, felt betrayed, as Vy had actually hit me with lightning! But the crush of the crowd had probably been more than expected and they had to go to drastic measures to get to me... not like I hadn't taken a hit or two of lightning in my time....

Invisibility spread over her and it was as if I were floating with wings of my own, then I vanished and my heart dropped at that horrible disembodied feeling. If not for the pain, a network of throbbing nerves holding me together, I'd dissolve into a wisp of cloud and dissipate into nothing....

I fought against the irrationality of struggling and let myself be carried along—focus on the impossibly deep blue of the sky, its beauty piercing my heart....

A shadow passed over my vision and a moment later a blank white ceiling appeared above me, a crack zigzagging through it. Gentle arms settled me down on a white couch. Stuffing fluffed out of one arm.

"Where—" I began.

"Safe—for now," said Vy's disembodied voice. "But any moment, they'll discover the ruse and follow your com signal to our location."

"What do you mean? The people don't have DNA trackers...." I struggled to sit up, but pain writhed through my limbs and my arm wouldn't even move at all.

"We don't have time." A figure materialized out of thin air, her ghostly outline swiftly filling in to something solid.

A spear of ice struck my heart.

Dazzle. Her bangs sliced straight across her forehead, her hair pulled back. Her golden eyes sharp, a little nervous.

She sat on the glass coffee table, the left corner of it broken. Held out a com to me.

"Take it," she said.

"No. I'm not doing anything you say."

She laid it on my stomach. Took out two other coms from pockets in her long robe and held them in her hands. "You will if you want what's best for your friends."

A sick feeling turned my stomach over. I propped myself up against the corner of the couch, letting the com slide into my lap. "What do you mean?"

"You will turn on the sensor block of that com. You will come with me."

"I—can't. Even if I wanted to. It's forbidden."

She stood, looking impatient. "If you don't—I'll give these coms to Zane and Hale."

"You—know about them?"

"I know what they did you your friends. What they would do to them—to their families."

"Zane is in the Restricted Zones."

"You think I can't get in there with a sensor block? I can go anywhere Q. Except not with you. Not unless you turn your block on."

"Ms will be here any minute."

"And I'll be gone. Perhaps if you see a demonstration...." She turned toward me; her eyes flashed. "Do you care about your friends as much as you pretend?"

"We'll protect them from you."

"You can't really be so naïve. Your family doesn't care about the fate of some Q inmates. Look what happened to Sol. He lay there for hours before other inmates found him."