Gravity Rises (S3)

SP: Part Four

WINTER 2013

"I've known your brother my entire life."

Gideon's words hung over the room like a bristly blanket, trapping his audience in shock. He watched Mabel and Stanford as they realized the implications of his statement. Their expressions were just as bad as he'd feared. He was glad that he finally got to see Mabel's face again — but he didn't want to see it like this.

"What?" Ford finally said.

"He's been here all along," Gideon said. It didn't get any easier the second time he admitted it. This. . . this was unheard of. This was blasphemy. By telling the Pines what he had told them, Gideon was signing his death warrant. No — not his death warrant. Bill needed him alive. His torture warrant, then. Bill was going to ensure that he went through enough pain that he'd wish he were dead.

"What are you saying?" whispered Mabel. Hope and horror warred in her eyes.

Gideon found himself growing frustrated. "I'm saying, I know where he is. Or — where he usually is. I don't know where he is right now."

"Where is he usually, then?" Ford's tone was stringent, urgent, pleading — all at once.

This was the second part of the taboo. By claiming he knew Ford's brother, he'd already broken it; by telling them what he was about to tell them, he was digging his grave even deeper.

When he hesitated, Stanford grabbed his shoulders. "Gideon. Please. Please, I need to know. Where is my brother?"

Gideon bit his lip. "Underground," he finally said. "In the. . . in the Order Headquarters. He's the leader of the Order."

Ford's grip slackened; his hands fell to his sides.

"But — Pacifica's the leader," Mabel protested.

"Do you really think Bill would entrust his cult to a twelve-year-old?" Gideon countered. "She's not the real leader; this is just a test run. She's Lincoln's apprentice."

Ford stiffened. Gideon wondered why, for a moment, before remembering that the name 'Lincoln' was bound to be foreign to the Pines. Sure enough, "What did you call him?" asked Ford.

"Lincoln," Gideon said. His voice was much stronger than his resolve. "He goes by Blind Lincoln. I'd never even heard the name 'Stanley' used for him until Mabel told me the night of the Northwest Gala."

Ford caught himself on the wall, as if his outstretched hand were the only thing keeping him upright.

Mabel, however, stepped forward. Her shock seemed to be giving way to her rising anger. "Why didn't you tell me that night?" she demanded. "If you knew, if you've known this whole time, then why did you give me your Journal? Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

Gideon flinched. This. This was what he was dreading. Not Bill's wrath, not his father's torture — those were in the distant future, and he didn't have to worry about them right now. No, he dreaded Mabel's reaction. He dreaded the look on her face as she realized that he had once again betrayed her.

Her expression demanded an answer. "I don't know," he finally said. It was true enough. He knew a few reasons why, but he didn't have a full explanation.

By indication of Mabel's trembling anger, that answer wasn't good enough. But it would have to do for the moment, for Stanford had straightened again. "You said that's where he usually is," he said, "but you don't know where he is right now?"

"I don't," Gideon confirmed. "He left before the Northwest Gala. I. . . I guess Bill wanted him out of the way when you discovered the Order."

"Why?" It was a shout, full of fury. "If I'd known, I never would have turned on the portal! If Bill didn't want me turning on the portal, he should have let me find my brother!"