Collision of Worlds - Chapter 14

Vivian woke Traq up early the next morning, hoping to make it to Delphi and onto their ship, Junker, before they had to seek shelter again. She knew from the previous night and seeing the scouts from the city that they weren’t far from their final destination.

She also knew that the army from Briden’s Ward wouldn’t be far off either. She hadn’t seen their scouts the previous day, so she had to hope that maybe she had enough of a lead to get her and Traq to safety. The war was coming, and it would be bloody if the past was any indication. She didn’t want to be caught in the middle of it.

Traq had recovered fairly well from the previous few days of strenuous hiking and seemed to be in high spirits. They stayed out of sight in the abandoned city while eating their breakfast. He was also extremely hungry, shoveling food into his mouth with abandon.

“Are you ready to go, Traq?” she asked, checking the street one last time while he packed his bags.

“Uh huh,” he said, shouldering it and grinning at her.

She couldn’t believe how fast his body had recovered from their last few days of hiking, but she wasn’t about to complain about small favors. She nodded at him, held her finger to her lips to signal for him to stay quiet, and started trekking back out of the destroyed city.

Once they made it back into the forest, she realized they were probably safe once again and allowed herself to relax. It would only be another couple of kilometers back to Delphi, and she was starting to feel that they were in the clear.

They had also managed to make the trek in about half the time she’d accounted for. It wasn’t quite the relaxing vacation she had been hoping for, but it was turning out to be an excellent trip in other ways.

 “Are we almost back to the city?” Traq asked after a few hours of hiking. He spoke louder than she would have liked, but she decided not to berate him for it. After all, it was a beautiful day out, sunny and bright.

“Almost there,” Vivian replied. “We’re almost out of this.”

2

They were making a good pace, trekking through the forest in a direct line to their destination. She was doing her best to keep them in the thicker areas of the surrounding woods, hoping there wouldn’t be any drones in the area to report their position to either army.

It was a hot day, and after the last few, they were running low on water. She had a purifier on hand to refill their jugs, but they hadn’t come across any streams or rivers yet. They were rationing, but they would both start feeling the effects if she wasn’t careful. She made sure to give him extra water, not wanting him to start slipping into the quiet exhaustion he’d experienced over the last few days.

She knew they were close to Delphi now. Each step was getting more and more dangerous. Part of her wished she’d grabbed a gun or two from the scouts she had knocked unconscious. It would have made her seem like a greater threat, she knew, and they would be hunting her down now, but it would have been worth it just to have some sort of defense to keep them both safe.

3

Around midday, Traq grabbed her arm and stopped walking. It was quiet in the woods around them, and she tensed up when he touched her. She glanced at him, confused, and saw a look of terror on his face.

She didn’t hesitate, knowing better than to ignore his instincts. She quickly looked for cover and found a copse of trees they could hide inside. It was painful moving through the brush but kept them out of anyone’s line of sight.

Once they were safely out of sight, she raised an eyebrow at Traq, silently asking him why they had stopped. As far as she could tell, there was nothing around them anywhere nearby.

He pointed forward in the direction they had been walking, but she couldn’t see or hear anything. Maybe this time he hadn’t been right, and there was nothing there. Still, she waited a few extra minutes, and then she heard the rustling sound of movement up ahead.

The sound grew as a group of soldiers moved through the foliage toward them. They were all in heavy armor and armed to the teeth. She watched as about thirty of them moved in their direction.

Vivian watched them approach, ducking down and shaking her head silently. She would have seen them approaching in time to get her and Traq out of sight without much of an issue: the soldiers weren’t even hiding their presence in the forest.

What shocked her was how quickly Traq had noticed them. He knew they were there long before they were in earshot or visible through the trees, which meant something else had tipped him off to their presence.

Much the same, she realized, as what had tipped him off to the group of scouts earlier. She knew without a doubt now that he was manifesting some sort of ability. She simply wished she knew more about what it was.

The soldiers passed by their hiding place, heading farther north, completely oblivious to their presence. Vivian could tell Traq was terrified seeing them up close, and she held his hand while they walked past to keep him calm.

Once the soldiers were past, she helped Traq climb back out of the hiding place.

“You knew they were there like the ones from last night?”

“Yeah. I just…knew.”

She stared at him for a second and then nodded. It seemed that the longer he was out here, and the more dangerous the situation, the more powerful he became. She didn’t even think Argus would have been able to sense a moving band like that from so far away, and that was with his implant.

But she couldn’t delve into it right now. They didn’t have time. She got Traq moving again, and they headed back onto their course toward Delphi.

About twenty minutes later, they came across a stream. Traq was staggering along now, exhausted, so she decided this would be the perfect opportunity to take a break. Part of her wanted to refill their bottles and press on, but she knew Traq wouldn’t be able to keep moving much longer and they were getting close to the city. She needed him at his best when they arrived at Delphi.

She found some rocks for them to sit on near a little waterfall and they took a break. Her legs were weary, but Traq had it worse. He was asleep in only a couple of minutes. She knew he was at his breaking point. They listened to the babbling brook for a while in silence.

She decided to let Traq rest for a couple of hours and took the time to meditate. Her head was still sore from using her implant, but she was afraid she might need to use it again before they reached the safety of Delphi.

4

They were back moving after about an hour’s rest. Traq was limping now, barely able to keep his feet and having lost the energy he had this morning, but she didn’t have a lot of options. She considered carrying him, but knew she needed to keep her own strength up as well in case they ran into any hostile situations.

She wasn’t making as good of time as she’d hoped and was afraid they would need to stop for another night before making it to their ship. They were too close to the city for her to rest comfortably, but she didn’t want to keep Traq going in the middle of the night and risk him hurting himself.

Her concerns proved well founded as night fell. The city lights were off in the distance, still several kilometers away. She was looking for a place to stop for the night and rest when she heard voices in the distance coming toward them.

She started to look for a hiding place when she heard one of them shout, “Halt!”

Her exhaustion was getting the best of her, she knew. These were Delphi soldiers out patrolling the area in anticipation of the oncoming army, and she’d walked right up to them. She should have seen them coming or expected them.

Too late to worry about that now. She put her body between Traq and the guns and held up her hands.

“We mean you no harm,” she said.

“Declare yourself,” a man said, rifle still raised.

“We are civilians heading to Delphi. I am a diplomat on behalf of the Republic.”

“Delphi is closed to outsiders.”

“Bring us to General Coley and he will explain. We have immunity and need to get off world before the army arrives.”

“The gates are closed to everyone right now. The general is busy and not to be bothered.”

Vivian had been afraid something like that would happen, but there was nothing she could really do about it. She still needed to get to her ship one way or another.

“We are trying to retrieve our ship and get off world.”

“Your ship?”

“It is docked in the city.”

“If that is true, then your ship has already been seized as contribution to the war effort.”

Vivian had assumed as much. It was a valuable item, especially in a time of war like this, and there was nothing like martial law and fear to seize assets and line the government’s coffers with funds.

There was no way they’d sold the ship yet, however, and she was certain that it was still locked up and ignored for now in the same place where she had left it. It would take them time to crack the security and they had other things to worry about than confiscating her ship.

“In either case, we need to—”

“You need to turn around and leave,” the soldier said, gesturing at her with his gun.

“There is an army behind us.”

“That isn’t our concern. You will not gain entry to Delphi, nor will we escort you out of this territory.”

Vivian sighed. “I have a child with me.”

“Then you shouldn’t have brought him here.”

The finality of the statement sunk in. She knew the man was right, and on a deeper level than she would have anticipated. She never should have brought Traq out here, and all she’d managed to do was put him at risk and possibly get him killed.

And for what? Some useless venture out into the woods to test him? She already knew he was an amazing child with a lot of potential, and she didn’t need to be on a war-torn planet to see that.

She seemed to be really good at making mistakes like this.

Vivian bowed her head, focusing on the implant, and then lashed out. All six guns jerked up, aiming high over her head. She heard a few grunts and gasps of surprise as the soldiers fought back, trying to maintain control over their weapons.

She leapt forward, kicking the speaking soldier in the diaphragm and then punching him in the throat. He collapsed to the ground with a grunt.

Another soldier pulled the trigger on his gun, firing off rounds into the sky. The sound was loud and echoed, probably warning anyone else in the area of their presence, but she didn’t have time to worry about it now. She stepped to another soldier and swept the woman’s leg, tripping her to the ground. She hit the dirt, and Vivian kicked her in the throat.

The soldier that was firing bullets into the sky jerked against his gun, pulling the trigger again and again. Another soldier yanked at his own weapon, releasing the grip and grabbing the barrel itself.

Another woman dropped her gun and charged at Vivian, drawing a dagger and launching a kick at Vivian’s head. Vivian caught her leg and swung her to the side, slamming her into a tree. She hit hard with a grunt and then dropped to the ground. Vivian stomped on her stomach and then kicked her in the face.

She heard a sound behind her and ducked. A wild punch flew over her back. She pivoted and launched an uppercut, hitting the attacker in the chin. He staggered to the side, then came back with a series of blows.

Vivian deflected and backpedaled. More shots were fired, and she felt her control over the guns wavering as the two soldiers continued trying to jerk their weapons free of her mental grip.

Her current attacker kicked and punched, forcing her to give ground and move back. The strain was too much, and she lost control over the weapons. She saw four of them fall out of the sky from the corner of her eye, bouncing on the ground. The last two came loose in the grips of the two men who were still holding onto them.

She lashed out with her mind, hitting the man holding the barrel of his gun and throwing him into the tree. The distraction caused her to take a solid punch to the upper eye from her attacker, followed by a knee to the stomach, but she somehow managed to keep her feet.

The other man who had been firing into the sky seemed almost surprised to have control of his gun once more. He looked at it in awe for a second and then turned toward Vivian, sighting in at her. He squeezed the trigger, but his clip was empty. He growled in frustration.

Vivian focused on the man coming at her now, knowing she was running out of time. She deflected a series of attacks, dropped low under a wild swing and then launched a flurry of punches of her own. Her hits landed, first in his kidney and then his jaw. He stumbled back and she rushed after, kicking him in the shin and then the upper thigh.

He stumbled farther, trying to dodge back, but she didn’t give him time to recover. She kneed him in the chin and then punched him in the throat. As he fell to the ground, she gave him a last kick, making sure he stayed down.

Then she turned back to itchy-fingers. He had grabbed a partner’s weapon and was raising it toward her, ready to fire once more.

The distance was too great for her to close in on him. She reached out mentally with her implant, but by the time she summoned the energy to deflect his gun away from her, it would be too late.

She stepped forward just as he pulled the trigger. The sound of a barking gunshot filled the area. She closed her eyes, waiting to feel the bullet pierce her.

But it didn’t.

Everything…froze.

She opened her eyes, and they focused on a speck in front of her. She saw that it was a bullet hovering in the air only a few centimeters in front of her face. She stepped to the side, staring at it in muted fascination. Ahead of her, the soldier was locked in position, gun to his shoulder and standing perfectly still.

The only part of him that was moving were his eyes, and they were full of confusion and terror as he strained to move his body.

It took Vivian a long few seconds to understand what was happening. She looked to the side and saw Traq standing there, face a mask of concentration and hands held up in front of him like he was conducting an orchestra. His entire body was shaking he was so tense.

Vivian felt her jaw drop open and then reminded herself the fight wasn’t over. The soldier was paralyzed, not out of commission. Vivian rushed forward, grabbed a stone off the ground, and bashed him in the side of the head with it.

He fell to the ground, unconscious. Suddenly there was a thud as the bullet smashed into a tree twenty or so meters behind her, and she heard Traq start gasping. She rushed over to him and saw that his eyes were bloodshot. Veins had popped out on his arms and legs, and he was still shaking. He started to stumble.

“Traq!” she said, catching him and holding him up for inspection. He was groggy and dazed.

“I’m okay,” he mumbled, the words running together. “Is it over?”

“Yeah,” she said.

He closed his eyes, still panting, and nodded. After about thirty seconds, he opened them again, and he looked mostly recovered.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.

He nodded. “I think so.”

“How did you...?” she asked, not even sure how to phrase the question.

He hesitated. “I felt you do it,” he explained.

“What do you mean felt?” she said, confused.

He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know. You grabbed their guns with your mind, and I felt you do it, so I did the same thing.”

Except it wasn’t the same thing. She had deflected guns, inanimate objects. Traq had stopped a man completely, paralyzed him, and he had also stopped a bullet in mid-flight. Both of those things were nearly impossible feats, even for someone who trained for years to do that exact thing.

To do both at the same time, and without any training, was unthinkable. She’d never heard of a single Shield doing something like that, even with an implant.

“Thank you,” she said awkwardly, helping him find his footing.

“Of course,” he said. “Do you think we should keep moving?”

“Yeah, we need to keep going forward,” she said.

Her mind ached with a massive headache, keeping her from focusing on anything for too long, but she knew that as soon as they settled down to rest, she would have to deal with what she’d just watched happen.