Caya stood at the far end of a public restroom, washing her hands. When someone opened the door, she pulled up the hood of the coat she had changed into. It was a rather threadbare, mid-calf-length coat, and the young woman who had owned it previously had not thought twice about switching it for Caya’s light-blue caftan. Caya knew people were looking for her, some of them benevolent, but some of them with harmful intent. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in time if they spotted her.
Caya wore her trademark long, blond hair in an austere updo. She didn’t look anyone in the eye but kept moving, trying to find a place to induce a vision. If that happened where anyone in the general public, or worse, any of Diobring’s associates, found her while she was in the throes of one—she’d be vulnerable and unable to defend herself. She had thought she might be able to do it here, in the bathroom, but too many people came and went in here. Caya simply wouldn’t be able to focus.
Stepping outside, she kept her hood up. The coat touched the back of her calves, and Caya was grateful it covered almost her entire body, more or less. She could still feel the stinging sensation when the window had shattered just above her when Diobring fired. Caya had glimpsed his face before he shot at her, and the blank stare in his eyes gave her cold shivers just thinking about it. Who could have gotten to Diobring, such a high-ranking officer in the fleet, and turned him into a traitor?
Caya wanted to page her sister more than anything, but the first thing she did after the jumper car left the gate was to destroy her communicator. If Diobring had culprits among his subordinates, they could use it to track her. Caya hardly dared think about Thea. She could only imagine how this might affect her. If only Thea had woken her up before she left. Perhaps Caya would have opted to go with her into work and wait for Briar there? It was a fruitless thought, but Caya was trying not to end up in the middle of a full-blown panic attack, and wishful thinking was one-way if not very practical.
She walked along the streets of cube fifteen, where she was positive she didn’t know a single person. Nobody paid attention to her as everyone went about their day and had little time to notice one lonely young woman roaming the streets and alleys. Caya was getting hungry and looked for a public food dispenser, available to everyone. All the cubes boasted restaurants, mainly in the squares, where you had to barter or use credits to eat, but the simple food dispensers ensured that nobody went hungry aboard Pathfinder.
Two blocks farther down the street, Caya saw a line to a food dispenser and tried to look inconspicuous. She adjusted the hood and kept her eyes turned down, well aware of their unique coloring.
“Hello there,” a woman said from behind her, making Caya jump. “Just stay calm. I wish you no harm. You’re in danger of being discovered, but I can help.” The woman spoke so quietly, Caya could barely make out what she was saying.
“I think you mistake me for someone else,” Caya said and tried to sound indifferent.
“Shh. We don’t have time to go back and forth trying to convince each other. I know who you are, and if you don’t want to end up in the hands of the people you’ve kept us safe from, Caya, you need to come with me. Wait until you get your food and then follow me.”
Caya wondered how far she’d get if she began running. The woman behind her had a nice, reassuring voice, but that meant nothing.
“Who are you?” Caya didn’t even attempt to protest. It seemed futile.
“I will tell you everything, but we need to hurry once we have our food. We can’t let the military find you. I’m sure you realize the lieutenant must have had help.”
Caya’s heart thundered, and she wanted badly to find a place to hide. More than that, she wished she were back with Thea, or Briar, and not alone in a cube where she had nobody to turn to.
The man in front of Caya nodded politely at her as he stepped away with his food. Caya looked at the machine but couldn’t even raise her hand to press the sensors.
“Let me help you.” The woman spoke again and stepped up to stand by her side. “Vegetables and dolzi-rice sound good?”
“Sure.” Caya glanced sideways and gasped. A thin, red-haired woman dressed in white trousers and a blue tunic stood next to her, and she wasn’t the stranger Caya had thought she was. As she accepted the food boxes, Caya could only remain as if frozen in time while the woman she had seen dead by the terrorists’ hands in her vision received her food.
“I can tell you recognize me,” the woman murmured. “It’s all right. I knew you would. Just walk with me, please. She smiled casually and nudged at Caya to start walking. “Please.”
It was Caya’s best option all day. She walked next to the woman, unwilling to speak and prepared to bolt if she had to, trying to memorize which streets the woman used to reach her destination. Eventually, they stopped by a row of smaller quarters. The woman pressed her hand against a sensor and let it scan her retina. It opened, and she nodded for Caya to step inside.
Cautiously, Caya stopped on the threshold and glanced around the room. Two young men sat on a couch, both holding some game cards. They looked up at her and flinched, both of them frowning at the red-haired woman next to her.
“Tomita? Who’s this?” the man to the left asked.
“It’s her. Finally.” The woman called Tomita put her boxes on the table between the men.
“What?” The man to the left sat up straight. “You mean her her? Caya Lindemay?”
“Yes. I couldn’t believe my own senses when I felt her on my way to the dispenser. I mean, what are the odds?”
“Who the hell is talking about odds? I’ve been burning my potion ever since the hospital incident,” the man to the right said.
Caya couldn’t fathom how they knew her name or that it was her, and what were they talking about? Potions? Senses? What was going on? Just as she was about to head for the door, make her escape, and hopefully disappear into the narrow alleyways, an unavoidable vision hit her. She fell to her knees, dropping her boxes of food, but she was too far gone into her vision to hear them hit the floor.
The man on the left and Tomita were running through a jumper car, calling out to Caya to follow. She ran after them, calling out warnings, asking them to stop, but they merely waved her on, telling her it wasn’t too late. They could still save the people, but she needed to stay back. Caya knew they couldn’t, knew it in her heart, but she kept running after them, hoping against every sign hinting at the opposite that it wasn’t. Then everything went black, and she was in limbo for several moments.
Hands held her, pulled her up into an embrace. The vision changed, moved backward like a reversed video. Tomita, although much younger, stood outside what looked like a learning facility, her face pressed to the bars in the fence.
“Come on, my girl. No need to wish for what we cannot have.” A woman pulled at Tomita. “You too, Aldan. Neither of you will ever be accepted into a school like that, and you have to accept it. You will know so much more about life than these privileged children. Once you learn to make the most of your gifts, you will do more for the Oconodians than they ever did for you. It’s not fair, but it’s reality.”
Tomita looked longingly at the children playing in the schoolyard. “But…”
“Tomita. You’re going to help save them one day.” The woman, perhaps their mother, began walking, holding one child by each hand. “My predictions are never wrong, and that’s why we must start preparing how to get you aboard one of the Exodus cubes someday. If we don’t, hundreds of thousands of Oconodians will die.”
The vision ended so abruptly, Caya cried out and held her head.
“Caya? Caya? Are you all right?” Tomita called from a distance, and this time Caya knew she was back in the quarters. Gentle hands lifted her and placed her on a soft surface, perhaps a bed or the couch. Caya opened her eyes slowly, afraid she might have a migraine coming on, as that sometimes happened when a vision was this violent.
Tomita sat on the side of the bed where they had placed Caya, placing a cold washcloth on her forehead. “There, Caya. You’ll be fine. That vision was massive, wasn’t it?”
“You’re changers.” Caya sat up and the washcloth fell away. Tomita took it and placed it against the back of Caya’s neck.
“Yes, of course.”
“But…but how?” Caya wasn’t afraid. Somehow as soon as she’d figured out they were indeed changers, her fear of being assassinated or otherwise hurt went away.
“I would imagine in a similar manner as you and Red Angel. A well-placed bribe and a genetic resequencer and there you go—changed records. I’m Tomita Gochia.” She pointed to the man on the right. “This is my brother Aldan,” she said, then indicated the man on the left. “And this is Foy, his husband. I’m a tracker.”
“What’s a tracker?” Caya’s brain still felt thick and slow.
“Interesting that you don’t know.” Tomita tilted her head. “You have been quite sheltered, or so we hear. Anyway, a tracker is just that. I can pick up scents, traces, and literally any sign available that most others would miss. I tracked you for an hour to establish your identity. Your hooded coat fooled most people, I’m sure, but for someone like me, you’re easy to find.”
“I see. And you move around outside, completely unprotected? How does that work?” Caya asked. “Aren’t you worried you will be found out?”
“Every day,” Foy said grimly, but we have a mission and a strong conviction that we’re nearing the moment when our services will save the Oconodian and Gemosian people.”
Foy, a tall, gangly young man, moved with economic, measured movements. Caya was reluctantly intrigued. “What’s your gift?”
“I’m a master telekinetic. That means I’m not just a telekinetic, but I attended underground changer education back on Oconodos, which helped me perfect my abilities. So did Aldan, and that’s where we met. He’s a potion master and charmer. He would be the first one to claim he’s a charmer in every sense of the word, but that’s his ego talking. We got married right after school, and when Aldan and Tomita’s mother died in one of the riots, we stuck together to be able to carry out her plan.”
“We had no idea at first how to proceed without Mother.” Tomita bit into her lower lip. “She was our seer. Without her to guide us we’ve been flying blind. Then we learned of you and your sister. It was such a revelation as you’re a seer as well.”
This was almost too much to process. Caya sat there on the bed, looking back and forth among the people in the room. They were slightly older than she was, but not by much. The two men both had open and honest faces, not that this in itself meant very much when it came to someone’s reliability. Caya had learned to trust her vision and the knowledge and intuition that came from them. These three were fighting the good fight. Unlike the terrorists who didn’t think twice about hurting anyone to reach their objective, Tomita, Aldan, and Foy were ready to do anything to keep the people aboard Pathfinder safe. Then there was the fact that Tomita was indeed the dying woman Caya had seen in her vision, but here she was, alive and well. “I saw you dying.” Caya didn’t bother with niceties. “When the hospital was attacked, I saw you dying.”
“I almost did. Aldan and Foy found me, and they have connections as they work at one of the smaller hospitals. They managed to get a friend who is a doctor to help me. That white-garnet solution…It nearly killed me, and if I never have to live through that pain again, that’s fine with me.” Tomita pulled up her shirt and showed two scars that looked like they had been stitched up rather than fused. “We had to use a bit of a mix of traditionalist medicine and new technology, but at least it’s proof of what I went through.”
“I’m glad you’re alive.” Caya rubbed her forehead. She had a headache, but not a migraine, which was a blessing. “I was attacked today. I barely got away.”
“We know. Our contact at the governmental building was actually at the gate when the guy with you started firing. Our friend tried to get on the same jumper as you to help you, but he couldn’t get to it fast enough.” Tomita poured a glass of water. “Here. Drink some. If you’re like us, you get thirsty after your vision.”
“Yes, I do.” Caya drank some water. “And this friend of yours, is he a changer also?”
“Yes. He’s a receiver.”
“A what?” Caya put the glass down on a small shelf by the bed. “A receiver of what?”
“Of any transmission. He has learned to filter out irrelevant conversations, and he’s very accurate these days. This has made it possible for our group to keep tabs on you.”
“Not to mention the other group you’re such a proud member of,” Aldan said acerbically and sat down at the foot of the bed. “I wish you’d never done that. If they find out you’re alive, you won’t just be a target again. You’ll draw attention to the rest of us.”
“I know. Good thing nobody knows you’re my brother.” Tomita had paled.
“What are you talking about?” Caya looked back and forth between the siblings. “What group?”
“I managed to track and infiltrate a group that turned out to be one of four sleeper cells. And yes, before you ask, they sure aren’t sleeping now. They were not aware of their purpose when they boarded the ship with their families, but now they are. One of their tasks is to recruit enough members to double their numbers. After I did some major playacting, they bought into my story and made me a member.” Tomita sighed and ruffled her red bangs.
“Wait. What sleeper cells?” Her stomach in cold knots now, Caya pulled her knees close and wrapped her arms around them.
“Sleeper cells consisting of ultra-powerful changers and their sponsors. I’m sure you must have seen something about them in your visions?”
“I have seen groups of people, shadowy, like through a haze. I never know who they are, nor do I see any faces or where they’re located.”
“That’s because of the shelter-minds.” Foy sat down next to his husband and looked kindly at Caya. “They can block other changers, like you, who possess amazing perceptiveness, and Tomita, who can track like nobody I’ve ever seen. The fact that you have seen them at all shows the level of your power.”
“Then what happened? After you became a member?”
“I learned a lot about them, but then I got too cocky. When I had to attempt to alert the authorities, I blew my cover…and they caught me. As punishment, and a means of eradicating me, they injected me with white-garnet-infused TPN.” Tomita shuddered.
“Do the authorities know of them, these sleeper cells?” Caya swallowed, wondering how many of these people were out there, merely waiting to prey on the innocent passengers aboard Pathfinder.
“They are aware of the threat. They call them terrorists, which fits well, but I don’t think they know just how organized they are—and definitely not that one in each cell is a particularly powerful changer. We call them super-changers. We have debated how to alert the authorities to the sleeper-cell situation, but we’re torn.” Aldan looked gravely at Caya. “That’s where you come in.”
“What do you mean?” Caya wasn’t sure she liked where this was going. She needed to find a safe way to get back to Thea and to work with Briar.
“Like we told you, we lost our seer. We need you to take her place, or we won’t be able to fulfill our destiny. We have to keep Pathfinder safe and help her reach her destination. Time is running out, and for you to appear here is an amazing sign. Your visions will be enhanced by Aldan’s potions—which are safe to ingest, I assure you—and together we can get to work.” Tomita took Caya’s hand. “You can probe my past as much as you like to learn the truth. Aldan and Foy as well.”
“I already did. Some.” Caya looked into Tomita’s bright-green eyes. “I just can’t understand how many changers can exist aboard right under the noses of the authorities. I was sure Briar and I were the only ones. Kind of arrogant, I suppose.”
“Not really. We all live in our respective realities. You were sheltered and homeschooled. We were sent to underground changer schools by a mother who was a peace activist. We all have our perspective, and our prejudices, I suppose.” Tomita shrugged.
Caya knew Tomita was right. This was one of the reasons Thea and she had fought their feelings for so long, or part of it at least. Now when Caya saw Thea as an equal, instead of an iconic president on a pedestal, she also understood the toll being the president took on her—and why she had to make unpopular and hard decisions when she really didn’t want to. Caya rested her chin against her knees as she hugged her bent knees even harder. “These super-changers…do you know the identity of any of them?” The repercussions of what they were telling her made Caya nauseous, but if she didn’t get a handle on what they knew, she’d be of no use to Thea and Pathfinder.
“I was only allowed into one meeting, and by then they had donned their masks. I had ingested one of Aldan’s subduing potions so they wouldn’t peg me as another changer. That meant I couldn’t put any trackers on them.” Tomita looked apologetically at Caya. “From what I saw, they consisted of ten women and ten men—one leader from each cube—and they referred to each other by that number. I also heard rumors about a woman, a changer with mythical powers called Grand Superior. This topic was forbidden, but people are people, no matter their background. Gossip is popular. The fact that nobody on our levels ever saw her, or heard anything that might hint at her identity, showed what a grip the leaders have on their members.”
“Yet you feel quite safe telling me all this?” How could these three be so sure they could trust her?
“You’re Caya Lindemay. You’re the one the super-changers refer to as the Seer, the changer they want to get their hands on to use against the president.”
“I would never allow that to happen.” Caya stood, too jittery to sit still on the bed. “I would rather die than betray the president or the people aboard Pathfinder.”
“I think they know this, which is why they hoped to spring this surprise attack on you and take you in before you could self-terminate out of sheer loyalty.” Aldan rested his chin on his palm. “We have to find a way for you to return safely to President Tylio’s side. As we don’t know if more guards than the one that attacked you are compromised, you need to take an obscurity potion.”
Caya was ready to do just about anything to get back to Thea and her sister. She wanted to talk to Briar about what she’d just learned. More than that, she needed to inform Thea and help devise a plan to take down the super-changers and their…what did Tomita call them? Their sponsors?
Foy looked pointedly at Tomita. “She needs to learn about the orb before we do anything. It belongs to her now, as only a seer can harness its power.”
“I know.” Tomita sighed. “It’s just that it’s been a part of my mother for so long. When I hold it, I can feel her even if I can’t make the orb enhance my gift.”
“What orb?” Nonplussed, Caya watched as Aldan pulled out a drawer hidden in the bulkhead beneath the bed. He removed a large box and placed it between them.
“This is yours now, Caya.” He opened the lid and pulled back a silky golden fabric. Something that looked like a stone orb, its diameter approximately twenty-five centimeters and its surface rough and crackled, lay among the fabric. “Pick it up. It’s the only way to find out if we’re right.”
Nervous now, Caya placed her hands on the orb, only to yank them back when the stone object began to hum. “It—it moved.”
“Excellent,” Tomita said, her eyes welling with tears.
Caya gathered her courage and picked up the orb. It hummed faintly and felt oddly warm and smooth against her palms. As she turned it in her hands, it emanated a low tone and began to glow. First it was barely visible, and then the sound increased and the glow became a bright light.
“Hold it over your head,” Tomita said and stood.
Caya did as Tomita suggested and held it up on straight, slightly unstable arms as she sat on the bed again. The tone turned into a piercing whistle, and yet another vision hit out of nowhere. She froze, and the last thing of the present she saw was how the orb rose to hover above her palms. Gentle hands guided Caya to lie down. The orb spun faster as her mind went to that place where the future waited.
Smoke was everywhere. Caya coughed at the acrid taste it forced into her mouth and down her airways. Alarm klaxons blared, people ran in panic, some carrying people with burns or broken limbs. Pressing her back to a bulkhead to stay out of the way, Caya felt how Pathfinder shook and stomped beneath her feet.
Tearing herself out of the vision, Caya gripped the orb between her hands. “We’re going to be too late. We need to make our way to cube one. I have to talk to the president, and the three of you have to be there as well. I need to borrow one of your communicators while we’re in transit.” Caya turned to Aldan, handing him the orb. “Put this away for now. You can tell me more about it later, but we don’t have time for more experiments right now. Do you have any of your obscurity potion on hand?”
“I always do.” Aldan opened a cabinet by the far wall, pulling out four bottles. “These hold four doses. One dose lasts about an hour, and then you must replenish.”
Caya nodded and drank a fourth of the bottle. “Creator,” she said, wheezing. “That’s strong.” It tasted similar to the moonshine brandy her young friends among the Vantressa clan had once offered her.
“It sure is,” Tomita said, coughing a few times. “Now, tell us what you saw?”
“The destruction of Pathfinder, or at least part of it. Does that match what your mother saw?”
“I’ll say.” Aldan pulled on a jacket and hung a bag over his shoulder. “The potion works into our system fast. Let’s go.
Caya’s head still hurt from the cascade of visions, but she pulled her hood up and followed. She trusted her new friends, the first ones she’d had of her own kind except her sister, to know the fastest way to cube one.