GABRIEL TOSH

When Tosh received word that Kath had been hurt, Maman Therese came to visit once again. This time, she stayed with him.

He saw her out of the corner of his eye, lurking in the shadows or wafting like a black-clad ghost through the murky air as he rushed through the halls. She followed him down a narrow flight of stairs, vanishing as he spun to face her, always dancing at the edges of his vision. He sensed her disapproval, but she did not speak to him.

Grandma Tosh would not stop chattering in the back of his mind, however, warning him of evil portents and sacrifices and a powerful storm that would sweep them all away. She seemed increasingly frantic, which was not like her. Tosh saw other things too, fragments of another life and people he thought he’d known once. He remembered Hajian elders who had condemned his psionic powers when he was just a boy, banishing him and his grandmother to a remote, windswept shack on the edge of the city where he’d been born. He had been an outcast from the beginning, it seemed.

Tosh could no longer tell what was real and what was not. Thoughts, images, and memories swirled within him with equal force, voices whispered inside his head, urging him to act in ways that contradicted each other.

It didn’t matter. What mattered was Kath, and the idea of losing her made everything else wash away in a river of pain.

Dylanna Okyl met him in a passageway close to Kath’s location and led him the rest of the way. “It was Nova,” she said breathlessly as they jogged through the hall. “Kath tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. It’s bad, Gabriel. I—”

“Shut up,” he said through clenched teeth, and she shrank back from him. Kath would be okay, of course she would. Dylanna had always hated her, and she was being spiteful now. He sensed an air of deceit about her, an excitement that was all wrong for the situation.

Grandma Tosh tried to speak up, but he forced the voice back, refusing to give in to her. As they rounded the last corner and he broke into a run, everything appeared to narrow to a focused point in the tunnel ahead. Even Maman Therese seemed to disappear from view.

What he saw there confused him at first: a body dressed in a medical gown, slumped awkwardly against the rocky wall, a single marine standing guard and watching them approach. As he got close he recognized Kath’s dark hair, but the familiar pattern of thoughts was missing. He sensed nothing from her at all. Perhaps she was unconscious, or in some kind of coma. His skin prickled at the idea of it.

He knelt at her side. Something was wrong with her face. Her eyes were bright red, trickles of blood running down as if she’d been crying. He tried to wipe the blood away, then turned her head gently to one side and saw more blood still oozing from her ears. No. He wiped harder, blood on his hands, too much blood, and shook his head, tears blinding his vision. She was very badly hurt. He had to get her medical attention immediately. Why hadn’t someone brought a doctor?

He took her in his arms, and her body lolled against his chest, her head falling back loosely. Quickly he slid his hand around to prop her up, clutching her to him and rocking her.

“Nova took her suit and headgear,” Dylanna said. “She forced her to strip, then she attacked with one of her mind blasts. Kath didn’t have a chance.” She came closer as if to touch him, reaching out a hand, but she could not hide the ghost of a smile that crossed her lips. “I’m sorry, Gabriel. Let me help you—”

A great cry of anguish ripped through Gabriel Tosh’s chest. He stood up with Kath in his arms and lashed out blindly with his mind, the power ripping up through him like a massive wave of fire. The teek wave caught Dylanna Okyl and lifted her up, slamming her with hurricane force into the far wall. Okyl’s head hit with a wet thud, her skull opening up against the rock like a melon as she slid lifelessly down to the floor, a look of shock permanently frozen on her face.

The marine faltered, clearly terrified and unsure of what to do. His weapon pointed at Dylanna’s broken body, then at Tosh, then back again. Next to the marine stood Maman Therese, waving her finger and shaking her head.

You gone and angered her, Grandma Tosh said, appearing behind her, her wrinkled face full of the dark thunder of condemnation. Your pride got the better of you; you don’t listen; and now there’s a bad price to pay. The sacrifice she demands is death. There ain’t no way back from that.

Tosh screamed and lashed out again, this time at Maman Therese, but while the woman didn’t seem affected, the marine was caught by the wave of energy and was thrown backward as his rifle stuttered and stitched a line of holes in the ceiling and fell uselessly to the floor.

Rock chips rained down on Tosh’s head, and dust settled on Kath’s slack face. Silence fell over the corridor. He looked down at her and gently brushed the dust off, wiping the blood away as best he could. She looked peaceful in his arms, almost as if she were sleeping. In his mind, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. I’m sorry, baby, she said. Didn’t mean to scare you like that. I was just tired, that’s all.

He gave in to the feeling of relief that spread through him. “You’re okay,” he said, his breath hitching in his chest. “You’re gonna be fine.” He gave a great sigh. Grandma Tosh was wrong. They were together, and they would always be together. Nothing was going to take Kath away from him, not even some voodoo goddess like Therese. He would not allow it.

Nova had meant a lot to him once, but this was all wrong. She could not be allowed to get away with what she’d done. She would have to pay.

Gabriel Tosh turned back down the empty corridor, carrying Kath in his arms like a baby. First he would find a safe place for her to recover from her wounds.

And then he would find Nova Terra and show her what real pain felt like.