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EPISODE SEVEN
by Dan Wallace
Rast
Settled into the control chair which folded in, wrapping itself around him.
Electrical cables and liquid filled lines plugged into ports in his armor
and computerized equipment hummed to life, calibrating the feeds to his
body within.
There was no telling
how much damage the mercenary’s plan to rob them of their powers would do
to them physically and Cory was desperate to find a means of escape. Rast
had executed everything flawlessly so far and he had left them with few
options. None of them could simply break free of the devices that held them
captive but she did have one idea. It would rely upon the cylinders not
reacting against a passive form of energy such as her telepathy though and
there was only one way to find that out.
Focusing her thoughts, she
reached out mentally, seeking her youngest teammate. “Brithe,” she thought,
“can you hear me?”
The static electric
tingling he felt and the intrusion of a voice inside his head startled
Brithe. “What?” he exclaimed. He spun around, looking for the source of the
voice which echoed slightly and lacked any distinctive vocal intonations.
“It’s Cory but don’t
talk. Rast might hear you. Just try to think what you want to say.
“I think there’s a way
for us to get out of here but I need your help.”
There was a few seconds
pause. Whether it was from Brithe having trouble focusing his thoughts
properly for the telepathic link or because he was nervous and was
considering what might be asked of him, Cory could not be certain but she
prepared herself to reassure him.
“Okay,” he responded at
last. “What is it?”
Cory “spoke” slowly but
knew they had little time so she tried to keep things clear and simple.
“You can generate and absorb electricity. Rast knows that so if you send a
charge into your cell it will be amplified and reflected back. You’ll be
able to absorb that yourself though, add more power to it, and send it back
again. If you cycle it through enough times like that you should be able to
overload the system.”
The idea was an obvious
one and Brithe had already considered it and dismissed it himself. “But I
can only absorb so much. I’ll be knocked out before I can do any good.”
Cory did what she could
to make her mental voice sound soothing. “Don’t worry. That’s where I come
in.
“I’ll be telepathically
tapping into your nervous system to boost your autonomic defenses and shunt
most of your pain to me. You’ll still feel feedback but I should be able to
take on enough to give you the edge you need to continue.”
Brithe slowly shook his
head although Cory could not see him clearly from her position. His life
had been lonely and troubled for years and he lacked confidence in himself
under the best of circumstances. He had already suffered so much loss that
the thought of his own death filled him with terror now that he was faced
with the reality of it.
“But what if I overload
first? I…I want to help. I really do. But, I…I just don’t think I can…”
Cory cut in sharply.
“Brithe, you’re the only one who can do this. I don’t want to die either
but that’s exactly what’s going to happen if we don’t get out of here.
“I have faith in you
and I know you can handle this. I’ll be with you all the way and we’re
going to get through this together but you have to try. Can you do that for
me?”
Not for the first time,
Brithe envied others for their ability to put their own feelings and fears
aside to do what had to be done. He had gotten through difficult times
during the initial stages of the Guard program with Areon’s support and had
others to look after him prior to that. Now others were relying on him and
he realized that he had no other choice. He might very well fail in this
attempt but not trying would be the worst failure of all.
“A…all right. Let’s do
it.”
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"Distant Storms" is ©
and ™ Dan Wallace 2001
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