“It’s just trying to protect us,” Rush said, the tension in his voice reflecting the mental strain of holding such a powerful and intelligent creature against its will. “I can’t hold it for very long. Get Miller out of here. We need to send it back.”
“Stop!” Sketch shouted at it, his voice as commanding as Rush had ever heard it. Sketch remembered what Ammu had told them about the dangers of trying to control powerful things, and he was frightened by the toll that Rush’s efforts were already taking. “Miller’s our friend!”
Sketch usually saw a pod of miniature dolphins swimming around Miller, but he was afraid the pterolycos would not understand the image, so he turned to the man now and imagined instead an aura of golden light shining around his body. He had never before tried to imagine someone in a way he did not actually see them, but he could sense the creature questioning Miller, seeking his nature—and where this creature came from, a being’s alignment with the forces of good or evil was usually reflected in its form.
“Look!” Sketch shouted. “See?” But even before he said the words, the creature’s armor was already disappearing back into its body.
Rush released it with a groan, falling to his knees and holding one hand to his head, continuing, nonetheless, to watch it warily, but it merely landed back on the floor and nodded regally toward Miller, who was staring helplessly at Sketch, clearly trying to figure out what in the world was going on.
“OK, controlling things directly is so not the way to go if you can help it,” Rush said, gritting his teeth.
“Are you OK?” Sam asked, looking uncharacteristically worried.
“Yeah, I’ll live,” Rush promised. “Killer headache though.”
“I believe that is quite enough for today,” Ammu pronounced.
Sam knelt next to Rush, putting an arm around his waist to steady him and ducking under his shoulder. He accepted her help gratefully, leaning against her body more heavily than she had expected, but still, she didn’t seem to mind.
“Time to go,” Rush said, addressing the pterolycos. “Sorry about the misunderstanding. No hard feelings?”
This much, at least, the creature seemed to understand. It bowed its head to Rush, just as it had to Miller, and it flew back into the open portal, departing just as gracefully as it had arrived. But Kaitlyn had barely closed the portal behind it before Sam yelled for help, Rush’s body having collapsed against hers entirely as he passed out cold.
56
Instructor Report
“How is he?”
“He is resting comfortably and out of danger. The doctors say he will make a full recovery, God be praised.”
“How long?”
“Three or four days, perhaps. A week, at the most, until he is back to his full potential. But we must not push them to such limits. The summonings are too close together. We must give them more time in between. We can not afford for any harm to come to them. The attendant risks are too great.”
“For once, we agree. I’m giving them the week. They deserve it.”
“They will be pleased to hear it, I am sure. But why, might I ask, do I find myself suspecting an ulterior motive?”
“Maybe you’re just a cynical kind of guy. But in this case, you’d be right. There are people who’d like to meet them, and this is as good a time as any. I was thinking of sending them to the Orion launch. Kids love that kind of thing.”
“And…?”
“And it keeps the meet-and-greet out of my backyard. Hobnobbing it with top brass is like dinner with the in-laws: it’s easier to excuse yourself early than it is to kick everyone else out. Remember, we’re still funded under the guise of intuitional learning research. It’s true, as far as it goes, but it’s not exactly the whole story. We don’t need people poking around the lodge, looking at things they don’t need to be looking at.”
“I understand.”
“Speaking of which, I want you to go with them. Babysit. Head off any questions they don’t know how to answer. Take Williams with you. She’s good at that kind of thing. Get them in and out quickly, and then let them enjoy the launch. I mean it about that. Kids love rockets.”
57
Cape Canaveral
Sam watched the back of Rush’s head as they climbed off the bus at the Jackson Hole airport, where they would catch a plane for the Orion launch. She couldn’t help remembering how he had looked, how he had felt—a staggering, dead weight across her shoulder that she could barely support—when he had held that same head in his hands and suddenly collapsed.
He had only been unconscious for a few hours, and that had been almost a week ago, but the entire episode had frightened her so badly that seeing him strong and vital again continued to bring her reassurance. She was careful, though, to look away before he turned around, so he wouldn’t catch her at it.
Sam, however, wasn’t the only one worried.
Whereas Sam’s surreptitious glances were reserved for Rush, Mackenzie couldn’t walk three paces without scanning the crowd again, as though she expected a demon to jump out and attack them from behind the ticket counter, or from the back of the gift shop, or from the deli where they picked up a lunch for the plane.
“It will be all right,” Ammu told her. “Try to enjoy the trip. The intention is for you all to relax—to enjoy some time away from the Institute. You have been working very hard this summer, and you have had a lot to process. We want you to have the time and space to do that.”
Mackenzie nodded politely at his words, acknowledging the sentiment, but it didn’t stop her from scrutinizing every plane that came and went while they waited for their turn to board, checking them for any sign of wind elementals, or oversized gargoyles, or any other monster with which their unknown enemy might decide to terrorize them.
Sketch, on the other hand, was ecstatic to be taking yet another flight this summer, the disappearing plane having done nothing whatsoever to curb his enthusiasm for travel. He had not expected to journey outside of his own county ever in his life, let alone across the country. Visiting two different states before he had even entered high school was an impossible dream come true.
Daniel and Kaitlyn were oblivious to all of it, holding hands with a shy, quiet sort of happiness. Rush couldn’t help but look on with at least a small pang of jealousy—not so much over their relationship, but over how carefree Daniel seemed to be, taking each new day as it came, not seeming to carry any worry in the world about what might happen to them next, what dangers they might face, or whether he could protect them all when the time came.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Christina asked him.
“I was just thinking about how different everything is now from when I stepped off that plane… what… almost a month ago? It seems like so much longer than that. So much has happened.”