{"id":344,"date":"2013-03-31T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2013-03-31T04:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=344"},"modified":"2013-03-30T22:08:11","modified_gmt":"2013-03-31T02:08:11","slug":"thirteen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=344","title":{"rendered":"Thirteen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The galaxy is full of mysteries\u2014some of which we never want to solve.<\/h3>\n

— Erich Quizibian<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a09 Decem, 5249 PD<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lindsay darted forward as Brendan crumbled like a sand castle undermined by the tides.\u00a0 His eyes rolled up into his skull as he went down without a sound.\u00a0 She and Rachel caught him just before he hit the floor.<\/p>\n

As her arms wrapped around him, the force of his terror and the visions hit her with the force of an uncontrolled atmospheric reentry.<\/p>\n

\u2026Rachel pointing a gun at the back of someone\u2019s head, someone whose face they couldn\u2019t see\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026Lindsay tackling Frederick Rose to the ground as gunfire rang out somewhere not far in the distance\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026Marshal Rose herding pack of frightened men and women\u2014most of them terribly, terribly young\u2014into a shuttle, wincing as explosions begin to rip a space station apart\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026nose of a fighter angling down, the water coming up fast and at a steep angle, fear bubbling up in his belly\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

She gasped out his name, eyes tearing as her arms tightened around him, even as Ezra tugged at her shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cLin, let go.\u00a0 Let go!\u00a0 Your noses are bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

She could taste it, the blood in her mouth, dripping down onto her upper lip.\u00a0 She sucked in a ragged breath and looked up at Ezra through watering eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said honestly as he gently disengaged her arms from around Brendan.\u00a0 Rachel had a solid grip on him and held Brendan as his eyes moved under tightly closed lids.\u00a0 His breathing was quick, but easy.<\/p>\n

Lindsay\u2019s hands curled into fists as she rocked back and away from him.\u00a0 Is that what I look like when this happens to me?<\/i><\/p>\n

Why is it happening to him?\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u00a0 He never\u2026really had this talent before.\u00a0 It was me.<\/i>\u00a0 Her gaze drifted toward her aunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d she asked quietly, meeting Rachel\u2019s gaze only for a brief instant before her aunt looked away.\u00a0 Lindsay\u2019s jaw tightened.\u00a0 \u201cAunt Rachel?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot now,\u201d Rachel said, her voice tight.\u00a0 \u201cClean yourself up, Lindsay.\u00a0 I have to help Ezra.\u201d\u00a0 Her eyes flicked toward Alana.\u00a0 \u201cStay with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alana, standing next to the kitchen table, nodded slowly.\u00a0 \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Ezra made eye contact with her and shook his head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re going to put him to bed.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it\u2019s nothing.\u00a0 Stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her stomach twisted back on itself.\u00a0 If it\u2019s nothing, why are you telling me to stay here?<\/i>\u00a0 She swallowed against the knot in her throat and fumbled her way to a chair, snagging a napkin off the table and balling it up against her nose.\u00a0 Alana touched her shoulder as Ezra and Rachel took Brendan back to the bedroom hanging limp between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d she whispered.\u00a0 \u201cWhat just happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

Alana grimaced and sank into the chair next to her.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not sure, either, but unless I miss my guess, he just had a dozen visions and it was you<\/i> catching the end of all of that for a change rather than the other way around.\u201d\u00a0 She reached over, her good hand covering both of Lindsay\u2019s.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s fine.\u00a0 Just a shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u00a0 Sure.\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the bright playback of what she\u2019d seen when her arms had closed around him.\u00a0 Why Brendan?\u00a0 And why now\u2014why when he touched Aunt Rachel?<\/i>\u00a0 She swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cSomething\u2019s happening\u2014something\u2019s happened.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got no idea what it is, but something\u2019s going on and it\u2019s big.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe that\u2019s why your aunt\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I have zero doubt it is.\u00a0 I just wonder what happened.\u201d\u00a0 What couldn\u2019t wait?\u00a0 She knew that we were having Ezra and Alana over tonight\u2026it must be important, whatever it is.<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t come over if it wasn\u2019t important and couldn\u2019t wait.\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay stood from her chair abruptly and started for the doorway into the rest of the house.\u00a0 Alana shot to her feet and grasped her arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she said simply.\u00a0 \u201cLet them do what they need to do.\u00a0 Sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs me,\u201d Lindsay said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 You need him<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need each other,\u201d Lindsay corrected, then jerked her arm from Alana\u2019s grasp.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet him rest, Lindsay.\u201d\u00a0 Rachel was suddenly there in the doorway, looking vaguely guilty as she met her niece\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 \u201cHe needs it\u2014he\u2019ll need all of it he can get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay fell back a step, swallowing back the bile suddenly rising in the back of her throat.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel slid past her and slumped into a chair at the table.\u00a0 \u201cThe Council meets tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t supposed to meet until next week.\u201d\u00a0 Her heart thudded painfully against her breastbone as she made her way over to the table and reclaimed her seat.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0 Is this about what \u2018lana just told us?\u00a0 About what Chinasia and the Compact are saying\u2014are doing?<\/i><\/p>\n

Rachel sighed.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s Sergei.\u00a0 He\u2019s stepping down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSergei?\u00a0 The Speaker\u2019s stepping down?\u00a0 Now?\u201d\u00a0 Now?\u00a0 Why now?<\/i><\/p>\n

She nodded.\u00a0 \u201cHe told me a couple of days ago.\u00a0 I guess that with everything that\u2019s happening, he decided the sooner it all happened, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something you\u2019re not saying,\u201d Lindsay said after staring at her for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s what I think it is, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 He\u2019s asked you to succeed him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel nodded, gaze distant for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cThough that\u2019s suddenly seeming less and less important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alana snorted.\u00a0 \u201cIt won\u2019t take much for you to in that election, Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not worried about it.\u00a0 I\u2019m worried about doing the job, not winning it.\u201d\u00a0 She studied her niece for another long moment.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s something else that\u2019s got me worried, now, something that hasn\u2019t been seen since Farragut and LeSarte.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay wanted nothing more than to go curl up in bed with Brendan and not come out again for a few days, especially as she watched her aunt\u2019s face.\u00a0 There was something painful and guarded in Rachel\u2019s expression, something that left her stomach unsettled and shot shivers up and down her spine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat aren\u2019t you telling me?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were always theories,\u201d Rachel said slowly, \u201cabout why Sarah Farragut didn\u2019t display any psychic talent before she met Ryland LeSarte.\u00a0 You\u2019ve read the histories about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay shook her head slowly.\u00a0 \u201cBeing around him probably just make her aware of talents that she hadn\u2019t tapped before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be that,\u201d Rachel agreed quietly.\u00a0 \u201cBut LeSarte was well on the path to severe neurological damage\u2014burning his brains out\u2014when they started to become close.\u00a0 There are medical records that show his issues began to ease almost as soon as he and Farragut were Bonded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like where you\u2019re going with this.\u201d\u00a0 She felt sick, her stomach out of control.\u00a0 All thoughts of eating dinner had completely evaporated.\u00a0 Now she just wanted to keep breakfast inside of her body.\u00a0 Alana\u2019s hand closed on her shoulder and Lindsay sucked in a breath.<\/p>\n

Hang in there.\u00a0 Hang in there.\u00a0 You can do this.<\/i>\u00a0 Lindsay squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may be happening again with you and Brendan,\u201d Rachel whispered.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop,\u201d Lindsay whispered.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you have to,\u201d Rachel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 You suspected already.\u00a0 But no one else has said it\u2014the only one who\u2019s ever come close is Kara, and that was enough.<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cLet me have this, Aunt Rachel.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me have my denial just a little bit longer.\u00a0 Let me believe it\u2019s not true, that it\u2019s still just<\/i> a theory.\u00a0 Let me believe that I haven\u2019t condemned him to the same life I\u2019m living with this gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s sharing a burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re shouldering a curse together,\u201d Lindsay whispered.\u00a0 \u201cAnd that\u2019s all there is to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She came to her feet and fled the kitchen, not certain she ever wanted to show her face outside the house ever again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The galaxy is full of mysteries\u2014some of which we never want to solve. — Erich Quizibian \u00a09 Decem, 5249 PD \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lindsay darted forward as Brendan crumbled like a sand castle undermined by the tides.\u00a0 His eyes rolled up into … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-two-ashes-to-ashes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s25yjF-thirteen","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}