Chapter 24
?
S teele stood, staring at Terk, wondering how the hell he’d gotten into this situation.
Terk suddenly froze, tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes. Moments later, he turned those blazing eyes at Steele and announced, “A name is coming up.”
“What name?” Steele asked.
“ Brent . Does that name mean anything to you?”
“Good God,” Steele muttered, shaking his head, his features razor-sharp. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time.”
“Maybe not, but it’s the name coming through. Who is he?”
“A blast from the past.”
“Care to share?”
“I was on a mission, one of those black-ops, CIA-sanctioned underbelly operations,” he began. “And we were sabotaged from within. You should know all about that.”
“I do unfortunately,” Terk confirmed, studying him. “They never found him, did they?”
Steele stared at him, his heart sinking with realization. “No. Is that an issue?”
“I would say it is because the Beacon’s energy is sensing that person close by.”
Steele closed his eyes and muttered, “That would not be good.” Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Terk. “Okay. When you say he’s out there, are you saying he’s in the Beacon simulation?”
“I don’t think so.” Terk shrugged and added cautiously, “It’s not as if we have any idea how this is working just yet.”
“Okay, great,” he muttered. Steele turned to Cyan.
She frowned at him and asked, “You want to explain who Brent is?”
He shook his head, knowing she could access his memories but was trying to respect his privacy.
“Not really. He’s not somebody I ever want in my world again, but apparently the Beacon,” he noted, glancing around, “is picking up his energy somehow. It would be nice if the Beacon gave us a chance to talk and to discuss some of this—but the Beacon—Jesus, we’re talking like it’s calling all the shots right now. ”
She turned and looked at Terk and asked, “Does the Beacon communicate with you?”
“Yes, I’m in communication with the Beacon, but it’s not open to speaking with other people, such as my team.”
She frowned as she looked over at Steele and asked, “Would this Brent person be the one we heard laughing? The one who attacked us?”
“I don’t think so,” he hedged, “but I haven’t even heard his name in a very long time, and it’s been even longer since I heard his voice.”
She didn’t say anything, nodding as she stared at him, and then asked, “Would you recognize him today? You know, if you saw him?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Energy-wise, I should.”
“And you didn’t out there?”
“No, I didn’t.… I guess that’s one good thing.”
“Maybe,” she muttered, “but we obviously have a bigger problem than we expected. It now makes sense why the Beacon would have a problem with us.” And then she snorted and corrected herself, “With Steele anyway.” She turned and looked at Terk. “Has the Beacon found a problem with me?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter because you’re connected energetically to Steele,” he explained. “As far as the Beacon is concerned, the energy between the two of you is a little too close for it to separate out.”
She winced and nodded. “Yeah, it is now, that’s for sure.” She turned and glared at Steele.
He sighed. “Yeah, that’s apparently a fallout from us healing each other after getting attacked,” he shared with Terk.
Terk nodded. “Now, this space here is for you to get comfortable, so get some rest if you can, and I’ll report back as soon as I know anything.” And, with that, Terk disappeared, but he didn’t walk away.
It was as if he just disappeared, which was the clearest indication so far that everything he had been saying was the truth, and they weren’t anywhere near as close as they thought they were to Terk or to his castle.
Cyan turned to Steele. “Not quite how we thought this would go.”
“No, sure isn’t.”
“Tell me everything about Brent.”
“I can’t even tell you much,” he replied, with a snort. “He’s about my age. We were all together on our team, and three of the men died. Brent survived, and I did too,” he added, wincing at the memory.
“And how did you survive?” she asked.
He stared at her, closed his eyes, and whispered, “Energy.”
“And did Brent have energy ability too?”
“Yes, but I was stronger.” He shook his head. “So, I survived, and he… disappeared.”
“But you never thought he was still living?”
“I tried not to think about him at all. There was a big investigation. It got ugly. It had nothing to do with me, and, with those kinds of operations, you had to learn to just put it out of your mind and move on.”
“And now, if you had to guess, where do you think he is?”
He stared at her, shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t kept up with him at all. I figured he was dead. Now I’m afraid he’s way too close for comfort.”
*
“Beacon?” Terk stood with his hands on his hips, in his office, staring out the window at the meadow and the woods beyond, where the Beacon had built its fortress. Terk got no answer. Just a deep hum as the Beacon worked. “Answer me.”
“I’m here.”
“What news do you have for me?” He turned to glance at the space where Steele and Cyan were.
He could see them clearly, knowing they couldn’t see him.
It wasn’t meant to be intrusive or invasive but just a safety barrier.
He could well understand their own confusion and upset.
This was hardly the reception they’d expected.
“He’s carrying this man’s energy. We can’t let him in. That energy is… malignant.”
Terk’s eyebrows shot up at that term. Terk could hardly argue when the Beacon was literally doing what it had been mandated to do.
This was the first real test of the Beacon. Sad that this event had happened so quickly, but good in that it showed where more tweaks were needed.
“What about Cyan?” he asked.
“Their energy is connected. She can’t be separated from Steele’s energy. Therefore, she’s in danger of that parasite energy, which may or may not recognize her as a separate energy, so could use her to get to you. Thus, she cannot be allowed in either.”
“Do you have any way to remove this parasitic energy?”
“I’ve tried and no. Not alone. With help possibly. But Steele needs to release it himself. This is his system, and he’ll only fight any interference from us. And that will trigger the parasite even more.”
“So, in your estimation, Steele and Cyan are a danger until this parasite energy is removed?”
“Exactly. The status quo for these two holds.”
Meaning, they weren’t getting inside the castle until that energy from Brent was gone.