(Disclaimers in the prologue)
"Is she dead?"
Sapphire turned curiously to Nitro as he asked the question, hearing the catch in his voice. Topaz was an enemy, a Transient, and the root cause of his own assignment, with all its associated pain and trauma. Did the specialist care for this turncoat?
"No," she replied, returning her gaze to the unconscious body of the Transient and allowing the flat of her palm to remain, a few millimetres above its surface. "Destroying the first Transient drained most of the cold away from Steel. Topaz will be unconscious for a few hours, maybe longer if she isn't removed to somewhere warm, but the touch wasn't enough to kill her."
"What about the other?" Nitro asked. "Did Steel destroy it for good?"
Sapphire clambered to her feet and stepped over to her pallet, where Steel now lay hunched up, shivering violently. He would still be too cold to touch, a fact which caused her a combination of pain and relief.
"I was going to ask you the same thing," Sapphire admitted after a pause, walking over to Nitro. "We understand little about the physical make-up of true Transient beings. If he isn't gone for good, though, I think he'll remain indisposed for a while." Her eyes suddenly twinkled, and she raised her hands to Nitro's shoulders. "May I have this, please?" she asked, politely, tugging at the collar of his jacket. She enjoyed the guarded confusion in the specialist's expression for a moment, before he jerked to understanding and slipped the jacket off. Smiling her thanks, she returned to Steel's prone form and draped the clothing over him as best she could.
"Two more, now," she suggested. "Shall we go and find them?"
~~~
In the end, they were four, just as they had been when facing Mercury beside the cells. More had offered help, but to overrun the Transient base with agents would simply move the enemy on elsewhere.
The vaguest of plans had been offered. The authority placed a great deal of importance on the retrieval of Nitro. Understanding the sacrifice made by his colleague, Silver had to agree. Sapphire and - if he remained intact - Steel were also to be found and brought back. Intelligence on the remaining Transient beings within the old institution was needed, too. No direct confrontation was to be attempted, however.
Diamond and Jet had linked to form the port, as Silver stood to one side with Lead. He was reassured by the massive frame of his fellow specialist and occupied himself with restlessly straightening his already immaculately knotted tie and waistcoat, until Jet stood away from the other empath and indicated that the port was ready.
~~~
Sapphire had left Steel on the pallet to rest. It had been necessary. As much as Sapphire had hated to desert her partner, she could do no more for him. But the link between them was starting to reform, as Transient attention was demanded elsewhere. Whilst Steel remained so cold, there was little of coherency to come from him, but even the echoing whisper of his voice saying her name was enough to bring her strength.
Her throat was hurting less and less.
Nitro paused ahead of her, at a corner. As he slowly edged his head around the wall to scout the territory ahead, his voice spoke softly in her head.
[Around the next passage is the room where Mercury has been holed up. He's been working flat out on a device, like a gateway, which - if successful - will allow the Transients to travel anywhere, both in time and space. They just have to walk through it once and the skill becomes their own. My guess is that the leader has returned there, too.]
[Don't you know for sure?] Sapphire frowned, her blood running cold at the idea of such Transient freedom.
[If I link to the Transient consciousness and find out, then there will be no way of hiding my loyalties. You know how adept they are at reading and controlling minds.]
[But it does still believe you're one of them, at the moment?]
[As far as I know. Can't tell for sure.]
[Well, it's the only advantage we might have, so let's hope so,] Sapphire mused.
She stepped back as Nitro's head swiftly retreated from its look-out post. He leaned on the wall and eyed her uncertainly.
[The leader's there,] he confirmed. [He's standing in the entrance to the working chamber. Mercury must be inside too. The leader's armed. Remember the travel sets?] Without waiting for Sapphire's acknowledgement, he continued. [There's still one active - Silver's duplication, I believe.] When Sapphire did not respond, Nitro pressed her. [Well, do you have any ideas? Steel is not only out of the equation for the moment, he'll be out of it for good if we don't get him Hub-side pretty soon.]
[Will your hands freeze them like Steel can? Could that be our weapon?]
[No,] Nitro replied. [I can take a being like Steel down in temperature, but touching a Transient would be painfully irritating but nothing more.]
Sapphire thought hard. [Do you still have Transient power?]
Nitro pursed his lips. [I have access to it, yes. I've been steering clear of it, since I ... remembered.]
[That's understandable,] soothed Sapphire. [Unfortunately, we may need it. We have to separate them. Apart, we might be able to at least incapacitate them.]
[I'm surprised the leader didn't come running when Steel destroyed the other true Transient,] Nitro returned. [Technically speaking, despite the recruits, he's the only Transient being left, now.]
[He knows about the other's death?] Sapphire frowned. [Good. That means he's not sure about me.] Her telepathy grew quiet for a moment as she considered the options. [How does this sound?] she finally asked. [Approach the leader. Tell him you've killed Steel, as per your instructions. Ask for confirmation that the one who tried to kill me is dead. He'll send you out after me, no doubt; that will be his priority. Ask him to give you the device, the travel set, so you don't have to face me unarmed. Tell him you're worried about the way you can't sense Topaz.]
[He'll never trust me with that device!]
[He might,] Sapphire returned. [He needs all the friends he can get, right now. But if he won't, then tell him you'll stay with Mercury, on guard, and he can take the device himself to hunt me.]
[And if he doesn't agree to that, either?]
[Then come back here. We'll be back where we started.]
Nitro turned towards her, his forehead creased with anxiety. [He will try to read me. It's his nature. And when he finds that he can't, that I won't let him, then I'll be under suspicion.]
[If that happens, I'll try a distraction. I'll make a time loop, just for a few seconds, to disorient him. Once it's over, I suggest you run.]
Nitro nodded his understanding, then turned back to the corner. Just before he began the fearful walk up to the Transient leader, Sapphire reached out and grasped his shoulder. Surprised, Nitro spun back around and questioned the empath with a frown. Sapphire smirked slightly. Drawing herself up to her full height, she looked down on the newly shrunken agent. He glanced upwards, bewildered, until her reminder became clear. Sapphire watched as Nitro's eyes glowed a cold blue, then the specialist began to grow.
~~~
Steel clung to consciousness despite the seductive draw of the blackness. He had taken himself down without protection before. He had waited to recover without assistance before. It might be that Lead had always appeared to leech the frost out of his body, and it might be that previously, when recovering, he had at least been in a warm place, but that was by the way. Although he was too weak to stand and follow his partner, too weak as yet to even communicate with her, Steel refused to let sleep and coma consume him.
How could he give up now, as the stinging void where Sapphire's connection had been ripped away was slowly reforming in warmth and union?
~~~
Silver materialised outside an imposing stone building. Dawn had broken, and the sky was greyish white with cloud. A single ill-kept tarmac road lead away from the complex and into the surrounding fell side. No traffic was seen, nor was any likely. There was only one reason to take that road; a reason which had shut down decades ago in squalor and neglect.
As his comrades coalesced beside him, Silver tried to shrug off the sense of trepidation which was intensified by the bleak, remote countryside surrounding them. He drew a deep breath and offered Jet his arm.
"Shall we?" he asked, and the whole party moved cautiously to the entrance.
~~~
Mercury's fingers were beginning to tremble with exertion. As fast as his work in encoding the modules of the travel device progressed, the Transient leader wanted it done faster still. He needed to rest, in truth, and was angered by this weakness. He had not imagined he would ever again feel weakened or vulnerable, after inheriting Transient power.
The appearance of Nitro at the doorway gave him an excuse to pause in his labours. The sight of his fellow defector lifted Mercury. Things had not been going well, and the loss of one more Transient had been worse than damaging.
The leader seemed to share his relief, reaching out to slap Nitro's shoulder in a gesture of familiarity and welcome which surprised Mercury as much as Nitro himself. He stepped out from behind the gateway, wanting to hear the exchange.
"Steel?" the leader asked.
"History," Nitro replied, with apparent satisfaction. "I'm glad the order to destroy him came through. He'd been out snooping and had seen what he thought was Silver! I thought things were over with him, anyway."
The leader nodded his understanding.
"Silver - that reminds me," Nitro continued. "I lost contact with our brother. Is everything all right?"
Mercury felt, rather than saw another surge of grief from the man. "He is gone. Like the others. At least for now," the leader returned.
"Well, what about Sapphire?"
"I don't know!" The man narrowed his eyes. "If Topaz were here, I could ask her to reach out empathically. Can you sense her?"
Nitro was shaking his head. "I can only sense her if she wants to be sensed. I'm no empath. Where is Topaz? I lost her too, a few minutes ago."
Fury boiled in the leader's eyes. Mercury knew that this rage came from lack of control. Events had spiralled, the plan had been derailed. "I don't know that, either!" the man spat. "Go, Nitro, go and find Topaz, and find Sapphire. She can't have gone far. Find her and kill her!"
Nitro nodded curtly and turned to leave, but paused and turned again to face his leader.
"If she has destroyed our brother ... and possibly Topaz too ..."
"How could she have?" the Transient ridiculed. "She is only one, and she is still weak! Even at full strength, she couldn't even hurt one of us! The only potential danger was her partner and he is gone."
"Even so," Nitro mused hesitantly. Mercury understood his reticence. "I know!" the former specialist suddenly offered. "Give me the device. I can definitely deal with her then!"
The man looked down at his hand, almost surprised to see the slim box still grasped within. Mercury watched as the man seemed to agree, offering the device as Nitro reached for it.
But then he snatched it back.
"Betrayal?" the leader suggested, warily.
"Betrayal?" Nitro parroted, spluttering indignation. Mercury watched a tense moment pass between the two men, but Nitro shook his head with resignation just as it seemed that the impasse may develop into confrontation. "Very well, if you don't want to part with the damned thing, you go and deal with Sapphire! I'll stay here and guard the gateway." Nitro shook his head vigorously, his exasperation clear, and made to step further into the room. Mercury sighed. This was no time for the leader to indulge his paranoia!
But the man landed a hand on Nitro's shoulder, stopping him where he stood. "No," he muttered quietly. "I will not be first through, but I will not be the last. I wait here with Mercury. Find Topaz. Find Sapphire. Bring her here. I will be ready."
~~~
Sapphire had not dared to watch the exchange with the Transient leader, neither visually nor empathically, but her hearing was excellent. She had prepared to access the power to loop time when her ears detected the word 'betrayal', but when Nitro rejoined her around the corner, she relaxed.
[He wouldn't trust me with the device and he won't leave the gateway. Mercury was working away until I showed up. I have no idea how close to completion the thing is.] As his words sounded in Sapphire's mind, Nitro's lips pinched together with worry. [Our priority has to be disabling that machine. Without it, they still rely on the device. And without the device, they can be imprisoned in the past again.]
Sapphire nodded at her colleague's summary. Her mind worked frantically through possibilities. Pretend to be Nitro's captive? Then she would be destroyed by the device. Return to the Hub? There may not be the time to form another plan and return to prevent the Transients coming into their newly stolen power; and all else besides, she couldn't just leave Steel here.
To get at the gateway, they had to get through the leader. Even phasing into the room from an adjacent one would be useless; they may have a moment's advantage, but they remained unarmed against the device and two Transients were more than a match.
Sapphire shook her head, sharing all this with Nitro in an instant before turning back to retreat down the corridor. [I want to check on Steel. Let me know if you think of anything.]
~~~
Diamond used his fingers to trace around the main doorway, catching Jet's dark eyes as he did. Silver frowned, glancing at patient Lead who seemed calm and unruffled, though disinctly less jovial than normal.
"Well?" he hissed, unsure as to why he whispered.
"The taint which protected this place is weaker. Almost non-existent," Diamond replied calmly, speaking in a low murmur. "We'll try to contact Sapphire."
Silver studied his two empathic friends anxiously, waiting for the response. As Jet's mouth broke into a smile, he heaved a sigh of relief. Lead's massive hand came down, suddenly and heavily on to his shoulder and Silver jarred with the effect.
Diamond turned to the rest of them smoothly, assuming the role of leader with neither discussion nor question. "Sapphire is alive and unhurt. She is with Nitro. Steel is alive, too." Silver watched tears brimming in Jet's eyes and sniffed his own back. It would not do to show his own relief ... "He is sub-zero at the moment, though. Sapphire is making her way to our location and will lead Lead to Steel. Apparently he has destroyed one of the Transients already, and incapacitated another. Topaz."
Cold. Of course, it seemed so obvious now! The absolute cold which could penetrate time traps and destroy fragments would naturally have some effect on beings so steeped in the essence of time. Silver turned to Lead and matched the giant's smile. Things were not so bleak after all!
"Unfortunately there are still two Transients remaining. They are finishing a device which will change them, somehow; add to their abilities so that the past can never again be a prison. Our target has to be this device. Nitro will show us the way. Jet - you stay with Lead and Sapphire. Silver and I will go with Nitro and see about this machine."
Silver was surprised when Jet shook her head. "It's good of you to offer, but I'm here to stop the Transients, not to see Steel. I can't help him like Lead can. I'm more useful with you and Silver."
Diamond nodded once. Silver noted with a mixture of amusement and apprehension that their order to avoid confrontation had been universally disregarded. He turned to watch the door with growing nerves. He could hardly wait to see Sapphire again, but the memory of Mercury's assault and the faulty ball bearing he had accidentally given her left him apprehensive about the kind of welcome he could expect.
~~~
Mercury had scurried back to work on Nitro's departure, trying to exude an aura of application and effort. His leader paced to and fro for a short while, shaking his head to himself. Mercury was nervous. The loss of their colleague had left the man apparently unstable, and he found himself wishing that it was Nitro sharing his working chamber.
When the man stopped short and drew on Transient power, Mercury's nimble fingers slowed once again. The former specialist could sense the way his leader reached for something, but could not identify the target. When the light faded in the man's eyes, Mercury was startled to see that they stared straight at him.
"I'm worried about Nitro," the man stated, uncertainly.
"Oh! Well ... he seemed fine to me," replied Mercury, with equal hesitation.
"Not his well-being. His loyalty." The leader paused and Mercury shifted, at a loss for words. "I'm going after him. With the device. Just to be sure."
"What about me?" Mercury asked, in a voice which ventured too far into whining territory.
"You're one of time's Transients," the man stated emphatically. "You have your own powers of transportation and the strength of your new brotherhood." He walked to the door and turned back. "Besides, your mind is still open to me. If anything happens, I'll be straight back here."
With that, the man left in Nitro's footsteps, and Mercury turned from the door to examine the gateway, thoroughly sick of the sight of his masterwork.
~~~
There was the sound of old, rusted metal scraping, then the door opened a crack. Blue eyes peered from the gloom inside and reflected the morning light, and the sight took Silver's breath away. Sapphire looked tired, her eyes betraying the exhaustion of her captivity. Her hair and dress were less than immaculate; strange to see her looking anything other than perfect. He caught her eye and tried a smile, hoping fervently that she forgave him for the mistake in the café. Silver's heart tripped as she smiled back, though for a fleeting instant she had reacted with less welcome. Without pause for smalltalk, Sapphire swung the door open wide and offered a summary.
"Steel needs Lead, right away. Nitro will show the rest of you to the gateway Mercury is constructing. The leader and Mercury remain at large, and were by the machine, the last we saw them. We don't think Nitro's loyalty has been discovered as yet, though we need to be careful. Scout the device, contact me when you form any conclusions and in the meantime we'll get Steel on his feet again."
"If cold is our most effective weapon against the Transients, can we take Steel down again?" asked Diamond, following Sapphire through into the building.
"No!" came two voices in unison. Sapphire and Jet paused to look at each other, then Jet offered a watery smile and allowed Sapphire to reach and touch her hand. Sapphire shook her head and replied directly to Diamond. "He needs time to recover. To refuse him that time and re-freeze him might mean he never warms through again."
They crossed a lobby and disappeared through double doors opposite the entrance. As the corridor reached a T-junction, Sapphire gestured to the right with her hand.
"Nitro, keep in touch." The specialist nodded and turned away, motioning Diamond, Jet and Silver with him. Silver turned to look one more time upon Sapphire - this reunion had been all too brief - but she and Lead were already hurrying in the opposite direction. His lips tightened in concern for a moment, before he had to quicken his steps to catch up with the others. They had a device to destroy.
~~~
Mercury's work was nearly finished. He was setting the final configuration parameters when his thoughts were interrupted. An image came into his mind, showing a party of several agents proceeding through the corridors of the complex behind Nitro. Panic raised bile in his throat as he recognised his enemies.
The message was from his leader and was clear. Nitro was leading them to the gateway. Nitro had turned traitor.
But this no longer mattered because the man was on their trail and was not without weapons.
~~~~~~~
Continued in Chapter 15
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