Terra rounded the corner to find two uniformed Blue Uprising soldiers standing in the hallway just inside the emergency entrance. One pointed his rifle toward Zoe, a menacing scowl on his weathered face. The second soldier, with blood smeared on his uniform, stood behind the first with rifle ready. A burly hospital security guard laid leaning against a wall, his hand pressing against a bloody wound on his shoulder.
Zoe took a defiant stance, standing tall. "Back down, sergeant! Your wounded will be treated like everyone else."
He contorted his face and spat, "Now! Or you will be the next casualty!"
Zoe advanced slowly on the soldier with a steeled expression on her face. The scowl on the soldier's face morphed briefly into confusion at her boldness. She stopped directly in front of him, nearly touching the gun barrel with her chest.
Her fierce eyes locked on to his."I said back down! No one will be treated in front of a weapon!"
Terra's heart accelerated. She knew what Zoe was about to do, but it was ill-advised, especially with the position of the second soldier. Shifting into the aura, Terra focused on the second soldier's rifle.
In a flash move, Zoe pushed the rifle barrel up and to the left with one hand while landing a jab to the sergeant's throat with the other. He grunted as she twisted and flung him to the floor with a hip throw. But before she could take his gun away, the sergeant swept his leg across Zoe's ankles. She landed hard on her back with a hollow thump. Zoe gasped with wide eyes as the second soldier aimed his rifle at her and pulled the trigger.
Click.
He pulled the trigger again.
Click.
Unknown to the soldier, Terra had induced a blocking electrical charge, countering the rifle's electromagnetic pulse so that it would not fire. Anger growing to rage, Terra directed a strong pressure push against the soldier, sending him tumbling down the hallway and crashing into a cart along the wall, upending its contents of bandages onto himself.
Nobody threatens my family or my friends!
The sergeant grabbed his rifle from the floor and raised it towards Terra. Lifting her hand and closing her fist, she telekinetically tore the weapon from his hands. He rose by an unseen force, floating in the air, his flailing having no effect. Eyes widening, his face paled as the rifle also drifted up, turned, and pointed at his head.
Silence stilled the hallway, and all eyes turned to Terra. She walked closer with her hand extended as if to choke the sergeant. He represented everything in the world that would harm those she loved. A voice within her urged a brutal vengeance, here and now. But she paused as Will's words came back to her: 'you have a good heart, look to it for guidance.'
Mercy, her heart said.
The rage that filled her mind faded away.
The rifle before the terrified sergeant shifted away, coming apart in the air. The power cells and darts unloaded themselves. Next, the latching mechanism unlocked and the barrel, armature, and stock separated. All these pieces floated in an orderly formation until Terra released them as she dropped her hand. They clattered to the floor, the sound echoing in the otherwise unnaturally quiet hallway.
Terra walked up to the dumbfounded sergeant and spoke in an even tone. "This is what will happen. You and your men will surrender all weapons. We will stabilize your wounded, and then you will return to your unit. Do you understand?"
After the sergeant gulped and nodded, Terra let him down and released her hold. He wavered, bent over, gasping to catch his breath.
"Good." Terra motioned to a hospital security guard who had just arrived. "Please assist the sergeant and have the wounded taken to triage."
Terra bent down and helped Zoe get up. Zoe hugged her. "Thank you, Terra."
"You are very welcome, my friend."
Terra retreated to the door of her treatment room and knocked. "Ginny, it's me. Everything is okay now."
After Ginny opened the door, Terra entered and cuddled her daughter in her arms. A silent tear rolled down her cheek.
Ginny put her hand on Terra's shoulder. "What happened out there?"
"Soldiers," Terra answered with a matter-of-fact voice. "They did not like the way we prioritized triage. Zoe and I handled it."
As another tear traced Terra's cheek, Ginny asked, "There is something more?"
Terra turned to her squirming baby daughter and cooed, "Are you still hungry, little one?" Once seated and Anna returned to nursing, Terra answered Ginny, "The rage... I almost did something terrible."
Ginny kneeled down before Terra. "I understand. There is little more furious than a mother protecting her baby. I feel it too as a grandma. But I take it you did not do this terrible thing?"
She shook her head. "I was so close."
"This is not an easy thing, Terra. You are very powerful and able to inflict great harm. And with power comes responsibility."
Terra looked down at the floor and nodded silently.
Leave it to Ginny to tell the hard truth.
Liz appeared in the doorway with a paled face. "I heard what happened. Are you okay?"
Terra wiped the tear from her cheek. "I'm okay."
"There are two more patients for you. Shall I send them in?"
Terra gently lifted her now sleeping daughter and passed her to Ginny. "No reason to hide anymore. I will go to them."
Her first patient was the hospital security guard injured by the soldiers. He smiled in appreciation of Terra's efforts as she stabilized his shoulder wound. The second patient was one of the wounded men brought in by the sergeant. His eyes widened in fear as she treated a severe leg wound, despite her reassurances.
As Terra walked back down the hall, she could not help but notice the sideway glances and the pauses in conversation as she passed. She pushed her feelings aside.
It will be as it shall.
Terra returned to Ginny's house as the dawn brightened the sky to find Will pacing with a crying baby. The crying abated when Anna recognized her mother.
Will shrugged. "Hungry again, I think."
With a sob, Terra hugged them both and put her head on Will's shoulder.
Will spoke softly while wrapping an arm around his family. "Rough night?"
Terra took Anna and laid on the bed, propped up by a layer of pillows placed by Will. She pulled up her shirt and nursed her daughter.
Her eyes moistened. "Will, I messed up bad. Our anonymity is gone. By now, the whole town knows I am here and maybe of our daughter."
Will crawled on the bed beside her, wrapping an arm around Terra's shoulders. "I suppose that was inevitable. It is hard to hide anything in Freehold." He kissed her gently on the lips. "I do not blame you."
"There was something else. My Talent is still really strong, and my aura was probably very bright. Any Talent within many kilometers might have seen me."
"I assumed your powers would return to normal after our little girl was born." He stroked Anna's little head. "I wonder if she enhances them even now?"
A lump formed in Terra's throat. "What do we do?"
"For now, what would you say to a family vacation?"
*****
Loaded with supplies for a long stay, Will, Terra, and little Anna bounced along the rough road that led to their cabin in the mountains, appropriately named Sanctuary. Terra babbled and played a simple version of peek-a-boo with her daughter, who became enraptured with the game.
Terra's smile grew larger as joy lifted her heart to the sky. "It's too late for us now, Will."
Will turned as his eyes widened. "Huh?"
"Our little girl learned to smile. There is no resistance to her charm now."
Will slowed to a stop and gazed down at the happy baby. As Terra cooed to her again, a smile erupted on Anna's little face and seemed to spread across her whole body, melting her parent's hearts to goo. Terra hid her face behind a blanket and the smile faded partially away, only to return in full force when Terra revealed herself again.
Will grinned. "Very well, little girl, we surrender."
As the truck neared the cabin, they came upon a rock slide that blocked the road. Stacked in disarray, large rocks and boulders spanned the road from a steep, rocky hill on one side to a small ravine on the other, making the road impassible to the truck. Will groaned as he stepped out, since it meant they would need to walk the final kilometer to the cabin.
Terra stepped out and handed a squirming Anna to her husband. "Let me try. This will be a good test of my powers."
Will nodded as Terra stepped closer to rocks. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, slipped into the aura, and visualized the rocks before her. The tingle of potential energy at her command surged through her. Raising a hand as if to guide the power, she applied telekinesis to several of the smaller rocks, lifting them and dropping them into the ravine. Next, larger rocks and small boulders moved.
Easy.
Terra opened her eyes and glanced back at Will, furrowing her brow at how Anna laid strangely still in his arms. Will nodded again, and Terra turned back to her task.
She lifted and moved still larger boulders with power to spare. Will's widened eyes tracked them as one-by-one they floated almost casually across the road, and then dropped with resounding cracks into the ravine. Finally, only one boulder remained in the way, but it was nearly half as big as the truck.
"Will, where should I put this one?" Terra asked.
His eyebrows lifted. "You think you can move that? It must weigh over ten tons."
She grinned. "Let's find out."
He pointed. "Well, if you can, put it next to the road over there by the ruts."
Terra closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then channeled power into the giant rock. It wavered, scraped along the ground, then settled again. Terra took another deep breath and consciously stilled her mind to everything but the task. Yet, sensations of her daughter's prescience stayed in the back of her mind, glowing warmly in the aura. Tendrils of energy stretched out, surrounding and caressing Terra in her mind's eye.
So, little Anna, are you going to help me with this?
Terra held the image of her daughter as she channeled the force back into the rock. To Terra's surprise, it lifted off the ground. Under her direction, it floated as if weightless about ten meters down the road, then set down in the washed-out area as Will had requested, the only sound a slight crunch as the massive weight bore down on the sand and pebbles beneath it. A bright smile spread across Terra's face as she opened her eyes.
Will dropped his jaw in amazement. "Not bad at all, Terra Sall!"
Terra took her daughter from Will and cuddled her. "Moving that huge boulder should have been beyond my capability. You may be right that our little girl enhanced my Talent. I felt her on my mind when I lifted the boulder. It was the same at the hospital."
Will tipped his head. "I wonder. Anna was squirming like crazy when you handed her to me, but she went still while you were moving the rocks."
Terra looked down at Anna and tickled her little belly. "So, were you helping mommy, my little girl?"
*****
The next few weeks were idyllic. Small smiles came often and hearts melted again and again. As before, this place refreshed Terra's spirit. She and Will relived their first kiss and first love-making, although now carefully timed to Anna's nap schedule. Much to Will's surprise, Terra joined him and Anna to watch the sunrise, leading to some quips about upsetting the order of the universe. The troubles of the world seemed so far away.
As Terra rummaged around in her backpack, she came across her old viewer from her past life as an agent, surprising her to see it remained functional. Perhaps her old friend Hex had not-so-coincidentally forgotten to disable it. There were several old voice messages from him marked as urgent. Puzzled, she activated them and put the viewer to her ear.
Color drained from Terra's face as she listened. The viewer slipped from her hand, clattering to the floor. She slumped down into a chair as a single tear betrayed an otherwise stony face.
The Finders...