The Forbidden Trilogy(92)

'I can try. Security is pretty tight these days. We'll do our best to get that information to you while we're on assignment. It's going to be risky, but we can't sit around waiting for them to do more experiments on us.'

"I have to go now. My body is still weak, but I'll check back in with you guys as soon as I can. Be safe. I love you both."

'Love you too, Sam. Drake, take care of her.'

'I will,' Drake said.

They were gone. Lucy's head suddenly felt light after sharing it with three other people. She didn't know how Sam survived it, bumping into every thought someone else had. Lucy would have gone crazy and started slapping people to get them to mentally shut up.

She sat up straighter on the couch in their suite, and reached for a glass of water. "This just gets better and better, doesn't it, Bro?"

Luke stood and paced the room, his brow furrowed in worry. "Still think the Freedom Fighters group is worthless?"

"I don't know. I can't see it working, but it doesn’t look like we can totally count on Sam either. We may have to do something, but I'm not sure the Freedom Fighters are the way to go." The campus loudspeaker buzzed. "Oh, crap. We're late for class. Hurry!"

They grabbed their book bags and raced from the room before the hall monitors could cite them for tardiness.

Outside, a crowd had formed around the center circle, where punishments were handed out for citations. In the past, Higgins handled these issues privately in his office, not as a public display of power like this.

Luke and Lucy paused to see what the commotion was about.

The voice of their new god, Mr. Black, boomed from a megaphone. "Classes have been postponed in order to mete out punishment to a student who felt he was above the rules. Assemble at the circle as witness to his crimes, or suffer your own consequence."

One of the Freedom Fighters stood bound and gagged in the center.

Lucy couldn't remember his name, but recognized him from the meeting. She hoped they hadn't snagged him for rebel-related infractions.

Mr. Black continued. "This boy was caught using his powers in an improper location without permission. Punishment has been set at five lashes to the back."

The crowd gasped. First, no one had ever prevented students from using their para-powers anywhere they liked, as long as they didn't hurt anyone else. Second, the punishments for citations had usually been some kind of manual labor. One girl had been forced to clean a bathroom with a toothbrush when she was caught making out with her boyfriend behind the bleachers, but nothing like this....

Mr. Black set the megaphone down and stood before the crowd with a whip in hand. An evil smile curled up his face.

Silence descended on them as everyone held their breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

He flicked the whip and a scream filled the air around them.

Lucy imagined wild animals made a similar sound when caught in traps.

The entire crowd of students shuddered with each lash. Guys who never showed emotion in public wiped tears from their eyes. Girls sobbed.

Lucy got angry. Really angry. So angry she would have given anything in that moment to have a more proactive power, like fire or telekinesis. A human lie detector was only useful in certain circumstances. Right now, she wanted to hurt them in a more immediate way.

Gary had been right. She might not want the death of students on her conscience, but she couldn't allow this to happen either. Many would fight whether she and Luke helped or not, but maybe with their knowledge and training, more would survive.

It was time for another Freedom Fighters meeting.

***

That night, Lucy stood in front of a different crowd. The brutal punishment, rather than force obedience, had inspired more rebellion. More students than ever had joined the Freedom Fighters. Lucy vetted each one with questions, designed to make sure there were no spies in the ranks, and that each person was prepared for what might come.

Namely, death.

"Has anyone heard how Mike is doing? I can't believe they beat him like that."

A girl, Desirai, raised her hand. "I slipped into his dreams before I came here. He's in a lot of pain but he'll be okay."

Ah yes, a dreamwalker. Lucy made a note to talk to her soon. They could use someone with her gifts to weaken the enemies for the main assault, and to coordinate plans with Sam and Drake.

"Thank you, Desirai. Please, keep an eye on him. And see me later, if you're free. I have some ideas I'd like to talk to you about."

The girl's large eyes glowed with pride. She'd probably never been on assignment. Most of their group had no field experience at all, but it didn't matter; they would have to learn now, or die.

"Luke and I are being sent on assignment. I don't know why, but we shouldn't be long. In the meantime, catalogue every power we have access to. Recruit new members, but carefully! We don't want anyone getting caught at this stage. As soon as Luke and I are back, we'll attack."