Page 67 of Lifeline

The door opened and Reno came in. “So I would really appreciate if you’d give Xander something before he gets on all of our…what?”

I opened my mouth, staring at my brother in helpless disbelief. Here was the only person at the outpost I would feel comfortable telling what I had just discovered, but the words…there were none.

“Mikhail?” he asked cautiously. “What’s…what’s wrong? Jesus, you look like someone just died horribly right in front of you.”

I suppose in a way that was true because it felt that way.

“Reno, I…” But again, there was nothing for me to summon up and explain what was wrong.

My laptop made a soft noise, and I turned robotically, responding to the call absently and looked at my screen. My stomach twisted as I read it, quickly making sense of what I was seeing.

“Shit,” I hissed. I snatched up the radio. “Xander, I’ve got your answer, and you’re not going to like it.”

“Meet me at the main house,” he shot back immediately, and I hopped up.

“That bad?” Reno asked warily.

“That bad,” I assured him.

Everything I’d just discovered was going to have to wait until another day.

11

AIDAN

“This is…bad,” I muttered as I looked out the window and watched the disaster unfolding in front of me.

The trees thrashed and twisted in the wind that had already blown everything that was too light and not held down away. Branches and pieces of wood from a tree struck by lightning littered the ground, tumbling with each horrendous gust of wind. I winced when I heard a sharp crack, signaling another tree fighting for its life to stay upright. It was a fight I was sure several trees were going to lose, and probably several buildings if it kept up.

“We’re reaching the peak,” Mika said from behind me. “It’s about to be worse.”

“And how long until we’re clear?” I wondered.

“A few hours probably,” he said, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him looking at his computer screen and not at me or the weather.

I wanted to attribute it to being focused on doing what he could while the others were out in the weather. Mav and Carter had gone to secure their outpost building, while Colin and Trevor were making sure the ‘Exile House’ was secure. Reno was at the science building with Jake, and I wondered how they were handling being by themselves. The tension between them was almost as thick as the danger in the air outside, but I thought if any two people were capable of working on what was wrong, it was them.

Even knowing Mika had a reason for being distant, there was still a nagging unease running through me. It didn’t help that the storm already had me on edge. I tried to tell myself it was just that: the worry and anxiety about the storm and the rest of the guys making me paranoid. And yet the same voice in my head accused of paranoia refuted it by saying no, something was definitely wrong, but when asked what…it grew silent.

“I hope no one is outside in this,” I said as I turned to the window and looked at the chaotic, whirling shadows that made up the forest on that dark and stormy night.

“If they are, they’d better hope they’re not too far out,” Mika said. “There’s no way anyone is going to get air support out there in weather like this. And we’d take forever on foot or even the quads in this weather. If they could even get out a call for help.”

“Right,” I said, not relishing the idea of driving in that weather anyway.

“As you’ve been told, the best thing we can do is keep an eye on things around here and hunker down,” Mika said, and his phrasing made me turn around and stare at him. “Try to minimize damage and hope we don’t have to go out.”

“As I’ve been told?” I repeated in a low voice. We were in the dining hall, but Cait wasn’t far away; a constant stream of communication between her and the team, and her and who knew who else out there, was coming through in her calm, operator voice.

“You were told that,” he said simply, and I frowned, recognizing the tone.

That was his “I’m being mature and controlled and a little smug about it because someone needs to,” voice.

“You know, I understand everyone is under a lot of stress right now, but if we could spare each other the patronizing tone, that would be appreciated,” I said calmly, even as I felt my irritation scratch at my inner walls. It would be a little too easy to lose my temper when I was already on edge from the weather and danger.

Mika looked up, scowling. “Now isn’t the time for sensitivity.”

“Alright,” I said, walking closer to him so I could speak without being overheard. “If we’re going to be buddied up for the rest of this storm, I’m really going to need you to tone the attitude down. We can’t get through this if you’re going to be antagonistic.”