Future Past (Gift of the Ancients Book 2) Page 7

  “She was always fair-minded,” Rose said with genuine confidence. “I think we’ll work well together, but you’re right, we should probably hash out areas of responsibility. I take it you want me to work exclusively with Jeff for now?”

  “To start,” Hal agreed. “They’ve been able to help him harness a lot of his gift, but there are still rough spots that are probably more about instinct than rote learning. That’s where you come in, according to Jeeves and Holbrook.”

  “Because I’ve had the gift all my life and learned a lot of it by instinct,” she said, nodding. It was amazingly freeing to be able to talk of her gift so openly. Such discussions had been rare in her life—except for the time she’d spent working with Dr. Holbrook years ago.

  “If you think you can help some of the others as we go along, that would be great, but let’s play it by ear. We’re all learning together here, it seems,” Hal gave her a smile that put her at ease. He really was a charming giant when he wanted to be. Remembering her vision of his future, she knew he was going to be a great father when the time came.

  *

  Jeff ushered Rosie to the small building next door to the barracks the unit had more or less taken over since arriving on Plum Island. Luckily, there were a lot of disused buildings that they had been able to put back into service with a bit of elbow grease. The barracks they were living and working out of now had been derelict when they arrived, but the team had used the time they were confined to base to fix it up until it was livable.

  They’d stayed in the main housing area with the others stationed on the island at first, but it hadn’t been ideal. While everyone on the island had top-secret clearance, that didn’t mean they all knew what was going on with the Spec Ops unit that had suddenly descended on them. They all had their own projects to work on, and it was better that the groups not fraternize too much, lest curiosity get the better of someone on either side.

  Jeff had liked Dr. Jeana Holbrook. She was a fascinating woman with spooky green eyes, but although he knew she was a beautiful woman, since seeing Rosie in his visions, he’d been ruined for all other women. Nothing could compare with Rosie’s deep brown eyes and glossy dark hair. It was as if she’d mesmerized him before they’d even met, and the effect only got stronger the more he was around her.

  And after last night… Well, he was thinking very serious thoughts after the night they’d spent together. Committed thoughts. Forever thoughts.

  As they walked next door together, Jeff purposely kept their conversation light. He gave her a rundown of the general schedule of life on base and what she could expect, as long as they weren’t called out on a mission. Of course, they hadn’t been sent on any real away missions since they’d gotten back to the States. The only missions now, were of their own making. Until they neutralized the threat to the team, that was the only kind of missions they were likely to get.

  Jeff held the door for Rosie and let her precede him into the designated lab building. A lot of the guys spent a portion of their days over here, working on the gifts that had appeared after their encounter with what Hal believed to be a djinn in the ancient city of Babylon. They’d set up various rooms for each guy’s specific issue, if they needed a safe environment in which to practice.

  Since Jeff’s gift wasn’t anything like that, he didn’t have a specific place where he practiced. He just tried to be open, as Dr. Holbrook had instructed, and let the magic happen. For the most part, he’d had some success, but he also knew—due to visions of the future he’d received—that he needed Rosie there. Whether it was for her to teach him more about their shared gift, like he’d told the others, or for some other reason, he wasn’t altogether certain.

  He’d achieved his goal in getting her to the island. Now, he would wait to see how events unfolded. Jeana was waiting just inside the hall when Jeff ushered Rosie inside. The two women smiled, obviously recognizing each other, and Jeana held out her hands in welcome.

  Rosie exchanged a warm handclasp and brief hug with the other woman, both talking about how good it was to see each other, once again. Clearly, they had parted on good terms and remembered each other with fondness. Good. That was one hurdle jumped. Jeff hadn’t known what he would do if the two ladies couldn’t work together.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” Jeana was saying to Rosie. “I was sorry you couldn’t participate in my more recent research. I’ve missed your predictive accuracy a lot.”

  Rosie blushed a bit, but Jeff wasn’t one to let an interesting point go. “Accuracy?” he prompted the doctor, who nodded, including him in the conversation.

  “Rose was the most reliable foreseer I’ve ever had the good fortune to observe. Until now, that is. It’ll be interesting to see how your abilities match up,” Jeana said, looking them both up and down as if considering. “Shall we go into my office and figure out how this is going to work?”

  Chapter Seven

  Jeana led them into her small office where there was just enough room for them all to sit. They had a casual discussion about Rosie’s presence on the island and her area of expertise. Jeff was an observer, for the most part, and was glad to see things between the two women were going to work out well, if this initial meeting was any indication.

  Before long, Jeana and Rosie had ironed out the ground rules and agreed to check in with each other at the end of each day of work to see what, if anything, needed adjusting. Rosie was assigned a comfortable office-like room that Jeana told her she was free to decorate however she liked. Jeff volunteered to help her get the room set up to her specifications, and then, Jeana left them to discuss both the modifications to the room and how they might begin their work together, exploring Jeff’s precognitive gift.

  To start, they moved a few comfortable chairs into the space and added a small round table. Rosie directed him to place the table at the exact center of the small room, with the chairs on opposite sides. Then, she dug into her pocket and came out with a small velvet pouch. Inside, was a sphere of clear glass—or, perhaps, it was crystal—which she took out and rolled in her palm.

  “It may be cliché,” Rosie said with a self-conscious shrug, “but sometimes, it helps to focus on a crystal ball. This one is clear quartz, and I usually keep it in my pocketbook, like a little talisman. I brought it with me, this morning, to see if maybe it could help you—help us both—focus a bit. Have you tried using crystals before?”

  “No,” he answered, taking the seat opposite her as she sat down and indicated he should do the same. “I tried meditating on a flame once, but it didn’t do much.”

  “Flames are tricky,” she replied. “They can help focus within, but for our gift, I think the trick is to focus on the unseen world outside ourselves. If that makes any sense to you.”

  “I think I understand,” he told her. Heaven knew, he’d had a lot of time to think about this unexpected ability since meeting that turbaned man in ancient Babylon.

  She dumped the little velvet pouch out over the table, and a small angled tube of clear plastic rolled out and eventually settled on the table. It was a stand, he realized, that would support the weight of the little crystal ball handily. Rosie set up the small ball, which was only about three inches in diameter and perfectly clear. Then, she put both of her hands on the table, spread out to either side of the ball at its center.

  “This’ll probably get easier when we’ve got the mood of this room more under control, but it couldn’t hurt to at least show you some of the things my mother taught me as a little girl when my power first started to manifest.” Rosie shrugged and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “The first thing we need is calm and focus. Meditation helps, so if you’re familiar already with it, you’re one step ahead of where I was when I first started seeing the future.”

  “I’ve studied martial arts since I was a kid,” Jeff told her. “Meditation was often a part of it, though I can’t profess to be an expert at it, or anything.”

  Rosie opened her eyes and smiled at hi
m. “This is a no judgment zone. We are just floating through the moment, here, together.” She wiggled her fingers invitingly. “Give me your hands.”

  Jeff complied readily. He loved touching Rosie. Any time. Any place. Any way she wanted. Damn. He felt his erection stir at the thought and sternly told himself to settle down.

  Jeff placed his hands in hers and followed when she laced their fingers together then laid their hands on their sides, palms facing the crystal ball at the center of the table. She was so beautiful. He had to catch his breath, realizing he’d seen a flash of this exact moment weeks ago, in a vision.

  “I’ve seen this before,” he told her.

  “What?” Her gaze narrowed as a soft smile played around the corners of her mouth.

  “I saw our hands and this table…and your face. It was the first time I saw your face,” he told her. “It was just a flash at the time, but what I saw in that vision intrigued me, and I knew it was something really significant.”

  Her eyes widened. “That’s… Well, it’s pretty cool. I hope we can live up to the advance billing,” she quipped, making him smile and setting them both at ease.

  They sat there for a long moment, smiling and looking into each other’s eyes. There was no discomfort. No embarrassment. Not after the intimacies they had shared the night before. It was just the two of them. Together. Sharing space. Holding hands.

  “Okay,” Rosie said after a few moments. “My mother said to look into the center of the crystal and send your inner eye outward. It’s not easy, but with your past meditation practice, it might come easier to you than it did to me.” She shrugged. “Ready?”

  “Whenever you are,” he replied at once.

  “Good. Now, look into the crystal’s heart.” She lowered her eyes and did as she instructed. After a few seconds, he did the same.

  And then…everything changed.

  Except for the comparatively brief time Rose had spent working with Jeana years ago, and the time she’d spent learning about her gift from her mother, Rose hadn’t worked with someone this closely in years. Never had she shared her gift with a man. It was way more intimate than she had expected, but yet, with Jeff, it felt right. So right. Like just about everything they did together. As if another piece of the puzzle of her life had clicked into place.

  Just like that.

  She clenched his fingers as she was launched into the darkness. It was a vision. Nighttime. The hiss of water. Waves lapping at the shore. Sand. Overcast sky. No moonlight. Darkness shimmering on darkness as the water morphed and turned into black shapes coming closer. Men! Men in scuba gear, walking out of the waves, holding sticks.

  Not sticks. Weapons.

  “Shit.” Jeff’s voice came to her from outside the vision but didn’t interrupt.

  “Are you seeing this?” she whispered, afraid to break the link to whatever or wherever the visions came from.

  “If you mean some kind of SEAL team stealthing up the beach loaded for bear, that would be a roger.”

  She took that as a yes. This was a first. They were seeing the same thing at the same time. Was it because she was holding his hands? But, no. She’d held her mother’s hands when visions had hit, and her mother hadn’t seen what she had. There had to be some other reason, but what did it matter, right now? This vision was important. Rose sensed it. This was vital to the next few days of their lives here on this island.

  “Do you know where this is?” she asked Jeff.

  “I think so. See the rock jetty off to the left? There are only two of those on this island, and this is the one by our barracks. Where we do our PT in the morning. See the curvature of the shoreline? That’s what gives it away.”

  “You’re good at this. What else can you pick out? While it lasts, see as much as you can from the vision. It won’t come any clearer after the fact. You have to note things now, while it’s happening.”

  Following her own advice, she made mental notes on what she was seeing. Jeff had the location. She started counting heads and noting their positions. She didn’t know anything about weapons, but she looked at the gear each man was wearing as best she could in the gloom. Then, she looked up and noted the pattern of clouds in the sky. There was a clear spot coming. And a clear spot had just passed over, judging by the movement above. The men had waited for the clouds to come ashore.

  She looked around her—first left and then right. She saw nothing else on the beach. Taking a breath for courage, she turned her back on the men now advancing toward her position on the beach. She wasn’t really there. They couldn’t hurt her. It still made her feel vulnerable to turn her back on what was likely an enemy. She noted the lights in the windows of the barracks and the positions of the buildings.

  Jeff was right. They were on the beach she had seen earlier. Where the men did their exercise routine each morning. The barracks were in front of them, and the building they were in, right now, was slightly to the left. That building—Dr. Holbrook’s lab—was completely dark. The barracks building had a few low lights burning, but it was pretty clear everyone was asleep.

  Everyone except a lone guard who walked sentry duty. He turned the corner and walked out of sight, and the men on the beach advanced past Rose. They walked right past her. She wasn’t there. They didn’t see her.

  Then, Jeff came up beside her. She looked up into his eyes and knew he could see her as she saw him. How, she had no idea, but somehow, they were present, together, in the vision, observing the same things and able to see each other. Freaky.

  “We’ve got to stop this,” she told him. “They’re not the good guys, right?”

  “Approaching at night in stealth gear?” He shook his head. “No. These are most definitely bad guys. But there aren’t that many of them. We can handle this, now that we know about it. The thing is the timing. When is this? Any ideas for figuring that out?” he looked around him as if casting about for a clue.

  But Rose knew what to do. “Look up. Note the stars. We can approximate based on weather, star position, phase of the moon. That sort of thing.”

  “Like regular ol’ navigation, huh?” He looked up and took a good long look. “Where’s my compass when I need it?”

  “Back on whatever plane of existence our bodies are on,” she told him. The clouds blew past, and the sky was exposed. “There’s Sirius,” she whispered.

  “I’ve got a rough bearing. Since there’s no moon that I can see, we can probably come up with a good guesstimate for date and time.”

  Just then, she heard the chime of the base clock and smiled. “We won’t have to guess about the time, at least.” She listened to the old clock in the distance with its muted bongs for the hour. Three and it stopped. “Three a.m.”

  “I’d like to see more of their approach,” Jeff said. He made to walk forward, toward the barracks, but he couldn’t move. “What?”

  Rose knew what that meant. “There’s more to see here. It won’t let you go until you’ve seen what you need to. Look around. Notice everything. It could be something small.”

  She spun around to watch the waves, looking hard at the black ocean, but she didn’t see anything.

  Then, Jeff sucked in a breath. “See that?”

  “What?”

  “A periscope.”

  She caught a faint reflection of starlight on a tubular shape sticking up out of the water in the distance. Then, she was falling.

  She shut her eyes against the disorientation, clinging to Jeff’s hands as they fell out of the vision together and came back to the mostly bare room in Dr. Holbrook’s lab building.

  “A submarine?” she squawked, when she came back to herself. “Are you kidding me?”

  Jeff shook his head and smiled in a resigned sort of way. “Sorry. Not kidding. The bad guys have a sub.”

  “That’s bad.” She couldn’t even process how well funded the people after them must be in order to have a freaking submarine at their disposal. Were they backed by a rich government?

  �
�Not as bad as it was when we didn’t know about it,” Jeff added. “Forewarned is forearmed.”

  She just shook her head at his grim optimism. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  Jeff just smiled. “In a situation like this? Always.”

  “Who are these people? Why are they after us? And how in the world do they have access to a submarine?” She hadn’t thought the enemy was so well equipped. The thought staggered her a bit. This was even more serious than she’d expected.

  “State-funded from somewhere in the Middle East as far as we know. There are specialists trying to nail down exactly where the threat is coming from, but all we know for sure is that someone from that region is mad that we were given the gifts of the djinn, and they want them back. So far, it looks like they want to capture us—one at a time or in a group—and force us to use our powers for them.” He shook his head. “If they really understood us, our training, and our gifts, they wouldn’t even try. The old man with the turban chose us for a reason. We think it’s because we’re the good guys. Those who are looking to capture us are not, and that’s why they didn’t receive the gifts of their ancients.”

  “They want to make you work for them? That doesn’t even make sense. How could they force you?” She shook her head, truly confused.

  Jeff got quiet and looked at her with a very serious, slightly bashful expression. “If they captured you, or Casey, or some family member of one of the guys, they’d have really good leverage to force us into whatever they wanted.”

  That made her pause. Emotional blackmail. Yeah, she could see that. Hal would do anything and everything for Casey. That much was obvious. The idea that Jeff would do the same for herself had Rose’s head spinning a bit.

  “They came after me because they wanted to force you into working for them?” she asked, speaking her thoughts aloud without censoring them.

  “Probably. They might have seen you as a way to get to me, or they might have wanted you for your own merits. They might think it would be best to fight fire with fire—our gifts against other people with gifts,” he suggested. “We suspect there is at least a foreseer working on the wrong side because sometimes, they get a bit ahead of us in ways that could only happen if someone like you or I were feeding them information.”