Nashville Beaumont (and the Hyperbole Engine) by Michael Hiebert

Author:Michael Hiebert [Hiebert, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dangerbooks
Published: 2016-06-21T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

IT FEELS LIKE DIVING under the sea—staying down deep until you can’t possibly hold your breath any longer. Then you rise, watching the sky brighten, feeling the pressure diminish. Then finally breaking the surface, gasping for air.

We break the surface north many spaces, ending up on a nanonet suspension bridge somewhere in what appears to be the lake district of Ghat. I guess this from the lakes spreading out in every direction beneath us; it’s a collection of emerald ponds attached by thin arteries. Sunlight skips across the water rippling under the light breeze.

Mindastla continues across the bridge, asking us to follow. I have to force my attention away from the incredible view to follow.

We enter a yellow-green mushroom structure. It’s like entering a blood cell. Thin, organic material stretches tightly, forming walls, ceilings, floors—everything. It’s all alive. I smell it before noticing a section of the wall actually throbs.

“Oh God, I’m gonna puke!” Haley pushes back outside, her hand over her mouth.

Tyrone waves Mindastla off when it glances back, concerned. “Don’t worry,” he tells it. “She’s fine.”

We continue following twisty corridors of tissue another thirty meters before our host stops, turning to a purple-veined violet membraneall. “There’s been no communication?” Tyrone asks.

“You asked none.” Mindastla says. His swirly hand makes a backwards S shape and the membrane dissolves, revealing a room behind it. My attention snaps to the man on the floor in the corner with the girl huddled beside him.

It’s Kidar Frenzid. Anger pumps from my heart. I begin clenching my fists.

Tyrone’s hand on my shoulder stops me. “There’ll be time for that later.”

I’m so consumed with hatred, I almost miss it. But I don’t. The man in the hat didn’t even know my capabilities. Yet this . . . this general . . . knows my tells. Before I fully consider this, I realize my rage blinded me also to the girl beside Kidar Frenzid. “Providence?” I ask.

She stares back. There’s no recognition in her eyes, only fear.

“Don’t be afraid,” I say. “I’m your brother. I’m Nashville. We’re twins. I won’t hurt you.” I step into the room. She pulls her legs up, cuddling closer to Kidar Frenzid.

“I don’t have a brother.” She glances into Kidar Frenzid’s face. “Right, Daddy?” His arm around her tightens, but he doesn’t answer.

Stunned, I shake my head. “Why would you think he’s your father? Do you have any idea who he really is? He killed my entire family.” Pain flashes in my skull. “And he made me watch.”

More pain. I struggle through it, though. “My entire family.”

“Then I can’t be your sister if your whole family’s dead.”

An explosion goes off behind my eyes. My hands clasp the sides of my head. “You are my sister! We’re twins!”

Again she looks to Kidar Frenzid. He doesn’t take his eyes from me.

“He’s not your father. He killed everyone I loved. My mother, father, brother . . . ”

Another explosion. I hear this one and it nearly deafens me. I scream. My brain’s on fire.

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