Forecast Read online

  She crept out of his room and walked down the hall, sitting with her sister and mother in the living area.

  Her mother smiled. “You told him a story?”

  Lania blushed. “I listened in a little.”

  “He likes that story. It is his favourite.” Lore got herself a cup of tea and sat with her family.

  “What story was it, dear?”

  “Our escape and his birth. He loves that. He calls it the story of the missing day.”

  Lamira was aghast. “You told him about that?”

  Lore sighed. “He knows. He has always known. I think that he has a version of my gift, but it isn’t fully developed yet.”

  Lania looked at her mother, and her hot pink skin got darker. “Holy hell.”

  “Language.” Lamira said it absently.

  Lore smirked. “Yeah, I believe you meant to say, oh shit.”

  The sisters laughed while the mother spluttered. It was a rather nice visit.

  Chapter Four

  Lore was up and making breakfast for her son when he came bounding into the room.

  “Mom, can we go to the training centre today?” Taxo smiled brightly.

  “Why the training centre?”

  “Well, if the new team is coming together here, I thought it might be nice for you to see them before Monday.”

  Lore ruffled his hair. “No. I am not going to poke my nose in there.”

  He frowned. “I have seen you at the centre.”

  “I will be in the centre. On Monday.”

  “Check your forecast. You are going to see it.” He was smugly confident.

  She scowled. “No. You are going to eat breakfast, go up and stretch your wings, and then, we are going to make plans for the rest of the day. Not before.”

  He smiled. “Yes, Mom. What’s for breakfast?”

  “Pancakes. Go wash up.” She chuckled, and he left to scrub his hands.

  She laughed as she took the stack of pancakes out of the heater and set them on his spot at the table. She got her own plate, a cup of tea and his milk, and finished setting everything down.

  She tried not to look further than a minute into her own life at any given time. The distance of the forecast made it unstable. She tended to twist them to suit her own ends, and that wasn’t something to teach Taxo.

  Lore settled and started to eat the moment that Taxo picked up his fork. “Do you have any homework?”

  “It was done before I came out for the weekend.”

  “As long as you are sure. I might not be accessible on Monday, so getting a call would be awkward.”

  Taxo smiled. “Don’t worry, Mom. I have done my homework.”

  “What were you working on in classes?”

  “Melting points of materials. There was only one fire in the class, and it wasn’t me. Everyone has to be careful around me because of my wings.”

  Lore smiled. “They don’t know you can’t burn?”

  “It hasn’t come up. It is assumed that these are regular feathers.” He grinned around a mouthful of pancakes. It was a mental moment that Lore wanted to hold onto.

  “You will be exposed completely when they start aptitude testing. Will you be all right with that?”

  “I will. I am not going to hide what I am when I am grown.”

  “Is it a problem that I do?”

  He smiled and shook his head. “No, it is necessary. You needed to hide when I was born. You wanted to stay hidden when Gran and Aunt Lania went to Team One. You have spent your life hiding what you are because knowing what is going on is tremendously stressful.”

  Lore smiled. “That is accurate. How did you get so smart?”

  He shrugged. “You read to me every day the moment you realized you were pregnant. You read technical manuals and psychological treatise. I didn’t absorb it all, but it gave me a good start.”

  His knowledge base was another reason for his early enrolment in boarding school. The government was aware of her child, as he was the only reason that they had allowed the three ladies asylum. They were aware of her talent, as well. It had been dangled in front of them for some future use. Apparently, that time was coming due.

  Lore never ceased to be amazed by her son, but she didn’t let that amazement blind her to the fact that he was a child. He was a brilliant and potentially dangerous child, but he was still her little boy. It was a good thing he was personable and charming, or she might have been worried about his future.

  When they were done, they walked up the steep stairs, and her little boy looked at her. “I need a boost.”

  She leaned over with her hands laced together, and when he stepped forward, she threw him toward the sky.

  He went up and up in the straight line of the landing corridor.

  While he was flying, she got a call.

  “Hello?”

  “Lore? This is Investigator Jianik. How are you today?”

  “Pretty good. What can I do for you?”

  “I have a wardrobe emergency. One of the heroes in the selection process has specific needs, and their suit is woefully unsuited for their gift. I know you have a weekend with your son, but can you come to the training centre and sort it out? I swear we don’t need you for training until Monday.”

  She looked up at Taxo, and she sighed. “I will be on my way within the hour. Taxo is eager to see the selection process.”

  “Yes, but don’t worry. You are already on the team, you just need to pass the basic training.”

  “Thank you. I will see you shortly.”

  She put her small com back in her pocket and looked up at the small golden speck of her child. She lifted her head and whistled sharply. The speck got bigger with astonishing speed.

  She was standing with her hands on her hips when he landed lightly in front of her. “Stop looking into the future. It spoils surprises.”

  “We are going to the training centre?”

  “We are. Come on. They need me to fix a suit.”

  He frowned. “I didn’t see that.”

  She chuckled and ruffled his hair. “You are still focusing on locations, not how people get there. That makes the difference. It is called context. On the plus side, you do get to see the hero testing.”

  He perked up. “Can we take your bike?”

  “We can.”

  He skipped in front of her and ran down the steps chanting, “Hold on, wings tight.”

  She grinned. “And helmet on.”

  With her specialty kit stowed, she settled on her cycle and Taxo scrambled up behind her.

  She put on her gloves and forecasted the route. Lore groaned.

  “Okay, I want you to hang on and not say anything until we get to the training centre. I have to run a few errands, and I won’t be able to talk much.”

  He nodded his helmet against her back. “You are going to be casting.”

  “A little bit. There are some things happening on the way, and we need to stop them.”

  “Excellent. I will hold on and keep my lips together.”

  She pulled her helmet into place and watched the chrono on her bike. “Right. We are on the way in three... two... one.”

  She throttled up, and the cycle shot forward, weaving in and out of traffic with graceful ease.

  They approached her vision, and she crouched down on her cycle to make sure she was as small a target as she could be, and as they drove through the blasts and bullets, she knocked over the robbers and snagged one of their weapons.

  The peacekeepers suddenly had the upper hand, and they pursued it as she rocketed through with a giggling Taxo behind her. They moved through normal traffic, and she still had the blaster.

  She pinpointed the scaffolding lifting a heavy object up toward the third floor, and as she passed, several precision blasts of the weapon knocked a street post across the road behind her, causing a roadblock but giving the crashing item plenty of space to hit the road without inju
ring anyone.

  She could hear Taxo sigh happily.

  One more blast through a suburban area sent a branch containing a pet into the arms of the owner worrying below.

  She slowed slightly near a peacekeeper outpost and skittered the weapon along the ground, through the doors that had opened for someone exiting, and up to the desk.

  Lore continued her path to the training centre and only stopped when she was at the security check.

  She handed over her identification and waited.

  “Lore? Investigator Jianik is waiting near the confidence course. I see you have a passenger?”

  Lore lifted her helmet and felt Taxo do the same. “This is my son. I will have Jianik get him his own pass. I am guessing he might show up here now and then.”

  Guard Hrem smiled, his grandfatherly face belied the sharpshooter that could fire directly out of his palm. “He already has one. Here you go, Taxo Den Lore.”

  He handed over the small chip, and Taxo took it gleefully and pressed it into his wrist.

  “Huh, I am guessing he looks like his father?”

  Taxo smiled brightly. “I don’t have one, but I have my mother’s eyes.”

  Lore smiled and pulled her helmet closed. “See you later, Hrem.”

  Taxo waved at him, and then, they were through the force screen and on their way inside the training centre for the hero teams.

  She pulled up in the visitors’ lot and removed her helmet and Taxo’s before removing her kit from under the seat and stowing their equipment where the kit had been.

  “So, what did they call you for?”

  Taxo obediently took her free hand as they walked toward the building.

  “I am needed for repairs on a suit. One of the candidates has a gift that needs something specific.”

  He nodded. “Like you do for the ladies and gentlemen in your shop. You take care of their gifts, and they don’t even know it.”

  Lore smiled. “Yes, but they have passive gifts. Working on an active one is different.”

  “Like Grandma and Aunty.”

  “Correct. They need fireproof clothing that will not burn someone they are holding. I had to work with the Team project to get the fabric just right.”

  He gave her a sly look. “Are you sure that you didn’t know you were going to be working on more of the Team suits one day?”

  She gave his hand a light squeeze. “I never said that I didn’t know about it. I just said that I don’t use the forecast day to day. It isn’t polite to know what everyone around you is going to be doing every minute of every day.”

  He blushed. “I understand. It is fun and useful, but it can be an invasion.”

  “Yup.” They passed into the building. “Imagine if one of your friends was going to be ill in the lavatory, and you knew they were going to get sick, and they knew you could tell the future, but you didn’t tell them.”

  “I would tell them.”

  “What if they got sick because of something they ate, or an injury on the playground while you were in another class. Would they blame you because they got sick?”

  His eyes got wide. “Oh. Because I knew they would be sick but not why. I think I understand.”

  “Good. I had to be home schooled because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, and I like that you have proper friends. I don’t want you to lose that because of this aspect of your gift.”

  He nodded soberly, and it was obvious that he was giving it thought. There were many things that she loved about her son, but his ability to understand and act in the best interests of others was one of his shining characteristics. He loved people, and he wanted them happy.

  She walked through the headquarters of the Team project on Soltear, and her son asked a few questions as they moved through the gleaming halls.

  “Where are we going?”

  “The confidence course. It is just on the other side of the compound. I will probably be running it on Monday.”

  “Are you excited?”

  She gave his hand a squeeze. “Are you excited when you have a test?”

  “Sure. I know the answers.”

  “No, you know the answers you will give. The fact that you are smart doesn’t mean that you know everything. You simply give the answers you know you already gave.”

  His eyes went huge, and he was quiet.

  Lore led him out, and there was a lot of sound all of a sudden. There were shouts, shrieks, screams, and a lot of bodies hitting hard structures.

  She glanced down at him as he stared at the men and women lined up for their turn at the path that was causing all those sounds. “This is where we are supposed to be, and the investigator that I need to talk to is wearing the blue suit.”

  They walked toward Jianik, and she waved at them and turned to meet them. “I am so glad you could make it, Forecast.”

  Lore quirked her lips, and Taxo whooped.

  Jianik grinned. “This must be Bright Flight. It is nice to finally meet you.”

  Jianik leaned down, and Taxo shook her hand. His eyes were huge. “I have my own name?”

  “You do. Your mother sent me a message and asked for you to be assigned a code name so that she could talk about you at work.”

  Lore smiled at her son. “See? Surprises can be fun.”

  Chapter Five

  Jianik led her to a boardroom complete with fabric swatches and a design board with all the possible outfits for the new team on it. The investigator went to get the team member with the wardrobe malfunction, and Lore and Taxo looked at the new designs.

  Lore wasn’t going to wear any of that crap. She picked up her sketchbook out of her kit, and she started drawing.

  She was on her eighth drawing when Jianik arrived, and a tiny person followed her.

  “Forecast, this is Mini Max. Max, this is Forecast. She will be coming in for her trials on Monday, but we are rather confident that she will be fine.”

  The small woman was precisely proportioned to a full-sized being, so her talent must have something to do with why she was wearing a shirt as a belted piece of clothing.

  Lore knelt and extended her hand. “Hello, Max, what seems to be the problem?”

  Max took her hand and frowned. “What is your gift?”

  Lore smiled. “My gift and my reason for being here are different. I am a seamstress who specializes in making suits for the better dressed of the Teams.”

  Taxo came forward, and he bowed. “Good day, mistress. My mother is excellent at finding the right fabric for the right gift. You are in good hands.”

  Max looked surprised. “You brought your son?”

  “I am here as a seamstress, and he is home for the weekend. We don’t get much time together, and he has clearance. Now, what is your issue?”

  Max looked down at her body. “Look at me.”

  “You are eighteen inches tall. What else do I need to know?”

  Max crossed her arms over her chest. “I am normally six and a half feet tall.”

  Lore nodded. “Ah. I see the problem. What have you done before?”

  Max gestured to her current mode of dress. “This.”

  Lore nodded, and she looked at Investigator Jianik. “What is the budget on the suit?”

  “Whatever you need.”

  Lore looked at Max. “How much can you lift in that state? The suit would only be a few pounds, but if your current structure can’t manage it, it wouldn’t be feasible.”

  Max blinked. “You can find something?”

  “Certainly. It isn’t fabric, precisely, but I have met an engineer who is skilled at shaping nanites into anything you can imagine.”

  Jianik winced. “Tabba?”

  Lore grinned. “Exactly.”

  “I can handle the order if you write the specs.”

  Max blinked. “Just like that?”

  “Well, she will have to do the programming, and you will need to choose a design, but whateve
r the team colours are can be adjusted on the day.”

  Jianik sighed. “What are the colours going to be?”

  Forecast looked at her with a wink. “Armoured black. All of the team will wear black.”

  “You will look like standard admin teams!” Jianik blinked, and it dawned on her. “Oh, very clever.”

  “Team Eight isn’t for a first strike, it isn’t for defense, it isn’t to stop a hurricane or move a meteor. We are there when no other team will do.”

  Max blinked and smiled. “I like the sound of that. Can I see the designs? The ones on the board are a little... meh.”

  Taxo picked up the sketchbook and flipped to the first page. “Here you are, mistress. Please choose your favourite.”

  Lore was proud of how polite Taxo was being. He was very good with adults.

  Jianik looked at the designs. “You had them ready?”

  Taxo shook his head. “She made a face at the board, and then, she started drawing.”

  Max smiled as she turned the page with both hands. “I walk slowly in this shape.”

  She flipped from page to page and finally pointed. “This one. I like this one.”

  Lore nodded. “Jianik, can I use the digital scanner and the design suite?”

  “Of course. I will contact Tabba and give her Max’s physical specs.”

  “Good. Bright Flight, do you want to come with me or go exploring, politely and carefully?”

  Taxo smiled. “I would like to explore, please.”

  Max nodded. “I will go with him. We can grab a snack in the commissary. That will give me a few inches back.”

  Taxo gave her the is that okay look.

  “Go ahead, Bright Flight. Your new identification can bring you back to me if you tap it.”

  Max promised, “We will come with you to the design lab, and that way, he will know where to find you.”

  With a nod to Jianik, Lore led them a few halls away, and she entered the design lab where armour and bodysuits suitable for the Team project were on dummies and waiting for completion.

  Lore shook her head and heard Taxo fill in, “Mom hates unfinished work. If they need it, make it.”

  She looked over at her little boy and smiled. “Don’t get into trouble, and if you end up in trouble, take to the skies.”