Revelation Chapter 1

“How much further?” I ask Levi as I hop over a murky puddle. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to wear work boots for this task. The typically arid ground had been soaked the night before by a torrential downpour. Despite my heroic efforts to avoid the puddle, my heel still clips it. Muddy water splashes up across the back of my boot. I grimace. My black dress shoes would have been ruined out here.

That Levi felt the need to show me what he discovered on what should have been a simple mission to probe for resources beyond our city borders fills me with hope. The future of our city depends on his success. We are in serious trouble without fresh resources.

I pause a moment to examine the leg of my jeans. Only a few droplets of mud cling to the hem.

Levi raises his arm and waves at the air. “We’re here, Ugene.”

A frown creases my face as my gaze sweeps the flat horizon. My heart sinks. There’s nothing out here. No resources. Nothing of use at all. My bubble of hope pops as my stomach sinks like lead.

As far as I can see, it’s all more of the same. Normally scorched ground soaked with miniature streams as the water absorbs into the parched earth. A few barren trees here and there speckle the landscape. By mid-day, all this water will make its way into the soil.

I turn, glancing past the solar truck toward Elpis miles in the distance. Finally, I shake my head and watch as Levi’s men set up tracking lasers and a mini-projectile cannon close to where we stand. What are they doing?

Levi became a good friend over the years, and head of the armed forces. He was part of the same Directorate program that had resurrected and brainwashed Bianca—my childhood best friend—seventeen years ago. That ordeal had created a bond between Levi and Bianca that had blossomed into a rather unique relationship. A real power couple—if the Power is their super abilities. Levi’s dark hair is now peppered with early gray. He’s taller than me, but by no means tall. The build of his muscles reveals years of weightlifting, probably trying to keep up with Bianca. Not that anyone can.

“How far are we from the city?” I ask.

I shield my eyes as the sun breaks out from behind clouds. If I squint, I can just see the skyscrapers in the distance.

“About forty miles,” Levi replies.

“Show me what we are here for, Levi,” I say. “You made this out to be a big deal.”

“It is a big deal.”

“But I see nothing.” I motion toward the vacant distance.

Levi nods as he picks up a stick. His expression is a mixture of apprehension and excitement. “You wanted my teams to look for ways to expand for critical resources, but we encountered a problem as we moved past previous paths of scavenging. There’s a barrier here.”

“What? Where?” I step forward.

“Sir, you should be careful,” a soldier says, placing a hand against my chest to stop my advance.

I frown but pause. A barrier puts our expansion goals in danger. And, by extension, all of Elpis. Without the ability to expand, we will have to implement birthing limits, something I desperately want to avoid. No one will see me as the city hero anymore if I tell them they can only have two kids per household.

Levi turns and throws the stick into the space before him. I watch it tumble end over end for about five feet before fizzling to dust that floats to the ground.

Despite all my efforts to remain collected, I cannot help but gape. Curiosity gets the better of me—as it often does—and I edge cautiously closer. But I can see nothing there. Yet there must be. Blazing inquisitiveness burns inside me. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t stop myself from reaching out. Amazingly, my hand remains steady despite my insides feeling like Jell-O.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Levi says. “We don’t know what will happen if someone touches it yet, but it’s not worth the risk.”

If we can’t touch it, that means we also can’t pass through it. My curiosity turns to a sickening, cold lump in my gut. Elpis has been doing well since the new government was established, but some of our resources grow dangerously low. If we can’t go out to find more, we are in danger of crop failure—even with our Powers.

“How far does it go?” I ask, my gaze flitting around us, seeking any clues but seeing nothing. Just parched ground soaking up water with greed.

Levi shrugs. “We haven’t tested the scale of it yet. That’s why we brought some of this equipment. But it goes on for a mile in either direction, at least. The equipment is designed to help us map out the borders of the barrier.”

I want to touch it, to feel the power. It must be created by Powers. A thousand questions tumble through my head, a cacophony of noise. “What is it made from?”

“That’s why we brought you out here. You’re the brains.”

I heave a sigh and drop my hands to my sides. They know nothing? “You don’t know what it’s made of?”

Levi shakes his head.

“Or how to get through it?”

Another shake of the head.

“Something must power it,” I say. “How long has it been here? Where is the power source? How big is it? How do we take it down?” I know Levi doesn’t have any answers, but I can’t contain my curiosity or fear. The questions spill from me like the deluge of rain had spilled from the sky last night.

For nearly seventeen years, I have helped form this government and learned all I could from the Directorate’s days. But this barrier was a mystery. I cannot remember anything about it in any of the documents I read.

As Levi and his men set to work launching projectiles at the invisible barrier, mapping the limits of it, I create a list of mental notes.

The barrier had to be created with Powers. But how long ago had it been put up? What Powers were used? I quickly rule out Somatic. Nothing in Somatic Powers—which involve physical abilities such as Strength or Enhanced Hearing—could ever create something like this barrier.

Divinic Healing could have been involved, but Divinics alone could not create such a barrier. Their Powers focused on more divine strengths—seeing the past or predicting the future, reading the stars, Healing Hands, that sort of thing. I had only ever met one Divinic who had harnessed almost God-like Power, and she had died in the escape from Paragon Tower seventeen years ago. I wince at the memory. I still miss Celeste.

Psionics couldn’t have created the barrier. Their Powers focus more on the mind—telepathy, telekinesis, psychometry. Though if no one had ever come across this barrier before, I wonder if Psionics played some part in protecting whatever powered and created this. While they could not build the barrier itself, the right Psionic Power could protect it. Psychic Imprinting, maybe. But on an entire population for…well, who knew for how long? I shake my head. It seemed impossible.

The most likely creators would be Naturalists. Natural or electromagnetic manipulation might do the trick. Naturalists can easily manipulate organic matter to create amazing things. Most of Elpis runs on Naturalist scientific creations, including our solar, wind, and dam power.

“But who created it, and how long ago?” I mutter to myself.

A burst of projectiles launches from the weapons higher up the barrier only to disintegrate upon contact twenty feet in the air. I watch, wondering if those projectiles fuel the power of the barrier somehow. Did we have another weapon that might affect the stability of the barrier?

“How is it still here?” I ask myself.

As far as I know, a person must hold on to his or her Power to hold on to Electromancy—electronic manipulation. Does someone want to keep something out of Elpis?

Or does someone not want us going out? I always wondered if we were all that remained in the world. It seems unreasonable to believe that Elpis is all that remains of humanity in our broken world. What if we didn’t create this barrier? “What if there is someone out there trying to keep us here?”

The projectile cannon powers down. Levi’s soldiers move it further north to continue their task.

Holding on to enough Power to keep this wall up for so long could kill even the most powerful Naturalists. A group of them working together could not keep a barrier like this operational for so long. I will have to ask Miller about his limits.

Miller is one of my oldest friends, and a skilled Electromancer. We found ourselves in the same boat during our time at Paragon. He looked out for me. I helped him escape. If anyone knows about Electromancy limits, it’s him.

“You aren’t asking the right question, Ugene,” Levi says as he joins.

I jumped, startled from my thoughts. Was I muttering aloud? “What is the right question?”

“Why was it created in the first place?”

I opened my mouth to respond but worry about responding with what my gut tells me could be possible. Someone could be keeping us in.

Over the last seventeen years, I had reviewed all the government documents about the founding of Elpis that had survived the Protectorate’s attack on the old Administration Building. I absorbed everything that remained to be known about the founding of the city and the Directorate. Granted, most of the historical records had been destroyed in the attack. But enough had survived to reinforce what we were taught in school.

The war between Powered and non-Powered humans had created a global cataclysmic chain reaction in active nuclear facilities that resulted in the extinction of non-Powered humans. As far as anyone knew, only the citizens of Elpis remained. The founders had created a haven where survivors could come together for the greater good using their Powers to build and maintain the city of Elpis. Eventually, no more survivors came.

It always saddens me to think that such a vast world could be so crippled by the fallout that Elpis is all that remains. It seemed like a tremendous waste of space. And how do we know we are alone? Because we were told as much but the Directorate? Its governance had been rife with secrets.

But if we are alone in the world, Levi’s question is even more unnerving.

“I need a full report on the size of the barrier, along with a detailed holomap,” I tell Levi, turning back to the truck.

He escorts me to the cab door. “We know it’s tall. At least fifty feet high. But there doesn’t seem to be an end. I will try to tackle this as quickly as possible and let you know what I find.” He scrubs his hand over his neck and roll his head. “Let Bianca know I will be late. She said something about helping Paige with an assignment, so I expect she’s probably going to be at your place.”

I nodded and slid into the driver’s seat. Bianca has been close to my daughter, Paige, for a few years now. I’m not surprised that’s where Bianca is. “I’ll send the truck back with reinforcements. Maybe a few more men and women will help get the job done quicker.”

Levi pats the doorframe and salutes farewell before stepping out of the way.

And I begin the drive back to Elpis.