Rebel Heart by Christine Young Page A

night. His head still pounded from the hum of the land glider and the sleepless nights he'd endured while deciding his course of action. Tonight, despite the lure of Zaria's famous skills, he wanted to sleep alone.

 
    He kissed the heart of her palm. "No, not tonight, sweet one. Something must be wrong. I might be very late."

 
    She walked with him along the narrow winding trail down to the valley where the revelers danced and sang. He kissed her lightly on the cheek before sending her back to her friends. Striding past the bonfires, he looked up at the black velvet sky just in time to see a shooting star. It fell toward the west, toward the Pacific Ocean...and Tower City.

 
    "A prophecy, Savage," came an old wizened voice.

 
    Cameron spun around, startled. His senses always sharp, he could hear the lightest footfall.

 
    But he had not heard Aisling come upon him this night.

 
    Unlike Zaria, Aisling had never worked in the labs. She was old, older than the hills themselves, ageless, and she rarely left the security of her own lands.

 
    She was an outlandish woman, a very puzzling one, Cameron was certain, but her white skin was not nearly as creased as it should have been, nor was she stooped or slow in any way. Not a hint of color tinged her long white hair foretelling her vast age, but it was more than the pure white color that proclaimed her old. It was the cryptic sense of the past and intelligence born from difficult trials that could only come from the passage of time that surrounded her. Her presence awed the people of the village.

 
    "What brings you out, old woman," Cameron replied with a teasing note to his voice yet determined not to be drawn into the old lady's powerful aura.

 
    "It's a mysterious night in the mountains," Aisling replied. She gazed pointedly in the direction the star had traveled. "I think your destiny is beyond. You do not belong here."

 
    "Really?"

 
    "I speak the truth. You will not be staying long, Cameron Savage."

 
    "You are mistaken, Aisling. I will stay here until I have what I came for. The cure must be found.

 
    "The vaccine will be discovered. But you will not find the answers here."

 
    Cameron wanted to dispute her statements. Instead, he felt a strong and cutting sensation of apprehension. "Oh, and where will I find the answers?" Cameron silently cursed his own lack of control. Why was he playing this game?

 
    Because he'd known of this old woman for years, learned of her predictions at his mother's knee. The entire valley spoke of the curious web of enchantment that surrounded her and the truths she spoke of before they occurred. The woman was a witch. She was enamored of the old faiths. She had at her disposal a wealth of medicinal herbs and an assortment of remedies that would astound the federation of City physicians. She knew the folk remedies just as well as she knew the modern practices, and her talent with the surgical knife was remarkable. Cameron had heard tales of her healing prowess since he was a small lad. Yet she wasn't one of the learned, one of the healers.

 
    Aisling grinned knowingly then winked. "I will set you on the right path."

 
    Cameron sighed. "And just how will you do that?"

 
    "Musty books, archaic computer discs, the old ways where the scientific method was revered and all research was shared."

 
    "Then I'm in the right place. I have all that at my disposal."

 
    "Not any more."

 
    Cameron couldn't believe what she was saying, what he was hearing. Not here. Where the hell were they? He had come all this way with the sole intention of utilizing her knowledge and the endless libraries available in the mountains. Although the medical community scorned folklore, branding it as undependable, he knew better, and after finally convincing his superiors, he was allowed access to their knowledge. The mountain people had saved everything they could, transferring information to flash drives when the manuscripts began to fall