When at last he was on the thing’s stomach, the Bazer made one last, mighty shake, as if he knew what was coming, and the rock began to break. Benny stumbled forward, falling, but he kept his grip on the thorn in his silver-gloved hand. As he toppled forward, the thorn pierced the flesh on the Bazer’s belly, just barely.
Benny slid down the crumbling rock, stumbling on the ground, and made it several yards away from the Bazer before he hit his knees, exhausted, lungs burning. He scrambled to turn around.
The second Bazer was crumpled like a dead bug on the ground of the courtyard. Sleeping.
Shouts and laughter filled his helmet as he caught his breath and Drue helped him to his feet. Trevone and Hot Dog’s Space Runners circled above him. In the distance, Kira was landing beside Ricardo. Elijah looked down at them from the tower window, his head against the glass.
Benny watched a handful of Alpha Maraudi ships fly back to the hangar, and then looked toward the bridge of the alien mother ship. The exterior rock had turned clear. He could just make out the silhouettes of a short, four-tentacled alien. Beside Zee, a tall, slender Alpha Maraudi stood, her tentacles piled high on her head, like an intricate, slithering crown.
Commander Vala.
10.
“He has gone mad,” Vala said, reclining in her egg-like throne, “to send Bazers here. He is desperate.”
“That makes him dangerous,” Elijah said, leaning against his desk.
“Uh, yeah,” Hot Dog interjected. “We knew that. How many times has he almost killed all of us?”
Benny, Hot Dog, Drue, and Elijah stood in Elijah’s quarters, staring at Commander Vala. Even though she was only a hologram, Benny could tell how drained she looked, her skin grayer than normal, the movement of the tentacles that crowned her head sluggish. Zee stood to one side of the commander, not taking his eyes off her. Elsewhere on her bridge, somewhere out of sight, Trevone had joined Ramona and was attempting to track where Tull’s transmission had come from.
Back in Elijah’s office, everyone else involved with taking the Bazers down stood around the hologram feed on the desk, except for Ricardo, who sat in a chair, his leg propped up on a side table. He’d hurt it when he crashed the weaponized Space Runner coated in Bazer spit, and limped partway back to the Taj before Kira was able to pick him up. She had helped him climb the stairs as he hopped on one foot, despite everyone else’s protests.
“What do we do with the creatures?” Benny asked, his eyes flitting to the side table where the two thorns sat, wrapped in the alien cloth. “They’ll wake up eventually.”
“For now, I’ll have some of my top soldiers build cages of stone strong enough to contain the beasts,” the commander said. “When this is all done with . . . we will figure out a permanent home for the Bazers.”
“I can suggest a few especially deep craters and mares to stash them in,” Elijah said. “We’ll set up cameras, too, for added security. They’ll be out of sight that way. The last thing I want is for one of the EW-SCABers to be looking out a window and see these things sleeping in the Sea of Tranquility.”
“Uh, I don’t want to see them in the Sea of Tranquility,” Drue said. “Or ever again. I thought space Medusas—no offense, Commander—were going to be the scariest thing I had to see up close. Not actual, legit monsters.”
“Speaking of your crew,” Benny said, unsure of how to bring up the subject. “When we were talking to Tull, he said that they should have the chance to leave if they want to. After what they’ve been through, if they need help or to take some of our Space Runners or something . . .”
“Benny,” Drue whispered, “let’s keep our cars out of this.”
Elijah crossed his arms, but he didn’t say anything.
“I have given my soldiers the option to leave, as I did those who were on my ship when you first boarded it,” Vala said.
“And?” Ricardo asked from the side of the room.
“And they have chosen to stay. I am indebted to them for the rest of my life for being so brave and understanding.”
Benny nodded. That was good—whatever the future had in store for them, they’d need all the help they could get. And, honestly, the last thing he wanted to do was deal with the sleeping Bazers. Now that they were out of the picture for the moment, all he could think of were Tull’s threats and the hatred that had felt so palpable coming from the commander when he’d spoken to them, even through the hologram feed.
“I never got the chance to thank you, Benny,” Vala continued. “For your assistance on the dark side.”
“Oh,” Benny said. “Yeah, of course. I should be thanking you. It’s good to see you awake.”
Vala nodded a bit. “It is good to be awake. Normally growing such an amount of rock—drilling it down through the surface of a world or moon—would take many more people. The fact that we were able to do it in the first place speaks highly of your will.”
Benny shifted on his feet, unsure of what to say. Drue elbowed him. “I’m still waiting for a chance to use that glove,” he whispered.
Trevone walked into the frame. “Uh, guys. I’ve got a bit of an update.”
“Lay it on us,” Hot Dog said.
He tapped on a HoloTek; and on the desk in front of Benny and the others, a star map of the Milky Way galaxy appeared beside the other hologram. A large sphere of light blinked inside it. The Moon was in the center, and the flashing edges reached all the way to Saturn.
“Based on the range of the mother ships’ communications systems, Tull has to be located somewhere within this sphere,” Trevone said.
“That’s a stupid amount of space to have to deal with,” Kira said.
Trevone nodded. “Agreed. Though, based on the flight path of those Bazer darts, Ramona and I are theorizing that this is the quadrant he’s most likely hiding in.”
Three-fourths of the sphere disappeared.
Elijah grimaced. “This includes several planets and an asteroid belt. Not to mention a whole host of moons he could be latched onto.”
“Great,” Benny said. “So, in terms that we can understand, how easy would it be to track him down?”
“Think of it as trying to find a single grain of sand on Earth,” Trevone said. “The good news is, you know it’s somewhere on, say, the northwestern hemisphere.”
“The bad news is that in this scenario it could be miles below ground,” Elijah said. “Not just on the surface.”
“Got it,” Benny said.
“So I take it we’re not going to go looking for his ship and just happen to stumble on him and stop all the asteroid building or anything like that,” Hot Dog said.
“You could have just said it was bad,” Drue chimed in.
“We’re trying to find a silver lining here,” Trevone said. “Any information is useful information. That’s all we have for now, though.”
“If you don’t mind,” Vala said, “I’d like to reconvene later. My strength is still recovering.”
“Oh!” Zee said. “Let me go grab you some stuff I took from the Taj. You’ve got to try these candy bar things.” And then he zipped offscreen.
“We’ll let you know as soon as there are any updates,” Benny said.
With that, the hologram blinked away.
“Pinky,” Elijah said, and the AI materialized in front of him. “How are the EW-SCABers?”
“A bit shaken from the alarms,” she said. “But I dimmed the windows to the courtyard, so they didn’t actually see what happened.” She looked down at her nails, polishing one of their tips with a thumb. “You’ll likely have to explain that at some point.”
“Pinky . . .” Elijah said, raising one eyebrow.
“Oh, no,” Kira said.
“What?” Benny asked, glancing around at the others. “What’s going on? Why does it sound like something’s wrong?”
“It’s the look on her face,” Ricardo said, massaging his knee. “There’s something she doesn’t want to tell him.”
“We’v
e seen it before,” Kira agreed.
“You’re both traitors.” The hologram pouted. Then she turned her attention to Elijah. “Taj Me made a new friend while I was out gallivanting across the solar system, and since we’re synced up again, I felt compelled to tell said acquaintance what was going on. Let’s just say that she is . . . less than thrilled.”
“Dr. Parsi?” Benny asked.
“Mahsa,” Hot Dog said.
“Who?” Elijah asked.
But before either of them could answer, the door to Elijah’s quarters swung open, and Dr. Parsi marched into the room, her keen eyes sweeping over it, taking in the scene in an instant. Her gaze paused on Ricardo before she scowled.
“You,” she said, glaring at Elijah as she crossed the room to the leader of the Pit Crew. “I’ve catalogued every scratch and bruise from the EW-SCABers who’ve returned, from jammed fingers and light head injuries to sprained ankles and bruised ribs, and that’s only covering the physical concerns. Now you have them going up against giant monsters?”
“Mahsa, was it?” Elijah asked. “I assure you those animals outside are—”
“You will call me Dr. Parsi.” She pulled what looked like a small HoloTek out of her white coat pocket as she knelt on the ground in front of Ricardo’s leg. “I know what’s going on. The artificial intelligence keeps me updated because no one else would bother if she didn’t. Honestly, I think she’s the only reason this place even still stands after all these years, because she’s the only adult who makes any sense around here between you and the senator and that waste of talent Dr. Bale.” She tapped on the HoloTek and held it over Ricardo’s shin. “On a pain level of one to ten, where are you at right now.”
“A two,” Ricardo said, but he winced as she prodded his leg.
Mahsa laughed once through her nose, eyes narrowing at the screen. “No need to act tough for me. Save that performance for someone who can’t see that you have a fractured tibia. You hear that, Mr. West? His left leg is fractured. How did he even get up the stairs? I’m surprised the bone didn’t split completely. Is that what you would have liked to see?” She pocketed her HoloTek. “I’ll have someone bring you cryocompression packs and a hydraulic brace. Something for the pain, too. But for now, keep off it. You’re the soccer player, right? Stay benched for a few days.”
“Thanks,” Ricardo said. “I’ll try.”
“She’s the best,” Benny heard Pinky whisper through Hot Dog’s collar, just barely.
“Right?” Hot Dog answered.
Mahsa stood, whipping around to face Elijah. “Do you have any idea how bad this could have been? For all of them? And that’s just the most recent of the many catastrophes they’ve been through.” She pointed a finger at his chest, stepping closer. “Because of you. Never forget that, Elijah West. No matter what happens, you remember what you’ve done here. And if by the grace of some miracle we end up surviving as a species, you make sure that you do better.”
Elijah looked genuinely taken aback, gawking at the doctor—Benny guessed it had been a long time since another adult had spoken to him in such a way, Pinky notwithstanding. Slowly, his expression changed as her words seemed to sink in, his brow furrowing and his mouth closing tightly until his lips almost disappeared completely.
“I’m more concerned about what you plan to do now,” Mahsa said. “How do you plan to keep these children out of danger?”
And then she waited, completely still, unblinking as she stared at Elijah.
Benny stepped forward. “We’ve got people in the labs—”
“No,” she said, raising one finger to Benny but never taking her eyes off Elijah. “I want to hear it from him.”
“I’m going to keep these children safe,” he said very slowly, as if to make sure she heard every word.
“That’s not an actual plan, but it’s a start,” the doctor said. “Trust me when I say that if I see a single new scratch on one of your scholarship winners, I’ll be up here again.” And with that, her posture eased. “I hear you’d like to speak to the senator about communications. Just tell Pinky when you’d like to visit. I’ll make sure he’s awake and lucid.”
With that, she turned on her heel, lab coat twirling with her, and stomped out the door.
The room was quiet for a few seconds after she left. Kira was the first one to speak.
“Cryocompression packs,” she murmured as she left the room.
Elijah turned to Ricardo. “I’m . . . I’m so sorry,” he said. “This never should have happened to you.”
Elijah looked at Pinky. There was something in his eyes Benny couldn’t quite place—all he knew for sure was that the Elijah that was standing before him now was far different from the one he’d seen smirking in interviews and smiling back from holographic billboards on Earth. Still, he got the feeling that something had shifted in the room after Dr. Parsi’s visit, and he wasn’t sure if it was good or not.
“She’s right,” Elijah finally said.
Pinky just nodded.
Slowly, Elijah turned to the rest of them. “Whatever happens from now on,” he said, “if there is any danger involved, it will be me who faces it, not any of you.”
“What?” Drue asked.
“You mean, we’ll back you up,” Hot Dog said.
“Like always,” Ricardo agreed.
Elijah didn’t answer, and the quiet settled on the room again as Benny tried to understand what he meant by this.
Before he could decode anything, though, Pinky perked up.
“It’s the lab,” she said, pointing the Elijah’s desk.
A hologram appeared above it—a video feed from Jasmine’s HoloTek.
“Guys!” Jasmine shouted, her eyes filled with a kind of intensity that Benny had never seen from her before. “Get down here.”
“What is it?” Hot Dog asked.
But all Jasmine did was grin.
In the background, on a workshop table, Benny could just make out a perfect cube of alien rock. It glowed—not with the veins of light he’d come to recognize in Vala’s ship and Tull’s asteroids, but from the center, like a fire was burning in its core. The air around it was hazy, shimmering.
“Holy whoa,” Benny murmured. “Is that . . .”
He finished the question in his head, as if speaking it aloud would get him the wrong answer.
A battery?
11.
No stairs had ever taken Benny longer to descend in his entire life.
As soon as the understanding of what might be happening set in, everyone started for the door. Even Ricardo had stood on one leg, grimacing. When he grunted in pain, Elijah stopped, demanding that he sit back down and throw his leg back up on the table, promising that they’d keep Jasmine’s HoloTek feed open for him and that Kira would be back soon with items that would ease the pain and allow him to move around more freely. By that time, Benny was halfway into the stairwell, the rest following him, buzzing with questions. If their heads were anything like his, they were a mess of hope and worry, cautiously clinging to the idea that this could be what they’d been waiting for since they’d first learned what was happening to Calam: that whatever Jasmine and Pito had come up with would solve all their problems.
Crossing the lobby to the stairwell that led downstairs was the worst part, the low gravity slowing Benny’s sprint in the most maddening way. But then they were descending again, down another set of stairs where Benny and the others had fought Vala’s invasion troops face-to-face days before. Until, finally, they were cramming through the door of the research lab in such a frantic group that Pito and Jasmine both jumped at the sight of them.
“Jazz!” Benny yelped as he skidded to a stop, bracing himself against a workbench. But his eyes were on the glowing alien rock on the circular desk in the center of the room. The cube pulsed with warm light.
“Tell us it’s good news,” Hot Dog said. Then she took a deep breath and held it.
The smile that spread across Jasmine’s face had
a radiance of its own, and Benny was sure that if it had been possible, it would have caused them to shield their eyes. “It’s good news,” she said.
“How good are we talking?” Drue asked, his voice pitched higher than usual.
“Tell us you created a secret weapon,” Hot Dog said. “Or, you know, the complete opposite of a weapon.”
Elijah was the last in, and he came to an abrupt stop as the door slid shut behind him, his eyes resting on the same thing everyone else was staring at.
“This,” Jasmine said, two open palms in front of her, “is the first Alpha Maraudi mineral containing a form of distilled electromagnetic energy that’s ever been created. As far as either Pito or I know, that is.”
“A battery?” Benny asked.
“A battery,” Pito said.
And with that, Benny felt dizzy.
“I can get more technical if you like,” Jasmine offered.
But before she could start going into any of the specific science behind what she and Pito had invented, Hot Dog was across the room in a flash, half knocking her over in a hug.
“I knew you could do it!” Hot Dog said. “Even though I didn’t really know what it was, if I’m being honest.”
Drue’s eyes were practically filled with exclamation points. Benny’s cheeks suddenly felt sore, and he realized it was because he was grinning.
“I’d like to know the technical aspects,” Elijah said, his voice breathy with bewilderment as he crossed to the desk. “I didn’t even have a chance to help.”
“You did,” Pito said, his tentacle gesturing around them. “The resources in the laboratory are, in many ways, unfathomable. We never would have been able to do this without them.” He paused. “Well, certainly not this quickly, at least.”
“We have the best Earth has to offer up here,” Elijah whispered as he tapped on the desk, statistics and formulas filling the air in front of him, the alien battery glowing in the background.
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