Return to Zero

by Pittacus Lore

  Daniela actually heard her ribs crack. She managed only a whistling scream and hit the ground, bouncing off the tiles from the force of the blow.

  Melanie stood over her, fist cocked back, ready to punch Daniela again. The photogenic face of Earth Garde looked grim, her blond hair tied back in an all-business ponytail.

  Of course. She would be a sellout.

  “Stay down, Daniela,” Melanie said. She tried to sound hard, but Daniela saw through that—she knew how easily the girl scared. “I’ll hit you again if you make me.”

  Daniela couldn’t have stood up if she wanted to. She couldn’t even focus enough to encase Melanie’s stupid head in a block of stone. She couldn’t breathe.

  “Wow, you really messed her up,” said an Asian girl as she sidled up next to Melanie. She looked like she’d just stepped off a runway, her black hair in a bun, her slim frame clad in a metallic sleeveless dress.

  Melanie looked down at her fist. “He told me to hit her if she came out unescorted.”

  The unfamiliar girl crouched next to Daniela and laid a hand gently on her breastbone. She felt the familiar sensation of a healing Legacy, the probing tendrils of restorative energy—but not enough. This girl wasn’t actually helping her; she was just assessing the damage. Daniela still couldn’t get in even a whisper of breath. She arched her back painfully, trying to find an angle that would relieve the pressure.

  “You punctured her lung,” the healer said, clucking her tongue. “My goodness, you Earth Garde people are all so barbaric.”

  “Just heal her, would you, Jiao?” Melanie said, looking away from Daniela’s pleading eyes.

  “Not until she’s sedated,” Jiao replied. She stroked Daniela’s cheek with the back of her hand. “Nothing personal, darling. We’ll all be on the same side soon enough.”

  Just then, Greger stumbled out of the conference room. He held a handkerchief to his bloody nose. Daniela would’ve taken more pride in that if she wasn’t slowly suffocating.

  “Well done, girls,” he said nasally as he produced a syringe from inside his jacket pocket. “Well done.”

  Daniela closed her eyes. There was no way she was getting out of this.

  Her last thought, as she felt the pinprick in the side of her neck and the darkness closed in, was that she should’ve gone with Caleb and the others.

  Two weeks ago she’d been in Switzerland.

  Two weeks ago she could’ve escaped.

  CHAPTER TWO

  TAYLOR COOK

  THE HUMAN GARDE ACADEMY—POINT REYES, CALIFORNIA

  TWO WEEKS EARLIER

  “HEY, TAYLOR, RIGHT? YOU ALL GOOD?”

  Taylor blinked and turned away from her window. From across the spacecraft’s aisle, that Earth Garde girl who’d shown up with Caleb was giving her a concerned look. Taylor thought her name was Daniela.

  “What?” Taylor asked tiredly. The corners of her eyes stung, her cheeks were still hot with windburn.

  “I asked if you’re okay,” Daniela said. “You were grinding your teeth.”

  Taylor touched her mouth. “Was I?” Was she? Jesus. She made a conscious effort to unclench her jaw. “Been a long few . . .” Days? Weeks? “I’m tired as hell,” Taylor concluded. “And too pissed off to sleep.”

  “That was some crazy shit,” Daniela said, laughing incredulously. “Most bananas situation I’ve been in since the invasion.”

  “Yeah,” Taylor replied. “Sure was bananas.”

  Professor Nine came down the aisle from the cockpit, looking grim. He nodded at Taylor before addressing Daniela.

  “Earth Garde’s already up my ass,” he said. “They’ve got transportation for you and Melanie waiting at the Academy. They want you back in Washington . . .”

  Taylor tuned them out, returning to her window as Lexa’s spacecraft descended. When the Academy came into view, Taylor could see Maiken Megalos doing hyperspeed laps around the track. Maiken stopped her run, staring up at the ship as it swooped in overhead. Then, she darted towards the student union. Maiken was well known as a busybody. She’d want to be the one to break the news that Professor Nine and some of his wayward charges had returned to campus. She’d tell everyone.

  Which meant Taylor didn’t have long to catch Miki, if the guy was even still on campus. It turned out the tweeb was actually hiding a Legacy that let him transform into wind and was also spying for the Foundation. He’d helped sneak Taylor off campus once she’d convinced the Foundation she was on their side. She badly wanted to bust him.

  She could at least do that. One small victory after so much failure.

  The engines on Lexa’s spacecraft weren’t even cool, the exit ramp barely in the dirt, when Taylor made a wordless beeline off the ship and headed for the student union. Most of the others were too tired to notice. Nine had a small group of Peacekeepers to deal with, and Daniela and a still-sniffling Melanie were with him, probably arranging their return to Earth Garde. Nigel had his mother, Bea, to worry about—the black tendrils curling under her skin looked a lot like what Taylor had seen on the Blackstone soldiers back in Siberia. The woman wasn’t well, but Taylor wasn’t in the mood to offer her healing. And then there was that spy lady, Agent Walker, the one responsible for “handling” Kopano and Ran for that shady Watchtower group operating within Earth Garde. Walker was focused on looking after Rabiya, the Foundation teleporter that was allegedly now on their side, their new recruit looking around the Academy with shining eyes like she was stoked to be here.

  That left no one to follow Taylor.

  Well, no one except for Kopano.

  “I know that walk,” Kopano said, his longer legs matching her stride for stride. “We are about to do something badass.”

  Taylor glanced over at him, too drained for jokes. Frankly, she didn’t understand how he could be so upbeat after getting kidnapped, having a chip installed in his head and then fighting a massive battle against a genuine Loric. But Kopano was going to Kopano.

  “Got to get Miki,” Taylor said, her voice scratchy.

  “Yeah, we talked about him on the flight back,” Kopano replied.

  “I know.”

  “And we decided not to do anything rash.”

  Taylor picked up speed. “Who decided? Not me.”

  All the voices in the student union abruptly fell silent when Taylor shoved the double doors open with her telekinesis. There was Maiken, front and center, probably having just finished telling everyone about how she’d seen Lexa’s ship land. The girl edged away from Taylor with a nervous look.

  Taylor couldn’t blame them for staring. Her face was windburned, her hair greasy and matted. She wore a heavy-duty black snowsuit, totally inappropriate for California, looking like she’d just gotten back from climbing the Himalayas or, more accurately, like she’d fallen off a mountain. The suit was ripped in patches and smeared with mud and blood, mostly not her own.

  Taylor scanned the room. Maiken, Nicolas Lambert, Omar Azoulay, Simon Clement, a girl with aquamarine hair whose name Taylor didn’t know, about forty others.

  Where was he?

  Simon, the French boy with the Legacy of knowledge transference, finally broke the silence. “Mon Dieu. Taylor, what happened to you?”

  She said nothing. Her eyes bounced from table to table.

  “Holy shit, Kopano,” Nicolas exclaimed. “They let you out of prison?”

  Kopano had followed Taylor inside, slightly out of breath from trying to keep pace with her. He wore a dress shirt and slacks, not a winter getup like Taylor, but his clothes were similarly ripped and bloody. Unlike Taylor, he immediately processed the fact that they were making a scene.

  “Hi, guys,” he said sheepishly. “I’m back. And, um, I wasn’t in prison. It’s a long story.”

  “I think I speak for everyone when I say we’d love to hear your story,” Maiken said to Kopano, still side-eyeing Taylor.

  There.

  At the back. A table of tweebs.

  “Well—,” Kopano
started to say.

  “You,” Taylor said, and she pointed right at Miki.

  That took everyone by surprise, except maybe him. The tweebs sitting with Miki all turned to look at him, but soon they were yelling and shooting to their feet as Taylor telekinetically swiped their table out of the way. Taylor strode into their midst, ignoring questions and complaints, until she loomed over Miki. He didn’t even stand up.

  “I’m not going to fight you,” Miki told her. Everyone around them exchanged looks—like, what would Taylor want to fight Miki for?

  “Good,” Taylor said. “If you’re thinking of running, don’t bother. All we did on the ride home was think about ways to stop you.”

  Miki squinted at her, then cracked an uncertain smile. “I think you’re bluffing. But I’m not going to run either.”

  “It wouldn’t be running, really,” Kopano said, relief in his voice. “Breezing. That’s a more accurate term.”

  “Breezing,” Miki said. “I like it. I won’t do that either.”

  “Who cares what we call it?” Taylor snapped. “You’ll come peacefully then?”

  “Sure,” Miki replied. “Where are we going?”

  “Professor Nine wants to see you.”

  Behind them, Nicolas let out an exaggerated ooohh that failed to lighten the moment. Taylor grabbed the smaller boy by his upper arm and marched him right out of the student union without another word.

  Kopano rubbed his hands together.

  “So,” he said. “What’s for lunch?”

  Outside, Miki wiggled his arm in Taylor’s grip.

  “You don’t have to drag me all the way there,” he said as Taylor pulled him across the lawn, towards the administration building. When she didn’t respond, he added, “You’re hurting me.”

  Taylor glanced down at Miki. His eyes were wet and earnest. She hadn’t even realized how tightly she’d been squeezing his narrow bicep. Her mind was singularly focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She was operating on no sleep. It was hard to calculate on account of the time zones, but she was pretty sure she was fighting Mogadorians in Siberia just a couple of days ago. From Siberia to Switzerland. Always in danger. From Switzerland back here. She’d traveled halfway around the world, catching fitful naps on private jets or Loric spacecraft.

  What had all that stress accomplished? She had three less friends, for starters. Her big infiltration plan had taken one Foundation member into custody—one—and she was Nigel’s mother, at that. Not to mention, it almost seemed like the woman wanted to be captured.

  And now, she had Miki. No more moles burrowed into the Academy. So that was something. A small victory.

  But what good were those?

  The more Taylor saw of the world outside of South Dakota, the less it made sense. Everything was a mess, and the corrupt people at the top just kept getting away with their shady plans, driving good people like her —like Isabela and Caleb and Ran—further and further towards the edge. How far would she have to go to win against an organization like the Foundation that completely lacked morals and boundaries? What would “winning” even look like?

  “Ow,” Miki said. “Taylor. Come on.”

  Taylor realized that she’d been digging her nails into his skin. She let him go.

  “Sorry,” Taylor mumbled.

  “It’s okay,” Miki said, rubbing his arm. “So what happened? Did you get them?”

  Taylor glared at Miki again. She knew that he could escape if he wanted. She had been bluffing before about having a plan to stop him from using his Legacy. The best they’d been able to brainstorm was arming themselves with some high-powered vacuums. If Miki wanted to fly out of here, she couldn’t stop him.

  But he looked relieved to be caught.

  “We got . . .” Taylor rubbed a hand over her face. “We got one of them. A leader, I think. But I’m not sure it matters.”

  “Oh,” Miki said, crestfallen. “I was hoping you would tell me it was all over.”

  “Sorry, but remind me why you care, exactly?” Taylor replied. “Don’t you work for those jerks?”

  “Not willingly,” Miki said. “I could’ve told them about your plans. Your secret meetings with Professor Nine and the others. But I didn’t.”

  “Or maybe this is all just a cover to get you in tighter with us so you can do maximum damage.”

  Miki chuckled. “Seriously? That’s way paranoid, Taylor.”

  “You’d be paranoid too if you’d seen half the crap I have.”

  “I can’t blame you for not trusting me,” Miki said. “I wouldn’t trust me either. So if it makes you feel better, I’ll let you guys lock me up in the cells underneath administration. I won’t try to escape, even though we both know I could. I’ll sit down there until you’re ready to trust me.”

  As they closed in on the shiny glass façade of the administration building, Taylor slowed down a little bit.

  “How do you know there are cells under there?” Taylor asked.

  “I’m the wind. I’ve explored every inch of this place. Did you not know?”

  Taylor shook her head. “No.”

  “I assume that’s where Professor Nine is going to put me. They’ve already got Dr. Linda there and this mercenary bastard Alejandro.” Miki smiled. “I think Isabela kicked the shit out of him. That was cool of her. He was my Foundation contact. He really needed to catch a beating.”

  Just like on the night that he’d spirited her away from the Academy, Taylor was surprised by Miki’s candor. In spite of herself, she was starting to like him.

  “Why do you do it?” she asked. “Work for them, I mean.”

  Miki exhaled through his nose. “Have you ever heard of the Nome Nine?”

  “Is that like a tiny version of Professor Nine?”

  He snorted. “Not gnome with a g. Nome with an n. It’s where I’m from in Alaska.”

  “I’ve never been,” Taylor said.

  “Yeah. Not many people have. It’s protected land for indigenous people. A few years ago, one of the big gas companies found a rich oil vein in the ocean just outside the boundary of our waters. My parents were actually convinced that they fudged the report and that the oil was on our land, but the government didn’t listen or didn’t care. They let the company go ahead with building one of those big offshore rigs, even though they always spill and even though my people relied on those waters for . . . well, for everything.”

  Taylor nodded. “Okay? So did a spill happen?”

  “Thing never got the chance to spill because my parents and some of their friends blew it up. The press called them the Nome Nine.”

  “Oh,” Taylor replied. “That’s intense.”

  “They got arrested like a week before the Mogadorian warships showed up, so the story didn’t really make the news. I was in foster care when I developed my Legacies. And that’s where the Foundation found me.” Miki swiped his hand through the air at the memory, flattening the grass up ahead with a burst of telekinesis. “This lawyer showed up and said he could get my parents out of prison, even though they were basically terrorists. Not only that, he said that he could prevent the gas company from coming back and rebuilding their rig.”

  Taylor already knew how the story would end. “And all you had to do was work for them.”

  “Bingo,” Miki said. “I didn’t know what the Foundation was then. There was barely even an Earth Garde or an Academy. I didn’t care whose side I was on. I just wanted to help my parents and save our home.”

  Taylor plucked at a hole in her bulky snowsuit. She felt a little guilty for handling Miki so roughly.

  “I probably would’ve done the same thing,” she admitted.

  “Thing is, I’ve been thinking a lot about what my parents would have done in my position. Or what they would think if I told them about the deal I made.” Miki looked down at his sneakers. “I think they’d be pissed at me. So ashamed they’d probably insist on going back to prison. They’re that hard-core. I’m finally r
eady to do what my mom and dad would’ve encouraged me to do from the start. And that’s blow the whole thing up. Screw the Foundation. I’m done being their puppet.”

  Miki’s story was a lot to take in. Taylor had been around a lot of liars recently, but he seemed sincere.

  Moments later, they stood in front of the administration building. Professor Nine waited for them there, flexing the fingers on his cybernetic hand. He looked, as ever, like he wanted to punch something. He’d been wearing that sour expression ever since Switzerland and their run-in with his old friend Number Five. Taylor felt Miki shrink back from Nine’s look.

  “All right, you,” Nine said, waving his hand at Miki. “Let’s see it.”

  “See what?”

  “You know what.” Nine snapped his fingers. “I heard you’ve been holding out on us, wendigo.”

  “Oh, that.”

  With an uncertain glance in Taylor’s direction, Miki transformed himself. One moment he was standing next to Taylor, the next he was gone—except not entirely. If she squinted, Taylor could still make out Miki’s particles as they swirled through the air. He looked like a small cloud of dust. A breeze now, Miki floated through the air around Nine’s head, before reappearing on the other side of Taylor.

  “Cute,” Nine said, smoothing down his hair. “We could help you with that. Train you. Figure out what you’re capable of.”

  “I know,” Miki said. “I’d like that.”

  Nine clamped his robotic hand on Miki’s shoulder. “Let’s go inside.” He looked at Taylor. “Earth Garde wants to talk to you. They want to talk to all of us. I told them they can wait. You should get some rest.”

  “Not yet,” she said. “There’s some other people I need to talk to.”

  Nine squinted at her. “What? Who?”

  Taylor nodded back at the student union. “My people.”

  “Your people . . .” Nine raised an eyebrow at that. “I don’t know what you’ve got in mind. Maybe we should talk it out first. Or, at least, I could go with you . . .”

  “No offense,” Taylor replied, “but I think this is something we Human Garde have to hash out among ourselves.”