United

by Melissa Landers

  Just then Aelyx remembered something Alona had said weeks ago; that the Voyagers had already discovered the Aribols’ home galaxy but hadn’t begun exploring it yet. “Our Voyagers came too close for comfort…”

  “So the Aribol decided to clip our wings,” Cara finished. “That’s why they wanted the surrender of our interstellar travel technology.”

  “He should be careful.” Troy pointed his faux-wood knife handle at Jake. “No matter how many crew members the Aribol need to fly a Destroyer—”

  “Two Destroyers,” Cara interjected. “There’s one headed to L’eihr, too.”

  “—they wouldn’t leave their home base undefended.”

  “Something else to consider,” Syrine said. “The Aribol have powerful minds. Some say they can project what they want you to see. There’s a chance none of what you’re experiencing is real.”

  Aelyx hadn’t considered that. He hoped she was wrong.

  “We have mechanical probes scouring the planet,” Jake told them. “If anything’s alive out there, we’ll find it.”

  “Keep me posted,” Cara said. “And see if you can find a link to phosphorus. Jaxen’s been destroying fertilizer plants, but he wouldn’t say why. There has to be a reason.”

  “I’m on it.”

  The transmission ended, and Larish ran in through the back door, waving the cables in his hand. “They work! Both shuttles work!” He held the cords forward. “I removed these for now. We don’t want anyone stealing the last two operational vehicles on the planet.”

  Fresh resolve burned behind Aelyx’s ribs. “According to Jaxen, no weapon on Earth can penetrate the hull of an Aribol Destroyer.” He lifted one of the Nova Staff accessories to the flickering candlelight. “No weapon on Earth.”

  Troy smacked a palm on the table. “We need Jaxen’s staff.”

  “Before the Aribol retrieve him,” Cara muttered. She spun in her seat toward Rune, who’d been watching the exchange with the corners of her mouth sinking into her jowls. “I know you love Jaxen, and I won’t ask you to betray him. All we want is his staff. If I promise we won’t kill him—” Aelyx and Troy objected, and Cara shushed them with a backward wave. “If I give you my word that we’ll let him live, will you tell us where he is?”

  Rune bit into a potato and chewed thoughtfully for a long minute, her jaw working while her gaze simmered with calculation. Aelyx could practically see a plan forming in her mind. Whatever location she might give them, he knew better than to trust it.

  Finally she swallowed and made a counteroffer. “I’ll tell you exactly where to find him.” She lifted a bony finger. “If you’ll take me with you.”

  “This is his retrieval point?” Cara asked when the shuttle arrived at the coordinates Rune had provided from the rear seat. “The top of the Empire State Building? I didn’t realize Jaxen had such a flare for the dramatic.”

  “Really?” Aelyx thumbed at the clone. “It’s always been clear to me.”

  “Point taken.”

  He maneuvered the craft south of the building’s high-rise observation deck in hopes that the blustery wind from the north would drown out the sound of the engine. For a city so teeming with life, the blackout had rendered Manhattan eerily quiet and dark. There was just enough moonlight for him to make out Jaxen’s silhouette on the walkway below, and more important, the staff glowing in his hand. But there seemed to be no good place to land the shuttle. The observation deck formed a square path around an interior room, and surrounding that path were waist-high concrete walls topped with crisscrossing metal bars. The design was perfect for protecting viewers from falling, but it presented a challenge to anyone wishing to access the walkway from above. He would have to dock the shuttle in midair and jump down.

  Syrine spoke from where she sat in between Rune and the door, in case the clone tried to make a premature exit. “It makes sense. This is an easy landmark for an Aribol pilot to identify, and without power, human authorities would have to scale more than a hundred flights of stairs to reach Jaxen. He chose a strategic spot.”

  “Uh-huh,” Troy said. “Or the clone’s leading us into a trap.”

  Aelyx quirked a brow. That was twice he and Troy had agreed on something. “We can’t take him by surprise. Right now he’s at the north-facing wall. If I dock the shuttle here”—he pointed out the windshield—“above the south-facing wall, he won’t see us but he’ll hear the engine.”

  “Not to mention our feet hitting the floor when we drop,” Cara added. “He could be on us in seconds.”

  “And he has the Nova Staff, so pistols won’t work against him.”

  “Whose brilliant idea was this?” Troy quipped.

  “Yours, I think,” Elle told him.

  “None of that matters.” Aelyx craned his neck to peer up at the night sky for a sign of the Destroyer. For now, he didn’t see anything other than a blanket of stars. “Our only chance is to attack the Destroyer while its ships are still inside. Once they release the fleet, all we can do is run.”

  “Then let’s get on with it,” Troy said. “The fact that Jaxen’s waiting for his ride means they’ll be here soon.” He thumbed at the clone. “What about her? She might sabotage the shuttle if we leave her alone.”

  “She’ll have to come with us.”

  Aelyx waited for Larish, Troy, Elle, and Syrine to unfasten their safety harnesses. The clone was ready, having never fastened hers to begin with. When he and Cara had unbuckled their straps, he moved into position directly above the outer wall’s metal safety bars and docked the craft.

  He opened his door and jumped ten feet down to the brick walkway, where his boots connected with a loud stomp. Troy landed beside him from the rear starboard exit, followed by Cara and Syrine on the port side. Larish and Elle stayed on board to assist the clone, each holding one of her arms until she dangled within Aelyx’s reach. Once he gripped her waist, they let go of her arms and jumped out the opposite door.

  Aelyx noticed how fragile Rune had become. She felt skeletal in his grasp, aged to at least eighty. But as soon as her feet touched the floor, she smacked his hands and glared at him with more loathing than ever, eliminating any empathy he felt for her.

  “Let’s split up,” he told the group, and pointed left and right. The path formed a closed square, so if they hurried they could trap Jaxen in the middle. “First person to reach him, tackle him and grab the staff.”

  Troy, Elle, and Syrine ran left while Aelyx led the way to the right. He turned the first corner and saw nothing but a row of coin-operated telescopes, so he kept going without waiting for Cara and Larish. Around the next corner he found Jaxen, braced and prepared for an attack from either direction. The instant Jaxen noticed him, he used his staff to fling a bolt of energy that connected with Aelyx’s chest and knocked him backward into the concrete wall. His lungs emptied and pain exploded along his spine.

  Troy approached from the opposite corner, followed closely by Elle and Syrine. Jaxen was ready for them, too. In a flash, all three of them lay in a tangle of limbs. Aelyx pushed up and tried again, but he only made it a few lumbering steps before he was flat on his back, staring at the night sky. The clatter of footsteps and the thud of falling bodies told him Troy and the girls had made another failed attempt. When Cara and Larish caught up, Aelyx lifted a palm to halt them. If they stayed out of sight, they might be able to catch Jaxen off guard.

  From the other end of the walkway, Troy stood up to make another charge, and Aelyx did the same. They ran at Jaxen simultaneously, but with nothing more than a flick of his staff, he sent them both flying back the way they’d come. This time Aelyx landed on his side. He heard a pop, and the nerves inside his shoulder screamed. He gritted his teeth and gripped his shoulder, using his eyes to tell Cara and Larish to stay put. But Rune crept up behind them and called in her crone’s voice, “Two more are hiding back here.”

  She turned the corner and Jaxen caught a glimpse of his once-stunning l’ihan, now hunchbacked and frail, he
r dull, gray hair whipping in the wind. His eyes bulged, and he swayed visibly on his feet as if the sight of her had wounded him.

  “You said you would come back for me,” she called over the whistling wind. “I waited for you all night. Why did you leave me?”

  Jaxen nervously licked his lips before recovering with a charlatan’s smile. He extended one hand to her while every other muscle in his body tensed to run. “I was detained, my love. But I never truly left. I was only waiting for my shuttle to arrive, and then I was going to return for you.”

  His lie wouldn’t fool a child, but Rune quickened her steps and stretched out her arms to him. “Do you promise?”

  “Of course, my darling.” He closed the distance between them and hesitated for the briefest of moments before wrapping her in an embrace. With her face buried in Jaxen’s chest, the clone couldn’t see the revulsion contorting his features. “You’re my perfect partner, my only love.”

  “Forever?”

  “Until death.” Jaxen glared over the clone’s silvery head and shouted, “You can come out, Cah-ra, I’m not going to kill you.”

  Cara signaled for Larish to stay hidden, then strode around the corner. “I’m glad I could reunite you with your perfect partner. I know how much you missed her.”

  “You know nothing,” Jaxen spat. “But let me enlighten you. The reason I’m not going to kill you is because that’s more mercy than you deserve. When death comes, you’ll spend your final moments watching everyone you love melt into puddles at your feet. That will be—” He cut off with a grunt of pain and made a choking noise. The staff slipped from his fingers, and he turned his gaze to Rune, who withdrew a bloody blade from his midsection.

  The moonlight glinted against a paring knife that Aelyx recognized by its faux-wood handle. She must have stolen it from the cutting board. She plunged in the knife again, this time twisting the blade with the unmistakable fury of a woman scorned.

  “Liar!” she hissed. “I won’t let you replace me.”

  She jerked the blade upward while Jaxen’s gaze dulled. Blood rose to his lips, and with one final sputter, he doubled over and collapsed to the floor. He dragged the clone down with him, pinning her beneath his torso.

  As Cara rushed to pull Rune free and Larish ran to retrieve the staff, Aelyx crawled to Jaxen’s fallen body to see for himself the man was dead. Even after checking four lifeless pulse points he still couldn’t believe it. “Did that actually happen?”

  Cara threw the bloody knife out of reach and knelt down in between Jaxen and the clone. “He wanted a passionate l’ihan. Looks like he got one.”

  Troy limped over, supported on either side by Elle and Syrine. “Note to self,” he said, jutting his chin at the clone lying on the floor. “Don’t piss off Cara Sweeney.”

  Aelyx shook his head at Troy’s inability to differentiate between his sister and her replicate. If ever there were a perfect demonstration of their individualities, this was it. Cara cradled Rune’s head and tried to guide her into a sitting position, but Rune shoved her away.

  “Leave me alone. I didn’t do this for you.”

  “I know, but let me help—”

  “I don’t want your help.” Rune drew a loud, rattling breath that indicated her brief life was coming to an end. Her gaze found the Nova Staff, and she lifted a finger toward it. “The cube accessories are detonators, and the orbs drain and redirect power. The baton stores surplus energy. They all fit…” She trailed off, wheezing.

  “Come with us,” Cara said. “There might be a way to save you.”

  Rune curled on her side and nestled her cheek in the crook of her murdered l’ihan’s shoulder. “I was born into his arms, and that’s how I want to die. Leave me with him and go.”

  Aelyx used his uninjured hand to cup Cara’s elbow. “Give her what she wants, Elire. We don’t have much time.”

  Cara’s eyes watered. With clear reluctance, she stood up and helped Aelyx do the same. “I wish things could’ve been different,” she told Rune. “I’ll never forget you.”

  The clone didn’t reply. She turned her eyes to Jaxen and slid an arm across his chest. One final breath passed between her lips, and then her face softened in peace.

  That was how they left her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cara blinked rapidly to clear the tears from her vision so she could focus on the pilot controls. After everything the clone had done for her, she had no intention of dying in a random wreck on the way back to the safe house to pick up the extra shuttle.

  Directly behind her, Elle prepared to fix Aelyx’s dislocated shoulder. She told him to relax. There was a brief cry of pain, followed by a loud pop. When Cara glanced at the backseat, she found Aelyx rotating his shoulder with his head tipped back in relief.

  “All right, who’s next?” Elle said, and opened the med-kit on her lap.

  By the time they landed on the lawn beside the spare shuttle, Elle had treated three cracked ribs, two sprained ankles, a mild concussion, and a year’s worth of bruises. Larish, who had sustained no injuries, sat in the front passenger seat inspecting the Nova Staff.

  “I see where the accessories fit.” He pointed at four prongs attached to the staff head, which currently held an orb identical to the others they’d found. “But I’ll have to experiment before I understand how to use them.”

  Cara peered out the window, scanning the night sky while unfastening her harness straps. At first she noticed nothing out of the ordinary, but then a shadow passed over the moon, and her fingers fumbled on the clasp. Heart racing, she tore off her straps and threw open the door, instantly raising her face to the heavens.

  Her whole body turned cold.

  In the distance, far beyond the planet’s gravitational pull, crept a ship so colossal she couldn’t view the whole thing in one glimpse. It was the largest manmade object she’d ever seen. Dark and sleek, the craft resembled a point-ended diamond, like two spearheads connected at the base. Its belly was rounded and slightly darker than the rest of the hull. She wondered if that was the hangar, where the fleet waited to be released.

  As she stared up, she remembered what Aelyx had said about destroying the fleet before they launched. He was right. If those ships left the hangar, life on Earth was over.

  “We’ll have to experiment on the way there,” she said, pointing.

  Everyone clambered out of the shuttle, and one by one, their expressions transformed into the same masks of disbelief she’d worn moments earlier. Soon all of them stood transfixed.

  She snapped her fingers to break them from the trance. “Don’t look at it. We can’t afford to lose momentum.” She wheeled toward her brother. “Troy, will you go inside and get the staff accessories? I can’t face Mom and Dad knowing I might never …” see them again. Just thinking about it loosened the floodgates behind her eyes.

  “I’m on it.” Troy jogged to the house.

  Aelyx dragged a hand through his hair and thumbed at Aisly’s shuttle. “We need to decide if we’re taking this or leaving it behind.”

  “I think we should take it,” Syrine said. “Two methods of escape are better than one.”

  “But the more shuttles we use, the harder it will be to infiltrate the Destroyer,” Elle pointed out.

  Cara hadn’t considered that. “How are we getting inside at all?”

  “I assume the same way we slipped out of the transport.”

  “Through a waste chute?”

  “It could work,” Aelyx said, glancing at the staff headpiece. “If we use one of the cubes to blast open an external port. On a ship that large, the chutes are bigger than houses.”

  “An explosion will alert them to our presence,” Larish warned.

  Cara turned up her palms. The six of them were about to invade a ship full of highly evolved aliens, armed with nothing but a staff that nobody knew how to use. This whole mission was a Hail Mary.

  Troy came running out the back door, using his T-shirt like a kangaroo pouch for
the Nova Staff gadgets. As soon as the door shut behind him, Mom and Dad rushed to the kitchen windowpane, each pressing a hand against the glass.

  Cara spun away before the prickling in her eyes intensified. “Let’s split up. I’ll pilot one shuttle and Aelyx will fly the other. We’ll use the onboard com-system to brainstorm a plan while we’re in the air.”

  The group moved quickly, Troy and Elle following Aelyx while Larish and Syrine joined Cara. The pilot’s seat was still warm when she sat down to fasten her straps. She cloaked the shuttle and linked her com-system to Aelyx’s. After testing the link to ensure they could hear each other, they lifted off and rocketed toward the atmosphere. As they flew, Larish tested the Nova Staff by pointing its sphere at a few random objects he’d rested along the dashboard. None of them moved.

  “Keep practicing,” Cara told him. “We’ve got a long way to go.”

  She’d just reached the five-hundred-foot mark when her com-sphere buzzed. She answered while keeping the link open between both shuttles.

  “Talk loud,” she told Jake. “You’re on speakerphone.”

  “Ooo-kay,” he said, drawing out the word in confusion. “I did what you asked and found a link between phosphorus and the Aribol.”

  “What’s the connection?”

  “According to my soil samples, phosphorus doesn’t exist here. Neither do most elements found in fertilizer, like potassium, calcium, magnesium …”

  “Nitrogen,” Aelyx added through the speakers.

  “No, there’s plenty of that,” Jake said. “The air here is almost identical to the chemical makeup of what we breathe on Earth.”

  Cara scrunched her forehead. “So why would they want to block our access to phosphorus on Earth?”

  “I think I know,” came Troy’s voice. “In war you go for your enemy’s defenses.”

  Larish shot out a hand from the passenger seat and gripped Cara’s wrist. “Our soil is toxic to them. That’s why they never returned to either of our planets after the initial abduction that seeded L’eihr.”