A short laugh escaped from Rona’s mouth. “If I’d seemed too eager, you wouldn’t have given him a chance.”
Ellin couldn’t argue with that.
From several mets in front of them, Merak shouted, “They’re in the cave!” He rushed to the videographer.
Ellin turned back to Rona. The question that had been building in her chest burst out. “We weren’t ever going to be able to stop this, were we?”
More tears escaped Rona’s eyes. “No.”
All the air left Ellin’s lungs.
Trett asked, “Why did you want us to try?”
Rona opened her mouth, but neither words nor breath emerged. She closed her mouth, licked her lips, and said, “There’s a lot I can’t say. It’s shrouded.” She swallowed, then spoke slowly, like she was choosing the only words she was allowed to utter. “You needed to learn to trust each other.”
“Are you saying—” Ellin stopped when she saw Rona shaking her head.
“Let me speak . . . if I can,” Rona said. “Someone—” She halted, took a shuddering breath, and continued. “Someone must tell the story. Someone must protect the stone.”
Ellin could barely see through her tears. She managed one word. “Who?”
Rona blinked her own tears away and shook her head, smiling helplessly. After another false start, she whispered, “I’m so proud of you both.” Her focus shifted entirely to Ellin, and her words flowed freely again. “I haven’t been a good replacement for our parents. With all the visions I see, I can barely hold my own mind together. I want you to know, I’ve always wanted what was best for you. And you were the perfect person to fight Merak.”
“It didn’t work,” Ellin whispered.
“It did. In a way.”
Ellin sniffed, trying to stop crying. “I wish I could hug you.”
Movement caught Ellin’s eye. She looked back toward the dig. The rock cutter was backing out of the manmade path. It exited and turned, revealing its prize: a huge piece of jagged rock, as tall as a person, gripped by four massive clamps.
The security guard was watching the dig too, excitement written on her face. She stood and took a few steps toward the mountain, away from Ellin, Trett, and Rona.
Ellin watched the woman, then leaned past Rona to look at the chair where the guard had been sitting. A rush of nervous, determined energy flooded her whole body. “I love you, Trett. I love you, Rona.” She took a deep breath and locked eyes with her sister. “The guard left her flex unlocked on her seat.”
Ellin stood and ran down a steep incline, straight toward the dig, pursued by gasps and hushed protests from Trett and Rona.
“Stop!” The voice belonged to the security guard and was accompanied by panicked footsteps.
“Let her go.” It was Merak, his tone both commanding and amused.
Ellin kept running. It only took a few seconds to reach the rock passage. She slowed, instinct telling her the workers were more likely to listen to her if she was calm.
A few steps in, her eights released. Ellin let out a little gasp and turned around. Rona had turned in her chair so her back was to Trett. Her hands were still behind her back, and she was holding something. It had to be the guard’s flexscreen. Trett was hunched over the device, talking. He must be guiding Rona’s bound hands as she navigated the screen. As Ellin watched, Trett pulled his hands out of his own eights, then grabbed the flex and released Rona’s restraints.
Ellin didn’t take off her loose eights. Not yet. If Merak saw that she was unbound, he might send a security guard to grab her. She turned and walked to the end of the passage.
There were three workers in the pathway, all facing toward the mouth of the newly opened cave. One held up a bright light, illuminating the cave.
The cave itself was small, its ceiling low. Inside, two archeologists, a man and the woman Ellin had met outside the bathroom, hunched around an object as tall as their knees. They wore thick gloves and, as Ellin had suggested to Merak, goggles.
“This thing is really hot,” the male archeologist said. “I don’t understand how it hasn’t burned holes in whatever it’s wrapped in.”
“They’re animal skins,” his partner said. “Look at the basket-weave texture; they’re from some sort of reptid. Like you said, they’re remarkably well preserved. I’m sure the researchers will figure out why.”
A knife of fear twisted in Ellin’s chest. She remembered Sep telling them how hot the stone was when the colonists hid it, and she knew the male archeologist was right. Reptid skin was tough, but it still should’ve disintegrated thousands of years ago.
Standing on her tiptoes, she squinted, trying to get a better look in the cave. Though the skins were dulled with age and unimpressive to look at, the object gave her an eerie feeling. Otherworldly was the word that came to mind, an apt descriptor for a supposed space artifact.
Even if it was from space, shouldn’t it obey basic scientific laws? The skins should’ve burned off. The stone should’ve cooled down. The radiation levels should be dropping.
The thing in that cave defied explanation. Couldn’t anyone see how frightening that was?
“I guess we should get it out of here,” the man said.
Ellin took a deep breath, gathering her courage. It’s now or never. “Please.” Her clear voice bounced off the rocks. “Please stop.”
The three nearest workers spun and gaped at her, robbing the cavern of its light. Both archeologists in the cave turned toward the entrance.
“What are you doing here?” the archeologist Ellin had encountered earlier asked.
“Merak knows I’m here. I came to ask you to stop.” Ellin had a sudden urge to break down in tears, but she took a sharp breath, reining in her emotion.
The woman stepped out of the cave, straightened her back, and folded her arms. “Why would we stop?”
A surreal calm came over Ellin, and she spoke in an unwavering voice. “I’ve reviewed all the research. This radiation is different than anything we’ve seen before. That’s why the radiation levels have been rising and the object is so hot. It’s dangerous. If we bring this into the world, countless people will die. Please. It’s not too late to close the cave. If you tell Merak it’s too dangerous, he might listen.” She directed her entire attention at the female archeologist. “Please put an end to this.”
The woman stared at Ellin long enough for hope to spark in Ellin’s chest. Then she rolled her eyes and said, “Get her out of here.”
The second archeologist exited the cave. “Maybe we should just take a few minutes—”
“She’s a conspiracy theorist.” The woman’s voice was dismissive. “Two of you, take her back to Merak. And get that light shining in the cave again.”
As ordered, the worker with the flashlight pointed it into the cave. The male archeologist stooped and entered it again, but the woman watched, her expression hard, as the remaining two workers approached Ellin.
“Come on. Turn around,” one of the workers, a middle-aged woman, said.
Ellin held her ground.
The other worker, a burly man, grasped Ellin’s shoulders with rough hands and spun her around. Then he grabbed her upper arm, squeezing hard enough to leave a bruise, and tried to push her up the path, away from the cave.
Feet planted, Ellin cried, “Please, just stop! You don’t know what you’re doing! Stop!” She knew nobody would take her shrill warnings seriously, but she couldn’t stay quiet.
She continued to cry her warnings even as the big man picked her up, threw her over his shoulder, and marched her down the path, straight toward Merak.
As they approached, Merak said, “Put her down.”
The worker complied, setting Ellin on her feet in front of Merak. She still had her arms behind her back, held in the loose eights, and when her feet hit the ground, she stumbled.
“Whoa,” Merak said, grinning as he grasped her arm to steady her. “I love your determination, Ellin. I really do.”
Then his face fell, grief
replacing amusement. The hand that had held her up moved to her face, cupping her cheek. He rubbed his thumb gently against her skin. “I hate to lose you.” He glanced at the videographer nearby and dropped his hand, stepping back from her. “You’d better go back to your sister and your friend.”
“Please stop them, Mr. Merak. Alvun. Please.”
He reached out and took both her shoulders, gently this time. “Go. Sit.”
Ellin stepped away but didn’t return to her seat. Instead, she watched Merak and tried desperately to think of a way to convince him.
Suddenly, excited voices filled the area. Ellin turned to see what the commotion was.
The archeologists had just exited the path and were walking toward Merak. Before them hovered a thin shelf, on top of which sat the object Ellin had seen in the cave.
All the air exited Ellin’s body. She looked over her shoulder and found that Rona and Trett were approaching her. Nobody was watching them now; every eye was on the object.
Rona stood on one side of Ellin, Trett on the other. Trett’s hand found her wrist, and he slipped the eight off it and grasped her hand in his. She almost suggested they put the restraints back on; someone might notice. But she couldn’t bring herself to let go of Trett.
The archeologists approached Merak. The woman pushed a button on the hover shelf. It descended slowly and landed, sending up gentle puffs of dirt.
The animal skins were tied on with narrow strips of the same material. Whatever was underneath was irregular in shape.
The whole camp was gathered, jostling for space. Merak instructed them to step back, and they complied. Ellin, Rona, and Trett stood several mets away, where higher ground gave them a good view. Once everyone got settled, the site was eerily quiet.
Merak pulled goggles out of his pocket and started to put them on, but then he looked at the videographer and replaced the goggles in his pocket. He turned back toward the object. “Unwrap it,” he said in a voice of hushed awe.
“It’s very hot,” the male archeologist said.
“Good thing you have thermal gloves on.”
Both archeologists began removing the ties from the object as carefully as they could. It didn’t take long for them to pull the long strands loose. Then they stood and slowly, carefully lifted the skins away from their prize.
The crowd gasped. The object did appear to be a stone, but not like any Ellin had ever seen. It was shiny black, like obsidian. Thick veins of iridescent, glowing orange ran through it.
Merak stepped closer, then knelt in the dirt. He held his hands up, his palms near the stone’s surface, and from her vantage point, Ellin could see his grin.
“You were right,” he said. “It’s hot.” He reached out a hand toward the male archeologist. “Let me borrow your gloves.”
“Mr. Merak, we need to test—”
“Just give him your gloves,” the female archeologist said. “He’s wearing an antirad, and if it’s too hot through the gloves, he’ll stop touching it.”
The man complied.
Still holding Trett’s hand, Ellin reached out to Rona, who’d taken off her own eights. When Ellin grabbed her hand, Rona squeezed it.
Merak eagerly ran his gloved hands over the stone, then began tracing the orange veins with his finger, letting out a low laugh as he did so. He took a moment to look up at the crowd, then at the videographer. “So much power,” he said. “So much potential. Mark my words, this stone will change the world.”
A pop emerged from the stone, and Merak paused his exploration of it.
“What was that?” the male archeologist asked.
“I moved it a bit when I touched it.” Merak’s face was calm, but Ellin thought she could hear a tinge of nervousness in his voice.
The popping returned, several bursts of sound this time.
Merak stood and stepped away from the stone.
POP. This one was louder, and several more followed.
Rona put her arm around Ellin’s shoulder. Ellin put hers around both Rona’s and Trett’s waists and felt Trett’s arm encircle her too.
The noise was getting ever louder, like someone was setting off explosive devices inside the stone. Then, with a crack that sounded like the earth itself breaking, the stone shattered along every glowing fault line, falling apart like a dropped egg.
Orange light burst out of it—but perhaps it wasn’t light. It was somehow more tangible than light, and it didn’t dissipate like it should have. It spread and strengthened, covering the entire site with thick, flame-colored rays that continued as far as Ellin could see. They spread over the land and into the sky, above the massive mountain and beyond the valley.
A collective gasp rose from the crowd.
Then Rona cried out in a voice loud enough to echo through the quiet valley, “I love you both!”
Ellin squeezed her sister’s waist, but her eyes met Merak’s. She couldn’t look away as every bit of color fled from his face and hair, until they looked like bones bleached by the sun. His white lips gaped open, and Ellin thought he would have screamed if thick blood weren’t pouring out of his mouth, matching the streams of red coming from his eyes, his nose, his ears.
The entire thing took just seconds. Then Merak collapsed.
That jolted Ellin out of her frozen state. She looked around. It was like a nightmare, except Ellin had never been tortured by a dream this grotesque. All of Merak’s people were on the ground, their skin and hair pure white, marred only by the bright red blood flowing from their faces, creating slow-moving rivers of gore through the dirt.
When she realized Rona had let go of her, Ellin turned. She looked down. There was her sister—her infuriating, wonderful, brilliant sister—on the ground, a heap of white skin and red blood.
Ellin fell to the earth, kneeling over Rona, and screamed, her voice melding with the orange rays that still cleaved the cool air. She paused only long enough for a breath before screaming again.
Then warm fabric and hard muscle muffled her voice. Trett was kneeling with her, his arms tight around her, holding her head to his chest.
Ellin’s screams turned to sobs, and only then could she could hear the words Trett was saying to her, over and over.
“I’m still here. I’m still here, Ellin. I’m still here.”
30
SATURDAY, CYGNI 6, 6293
0 DAYS
Ellin and Trett rode hovs over the road leading into the city of Krenner, passing countless crashed solarcars, solarbuses, and hovs. At some point, Ellin’s tears had stopped, smothered by unremitting horror.
She tried to avert her gaze from the bleeding corpses of drivers and passengers, but her effort was useless. There was always another body, or black smoke from a downed glidecraft in the distance, or carribirds swooping in to gorge themselves on the dead. Above, the eerie, bright-orange sky seemed to scream, “You don’t belong here anymore.”
They slowed when they entered the city. There were bodies everywhere, stinking of metallic blood and some other, awful scent Ellin couldn’t put a finger on. Trett’s choked voice reached her through her helmet. “Let’s find a dubhov. I need to be closer to you.”
“Yes,” was all she could say.
They dismounted, retracted their helmets into the rings on their necks, and left their hovs on the side of the road. All around them were crashed vehicles and drivers who’d been thrown from their hovs. Trett walked up to a dubhov that was scratched up but otherwise didn’t appear damaged. “This one looks good.” He gestured to several nearby bodies. “We just gotta figure out who has the key.”
Hov drivers carried contactless keys, usually in their pockets. The repugnant truth struck Ellin: to use this dubhov, they’d have to steal the key from a corpse. She covered her face with both hands and swallowed against sharp nausea.
“Hey.” Trett pulled her into his arms. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll look for the key.”
She let him hold her for a long moment before taking a deep breath and s
tepping back. “I’ll help. I need to get used to . . . all of this.”
“Okay. I’m guessing it’s one of them.” Trett pointed at two male corpses, both lying on their stomachs near the dubhov. He and Ellin checked the men’s back pockets with no luck. “We’ll have to turn them over,” Trett said.
Ellin grasped one man’s bicep and attempted to flip him. His arm was mushy, like the muscle inside had disintegrated. Trett helped turn the man to his back and set to work going through his front pockets. Ellin wiped her hands on her pants, but her skin still crawled with the memory of that squishy arm. She ran a few mets away and vomited, then returned to Trett.
He gave her a sad smile. “Got the key.”
They expanded their helmets. Ellin wished the breathable membrane blocked out scents. Trett swung his leg over the dubhov, and Ellin sat behind him. He released a sigh as she put her arms around his waist and pressed her chest to his back. “Guess we should find some supplies.” His voice was soft in her helmet speaker.
“Yeah.”
They didn’t have much of a plan. Ellin knew at some point they should check their flexes, which they’d retrieved before leaving the mountain. Every time she considered it, however, electric panic shot through her body. They hadn’t seen one other living person. What if they were the only ones in the world still alive? She assured herself that couldn’t be the case; Rona had seen a few living people in her visions. But what if all the other survivors were on the other side of the world?
She shook her head. Supplies first. Then we’ll try to figure out our status.
They found an outdoor store and filled brand-new backpacks with dried meat and fruit, two water filters, tents made of a high-tech, all-weather fabric, and several other items.
“This is good, but we need more,” Trett said. “We can’t stay in the city with all these bodies, and I don’t know when we’ll have a chance to resupply.”
“If we want to carry more, we’ll need a solarcar,” Ellin said. “And neither of us knows how to drive one.”
“I can’t think of a better time to learn.” Somehow, despite the dead customers all around them, Trett smiled.
The Seer’s Sister: Prequel to The Magic Eaters Trilogy Page 25