by Mary Auclair
“If I had known, I would have.”
“Of course.” He shook his head. “You are physically incapable of following directions, and you love to make sure I have to rescue you from the direst situations possible.”
Ava laughed, then nestled her head against him. She moved closer to his body, making herself comfortable, and he watched as she closed her eyes and fell asleep like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Like she was completely safe. Like she trusted him with her life.
Now all he had to do to deserve it was save the entire Ring from the threat of Knut, and retrieve a priceless piece of medical equipment to save a dying boy.
18
Ava
Silence wrapped around Ava and Arlen as they stood in the thick of the forest. All around them was only greenery and the wind as Ava turned around slowly, doubt insinuating itself into her mind despite her knowledge that she was on the right path.
It should be here. It has to be.
“We have arrived.” Arlen turned to her, breaking the silence and coming to stand by her side. “These are the coordinates you gave me.”
His sharp eyes scanned the forest. She knew he could see, hear, and smell better than she could, but it did little to reassure her. The forest was eerily silent, no small animals scurrying around or insects buzzing. Everything was quiet.
That silence filled her with apprehension. This could easily be a trap. The same trap Arlen’s previous teams had fallen into. They would be powerless against any attacker from their position; completely defenseless.
At least, she would be. Arlen was another matter, but even he couldn’t outrun an ionic gun. An Eok wasn’t a god, no matter how much he looked like one.
“Are you sure you read them correctly?”
“I was sure, but not so much now.” More than anything, she wished the piece of paper hadn’t been rendered illegible in the water. “It should be here. The Vault has to be here. I just don’t know what to look for.”
But it simply wasn’t. Or was it? She had never actually been to the Vault. Knut had trusted her more than any other in his life, but that didn’t mean he had allowed her to come to the place where he kept what was most precious to him. The only reason she knew anything about the Vault was thanks to her habit of sneaking around and collecting any scrap of information that would help her escape with Uril.
“What do you mean?”
“Knut obviously hid the Vault well.” Ava talked as she turned around, scanning the surrounding forest for the hundredth time. “The entrance will be well hidden, you can be sure of that.”
Arlen pursed his lips in an angry gesture, but didn’t argue with her. They were here, in the middle of nowhere, and now they had to decide what to do.
“Maybe we should canvas the area, like in a grid?” Ava suggested, but as she looked at him, she saw Arlen wasn’t paying attention to her.
He was crouched on the ground, his hand splayed flat on the thick cover of leaves, his eyes shut tightly. Ava opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, but stopped at the last minute.
Suddenly, Arlen opened his eyes and got to his feet.
“It’s here,” he stated. “We’re right on top of it.”
“Here?” She looked around, confused. “I don’t see anything.”
“That’s because it’s underground.”
Arlen walked around, his face intense, scanning the forest for something Ava didn’t understand. Then, after a few minutes, he tilted his head slightly as though he could hear something. He walked to a tree with a trunk so thick, three men standing side by side could hide behind it, and ran his hands over the bark. He smiled triumphantly and pressed against the tree, revealing a small door.
“You found it!” She came to stand beside him, incredulous. “How did you know?”
“I could hear the buzz of the electronics inside.” He said like it was nothing. “It was low, but not enough to fool an Eok.”
Ava opened the door to reveal a small access panel. She stared at the innocuous bio-reading panel, then sighed. It was a true state-of-the-art bio-control panel, scanning anyone who wanted access for their DNA signature via a drop of blood, a palm scan, and a heartbeat reading. It was virtually impossible to fool.
Of course the Vault wouldn’t be so easily accessible. Only maybe it was. Of all the people on Aveyn, there was only one person other than Knut he might have given access to. Only one he had been close to trusting.
There’s nothing to lose by trying.
Ava lifted her hand, her fingers spread wide as she intended to try to gain access. Arlen stopped her just in time, his hand like a steel band around her wrist.
“Don’t. This is a trap.” He shook his head, then pointed to the points of tiny needles in the embedded gel. “It’s a poisoned biometric panel. Anyone other than the person programmed to open it will drop dead.”
Ava cursed loudly, pulling her hand away from the panel.
“I should have known. Knut wouldn’t let anyone else unlock his Vault. We’ll have to figure something out.”
Ava stared at the biometric reader, then at Arlen. “I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “Knut always had a plan B, he was always a step ahead. He would never secure his entire life insurance policy without having another person who could open it for him should he need it. I’m the only other person he would trust with this. At least, I was.”
Ava moved, but Arlen grabbed her wrist again before she could touch the panel.
“Absolutely not!” he growled at her. He actually growled. “Are you mad? I’m not allowing you to risk your life on a hunch!”
“There isn’t time to think of another way,” she argued as he glared at her. “I know him. I’m sure he programmed me in as well.”
Arlen shook his head. “No. There will be another way to get in.”
But there wasn’t. Or, more precisely, there wouldn’t be in time.
“I know him,” she insisted. “Knut always had a contingency plan. And I was the closest thing he ever had to a confidant. That’s why he left the coordinates in the painting, because he knew I would destroy it if I had a chance. He knew I would find them. Knut knew me, the same way I know that if you try to break into the Vault then we can be sure that everything inside it will be lost. I know he set traps to prevent anyone from breaking in. Heck, for all I know, the entire planet could explode if you try to break in. You have to let me try it.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re asking me? What your life means to me now?”
She did. She was asking him to stake his own life on her knowledge of a monster but she had no choice. Time was running out, and Uril needed her. They had lost their transport vehicle, had lost their communication device.
“It could take weeks to get back home on foot,” Ava insisted as Arlen stared at her with a closed-off expression. “We don’t have that kind of time. Uril will be dead by then.”
“I won’t trade your life for his.” Arlen shook his head once. “I want to save the boy for your sake, but I won’t lose you for him.”
Ava recoiled as though Arlen had hit her. “If you don’t let me do this, then you’ll lose me.” Her voice was heavy with emotion but she was deadly serious. Arlen meant more to her than she’d ever thought possible in such a short time. She even saw a future with him, but that was nothing compared to what she felt for Uril. “I need you to trust me, don’t you understand?”
“I understand more than you think.” There was an unbridled intensity in what Arlen was telling her. “You say you will be truly alone if Uril dies. Do you have any idea what hearing that does to me? Yet, I’m here, risking both our lives for him, so don’t tell me I don’t care.”
Ava locked gazes with him, with those pale eyes that meant so much. But no matter how much she cared for him, Uril was depending on her.
“You and I, we made a choice, but he didn’t.” At her words, Arlen flinched but he didn’t say anything. “I’m not a fool. I know I ca
n’t force you to allow me to do this, but I can tell you one thing: if he dies, I won’t forgive you. I’ll leave you and never look back.”
Arlen stared at her a long time, his hold still like steel on her wrist. Pain spread across his features, then he opened his hand, freeing her. “I understand.”
Guilt bit into Ava. She knew the concept of Eok mating was something she didn’t truly grasp, that the moment he had bitten her, he had committed to her in a way she wasn’t prepared to reciprocate. And that her words meant she was choosing Uril over him.
But the truth was, she did. She would choose the helpless, trusting boy lying on his deathbed over Arlen.
“Thank you.”
Arlen didn’t answer, his head lifting and his face hardening as she stepped closer.
Ava raised her hand to the control panel, hesitating. She was betting her life on the fickle knowledge she had of Knut. More than that, she was betting Arlen’s life on it, too. Fear took hold of her as her palm hovered just above the poisonous bio-reading gel. If she was wrong, the gel pad would release a fast-acting toxin, which would be absorbed through her skin in a fraction of a second, and she would die.
And so would Arlen.
With a sudden surge of willpower, Ava pressed her palm into the cool the gel pad and her breath caught. Behind her, she saw Arlen flinch, his eyes on her like pale beacons.
Time felt suspended as the reader scanned her biometric signatures, from her DNA to her prints; a deceptively simple beam of light running from the tips of her fingers to the bottom of her palm. She waited as a cold sheen of sweat prickled over the skin of her back; waited for the moment when her heart would suddenly beat faster, then faster, until it exploded in her chest.
Then, from somewhere deep below ground, a creaking noise shook the forest floor at the same time as the gel pad stopped flashing. For a second, Ava didn’t know if she had been right or if the hammering of her heart meant she was about to die, then a steel box rose from the ground just to one side.
They both watched as it appeared there, a feat of technology in the middle of the perfect harmony of the forest. Then, without speaking, they walked side by side into the metallic elevator before it lowered into Knut’s vault.
The air in the Vault was aseptic and cold, like it was brand new and had never been breathed before. Arlen stepped wordlessly in front of her as the door slid aside to reveal a wide-open space. The floor, walls and ceiling reflected luminescent orbs with a distinctly metallic shine, and echoes bounced off the enclosed space as Arlen walked in front of Ava.
Everywhere, metallic surfaces gleamed, empty and cold.
“Do you know what you’re looking for?” Arlen put a protective arm across her as Ava tried to step up to his side. “Stay here and I’ll retrieve it.”
“Really?” She put her hand on Arlen’s forearm, and after a few seconds of hesitation, he lowered it. “We’re in Knut’s secret vault. What makes you think I’ll be safer in the elevator?”
Arlen sighed, then nodded, his face still full of doubt, but at least he wasn’t actively going to stop her. “Fine. But you stay here until I make sure the area is safe.”
She nodded with exasperation and Arlen walked around the steel room, inspecting every corner before turning to her, the confusion plain on his face.
“Nothing. There’s nothing here.”
Ava stepped into the room, then followed in Arlen’s footsteps. Everywhere she looked, everywhere her fingers touched, there was just the cold of polished metal. If this was Knut’s vault, then it was empty.
“This isn’t possible.” Ava turned to Arlen. “I know the Exo-Heart is here.”
Fear twisted and coiled in her heart as the image of Uril lying on his bed came to her mind: his anemic, pale face; the exhaustion pulling his young features taut; the fear gleaming in his golden eyes. But, above all, his courage when he told her he was okay. That he wasn’t afraid.
This was it. Without the heart, he would die. And if she and Arlen couldn’t get back in time, he was going to die alone.
No. This can’t be happening.
“The heart is here. It has to be,” she repeated.
Her breathing became fast and shallow and no matter how much air she sucked in, she felt breathless. Her heart was beating fast, much too fast, so much that it hurt. Pain spread in her chest as her vision filled with dark spots. Ava was vaguely aware of Arlen holding her shoulders, bracing her against his body.
Uril can’t die. He can’t-he can’t-he can’t-he can’t…
“Ava, calm down.” Arlen’s voice came from far away, breaking the litany in her mind and she twisted around, clutching his vest desperately in her fist.
“I told him I could save him. I promised he would be okay.”
Her voice broke in a choke and a dam broke inside her. She sagged to her knees; Arlen catching her so she didn’t hurt herself. Her palms met the metal floor and her tears splashed to the ground in perfect, tiny circles.
She shut her eyes and saw Knut. His aristocratic, slim face, the smile on his thin lips whenever he played a cruel game with her. That satisfied glimmer in his eyes when he managed to make her cry.
“He tricked me.” The words were almost swallowed by her sobs. “He told me he had an Exo-Heart waiting for Uril. He told me I could save him. A lie. It was all a lie.”
As she abandoned herself to the pain and the fear, Arlen let go of her shoulders. The sudden cold that replaced his body heat only heightened her pain and she prostrated herself on the metal floor, crying with her forehead pressed on the ground. It was too much. All those years Knut had spent playing his sick mind tricks on her, allowing her and Uril to become close as brother and sister, to care for each other when no one else had.
All that, only to shatter her heart into a million pieces when he took the hope away from her and let Uril die.
“Say it again.” Arlen’s voice came from above her head, imperious and harsh. “Say his name again.”
Ava only sobbed more. Saying his name wouldn’t repair his heart, and now there was no time to even send him off-world to somewhere they could keep him alive until another Exo-Heart was grown.
“Say Uril’s name again.”
The command was harsh, but there was excitement in Arlen’s voice. A sound of hope that made Ava regain just enough of her senses to lift her head and meet his gaze. He looked down at her with an encouraging expression.
“Uril.”
As she said the name, a small square illuminated itself in the wall directly behind Arlen. As if in a dream, she got to her feet, her broken heart lurching like a starving beast to hold on to the thread of hope.
“Uril!” She said the name more forcefully, and the small square dissolved, revealing another control panel.
Arlen helped her to her feet, then together they walked to the control panel. It was another biological reading panel, but this time there was no sign of a poisonous trap.
Without hesitation, Ava flattened her palm on it.
All around them, a liquid yet metallic noise filled the room. The walls began to dissolve like magic, the metal melting into crevices along the floor, revealing a vast space that made Ava dizzy.
“This is it.” She turned around within Arlen’s protective hold. “This is Knut’s vault.”
She moved, Arlen close behind her, to a cylindrical pedestal tucked against a square indentation in the wall. There, floating in a glass enclosure filled with a liquid oxygen solution, was an organ made of bio-synthetic cells. The Exo-Heart; a marvel of medical science, grown specifically from Uril’s genetic material, perfectly tailored to him.
“The Exo-Heart.” Ava splayed her hands over the glass container. She knew exactly what this was. It was a transportation device, designed to keep the heart in optimal condition right up to its transplant into the live host. “Uril is saved.”
She turned to Arlen, giddy with a relief that bordered on euphoria. Then her happiness dissipated when she saw the blue giant turning aroun
d, his eyes scanning the vast array of weapons displayed around the room. He approached a foreboding, black cylinder tucked into a similar indentation in the wall.
“This is Allurium and Carbonite Alloy.” Arlen frowned so deeply his brows almost touched, inspecting the smooth cylinder carefully, then took a step back, his face filled with horror. “This is it. This what Prime Councilor Aav warned me about. A negative particle bomb.”
Ava sobered up. A negative particle bomb was the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. A single bomb was enough to wipe out several planets in a star system. It wasn’t just illegal, it was the deadliest weapon ever to have been vomited up in the face of the Ring. One that had been used only once, during the Great War, before the Ring had elected a Prime Councilor to lead, when the alliance of nations was torn asunder by a civil war that had threatened to wipe out trillions of people. It had taken the Mantrilla using only one negative particle bomb, wiping out half the planets in the Cattelans’ home star system, to end the war.
All the rebels had surrendered and peace was restored.
But the threat of the negative particle bomb was never forgotten.
“How did Knut get to possess one of these?” Ava spoke with horror, eyeing the deceptively harmless black surface of the cylinder, taking a useless step back. That bomb was death itself. A step wouldn’t be enough to save her—to save anyone on Aveyn if it went off.
Arlen suddenly twisted, his lips lifting in a hiss, his arms rippling with tension.
“Someone is here,” he growled, the sound feral and full of fury.
Then, Ava understood.
“He’s always a step ahead of us.” Her voice became breathless. “This is why he gave me access to the Vault. This is why he hid the coordinates in a painting I hated. He knew I would find it. He knew I would risk everything to save Uril.”
As Ava cradled the glass container containing the Exo-Heart, the sudden sound of voices told her everything she needed to know.