Jules had to be quick. She coursed forward, ever downward, and grabbed Kira’s outstretched hand. The Impath used two of its hairy legs to wrap around Kira’s other arm, and they had her in a tug of war, Jules floating, the monster flapping, and Kira screaming fiercely.
Dean was shouting angrily, firing away at his targets, and eventually, Jules heard him call to her. “Stop moving. I’m going to—”
Jules froze and saw her opposition’s wings cease moving as Dean hit it with a deadly shot. Its face, like melting butter, stopped gnashing wildly, and it fell, not willing to let go of Kira even in death.
Jules hung in the air, trying to head toward Dean as the weight of the Impath’s corpse and Kira began to drag her down. She felt a flicker throughout her body and was sure the abilities were about to fail again. With fierce concentration, she pushed herself, lifting higher. Dead Impaths were strewn about, one only a few feet from Dean, a hole through its hairy chest.
“Give me your hand!” Dean shouted, but it looked so far away, impossible to reach. “Jules, you can do this.” His words were sure of themselves, and she felt her own confidence surge for a moment, long enough to lift up with a grunt. Her hand found the ledge of the rocky path Dean was balanced on, but with each passing breath, her powers evaporated, her fingers sliding further off their purchase. Kira was struggling, trying to pry the beast from her arm and crying loudly.
Jules assumed more of the Impaths would be coming, and she tried to shush the girl. Dean’s hand wrapped around Jules’ wrist, and he leaned forward, hanging off the ledge with a knife in his other hand.
Before Jules knew what was happening, Wentle was there, his feet held by Canni, as the Padlog boy dangled toward Kira. He grabbed the knife from Dean and sawed at the Impath’s legs. The monster dropped away, and Jules instantly felt relief at the weight disappearing. She was being pulled up by Extel and Lolin, Slate there holding both of them back by their belts.
Jules and Kira lay side by side, no longer hanging for dear life, Kira softly crying. Jules rolled over, grabbing the girl’s hand. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Not if we stick around,” Dean said. More Impaths were on their way, and judging by the noises, there were far more than a dozen of them.
They were close to the exit, and ran with their lights and torches flickering along the way, no longer worried about making noise but only wanting to leave before the horde arrived.
____________
I woke with the light seeping into the room from above the blinds, and the press of a hand over my mouth. I gasped, struggling to sit up, and saw Magnus above me, leaning over. My eyes went wide in understanding, and he released his grip. His finger hovered over his lips, urging me to stay silent.
I rubbed my eyes, wondering what time it was, and saw that our door was open. Magnus had convinced me to sleep in the next room over, leaving our pillows under the blankets. The entire residence in this wing had been empty when we’d returned, and I’d thought he might be playing it a little too cautiously.
“Come with me,” he whispered, pressing a gun into my palm.
I took it without a second thought and followed him to the room next door, where we were supposed to be sleeping. The door was flung open, and I saw what had him so worked up. There were half a dozen bullet holes in each bunk’s bedding.
“Are they still here?” I asked softly.
“I don’t think so, but we’re going to have to do a thorough sweep of the place,” Magnus answered.
We’d managed to sneak in late last night, after a drink or two of whiskey at Magnus’ request. It had been a terrible idea, but my nerves were fried, and it had managed to take the edge off.
We walked through the building, alert and moving with efficiency, and ten minutes later, we’d returned to the hall we started at, sure the place had been evacuated.
“They left us here, tried to kill us. I’m assuming they saw us sneaking around last night,” I said.
“I’m going to gather our things. Let’s not dawdle.” Magnus clenched his jaw. “Hit the can, and let’s find something to eat before we leave.”
Somehow, even with the stress and fear of today’s coming events, I’d slept soundly, the kind of refreshing dreamless state you had after a hard day’s efforts. There was nothing but a candle to light the way inside, and I did my business before washing my face. The Restorers might not love technology, but they’d found a way to maintain indoor plumbing, and I was grateful for that as the cool water hit my skin.
Twenty minutes later, we had our packs loaded with whatever supplies we’d found scattered around, including a couple of handguns, and a rifle with spare ammunition.
“Why do you never seem worried about anything?” I asked.
“Because we’re going to figure this out. We always do,” Magnus said.
“We’re not invincible, Mag. Look at Terrance,” I said. “We’ve lost a lot of our team along the way. Mae, Vanessa, Ray, General Heart… Patrice...”
I stopped. Even though it had been a few years, the pain of losing Terrance still cut deep.
Magnus grabbed me by the shoulders, squaring me to face him. We were in the foyer, ready to leave, and I didn’t expect what came next. “You will solve this. That’s why I’m not worried, Dean. You’re the Recaster, the one we all look to to lead us. I’m only here for the ride, buddy. You already know what needs to be done. Look for it.”
I was taken aback. “I didn’t think you believed in all that Recaster stuff. Didn’t you call it religious mumbo-jumbo told by a telepathic bird?”
“I did, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe,” he admitted, continuing through the exits.
It was foggy out, the sun threatening to rise for the day. I hadn’t realized how early I’d woken up. I glanced at the tower, wondering if there were still prying eyes on us, but I doubted it. They seemed to have vanished from here.
“Where do we go?” he asked.
I considered the problem. Frasier must have come to pick up Amada and the others, along with the plans for the space station. I needed to arrive there before he did, but we were far from any colonies, and I had no way of reaching Paul or anyone else. We only had one choice.
“The Stuffed Truffle,” I said, shouldering my pack.
We walked quickly, and I pulled the jacket tight around my neck as the crisp morning air trickled in. We found the pub, as we had the night before, and it seemed ominously quiet everywhere we traveled today. I listened for any noises but couldn’t even hear birds chirping.
Magnus must have felt the unease as well, because he dropped his bag and held the rifle in his hands. I did the same, holding the 9MM in mine, and we arrived at the pub’s door, instantly seeing something was wrong. It was loose on the hinges, the lock broken from the dark wooden slab.
Magnus went first, using his foot to open the door. There were bodies here. Familiar faces from last night were dead, their bodies strewn around the room, most of them shot, with visible wounds. Gun raised, I stepped over the deceased, moving for the rear of the pub. More people were there, killed in their sleep on the bunks Gabriel had arranged for their people.
I found the leader, his chest rising and falling raggedly. He was at the rear of the room, and Magnus shone a flashlight over him. Blood spilled from his mouth as I crouched beside the man.
“What happened?” I asked as I searched for his wounds. His stomach was drenched with red, and I knew there was nothing I could do.
“Frasier. They came two hours ago. He…” Gabriel coughed, his eyes lolling backward. “Out back. Lander tarped. Hurry. Stop…”
The life fled the man, and Magnus laid a hand on my shoulder. “We have to go.”
“He said there was a lander outside.” I led Magnus through the door and into an alley, and we searched for the hidden vehicle, finding it half a block down, enclosed by three dusty tarps. If I didn’t know what I was looking for, I wouldn’t have suspected they held a full-sized lander beneath the coverings.
Magnus was already pulling them free of the bungee cords and opening the side door. “Do we go to Rome? Find reinforcements?”
“I don’t think we have time. We have to beat him to the station,” I said.
Magnus appeared ready to tell me I was crazy. That we didn’t have EVAs or proper weaponry, but he bit his tongue, nodding in agreement.
Magnus headed for the pilot’s seat. “Fine, but I’m flying it.”
Twenty-One
They bounded through the exit, and Slate motioned them all away, standing between the kids and the bloodthirsty Impaths. He fired at them with the pulse rifle, Jules seeing him strike a couple before changing tactics. He began to aim at the corridor ceiling, shouting for them to keep running. They did, and Jules heard the rocks crumbling in. One of the creatures flew by him, heading straight toward their group, but Dean was there to shoot it twice. It skidded to a halt, where he shot it again in the head for good measure.
Slate kept firing until the exit to the cavern was blocked by debris, and he arrived at their sides covered in dirt and blood, his head wound patched roughly. “Looks like no one will be using this shortcut for a while,” he said, and Lolin nodded grimly. “Are we almost there? Or are there more monsters we need to worry about?” Slate asked her.
“That is it.”
“I really wish you would have told us about them before we swam under the waterfall,” Slate told her, his voice rife with anger.
“I assumed you knew about the Impaths,” she said.
Slate rolled his eyes. “We aren’t from this planet.”
“I don’t understand,” Lolin said.
“Can we walk as we discuss this? I’d rather be as far away from those things as we can,” Jules suggested, and they started forward. The corridor inclined again at a consistent rate, and she felt the elevation change as they went. Her ears tingled, the pressure building up.
“Lolin, do you know you’re on a planet?” Dean asked her.
“We are from the valley,” she said.
Jules flashed Dean a grin, and he kept going. “A valley in a mountain range, on a continent between two oceans, on a planet.”
Lolin appeared stunned. “I do not understand.”
Slate interjected. “Not now, Dean.”
“I’m beginning to see why they didn’t want to leave when the word was out about the dying star. They don’t even comprehend space travel,” Dean said, and Jules noticed Slate had flicked off the translator.
“I see that too. Let’s pass through here, see if the others are there to meet with us, and do our best to explain to their leaders the direness of the evacuation,” Slate said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Jules said.
The corridor narrowed, and Lolin led them forward, picking up the pace as they went. Jules finally smelled something other than the stale cavern air, and she knew they were close to the exit.
Canni was carrying Kira, who’d stayed quiet since her near-death experience. The trek through the rest of the mountain pass took almost an hour. By the time they saw light coming out the other end, they were all bone-weary. Canni had switched off with Slate, who had Kira in his arms like an infant.
“Is this it, Lolin?” Slate asked.
“We are at the exit.” She smiled at them, her face grimy and dirty from the corridors, but her spirits were high, passing her mood to the others.
Jules followed the girl out of the tunnels, and her breath caught in her throat at the amazing view. Low-hanging clouds sat halfway up the surrounding mountains; a blue-green lake centered the valley below, with pink flowers filling fields. It was like something out of a fairy tale.
“No wonder they don’t want to leave,” Extel Four said. “This is beautiful.”
“Is this your home?” Jules asked the Nirzu girl.
“On the far side of the lake. Until the Collector destroyed our village,” Lolin said, a tear falling over her green cheek.
“Sun’s fading fast, and it’ll vanish quickly within this range. We need to hurry down this mountainside,” Slate said.
“We will be fine. Come.” Lolin motioned them forward. The trees within the valley were lush and green, unlike the rest of the planet’s vegetation, which was dying in the cooling temperatures. It was like this region remained unaffected by the dying star. Jules guessed the locals would attribute this to their god, but she was sure Suma would have a more scientific explanation for them eventually.
“How far up are we?” Dean asked Slate.
“I’d say a good two thousand feet. It’s going to be one hell of a drop,” Slate said.
Lolin shook her head as his words translated. “We have another way.” She was moving quickly despite the fact that she’d walked for an entire day, and through the tunnel pass twice. Jules didn’t know where the girl found the energy.
They stopped at a cliff accompanied by a wooden platform, with an intricate system of poles along the mountain’s downslope. Ropes ran through hand-carved pulleys, and Jules caught on to the purpose of the contraption fairly quickly. “It’s a gondola lift.”
“A what?” Wentle buzzed.
“On Earth, before things like hovering cars and spaceships, they used them to carry people up and down mountains. Right, Uncle Zeke?” Jules explained.
Slate set a hand on her shoulder. “Right, kiddo. But this thing… it looks a little janky. Are you sure it’s safe?"
“We used it to bring our people up late last night,” Lolin told them. “It’s perfectly fine.”
“Fine like walking in the dark through a cavern of flying monsters, fine?” Dean mumbled.
Jules slapped him on the arm, giving him a reproachful glare.
“Everyone in,” Slate ordered, and he placed Kira on the wooden surface, crouching next to her. Her arm had bandages on it, and she seemed even smaller to Jules at that moment. “Are you doing okay, Kira?”
She nodded. “You bet, Professor Slate. I can be tough like Jules too.” She shot Jules a smile, which was quickly returned.
Jules walked onto the platform, and it began to sway in the wind. She grabbed hold of the wooden railing, which only went stomach-high on her. She’d have felt safer if the platform was enclosed, but it was going to be a lot faster than walking down the mountain.
Once they were all on, Lolin explained to Slate how it worked, and soon he was using a large wooden wheel to lower them. Canni helped, and they both grunted as they tried to move the platform smoothly along the cable system. Muscles tensed and jutted out on both of them, and Jules was glad she didn’t have to attempt the feat. Without her abilities, it would have been impossible.
While they descended, she tested her barrier again, attempting to let her powers through, but there was nothing on the other side. She was drained once more.
“Do you think you will be able to help us regain our home?” Lolin asked Jules. They both stood on the end of the platform, resting their elbows on the railing.
“We’ll try,” Jules said. The truth was, they were in a dire situation, and didn’t know if Loweck, Suma, and the rest of the students were safe, or if the Collector had harmed them as well. Jules glanced to the sky, as if seeking a flying ship. It was quiet. She thought he might have left once he’d gathered his specimen, the Nirzu boy. Part of her hoped he was gone, but that would mean Lolin would be without her betrothed.
“Where is your god?” Jules asked, nodding to the valley.
“See the triple peaks directly across from us?” Lolin asked, referencing the largest mountains at the opposite end of the large valley. They were hard to miss.
“Sure. I see them.”
“He rests inside.”
“Good.” Jules almost expected her powers to flare up at the mention of the portal stone, but they remained silent.
“All done,” Slate grunted as they settled into place at the foot of the mountain. As he’d suggested, the fading sunlight was all but gone when they climbed off the platform onto the lush grass below.
&n
bsp; “Maybe we should build one of these for our training facility, Slate,” Canni suggested. He rubbed his biceps, massaging them. “I’ve never had such a good workout.”
“I’ll stick to the classics, thank you.” Slate was the last out, and Jules knew he was exhausted.
“Should we camp here for the night?” she asked.
They all stared at Lolin. “I have the perfect spot.”
A half hour later, they were nestled into a copse of trees, some of them made into shelters by Lolin’s people. “My people use these when we gather herbs and vegetation from this side of the lake,” she explained.
“Lolin, are we in danger here? Any predators we should know about?” Slate asked her as he set up their portable fire system.
“Not unless this Collector returns,” she said.
Slate peered to the darkening sky above. “I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of him yet.” He took a quick glance at Jules, and she felt his implication. If he knew there was an Iskios or something not quite human, she was sure the Collector might turn his eye on her. It was an unsettling notion.
They ate and drank their fill of water, each of them taking turns bathing in the warm lake, washing off the sweat and dirt gathered in the caves.
Soon they found their bed rolls, leaving Jules to fall asleep quickly after the strenuous last couple of days.
____________
“You sure we have time for this detour?” Magnus asked.
“I’m not, but I’d rather be prepared then caught off-guard. Frasier’s going to need time to evaluate the findings from Alfonsi’s, and that buys us a little leeway.” I saw the familiar shape of my parents’ old farmhouse and instantly felt better. This was my home, the place that my family went when we needed to escape the daily hustle and bustle. It had become our home away from home, and I loved coming here. The only thing that would have made this moment better would have been having my family here to greet me.
Old World (The Survivors Book Eleven) Page 18