Smoke wafts into the room and I cough. Dr. Owens has disappeared into his bedroom again, and Irene is frantic in the kitchen, trying to find cloths to wet and place over our mouths.
“The northeast side of the building is engulfed.” The hologram goes silent for a moment when he turns his head away to speak with someone. He turns back to me and shakes his head. “Beda can’t transport you either. It’s crazy out here. We made it across the street, but a group of guards is blocking the entrance to the building. A handful of people from the Earth First rally are throwing hand bombs. Ships are flying in left and right.”
A loud boom sounds, rattling the building again, and I wince.
“Another huge chunk on the side of your building is gone!”
“We need to figure out another way,” I say, voice shaking. “If you need to, take Beda and get back to base.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Max says.
“There might be no choice! We shouldn’t all die.” My mind reels as I click off my Connect and Max’s face vanishes.
Someone or something is blocking the Starfire’s energy, keeping Beda and me from transporting.
“Dr. Owens!” Irene calls, as she finally holds up a couple of wet cloths. “We need to go.”
“I’m coming!” he yells from the other room, his voice peppered with frustration.
After testing for heat, I throw open the still-cool door, but thick smoke wafts into the room.
“Let’s go now, or there’s a chance we’re not getting out of here alive!” I yell to him.
I cover my mouth and nose with a cloth and then check for my gun tucked in the back of my pants. Still there.
Owens finally appears with a bag slung over his shoulder. “If this is as bad as I think, I’m probably not coming back here,” he says, his face glistening with sweat. “I need this for my research.”
I recheck my bag for Dad’s journal before tossing Dr. Owens a cloth.
“You get everything?” I ask him.
“I doubt it,” he says. “But the situation is what it is.”
The three of us dash from the apartment as two other people from this floor push past, nearly knocking me to the ground. I throw my palm to the wall to catch myself. Orange flames lick at the opposite end of the hall. The smoke stings my eyes, and I hustle to locate an exit other than the elevator.
I refuse to die today.
The man and woman ahead of us throw open a door leading to the staircase. Typically, when there’s a fire, the building’s bot crew is released with chemical fire retardant and the building's water system is activated. But there’s nothing. Not even alarms. The building is burning to the ground, and the residents inside could be trapped. Could this whole event have been planned? My lungs burn as we dart into the stairwell and thunder down the steps. Finally, our feet hit the street level and we charge out of the building and into pandemonium. A group of people across the way hold laser pistols and are shooting at a group of soldiers who are running down the street. Overhead, two small ships hover in the sky.
With a sharp inhale, I take in a lungful of somewhat breathable air. Then I stuff the corner of my wet cloth into my pocket, in case of more smoke. Quickly, I scan the area and watch as a guy throws something into a building on the next block. Fire explodes from the opening and sends debris flying. A mix of terror and anger fills the faces on the street as some people scatter while others try to prevent them from fleeing. I scan the crowds for Max and Beda, but I can’t see anyone familiar.
“Where are the others?” I shout over the noise to Irene. She remains next to Dr. Owens, helping him carry his bag from the building. I tap my Connect, but nothing happens. That’s not working either now? What’s going on?
“Come back with us,” I call to Owens. “Then we can figure all this out.”
Irene urges him forward in the direction we need to go. “Keep your heads down and don’t make eye contact,” Irene yells over the noise. “Don’t stop until we're clear.”
I readjust my bag and snatch the gun from my waistband. Irene does the same with hers, looking a million times more comfortable with her weapon.
“Be careful with that,” she says into my ear. “It’s easy to shoot the wrong person.”
I nod and push my way into the crowd. Several times I check to see if Irene and Owens are still behind me and then re-orient myself. Still no Max and Beda.
Two blocks away, just as the crowd seems to be thinning, a militia of silver soldier bots rounds the corner of a building and cuts me off from Irene like a knife. I raise up on my toes and try to see what direction Irene and Owens are being pushed toward when an explosive detonates near them. The last thing I see is Dr. Owens being thrown to the ground before the bots completely block my view and force me away. I scream for Irene, but the soldier bots are a relentless swarm. Though I tried to avoid them, several nearly hit me and I slam to the sidewalk. I push to my feet again, keeping hold of my gun.
“Hey,” a voice calls out to me.
I swing my head toward the sound and point the gun in the direction of the voice. Alina is coming straight for me, throwing her hands in the air when she spots my weapon.
I lower the gun. “I need to get Irene!” I scream.
“We need to get off the street!” she yells and grabs my arm, pulling me farther from where I last saw Irene.
Tears pour from my eyes. “I can’t leave her!”
But Alina doesn’t listen or stop until she gets us to a quieter alley between two buildings.
My chest heaves and I strain to catch my breath. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” she says, looking around. “I was on my way to a delivery, and one of those Earth First rallies erupted. Everyone went crazy. My Connect isn’t working, so I couldn’t get any news or figure out a safe way to escape. Then I spotted you.”
I slump against the wall, and my bag drops off my arm, flipping the top open. The brown journal catches my eye. I close the flap, and Alina reaches out and helps me secure the strap to my shoulder. I check around the corner. Most of the people have scattered by now. But no sign of Irene or Dr. Owens. Or Max or Beda. I can’t wander around here and search for them. My best bet is to head directly to our base.
“Do you have a safe place to go?” I ask.
Alina nods. “Yeah, a couple of blocks from here.”
“You sure?” I’ve no idea if I should bring Alina with us, but I can’t just leave her out here, either.
“I’ll be fine. I’m expected, and I need to show up for my meeting or they’ll think I’m dead,” she says and adjusts her shirt. “Stay safe.”
Alina squares herself and then dashes from the safety of our niche between the buildings.
I grip my gun and do the same.
Chapter 14
Irace toward the perimeter of the base but must push my way through a crowd held up and turned away by guards.
“I need to get in!” I yell.
The guard scans me up and down.
“I’m Richard Foster’s daughter. This is where I’m supposed to be.”
With a sudden wide-eyed look of recognition, he pulls me out of the crowd and pilots me to a check-in station.
“Palm ID?” a female guard asks.
I raise my hand and she scans my palm. The scanner beeps.
“Get inside,” she says. “But I’m not sure how long we’re going to be here.”
With no time to ask questions, I sprint from the guard station to the building we’re staying in. Overhead fly five—no six—ships defending our airspace from the other side’s aircraft.
I bite my lip as I run. The tang of iron skims over my tongue. I wipe the taste from my mouth as I sprint by others who also are hurrying toward safety.
Another armed guard meets me at the building entrance, and I repeat the palm ID process. He, too, lets me pass.
I take the stairs down to the floor where Irene works and head toward the office she was last in. I throw open the partially cr
acked door and find all three of my friends inside—not that Beda is a friend, but I’m still glad she’s here. Relief travels over my entire body. Beda has her back against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Irene is sitting at her station, head in hands and crying—not something I would expect from her. Max is pacing. My heart jitters. Max turns, sees me, and races my way, throwing his arms around me.
“You’re okay,” he says into my hair.
His embrace feels good, safe. “Yeah,” I say, about to tell them how Alina pulled me away from the soldier bots, but then I notice not everyone is here. “Where's Dr. Owens?”
A somber expression washes over Max’s face and he focuses on the floor.
“Apparently he was with Irene,” Beda says flatly, “and he was shot.”
Irene quietly sobs into her hands. I walk over and kneel in front of my friend.
“I’m sure there was nothing you could do,” I say.
She glances up at me. “I could have. I saw the shooter raising his gun before he hit Owens. I should have shot him first. But I didn’t . . . couldn’t.” She finishes the last word in a faint, choked whisper.
I slip my arms around her waist and lean my head on her lap. We all stay silent for several minutes as the pops of distant bombs rumble through the walls.
“I did get his bag,” Irene finally whispers once more.
I look up at her. She tips her head to her left side. The bag lies on the floor, a red stain of blood marring the fabric. Maybe there’s something inside that will be helpful to us. I scoot over to the bag and grab the strap just as my Connect vibrates on my wrist. The devices are working again.
An image appears on the screen.
Hammond.
My stomach tenses. I had hoped she was dead, though the chances of that were slim. And I’m sure she’s behind all this.
“Greetings, Primaro.” Hammond says, her features stiff and emotionless. She’s dressed in a stark, black suit with her hair pulled from her face, accentuating the severe angles of her cheekbones.
The camera pans wide, and I recognize the outside of the Capitol building. Off camera, the crowd is yelling and screaming. I can’t tell yet if it’s in support or defiance of Hammond.
Hammond raises her hands in the air and the crowd quiets. I know that whatever is going to happen next can’t be good. My mind races with possibilities, and the only plausible option right now is to travel to the Alku side. Hammond doesn't understand yet how to use the Starfire to transport to Paxon. At least going there might give us time to figure out a plan and keep us out of harm's way. But then, I remember how neither Beda nor I can transport. And if mining starts again, removing Starfire will likely destroy the Paxon side of the Intersection anyway.
I grit my teeth back to reality.
“We are humans, and Earth is our responsibility,” Hammond says. “If there is a way to save the planet and the billions of people who still live there, we must move forward down that path.”
Enzo Leon stands behind Hammond, along with several members of the World Senate whom I vaguely recognize. What are they planning to do? And what happened to the truce and Hirata’s election? But if Hammond has taken over the Capitol building, then all that hope is out the window.
The camera pans again, showing several faces I don’t recognize, and then two I do from the files I saw. Dr. Ann Jonas and Dr. Grant Abbot, the two other former members of Dad’s team. Their faces are stiff, expressions nervous. Jonas’s ash-blond hair is more tousled than what I remember from the immaculate image on her ID. Like they’re being forced to stand before the cameras. Probably the only reason Dr. Owens isn’t up there is because he had been hiding at Dad’s lab . . . before he died, that is.
“Earth has claimed Arcadia, and we will take the resources we need to save our primary home. During my absence, my scientists have been working on a way to harness the Starfire’s power. Our first step was to counter the Alku’s defenses that were blocking us from the city of Primaro and also preventing us from entering the Starfire fields. And we successfully achieved step one.” She pauses a beat. “We now have a series of devices called Inhibitors.”
The scene switches to show several small silver hovers, the same ones I saw over Owens’s building during the attack. That’s what must be keeping me from transporting. Do Javen or any of the others even know what’s happening here?
I scan around the room. Irene is still seated and stares at her holographic computer screen, which displays Hammond too largely for my taste. My eyes are drawn to the President’s neckline where the Starfire necklace she ripped from my neck now hangs. My stomach roils at the sight of my crystal.
Max has slipped partially out into the hall and speaks to someone out there. Beda paces on my left, teeth clenched and fingers pumping in and out of her fists.
“We have full control of the Turner Space Fold,” Hammond continues, “and hundreds of miners are ready to begin harvesting the Starfire for Earth to begin the healing process.”
How am I going to warn Javen and the Council, if they don’t know? There must be a way to get word to them. But if I’m blocked from using the Starfire, I can’t contact Javen.
“The city is on immediate lockdown,” she says to the camera. “Any and all job placements will be reassessed. Our new focus in Arcadia will be Starfire extraction and the utilization of this resource. If we do not take this route, great portions of the Earth will succumb to the atmosphere’s breakdown. Mining the Starfire is our best chance to ensure the survival of our species. To secure a future where humans survive and thrive, we must prevent anyone who blocks our way to save Earth. The Alku are an evil people. This evaluation of their species was determined when attempting to make a peaceful agreement between our kind and theirs. They refused.”
Nausea wells inside me. I know the Alku are willing to help save Earth. My dad was developing a plan for restoration. It’s Hammond who doesn’t want to utilize this option.
The crowd erupts with chants of “Save Earth, Save Earth!”
The camera pans back again, and my eyes widen as I see three people led out in front of Hammond—Hirata, Cooper, and Luca Powell. Since Luca supported Hirata, he must now be Hammond’s enemy. The three of them are secured with hands behind their backs.
“These three Board members have been charged with treason against Earth,” Hammond says. “They attempted to make private deals with the Alku in order to save themselves.”
Hirata’s face is damp with tears as a guard shoves her forward. This can’t be happening. Hirata was supposed to fix everything. The Senate was swinging to her side. They just elected her yesterday.
My fists clench in desperation. Once Wirrin’s faction finds out what’s happening, it will only lead to war. And if Hammond is aware of the Starfire’s power within the Intersection, she will use it. I grit my teeth. Don’t these people understand attempting to save Earth by stealing the Starfire could annihilate all of humanity?
I look around the room to find Max and ask if he knows anything about the announcement, but he’s gone. I return my attention to the screen just as Hirata hits the ground. A guard stands next to her, laser pistol still extended. Wasting no time, the next guard shoves Cooper forward and the same is done to him. I retch, but nothing comes.
The two bodies lie limp on the ground as Luca is brought to the front. His usual swagger and bravado is replaced with terror as his legs shake beneath him. A guard raises his weapon, and Luca drops to his knees.
I choke on a forming sob. Despite my distaste for Luca Powell, I have no desire to see him executed.
“I’m loyal, I’m loyal!” he yells. “Please don’t kill me!”
The guard glances at Hammond, and she raises her hand to pause the proceedings. She walks forward and kneels in front of Luca, and then leans in to whisper into his ear. Then Hammond rises and returns focus onto the camera and hushed crowd.
A tense grin stretches across her lips and she extends her hand to Luca. He takes it, and s
he pulls him to his feet.
“We are generous and desire to forgive. Luca Powell has extended his loyalty to the will of the World Senate.”
Luca darts his eyes over the crowd and then looks to the ground.
“The Senate will display mercy. But traitors must be eliminated.”
As the words exit Hammond’s mouth, the building we’re in shudders with an explosion. The holograms snap off from our Connects and the computer screen.
Max throws open the door. “Hammond staged a coup. At least twenty of the World Senate members have been assassinated and many are missing. We’re evacuating the building.”
“Where are we going to go?” asks Irene. “It’s probably too late!”
Beda slams her fist on the wall. “Why did I have to be here?!”
Irene grabs Dr. Owens’s bag. She stands and straightens out her shirt, then drops her shoulders from their tense position. “I’m getting our stuff from below.” She looks to Max. “I have time, right?”
Max hits his Connect and studies the screen for a second. “Be back in ten minutes.”
Irene nods. “I’ll get your things, too, Cassi.”
I don’t even get a chance to answer before she’s out the door.
“We’re going to that lab of yours,” Beda demands.
“We can’t go there. Hammond’s people will find us and then Dad’s data.”
“They may locate the lab eventually anyway,” Beda says. “We need to get out there, find everything your father was working on, and destroy the lot. Burn it all to the ground. Otherwise, Hammond could use the information against us.”
“Destroy it? No way!” I say while thinking of the AI version of my mother. It’s weird and all, but seeing her again brought me a measure of comfort. “You just don’t want any humans mastering the Starfire. We need to get out there and access all the information. Once the data is secured, then we can wipe it out.”
A blaring alarm sounds through the building and I clap my hands over my ears.
“Please calmly proceed to the exits,” an unseen male voice says. “Escorts will be waiting to evacuate all personnel from the premises.”
The Starfire Wars: The Complete Series Page 26