I slip the familiar ring back onto my finger.
Dad nods in approval and gestures to the door. “We need to go back inside. Maybe they’re done arguing now and we can get some work done.”
The meeting goes on for another hour as Dad fills everyone in on the status of Earth and everything he and Vihann did while they were there. Irene barely says anything. She sits slumped in her chair, seemingly lost in thought.
Finally, we break and most head out to the Starfire field to prepare for the incoming ships.
“Can you wait for me here?” I ask Javen before he has the chance to leave.
“Of course.” He gives me a sweet smile that melts my heart just a little, and then I turn my attention to Irene, who’s still at the table, resting her elbows on the top.
“Can I talk to you in private for a few minutes?” I ask her.
“Huh?” She glances up at me, saying nothing for a second. “Uh . . . sure.”
My attention returns to Javen. “I’ll be a few minutes.”
Leaning against the wall, he bows his head.
“Come outside with me,” I say to Irene.
Her dark eyes are glazed over, but she places her hands against the table’s edge and pushes back in her chair.
“You could use some fresh air,” I say.
Nodding, she stands.
We get outside and I lead us away from the Starfire field and toward a cluster of trees near the refugee camp. Overhead, the sun has risen completely, shedding morning light over the cyan-hued world.
I’m the first to speak. “Having a hard time focusing?”
“I’m just tired,” she admits a little too quickly. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in . . .” Irene thinks for a moment, “. . . in months, really.”
Sighing, I lean up against a rough tree trunk. “You know very well it’s more than that.”
Her arms cross over her chest as she watches the refugee camp, offering no response.
“You’re not going to be able to focus on your work until you know they’re safe.”
Her shoulders, which were creeping up toward her neck, slowly lower with a long, shaky audible breath. When she turns back to me, her cheeks are wet with tears. “Is it that obvious?”
“Mostly to me,” I admit. “I know how much you care about your family. It’s the reason you’re in Arcadia in the first place.”
“Everything I did was to help them, and now I can’t do anything. My aunt and cousins are stuck on a dying planet in one of the worst cities. I don’t even know if they’re alive after that earthquake, and there’s nothing I can do!” Her hands fly to her face while a few sobs escape her.
I’m not entirely sure how she feels about hugging in this moment. Still, I place my arm around her shoulder and hold her. In a flash, she’s pulling me into a tighter embrace, wrapping her arms around me.
We stay that way for a few moments until she finally breaks away and wipes her face while staring at the ground. “I’ll be fine.”
I bite the inside of my cheek before saying, “I don’t think so.”
“There’s nothing we can do. I just need to get my head back in the game.”
“But what if there is something we could do?” I ask.
Irene’s attention flits back to me, a single brow arching in question.
“You said there were two more small portal devices?”
“Yes. They’re at the lab.”
“What if we tapped into Howard’s programming and use one of them to get to Earth? We know they work, because my dad was able to get back.”
A gleam of interest lights up Irene’s eyes, tempered with concern.
“We can use the Earthscape program to find your residence. We go in, get your family, and bring them back here.”
“You would do that? For me?”
“Of course I would do that for you,” I assure her. “I want to get Max out of there, too.”
“If Harris took him, how are you going to know where he is?”
“Hopefully, since Max is his son, he’s not treating him like a total prisoner. I have his contact information. Though, I have no idea if it’ll work because my Dad said he couldn’t contact Max before they exited the portal. But I’m willing to try. I won’t just leave him there. After we get your aunt and cousins, I’ll try to contact him. If we don’t take more than a couple of hours, I don’t think anyone will miss us.”
Irene continues to dry her eyes. “I don’t know, Cassi—”
“I’ve already made up my mind, and it’s going to be a lot easier for me to convince your family to enter a portal if you’re there.”
Exhaling a long sigh, she nods. “Only a few hours, right?”
“Yes.” Reaching for her arm, I lead her back to the dwelling where Javen is waiting and then tell him everything.
“I need for you to come,” I say before he can voice any of his questions. “We need Beda and Yaletha, too. They’re the best warriors. Until any sort of battle starts, they’re not going to have much to do here.”
Javen narrows his brows. “When did you have time to plan all this out?”
“Just now,” I reply.
Reluctantly, Javen agrees, and we head back to the lab. On the way, I message Yaletha and Beda to meet us.
When we arrive, the lab is empty. Everyone must still be at the field. Inside, Irene activates the Earthscape program and quickly brings up LA.
The map displays on the screen and she uses her finger to zoom into her neighborhood.
“There.” She points to the overhead of her building and then changes to a street view from the data stores.
The streets are plain and deserted—only the building layouts. No people, no violence, no earthquake damage. The display shows how the city was before all of that.
Tapping on the building, I examine the specs, then move on to the surrounding structures, including the ones across the street.
“What are you looking for?” Irene asks.
“The building materials, and how likely they were to survive a 9.5 earthquake.”
“And what did you find?” Irene asks, her voice full of hope.
“That it looks good.” I move the screen to the next block and choose another dwelling. “This one is likely to have crumbled, but it shouldn’t affect us.” I swipe again, back to Irene’s building.
Javen points to an alleyway. “The safest exit point will be here. Hopefully, there will not be too many onlookers, and we can immediately cloak from view once we exit the portal.” He pauses for a second, as if in thought. “Although, I have no idea if we can cloak on Earth the same way we can here.”
“What’s going on?” Beda’s voice comes from behind, and I flinch.
I turn toward the door and spot Yaletha and Beda in the opening. “We figured you would be up for a challenge,” I say.
Yaletha clicks her tongue. “Good. No one seems to need us around here until the battle starts.” She walks into the room, gazing at the map on the screen. “Where is that?”
“Earth,” Javen says.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Beda scowls at us. “Why are we looking at a map of Earth?”
I return my attention to the Earthscape program. “Because we’re going there.”
“So, we’re all going to walk up to the portal at the field in front of everyone and tell them we’re going to Earth?” Beda asks.
Instead of answering her, I shift my gaze to Irene, who’s biting her lip as her fingers fly over the keypad at a second computer station. “There!” She tilts a corner of her mouth in a smirk. “I have all the coordinates used for portaing to Earth. All I have to do now is enter the specifics from the Earthscape program to get us exactly where we want to go in LA.”
“What is she talking about?” Yaletha asks, stepping closer.
“Irene’s family is still on Earth, and so is Max,” I remind them. “Neither of us can leave them there to die. We can port in, get them, and come straight back here.”
&
nbsp; Beda makes strong eye contact with Yaletha and tips her head.
“You know it’s not likely to be that easy,” Beda says.
“That’s why we need you to go with us,” I say.
Yaletha’s eyes travel to Javen. “And you agreed to this?”
A deep sigh leaves his chest. “You would do whatever it took to save the people you love, too.”
Not wanting to waste more time, I launch into the plan without giving Yaletha an opportunity to reply. Well, at least, the plan’s first part to retrieve Irene’s aunt and cousins. I leave out the part about Max.
“Their unit is on the fourth floor,” Irene says. “Four twenty-nine.”
The Earthscape program contains a 3D layout of the building, so I make everyone memorize the details and repeat my instructions back to me several times, just in case communication to our Connects fails on Earth.
We also arrange a secondary meeting place if all else fails, since the only way for us to get back to Arcadia and the Intersection is through the portal, and we only have one of those.
“So, are you sure you’re willing?” I ask.
Yaletha pinches her lips together, saying nothing for what seems like way too long. “Well,” she finally answers in a low tone, “Beda and I have never been ones to pass on a challenge. And we do have everything memorized.”
Smiling, I nod. “Lab AI?”
The second the words exit my mouth, a digital younger version of my mom appears to our side. Her strawberry-blonde hair falls over her shoulder. My heart shudders, and honestly, I’m not sure that response to seeing her will ever go away.
“How may I help you, Cassi?”
Yaletha’s eyes widen. “Who’s that?”
“Nothing,” Irene mumbles. “She’s just a computer.”
I realize Javen doesn’t even know this is a version of my mother, but I don’t have time to talk to him about it. So, I straighten my shoulders and turn my attention to Irene.
I have her program messages to send Dad from the AI every few hours, posing as me busy here at the lab. But there’s always the chance he’ll come looking for me.
“The five of us are going to be gone for a few hours,” I say to the AI. “If my dad comes here, will you give him a message?”
“Of course.”
“Love you, Dad. But there were some people we just couldn’t leave behind.”
Chapter 8
I’m the first to step from the portal into the alleyway. The group didn’t think it was smart for me to step out first, but traveling to Earth was my idea and I refused to risk any of their lives for a plan that was my responsibility.
A sigh of relief escapes me when my foot touches the ground and I don’t disintegrate or suffer a terrible fate. My relief is quickly dashed away, however, when I scrutinize the brown sky clouded with . . . smoke? Smog? I’m not really sure, but judging by the cough that rumbles from my lungs, I know it’s not healthy.
Pulling my shirt up over my mouth, I scan the area while my hands ball together. Trash litters the ground and cracks run up the sides of the surrounding buildings, but there are no signs of people. A siren blares in the distance, and my heart speeds up instantly.
I shake my head and bring myself back to the task at hand—no time to waste. Reentering the still-open portal, I find my friends waiting on the other side.
Each of us has a pack slung over our shoulder, filled with a day’s worth of water and food, just in case. My eye moves to the blaster holstered to Beda’s side. She may not need it, but since we don’t know precisely how the Starfire will function on Earth, we each brought a backup weapon.
“What did you see?” Javen asks.
“It’s clear,” I say and wave them to cross over, “but we should move quickly before anyone notices something strange and wants to know what we’re doing. Oh, and you’ll need to cover your mouths after you get through.”
Not waiting for a response, I inhale a deep breath of clean air. Holding it in my lungs, I step back through the portal, which is snapping around me with electricity and light.
The others follow, and once we’re through, Irene quickly closes the portal with the device and then tucks it into her pocket. Everyone pulls up their shirts over their mouths to block the dirty air.
Yaletha gapes around, her eyes wide. “This is where you live?” she mumbles to Irene through the fabric of her shirt.
I’m sure the surroundings are even more of a shock to the Alku than to Irene and me. They’re used to living in pristine environmental conditions. I’m not sure that any of them could have even imagined such filth and destruction.
“Yes.” Irene glances up at the building on our right. “That’s the one.”
“Then we should get moving,” Beda says through the shirt pressed to her mouth. “I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to.”
“Should we attempt cloaking ourselves?” I ask.
Javen scans the alley. “I would rather save our energy for an emergency. No one knows who we are here, so we’re not likely to stand out.”
He’s right. Most people don’t even know my face, even though I’m Richard Foster’s daughter. Plus, it’s not as if ninety-nine percent of people around here in LA ever thought they would get an opportunity to relocate to Arcadia anyway. They have way more important problems linked to their survival than worrying about me, the teenaged daughter of the architect of Earth’s salvation. The thought tightens at my chest.
We race toward the dim streetlight. All the pollution must prevent the sun from doing much of its job. As we run, I peer down at my feet. A nearly cat-sized rat scurries out from under a pile of trash. My eyes widen as I attempt to avoid the wretched creature. But my footwork isn’t as skilled as I might have hoped and I tilt, landing straight on the ground with a solid thump.
“Ugh,” I mutter and push up on my now-stinging arm. My hand lands on something softer than expected. The rat! I flit my attention to where my hand rests. What’s there is much worse than the rat—it’s someone’s leg, clad in a tan pair of stained pants.
Screaming, I scoot away. A strong hand hooks under my arm and yanks me up. The rat’s tail disappears under a pile of litter next to the leg. My attention flies up to Javen, but he’s eyeing the limb, too.
“Is that guy dead?” Irene comes to my side.
“I don’t even know if that leg is still attached to a complete human.” Yaletha clears her throat. “But it looks dead to me. We need to go.”
Beda nods in agreement.
My stomach roils. I can’t tear my eyes from the body. Nor push away thoughts of the rat and its extensive family—no doubt under the litter too. A shudder ripples up my spine.
Javen grips me a little tighter, and somehow his touch calms me.
They are right, he sends to my mind. We need to block everything horrible out and stay on track.
I take a trembling breath. This was your idea, Cassi, I remind myself. Don’t fall apart at every dead body or rodent you see.
Javen’s lips turn up into a supportive smile, and he tips his head toward the street. We catch up to our friends now stopped at the alleyway opening. I drop my shirt collar from my mouth and don’t even bother putting it back.
Before us is more destruction, and considerably worse than the secluded alleyway. Several vehicles are crushed by chunks of random buildings, and farther down the street is a barely standing apartment building. Must be one of the structures I expected wouldn’t make it through the earthquake. Everything is covered in a thin layer of dust. Near an abandoned car, another body is in the driver’s seat, but I look away too quickly to determine if it’s only a shadow playing tricks on me.
I reach for my blaster in my bag’s pocket and grip the handle. Yaletha and Beda, being warriors, have theirs out already and are clearing the area.
A hundred feet away, a woman with graying hair shuffles down the street away from us. She doesn’t seem threatening . . . just an old woman stuck in hell. One we can’t rescue rig
ht now, not without risking our own friends and family.
How can we doom all these people if Renewal doesn't work? But we can’t destroy Paxon simply because we’re out of options.
“Clear,” Beda calls out and waves us forward. “Let’s move.”
I take in her slightly angular features and the thick, dark braid hanging over her left shoulder. She’s a determined, proud woman. I’m glad to call Beda my friend, even if we once didn’t think of each other that way.
What would Beda think of me if she knew I’m honestly considering Hammond’s plan? A tiny part of me—but a part of me nonetheless—understands her desire to save Earth at all costs. I stuff down the horrible thought and hope Javen doesn’t glimpse it in my mind.
On the way to the entrance of Irene’s building, the street around me becomes a blur. The orange-brown sky throws creepy, depressing colors all around. Honestly, these shades mixed with destroyed buildings and streets—except for a few random bodies and a wandering person or two—is too much for me to bear. Blocking most of these images out is my best defense.
“Where is everyone?” Javen asks as we reach the door. The frame pulls over the dust stuck in the track and the door slides back with a scrape.
“I’m guessing that if people had a way out of LA, they took it,” Irene says. “But even in better times, most people tried to stay inside as much as possible. Too dangerous on the streets.”
Inside the entrance, we find more trash and a floor covered in dust, speckled with footprints. A man with crazy, dirty blond hair sticking up all over the place is passed out against the corner wall. He’s clutching a half-drunk bottle of clear liquid—alcohol, I would guess, since he’s pretty much dead to the world—but his chest still rises and falls. Unconscious, but not dead. Yet.
“Probably a squatter,” Irene says as we move past him. “Most of the people in this building have been here for generations. The building is rent-controlled. But I don’t recognize him.”
I spot the stairwell up ahead and remember it from the building schematics in the Earthscape program. That’s our route.
The Starfire Wars: The Complete Series Page 54