by Sarah Noffke
Eddie gave her a roguish smile as he eased past her. “Don’t worry, boss. I’ll be right back.”
The suction of the tear quadrupled the moment he took a step forward, pulling at him with a strange intensity. Eddie felt like he was simultaneously walking against wind and being propelled forward. It was a bizarre feeling that he realized might mess up his movement, if he attempted to compensate for the competing forces in any way.
He crouched down low as he cleared the next few feet. The light from the tear was so bright it burned his eyes; a solar eclipse only yards away. A loud roar, like a train passing overhead, took over his hearing, blocking out all other noise. It felt like he was in the center of a tornado and was about to be thrown out of it.
Eddie lifted his foot, feeling an overwhelming pressure pulling it forward. He decided it would be best to crawl, and made to lower to the ground, but the vortex yanked him forward.
“Eddie!” Julianna yelled in panic.
The force dragged him several yards before he was able to anchor his weight and land on all fours. The tear was only five feet away now, the instrument within his reach. He extended his hand, his fingers brushing the edge of the device.
Inching forward with his face close to the rocky ground, Eddie gritted his teeth against the force spilling out of the vortex. He hoped his nanocytes were enough to hold up against the radiation blasting him in the face. If not, I might as well let the tear swallow me up and spit me out who knows where.
Again he reached out, extending his arm to its full length. His fingers bumped up against the instrument, knocking it farther away from him.
“Fuck me!” he yelled, the pressure on his face almost more than he could bear.
He took in a breath of what felt like cold wind and closed his eyes to the brightness. Operating on instinct, he placed his free hand under his chest for support and inched forward. His outstretched hand slipped around the handle of the device, but Eddie didn’t allow himself a moment of victory. Instead, he yanked the instrument toward his chest and rolled back the way he’d come, pulling up to a standing position.
As he tried to retreat, the force drawing him backwards was even more compelling than before. He fought the slope of the cave, the vortex and the howling wind. Eddie picked up his leaden foot to move forward and knew immediately that he’d lose the battle. He whipped his head around, covering it with his arm, firmly believing he was about to plummet into the oblivion.
He slipped back several inches, but something caught his arm and, with an impressive amount of force, drew him forward.
Eddie strained around to find Julianna dragging him back up to the flatter ground of the cave, her breathing ragged. When he was a safe distance from the tear, she let him go and doubled over, heaving on each exhale.
“Thank you,” Eddie said, his own voice hoarse. He handed the instrument to Cheng, who looked paler behind the hood of his suit.
“You nearly ruined my day,” Julianna said, straightening.
“You’re not done with me yet, Jules,” Eddie said with a relieved wink.
Chapter Nineteen
Hatch’s Lab, Ricky Bobby, Paladin System
“Do you want the bad news, the horrible news or the horrifying news first?” Hatch asked when Julianna and Eddie strode into his lab.
“I don’t think you understand how this game works,” Julianna said. “We’re supposed to be given an option between good and bad.”
“These are trying times,” Hatch said, his face drawn. “If there was any good news to be had, I’d give it to you.”
“I’ll take bad news for two hundred, Alex,” Eddie said.
Julianna shot him an incredulous look.
“What?” he asked, throwing his hands into the air. “It’s a fucked up time; I almost got sucked into oblivion. We’ve got to try and make light of things, or we’ll lose our spirit.”
Ignoring him, Julianna returned her attention to Hatch. “What’s the bad news?”
“According to my research, gold can be used to create a protective shield while transporting living organisms using the Tangle Thief,” Hatch stated. “But you’d need an awful lot of it.”
“Like a few tons taken from a mine?” Julianna asked.
“Yeah, that would do the trick,” Hatch chirped reluctantly.
“So if the Saverus cover an entire building or ark or whatever it is that they have with gold, it will protect what’s inside when they teleport Savern using the Tangle Thief?” Eddie asked.
Hatch shrugged. “I’m afraid so. I didn’t think it was possible, but they appear to have found the solution.”
“Which means that you were wrong when you said that there was no way they were building an ark and trying to transport animals,” Eddie teased.
“And he was wrong when he said that there was no material that could protect living creatures being transported,” Ricky Bobby stated overhead.
Hatch puffed up his cheeks. “So I made my first mistakes. Sue me.”
“Why gold, though?” Julianna asked.
“Gold can’t be corrupted the way other metals can,” Hatch explained. “Its chemical structure is the least reactive.”
“Are they really going to gold plate an entire structure or whatever it is that they need to take with them to Savern?” Julianna asked.
Hatch turned his attention to one of his workstations, checking the screen. “There are only thirty-five hundred species of life native to Savern.”
“That’s all?” Eddie asked, surprised.
“Only a select few can survive the hot climate,” Hatch reasoned.
“Is anyone else surprised that the Saverus come from a planet likened to hell?” Pip asked overhead.
“There you are, little buddy. Where you been?” Eddie asked. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve been busy working on my hedge fund portfolio,” Pip answered.
Eddie rolled his eyes. He sensed that Pip, who had initially loved the idea of being paired with him, now felt a little strange about the whole thing. Maybe he felt like he was cheating on Julianna. Or maybe he didn’t trust himself after the Corvette incident. Having a body was complicated, especially for an AI who was new to the whole thing.
“So all of the species on Savern could be housed in a manageable location?” Julianna asked Hatch, already thinking about their next move.
“It would still be sizable, but yes,” Hatch confirmed.
“How hard is it to find a giant-ass warehouse that’s being gold plated?” Eddie asked.
“About as hard as trying to find a four-leaf clover in a field of three-leaf clovers,” Pip answered.
“So that’s more of the horrible news,” Eddie guessed.
Hatch shrugged. “I’m afraid so. The Saverus have everything they need to succeed. Now it’s a matter of time before they execute their plan and steal Savern.”
“And then what?” Eddie asked.
Hatch shook his head, his expression morose. “The tear would be too large to close, and it would suck us in one way or another. It wouldn’t matter where we were.”
Eddie remembered all too well how powerless he had been to resist the force of the tear created by the missing chunk of cave. He couldn’t imagine the force of one large enough to fit a planet through.
Julianna let out a heavy sigh. “We have to keep searching. I’ll go talk with Penrae. Maybe there’s something she’s overlooked. There has to be another option. Something we’re missing.”
The anxiety in her tone unnerved Eddie. He’d never heard her so flustered.
“There’s something else,” Hatch said, his voice careful.
“What?” Julianna asked, her eyes widening.
“It’s relatively small in the scheme of things, but it’s something that I thought you should know,” Hatch stated.
“Go on,” Eddie urged.
“The pet store from Onyx Station was located,” Hatch said. “It was found on Savern.”
“We can’t find a giant warehouse being gold pla
ted, but we were able to locate a small shop?” Eddie asked.
“It’s a bit easier to find a place that materializes out of thin air,” Hatch said, irritation heavy in his voice. “The Saverus were obviously just testing with the pet store, not overly concerned with its final location. My guess is that they had the gold sent to a place that wouldn’t attract attention; the same goes for whatever location they’ve chosen for the ark.”
“The animals?” Julianna asked, the unspoken part of the question hanging in the air.
Hatch blinked, looking away. “That’s why they needed the gold. The animals were all dead when the authorities found them.”
Eddie pressed his eyes shut. It was only animals in a shop, but it was fucking innocent animals in a shop.
“Since we know what the Saverus are looking for,” Julianna began, her words slow-coming like she was processing as she spoke, “Can we look for leads on Savern? Evidence of places where native animals and plants have been farmed for this ultimate goal?”
“That’s a good idea, Julianna,” Pip stated overhead. “I wish I had thought of that. Oh, wait…I did.”
“Anything useful?” Eddie asked.
“There’s a handful of leads, but the Saverus got a head start,” Pip stated.
“Loop Penrae in on what you find,” Julianna ordered. “She knows her people best and might see a clue we’d overlook. If we discover the facility, it might lead us to the Saverus.”
“And if we find the Saverus, we can take back the Tangle Thief before they have a chance to use it,” Eddie stated.
Julianna nodded back at him with pained conviction.
Chapter Twenty
Anara, Cantjik Sea, Planet Sagano, Behemoth System
Fletcher knew exactly why Rosco had chosen the caves as his hideout. Not only would most enemies make the same mistake he did and think that the open compound was where Rosco was located, but the cave was also only accessible from the interior of the island. That meant they’d have to land the Q-Ship on the eastern side of the island and hike around. One entrance made the break-in even tougher—only one way in and out. Rosco operated with brute force, but Fletcher was going to take him out with stealth.
Nona activated her personal cloaking belt when the hatch door opened to reveal the jungle stretching out on the other side of the ship. She flickered for a moment and then disappeared.
“This is really bizarre,” her disembodied voice said.
“Just remember that it’s not foolproof,” Lars warned, a sturdy expression in his eyes. “These guards may not be keen, but if they are alert, they’ll hear you moving through the forest, or see the surroundings you displace, like the sand and leaves.”
“I appreciate the heads-up, but I can handle it,” Nona stated.
“She’s like a cat; most targets never hear her coming,” Fletcher said, a proud smile on his face.
“I’ll be up that tree and ready on your mark.” Nona’s voice was confident, which Fletcher was glad for. Her position was crucial for this mission to be successful, and it all relied on timing.
“Okay, go on, then,” Fletcher stated.
Nona chuckled over the comm. “I’ve already left the ship.”
“Oh, right.” Fletcher laughed and turned to Lars, holding up the other cloaking belt. “Are you sure you won’t take this?”
Lars shook his head. “The point is that I need to be seen.”
In truth, they’d reviewed the plan, and this made the most sense. It was frustrating, though, that there were only two cloaking belts. Life seemed to always be short one life preserver. It was a cruel joke.
“I’d still feel better if you could disappear after creating the diversion,” Fletcher told him.
Lars wasn’t on his team of special forces soldiers, he was a friend, volunteering for this mission. Therefore, Fletcher couldn’t order him to do anything.
“Don’t worry,” Lars encouraged. “I’m excellent at running and blending in. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
Fletcher nodded. “Well, it’s a big risk and it means a lot that you’re doing this. Thank you.”
“It’s what friends do,” Lars stated simply.
“I’m in position,” Nona said over the comm.
Lars’ mouth dropped open. “Damn. That was fast.”
“I told you,” Fletcher stated.
“How is it even humanly possible she got there so fast?” Lars asked.
“I’m not certain that Officer Fuller is human, actually,” Fletcher said, fastening the cloaking belt around his waist. He offered Lars one last look of appreciation before activating the belt and disappearing.
It was much easier to hide when the goal was to be caught.
Lars was instantly transported back to his childhood, when he and his brother would play bounty hunter in the woods. He would pretend to be the fugitive, and Dequan would be the bounty hunter. Dequan would give Lars a fifteen-minute head start, but Lars didn’t like the hiding part of the game as much as fleeing. He’d use his fifteen minutes to position himself in the perfect place to be found, giving himself the best advantage for escaping.
Dequan expected his brother to run deep into the forest to get a head start on him, so his surprise was always entertaining when he found Lars close by after his time was up. Dequan would find him waving from the opposite side of the ravine, or on the other side of the creek, which Lars would have to cross with cautious precision in the Spring months.
Now, Lars stayed low as he negotiated his way through the jungle on the island of Anara. Although he was Kezzin like Rosco’s crew, he wasn’t dressed the same as the guerilla members. He was dressed to blend in with his surroundings, even though the path he’d chosen was not easily visible from the cave or the compound.
Lars had studied the island from the cloaked Q-Ship, mapping out the best route as he watched the routine of the guards. It would have been easy to bomb the island from the safety of the ship, but they’d also be destroying the resources the natives desperately needed. Fletcher had promised the tribe that the island would go untouched, and Lars was going to help him keep that promise.
When he reached the large mound of boulders that lay halfway between the caves and the compound, he halted, putting his back against the rock and letting out a sigh of relief.
“I’m here,” he said into the comm.
Fletcher couldn’t believe how smoothly everything was going. Nona and Lars were both in place, and soon he would be, too.
The cave entrance was only twenty feet up a steep scree. Getting up there wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was getting up there, cloaked, without alerting the two guards that flanked the entrance.
Fletcher chose a path that went to the left of the entrance. It involved a steeper climb, but it put him exactly where he needed to be—against the eastern facing side of the cave—and he wouldn’t be in the guards’ direct line of vision.
Listening to the distant mumbling of the guards, Fletcher searched for grips on the rock. There were plenty of cracks for him to wedge his toes into, but finding solid handholds was growing more challenging as he ascended.
Taking a shallow breath, Fletcher felt around the smooth section of the rock, trying to find something he could pinch onto. His father had taught him how to rock climb, and his words came back to him now. ‘Every climb is merely a problem to be solved. There is always a solution.’
Fletcher spotted a large grip to the left, a jug. If he could transverse over a bit, he would be able to pull himself up on it, nearly completing the crux of the climb. Using resistance, Fletcher pressed his hand into a slate of rock and pinned his toe to the same piece. He shoved off, suspended in air for a moment before his left hand caught the hold. His feet flailed in the air for a few seconds, attached to nothing. Fletcher brought his other hand around on the jug and lifted his body up, finding footholds.
With sweat pouring down into his eyes, he paused, taking small sips of air. Fletcher wiped his forehead against his shoulder
and glimpsed the view beneath him. His breath caught in his throat. Looking down is always a mistake. The ground seemed to taunt him from thirty feet below. He hadn’t realized how far he’d come, or how high the cave was from this angle.
Shoving away his fear, Fletcher pushed off the jug with one hand, reaching for his next handhold. He only had a few more feet to go until he would be on the wide ledge that ran around the cave.
The jug shifted under his hand. Fletcher jolted, falling a few inches. His feet scrambled against the rock, looking for a safer hold. With great effort, Fletcher pressed off the jug and caught a new grip. The rock broke away as the force of his weight left it, and he watched it tumble past his feet and roll down to the ground.
“What was that?” one of the guards called out in alarm.
Fletcher looked up to see the two guards hurrying around the side of the cave, looking his way. If he weren’t cloaked, they’d be staring straight at him. With both of his hands required to hold onto the rock, Fletcher was a sitting duck. If they spotted him, they’d open fire, and he’d fall to his death. He had to hope the cloaking belt didn’t fail right then.
Cementing his body to the rock, Fletcher tried not to even breathe, counting the seconds as the guards scanned the area.
“Loose rocks is all,” one of the guards finally said.
“Come on, it’s almost time for break,” the other said, waving his partner back to the entrance.
Fletcher exhaled in relief and heaved himself up onto the ledge, not making a sound. When he’d regained his composure, he straightened fully.
“I’m in position,” he whispered over the comm.
Lars checked his watch. They had three minutes until the two guards from the compound would cross by this rock structure on their way to relieve the guards at the cave entrance. Plenty of time to climb up to the top of this boulder and give these guerillas a little show.
“The guards are leaving the compound now,” Nona reported over the comms.