But it was no use. It refused to follow.
A horrible sinking sensation dropped through me.
The Kraython AI knew about the missiles lying in wait. It knew if it went around the back of the planet, it would be in trouble.
I wondered how long it would be before the Leviathan arrived.
How long did I have left?
Minutes?
Seconds?
I swung Star Chaser around, dove at the Kraython, then headed to the dark side of the planet once again, but it still refused to follow me.
“Fine,” I growled.
If I couldn’t take the Kraython ship to a missile, I’d bring a missile to it.
I only wanted one.
I swallowed, hoping a small ship like Star Chaser wouldn’t attract any more.
Gritting my teeth and determined not to lose, I rounded the planet and leaned forward in my seat, scouring outer space for the missiles. “Come on, come on.”
I flew deeper into the darkness. Where the hell were they?
I sped on, flying in wide, sweeping arcs, trying to cover as wide an area as possible. I was about to give up when a thousand pinpricks of light came into view—a cluster of objects in high orbit, waiting like a pack of wolves for their prey.
Bingo.
I slowed, coming to what I hoped was a stop, and waited, but none of them moved.
I peered at them, edging forward until detail presented itself. Yep, definitely missiles. Their sleek bodies and pointed noses gave no doubt.
Haven’t they seen me?
Is Star Chaser too small a ship for them to bother?
Another radical idea hit me, and I crept toward the planet instead. If they thought it was under threat, they might—
Lights flashed at the corner of my eye as three missiles broke free and flew straight toward me.
My heart leapt into my throat. Ah, crap.
I spun Star Chaser around and flew as fast as I could, racing back around the planet.
“Three of them? Seriously?”
I glanced over my shoulder. The missiles were gaining on me.
I had no other plan.
No other ideas.
“This, or nothing.”
I punched into the light, heading straight for the debris field. I hoped Skylar and the others had spotted what I was doing and moved to a safe distance, but there was no way to radio and ask. Not with the limited transmission range.
Star Chaser moved among the debris. A split second later, the first missile exploded behind me as it hit a chunk of spaceship. The wave of energy sent me tumbling, slamming into more junk, and my health fell to seven percent.
Shaking uncontrollably, I somehow regained control, clawing my way through the debris and smashing into more on the way. Junk slid over Star Chaser’s hull, threatening to tear it apart.
A second missile exploded to my right, shoving me sideways into a chunk of a spaceship the size of a double-decker bus, and the canopy cracked.
I pressed my spacesuit’s collar and the helmet sprang up, covering my head just as Star Chaser’s front window popped out.
Six percent health.
Cursing, I wrapped my feet around the legs of the chair to avoid getting sucked out into space. I spiralled down and through the debris, the remaining missile mere feet behind me.
Then I glimpsed the Kraython ship. It was in retreat, clearly realising my plan, but it was clumsy and slow among the debris.
Seconds later, I zoomed past the missile, Star Chaser’s bodywork scraping the Kraython ship’s hull.
A giant ship swung into view—hundreds of stories tall, with thousands of windows and a rounded top reminiscent of a humpback whale—and loomed over the debris field.
Cannons rose from the top of the Leviathan, and it fired on the Kraython drone, obliterating it with one well-aimed blast. Then, much to my horror, two missiles shot past me, heading straight for the giant ship.
I stared. All I could think about was my grandmother.
The Leviathan shot down one missile, but the second darted around the gunfire and struck the hull.
I raised my arm, shielding my eyes from the blinding light of the blast, and my heart sank.
The Leviathan had taken a direct hit.
They hadn’t adjusted their shields.
Trembling, I lowered my arm.
Grandma Alice.
A hole in the side of Leviathan spewed matter into space, reminding me of a harpooned whale.
Another missile flew past, heading straight for the ship—
the death blow.
Instinct took over, and I raced after it, roaring. In seconds, I overtook the missile, placing Star Chaser between the missile and Leviathan.
The missile swerved, but not fast enough. I backed Star Chaser into it, at the same time launching myself through the cockpit window as hard as I could. A split-second later, an explosion disintegrated what was left of Star Chaser and slammed me into the debris.
Pain shot through my whole body as I banged and crashed through the space junk until I finally came to a patch of open space.
I drifted, curled into the foetal position, with a health meter on only two percent. My suit was torn in several places, and pain pressed through my skin, gnawing at my sinews like butcher’s knives. The world was growing darker.
Another three missiles raced past, heading straight for the Leviathan.
I squeezed my eyes closed.
I’ve lost.
It wouldn’t be long before that two percent of health ran out.
I only hoped Grandma Alice was unharmed. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to her.
I forced my eyes open as the missiles hit the side of the Leviathan, and then—
The Leviathan’s shields lit up in greens and purples, flexing in and out, waves of energy running over its hull like ripples on a pond as it absorbed the missile impacts. When they vanished, the Leviathan was unharmed.
My vision narrowed as a familiar shape glided over to me, blocking my view of the Leviathan—a shuttle from the Last Horizon with Skylar and Eve on board.
Forty-Five
I slipped in and out of consciousness as the girls pulled me into the shuttle and flew back to the Last Horizon. Every muscle hurt, every bone ached, and my head thumped.
As soon as we touched down in the hangar bay, someone pressed my spacesuit’s collar, and the helmet retracted. Eve’s face appeared over me with an anxious expression. “Are you okay?”
I tried to shrug but couldn’t. It hurt too damn much.
Eve knelt and kissed me on the cheek.
I went to kiss her back, but hurried footfalls made me stop, and someone wolf whistled.
“Slow down, lovebirds,” Mason said.
Kelvin and Skylar laughed, and my cheeks flushed, but my health meter rose to sixteen percent and colour returned to the world around me.
Hmm. Interesting.
Perhaps I really didn’t need to eat any more of the disgusting chirorja crap after all.
Mason and Skylar lifted me to my feet and helped me from the shuttle, beaming like idiots.
I glanced around the hangar bay, more than a little surprised and relieved to see the Last Horizon holding together.
Then I remembered the Leviathan.
I looked at my friends. “How come those missiles didn’t destroy the Leviathan?” I croaked. “What happened?”
Skylar threw an arm around Kelvin. “You’ve got the boy genius to thank.”
“Boy?” Kelvin frowned at her, then turned to me. “You know we were hoping the Leviathan would see the destroyed fleet in the few minutes the signal blocker was down?”
I nodded.
“Well,” Kelvin continued, “I realised they’d be trying everything they could to look for survivors and find out what happened.”
“It was way too late for them to change course,” Skylar said. “They were only minutes out when you decided to go play with the Kraython.”
�
�Right,” I said. “So?”
“I got a signal out using light,” Kelvin said. “When the Leviathan arrived, they were close enough to spot a Bluestone laser transmission.”
I blinked at him. “Your modified drone?”
Kelvin nodded.
“We sent a data signal through that,” Eve said. “There was just time for information on the shield modulation.”
“Thankfully, the crew acted fast,” Kelvin added.
“They applied the change after the first missile hit,” Eve said with a grimace. “But it could have been a lot worse. It was quick thinking all around. They reported no injuries.”
I let out a breath, relieved.
We walked—well, the others walked and I limped—back onto the bridge as the Leviathan approached.
A giant hangar door yawned open, swallowing the entire Last Horizon in a single gulp. It was a strange feeling—inside one ship, inside another—like being in the stomach of a shark that had just been eaten by a whale.
We glided through an immense hangar big enough for twenty Last Horizons. Giant arms swung down, locking us into place, and a walkway extended to our ship.
Butterflies ravaged my stomach.
I would get to meet the admiral, and soon I would be able to speak to my grandmother.
Then I’d take Alice home.
A grin swept across my face. I had won the game.
Easy.
Yeah, erm, kind of.
* * *
A few minutes later, Eve, Mason, Skylar, Kelvin, and I stood at an access hatch opposite my awesome museum entrance and watched the enclosed walkway engage with our outer hull.
Mason unlocked the door and swung it open.
On the other side were several men and women in military uniforms, their guns pointed at us.
We threw our hands up. “Not again,” I muttered.
“Don’t shoot,” Kelvin said. “It’s only us.”
The lead man, a guy with a brass badge declaring him to be Captain Logan, scowled. “What in all of Azurean heaven has happened here? What is this ship? Where are you from?”
Mason sighed, and after an abridged explanation of the events leading up to that moment—with an animated Eve and Kelvin filling in details—Captain Logan finally decided we weren’t a security threat. His guards lowered their weapons and led us across the walkway into the belly of the Leviathan. As I stepped across the threshold, my health meter and map vanished.
I peered around the vast interior—high ceilings held aloft by metal beams and wooden walls—and I couldn’t believe we were finally here. After everything we’d gone through to get to this moment, it felt like a dream.
I suppose in a way it was—a digital dream with real-life consequences.
A game. The game.
We marched along a wide corridor lined with doors, and Skylar jogged to keep up. “Captain Logan, may I say it’s an honour to meet you, sir.”
“I’m sure it is,” he muttered, not looking at her.
Mason smirked at his sister.
After several more hallways, two moving walkways, and a short elevator ride, we stepped onto the bridge of the Leviathan—an area so vast it would barely fit in the Last Horizon’s hangar bay.
Thirty people staffed stations around the outer edge, wearing headsets, busying themselves at screens, using their magical phase-bands, and hardly noticing five teenagers.
Looking out of the main window, hands clasped, wearing a deep blue uniform, was the admiral.
Captain Logan cleared his throat.
Admiral Floyd turned around, and my jaw dropped.
The admiral looked to be in her early thirties, tall, with long dark hair, a sculpted jawline, a pinched nose, and those famous ears sticking out ever so slightly. I recognised her at once.
Alice Bowman.
My grandmother.
Forty-Six
Grandma Alice looked the same as when she’d left Colorado forty years before. Bluestone technology, I thought. She hadn’t aged a single day, and now I came to think of it, no one else on board the Leviathan appeared older than fifty.
She still wore the gold locket around her neck, engraved with the infinity symbol.
She’s here. Really here. My grandmother is admiral of the entire damn Antarian fleet? Are you kidding me?
My hands trembled.
Skylar snapped her heels and saluted.
The admiral smiled as she approached us and held her arms wide. “We owe you a huge debt of gratitude.”
“But everyone else,” Eve said in a small voice. “The fleet. Our parents.”
The admiral’s face turned solemn. “We’ve despatched Dragon Force. They’ve switched to direct, short-range Bluestone laser transmissions, and recovery efforts are now underway. Horizon Eighteen’s crew and passengers, including your parents, all escaped unharmed, and they are anxious to see you.”
Eve, Mason, Skylar, and Kelvin let out relieved breaths.
The admiral lifted her chin. “If it wasn’t for your heroic and selfless actions, we would have lost many more.”
“It was Leo.” Mason pointed a finger at me.
The admiral’s gaze moved to me, and as our eyes met, butterflies raged in my stomach. She opened her mouth to say something, but I didn’t give her the chance.
“I’m your grandson,” I blurted.
The admiral stared at me, unblinking.
“Well, adopted grandson,” I added, in case she’d spotted the lack of family resemblance. “But, yeah. Macy, your daughter, is my mother, and Grandpa John was . . . is your husband.”
Skylar nudged me. “Is that why you lied to us all this time?” she hissed. “Is this what it’s been about? Some delusion?”
“I’m sorry, but it’s true,” I said. “She’s my grandmother, Alice Bowman.”
“No, this is Admiral Floyd,” Skylar insisted. “I’m so sorry, Admiral. Leo doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“Bowman is my married name,” the admiral said.
This was met with astonished looks, including one from Captain Logan.
“Wait,” Skylar looked between us, her eyebrows raised. “You’re saying he’s right? Leo is your grandson?”
The admiral remained focused on me. “Your name is Leo?”
“Captain Leonardo Cooper,” Skylar added, and for once, she didn’t sound sarcastic. “Captain of the Last Horizon.”
The others brought the admiral up to speed, explaining everything from the missile attack, saving Mason and Kelvin, designing the ship, and finding the Ancampi to the battle with the Kraython attack drone.
When they finished, Admiral Floyd took my arm. “I need to speak to you alone.” She led me into a small office, closing the door behind us.
Within was a desk, two chairs, a sofa, a bookcase filled with leather-bound tomes, and several metal sculptures of birds, along with a window which showed the panorama of destruction and the ice planet.
Grandma Alice gestured me to the sofa, but I remained standing despite my exhaustion. I wanted to get her home as quickly as possible, then sleep for a week.
Or a month.
“How did you get here?” she said.
I shrugged. “Same way as you, I guess. Through the CodeX. Grandpa John had the game and I, you know, borrowed it for a while.”
Alice’s eyes filled with tears, but she lifted her chin, fighting them. “How is he?”
“Old,” I said. “And upset about you vanishing.” My expression hardened. “He’s spent the last forty years looking for you.”
Alice turned away.
“He’s in the hospital.”
She spun around and put a hand to her mouth.
“Heart operation,” I said. “He’ll be okay. Well, at least I think he will.”
“Macy?” Grandma Alice asked in a whisper.
“Mum? Yeah, she’s a surgeon.”
My grandmother looked ready to cry again.
“Married to my dad,” I said. “He’s an RAF pi
lot. Or was. We lived in London until a few weeks ago, when we moved to Colorado. That’s how I got caught up in this mess.” I rolled my eyes. “Now I’ve found you, you can come home and see them for yourself. Let’s get out of here.”
I marched to the door, but she didn’t follow.
Confused, I turned back.
“I can’t go,” she whispered.
My face fell, and my world drained of colour. “What do you mean?”
“I have to stay.”
“Why?” I gave her an incredulous look. “Why would you do that?”
Is she serious? Nah. How can she be?
But she looked serious.
I frowned.
After everything I’d been through to find her, risking my life and others’?
After all the years Grandpa John has searched for her, she isn’t coming out of this damn game?
No, no, I couldn’t be hearing right.
I stretched out my hand. “Come home. Please?”
She shook her head and stepped back.
Anger tugged at my insides. “Why can’t you come home?”
Grandma Alice fixed me with a cold expression. “This world is more important.”
That almost knocked me off my feet.
“More important than family?” My voice raised an octave. “What the hell is more important than your own family?” I flung my hands out. “What could possibly justify forcing an eight-year-old girl to live without her mother?” I took a step toward her, rage building. “What earth-shattering reason can you give to your husband, who has dedicated his entire life to searching for you?” I wagged a finger at her. “This. Is. A. Game.”
“Leo, please,” she said in a soft voice, glancing at the door. “I will leave one day, I promise, but not now. I can’t. There are things I must do.” She took a breath and straightened her jacket. “In time, you’ll understand.”
I was pretty sure I would never understand. I clenched my fists. What a selfish piece of—
“Let me show you something,” Grandma Alice said.
I considered storming off and finding a way to deactivate the game so she didn’t have a bloody choice.
Grandma Alice waved a hand at the bookshelf, and the entire wall slid aside, revealing a corridor with a vaulted ceiling. She walked down it, and I followed in a daze, through an archway and across a wide balcony overlooking what I could only describe as a giant skyscraper but inside out.
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