WHEN HEROES FALL

by Abby J. Reed

  Cal grimaced. “Malvyn said the underground would hold. I should’ve pushed him to let me come search for weak spots.” He spoke in a shushed tone. He motioned for me to spread out and look for the entrance. “But there was so much going on, man. Flood. Refugees. The Extrats kept attacking and this mist-fog rolled in. It’s like they’re picking us off one by one.”

  “They’re intelligent, right? They built those boats we saw coming in. I know they can fly starships. Makes sense they would have some strategy.”

  “I get the feeling they aren’t too intelligent. Like, smart, but not creative. The Heron translator was telling me about the shoddy workmanship of the boats. And, did you get to see inside those ships? Could be they were designed to be simple.” Cal shook his head. “I just don’t get why King Oma wouldn’t tell anyone he was fighting a war against these creatures. You sure he didn’t say anything while you were there?”

  “You know about that?”

  Cal swept his curls off his forehead, stepping over a beam to get to the far side of the section. I almost missed his exasperated look. “The translator told me.”

  Ah. Right.

  “I was gonna tell you everything—”

  “I know, I know. Then life happened and you left. I get it, man.”

  His tone didn’t sound like he understood.

  I found the entrance. The doors were wide open. Next to it, a gap of sky broke through the ceiling, barely different in color from the tunnel walls. I peered through the hole. The base of an apartment building loomed above, fringed by dying crimson grass where the open space started. The hole itself was barely big enough to allow a body through. I closed the entrance and locked it. “There’s a breech next to this entrance, too.”

  Cal jogged over to study the hole. “That’s as good as a welcome mat. Think we can fix it?”

  I studied the materials around us. “We can prolly leverage one of the beams, just to close it off enough until Luka sends a team to patch this whole area.”

  Cal’s mouth twitched in disapproval. “It’s a lot of area to patch.”

  I scratched an itch at the back of my head. “Honestly, it’d be easier just to close this area off.”

  “We might need the room to run. You should know.” Again, that tone.

  I hit the nearest beam. A cloud of rust-red dust showered onto my head. “Okay. Enough. What the hell is going on with you?”

  “Nothing, man. I’m just stressed.” His voice was raised and the edges of his ears tinged pink. He was ready for a fight.

  “Yeah, well, we’re all stressed. So why are you stressed at me? Is it because I wanted to try talking and not killing? You’re supposed to have my back.”

  Cal snorted, a choked laugh caught in his throat. “Have your back? You really want to have this conversation right now? You want the truth?” His voice raised higher and higher in volume.

  “Yeah.” I folded my arms cross my chest. “Yeah, I do. What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Wrong with me?” He was near shouting, his body quivering with rage. “Are you banging with me right now?”

  My cap rippled. A quick glance showed the metal gathering together, thinning into a long, razor whip. My chest squeezed. That wasn’t good.

  I whipped a finger to my mouth, hissing through my teeth. “Shhht.”

  Cal made an axing motion. “No. Oh hell no. You don’t have the right to tell me to shut up—”

  “Cal.” Something in my voice must’ve registered because he stopped shouting.

  A curtain of dust fell from the ceiling. Scratching, above the surface. Something was definitely out there. My core tensed. Cal paled. It prolly heard his yelling through the ceiling gaps.

  Sharp nails on rock, skittering across the top. Dust sprinkled, following the footsteps above. A bang and a waterfall of dirt rained. Please, please let the ceiling hold.

  Cal eased out his knife, stepped beside me.

  The dust stopped falling.

  Silence.

  Suddenly, the ceiling caved. Dirt and sod and concrete exploded in front of us. Mist swirled in and our vision was compromised. We backed up up up, all the way to the first fallen beam, propping what was left of the tunnel section. Out of the rubble rolled an Extrat. It wore a fresh face, though the lips were torn and black blood oozed from the corner of its mouth.

  Horror roiled in my stomach. The face belonged to one of Tahnya’s friends who worked in the gardens.

  The gray-pitch mist whirled around its feet. It stepped forward.

  Cal’s body rumbled with energy. He raised his knife, ready to rush it.

  I seized his wrist. “Stop!” I yelled. “STOP!”

  The Extrat paused, not moving forward. Its head tilted, gazing with eyes that didn’t belong to it at the whip dangling from my wrist. As though it didn’t know what to make of me. As if it couldn’t tell if I were its friend or enemy.

  Brother, Raf’s face said. Brother.

  “Please, just leave.” My voice cracked.

  Cal yanked free and circled around, maneuvering over the rubble and avoiding mist to gain a better angle. Don’t, Cal. We can convince it!

  I raised my hand and my dangling whip. “Please. We don’t want to hurt you. Just, go.”

  Brother, brother, brother.

  The Extrat shifted its weight on its back leg, almost as though it were turning to go—

  Cal launched, burying his knife into its side.

  It shrieked, throwing Cal off. He crashed onto his back, immediately arching due to pain. The Extrat spun, leaping through the air to land on Cal, claws first.

  Without thinking, I lashed the whip. The cord seized around its neck, yanking it from its trajectory. It slammed knees first against the ground. It was easy, too easy to bring something that size to the floor. This isn’t all me. I leaned on Circuit, yanked with all my strength to haul it away from Cal.

  The Extrat dragged forward, hitting the load bearing beam. The ceiling shook. My whip released of its own volition, shrinking into cap-form. I backed up as the ceiling roiled.

  “Cal!” I cried out.

  He flipped onto his back, scrambling, just as the rest of the tunnel section caved in behind him. He was thrown forward, rolling out of the way.

  But so had the Extrat. It righted itself, standing so huge compared to my cap, which had now curled back into a thin dagger. I scooted away, Circuit wobbling, right against the wall. The Extrat looked at me, a line of black blood oozing from its neck where my cap-whip had seized it, pure hate simmering in its incongruous eyes, clearly labeling me a threat.

  Its mouth opened, and a voice—scratchy and other-worldly—spoke. “Not brother.”

  The words slammed into me.

  Shaking, I raised my dagger.

  Then its face exploded.

  I jumped. Black blood and gore smothered my clothes. But the hideous face was gone—the tip of an Elik blade poking through. Its body slipped to the side, gravity taking over as it hit the floor, revealing Cal.

  I bent over, chest heaving. My lungs itched with dust.

  “You all right, man?” Cal wiped the knife on the hem of his tunic as though he’d done this a thousand times. He prolly had.

  I straightened, grateful to be sucking in air. Grateful to have a face. I turned to examine the damage. The tunnel opening was now a solid wall of rubble with the breech on the other side. “Guess we don’t need to plug the hole.”

  Cal glanced behind him to the now-caved tunnel. “Guess talking didn’t work so great, huh?”

  I was too busy replaying the last few mins to come up with a snappy reply.

  Cal nudged me out of my thoughts. “Help me take the corpse to the lab.”

  “Lab?” I said, still a bit incoherent.

 
; “I’ve been running some experiments.” He stooped to grab the clawed foot. He raised an eyebrow, impatient, as he waited for me to grab the bloody shoulders. “Let’s just hope this was the only breech.”

  Chapter 12

  TAHNYA

  Jupe lunged forward and tugged Brody around the waist, trying to pull him off Leader. It only made Brody tip to the side. His strong thighs refused to unlock. I didn’t even see the royal soldier enter until she shoved Jupe away to fling Brody aside. Brody smashed into the altar, bringing down a vase filled with ice flowers. He cried out, holding his head, buckling over his knees. The soldier fisted him by the back of his tunic and yanked him up through the shards. He dangled with toes barely touching the ground.

  “Don’t, don’t hurt him!” I yelled. My feet wouldn’t move toward Brody. My hand twitched toward my bicep, where he stabbed me earlier. And Leader—

  Oh stars, Leader—

  She lay on the floor, her hand still outstretched toward her opponent. Her neck, the angle.

  “Tahnya!” Brody’s voice cut through my fog. His cheeks flushed as he tried to suck in more air. His eyes were filled with the same post-episode shocked look he wore after stabbing me.

  My feet unlocked and I rushed to the soldier, grasping at the hand which now drew the tunic around Brody’s neck even tighter. “Stop it! He’s sick! He doesn’t know—”

  “What is happening?” a voice said, calm and unruffled, with all the weight of a breeze on a summer evening. As though two dead bodies in a prayer room was a common occurrence.

  The soldier dropped Brody to the ground, who bent over as far as the soldier allowed, gasping as he massaged both his throat and his head.

  I turned to see who spoke. And started.

  Scorpia had entered the room.

  No, not Scorpia. Though this woman’s platinum hair, woven into a bejeweled knot, was the same shade, and her shining dark skin was the exact same hue, and the sparkling sapphire eyes and regal air carried the same weight. That was where the similarity ended.

  Scorpia looked as though she were still in the process of maturing, like an edged rock that still needed sanding. This woman looked like a rock that had been tumbled for so long, it could pass itself off as silk. With a trustworthy smile and the gentle sway of her hands and the folds of her lacy pearl-white dress trailing behind her like a wispy cloud, she seemed like a potential best friend. Someone you could whisper your secrets to over a cup of root soup on a solstice night. Surely, this couldn’t be the cold-hearted queen.

  The soldier wrestled with Brody, who had regained his self-control. "He murdered Leader, Your Majesty.”

  The Queen stepped farther into the room and bent over Brody, who still clutched his head. Next to me, Jupe rose to his feet. His stance was wary, and he stepped toward his uncle, blocking his body from her.

  “Please, Your Majesty,” I said. “He’s sick. He doesn’t understand.”

  Brody stared at Leader’s body. “Did I do that?” He glanced to me, worry lining his gaze. He twisted his head into the soldier’s stomach and moaned. “It hurts, Tahnya, my head hurts.”

  “Please,” I gasped, hands clasped together. “Please. Don’t hurt him. Help him.”

  The Queen looked down at Brody, her stance still stiff, watching him self-soothe against the pain. She bent, graceful as water, and pressed a single finger against Leader’s broken neck. It was a simple act, one more suited to a servant than royalty. She nodded and wiped her hand on her dress, as though to rid herself of the dead. “Well. Now I have one less problem.” She gave me a sweet smile, and I believed everything would be all right. “Release him,” she said to the soldier.

  She obeyed. I opened my arms and Brody rushed into them. “I’m sorry, Tahnya, I’m sorry. I don’t remember. I don’t—”

  I patted his curly hair, shushing him. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I know you didn’t.” I held him tight, but by the turn of his head, I knew he was still looking at Leader’s body. “Brody needs royal Solteran nanites, that’s what the medic said. I promise he’s not normally like this.”

  “His name is Brody?” the Queen said. “A good name. What is yours?”

  “Tahnya. I . . . Don’t have a line or anything.”

  “I am already aware.” The Queen Mother turned gracefully to Jupe. “Jupiter Cho. How nice to meet you in person. You have become quite popular lately. The Hero of Salvade? I must admit I thought you would be even taller, even for a quarter-Solteran. I presume that is your uncle?”

  Jupe snarled. He swept up his uncle in a desperate motion. “You should know. Your Extrats killed him.”

  The Queen Mother only lifted a single eyebrow, amused. “My Extrats? You believe I own them? Interesting.” She clasped her hands together. “I saw you were appreciating the art. Do you like it?”

  She seemed so sincere standing there. Genuinely interested in what we had to say. I got the feeling she would love nothing more than to hear our honest opinion. “I do,” I said. “But I’ve had enough make-believe and unbelievable stories to last a lifetime. I like stories about real people better.”

  “The secret about myths and gods is that they are usually based off of real events and people. They are history, masked.” The Queen smiled benevolently. “Do you know why Leader brought you to me?”

  I shifted but said nothing. Jupe clenched his jaw, also silent. The Queen seemed so kind, maybe if I phrased everything right, there was a chance we could leave without getting into any more trouble. Maybe we could walk right back out those massive ice doors. Maybe—

  The Queen gave a sigh, and half of me was crushed I disappointed her. “In that case, I do not need you.” Her voice was still soft as she spoke to the soldier. “Kill them.”

  “NO!” I leapt in front of Brody, my arms spread as wide as possible. The royal soldier already brought out her gun, was already aiming it. “I CAN GIVE YOU DARK MATTER.” The words burst from my throat, untethered, unchecked.

  The soldier’s movements froze unnaturally in the air, as though a puppeteer suddenly forgot to utilize the full breadth of strings.

  The Queen’s beautiful head tilted, curious. “What did you say?”

  I sagged in relief. Jupe grasped onto my arm, steadying me. “I know where you can find dark matter. Lots of it. But please, don’t kill them. You need us.”

  The Queen’s lips pursed. “Where?”

  I shut my eyes for a sec. It seemed the only way to protect those around me was to tell the truth. Hopefully I was making the right decision. Please let Breaker get there in time. Please let Scorpia help them. “It’s on our planet, Scarlatti. The name won’t help you, though. Leader said it was local.”

  The Queen’s voice grew the tiniest bit tighter, as though a thread in her perfect tapestry was near snapping. “Then how am I supposed to find this planet?”

  “With this.” I hesitated, then stepped to Leader’s body. I stuck my hand inside her pocket, my stomach turning over, and removed the tiny pouch of Scarlatti dirt. It still smelled like the soil I loved. I had no promise she wouldn’t kill us, but it was the best I could do. The solider held out a hand and I placed the pouch in her grip.

  She opened it, frowned.

  “This is dirt,” the Queen said.

  How did she . . .? Oh. She could see through the soldier’s eyes due to her line.

  "You can analyze it, can't you?” I said. “You have databases and scientists. You can see the chemical compounds and minerals and nutrients and figure out where in the galaxy it came from, right?”

  The Queen studied me. This time, the shell surrounding her was gone. She was not a soft, kind person at all. Leader was right. She was a venomous snake, waiting for you to step closer before it bit. Her gaze was worse than the analytical looks my father gave me if I came home late. This gaze felt like bei
ng flayed from the inside out. And I knew, I knew, that even if she would not kill us, our time with her would not be pleasant.

  “You are not lying, are you? You truly have dark matter on this planet.”

  "I don’t want us to die. I’m telling the truth.”

  The Queen Mother's exterior changed. Her cheeks lit as though a glow illuminated from within. This time, I wasn’t fooled by her beauty. Two new royal soldiers entered the room. My pouch exchanged hands.

  “Please take this dirt and send it in for analyzation,” she said to the new arrivals. She glanced again to me. “You understand that I cannot allow you to roam free, so a doctor will meet Brody downstairs.”

  The way she said downstairs . . . It did not sound like a place I wanted to be.

  “And Jupe’s uncle?” I said.

  “Will be placed on ice until we have time for a proper burial.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Jupe hissed.

  “Jupe.” I infused my voice with compassion. “What choice do we have?”

  The first soldier reached for ShuShu. Jupe hesitated. His fingers formed a vice around the body.

  “It’ll be okay, Jupe.” I was lying. I was so, so lying. What else was I supposed to do?

  Jupe met my gaze. He knew I was lying, too. Guilt, fatigue, relief, despair all whirled in his eyes. He looked like he’d never be able to smile again. I took the body from his grasp, tugging gently to encourage Jupe to let go.

  For a long sec, I wasn’t sure he would.