by Abby J. Reed
“It was surrounding the fortress. But now it’ll probably head in our direction.” She got on the bike. “Come on. We’re running out of time.”
We took back paths the rest of the way. When we could no longer see or hear the ocean, the tower rose ahead, nestled into the rocks, jutting slender and high. The roaring river passed it, continuing next to the game path that would eventually lead straight south next to the compound. Every now and then, a hint of a campground survived the vegetation growth. Luka did say he had come up here a couple times. Maybe all the tribes did. This was an excellent spot to get an unobstructed view of the valley as well as a decent shot of the two mountainous cities.
I got off the bike with my satchel and found a rough staircase cut into the rock, leading to the base of the tower. Circuit still wasn’t used to this type of work, so every step felt precarious as I slowly climbed. I rested my forearm on Malani’s shoulder for extra balance. The wear and tear of the steps to the control panel suggested the tower was about the age of the rest of the tech in the compound. Maybe it was put up around the same time as the ship landing.
Malani drew out her knife. “How long until you fix it?”
I sucked on my lower lip. My cap mimicked my lucky screwdriver and I slowly worked the panel open. “Give me a sec to study the darlin’.”
“Study faster. Mist is almost here.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, the rolling fog barreled toward us. Right wonderful. “Distances on Scarlatti seemed a lot farther when there weren’t incorporeal substances trying to kill us.”
The inside was a beautiful tangle of wiring and potential energy. Stars, I loved my job. Loved making order from the chaos. I plunged my hand into the panel, testing, trying, studying the patterns, remembering the structure of the interface, remembering the nuances of the beam program.
Oh, hell. Forgot about one thing—my dark matter cap, though living, was still metal. Using metal to rewire projects was not a good idea. I tore my tunic and wrapped the scrap around my cap, plunging back into the panel. I tuned out the noise, the hiss of wings, the scratch of rocks grinding, focusing only on the problem before me.
There were two types of transmitters inside. The first transmitter I recognized. It kept signals from getting out, which could explain why the comms only worked within the valley. The second kept all signals from getting in. It was a system with a backup.
But what about a beam? A beam didn’t work the same way as a radio wave.
“Breaker.” Malani’s voice was tight. “They’re here.” The whistle of her knife sang in the air. “Stupid mist—” She broke into a curse.
“I’m almost there,” I hissed.
All I had to do was cut the transmissions . . . Then rewire both to handle a beam . . . Build a new beam program . . . Could it really be that simple?
Circuit yanked from beneath me. My chin sliced against the edge of the panel, banging my chest against the staircase as Circuit dragged backward. Stone ground into my front. My knee ripped open.
“Malani!” I pushed against the rocks, struggling to flip over.
“Busy!”
I heard, rather than saw, the sound of her fighting an Extrat.
I reached down, fumbling to release Circuit. The cup released just enough for him to snap free. I flipped over, my knee stinging, to see an Extrat reeling backward. It steadied itself, holding Circuit, confused. Then it dropped Circuit and lunged at me.
I rolled to the side. It hit the rock, stunned. My cap became a dagger and I thrust the blade out. It parried, nearly ripping my arm out of its socket. It grabbed for my leg to hold me down.
Suddenly, I was kicked to the side as Malani lobbed off its head with her wing.
I lay flat against the staircase to breathe. “Too . . . close.”
Malani grabbed Circuit and held him out to me. “Hurry. There’ll be more soon. No, wait. The mist is shifting. It’s . . . heading back to the compound? That’s weird.”
“Luka . . . must’ve done something.” I gave Circuit a once-over. Bangit, there were new scratches on him. And those gouges . . . He wouldn’t be pleased about that. But releasing the suction saved him from being broke. Even the shard of emergency dark matter still stuck to his calf. I put him on. “Way to hang on, buddy.”
I stumbled back to the control panel and cut the transmitters. Several mins passed as I finished the wiring and soldered the antenna to the new makeshift beam transmitter. “Malani, comm.”
She handed it over. I synced the comm to my new transmitter, fumbled for the scrap in my pocket, dialed in the coordinates. I pressed the comm.
“Scorpia? This is Breaker. Beaming you from Scarlatti. You there? Over.”
Couldn’t quite control the tight beam, so it became a wide beam that would hit the data port. The panel sparked as energy rushed through the tower. But it wasn’t enough. We needed more energy, more power to boost the signal. I glanced again at the tower. No resistors attached, so I couldn’t just replace it with something that would transmit the signal. But maybe . . .
I took out the dark matter shard from Circuit and held it out to Malani. “Can you break this in two and fly up and bond it to the tower? I think we only need half.”
She sang, splitting the shard into two. She gave me the remainder, then took her half, flew up, and bonded it to the tip of the tower.
I snapped the shard back into place and typed in the coordinates again. “This is Breaker. Come in, Scorpia. Over.”
The tower flared to life. The dark matter brightened as energy poured through it, adding its own energy, and continued on. It seemed like enough.
Then we waited.
Malani hovered in the air, giving me a play-by-play of what happened below in the valley. “All the mist is down there now . . . I can’t see what’s going on . . . Do you think they’re all right? . . . Okay, that squiggle is definitely an Extrat . . . Wait, the mist cleared . . . Is that smoke?”
I had tuned her out. How long was it supposed to take? There was usually a lag, right? But was it usually this long? What if Scorpia wasn’t monitoring the data port? What if I’d written down the wrong coordinates? What if I left everyone, only to leave the compound to something worse?
“Breaker . . . If we can’t get an answer, we need to go back and help.”
“I know, I know. Just, one more sec, okay?”
Three more came and left.
“Breaker . . .”
Static broke through the comm.
My heart leapt to life. I turned up the volume, toggling the receiver until the static formed words.
“. . . Scorpia. We can trace the beam!”
It wasn’t Scorpia’s voice, but Jupe’s.
“Jupe!” I said. “Are you there? Are Brody and Tahnya okay? Can you hurry? We’re pinned down by Extrats. Over.”
Another wait.
Finally, Jupe’s voice came through again.
“We’re coming. We’re following the beam now. But you’re out of time, Breaker. The Queen’s already on her way. And she has Tahnya and Brody. She’ll be there any min.”
“Breaker!” Malani jabbed me. Her hand pressed to her mouth and her eyes filled with horror. She pointed to the sky. I looked out, above the compound surrounded by mist, above the Elik Mountains, between the asteroid and Carmesi. There. The sky that was never filled with stars suddenly sprouted them as Solteran ships flanked into view.
Chapter 40
LUKA
The game trail looked familiar after a klick. I could almost see the outline of the village boy peering out from the trees. This way, his ghost said. This way.
The forest ended, the folds of rock jutted, and, as we rounded the corner, the view switched from a tangle of trunks and roots and underbrush to a massive clearing speckled with spar
se trees at the base of the Elik mountains. And right in front of us?
The three-meter wide tunnel.
I let down the little girl and readjusted the supply bag I carried. I placed a hand to the back of my head, feeling the still-lingering pulse. A hand to my side, where the puncture wounds stained my bandage red. Last time I was here I hunted Breaker and Malani. Now, I was being hunted. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve said the hole leered.
Cal waved everyone inside. “Wounded and children in the back.”
I pushed the girl toward the rear, where she could get treatment for her feet.
Mateo shuffled past me, carrying one of the wounded Elik. He murmured gently to the man, calming him down, not caring about the blue blood soaking him. A necessary move. If anybody started screaming, we’d attract the remaining Extrats to us.
Underneath the giant X of my mini’s ‘scope, the mist still hung around the compound. It soared into the air like a solid wall, blocking off our view from the sky. A lightness filled my chest. Maybe I had pulled this off after all. I peered over to where the tower would be hiding behind the mist and the mountains.
How much longer would we have to wait for help?
At least with one entrance, we could more easily pick the Extrats off, even if the tunnel did eventually lead to a dead end in the mines. Anybody trying to sneak around us would have to move out in front to the clearing, where we would have easy sight of their advance.
Not great odds, but decent.
Yana grabbed my arm, jerking me from my thoughts. She was not pleased. “You’re supposed to be in the back.”
I snorted, sheathed my mini. “No. I’m—”
She jabbed a finger into my ribs, catching one of the wounds. I caught the yell in my throat. “I see that blood. Get it addressed.” Even LuLu stared daggers at me. “Do I need to drag your ass back there?”
I didn’t have the energy to fight. “Fine.” I slipped to the back, Yana following with LuLu. People had spread out farther than what I was comfortable with, but at least we knew nothing could attack from behind. Already spots were being marked off for sleeping and personal spaces, separating red- from green- from blue-blood. Nova just how fast we liked to draw our lines. Farther down the tunnel, lights guttered to life, away from the cave mouth, illuminating the walls.
Cal was busy organizing supplies and the wounded. A row stretched in front of him, people holding injured parts or bandages that needed to be redone. Nocklie gave me a nod before stepping up to Cal to show a hamstring wound. It was shallow so the injury was cleaned and left exposed to air.
I sat on a rock and waited for my turn. My head ached, like a distant, gnawing drum that wouldn’t shut up. After new bandages and applying some smelly-goop, the punctures dulled to an ache. I was just tugging on my tunic again when a scream echoed from behind us. It rang sharp and too loud and too dangerous.
I twisted, hissing, “Quiet!”
It was Nocklie.
I scrambled over as his screams died to a desperate whimper. Jet-black crawled from his thigh, oozing like something living. He pawed at the dark matter that creeped along his groin and across his torso, as though a monster was in the process of swallowing him.
The dark matter didn’t just spread across him though. It seeped from the pores of his skin, almost as though the blackness was being drawn out from the inside of his soul. This dark matter spread like a stain, joining with the dark matter that crawled from his thighs. It wouldn’t be instantaneous. He knew he was dying. He knew what he was becoming.
I ripped out my mini and stabbed him in the heart. Nocklie looked at me, not seeming to feel the blade. Caught between numb and fear, his eyes glazed.
My blood chilled. I kicked him off the blade. He slid to the ground, dead.
I stared at his body. The dark matter stilled, as though it died right there on his chest. How did he—? I noticed the dark matter deposit where he dumped his ‘stroids. I hadn’t seen the deposits when I was here before. Now that I knew what to look for, I could see the veins tracing the entire tunnel. Nocklie had laid flat for a nap on a dark matter vein and the exposed hamstring wound came into contact with the deposit. The entire deposit was trying to consume him and turn him into an Extrat, just like it did Petrick.
Bloody hell.
I rubbed a hand over a mini handle. Maybe sticking the wounded in the back of the tunnels wasn’t such a nova idea.
“I said to stay away from any dark matter deposits,” I said to the gathering crowd. “Especially if you’re banging bleeding.”
“It didn’t eat me.” I turned to see the little girl I had carried through the forest. She tipped the bottom of her feet up. She had stepped on a nugget of dark matter. But the dark matter only clung to her cracked heel in a patch. She shifted to give me a better view. The light caught the hairs around her temple. A few strands had turned white.
So she, Malani, and Breaker all managed to not get consumed. Why?
“Just, stay away from the dark matter.”
Cal knelt next to the little girl, already taking out equipment from his bag. “Will you let me examine you?”
She nodded.
I returned to the front of the cave. There didn’t seem to be any movement. Maybe the Extrats didn’t notice the scream. Maybe they hadn’t noticed there were no bodies in the compound wreckage. We stood a chance. If we could remain hidden, we could wait until Scorpia—
The trees flickered.
My core seized. Not another, not another, not—
But it wasn’t another aura.
The flickering turned into glinting. I looked through my scope and the glinting formed into shadow figures as the forest erupted with hundreds of Extrats. They poured out in between the trees like flowing black molasses through cracks. The foliage was so thick, I couldn’t count, but there seemed to be so many more than what had been in the compound. How was this possible? Where did these new ones come—
The fog rolled over the top of the compound, sliding away from the west side and the neutral zone. Like a curtain tugged back for a reveal, obsidian starships dotted the burnt spaces in the valley.
I leaned against the wall of the cave, the tiredness hitting like a punch, watching the Queen’s army of Extrats advance into the burnt clearing. They must’ve landed while we moved under the cover of the forest.
I glanced to the sky. Couldn’t see much from this angle, but the sky seemed speckled with ships.
The treetops swung as though in a gale storm as the Extrats marched through, creeping closer and closer until the last line of trees whipped in the air. They stopped a klick away, at the edge of the too-tiny clearing. Hundreds upon hundreds of immovable statues carved from night, puncturing the gaps between trees with hungry faces.
They didn’t move forward, didn’t move back. Only stood, as though waiting another order.
A wave of dizzy, not related to migraine, tilted the view. With our number of wounded, with our exhausted and tired group of survivors, we were more than outmatched. There were no odds. Our chances were simply eradicated.
We were out of time.
And now we stood between the Queen and her dark matter.
With no way out.
Chapter 41
BREAKER
We left the bike, left the supplies, left every scrap we carried to make me as lightweight as possible. Malani looped her arms around my chest and flew. My heart beat in time to her pumping wings. To keep Malani from pushing too hard, we stopped every handful of mins for a quick breather. Each break we stood staring at the sky, at what awaited us. We ducked into the forest, keeping to the edge of the valley, dodging leaves and branches.
Last time we soared through the forest, we were trying to avoid being killed. Now, we flew straight toward the danger.
The
mist had cleared completely from the game trail. It gathered thick in the trees on the southeast side of the compound, as though trying to rot the forest from the inside out. We could now see the flames licking the compound and smoke billowing from the buildings.
We flew even as the forest and mist seethed with movement, the remaining treetops flicking as though monsters roamed underneath. In the burned gaps, if the mist moved out of the way, black metal flashed. All the movement was concentrated at the base of the Elik mountains, where the tunnel was located. Luka must’ve taken the survivors there.
We flew even as the sky filled with more starships. If I thought the sky was crowded before, this was downright cramped. The new ships didn’t intermingle with the first arrivals but squared off as though the sky were a giant board, waiting for the opening move. Scorpia’s fleet versus the Queen’s.
The prize?
Scarlatti’s dark matter.
We flew even as we hammered out an approach plan. We could hide in the trees bordering the northern edge of the clearing. Didn’t want to risk the Extrats remembering us as enemies and triggering an attack if Luka had them at a standstill. If we stayed just out of sight . . .
We flew even as a shuttle descended from the sky, like a white flag coming from the heavens as an act of divine grace.
I didn’t trust it.
“Hurry, Malani.”
She was too busy flying to hear.
We flew closer and closer and closer.
Chapter 42
JUPE
I could immediately tell which planet belonged to Tahnya. The entire area around it was filled with ships like an extra layer of atmosphere. Some of the faction ships had already arrived. I recognized some of their shapes, the hand-painted insignias and etched names along their hulls. Done business with a few of them.