“Aur’gott, do you know any such place on campus? I will need you to lead us there if such a place exists.”
“Yes, I think I know the place,” said the resident assistant. “I hope they haven’t blocked it or done any worse, though. Thank you, whoever you are. Brach’geros and I will take the kids there now.”
She knew that name. How many revolutions had it been since she heard it? How many since she saw that boy’s face. It couldn’t have been him, could it?
Soror Valide kneeled to meet the kids’ eye level and said, “Don’t you worry. You will be safe. You, Brach’geros, take good care of them, or the lady of the haunted wood will come for her revenge.”
Color faded from his face by a shade or two as the man with shortened Ginserei ears looked at her in surprise. Ha! So it was him.
The group scuttled along, seeking sanctuary someplace that not even she knew about, and Il’lyse could have sworn she knew all of the cool places to hide around here. Something in her chest felt right about this, but it made even less sense. Damn it, this whole mess was going to drive her crazy.
* * *
“There she is,” Zoey said.
Her group stopped a stone’s throw from the marker sticking out of the ground that told everyone they were nearing the gym. Between the marker and the building were a few thin trees, among which Bon’sinne and Su-Jin were fending off more than half a dozen Hulda’fi that had made the mistake of trying to fight them. Bon’sinne was clearly faster and stronger in the moves that she used, but Su-Jin flowed between his attacks in a manner that Zoey had never seen before, not even in movies. The man was far more fluid than she thought possible for any living person to achieve.
One Hulda’fi saw Zoey and her group, and then ran for her instead of continuing their failed assault on the martial arts instructors. When the rebel got to her, Zoey used their momentum and her body to flip the attacker into the air. She quickly turned and kicked the falling rebel in the chest, knocking them back further from herself, and they hit the ground. The moment that the Hulda’fi stopped moving, Zoey placed a hand on her hip and the other in the air, staring at the person that she had brought down.
“Here I thought I was the one who leaps before she looks,” Zoey said.
The Hulda’fi that she had knocked down got up again on their knees using one hand. They looked Zoey’s way and touched the device on their belt. Zoey released her doubled senses and listened. The echo before the sound came from behind and above.
As the insurgent she was fighting vanished from one spot, Zoey turned and slid away, readying a defensive stance. The Hulda’fi reappeared, attempting to come down on her, but she was ready with a palm strike to the face. Zoey caught the beak between her fingers. She pushed forward. Her own force slammed this adversary’s body on the ground as easily as she had done with a training dummy on a few occasions.
Zoey yanked the mask off of the Hulda’fi rebel, and tossed it behind the bushes near her. The Aelfen woman on the ground was out cold now.
“Wait, I know her,” said one of the students who came closer.
“I’m sorry to say this,” said Zoey, “but chances are that any one of us knew all of them. I think they were taken from us and brainwashed.”
“All of them?”
“Zoi’ne!” her mom called from the distance. The Hulda’fi that remained behind by this point had also been knocked out. Zoey could also see the weapons scattered on the ground now that she could approach her mom.
“Holy crap, Mom,” said Zoey. “The two of you are awesome.”
“In two weeks we’ll teach you to disarm your opponents as well. I see you found a nice little group here. Why did you bring them this way?”
“We need to get them to safety. I brought them all to you since you might know better than I do on this matter.”
Bon’sinne made a slow, deliberate glance at Doctor Evrahn, who shrugged. She said, “There’s a place, assuming that the people running the area upstairs are smart and decide to turn off the inter-server relays. If these rebels are using the same method to teleport around as they did on the Marslou, then our best bet will be the bunker beneath the main plaza.”
“I had no idea there was anywhere underneath.”
“Two thirds of the people who come here typically don’t. It’s bad oversight, not telling all of the right people about the emergency bunker. We should all head there now. Suffice to say that class is canceled for today.”
“Mom, my things are still in class.”
“Things can be replaced, dear.”
“I’ve been using Il’lyse’s computer all semester. It’s in my bag. I need to grab that at some point.”
“Why do you have her things?”
“She had left it at Tonny’s before she took off with . . . Oh, crap. It’s Bu.” Her sudden revelation made several people look around anxiously. No, she wasn’t around where they stood, but Zoey felt like her sister’s ex had hit her over the head with a baseball bat and was laughing at her for taking so long to think about it. “She was him. Oh my god, but why is she here?”
“I’m not sure what any of that means, but come on. Let’s get to safety. The Allied Peacekeepers should be handling this now.”
Zoey was deep in thought, trying to think about what else she had missed in the past couple months, while her mom took the lead.
The main plaza wasn’t far. At the heart of the campus, the main plaza housed the student store, a pair of outdoor seating areas with a roof over them, an indoor lounge for when the weather was too cold for the outdoor seating, and the central hub for all of the food carts when they were not in use. Now, the students and professors alike were clamoring for this haven.
Before Zoey could reflect on how easy it was that everyone was able to make it here without Hulda’fi interference, or how many people came when the bunker wasn’t common knowledge, several more of the Hulda’fi appeared and charged at the crowd. No one among the students and college staff looked prepared to fend for themselves, and they were too far away. If only she could do something for them.
A man behind her put a hand on her shoulder. She was at the rear of the group her mom had been leading, so she didn’t know who was there while the rebels attacked the innocent before her. She didn’t know if it was friend or foe, but what she saw ahead told her to expect the worst. Zoey grabbed the man’s wrist and turned, ready to strike if needed.
[ 47]
“Ugh!” said a sister over the masks’ radio “It looks like Soror Valide has betrayed us. We were fighting these two instructors when she came along and struck one of our sisters down like she was a low level dummy.”
Soror Valide stopped where she was. She said, “That wasn’t me.”
“Oh shit, you’re still on this thing? Get off, you traitor.”
“It wasn’t me. If you saw someone who has my face, then it was probably Zoi’ne. Watch out for her. I will deal with her if I need to.”
“We’re changing frequencies now. So long, Soror Valide. We’re all glad to be rid of you.”
She stood on the northern side of the main plaza now, and she heard the vicious cackles of her brothers and sisters off in the distance. Why did her kindred change over to new frequencies so readily? Why did any of this have to happen?
Soror Valide tightened her fists. There was no turning back. If she tried to return to Dereskoo now, then she would be killed. It seemed as though no one was willing to believe her. This whole thing was a disaster. She had tried so hard to get on the good graces of the Lord and Lady, she really did. She had tried to set up other sisters for the blame on a few acts.
Damn her. Damn that Zoi’ne. I’m going to kill that girl when I see her next. All of this is her fault.
* * *
She turned suddenly. Her arm muscles lax and ready to ball up for a strike once her fist could land. The man who had come from behind caught her with his second hand. She then saw her dad’s face.
“Whoa, Zoey,” said Keft’aer
ak, “I’m one of the good guys.”
Zoey eyed him up and down and beamed. She said, “How do I know you aren’t an elaborate copy made by the rebels?”
“For starters take a look at this.” He pointed toward the main plaza where the people had gathered.
A dozen figures that Zoey hadn’t seen before appeared between the Hulda’fi and the people who were trying to get inside of the plaza. Unlike the insurgents they did not emerge through puffs of smoke. Twice their sizes in their space had warped as though the air tried to consume light until the light retaliated and burst out. The air returned to normal, and what remained were the men and women of the Allied Peacekeepers.
The Peacekeepers had their pistols and palisticks ready. The Hulda’fi were split between those who saw the interlopers and stopped, and the fools who kept running for the crowd of civilians. The latter were struck down in a brutal instant. The others ran off or teleported away
Keft’aerak said, “We have five ships in orbit around this planet, and another two each for Ginserei and Dee Su. Admiral Fjorfolia was the lone man unable to spare any of his crew at the moment. He said it was something to do with an attack on his home, so he has people there protecting it.”
“Or, you know, maybe he’s their leader,” said Zoey.
“That’s doubtful. Let’s not share that idea with anyone else, either.”
Zoey hugged her dad. “It’s good to see you.”
Bon’sinne said, “Do you think the underground bunker will fit everyone, or will we need to evacuate civilians up to the ships?”
“It might be wise to bring a few people up,” Keft’aerak said. “We don’t know yet how many of them there are, where they were hiding, or how they’re getting in or out of our barricades. If we do bring anyone up, it will have to be soon, and fast, or else the affected cities across the known galaxy will be locked down, with no one allowed to get in or out for a while.”
“Take Zoey back up with you then.”
“What? Mom!” said Zoey.
“How long do we have before you have to teleport back up to your ship, love?”
“Long enough,” said Keft’aerak, “to help these people either get down below or off of the campus, assuming anywhere else in Trullwick is safe. That shopping district the kids used to love is also under attack. The Ginserei Embassy in town has been hit as well.”
“Damned goblins, these rebels. Alright, let’s move quick.”
The rest of the group had been sitting quietly or conversing among themselves, but that ended when Bon’sinne announced that they were moving again. Some of the Peacekeepers regarded Zoey in particular as they joined the hundreds of people trying to get into the plaza. She ignored their gaze and turned her own attention to the upset people in the crowd.
One person that she heard contemplated leaving, or whether or not coming to the main plaza was a good idea in the first place. Another wept for a friend that had died in their arms a few minutes prior to coming here.
Both of her parents went to a door on the side of the student store’s exterior, and then they proceeded to help the students and professors into it. Zoey couldn’t see what was behind the door without getting close and congesting the in-going crowd, but the taller heads that she spotted went down before leaving her field of vision.
Well, it is an underground bunker, they said.
She went around the plaza and pointed the way toward the door for anyone who needed it. Apparently most of these students had come this way because they saw other people coming here. There are more survivors who’ve fled the campus entirely. Zoey shook her head, trying not to think about how many had people died today, or who had been taken away to be recruited by the Hulda’fi.
Inside of the front entrance to the student store, she found a few people arguing with one another. One of them was Brach’geros, as he and one other that Zoey barely recognized as the resident assistant were trying to tell the worker inside to shut down something that she hadn’t caught yet.
Zoey drew near to see if she could help. She heard the store employee say, “I’m sorry, but we must keep our relay open at all times in case of an emergency. It’s our policy. Please go down to this bunker of yours if you really think it exists, but I’m also telling you that it doesn’t.”
“What’s going on?” Zoey said.
Brach’geros turned and said, “Zoey, oh hey. I’m glad you’re safe. Listen, we need to get downstairs, because someone told us we need to get away from the inter-server for some reason.”
“That last part makes sense. The Hulda’fi will have infected the school’s system with a virus of theirs, and they’re using the affected system as a hub to teleport all over the campus. I’ve seen them do this once before when I was on the Marslou.”
“What, really?”
“According to Tonny, they can only teleport within range of the relays. Who told you to get away from the inter-server?”
“It was someone who was dressed like these rebels, but I think she called herself the ‘lady of the haunted wood.’ We’re in here trying to make sure that the relays can’t reach anywhere down there.”
The resident assistant said, “From what I understand there is a layer, about ten centimeters thick, of lead sandwiched between sheets of titanium. I haven’t the slightest clue if that’s enough to block this signal, but I wanted to be on the safe side. This person won’t allow it.”
“I told you,” said the store employee, “there’s a policy in place. I can’t let anyone shut down the relay or it will cost me my job, or possibly worse.”
At that moment, the lights turned off. The humming of air purifiers ceased. Even the desktop computer monitors went out. After a brief moment the emergency lights came on around the inside of the store. The blackout made the store employee take a step back, his head shaking and his hands stroking his scalp with force. Zoey wanted to tell him this wasn’t his fault.
Suddenly there was a scream in the middle of the crowd outside.
* * *
They had been holding Chinda captive when two Allied Peacekeepers appeared by them, both of them Ginserei. Tong-Chang told the uniformed pair that she had to get to the second basement of the library, and that she requested the aid of a technician who was good with diagnostic systems.
“Our first priority is to get you to safety,” said one of the Peacekeepers.
“We’ll all be a lot safer if I can turn off the inter-server, and your best tech person can rid the entire system of the virus that’s infecting it right now before it retakes full effect. We need to stop the Hulda’fi from teleporting everywhere.”
“That is not our call. If you had the authority to make that order, then we would gladly obey.”
Uh-oh. Dasos saw the look of desperation and anger in Tong-Chang’s eyes. She was about to do something that she really did not want to do. The one question that was left was what, exactly, that thing was, but that question didn’t last long at all. She hoisted the front of her shirt, past her bra, to reveal the patch of hair on her chest. Dasos took his eyes off of her, but he remembered when it was a single, narrow strip instead of its current shape, though he had once suspected that Tong-Chang shaved around the edges, if simply to maintain it out of cleanliness.
It was a mark of royalty, however. The Ginserei present all saw this patch of hair, and the two Peacekeepers kneeled before Tong-Chang set her shirt back down.
“You!” said Chinda, who was bound and unable to move. “You’re royalty? Since when?”
Tong-Chang said, “Hear me. I understand your loyalties and orders under the Hoshi-Lacartan Alliance. You have every right to observe them. I, however, am heading to the library with or without you. I am requesting your aid, no more.”
“Yes, your Highness,” said one of the Peacekeepers.
They called down a technician who could do software better than Tong-Chang could, as her strengths were in the hardware rather than code. One of the Peacekeepers transported away from the scene with Chi
nda. The new group left the administration building for the library once the technician had arrived.
Along the way, Dasos called his boss, who told him that the full police force was spread out across the city. The police captain said that many buildings had been damaged and lives lost in this attack that had come out of nowhere. There was no telling where the Hulda’fi were at the moment, but it wasn’t looking good, be it in Trullwick or the other major cities across the Hoshi-Lacartan territory.
That meant a full lockdown was imminent for all cities impacted by this attack. Dasos knew about the alliance’s protocol because he had overheard his parents arguing one night about what to do about their children should such a thing happen while they were away.
Inside of the library, Dasos and the officer from the Allied Peacekeepers entered first and kept their heads low as they went in. Tong-Chang followed along with their technician, but they stopped in a nook in the wall while Dasos continued to investigate. A few bookcases had holes blown into them the size of his chest. Staring at one of the holes gave him flashbacks to the night when he had been shot and nearly killed. There, too, was one body on the ground that he could see; after Chinda there was no telling if this person was a student, a Hulda’fi, or both. The last sign he could find of the rebels being responsible for this assault was one of their pistols on the floor, away from the body.
Elysium Shining Page 40