GENERATION Z THE COMPLETE BOX SET: NOVELS 1-3

by Peter Meredith

  It was everything the Queen lacked; Jillybean forced it all into that scream.

  Now it was the Queen’s turn to look as though she were gagging. She held up one finger and turned away so that she was facing the bay where her black and silver flags snapped in the chilly wind—and still Jillybean screamed without let up. It went on and on, blurring time so that it felt endless.

  Jillybean kept the scream going even when a hand came down on her shoulder. It was Leney. In his hand were three coils of rope. His lips were moving, but the scream obliterated all sound. He pointed up at the lighthouse and gestured with the rope.

  “Jus…Just a sec,” the Queen shouted, drawing every eye on the hillside. She pushed past Leney and into the prison, where the screams bounced and echoed and grew, filling the empty cells. The Queen staggered into the main cellblock and yelled, “Enough!” Jillybean kept the scream going for ten more seconds before she abruptly stopped. I can go on like that all day and all night, Jillybean said. I was just getting started.

  “To what end?” the Queen demanded, staring around at the dark cells, searching the deeper shadows. It seemed as though she were looking for Jillybean. “You can’t stop their executions. Even if you drive me crazy, they’ll still die. I’m the only one who can hold this group together. I’m the only one who can protect all those women and children. Without me, the Corsairs will enslave them like this.” She snapped her fingers.

  I was doing a fine job protecting them before you showed up. Who am I even talking to? Ernie?

  “It’s Ernest. And I’m here for a reason. The truth is, you can’t handle this. You’re too weak to be queen.”

  And Eve? What about her? I thought you were grooming her to take my place.

  “Look at you pivot from my point. I call you weak and you ask about Eve. You’re more like a politician than a queen. A real queen would have done something when the three closest people to her betrayed her. Jenn, Stu and Mike jailed you for goodness sakes! They put you on trial for treason and then sent you off to die in that floating coffin of theirs. And you know what the worst part was? You let it happen. You were queen and you just rolled over. Pathetic.”

  They would’ve died if I had banished them.

  “So what? They were meant to die. You know that. Heroes are always meant to die and if their deaths accomplish something then they are good deaths. I plan on giving them good deaths. These Corsairs only know power. And they can only be controlled by someone who is utterly ruthless and that someone is me. You have always been weak, Jillybean. You have always let love get in the way of the greater good.”

  Love is more important than the greater good. It IS the greater good.

  “And, sadly, love is the one thing you have to deny yourself, Jillybean. Love has always been your downfall. Ram, Sarah, Ipes, Sadie…I can go on, but you know the truth. You can’t love anyone and no one can love you—any attempt will only lead to more and more madness until…” Ernest balled her small fingers and then softly exploded them outward. “It all falls apart.”

  Or until I get you, Jillybean sneered. Heartless, soulless Ernest Smith.

  Even this did not rankle the Queen. She locked her fingers together as if she were beseeching Jillybean. “And you think that’s worse than Eve? Fine, maybe so, but Eve is not the worst thing in there with you. She’s nothing compared to the horrors your mind can conjure. I think a less emotional presence would be best.”

  Jillybean’s anger began to deflate. Even though she knew Ernest was a master manipulator, she couldn’t seem to resist his will.

  “We both know that completely defeating the Black Captain is paramount and these three deaths are absolutely necessary for that to happen. If you look at it as a…”

  He had gone one step too far and Jillybean’s anger flared back up. Enough! I won’t let you kill them. We’ll have to think of another way to keep the ex-Corsairs in check.

  “How exactly will you stop me?” Ernest asked, giving Jillybean a ghost of a smile with her own red lips. “If you could, you would have kept me from killing Kimberley Weatherly and probably Gloom as well. And let’s say you had. How would it have affected your relationship with the Corsairs? I’ll tell you. Each display of weakness would’ve been magnified and multiplied until one of these worms got it in his head that he could take you down. At the moment, you are untouchable because I have been like granite.”

  He thumped Jillybean’s chest in a manly gesture.

  “Trust me, Jillybean. We both know I’m better at this than you are. It’s why you thought me into existence a long time ago. Oh, yes. You conjured me. You made me. Eve wasn’t cutting it. Sure, she’s mean and nasty, but you’ve been infecting her with your personality. You’ve been making her nice.”

  Nice! Are we talking about the same person? Eve is pure evil.

  “She was never pure evil. And yes, you’ve changed her. Who have you been using to carry out your mercy killings? Those have not been acts of evil. Mercy is never evil. And she’s not the only one you’ve been changing. It’s all of them. You’ve outgrown Ipes, and you’ve replaced the ghost of Sadie with the reality of Jenn. It’s why you needed me. You’ve needed me ever since…”

  One Shot. It was you who killed him.

  The Queen nodded. “Give that girl an A. He had to die for things to progress as planned, and there you were, busy saving his miserable life. I knew you couldn’t do it and Eve had already failed you. I killed him and I did it not just for you, but also for Neil and for Emily. Their lives are in danger. You heard Gaida. Assassins and spies are on Bainbridge. They’ll strike any day unless I can keep the Black Captain’s gaze focused here in the south. Perhaps you should see Jenn’s death as a sacrifice. Her life for Emily’s. You’ve always compared them.”

  Innocence, Jillybean said, in a whisper. They’re both innocent and wonderful…and I can save them both.

  “No, you will lose them both. Trust me, Jillybean. I’m the best part of you. Just as I’m the best part of Eve and Sadie and even Ipes.”

  If that were true, where is Eve’s chaos, and Ipes’ wisdom? Where is Sadie’s love? Jillybean walked right up to the Queen and now the two were face to face and each could see the other. The best part of Sadie is her heart and her loyalty, and you haven’t shown either.

  “I don’t need to,” the Queen insisted. “I am the queen! A queen doesn’t have to…”

  A whisper and a grunt of laughter stopped her. “The mad queen is at it again. What do we do? Do we wait? Crap, she heard us.” They recognized the speaker as Tam. Wearing a warped, nervous grin, he and Leney came from around the far section of cells.

  “Sorry about this Your Highness,” Leney said, “but it’s getting cold out and the men are getting antsy. Are we gonna string ‘em up or not?”

  The Queen glanced at Jillybean, who made a theatrical gesture: sucking in a great vat of pretend air as if she were about to scream. The Queen snarled at her twin, then answered, “I want the entire kingdom to witness the executions. Gather everyone. We’ll hang them at sunset and…” Jillybean began to scream, making the Queen wince. “And guard them with…twenty men. Don’t let any boat…leave the island…without being…thoroughly searched.”

  When the two had left, Jillybean redoubled her efforts. She was now the only person who could save her friends.

  “You…of all people…have to see…it’s too late,” the Queen cried. “There’ll be…no escape, now. And if…you try…”

  Now, Jillybean tripled her efforts. She screamed, howling a hurricane of fury. She screamed the Queen to her knees and then onto her back, where she writhed with gritted teeth and clenched fists. Jillybean screamed directly into her ear, and then went deeper, screaming into her mind. She went on screaming until suddenly, the scream ripped from her own throat.

  Jillybean sat up clutching her neck. “I’m me,” she said, marveling at the feeling of her own hands again.

  “And I’m me, too,” Eve said, laughing.

  “And me,�
�� Sadie piped up.

  “And me,” Ipes said, though he was somewhat dour. “As much as I hate Ernest, he has a point.”

  Eve scowled Jillybean’s face into a cranky look. “What point? That he’s a jerk?”

  Jillybean and Sadie both tried to get up at the same time; each put out a different hand and nearly pitched Jillybean’s body onto her face. “Stop!” Jillybean ordered. “I’m in charge here. It’s my body and my mouth. Yes, I know things aren’t perfect, but we can figure this out.”

  They were far from perfect. Ernest had been right about the fragile coalition that the Queen had put together. At this stage she was holding her army together by force of will, but if that will was seen to falter, she’d have a five-way civil war dropped right into her lap. It would make saving her friends nearly impossible.

  Jillybean went to one of the cells and gripped the bars as she considered her assets and weighed them against the many problems she faced. She clunked the bars with a small fist. “We could jail them until they change their minds.”

  You didn’t give Gloom or Kimberley that choice, Ipes remarked, his words now inside her head. And Ernie is right. The Corsairs won’t put up with a double standard, especially such a glaring one.

  It’s because they’re a whiney bunch of babies, Eve snapped. And what does Ernie know about anything. He called me soft. Me!

  He said I had been replaced, Sadie said. That’s not true, is it?

  Of course not, Ipes stated, emphatically. And clearly I have not been outgrown since, as usual, I’m the only voice of reason here. If we jail them or banish them, that will undermine everything we’ve accomplished. This is a delicate moment. Ernie did not misjudge our people. Executing Mike, Jenn and Stu would demonstrate a strict adherence to the law and it would show the world that you are not one to be trifled with.

  “I don’t care what it demonstrates,” Jillybean replied, coldly. “It’s not going to happen. What we need to do is arrange an escape. It’ll solve all of our problems. We just have to arrange it without anyone knowing.”

  How? Sadie asked.

  “I’ll figure it out,” Jillybean answered, heading for the stairs.

  Okay, why? Eve demanded. They stabbed you in the back, repeatedly.

  “And I set them up to begin with. Maybe we can end this back and forth. Also, I need them.”

  As usual, I have the most important question, Ipes said. When?

  Jillybean was just about to ask what he meant when she burst onto the upper floors, expecting to be dazzled by the light. Instead, there was only a fading, murky grey filtering through the dirty windows. We were down there for two hours, the zebra explained. We don’t have time for plans.

  “Christ!” Jillybean cried and raced for the front of the prison where the drizzle had turned into a mist that hung like a curtain in the air. As she slammed through the doors, she found the courtyard filled with hundreds of people, all staring upward at the lighthouse forty yards away.

  She craned her head up and saw a body dangling from a rope. “No,” she whispered. A surge of vomit ran up the back of her throat and she nearly heaved it all over her fine black boots when Leney spoke from behind her.

  “We weren’t going to start without you. That’s just a tester.”

  Jillybean spun around and stared blankly into his face for a few seconds as she tried to wrap her mind around the word. Did that mean they were hanging someone else, someone lighter perhaps? “A tester?”

  He grinned. “Yeah, Ronnie done up some driftwood to make sure we got the right strength of rope. You wouldn’t want it to break and have one of them…” His hands made a tumbling, end-over-end gesture. “Who’d want to clean that up? Right? ‘Cept maybe them Santas. I’ve been hearing a little talk from them, but I bet an evening of hangings will stop the chatter.”

  “An evening? What do you mean?”

  “Only that there’s some serious structural damage up there and the railings are all ate up with rust. We’ll only be able to hang them one at a time. If you want we could string ‘em up all at once from the prison. I can get that done in five minutes. It won’t be as impressive though and the boys have been looking forward to this. I’d hate to disappoint them.”

  Disappointed? Who could be disappointed by missing a…Someone in the crowd laughed. Shocked, she tried to find the culprit. It could have been anyone. Half the people were smiling and chatting. Other people were eating from grey pots as if they were at a play instead of an execution. Still others were leaning against the prison wall eagerly watching the tester being dropped over and over again

  They’re eager, Sadie said, revolted by the idea.

  What do you expect? Eve asked with a laugh of her own. They’re Corsairs. This is their idea of fun. And you want to take it from them, after they’ve waited in this miserable rain all afternoon? Good luck with that, Jillybean.

  The vomit was trying to come up again. “This isn’t right. Maybe…”

  “Maybe?” Leney asked. “Maybe what?”

  “Nothing, never mind.” She looked away so that he wouldn’t see how pale she’d become. The awful realization had just hit her that Ernest was more right than he knew. Stopping the executions wouldn’t just undermine her position, it would lead to a riot in the next ten minutes. And who could she honestly turn to stop it? Leney?

  I doubt it, Ipes told her. He will kill for you and will die for you, but only if you appear invincible. The same is true with all of them and how invincible will you look in the middle of a riot?

  Other than Jenn, she was the smallest and the weakest one there. She would be the first person trampled as the crowd surged forward to kill her friends. Frantically, she spun, looking for some way to avoid the fate that awaited her and her only friends.

  Unfortunately, spinning, only showed her that she was surrounded by a thousand men who had been her mortal enemies three days before. And ringing the island were dozens and dozens of black ships, filled with even more enemies. Only the power of her mind and her personal magnetism kept them in check—but what if Ernest was right about that, too? What if she faltered? What if she showed weakness? What if…

  “Oh God,” she whispered. Among her enemies were three prisoners huddled beneath blankets; there were twenty armed guards standing over them.

  They were doomed. It was minutes before the sunset. And only a miracle could save them. Jillybean gazed westward, searching in vain for that miracle. The only thing that could stop the execution was if the Black Captain suddenly appeared beneath the Golden Gate Bridge with his own armada.

  But the waters were empty.

  Chapter 38

  Jenn Lockhart

  Jillybean wasn’t the only one searching in vain for a miracle. For the last few hours, Jenn Lockhart had her hopes pinned on an earthquake, one so big that it would destroy the prison and squish Jillybean like a grape in the process. A quake that big would probably dash all the Corsair boats to pieces, killing hundreds of birds with one stone.

  An earthquake would be a million to one chance and yet it was more likely than a rescue, or an escape. The island was crawling with Corsairs and the only boat off the island was the Captain Jack. Even if it wasn’t doomed to sink, it had no sails. Mike had taken down the old rags only that morning.

  They were also out of time for a miracle. The sun was setting and now the cold was becoming intense. Jenn had begun shaking an hour before, but now it was more than just the cold. She was dreadfully afraid.

  The Corsairs had been testing the hanging rope over and over, and each time their guards would make some comment or another. The last had been, “I don’t think their necks are gonna snap, especially the girl’s. Hers will just stretch and stretch until it’s like three-feet long.”

  Jenn’s imagination went haywire and she pictured her neck like a long rubber tube. She felt like gagging.

  “Don’t listen to them,” Mike whispered. He had his arms around her, crushing her so tightly to him that someone would have to look clos
ely to notice she was trembling. “Okay, the tide is going out. If we get the chance, we’ll swim west toward San Fran.”

  “Sure,” Jenn said, through her constricted throat. He’d been giving them tidal updates every hour or so. As useless as they were, they were better than having to listen to the latest odds on which of the three would die the slowest.

  The current odds had Stu winning that gruesome race. “You’re an idiot,” Stu mumbled when one of the guards told him he was betting on him. Stu changed his tune when they saw the Queen come from the prison a few minutes later. “Hey, I’ll give you the inside scoop on us if you can get the Queen to come over here.”

  “What scoop?” the guard whispered.

  “Get the Queen and I’ll let you know which one of us was on death’s door only a few days ago.” The guard pointed to Mike’s bandaged throat; the once clean white wrapping was grey and dirty. Stu shook his head. “Get the Queen and I’ll tell you.”

  The guard was a lanky, tough string of leather with a perpetual hump to his shoulders, which made him always look as though he had a secret to tell. He went to the Queen and humped his back even more in something of a bow and then pointed back at Stu.

  Jenn thought Stu no longer looked angry, he looked dead tired. Still, he sat up straighter as the Queen walked towards them.

  “They said it’ll be one at a time,” he began, without a preamble. “If I kiss your ass, will you let Jenn go first? I think it would be a kindness. The least you could do.” Perhaps realizing that this last bit was too much of a critical jab, he forced a smile onto his face and added, “I’ll kneel and everything.”

  This struck her like a slap and her head jerked. Jenn was surprised to see pain in her eyes.

  She was collecting her thoughts when Leney, who had followed after her, scoffed, “That’s your last dying wish? What an idiot. And what are you looking at, kid?” He was talking to Mike, who had turned teary hate-filled eyes on him.