‘She’s got this,’ Jilius said.
They carried on walking for a few minutes—until they came to a door.
‘You may leave us here,’ Efia said.
The men nodded in a docile way and began moving back towards the way they came from.
‘One more thing. Could you please open this for me?’
Slavishly, the one of the guards used his access card to unlock the door.
‘Now, go get some rest,’ Efia said.
He nodded, and as though in a trance, followed his mates to the corridor.
‘What was that?’ Berossus asked.
She raised her chin with nonchalance and entered the room. It was massive. And inside were a dozen or so cubes with small glass windows, behind which light blinked. Berossus peered into the first one.
‘Evie!’ he shouted.
She was lying naked on the floor, pale and spasming with frequent green bolts of lightning that were hitting her body from the ceiling.
The darkness swelled up inside him. ‘We have to get her out!’
‘Calm down,’ Efia said, and placed her palm on his shoulder, instantly pushing the darkness back. ‘That’s what we’re here to do.’
Jilius turned the knob beside the door to the cube. ‘It’s her sister, Shosana.’
The lightning ended and she lay motionless on the floor inside the dim cube. Jilius pressed a few buttons and the door opened.
Oberen shouted from the side, ‘There’s someone here, too,’ and Jilius went over.
Berossus stepped into the cube and kneeled beside Shosana. She looked so much like Evie, only missing the tattoo she had on her neck. ‘Hey, are you—?’
Her head turned and her eyes opened. She screamed and rolled back, scrambling to the wall, crying out in bone-chilling shrieks.
Berossus didn’t know what to do. ‘Calm down, we’re here to get you out.’
She looked around with fierce eyes, moving in spasms like a trapped animal.
Efia stepped in. ‘Child, you’re safe with me.’
Her screaming subsided, but she moved back from her and stared at them all in a frenzy.
‘It’s all right,’ Berossus said.
She fixed her gaze on him, her eyes burning ferociously. She looked exactly like Evie, and something about her made Berossus reel.
Efia raised her palm towards her and said, ‘You’re safe.’
She turned to Efia, her muscles seemingly unwinding, and her gaze calming.
Oberen supported a naked man with a shaken expression. The skin on his body was torn badly, but there was no blood. Instead, machine parts were visible through the holes on his skin.
Jilius spoke up. ‘Daler. Are you all right?’
‘Jilius,’ he said, and his expression sharpened. ‘Unfortunately, my synthetic body is no match for this… is she all right?’
Shosana’s and Daler’s eyes met, and both seemed relieved. ‘It was terrible.’
‘It’s over now,’ Berossus said. ‘We’ll get you out of here.’
She flinched when he spoke and still seemed very sensitive. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m a good friend of Evie’s; she’s your sister, right?’
She nodded. ‘And them?’
Oberen coughed. ‘Save the chit-chat for later. We should go.’
‘Will you take me home?’ Shosana asked. Her eyes wide open, her whole body shaking, she looked terrified.
Berossus and Oberen glanced at each other. Berossus said, ‘Where’s home?’
‘In Luzasand.’
‘There’s just one way to get you home, dear,’ Daler said. ‘We have to remove Marc Puissance. Besides, I’m not leaving this place until I get what I came for.’
‘You’re after Puissance?’ Jilius said. ‘It’s not worth it. Join us in Spit City.’
Daler shook his head. ‘No.’
‘How are you going to get your revenge when you’re in that shape?’
Daler stared at him without saying a word.
Efia, who had been observing from the side, said, ‘There is something to be gained by taking over this compound. Remember the thing through which we came, the big machine with portals? If that were shut down, Nenetl would have trouble moving troops around. At the very least, it would hold her back.’
‘Already planned for it,’ Jilius said. ‘We’ll use one of those portals to head to Spit City, and then my modified Silencer, a heavy EMP device, will render the system useless.’
Oberen scratched his chin. ‘Doubt it will prevent Nenetl from coming over again, though; it’ll just make her angry.’
‘True. That’s why we’ll divert her universe to Momentum 6 and scramble every part.’
Jilius made it sound so simple. Berossus couldn’t fathom how it would work in practice: a physical machine, even as complicated as a spaceship pinch engine, was simple compared to what Jilius was talking about with his networked systems.
‘And to do it, Evie, down in Spit City, will need all the support we can provide.’
‘So, you’re making them think Momentum 6 is our universe?’ Oberen said. ‘You think they’ll fall for it?’
‘They have to. It’s our only chance.’
Chapter Thirty-Four
Evie inhaled the dank air somewhere deep in the Mascot Building, the same building in which she had earlier met the Noir. Reina had brought Evie and Sofia there for a safe haven from the Ver, and Naido had joined them, too.
‘We’ve lost the Ver for now, but they’ll catch up. As long as you have the Starbearer, they won’t stop.’
Evie pushed her hand into the pocket of her leather jacket. The small chip’s sharp edges pressed against her fingertips. It weighed almost nothing, but if Gus was to be believed, it was humanity’s best hope against the impending alien invasion.
‘There’s hundreds,’ Naido said. ‘The whole city is infested with them.’
‘Are you sure it’s the chip they’re after?’ Sofia asked.
‘Absolutely,’ Reina said. ‘Why?’
‘Just wondering if there’s something we could do to it.’
‘I could smash it to bits,’ Naido said. ‘Get rid of the vermin.’
‘No!’ Evie tightened her grip on the chip so that its edges pressed into the flesh of her palm.
‘Just joking,’ Naido said with a grin.
Evie punched him on the shoulder.
‘I’m with you all the way, mate,’ Naido said with a wink, ‘and we're going to get Daler and your sis out.’
Evie wanted to believe this was the case, but found it hard.
Sofia frowned. ‘No, that won’t work.’
‘What did you have in mind?’ Evie asked.
‘Henning seemed to know a lot about the creatures—’
‘Oh, did he?’
‘He said his father used to hunt them,’ Sofia said, pulling up her comms device. ‘Let me ask him.’
Evie thought Gus might also know about the Ver, but there was no way she could contact him, and there was still time until she was due to enter Momentum 6. The thought spawned another concern: if she had to have the Starbearer in a presence room while she was in Momentum 6, how would she be safe from the creatures?
While Sofia was connecting with Henning, Evie said, ‘Do you guys know of a safe presence room I could use soon?’
‘In this city, as long as the Ver are around, there are no safe places,’ Naido said. ‘I suggest we take a fast ship and get out.’
‘Easier said than done,’ Reina said.
‘Henning is on his way here on a navy ship,’ said Sofia. ‘He said he had some ideas. Perhaps we could take a navy transport out to Dawn Central. There you could enter a presence room, and punch in the Starbearer.’
‘Sounds like a good idea,’ Reina said, ‘but I can’t join you.’
‘Why not?’ Evie asked.
‘Well, let’s say it’s a trade-off for what I do.’
Reina had never told Evie what she did, but she could guess it wasn’
t daylight-proof. ‘OK, I won’t ask.’
‘I’ll check with my boss if it’s all right for me to leave,’ Sofia said, tapping her comms device.
A low rumbling sound combined with a tremor made the hairs on Evie’s neck stand up. ‘Is that what I think it is?’
‘We’re out of time,’ Reina said, and stepped to the door. ‘Come on! We have to move before they find us here.’
Evie glanced at Sofia, who seemed disconcerted. ‘What is it?’
Sofia perked up. ‘No, it’s all right.’ She was blushing; obviously she was keeping something from Evie, who reminded herself to talk with her—she had been here with Henning, and probably knew more about everything that was happening than she had others believe—but now they had to move.
Naido pushed Evie towards the door. ‘Just to be clear,’ he said, in a low voice no one else could hear, ‘I want to get Daler out, and your sister too, but before that can happen, I will do whatever it takes to keep you and the Starbearer safe. I’m with you all the way.’
‘Thanks,’ Evie said. She wanted to say more, to show she was more than grateful for his presence, but for once, she was at a loss for words.
She followed Reina to a dark and cold corridor. From the direction they had come echoed the sounds of scratching and flapping. ‘If my old map is still correct, this will lead us to the exit.’
‘Exit? To where?’ asked Sofia.
‘To the bottom,’ Reina said. ‘Follow me.’
‘Oh, I hear it’s a dreadful wasteland.’
‘Same here,’ Evie said, as they hurried after Reina. ‘I’ve been there only once and was unconscious.’
With dust over the dim lights and spiderwebs hanging on the lights, the corridor looked as if nobody had used it for decades. Soon enough they reached the double doors at the end of the corridor. The creeping, crawling sounds behind them seemed closer. From behind the door came other kinds of sounds: rhythmic thumping and the occasional fizzle.
Reina pushed the doors open.
A massive room, the ceiling of which was concealed behind the mist in the air, opened out in all directions. Coming from a confined corridor to a grand place like a dark cathedral made Evie lightheaded. In the middle of the space stood an array of round machines with pipes that extended further up than the eye could see, thumping and occasionally letting out steam.
‘What is this place?’
‘One of the four ventilation centres,’ Reina said.
Naido gaped. ‘This building is old…’
‘There should be a door at the far corner,’ Reina said. ‘It will lead to an exit to the surface of the moon.’
‘Gives me the chills,’ Sofia said.
Evie marvelled at the machinery, walking behind Reina, and craning her neck to look up. As opposed to the sleek digital worlds, these were hard and dirty machines that pumped like the heart of the building; built hundreds of years ago by people who were all dead now, they inspired awe.
She thought she saw something move up above in the dark.
Naido’s gun clicked first.
Sofia yelped.
Evie cowered by instinct, as Naido sent plasma bolts flying upwards.
Above them, a swarm of flying creatures flapped downwards, now shrieking in ear-breaking pitch through their fanged mouths.
‘Come on!’ Reina shouted.
Evie pushed Sofia forward and together they ran after Reina. Naido followed while firing upwards to keep the Ver from diving. There were just so many of them.
‘There’s the door,’ Reina said, pointing forward. Evie saw the wall, but not the door—it was still dozens of metres away, and just as she saw it, a big Vernaga hit the floor in front of them like a missile, making it shudder. Quickly it recoiled and stretched to its full size—over three metres tall—and spread its claws.
‘What do you want?’ Reina called out.
‘You know what we wantsz,’ the creature hissed, ‘Give zhe czhip to usz and maybe szhe szpared.’
Many of the Ver landed, surrounding them in all directions in black, like they were standing on an island of light in the middle of a sea of darkness. Most of them were the small ones, but on the sides there were also a few bigger ones like the one speaking to them. While Reina had the front, Naido scanned the Ver behind their backs. Evie touched the chip inside her pocket.
Sofia stepped beside her. ‘You still got the chip?’
Evie nodded, and patted her pocket.
‘This is how it’s gonna go down,’ Reina said. ‘You go back to your maszter and tell them we outsmarted you.’
The creature hissed through its teeth.
Without saying anything, Sofia stepped forward.
‘Hey,’ Evie said. ‘What are you—?’
Sofia stepped past Reina, and between her and the creature. ‘I have the chip,’ she said, and extended her arm towards the creature.
Evie patted her pocket. The Starbearer was gone!
‘What are you doing?’ Evie shouted.
In a move so fast she was barely visible, Reina jumped over to Sofia and pulled her by the arm so that she spun around. Reina grabbed her hand, where she held the chip, but it had fallen on the floor.
All the Ver around them closed in.
Reina drew some kind of device, like a knife with a bleeding blade of white light. She flung it fast, and the first creature that flew close got its wing sliced off and fell screeching on the floor.
Evie took cover by Reina, while Naido shot at the Ver closing in, stepping back towards her.
Evie scanned the floor. The lights were dim, and the floor was messy. A small matte-grey chip was difficult to find. Reina and Naido could hold the Ver for a short while. Evie dropped to her knees to look for the chip.
The big one advanced on Reina.
She swung her blade in front of her. ‘Come any closer and I’ll split you in two.’
Evie scraped the floor, feverishly trying to find the Starbearer chip, but her hand only managed to find small rocks and detritus.
Sofia cried out. Two of the Ver had caught her and were pulling her out.
On the floor, something caught Evie’s hand. It was a small piece of metal—not the chip—and its edge cut into her skin. ‘Ouch! Can’t see a blasted thing here.’
‘If it’s light you need…’ Reina said.
A sudden gleam of light rose from Reina, who had thrown it in the air. It lit the room, and made the Ver shriek, and retreat.
In the light floating above them, Evie saw the matte-grey chip a few metres away.
Naido turned to shoot the Ver, and they let go of Sofia, who slumped to the ground, recoiling.
‘That’s what I thought,’ Reina said to the Vernaga, which looked seemingly uncomfortable with the brightness. ‘In the light of the day you’re not that attractive anymore.’
Evie crawled towards the chip. Naido had stopped shooting.
The Vernaga hissed, growled and jumped forward.
Evie grabbed the chip.
Something thumped hard against her, sending her off-balance. But in her bleeding hand, she had the Starbearer. She turned to see what the heavy mass was: it was the bottom half of the Vernaga, sliced and cauterised from shoulder-to-waist by Reina’s blade of light.
Reina looked down at her. ‘You got the chip?’
Evie nodded and stood up, brushing aside the dust and debris from her clothes. The small Veerings still surrounded them, but gave space, detesting the light that hovered above them.
‘What’s that?’
‘Just a tactical light drone for urban warfare I got from the Noir,’ Reina said. ‘It tracks you and can even shoot small projectiles at your enemies—on full power, the brightness itself seems to be a weapon against these creatures of the dark.’
‘Right,’ said Naido. ‘Let's get moving while we have the chance!’
‘Agreed,’ Reina said, and stepped forward, the light drone following her a few metres above, and the Veerings hovering around the light in a five-metre
circle.
Sofia just stood there, head drooping. Evie grabbed her wrist. ‘Come on!’
Sofia complied lazily, and Evie pulled her along to keep up with Reina and Naido.
The Ver respected the bright source of light, and they managed to walk through the room to the opposite side where a small door emerged from the haze.
Reina opened the heavy door and held it for everyone to enter. When she stepped through and closed the door, the pumping of the machines and the skittering of the Ver were muffled, and it suddenly became very quiet.
Sofia’s head still drooped. Evie stepped over to her and said, ‘What were you thinking?’
She failed to reply, but lifted her head. Tears fell from her eyes and she buried her face in her hands.
‘She promised she wouldn’t do it… I’m so sorry,’ she whimpered.
‘Who are you talking about?’
‘My superior put these nanobots in me to snoop on Henning. But they do so much more—with them, she could take control of me, and she promised she wouldn’t.’
‘Let me guess,’ Evie said. ‘You’re talking about Belinda Killock?’
She raised her teary face. ‘How’d you know?’
‘I’ve seen her nanobots in action.’
‘It was so weird—I was aware of everything that happened, but I couldn’t change it. The worst was when the words came out of my mouth, words I didn’t speak.’
Reina stepped in between them and pulled Evie aside. She whispered, ‘We’ve got to drop her. We can’t have someone tracking us through her.’
‘We can’t just leave her here,’ Evie whispered, and glanced back at Sofia, who was rubbing her eyes, sniffling.
‘All right then,’ said Reina. ‘Let’s get out of here first, then we’ll split.’
‘Thanks,’ Evie said, and beckoned Sofia to join them.
Reina led them through the narrow corridor, which ended in a heavy hatch.
Naido pushed the hatch open. ‘Damn!’
Evie ran up to the open hatch. But before stepping through, Naido stopped her swiftly, because the ground was at least ten metres below the doorway.
‘This was ground level when this building was established,’ he said, ‘but it seems that the scrapers have been hyperactive since then.’
‘How do we get down?’ Evie asked. Ten metres was too much to jump, and the side of the building was smooth.
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