by S. S. Segran
Shaking her head, she glimpsed the time. “It’s nearly ten. We can’t go any faster, can we? If we miss the technician, then the whole plan’s out the window.”
“Sure,” Victor said. “Got rocket boosters in your backpack?”
Now it was Tegan’s turn to grunt. Leaning her head against her window, she looked into the side mirror. A black sedan trailed behind them, carrying Aari Barnes, Mariah Ashton, and Deverell Vaughn. Deverell, one half of the brilliant and beloved Welsh duo in the League of Sentries, had flown in from Europe where he’d been helping his twin brother coordinate with other Sentries in a worldwide search for Jag. For the group’s plan to work, they would need his abilities.
“Trouble,” Victor warned. “There’s absolutely no one around here.”
Tegan sat straighter. True enough, the hilly streets were completely devoid of life save for the bus she’d seen earlier. It rolled ahead of them, nearing an intersection.
“Doesn’t a silent section of the city nowadays mean a turf war might be about to go down?” she murmured.
“Yeah,” Kody said. “Wait, wait. Quiet. Hear that?”
The words had only just left his mouth when a boom, followed by another, rocked the vehicle, rebounding off the stout brick buildings flanking the road.
A hundred yards in front of their car, the bus now lay on its side in the middle of the intersection. Black smoke trailed from its undercarriage.
“RPGs!” Kody yelped, unbuckling himself. “How does anyone even get those here?”
Victor brought the car to a hard halt, ordered Chief to stay put, then leapt out. Tegan followed, waving for the others in the sedan behind them to join. “We need to get to the people in the bus before—”
Gunfire and shouts cut her off. Kody, his staff slung across his back, rushed up a ladder attached to one of the small buildings on their side of the road and ran to the edge of the roof overlooking the intersection.
“Two gangs!” he yelled over the clamor. He pointed right. “Dudes over there got the high ground and RPGs! Dudes on the left are using the bus as cover! All of ’em have guns!”
“’Riah!” Tegan barked.
“On it!” The other girl dashed to the ladder, hastily tying her hair back, and scaled up to exchange places with Kody.
Victor grabbed Deverell by the arm, stopping him from charging ahead. “Dev, smoke?”
“I thought you were trying to kick the habit?” the younger Sentry said. “And isn’t this a bad time?”
“Not that smoke, for goodness—”
The Welshman grinned, pulling two gray gel spheres from his bag. “Just yanking your chain, mate.”
Victor didn’t look amused. Deverell pressed the first of three indents on the orbs, wound back his arm, and hurled the devices into the middle of the intersection one after the other. A smokescreen billowed, blocking the gangs’ view of everything. The group raced forward.
“Can you give Mariah a hand with the guns?” Tegan called to Victor. “She won’t be able to get them all in one go!”
The Sentry acknowledged her, a fire blazing in his hazel eyes as though he hungered for action.
The six of them halted before stepping from cover and into the intersection. Ricocheting bullets whined past, disappearing into the smokescreen. In a detached part of Tegan’s mind, she was surprised at how little fear she felt being in the middle of a skirmish.
Yells erupted from the left of the bus where gang members were taking cover behind its overturned body. Looking up, Tegan saw all manner of firearms hovering high in the air before they were flung by an invisible hand into a street a block away. She reached out to Mariah telepathically. You go, girl.
Thanks, Mariah said. But some of those guys will try to make a break for it to get their guns back. They’re stuck in a dead end and I don’t think they’ll want to go down backed into a corner.
There was a break in the gunfire. Victor burst out into the middle of the street and crouched down. He pulled his arms back, then swept them forward with a bellow. Tegan darted out to witness the effect of his sonokinesis and was not disappointed. The first row of men standing on the hillcrest flew backward as the powerful acoustic waves hit, sending them crashing into the rest of their crew. They toppled like dominoes.
Victor gave a self-satisfied smirk and Tegan whooped. Her cheering dissipated the instant she heard the bus heave a heavy, distressed creak. She spun around, fearing the worst. Instead, she watched in amazement as the hefty vehicle slowly started to right itself.
She reached out to Mariah again. Hey, is that you? Are you doing okay?
Compared to what I did in Egypt, this is a piece of cake, Mariah assured her.
The group waited until the bus finally settled on its remaining tires, then forced open the doors. They ushered the commuters with minor injuries out first before going in to rescue the ones who were incapacitated.
Tegan zeroed in on the small girl she’d seen earlier. The child looked dazed and terrified, cowering in her seat. Tegan held out her hand. “Hey,” she said. “It’s okay. I’m gonna get you out, alright? Would you like me to carry you?”
The girl was glued in place, not even blinking. Tegan carefully pulled her into her arms and bolted out toward safety. She located the girl’s mother, who lay on the ground with an injured leg. Aari was by her side, speaking soothingly until Tegan lowered the child next to her. The redheaded boy looked up, perfectly composed. “That’s everyone. What do we do about the gangs?”
Kody jogged up to them. “I can hear sirens. Guess someone already called for help. But maybe we should get going before—”
The young girl suddenly shrieked, making the friends jump. “Nunu!”
Tegan bent down. “What?”
“Nunu!” The girl was in tears. “He’s still on the bus!”
“Who’s Nu—are you talking about your beluga?”
The girl clutched onto the hem of Tegan’s jeans and nodded.
“We gotta go,” Victor called, already heading toward their cars.
As the rest of the group retreated, Tegan gazed down at the terrified girl. Making up her mind, she sprinted into the bus, covering her mouth and nose against the smoke. She searched through the thick cloud, coughing, struggling for breath.
Where is it, where is it . . .
Her foot struck something soft and it went sliding out of reach. She chased after it, grabbed it by its white tail, and beelined out of the bus. The little girl was on her feet, waiting anxiously for Tegan to return. Tegan passed her the stuffed beluga, smiling wanly, and leapt into the car beside Victor.
As they sped through the intersection, avoiding the dispersing gangs scuttling away from the approaching authorities, Kody reached over to give Tegan’s shoulder a squeeze. She hacked out the last bit of smoke and exhaled cavernously, then leaned back.
Victor didn’t spare her a glance, but after a moment, said, “You four are getting calmer under fire.”
Was that a compliment? Tegan wondered. That’s like finding a unicorn.
Kody let go of her. “I think he’s right. I felt it too.”
“Practice makes perfect, I guess,” Tegan said. “But it’ll mean nothing if we don’t find Jag, so let’s focus on getting to the HQ.”
“And if we miss the technician?”
“You better pray we don’t,” Victor growled. “We got lucky with this break. If we lose it, we won’t even be back to square one. We’ll be off the board completely. Because if there’s only four of you, then you’ll never fulfill your roles in the prophecy, and the world will fall entirely into Reyor’s hands.”
“And he talks like it’s doomsday! I get that this is a big deal—believe me, I do—but I can’t work with his negative vibes. Besides, we managed to catch the technician in time. Seriously, he’s a bit dramatic sometimes.”
Deverell chuckled as he listened to Tegan complain through his tiny Bluetooth earpiece. “Aye, Vic can be like that. Bear with him, young padawan.”
&
nbsp; She sighed noisily. “Oh, don’t you start.”
He rounded the gray tower of Phoenix’s main office, checking his reflection in the tinted windows. Instead of seeing a longish face and his short hair in a neat side part, he sported a round head, topped with a dark blue ballcap and hoodie.
The wonders of adaptive mimicry, he marveled. No matter how many times he used his ability, it never got old . . . or less painful. He loathed the sounds his bones and cartilage made whenever he changed his features.
Now if only I had telepathy, too, I wouldn’t need this garbage thing in my ear.
“How is our unconscious techie doing?” he asked.
“Considering Victor rear-ended his car then dosed him with your little sleeping liquid,” Tegan replied, “he’s okay. Some thugs and looters are starting to circle around, though. They’re like sharks smelling blood in the water. Kody chased off a woman who tried to make a grab for the guy’s wallet.”
“Will you lot be fine?”
“Don’t worry, we’ve got it covered.”
“I know. I just worry anyway. Alright, I’m about to head in.”
“Good luck, Dev.”
The Sentry strode into the warm, opulent lobby. A security checkpoint was set up mere feet from the entrance. He snickered to himself. Vic really forced them to up their game with his last escapade here. What a legend!
The guard behind the reception counter stood up. “Leonard,” he greeted, a little bewilderedly. “Didn’t you just leave?”
“Yeah,” Deverell said, imitating the technician’s voice and American accent. He tugged the brim of his cap low; two physical aspects he couldn’t change about himself were the color of his chestnut eyes and hair, and the technician’s pupils had been bright green. “But I left one of my tools in the server room. It’s been a long day, I’m forgetting where I put my things.”
“Jeez, you sound like my old man. You know I’m gonna have to test you again, right? In case you got infected when you stepped out.”
Deverell rolled up the sleeve. “Hey, we gotta take all the precautions we can. Do your thing.”
As the guard drew his blood then fed the sample to an analyzer out of sight behind the counter, the Sentry discreetly made sure that the coating on his right hand was secure. It was as thin as cellophane and carried an impression of the technician’s fingerprints.
When the guard gave him the all clear, Deverell placed his hand on the biometric scanner, holding his breath. The device beeped in approval and he was waved through. Once he was out of the guard’s hearing, he whispered, “Tegan, I’m in. Tell me where to go.”
Using a fly, Tegan had followed the technician on his journey to the server room an hour earlier. They’d just missed him entering the building, but she’d caught up quickly and committed his actions to memory. Deverell was more than impressed with her hawk-like attention to detail.
“Remember,” she warned, “there are cameras in the server room, so try not to move your mouth too much when you speak.”
“Understood.”
“There’s a door at the far end of the lobby with a diagonal line etched into a silver plaque. There should be a key with a red plastic grip on the keyring you’ve got. Use that to unlock it.”
Deverell crossed the lobby with its extravagant decor and soft lighting. “This is such a nice place,” he noted under his breath.
“I know, right? Every time I see it, I wanna crash on one of those sofas. They look like you could just sink into them. Oh, by the way, I’ve got eyes on you. It’s kinda creepy how much you resemble the technician.”
Deverell searched around. “That’s basically why I’m here. Where are you?”
The buzzing of an insect near his ear made him involuntarily slap the air by his head. Tegan yelped. “That’s me, you burnt chicken nugget!”
He had to stop himself from laughing as he located the door and opened it. “My apologies, you caught me by surprise. Are you inside? Should I hold the door for you?”
“Nope, I’m right above you. Okay, now see the stairs on either side of the landing? Take the one on the left.”
Deverell flicked a switch by the entrance, allowing light to flood the place, and headed down the steps. “Alright, there are three doors here and they’ve all got two scanners each.”
“Take the middle door. There’s a key card that’s also attached to the ring on your belt loop. Use it on the bottom scanner after you’ve placed your hand on the top one.”
Deverell did as instructed. The door let out a low drone, followed by a click. He pushed it open and stepped into a dark room lit with multicolored lights from rows of servers. Against a wall was a workstation with a large, slim monitor and a flat glass keyboard. He took everything in, awed. “This stuff looks expensive. I shouldn’t be surprised with all that Phoenix is doing around the world, but my goodness.”
“Tell me about it,” Tegan agreed. “How did Reyor even get to be this rich? And within three decades, too.”
“I’d like to know as well. What next?”
“Go to the computer. For the username, type in PSXSF02. Password is es191074av.”
“Oof, your memory is good.” He filled in the appropriate fields. “We’re in! Teamwork!”
At once, the screen flickered as though possessed before snapping to black. Deverell jerked his hands off the keyboard. “Whoa, what’s happening?”
The monitor came back to life, only to display rows of zeroes and ones scrolling down at lightning speed. That only lasted a few seconds until a red warning box flashed.
“Unauthorized access?” Deverell exclaimed.
“Did you type the password correctly?” Tegan’s tone was level, but there was an underlying panic.
“Of course! I don’t make mistakes like that!”
“Then how . . .”
“I have no—” Deverell paused. He looked down at the glass keyboard, then at his hands. “Damn,” he said quietly.
A series of pops and hisses caught his attention. He turned. Thin trails of smoke rose all around the room toward the ceiling. His gut contorted. “They fried the servers,” he breathed. “They actually fried their servers!”
“What?”
With one final look at their lost lead, Deverell bolted out of the room. “It was a failsafe to protect whatever information they have. Which means I probably tripped a silent alarm upstairs.”
“Can you talk your way out of it?” Tegan asked.
“I’m good, but I don’t think I want to risk it this time.”
“There’s another exit further down the hallway. A bit further . . . yeah, there!”
Deverell jiggled the handle but the door refused to budge. “It won’t open! They must’ve locked this floor down!”
Over his earpiece, he could hear Tegan calling for Aari. She returned a few seconds later. “Aari’s going to link with me in the novasphere. He’ll bend the light around you so you can get out the way you came in.”
Deverell had heard about this from Marshall but never got to witness it firsthand. Somehow, the Chosen Ones were able to match their powers to each other like puzzle pieces, a feat unheard of to the people of Dema-Ki.
He took the steps two at a time until he was at the door leading to the lobby. He pulled on it, but it remained firmly shut. Sweat started to gather at his forehead. Oh, I’m in trouble.
The door clicked and swung open, revealing a pair of armed guards. They stared straight at him—then disappeared down the stairs toward the server room. Deverell remained frozen in place, stunned.
“We’ve got you covered!” Tegan hissed into his earpiece. “No one can see you! Get out of there!”
He scrambled across the lobby and burst out of the front entrance. Rounding the building, he found everyone already in their cars. Victor stood by the driver’s side of his vehicle. “Keys!”
Deverell lobbed the keyset as hard as he could. The other Sentry caught it in gloved hands and ran to a blue Toyota parked a block away. Tegan, in t
he black sedan, pulled up beside Deverell. “Get in!”
He jumped into the passenger seat. As he clicked his seatbelt, he watched Victor lean over the side of the technician’s car. “Why’s he taking so long? Looks like he’s having a chat with the bloke.”
“The guy woke up just before you got here,” Mariah told him from the backseat. “Victor acted like a concerned local, telling him to stay put for a bit when he wanted to drive home.”
“I don’t think he realized his keys were missing,” Tegan added, peeling away from the headquarters, “so Victor’s probably handing them over and saying some dude stole it, and that he got it back for him. Which is what we’ve actually had to do a couple times while you were inside.”
Deverell pinched the fabric of the hoodie. “Should’ve returned this, too.”
“Too late for that now. Keep it as a souvenir.”
Tentatively, Mariah asked, “Are . . . are the servers really fried?”
He sank into his seat, hand over his eyes. “Yes. Literally fried. They rigged it.”
“But that was all we had to go on.”
“I know.”
Tegan glanced into the mirror, making sure the boys were behind them. “It can’t end like this,” she said. “This is not how it’s supposed to be.”
What if it is? Deverell wondered silently. The prophecy never stated with certainty that light would prevail over darkness, only that all five of the Chosen Ones are needed to make it possible. But without another lead . . . Reyor might have this in the bag.
“I think I know what happened back there.” Deverell hit his forehead with a fist. “The keyboard was a fingerprint scanner. I had the technician’s prints for my right hand, but not my left. Knowing how paranoid Phoenix is, I should have anticipated that.”