by Elle Scott
When we arrive, Frank has already begun unpacking the cases he transported. I don’t even know where we are. I had assumed we would take the vault back to the Caverns, celebrate in the Zen Garden and laugh over cider while shouting; “We did it, we did it, it took us forever but we did it!”
But beneath my feet is cement instead of rock, and the rough edges of the caves are replaced by harsh silver tin. The roof doesn’t drip moisture from the cold earth—it is luminous white, lined with endless fluorescent strips of light as long as a football field. I am not surrounded by the smell of dirt; I can’t smell anything but the stench of lies and death.
The vault takes up a good amount of space and is bigger than I imagined. It fills almost a quarter of the building.
‘How many Red Orbs do you think are in there?’ Frank asks.
‘There should be four all up,’ David holds the tablet in his hand but hesitates to open the vault. ‘Three in here and one at the Fort. Is that right Viv?’
I push my lips together, forcing my voice away. I don’t know what I can say anymore. I swallow and nod.
‘I’ll have to go get that in a minute, I’m sure I’ll be fine to do so considering the… distraction.’
The distraction? He calls someone’s murder a distraction?
‘Where are we?’ I ask.
‘We’re in a secure warehouse. I thought it would be a safer option than letting all the Uprisers have access to these,’ David taps on the vault and sniggers along with Frank.
It doesn’t make any sense—the speeches, the camaraderie, everything he has said was to unite us all; for us all to do something good.
‘Viv?’ David stands in front of me, his hands rest on my shoulders. ‘Are you alright? Did something happen with Kate and Xander?’
I furrow my brow. I feel like I’m being swallowed alive—like there is quicksand beneath me and with every word he speaks, I am dragged further and further into the hollow. Then I realise, I’m already there, I’m already under, my head is completely submerged. I’m choking on dust and grains of little lies. David’s voice is muffled now, it probably has been for a while—do this, he says, do that, except I don’t really hear the words, I just follow.
‘Viv?’ David lowers his body so our eyes line up, they are pale blue, grey against his tanned face. The wrinkles between his nose and mouth are deep, they cut through his face pretending to be laugh lines but I know the truth, I know the pain from where they have risen from. It’s the same pain from where my numbness appeared, from where my willingness to follow blindly appeared.
‘They said we killed their parents?’ It’s out now, and no matter how fast I breathe I won’t be able to suck the words back in.
‘Hmm, yes, well that wasn’t supposed to happen, we were only supposed to interrogate them.’ David stands erect and darts his eyes to Frank. Frank smiles, not a reassuring smile but a sideways smirk that sends a shiver up my spine.
The building erupts with echoes of grunts and moans. I spin around to see Adam and Miguel. Adam is holding Miguel up, he looks dazed—his face swollen red with circles of purple.
‘Where are the others?’ David asks concerned. ‘That portal orb was for all seven of you!’
‘They, ahh, they didn’t make it,’ Adam winces.
‘Oh well, the more money we all get each then!’ Frank slams an empty case shut and pushes it with his foot to the side. ‘Are you gonna open the vault, so we can store these inside?’
‘What do you mean money?’ I look between Frank and Adam and rest my eyes on David, tell me the truth just this once!
David’s expression changes, like he is annoyed with me, weighed down by my presence. He simply shakes his head, ‘I suppose you can’t go and tell your friends now, but the real reason—I…’ He stammers over his words, like a sudden rush of guilt has fallen, but I’m only hopeful and too idealistic, because the words that follow feel more like a verse from a How to be a Sociopath pamphlet. ‘It’s not as simple as being right Vivian, we need not just to survive but to thrive. Ladlow didn’t want to thrive, he was too naive to see the big picture. Making key-lines and special elevators? Waste of time. Although, I admit he was on the money for that large-scale shield at the Fort though. Think protection, think safety, think mass engineered defence objects with the energy of a Red Orb!’
‘Weapons?’ My mouth is dry, tasteless yet sticky.
‘To be specific, yes weapons. But think about it Viv, where did these weapons come from? What do we have to protect ourselves from something bigger, something hostile?’
‘Maybe “they” planted them here so we could kill off ourselves without them having to do a single thing?’ Adam leaves Miguel to wobble on his baby deer legs and stands beside me.
‘So, we are the ones that are selling the orbs, not Ladlow?’ It’s not really a question, it’s an unfolding realisation. But I don’t feel relieved or excited to know the truth, not like I thought I would.
‘This is why I didn’t tell you both! I knew you wouldn’t understand.’
‘Don’t you think she deserved to know what she was fighting for all this time? Betraying her friends…’
‘Family!’ David cuts Adam off, his eyes large with anger. ‘Is more important that friends.’
‘What about money? Is family more important than money?’ Adam chokes on his words, the last few drifting off into low pitch, sinking to the floor with his tears.
‘I understand you lost a brother and Viv lost a boyfriend, I lost a son too. But sometimes sacrifices have to be made. It’s not all about the money.’
‘It helps though!’ Frank pipes up. He taps his foot, nudging the orbs closer to the vault.
‘You’re not helping,’ David hisses to Frank, he shoves the tablet into Franks gut. ‘You open the vault yourself!’
He turns back to us, ‘I’m going to get the rest of the orbs from The Fort, we’ll have a better chat when I return!’
‘How will you get there though?’ I speak before I think. He can’t get there with a portal orb, he’s never been there before, he’s going to make me go with him.
A twinkle lights up his eyes and spreads across his face. ‘Well, this beauty,’ he holds up his portal orb, ‘Has been modified. That cute little recruit Celia helped me out!’
‘Celia?’ I whisper to Adam.
‘Traitor!’ he replies.
I circle my arm around Adam’s bicep—I feel dizzy, my whole world crumbling in front of me. The last five years, or is it even six years, is it longer? Did Seth know what his dad was doing? I’m trying to remember signs; things I should have picked up on, but all I see is heartache, my own heart being bent and stretched and abused. It’s as if this whole time I’ve thought I’ve been staring at my reflection in a silver framed mirror, but in reality it’s not silver, it’s scraps of torn tin and metal. I can’t see myself in the glass anymore, there are too many cracks that zigzag from the middle all the way to the edges. In an instant, they crash with an explosion so big that all the pieces shatter like rain over me. All that’s left of someone I used to be are cuts so deep I can’t distinguish between the nightmare and reality. Adam stabilises my swaying body with his arm around my waist. He shouldn’t touch me there but I let him, I imagine he is Seth and everything is fine. My breath slows, it’s even, I’m numb again—just how I like it.
‘Wait!’ Miguel stumbles over, his eyes are slits but he speaks with gusto. ‘The orb that Nora had, it healed Miles. Like one minute he was dead, the next breathing! I’ve never seen anything like it!’
David’s face lights up even further, ‘I thought it may have been that kind of orb, interesting!’
‘What kind of orb?’ Frank turns away from the vault lock, interested now.
‘Orbis Lucem,’ David clears his throat; ‘Light of the World… Orb of Light. When I was at Palladium there were only whispers about it, the proposal to design a prototype was rejected. Very interesting indeed. Well if I’m lucky I’ll score myself that orb too. Tell me
Miguel, are they still at the Base?’
Miguel shakes his head. ‘They left me after she healed Miles. If Adam hadn’t of come down to me, we’d both be toast by now.’
‘Could be a problem,’ David’s face drops out of elation and into planning. He pulls out a drawing from his pocket, the grey-lead lines display the Fort’s design in all its glory. Thanks to me.
‘The Orb room is always locked, right? If I go straight there, in and out, shouldn’t be a problem.’
I don’t answer him this time, I don’t even nod.
‘Backup?’ Frank puts the tablet on the ground and walks towards his gun that he left on one of the cases.
‘I think it might be better if you stay here and load those orbs, Miguel is in no state to do so and…’ His voice dissipates before he turns back to us changing the subject, ‘I love you both, that’s the truth.’
And with a quick stroke of my face and a squeeze of Adam’s shoulder, he’s gone.
How is it that I can trust a man, feel comforted by his words, want to follow his every command, but at the same time loathe everything he believes in? I can’t leave, not really. He’s my family.
FORTY-FIVE
Nora
The doors close in front of me and I press the elevator button. Loud voices resonate down the hallway from Miles’ office.
‘What are you doing?’ One yells!
‘Collecting your debt!’ Screams another.
I run towards the voices, I'm not sure when I started to be so curious or brave but my heart’s pounding won't let me walk away. As I get closer to the end of the hallway, I realise it's not coming from the office, it comes from the orb room. I step inside and I instantly recognise my mistake. To the right, the map. A cluster of orbs shining bright remain here at the Fort. I kept coming back here to check where else I needed to find the orbs but I failed to do the ones remaining here. To my left stands David—behind him contained by glass, is a Red Orb; the wall that was once there now gone. Between him and the orb is Ladlow, protective and irate.
‘Get out!’ Ladlow spits through clenched teeth.
‘I need them all,’ David says. ‘But I can let you keep an egg orb in exchange?’
‘I think you should leave,’ I say making my presence known.
David sees me and smiles. ‘Hello Nora, just the person I wanted to see. Where's your orb? I need that too!’
I smile back, ‘You can't have it.’
‘Miguel tells me you healed Miles with it, brought him back from the dead. That sort of thing will get me billions more!’ His greedy eyes look at my tightened fist.
‘Yes, but he had to die first… No thanks to you!’ Ladlow says.
‘No thanks to me?’ David scoffs turning back to Ladlow. ‘What? Aren’t we playing the son for a son game? How about I take all your orbs in payment for my son then?’
Ladlow holds his hand up to a key-line on the glass box. ‘I would rather die with this orb than let you have it to use for worse destruction.’
‘You're so naive. You know why I have to sell them yet you still bury your head in the sand like a fool,’ David steps closer to Ladlow calling his bluff.
Ladlow slides his fingers over the key-line and without hesitation presses down onto it. Glass begins retracting down into the floor.
‘Run Nora!’ Ladlow screams at me. But I can't move, I won't move.
The top of the Red Orb protrudes from the glass; a low buzz omits from it as glowing sparks begin to appear all over it. Small shards hit the ceiling above and I know this will not be good.
‘What have you done?’ David says before using his portal orb to transport away, leaving Ladlow and myself watching the glass case release the annihilating weapon.
The glass has lowered half way and lines of red sparks start to pulsate inwards, almost as if it’s feeding itself energy. A bolt crashes into the key-line and Ladlow looks to me with wide frightened eyes, like he’s realised he’s done something foolish. Only at the face of death does he realise how terrible his choices are. Ladlow runs to the computer and starts typing on the keypad, I'm assuming to return the glass casing.
I close my eyes and hold my orb to my chest, what are my intentions? Protect everyone in this building. I imagine the centre of the Red Orb, willing its core to dull and its power to lessen.
‘Nora! GO!’ Ladlow is still anxiously typing at the computer.
I open my eyes and watch my orb glow bright, I step back to stabilise myself from the distraction. The glass has completely retracted and the entire orb’s aura expands. Sparks of electricity break through the Red Orb’s outer layer, the heat overwhelms me and I forget what I'm doing. The first bolt strikes my foot, and as I fall, the next bolt grazes my shoulder. The pain is the worst I have ever experienced, the burn spreads from the wound site. I scream. More shards sporadically lighten the room. Ladlow tumbles next to me on the floor. I remember what it did the day we discovered it, disintegrating a tree on impact, narrowly missing Eli because of Miles risking his life. I lay on my back and wait for the blazing orb to burn us alive. Ladlow lunges over me, hovering his face upside down over mine.
He holds my wrist and shakes the orb inside it. ‘Do something!’
I forgot I had it. What can it do though?
Ladlow pants and collapses on the floor beside me. I hear the same unearthly noise the Red Orb made on that day we found it, winding itself up like a jack in the box. I squeeze my eyes shut and turn my head away.
FORTY-SIX
Kate
I don't know why I thought things would be so different to what they are right now. I'm not stupid, I knew they couldn't ever go back to the way it was before, not without Mum and Dad. But I at least thought Xander would return and we could go home. We could catch up on the last three, five years, I could fill him in on who I am and how I've grown. I thought he would want nothing more than taking me away from this mess and swaddle me in brotherly arms; heal me. But even his distracted presence when he is around, only scrapes the surface of what I need. It's like I'm in a different dimension and what we were before he left is only a memory, and who we are now is only a constant reminder that things will never be the same again. And now, now he's chasing a girl he hasn't even spoken to me about. A girl, Nora. I don't get the fuss, she's not even that pretty from the pictures I've seen.
Ross mumbles formulas and jargon to himself as he tinkers about on his, whatever it is, a flux capacitor for all I know. I'm so bored at this point that if Miles walked in and told me to go with him, I would. Because, apart from the fact that everything I have believed in these last few years was a lie, at least he is trying to make it right. All Xander is doing is trying to save a girl who probably doesn't need saving, and all this bumbling nerd here with me is doing is caring about objects. Orbs. Stupid damn orbs that don't belong on this planet, they don't belong in my life. If only Xander never chose to work at Palladium, then Mum and Dad would still be alive.
A shadow emerges beside me and I know it's Xander, I can sense him in only a way a sibling can. In that moment, the anger detaches from my body and floats away. I shouldn't blame him for our parents’ death; it isn't his fault. He's trying his hardest, like me, like all of us. I jump to my feet and reach for his embrace, but he's already walked towards Ross.
‘You won't believe what happened and what this orb Nora has can do!’
He finally turns to me. It's only been five seconds since he appeared but those five seconds should have been mine, in fact the last twenty minutes he’s been gone to find Nora should have been mine.
‘What can it do?’ I sigh. I am exasperated, I am being an impertinent teenager but I think maybe I have a right. The fight for these stupid orbs caused the Uprising to kill my parents and then lie to me about it so they could use me. Yes, I have a right to not care about them.
Xander's eyes twitch as he looks beyond me to nothing in particular, like he's looking at a scene behind me. ‘I don't know where to start!’
My face drop
s, I’m disappointed he didn't pick up the annoyance in my voice. ‘Can we go home yet?’ This time I make it clear.
Xander breaks out of his trance and focuses on me. He looks pained but his voice is smooth. ‘Yes Kate, yes,’ his hands find my shoulders. ‘It's Miles… he died!’
What? How? Why?
‘What?’ Ross drops his tools, metal falls against his laptop and a small tinny noise cracks through the cabin.
‘I mean, he died but he's not dead anymore!’ Xander holds his hands up in both our directions. ‘Nora healed him with her orb.’
‘So he didn't die?’ I question.
‘Yes, he did but he's alive now because of the orb! Come on, I'll show you!’ Xander pulls me into him and tucks the orb under his arm pit casually, like he's just taking a basketball out to shoot some hoops instead of pulling me further into a world I don’t want to be in.
Feeling his stable hand bend around my waist, I twist my head into his shoulder and close my eyes. I don't want any more of this. No more, no more, no more. I've had enough of the endless moving from one place to another; from one mission to the next. I've had enough of sharing him with others, this is it—I'm here in his arms forever and if he leaves me again I'll break, I know I will. So I hold on tight.
We arrive at Miles’ office in the Fort, but something isn't right. An unusual vibration pulsates onto my back sending buzzing waves through my body. Pictures slide back and forth on the wall, chairs and tables flutter off the floor, books and papers rattle away from their shelves. The whole room is shaking.
‘Earthquake, here?’ I say concerned, still pressed up against Xander.
He and Ross exchange a knowing glance.
‘No,’ Xander says, tightening his grasp on me.
Ross looks like a chipmunk, eyes wide and frightened.