Defending the Galaxy: The Sentinels of the Galaxy

by Maria V. Snyder

  We reach Pit 50 without incident. Morgan insists we clear Pits 51 through 55 before declaring the area safe. Mom wakes the key Warriors, starting the sixteen-minute countdown. Dad once again dips into his huge backpack. This time he pulls out a small robotic digger. It’s half a meter wide—a baby digger, so cute! He sets it down and sharp spikes shoot out in all directions. Uh, not so cute now.

  Reminding me of a spider with way too many legs, it climbs to the ceiling and then digs up, which is really strange to see. Sand and bits of the ceiling rain down on us. Memories of being trapped in my burrow spring to life. Morgan orders us to line up against the wall in case of a cave-in. I’m happy to oblige, pressing my body as flat as possible.

  Since the digger is so small, the wait stretches along with my nerves. The longer we’re here the greater chance for something to go horribly wrong. Eventually arrows of sunlight pierce the gloom as the digger breaks through the surface. It clears a meter-wide hole before returning to my father. It retracts its spikes like a good boy. A black silhouette of a woman appears in the opening above us.

  “Hello? Officer Morgan, are you there?” Ceridwyn asks. Her tone is uncertain as if she still doesn’t believe we’ve portaled to her rescue.

  The thick tension around me eases a fraction.

  “Yes, we’re here,” Morgan says.

  “Oh!” A pause. “How are we going to get down there?”

  Morgan snaps her fingers at Bendix and Zaim. “Miss Trant, please move all the children well away from the hole. We’re coming up.”

  “All right.” She disappears.

  Bendix sets his emitter down, and shrugs off his ruck. Extracting a metal arrow and black contraption of some sort with a rope spooled around it from his pack, he aims it at the opening.

  “Clear the hatch,” he calls just before he shoots the arrow. The long rope with knots tied in it every meter or so unspools from the contraption as the arrow flies through the air and buries itself into the ceiling right next to the hole. Impressive aim. He tests the hold by yanking on it. When it doesn’t budge, he climbs up. Wow. Lots of bulging muscles.

  After Bendix climbs the five meters or so to the surface, he signals and Zaim ascends the rope, making it look easy. Damn. My team’s in some serious shape. I catch Niall watching me. Mr. Jealous is frowning. Behind him is Elese. She’s smirking at me and fanning her face with her hands. She mouths hot damn. It takes all my will not to smile.

  “The kids can’t climb down the ropes,” Mom says to Morgan. “How are they going to get here?”

  “Bendix has a couple harnesses and a tripod to rig a pulley system to lower them down one at a time. It’s the best we could do considering the circumstances.”

  “Officer Morgan,” Zaim calls down. “We’re having some…personnel issues.”

  Morgan glances at us. “The kids must be terrified. Stay here until I give the all clear.”

  We say, yes sir. She climbs the rope in double time. Impressive. And then we wait. Niall and I exchange a look when the silence extends.

  “Lawrence,” Morgan barks from the opening. “Get up here. Now.”

  I move to the rope, hoping my arms will hold my weight, but Officer Kingston grabs my shoulder, stopping me.

  “She didn’t give the all clear,” she says.

  Oh, right. Not good. “What do we do?”

  “Evacuate. How soon until the portal to Ruijin is open?” Kingston asks my mother.

  “Two minutes.”

  Kingston glances up. “It might not be soon enough.”

  “Hold up there, sir,” Elese says. “We’re not leaving our team members behind.”

  “You’ve no choice. I’m the highest-ranking officer,” Kingston says. “I allowed Officer Morgan to lead this crazy mission because of her experience. But she’s not here. We’re evacuating as soon as that portal is open.”

  “Lawrence, what’s taking so long?” Morgan demands.

  Morgan might not be down in the pit with us, but she’s still alive and sounding rather pissed off. Bendix and Zaim are with her.

  “I’m not a security officer,” Mom says. “I’m not evacuating without the rest of our team.”

  Go Mom.

  Kingston rounds on my mother. “We’re in a weak position. We can only go up the rope one at a time, and we’ve no idea how many are up there.”

  The Chief has a point. Niall, Elese, and I exchange a look. There has to be some way to confirm what’s going on. Just then the green glow fills the pit as the portal solidifies. Waves of light pulse through the statues. Within a minute, half the security officers are going to leave.

  Wait. That’s it! I quickly explain my plan to the others. The response is mixed. Of course Kingston vetoes it.

  “Lawrence, I gave you an order,” Morgan says.

  I decide to implement my plan anyway. “I’m sorry, Officer Morgan,” I yell. “You know I’m terrified of heights.”

  “Close your eyes and count to twenty, Lawrence. You know you can do it.”

  Elese smiles. “We can handle twenty opponents.”

  Too bad Kingston and the others don’t look as confident. The lights stop undulating. The portal is open.

  “Let’s do this,” Mom says. The dragon is looking for a fight.

  Niall and Elese make tracks in the sand while my parents set the stage. I stand at the bottom of the rope. The rest of the officers disappear into the Warriors, either to evacuate or to help, I’ve no idea.

  “Okay, I’m coming,” I say, grabbing the line and pulling myself off the ground. Ugh. Must do more push-ups, I pant as I climb another meter and stand on one of the knots. Then I clutch the rope as if I’m frozen in fear, staring up at the hole with a terrified expression. After a few moments, a head blocks the sun as someone peers down.

  The person disappears and there are voices from above, but I can’t understand what they’re saying. Then something drops from the hole and lands in the sand with a sickening thump.

  Kingston warned this might happen. I jump to the ground and dive behind the nearest Warrior before the grenade can go off.

  Seventeen

  2522:274

  The grenade explodes with a flash of bright white light and a whoomph. I press my body as close to the Warrior as possible as a concussive force spreads out through the Warriors. They rattle but don’t fall over. Nor do they break. Mom will be happy. I’m ecstatic that the looters dropped a stun grenade and not the kind that blows things into smithereens. We guessed that they wouldn’t want to destroy the Warriors and were right. Go us.

  Now time for the second part. I sprawl out on the ground as if I’d gotten hit. Mom and Dad crawl out from their hiding places to play dead—so to speak. All flashlights and lanterns are turned off. Then we wait.

  After a century and a half a ladder is lowered into the pit—the looters came prepared. It thuds when it hits the ground. Then silence. Whispers float on the air and then the sound of someone climbing down is followed by more boots tapping on the metal rungs. To keep from moving, I try to count the number of people. I’m up to six when it gets quiet.

  “Spread out,” a man says.

  Boots crunch on sand. I hope my team keeps hidden. There’s a trick to it—the precise rows and columns of the Warriors create a bit of an optical illusion when you’re walking through them. Niall learned how to take advantage of it when he was dodging me and I figured it out as a kid. I didn’t have much time to explain it to the others, but survival tends to make one a quick learner.

  The footsteps grow louder as they near me. I concentrate on pretending to be stunned. It’s like sleeping. Right? Keeping my muscles relaxed despite my hammering heart, I remain still.

  The tip of a boot prods my right side. I concentrate on acting insensate. It shouldn’t be hard; I’ve been knocked out enough times just in this last year. My muscle memory should be at a savant level by this point.

  After another couple of centuries, more boots approach.

  “The pit is emp
ty,” a man says. “Except for these three, the rest must have escaped through the portal before we sent the grenade.”

  Breathing is easier now.

  “Shit, I knew that nonsense about being afraid of heights was a delay tactic,” the boot prodder says right next to me. “They’re a bunch of cowards, leaving their people behind.”

  “Should we pursue them through the portal?”

  “No. We can only send one at a time. They’ll just shoot us when we pop in. We’ll get Ruijin like we got the rest.”

  The boot returns to my side, this time with enough force to roll me over. I flop like a dead fish.

  “We got Lawrence, that’s all that matters,” Prodder says.

  Why do they still want me? I’m far from flattered. In fact, if they forgot all about me, I’d be super thrilled.

  He calls up the all clear. “We’ve captured the target plus two.”

  “Proceed to Pit 41,” a voice yells down. “Take the prisoners and wake the portal.”

  “Yes, sir,” Prodder says. “Nat, help me pick her up.” Then he snorts in derision and says, “She’s still holding her pulse gun. Like that’s going to help her.”

  Actually, now that he mentions it. I open my eyes, aim, and shoot. The sizzle crackles through the air. He squeaks in alarm as the pulse hits him in the face. His eyebrows spike into his hair line as he topples.

  The man next to him raises his gun, but jerks as more sizzles sound. He crumples and then other thuds and thumps sound throughout the pit. I glance at the hole. Did anyone hear the noise? No one is peeking down so I turn back to the guy at my feet. I’m tempted to prod my prodder, but I disarm him instead—something he should have done to me. He’s wearing a black security jumpsuit just like ours. So are the other two now prone forms.

  “Clear,” Elese says quietly, stepping out from behind a Warrior.

  We share grins. I glance around. Everyone but Kingston, Bernardo, and Flynn are here.

  “Did you disobey a direct order?” Elese asks Officer Cole.

  “Yeah. Do you have any openings in your unit?”

  “Hell, yeah.” She fist-bumps him. “You’d fit right in.”

  At the sound of someone mounting the ladder, the others pick up the fallen looters and melt back into the Warriors. There’s no time to go to another pit to set up an ambush. Hopefully in the dim half-light no one will notice the tracks in the sand. The green glow from the Warriors also washes out details as well. I hide behind a Warrior that’s two rows deep.

  “Three on the way down,” Niall whispers. He’s our spotter because he’s tall enough to peer over the Warrior’s shoulder. He’s also close to me along with Cole.

  Soon after, boots scrape on the sandstone. “Go close the portal,” a woman orders. “We’ll meet you in—”

  A sizzle interrupts her as Niall shoots. I step from my hiding place and aim as the two others grab for weapons, but they’re too slow. They drop to the ground. My team appears from the Warriors and carry the unconscious looters out of sight before the rest can come down. I imagine a looter pile somewhere near the back of the pit—a heap of bodies. Nervous giggles threaten. We still have eleven looters to deal with.

  I hide as another set of boots appear at the top of the ladder. While waiting, I consider the order to go to Pit 41. That one goes to Yulin—I memorized all the important pits just in case this op went sideways. At least we know their destination. Then I wonder if Ceridwyn was a plant to lure us here or if the looters caught up to her and the children. I’d rather be duped than have the kids endangered. The looters won’t kill them. Will they? They had no trouble blowing up a base with children. But could they look the kids in the eye and do it? Big difference. I’m hoping it’s a big fat no.

  “Four more,” Niall whispers, interrupting my panicked thoughts. “Bendix is in the middle. The looter behind him has a kill zapper aimed at him. That one’s mine.”

  That increases the danger by an order of magnitude. Niall can’t miss. If he does, we’re all in trouble.

  “The group is down and—oh hell,” Niall says.

  I peek out in time to see Bendix tackle the guy with the kill zapper. We spring from our hiding places and pulse the others. Bendix is on top of the looter, banging his head on the ground. The man’s still holding his weapon and it’s aimed— I dive to the ground as an all too familiar purple fire crackles right next to me. Stars, that was close!

  Another thud sounds and the gun drops from the looter’s hand. The man is unconscious and blood leaks from a gash on his skull. Bendix’s grin is half manic, but he assesses the situation and helps clear out the bodies. The pile is growing and there’s seven looters left.

  The next four have Zaim with them. They’re more cautious probably due to the noise of Bendix’s fight. They shine their flashlights around. The beams sweep through the Warriors, illuminating the sand. And I bite my lip, remembering the blood. Did we bury it? The color will certainly draw unwanted attention. I glance at Niall.

  He’s holding up a hand, which means wait. It’s torture to remain still while the lights seek us out. Or that’s what I imagine they’re doing. I’m eighty years old by the time the lights travel to the far end. Soon they’ll be in Pit 49. I glance at Niall who is on his tip-toes. He finally signals. We emerge behind the group, but Elese, my dad, and Bendix are closer.

  Bendix is unarmed, but that doesn’t stop him from grabbing one of the looters from behind in a big hug, clamping his arms around the man’s diaphragm. Before we can neutralize all of them, there’s a cry behind us. We’ve been spotted. Niall, Cole, and I spin around as the sizzle of pulses fly by my ears. Too close!

  “Down,” Niall orders, diving.

  I hit the ground. There are five looters on the ladder shooting at us. Morgan is trapped in the middle of them. They have the height advantage. And two extra people! Guess if Morgan told me to count to twenty-two, they would have suspected she was tipping us off. And why am I thinking about this now?

  “Find cover,” Niall orders.

  I roll, heading into the Warriors. A pulse slams into my left leg and buttock as I scramble to crouch behind the General. Needles of pain crawl along my skin. I endure it, knowing it will stop. The jumpsuit’s material protects me from being knocked out, but—stars! It hurts. Tears well.

  “Mouse? You okay?” Niall asks. He’s behind the Warrior next to mine.

  “Yeah.” For now.

  Every time I try to peek around the General sizzles fill the air. The looters have us pinned down. And Cole is…I’ve no idea. I hope my parents are okay. My mom’s small enough to hide just about anywhere. The ladder creaks as they descend another couple of rungs. I risk another look and spot Morgan. She does a little hop and puts her feet on the outer edge of the ladder, then she changes her grip and slides down. It’s a sweet move. Morgan knocks off the two looters below her. It’s kind of comical how they go flying. But she lands right next to them and the person who was just above her mere moments ago aims a kill zapper at Morgan.

  I’m on my feet without thought. “No!”

  The woman on the ladder turns her weapon on me. The rest of the world disappears as her thumb presses down. She jerks just as the purple fire rushes from the end of her weapon. A burning agony knives into my left shoulder. The force of it pushes me back a few steps. At the same time the looter falls off the ladder. I glance over and there’s my mother with her pulse gun, picking off the rest of the looters with ice cold precision.

  Niall’s yelling at me. Or…I think he is. His mouth is moving, but there’s a loud crackling in my ears. Purple fire is dancing on my shoulder. Thin ribbons of it ring my upper arm and spread down to my wrist. Its pattern of light reminds me of a complex program in the Q-net. One where Q has highlighted the correct path.

  The pain is intense, but my skin under the arcs of electricity turns numb. Not a good sign. When it digs into my throat, I know I only have a few seconds. The strength leaks from my legs and I sit down before I fall. My parents
and Niall hover around me, but can’t touch me or risk being killed as well.

  Fire stabs the back of my neck. I pull up my knees and rest my forehead on them as spikes of red hot pain sears my brain. It’s familiar. I’ve endured a similar sensation when Q shocked me from my coma. I survived that. Why not this?

  I’ve the heart of a Warrior. All I need is its hard impenetrable body to block the lightning. I glance around at the statues surrounding me. The General stands next to me. I surge to my feet, scattering everyone as they jump back. Wrapping my arms around the General, I hug him tight.

  Pressing the side of my head against his chest, I think, Please, give me the strength to fight this.

  And he’s there, standing in front of me. But we’re no longer in the pit on Ulanqab. We’re either in the Q-verse or in a dream or in another dimension. Does it matter? The physical world is gone. Again.

  The General is staring at me with a pleased expression. You’ve done well, Little Warrior, he says. My strength is yours.

  But what about you?

  I will move beyond.

  Beyond what?

  The edge of the Galaxy.

  That’s where Q said fourth nation has gone.

  Yes. I will rejoin my brethren. My duty done.

  His comment reminds me of my earlier thoughts about the Warriors. Do you know what is going on in my world? Are you aware?

  I sleep and then wake when called. It’s an honor and a privilege to serve. Go back to your world, Little Warrior.

  The sound of a crushed heart raining down inside the General echoes through my ear. Cold fingers touch my neck. I open my eyes.

  “Her pulse is strong. I don’t know why—”

  “Your hands are cold,” I say to my mother. “Some dragon you are.”

  She huffs. “This dragon is tired of watching her daughter get hurt. Where did you go? The Q-net?”

  “No. The W-net.”

  She presses her hand to my forehead as if checking for a fever. “The W-net?”