Flame: A Sky Chasers Novel

by Amy Kathleen Ryan

  “What’s going on?” Waverly asked Seth’s doctor, who came to check his chart.

  “Some kind of emergency,” she said, though she looked like she was holding something back.

  The intercom crackled to life once more, and the same woman’s voice called over the speakers, “Waverly Marshall, report to Central Command immediately.”

  The doctor looked at Waverly. “You better go.”

  Waverly shook her head. “I’m not leaving Seth.” She still didn’t know where Jared Carver was, or if he’d awoken. She didn’t want to think about what he’d do to her if he got her alone again. Don had assured her she’d be protected, but she wasn’t sure anyone would be able to stop Jared from coming for her.

  Just then, two armed guards came into the infirmary. An older, scrawny man jerked his chin at Waverly. “Let’s go.” A pudgy guard grabbed her by the elbow. “You’re needed in Central Command.”

  Waverly knew that she had no choice but to follow them. She looked back over her shoulder as she waited with them for the elevator. Seth’s doctor was rearranging his tubes, tucking his sheets under his legs, as though getting him ready for something.

  The walk down the corridor to Central Command was quiet, but she could feel the animosity of the guards as they pulled her along. She kept her hands down, letting the skinny guard open the door for her as the pudgy one pushed her through.

  Central Command was a scene of chaos. A terrified-looking woman with clipped red hair beckoned Waverly with a shaky wave of her hand. Dr. Carver was sitting in one of the chairs that lined the long row of windows, and the rest of the church elders were gathered around him, leaning on the com consoles. Murderers, Waverly thought when she saw them. Selma, the large woman with the piercing blue eyes, nodded hello. The rest of them avoided her gaze.

  “What’s happening?” Waverly asked, but she was interrupted by Kieran’s voice coming over the com.

  “If I don’t talk to Waverly Marshall right now, we’re increasing speed.”

  “The Empyrean is on a collision course with the New Horizon,” Dr. Carver said to Waverly. “He’s demanding to talk to you.”

  The red-haired woman handed her a headset. The chaos that had ruled the room moments before settled into a tense silence as every eye fastened on Waverly. “Kieran?” she said tentatively and sat down at the com screen to study his image. His cheeks looked scooped out, his hair askew, and he glared at her. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m going to ram the New Horizon unless they release the hostages.”

  “Try to talk sense into him,” the doctor said, but Waverly turned her back on him.

  “Kieran,” she said. She studied his face, letting him read hers, trying to guess what he was up to. “You can’t mean this.”

  “There’s no time to talk about it, Waverly,” Kieran said with a weird smile. “I’m going to kill everyone unless my demands are met.”

  “What…”

  “Unless every single Empyrean survivor is on a shuttle and ready to dock with the Empyrean in the next thirty minutes, we’re going to ram you.”

  “But the Empyrean is destroyed,” she said slowly.

  “That’s why we have nothing to lose now,” he said.

  Kieran would never harm anyone, she knew. He was bluffing. He must have some kind of plan. He stared into her eyes, poker-faced, willing her to trust him. I do trust him, she realized. He’s going to get us out of here.

  “Kieran, please!” She tried to sound desperate, terrified, and found it wasn’t difficult at all. She was desperate. She was scared, because she thought she knew what was happening, that he’d gone to the Empyrean and found it wasn’t destroyed after all. Another lie from Mather that Waverly had somehow never doubted. This might be her one chance to go home. If she lost this chance … She couldn’t think about that now. She just had to make this real. “There are women and children aboard! Babies!”

  “I’m dying,” he snarled. He sounded insane. “The Pauleys killed me when they made me swallow those explosives. Their detonator is tearing up my guts. I have nothing to lose anyway.”

  “Where is our crew?” the redhead com officer burst in.

  With a cruel smile, Kieran flipped a switch, and the image changed to a bunch of scared-looking people huddled into the corner of a large shuttle-bay air lock.

  “Oh God!” The redhead touched the screen with her fingertips, but the image was already back to Kieran’s face. “We’ll blow them out unless you cooperate,” he said.

  “Kieran…, Waverly began.

  “We’ll put these hostages on a shuttle as soon as we know every Empyrean survivor is on the way to us. Including the ones in the brig. When their shuttle lands, we’ll change our heading and no one has to die today.”

  He gave her a small nod, almost imperceptible. Trust me, he seemed to be saying.

  “No,” Dr. Carver said. “We can’t negotiate with this … this…”

  “He seems serious, Wesley,” Selma said slowly. “The boy is dangerous.”

  “Wesley’s right. We shouldn’t negotiate with a madman,” tiny Miranda said. She lifted her chin in defiance, and a feather on her elaborate hat jiggled.

  “Can’t we just evade them?” asked one of the elderly twins, looking at a man with a short black beard who was sitting in the pilot’s chair.

  “He chose his angle of attack perfectly,” the pilot said, his face ashen. “I can’t turn this ship fast enough to get away.”

  “Kieran means what he says,” Waverly said to the room at large. “He’s been acting crazier and crazier, ever since the first attack.”

  “He never seemed unstable,” the doctor said, stroking his chin with a thumb and forefinger. There was murder in his eyes, and Waverly resisted the urge to cross the room and shove his head against the blast shield. “How do we know you’re not in league with him?”

  “You have a recording of the only conversation we’ve been allowed to have,” Waverly spat. “I don’t know any more about this than you do.”

  “He’s speeding up!” the pilot cried.

  The doctor twisted his cane between his fists, looking furious. Little Miranda fingered her beaded necklace. The elderly twins shifted uncomfortably on their stools, and Deacon Maddox stared at his own intertwined fingers. Selma looked from one to the other of her fellow council members, studying them, until finally she cleared her throat.

  “I say we send them,” she said.

  The other elders accepted this with stony silence, until Miranda stirred. “We could be sending those innocent people to their deaths!”

  “To save hundreds of our own,” one of the twins pointed out.

  “The Empyrean has sped up again,” the pilot said, his voice quaking.

  “You have ten minutes,” Kieran said, clearly straining against the increased inertia. He was glaring into the com screen, his jaw set, his lips pressed together with rage. Suddenly he doubled over as though some invisible hand had punched him, but he straightened up enough to say, “Decide if you want to live.”

  And the screen went dark.

  That wasn’t fake, Waverly knew. He’s in pain.

  “That’s barely enough time to get all of them to the shuttle bay,” Selma said.

  The doctor nodded as though an idea had occurred to him, and he straightened his back, tapping his carved cane on the floor. “Send them.”

  The crew looked at him to make sure they’d heard right.

  He sat there, smug and certain in his power. “What are you waiting for?”

  The Command room burst into a flurry of activity as crew members ran to their com stations and shouted into their headsets, blinking as though they couldn’t believe what they were saying.

  “I refuse to let go of the assets on the Empyrean,” the doctor said to the rest of the church elders. To the pilot he barked, “Turn away from them to buy time.”

  “What do you think I’ve been doing!” the pilot shrieked.

  Dr. Carver shifted in his
seat, obviously feeling like a fool.

  Kieran couldn’t have picked a better time for this, Waverly thought. Mather would have known what to do, but these people are in over their heads.

  “I’ll go with the hostages,” Selma said, lifting her chin bravely. “I’ll negotiate for their release.”

  Dr. Carver cocked his head. “Why you?”

  “Who else, Wesley?” Selma barked irritably. “Are you volunteering?”

  Dr. Carver looked away broodingly.

  Selma sniffed and abruptly turned her back on the rest of the elders. “You’re coming with me,” she said and took hold of Waverly’s arm to pull her out the door and into the corridor.

  “I need to get my mom,” Waverly said as a hysterical-looking man nearly knocked into her, then ran off. The corridor was crowded with harried people, all of them running, making eye contact with no one.

  “She’s waiting for us in the shuttle bay.” Selma pushed the call button for the elevator. All the excitement had winded her, and she wiped at her sweaty brow with the side of her hand.

  “Then I need to go to the infirmary.”

  Selma patted her arm. “Don’t worry about Seth. Miriam will bring him.”

  “Miriam?”

  “Dr. Jansen,” Selma said as she stepped onto the elevator. “She won’t leave him behind.”

  “Leave him? What do you mean?”

  “You’ll see,” Selma said with a smile.

  When they reached the shuttle bay, many of the Empyrean kids and the surviving parents were standing outside two shuttles waiting with their ramps open, and more were trickling through the shuttle-bay doors all the time. Waverly scanned the crowd, looking for Seth. Several of the kids waved excitedly at her, and she waved back, but when she saw Dr. Jansen leaning over a gurney, she ran for it, ignoring their eager questions.

  “You need to understand I can’t predict…,” Dr. Jansen was saying in Seth’s ear, but Waverly couldn’t hear the rest over the din of the crowd.

  He nodded dismissively, waving her out of the way when he saw Waverly standing behind her.

  “You’re awake!” Waverly cried and kissed him.

  “They shot me full of steroids for the trip. I feel pretty good,” he said and gave a small smile.

  “Are you sure you can travel?” she asked him.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  But Waverly was looking at Dr. Jansen. “Will he be okay?”

  “I’ll be with him,” she said evenly after a brief glance down at Seth, who nodded at her. “The journey won’t change anything.”

  Waverly thought something had passed between the doctor and Seth, but she was distracted by someone shouting, “Attention!”

  Selma was standing on a shuttle ramp, her hands raised over her head. “Everyone, get onto a shuttle! We have no time to explain. Be assured our lives depend on this! I’ll tell you what we know over the com once we’re boarded!”

  Dozens of voices rose to ask questions, but Selma disappeared into the shuttle, leaving them no choice but to follow her.

  “Waverly!” someone called, and Waverly turned to see Sarah Wheeler running toward her. Sarah looked bedraggled and pale, but she was vigorous, and when Waverly wrapped her arms around her, she felt solid and whole.

  “Where have you been?” Waverly asked tearfully.

  “The brig,” Sarah said disdainfully. “Where else?”

  “Where’s Randy?”

  Sarah pointed at her boyfriend, Randy Ortega, who smiled and waved. He looked excited, as did all the kids from the Empyrean. “I’ll talk to you when we land.”

  The two girls hugged again, then Sarah wove away through the crowd.

  “Have you seen my mom?” Waverly asked Seth. He shook his head. Waverly looked frantically around until she saw her mother’s dark, shiny hair. Waverly’s heart filled, and she called out, “Mom!”

  “Waverly! Where have you been?” Her mother rushed at her, wrapped her in a too-tight hug, then pulled away to point a finger in her face. “I’ve been worried!”

  “I’m sorry,” Waverly said, knowing now wasn’t the time to explain.

  Regina wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “Don’t do it again.”

  Waverly leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder and smiled to hear those words. Seth was watching her with a grin on his face.

  She felt a small hand slip into hers: Serafina Mbewe had found her. She looked down at the little girl, who raised her black eyebrows asking if everything had turned out okay. Waverly nodded and mouthed the words, You saved us all. The full truth of the words hit her when Serafina smiled with childish satisfaction. She has no idea what she did, Waverly realized. But someday she will. I’ll make sure.

  Holding the hands of Serafina on one side and her mother on the other, Waverly boarded the shuttle. Dr. Jansen pushed Seth’s gurney up the ramp behind her. Once aboard, Waverly felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. “Amanda!” Waverly cried. “What are you doing here?”

  “We’re going with you,” Amanda said, and surprised Waverly by winking at Seth. “Hiya, Seth.”

  “Hi,” Seth said and gave Waverly a smug smile, enjoying her confusion.

  “Meet Misty,” Amanda said to Waverly. She held up a wriggling bundle, and a pair of luminous eyes looked at Waverly from a nest of blankets. The baby’s tiny fist was in her mouth, and she sucked on her fingers contentedly, looking utterly at peace in her mother’s arms.

  “She’s beautiful.”

  Only after she said it did it occur to Waverly that, biologically, this was her own child. But looking at the way Amanda held her, arms folded protectively around the little legs, the way the infant cuddled against her breasts swollen with milk … No, Waverly decided, Amanda’s her mom.

  Behind Amanda stood a small group of unfamiliar people huddled in the cargo hold. Don stood with them, speaking in low tones, and they were nodding attentively.

  “What’s going on?” Waverly asked Amanda. “Who are they?”

  “Don and Chris arranged this,” Amanda said. “We’re all…” She paused, searching for the right word, “Refugees, in a way.”

  Waverly looked at the huddled group. There were about fourteen of them, and they all seemed hesitant and afraid. To Amanda, Waverly said, “I was worried they’d hurt you after you helped me escape.”

  “Anne protected me,” Amanda said with a sad smile. “She never trusted me again, though.”

  Waverly knew how much Amanda had once loved Anne Mather. “I’m sorry.”

  “Josiah is waiting for me. We’ll talk more?” Amanda asked with a hopeful nod.

  Waverly nodded, her eyes on the infant as Amanda moved away, hoping Kieran knew what he was doing.

  NEW MISSION

  Seth slept through the journey from the New Horizon to the Empyrean. The steroids had temporarily masked his symptoms to make the journey possible, but they didn’t take away his exhaustion. Waverly had taken hold of his hand as his gurney was strapped to the wall of the cargo hold, and he’d fallen asleep. When he woke, he was looking at the ceiling of the shuttle bay on the Empyrean. Home. He turned his head to see Waverly standing by him and opened his mouth to speak, but she placed her fingertips over his lips. “Listen,” she whispered.

  He followed her gaze to a man standing at the head of the room. He looked just like Don, but instead of Don’s receding hairline, he had a squarish haircut and a strong, angular jaw. Whatever he was saying must be amazing because the room was hushed and every eye was glued to him.

  “Any of you who wish to go back to the New Horizon are welcome to do so,” the man said. “None of us would blame you one bit. If you stay on this ship you’ll be leaving behind friends, all your possessions, and a lot of memories. Worst of all, you have very little time to make this decision. We ran a pretty ballsy bluff to get you here, and a lot depends on what Dr. Carver decides to do in response. Now, about the planet.”

  An excited murmur ran through the crowd, and Seth whispere
d to Waverly, “What planet?”

  “Wait and see,” she said, patting his shoulder.

  “The planet can be reached in about nine years.” The man held up a hand when the crowd erupted into excited talking. “Please! We have very little time. I’ll turn over the description of the planet to the young man who found it. Arthur?”

  Waverly cried out with delight, and Seth lifted his head up for a moment, long enough to see Arthur Dietrich taking the microphone from the man.

  “Um,” Arthur faltered, and there was an uncomfortably long pause, but then Arthur said in his characteristic brainy monotone, “The planet wasn’t charted by the mission designers.”

  “Why not?” called a man from the back. He was immediately hushed by a dozen annoyed people.

  “The nebula we just crossed shielded the star system from Earth’s telescopes. All they could tell was that it was a likely candidate, which is why I started studying it.” Seth heard the rustling of papers through the microphone. He looked at Waverly’s face. There was a light in her eyes he hadn’t seen in months, and she smiled with such hope and eagerness, he wished he could freeze this moment in time.

  “The planet,” Arthur went on, “is about fifteen percent smaller than Earth, and its day is 22.64 hours long. The atmosphere has a composition similar to that of Earth, though the carbon dioxide is quite a bit higher. Once we begin planting crops and establishing ecosystems, that level should drop.”

  He cleared his throat again, and Seth smiled at his extreme nervousness. Arthur had never been one for public speaking, and Seth didn’t blame him. The only thing more terrifying than giving a speech was going on a space walk. Seth lifted his head long enough to steal a glance, and he saw Gunther Dietrich, Arthur’s dad, standing behind his son, beaming with pride.

  “The planet has three moons,” Arthur went on, “and about sixty percent of it seems to be covered with water. There are polar caps, but they are small and may be subject to seasonal fluctuations.”

  “Is there freshwater?” a woman called from the front of the crowd.

  Arthur paused uncomfortably. “We can see evidence of rainfall. The oceans may be full of salts and minerals. That will take further study.”