by Dan Krokos
Her scrunched eyebrows relaxed slightly. “The Fangborn don’t just want to eat us, they want to change us. Their fangs contain venom that, when applied to a human or Tremist, strips the evolved DNA away, reverting the victim back to its most primitive form. We hold the Fangborn code inside of us, and their venom reveals it.”
A sick, cold feeling trickled down the inside of Mason’s sternum. He was suddenly back in the free-for-all room, looking down at a bloody robe. It was the same feeling of helplessness.
“What happened to Jiric?”
“Jiric is no more.…”
Mason caught movement to his right; the Fangborn loomed out of the darkness again—no, a second Fangborn. There were two of them, side by side. The one on the left was slightly smaller, his skin a little bluer. They can speak, Mason thought, as fresh goosebumps spread down his arms.
The smaller one had strange hands: the outer layer of flesh was translucent, showing a violet layer within … which ended at the elbows. Almost like it was wearing Rhadgast gloves inside its skin, as if the skin had formed around it …
“Jiric,” Mason breathed.
The Fangborn cocked his head at the name, lips peeling back from fangs that were not yellow, but white.
“Subject One escaped the other day,” April Stark said. “He was recaptured, but not before infecting another student. We’re still investigating the breakout. There is no physical way past the safety glass without assistance.” Mason filed that idea away for later.
His mother turned to him. She had to look up at Mason now. When he’d seen her last, she’d been able to pick him up. “I am so close, Mason. That’s why I’m here. Because the fate of both our worlds is in jeopardy. The Fangborn are coming back, at this very moment. They are traveling to us at this very moment, and if I don’t have a cure before then, I don’t know what’s going to happen!”
Mason took an involuntary step back, his heart dropping into his stomach. They know where we are. “Is the ESC aware? The fleet needs to be made ready! I have to—”
“Red light,” his mother said. Any doubts he had that this wasn’t really his mother were wiped away. Anytime Mason had been getting too far ahead as a kid, his mother would shout “Red light,” and Mason would have to stop in his tracks. Even now it shut him up, though it made him bristle. He was about to tell her she had no right to boss him any longer, but she spoke first. “It’s not going to matter,” she said. “You disabled their ship once. They won’t let it happen again. They’re coming, and there is nothing we can do to stop them, no technology we have that can compete with their ship and its weapons. They’ve been planning and building for millions of years.”
Mason clenched his fists. “But we have to try.”
“Yes, we will try. Warn the ESC if you can. I’ve been told they’re aware, but … I don’t trust anyone. Be careful, though. If the news leaks, there will be panic on both sides. The treaty may not survive it.”
“I’m going to Master Zin right now to tell him you’re leaving.”
“No you most definitely are not! You’re going to go back to your room and say nothing to anyone.” She almost reached out for him. “You are here for the ESC, aren’t you?”
“Maybe…”
“Then you’re going to do your duty.”
“Like you did? By faking your death?”
His mother reared back as if Mason had slapped her. “I … I sacrificed—”
“Me. And Susan. That’s what you sacrificed.” As he said the words, he tried to understand his mother. She was working on what was possibly the most important task in the galaxy. An ESC soldier knew what it meant to sacrifice, and his mother was an ESC soldier. So was Mason. But she left him behind. She left Susan behind.
“Why did you have to come here?” Mason said. “The ESC has resources, they could’ve—”
“I’m sorry, honey, it had to be this way. The Tremist tech is light years ahead of ours, but we had our own skills to bring, me and your father did. A human perspective for the research. If I was still on an ESC base, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. Days away. Almost there. You have to forgive me.”
Mason didn’t have to do anything.
“Where is your team?” he asked.
“On their way. You can’t be here when they arrive. I don’t know what will happen.”
“Is Dad with them?”
She blinked rapidly, like she was fighting sudden tears, and looked away briefly; Mason saw her trying to form some kind of lie.
“Is he dead? Don’t lie to me. I want to know.”
She swallowed three times before speaking. “You father … we were on Nori-Blue. That’s when we made the discovery of what the Fangborn can do. How they can make us like them. He … he was infected. I last saw him on Nori-Blue eleven years ago.”
“Was he…?” Mason felt his throat tighten; any hope at seeing his father again faded like smoke.
“When I last saw him, he was not your father.”
Chapter Twenty
Mason had to sit down. He did it right where he was standing. He simply folded his legs under himself and put his back against one of the metal tables. He did it a little too hard, and some weird instrument he didn’t recognize clattered to the floor, a piece of it skittering away and pinging off the glass wall.
The two Fangborn had retreated to the shadows again.
“They don’t like the light,” Mason said, his words feeling hollow and automatic.
“They spend so much time underground, it’s uncomfortable. The light isn’t damaging to them, just annoying.”
“What if Dad’s alive?”
His mother was quiet for a moment. “Mason, that’s the only thing that’s kept me going all these years. Plus the hope that when I was reunited with you and your sister, I’d have created something … something that could protect our future together. But I will find your father and bring him back.”
Mason heard a noise from the direction of the door he’d come through. It reminded him of where he was. He was still on Skars, in the Rhadgast school, deep below ground. As much a prisoner as the two Fangborn were.
“What happens now?” Mason asked. He had no idea what to do. How could he just go back upstairs and pretend like nothing had happened?
But that’s exactly what his mother asked him to do. “You can’t let anyone know you’re aware of this secret. It could spread panic, and that won’t help anything. You have to return to your team and continue your studies.”
“How long do we have? Before the Fangborn arrive?”
“I don’t know. We captured the one you’ve already met during the battle above Nori-Blue. In one interview, he began to taunt us, saying his brothers and sisters planted a tracking device on a Tremist ship during the battle. It’s my theory they can communicate telepathically on some level.…” She paused. “Mason, I’m so proud of you. What you and your friends did.”
“Thanks.” He didn’t know what else to say. “When can I see you again?”
“You can’t. Not until this is over. If you’re caught, I don’t know what they’ll do. You’ve probably been gone too long as it is. But I want a hug before you leave.”
Mason went to her and his mom held him close. He squeezed her back, a crack appearing in the wall he built to hold back his emotions. He didn’t want to know what would happen when it broke completely.
“Now go,” she said.
Mason looked at the glass again, but the Fangborn remained in darkness.
“Please go. And stay safe.” His mother’s dark eyes were pleading.
Mason turned and walked toward the doorway, through the tunnel of blackness.
He did not look back.
* * *
Mason didn’t feel safe until he was back in the hallways of the school. He pictured his room in his mind, and the implant in his skull communicated with the floor: a new glowing line appeared, guiding him back to where he belonged.
Everyone was waiting for him when he returne
d.
“Juneful said he kicked your butt in the hallway, that you attacked him out of nowhere and he had to defend himself and you got beat down.” That was Risperdel.
“Of course he said that” Mason replied. He still felt stunned, slow to move, like he was walking through water.
The Fangborn are coming. That was all he could think now. It didn’t matter what his mom said—the ESC had to be warned. Even if warning them only saved a handful of lives in the end, it was worth it. Grand Admiral Shahbazian would have to believe him.
“Where have you been?” Po came up to Mason but stopped short of clapping him on the shoulder.
“Yes. Where have you been?” Tom said just ahead of him, arms crossed. “I waited for you, but a teacher made me move on, said I was loitering. I tried to argue, but…”
“You saw,” Mason said, his voice sounding hollow and fake. “I was kept after class.”
“Yeah,” Lore said. “Juneful told us in the hallway. So, is it true you attacked him?”
“Juneful didn’t seem like the chatting type at lunch,” Po said. “We can guess what happened.”
“But he seemed sure Mason—”
“Yes!” Mason said. Everyone stared at him. “Yes. Juneful and his three friends jumped me in the hallway. I took care of it. They promised to report me. They said the school recorded the energy discharge of my gloves, and that I would be sent home.” Mason had almost forgotten that last part: now there was no way he’d allow them to send him home, not with his mom inside the school and the Fangborn on their way. The stupid Tremist had brought Earth into the same solar system as Skars … which would make it so easy to wipe out both civilizations, or convert them into Fangborn, in just one battle. This was their fault. Yet the humans had created the gate in the first place.…
“They won’t send you home…” Risperdel said, but she didn’t sound so sure.
“But you beat them?” Po said. He was grinning. He had no idea what was happening. Mason had a mind to tell them all right then and there, to spread the word about their impending doom, but he didn’t. His mother still had work to do. They both did.
* * *
He spent the next two days in a fog. He told Tom everything he’d learned, and Tom just stared at him wordlessly. At the end, he put his hand on Mason’s shoulder and squeezed. “You’re angry,” he said. “You have every right to be. But…” His eyes dropped. “She’s still alive. That’s what’s important.”
Tom had lost his mother six months earlier. And she was not going to magically reappear. The knot in Mason’s stomach unclenched a bit.
Mason cocked his head to the side. “You know what? You might be the smartest person I know.”
“No,” Tom said. “I am the smartest person you know. Now, about that Fangborn invasion. What do you think we should do?”
“Tell someone, obviously,” Mason said. “I just have to figure out who we can trust. My mom was right—if the news leaks, people will panic and start pointing fingers at each other. The treaty could crumble before they even get here. But we have to prepare.” Mason thought again of the Uniter’s gloves, how supernaturally powerful they had seemed. The Tremist and ESC could prepare all they wanted, but if the Fangborn ship was still impervious to energy weapons, it wouldn’t matter much. They needed an edge.
Mason reported to Grand Admiral Shahbazian just once in those two days and decided the news of the coming attack was too great to keep secret. But Mason didn’t want to tell GAS himself, not trusting the crazy old man to react in a normal, calm manner. For all Mason knew, he’d think the Tremist had been keeping the news a secret.
So Mason asked to speak with his sister, Susan, the following night. He was sore from zero-gravity exercises in the gravity-free room above the Inner Chamber. Lore kept gunning for him, barreling into his body then pistoning off before they both hit the wall. She’d done it twice in a row before Mason decided to focus solely on her. Not that it mattered much; she flew through the air like a bird.
Susan was in GAS’s office, alone, when he activated the communicator. Seeing her for the first time since starting Academy II was almost too much. Mason wanted to break down when she smiled at him, even though she was smiling from billions of miles away.
“Hey little brother,” she said. Her smile quickly disappeared. “What’s the matter? Shahbazian was not too happy you asked to speak to me. How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine,” Mason began. He was anything but fine, but how else are you supposed to answer that question? “I’m here to tell you something. It has to stay quiet.”
She nodded slowly. “You’ve learned something? Why tell me?”
“Because you’re in intelligence, and I don’t trust GAS not to fly off the handle.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “Gas…? Grand—Grand Admiral Shahbazian?” She snorted.
“Yeah, sorry, him. Are you alone? No one is listening?”
“Yes, I’m alone. Talk to me.”
Mason didn’t know how to start, so he just said it: “The Fangborn are coming. I don’t know when they’ll be here, but they tracked the Tremist to this star system, and they’re coming to finish us off.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you—”
“Yes, I’m sure. You have to tell the Reynolds or something. Get people prepared in a quiet way.”
“Great Mountain…” she breathed. “Where did you come across this intel? How can you be sure it’s good?”
Our mother. Mason almost transmitted the thought but held back. You had to will a thought, really focus, for it to go through the communicator.
Susan waited patiently. Mason had to tell her the truth. “Susan, I’m going to tell you something that’s going to sound crazy. And insane. Insanely crazy.”
“That wouldn’t be a first,” Susan said.
The words came out in a rush. “Mom is alive and she’s working underneath the Rhadgast school on some kind of Fangborn antivenom because Fangborn have venom in their teeth that can turn humans and Tremist into other Fangborn.”
A long moment passed in which Susan didn’t do or say anything. Mason thought the feed had frozen. But then she blinked. “Are you sure?” she said quietly, in almost a whisper.
“Yes I’m sure! I snuck into an area I wasn’t supposed to be in—”
“Shocking—”
“—and found her working in a lab. She says she’s close to a cure! Wait. Why don’t you look surprised…?”
Susan put her hand over her mouth, then let it fall away. “There was a rumor I heard when I joined the intelligence sector. Something about humans and Tremist working together in secret, way before the treaty. I never thought…”
“It’s real,” Mason said. “Mom and Dad left us to help them. They thought it was that important … and I guess it is.”
Mason couldn’t help but remember the memorial for the victims of the First Attack, when he and his sister had stood side by side and mourned their parents. It had all been a lie. His feelings had been a lie.
“You only mentioned Mom before.…” Susan said. “What about Dad?”
The connection nearly broke, Mason’s physical surroundings fuzzing into existence for a split second, replacing GAS’s office. He’d rather be talking about anything else. He didn’t want to see the look in Susan’s eyes.
“They were researching on Nori-Blue eleven years ago,” Mason said tonelessly. “Dad was … changed. Mom hasn’t seen him since.”
Susan’s eyes were unfocused, distant. She began to nod absently. “Well…” She swallowed. “We have other things to worry about. Stay focused. And safe. You hear me? Eyes open, little brother.” Her voice was steel. Mason knew it was the brittle kind, though. Ready to break.
His throat tightened. “I will.”
“Tell me everything about the Fangborn one more time,” Susan said.
Mason did.
“I’ll get this information to the right people,” Susan said when he finished. She paused.
&n
bsp; “What is it?” Mason said.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t—we need something, Mason. We’re not going to win like this. Without a miracle. Please stay out of trouble until I can see you.”
“Only if you do, too,” Mason said, though he knew neither of them would. Mason ended the link and was left with a hollow feeling in his chest. He missed the Academy. There he had a purpose. Here his mission was becoming lost in a haze of questions. Here he didn’t know what he was doing, or what he was supposed to do.
Chapter Twenty-one
Mason woke forty minutes early—before the day had to start, but after curfew. He showered, brushed his teeth, donned his uniform, and was out the door while Tom and the others slept soundly in their bunks. The sleep of soldiers: completely unconscious, until they needed to be conscious. Though, as he was slipping out the door, he saw Risperdel watching him, one golden eye peeking around the covers.
The library was three levels down, in the middle of the sphere, where Blood met Stone. It was enormously tall, with pillars of what looked like creamy marble but probably weren’t. A waste of space in Mason’s opinion. The stacks rose fifty feet high around him. Hover platforms took you where you needed to go, but the highest books held a special risk, since the platforms had no railings.
The Tremist seemed to love paper books. This wasn’t the reusable synth-paper the ESC used, which could display any book uploaded to its pages, but real paper that would tear if you weren’t careful. The shelves were full of them, of all shapes and sizes. Tremist apparently didn’t need or want all of their books to be rectangles of a similar size.
The library had a circular desk in the middle, usually staffed by several librarians, if the chairs were any indication. But today there was only one, a Tremist woman in her early twenties. She wore a long tunic of rich, velvety purple. Her hair was snow-white and piled around her shoulders. Her eyes were dazzling silver, catching and magnifying the dim light of the library. Mason was dumbstruck when he saw her.
She smiled, recognition in her bright eyes. “You’re up early. Have a thirst for knowledge? You’ve come to the right place.”