“Tessa is at the safe house. Jamie is fine physically, as far as we know. He wasn’t part of the issue, and is still at the compound.” He frowns.
“Physically? What’s wrong with him?”
He shakes his head. “We’ll get him free from their control someday.”
I don’t want him free someday. But deep down I know exactly what Elan means. Jamie doesn’t want to escape. He’s one of them now. And I might have to let him go.
Anger flares inside me like a hot breeze, but out of the corner of my eye I see Masi turn towards me and shake his head sternly. I squeeze my hands into fists and take a breath, holding it in until the light inside me cools and the frustration dissipates.
When I’m able to think clearly again, I look up at Elan’s surprised face.
Masi is back at my side in an instant, standing next to me with crossed arms.
“I think you’re upsetting the lady,” he growls.
Elan ignores the veiled threat, raising his eyes to address Masi directly.
“Did you see that?” he asks, pointing a finger at me.
Masi just shrugs and looks away.
The muscle in Elan’s jaw ticks as he stares at me, like I’m a riddle he can’t solve.
“Just be ready.” He stands up and stalks away.
I let out the breath I was holding. I try to shake off my anxiety about Elan’s warning. I wonder if I should have told him the truth. Even if his escape plan works, he’ll be getting a lot more than he bargained for. Instead of a scrap of illicit intel, the revolutionists will be harboring an ancient alien power—and the Kreon will tear apart the earth to find it again.
I finish my lunch quickly, even though it tastes like sawdust, and am just about to start digging again when an alarm makes me jump. Instead of the steady beeps that keep us on task, this one sounds like a call to arms. Loose dust and pebbles bounce around my feet as the blaring noise rattles the earth.
I look over at Masi, who has stopped shoveling and steps close to me.
“What’s it mean?” I ask, looking up at him.
“It means we’re out of time.”
***
The sentinels round us up with their electric prods like cattle. They force us into our lines and lead us back towards the main common area of the mines. I’m painfully aware of the concealed dagger and flash drive, and what the Kreon will do if they find them on me. For a brief moment, I think about tossing them into the deep crevice surrounding the main platform, but I can’t bring myself to lose them. Besides the narrow bridge is so crowded I’d have to push through another line of captives just to reach the edge.
We’re forced into long, rigid rows, packed tight like a can of sardines, and have to wait without any explanation as more and more miners arrive from distant tunnels. It’s stifling hot and smells like sweat and urine. It looks like they have every single miner in here—there must be thousands of us. I see Elan off to the side, a few rows ahead of mine, and he looks at me with a hard expression.
Is this the search he warned me about?
A commotion down the tunnel gets the supervisor’s attention. A dozen or so shiny mech guards in two lines march into the great room, carrying a large banner with the Kreon symbol.
These sentinels look different from the ones I’ve seen before. Darker metal, with sharper edges and gleaming rims of red and gold. Barbs on their helmet and armor make them look like an invasive species, which I guess they are. I’ve gotten so used to the smaller, smoother sentinels of the mines I’d forgotten how intimidating the mechs could be.
We’re forced back up against the walls. The head supervisor freezes in place, his antenna twitching nervously between his shoulders.
Then I lose sight of him as he goes down on one knee.
Confused, I stand on my tiptoes for a better view.
Masi grabs my arm and pulls me back down.
“Keep your eyes down, Rya. Don’t make a sound and don’t move.”
“What’s going on, Masi? I’ve never seen the supervisor bow to anyone.”
“It’s the prince,” Masi whispers and steps behind me. “Here to claim his prize.”
He pushes my head down when I’m in too much shock to do it myself. He stays close enough to me that I can feel his warmth. I concentrate on that as time draws out and I sway in the heat. I peek up ahead at the girls and see that their heads are bowed respectfully toward the floor. Good girls.
The light inside me swirls like a storm through my body. It can feel something coming. It can sense another power that it doesn’t like, and shifts in response, like opposing magnets. It takes all my concentration to keep still and calm. The last thing I need right now is to glow like a light bulb.
The royal guards flank the main entrance, and the miners are so still I can hear a single set of footsteps coming down the tunnel. The tension in the room grows thick. I dare to move my head slightly so I can see between the men in line ahead of me. Then a tall form emerges out of the tunnel’s shadow and into the bright lights of the cavern.
I gasp at the imposing figure, then I quickly clamp my mouth shut and pray no one heard me. Masi was right. It’s the actual Kreon prince. And not just an energy form like I saw above, before coming to the mines. I hear murmurs and the men shift uncomfortably around me. They’re as surprised as I am to see the newcomer. As far as I know, no human has ever lain eyes on an actual Kreon, only their drones and robots, not in thirty years of occupation.
He’s wearing a decorative face mask, with swirls of gold and silver against dark blue metal, and a stern expression—but the mouth area is only a line of narrow slits, probably some kind of breathing apparatus. He’s a good foot taller than anyone else in the room, including Masi. His fitted suit is made of soft fabric, but reinforced with jagged armor that seems to hug his lean figure.
The twin curving swords on his belt nearly reach the ground, and the dark fur of an animal skin is draped over his shoulders, fastened by golden seals. I realize with a start that the blue mechs of the mines are like rough copies of him, like they were made in his image.
He stops in front of the prostrate mech supervisor.
“Your highness,” says the supervisor from the floor.
“You may rise,” answers the prince. “You’ve found the artifact?”
Although his voice doesn’t project around the room like the supervisor’s did, I can still hear him clearly.
“Not yet, your highness. We’ve just finished exploring the tomb, and gathered all the workers for your inspection.” He waves his hand towards us.
“And you’re sure the Vajra is here?”
“Most definitely. Every detail gives me confidence. We were tracing the energy signature, until the tomb was opened. Then it changed. It’s much weaker now, harder to track. We found a handful of items, but the artifact itself is conspicuously absent. We think one of the miners might have discovered it first.”
I swallow. They sure took inventory fast.
The prince turns toward us. I duck my head, sweat dripping down my neck.
“One of you has something that belongs to me. I want it back now.”
Although his voice carries power and authority, he is met by silence.
“It won’t take long to search you. And if you’ve hidden it somewhere, the punishment will be severe.” His dark voice seems to cut right through me.
“Supervisor, take all the groups that weren’t in touch with the building back to their cells. Then we can deal with the others.”
“At once,” the supervisor bows.
“No, your highness, I think we should keep them all here. To watch.” This new voice is mechanical, but deep and resonates through the cavern. I shiver as I look around to see the newcomer. I didn’t hear anyone but the prince enter the cavern.
I feel like I’m going to faint when my eyes land on one of the largest mech guards I’ve ever seen. Its long legs are as tall as I am, and they bend backwards. Rows of assort
ed weapons adorn each shoulder like broken glass, and its arms are swiss-army knives of laser canons and sharp extendable blades.
How does something that big move so quietly, without being seen?
I feel Masi’s hand briefly on my back. Reminding me to keep it together.
Keep looking at the ground. Calm my breathing.
“As you wish, Commander. Bring in the machine,” the prince commands.
I can’t help but flinch. I close my eyes briefly hoping no one noticed.
“The artifact leaves, shall we say, a certain resonance.” The commander struts down the side of the cavern, studying us. Green lights pulse from the shiny blue chrome, and the Kreon symbol blazes in gold from his chest.
“I assure you, it won’t be hard to find.”
I hear him stop next to our row. It feels like he’s looking right at me.
“Enjoying your time in the mines?” he laughs.
I hear Masi grunt in response.
A shiver runs down my spine. I thought Masi was just some low level, disgruntled Kreon, but they obviously know each other personally. If we make it out of this alive, I’m definitely going to press him for more details.
The commander turns quickly and returns to the front. “While we’re waiting for them to bring the machine from the ship, let’s start with a game.”
“Sir?” The supervisor raises his head, seeming as confused as I am.
“Yes.” The spiked, glowing sentinel paces across the cavern in front of us, bristling his weaponry like a bird ruffling its feathers. “For every minute these humans waste our time on this needless search, one of them will die.”
TWENTY
THE KREON PRINCE STEPS FORWARD out of the shadows. The glare of the spotlights against his swords and crown seems to give him an otherworldly glow. Somehow he’s more menacing than the giant mech beside him.
“Commander, we don’t want to damage the artifact.”
I dare to peek up front. The prince keeps his distance from the large, prickly sentinel. There’s no menace in his voice, just quiet authority.
I hear Masi shift nervously behind me and I look back down, but my mind is racing. According to him, if the Kreon get this power, they’ll be unstoppable.
But I can’t just stand here and watch people get slaughtered, knowing I’m the one they want. And what difference does it make; they’ll find it eventually. Maybe I should just give up now and save someone’s life. My palms are sweating and I flex my fingers, wondering if I can even reach into my boot without being noticed.
They’re looking for an artifact, not a person or a flash drive.
Maybe the dagger has enough of this ‘resonance’ left to confuse the scanners. If I drop it and kick it away, maybe they’ll leave the rest of us alone, for now. It could at least buy us some time. Whatever Elan was planning, I’m pretty sure it didn’t include a royal visitation. He probably thinks this will all blow over, that we can wait it out. He doesn’t know that what I’ve discovered, what I’ve become.
“Time!” shouts the commander. My head snaps up just as he raises his mech hand. The weapon spins around his arm, warming up quickly. He points it at one of the men in the front row. I barely have time to register his haunted eyes and dark, dust-filled beard before I’m blinded by a bright light.
The man cries out and in another second he’s just ash falling to the ground. The end of the commander’s arm glows with spent energy. All the men in the front rows instinctively step away from the drifting ash. The movement forces all of us to shuffle backwards.
A hiccup lodges in my throat, and I can’t breathe. Did the commander just ignore the prince’s concerns when he ended that man’s life? I shiver. Or does he have some way of knowing who has the object?
My heart races and my palms sweat. Although I know I should stop this madness, part of me fiercely doesn’t want to. If I give myself up, how would I ever find the girls or my brother again?
The revolutionists in all their numbers weren’t able to keep the Kreons from winning battle after battle. For over thirty years. I’m just one person. What was I supposed to do about it? Why should I have to die for a cause I never believed in?
I jump as another man implodes. It happens with less warning this time; just a quiet flash of light and he’s gone. There’s a space in the crowd where his body used to be, and scraps of burnt clothes around the charred rubber soles of his shoes. Wisps of smoke fill the space like ghostly legs. The girls lean in closer, grasping my arms and legs as if I could offer them protection. Their shoulders shake with silent sobs.
I want to hug them and tell them it’ll be all right.
But I’d be lying.
If they’re lucky, they’ll get out of the mines someday, and either live in fear forever, like I did in my valley, or serve the Kreon masters—incurring their wrath if they displease them in any way. I close my eyes as I listen to the commotion up front. It sounds like they’ve got the machine ready. I’m not sure how it works, or how far it can detect the artifact. Can it detect the light inside of me, or is it the dagger that’ll seal my fate? I imagine bursting into a cloud of ash. I’m not ready to die.
A humming sound fills the room and my eyes snap open.
“Excellent. Last chance for the thief to turn themselves in and save your fellow humans. The machine will find you anyway, so each death is on your hands, completely avoidable. We’ll keep to our original game. One minute, one life.”
The blood in my veins goes cold at the commander’s proclamation. I lower my head and glance behind me as far as I can without being too obvious. But there’s nowhere to run. I look desperately back at Elan. He shakes his head and mouths not yet.
I glare at him. Elan may be willing to sacrifice innocents to further the cause, but I’m not. All the stories my father told me about the revolutionists were true, and I feel a deep disappointment. Some part of me had been hoping Elan was different. He didn’t care about me, about anyone. He only cared about his mission and the possibility of saving humanity from Keon rule.
I could understand, in a way. What if the Kreons never leave? If we did nothing, eventually humans would become extinct, or just completely integrated into Kreon society as slaves. What kind of life would that be?
I hear the humming get louder and instinctively look up. There, hovering over us is the biggest, ugliest-looking drone I’ve ever seen. Jagged chunks of metal make up its mechanical body, and dozens of dark red eyes that pulse with light. I can see why they had to use a cart to bring it down here. It’s too wide for the tunnels. But in the cavern it can spread its rotors out, hovering over us with dangling appendages and half a dozen metal pinchers snapping at the air.
I swallow and clench my teeth as it slowly scans over each trembling man, making its way down the front row in precise movements. As the drone nears the end of the line, everyone’s anxiety finally reaches a horrible peak. Men cringe away from the terrifying machine. I’ve stopped counting the seconds in my head, but I know we’re out of time.
“Nobody?” The commander laughs and points his arm at the last man underneath the drone. In a second he is nothing but ash and glowing embers. Everyone gasps as we watch the pulverized remains settle to the ground.
They knew he was innocent, and they killed him anyway.
A tear slips out of my eye.
I feel like I’m drowning in people; buried alive again but this time with a mountain of human flesh. My arms are shaking and I can’t feel my legs. I have to get out of here. I struggle to get free from the mass of bodies pressing against me. I feel Masi’s arms come around me from behind and hold me tight. The girls are pressed against me as the crowd shifts backward. I strain against Masi, trying to push my way forward.
Then I notice Elan shuffling through the crowd until he’s beside me. He leans in closer as we watch the drone continue down the next row.
“Do you have the data stick on you?” he whispers.
I nod,
feeling for it between my toes.
He looks relieved. “Good. There’s no time to go back to your cell. You need to make a run for it, now. Get down the south tunnel,” he whispers quietly. He nods toward the very first dig tunnel on the opposite side of the room. It’s the largest tunnel, the one the prince entered through.
I eye the royal mech guards nervously.
“Don’t worry,” Elan winks. “I’ll create a diversion.”
“What about our trackers?” I whisper, clutching my arm and feeling for the subdermal implant under my skin. Elan turns his wrist to show me a metal band. He pushes the band over his implant and I hear a quiet popping noise. He pulls it back and the skin is red around the implant. “Do this for yours and all the girls. I’ve already disarmed the men’s.”
“Where did you get that?” I ask, eyes widening.
“Smuggled it down with our weapons,” he says.
I take the bracelet as the supervisor steps forward, squeezing it like a lifeline.
His metallic voice booms across the room.
“Everyone back in their lines,” he orders.
When we don’t move fast enough, the commander yells.
“You ignore the direct order of your caretaker?”
He stalks over to the trembling front line of men. Most of them are bent over, crying with relief for being spared. The commander’s left arm heats up and a red laser beam shoots out in five successive bursts, leaving a large gap in the line as the men explode like the others. A thick cloud of ash drifts over the crowd until I can taste it on my tongue.
The assembly panics, covering their mouth and nose and scurrying backwards until I’m pressed in on all sides. I want to look away from the horror, but I can’t. My dry eyes feel like they’ve been glued open. Leaping across the rocky terrain, the commander crosses the room quickly, pausing in front of our group that is clumped together against the wall.
Masi pulls me to his chest as the commander approaches. The clasps of his suit dig into my back. The giant mech pushes through the crowd, sending men flying several feet from where they stood. I hear a scream and the sound of bones breaking as someone gets trampled beneath its heavy feet. Then he lifts up a small figure and pulls her back toward the front. It’s a young girl, her red curls flying, but not one of mine.
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