by Eileen Sharp
A brilliant light flared below, and he knew the Nos attack had begun. The precision of the timing surprised Cristian. He knew he could look at the cellband on the back of his hand and it would show exactly the time Joshua had promised. He’d always been a stickler for details.
The proximity alert vibrated through his hands, and the distance to the ground showed on the screen. He slowed his descent and hit the ground.
Once on his feet, he drew the onix away from his wrist to reveal the flexiband screen. It flickered to show the locator dots indicating his team members, including Caina and Brian. He covered it again. He could only risk looking at it while they were out of sight range.
The temperature on the ground was much warmer, the early summer air of Pandora filled with the scent of lavender and mountain grass. A breeze rippled across the meadow, the landscape writhing in the light of the moon and the weapons fire in the distance.
His screen showed the dots moving into formation, moving closer to the Academy. It would take them another thirty minutes to close in on their position.
He moved through the grass, sometimes hearing footsteps beside him. To his irritation, he was out of breath after ten minutes. He knew his physical condition might be a problem, but he was surprised at how quickly he weakened. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he tried to keep pace with the locators on his screen.
The next twenty minutes slipped away as the ring of Alliance soldiers tightened around the Academy. They were within sight of the school grounds now. Nos soldiers fired laser cannons at the building. Soaring stone arches rippled as the force field repelled the powerful energy.
Watching the assault, Cristian went to one knee, his cyber joint moving him smoothly to the ground. He waited, his eyes on the Academy.
No warning came when the plasma blasts came from the Academy, the red streams engulfing a vast swath of soldiers. A large number of Nos fell, their bodies twitching in the deadly red plasma. It took a few seconds for the remaining Nos to drop to their knees and begin firing on the building. This time the stone walls exploded.
The force field could not be reactivated for another twenty seconds; a short period of time for any other place but here.
Cristian activated his plasma gun and began firing on the remaining Nos. Other lines of plasma burned in the darkness as the invisible alliance soldiers joined in.
Chunks of stone rained down, some of them coming close to him. He aimed his sights on a cannon crew, ignoring the debris.
“I see you.” The whisper came from behind, and he whirled. A red-eyed Nos in a sleek black uniform crouched, staring at him. Cristian’s brain struggled to register that the Nos had done the impossible. Onix was difficult to see through in sunlight, and impossible at night. This shouldn’t be happening.
A dark blur swept into the Nos soldier, and with a muffled cry and a spurt of blood, the Nos lay dead. Another red-eyed soldier faced Cristian.
Shocked, he stared back. The familiar face had become harder, the red eyes more strange.
“Don’t deactivate your onix,” Joshua said in a low voice. “The regs can’t see you, just the Cypher team.”
“How m-many of you are there?”
Joshua’s red gaze darted to the right. “There are five more. They weren’t supposed to be here but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Don’t worry, I’ll handle them.”
Cristian picked up his plasma gun and sighted the cannon crew again. “Your sister is here, and Brian.”
“I saw them.”
“Were y-you the one leaking intel?”
Joshua’s red eyes pierced through him. “It cost more than you know.”
Cristian turned his attention to the cannon crew, and two of them went down. “I still don’t trust you.”
No one answered. When he looked behind him, Joshua was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Defection
CAINA MOVED FORWARD after the first wave cut down half the Nos soldiers. The soft grass under her boots and the fragrant breeze brought back memories of that summer night at the party, before she knew the Nos existed. She snapped her thoughts back to the job at hand.
Pulling her onix uniform sleeve back from her wrist, she checked the time. One more minute to the next blast. The Nos would be expecting it, watching for signs that the force field had gone down. They’d be prepared to defend themselves.
A beam of light swept over the field. She crouched low in the grass, careful not to move when the light hit her. She crawled away from her spot as a few beams of plasma flashed in the scattered trees. Some of the Alliance soldiers had been spotted. One of the beams highlighted a jerking body. She couldn’t stop to think who it might be.
She unsheathed the knife strapped to her leg. A plasma gun was too risky right now. It would only highlight her location. She gripped the hilt, moving toward the cluster of soldiers ahead of her. She’d trained in using a knife but had avoided it. Plasma guns were easier to use, and she didn’t feel so close to her victim.
The three black uniformed Nostekoi faced different directions, probably looking for signs of onix.
One of them spoke softly, his voice barely audible. “We’re supposed to have a spook around us.”
“Shut up. They can hear you.”
They were silent then.
Caina paused. A spook? Was that what they called the soldiers who looked like Joshua? Her blood ran cold. No one wanted to face one of those. She didn’t dare move. One of them could be stalking her right now and she’d never know. She moved back, lowering her knife. She had to warn the others.
She felt a rush of wind, and then she was knocked to the ground. A pair of red eyes met hers, and a knife flashed, so quick she felt the pain before her brain recognized the weapon. Her attacker was a beautiful woman with ebony hair pulled into a thick ponytail. Another blur knocked the red-eyed Nostekoi off Caina.
Charging up her plasma gun, Caina aimed at both the Nostekoi and then froze. The one holding down the woman was Joshua. He put his hand on the woman’s throat as he pinned her. “I don’t want to kill you,” he whispered to her.
“Who is she?” the woman asked.
“My sister.”
The woman didn’t move, her red gaze going to Caina. “If I spare her, will you help me find my son?”
He didn’t answer for a few moments, then he snatched the gun out of Caina’s hands, flipped it to green, and shot the woman. “I can’t promise that,” he said under his breath.
He turned to Caina. “Are you hurt?” he whispered.
She put her hand on the cut in her abdomen. She didn’t know how deep it was. The pain and the gushing blood told her it wasn’t trivial. She quenched the fear that threatened to take over. “Yes.”
He holstered the plasma gun and crept over to her. “Deactivate and let me have a look.”
She deactivated the onix, trying not to think about how vulnerable she was without it. She moved her fingers from the gash, and Joshua knelt down, his scarlet gaze on the cut. She watched him, mesmerized. It was almost like he cared. He flicked on a small light in his palm for a few seconds, and then shut it off. He wiped his forehead and sat back on his heels. He pressed his hand against the cut, and she clenched her teeth.
“You’re in trouble. We don't have time to find medical help, either. We—the Nos—have a Beringer.”
She blinked up at him, stunned. “What about the people in the academy?”
In the dark she could see his red stare. “I don’t care about them.”
“Well, I do!” she snapped.
He sat there, his hands holding her insides together, and then bowed his head. “I'd kind of like it if you didn't die on me.”
She hadn't been expecting that. “I'll try not to, but I can’t live with knowing a hundred innocent people died because of me.”
An explosion of red plasma flung out from the academy, lighting up above his head. It subsided, and screams filled the air. He picked up her hand and put it ov
er the wound, replacing his.
“You’re asking me to take a chance on the impossible. But if that’s what you really want…” he said.
She drew her knees up, trying to ease the pain. “It’s the right thing to do. You used to know that.”
He touched her onix, activating it. “I’ll be back for you.”
He moved so quickly, her eyes lost track of him in the darkness. The blood gushed between her fingers, and she drew in a breath. The bittersweet relief that he was still there under all that Nos training was overshadowed by the casual way he’d dismissed the innocents in the building.
The ground felt cold, and the warm summer air seemed to chill. She shivered, wondering how much he had changed.
∆∆∆
Cristian got off his knees. The last blast had killed more Nos soldiers than he’d anticipated. Elated, he took stock of the damage. Less than half of them remained, and though he could hardly believe it, it looked as if they were retreating. Like the tide going out, the line of soldiers melted away from the academy.
He moved to the planned route to enter the building. So far the strategy was working like clockwork. Safely away from any Nos, he checked everyone’s position. Like him, they were all entering the building’s perimeter. Everyone but Caina. He stopped, his blood going cold. Her locator showed her much farther back. Something had gone wrong.
He turned on his heel and made his way back to her location. A red-eyed Nos blurred in front of him, and he lifted his gun, though some part of his brain knew it was too late to save himself. To his relief, it was Joshua.
“Caina’s hurt.”
“How b-bad?” Cristian asked, unable to stop the cold feeling in his chest.
“She’s dying. But she won’t let me go without saving these people. You have to get her out of here.”
“The Nos are leaving. I don’t think you n-need to worry.”
“They're leaving because they're about to fire up the Beringer and obliterate this place. It's been Alliance infiltrated for a while and they want to get rid of it.”
Shocked, Cristian stared back at him. The Beringer was as big as a space station and didn't get transported that often. Capable of blasting entire continents, it also left no nuclear residue, which was handy if you wanted to re-occupy. Was Pandora important enough to warrant that much effort? “The Nos aren’t supposed to have that weapon here. Did you know?”
“I thought we’d be out of here by now. The Cyphers screwed everything up. Go get Caina. I’ll see if I can evacuate the building before they paint the target."
Before Cristian could argue, Joshua was gone. Without wasting another second, he opened a channel and told the troops to get out, sparing a fleeting thought for Brian. He ran, following Caina’s locator.
If the Nos were already running away from the building, chances were that Joshua couldn't save it. Going back in was suicidal.
The grass whispered against his legs as he ran, thinking about Caina lying alone and bleeding. The night no longer turned red with the flare of plasma, going blue in the moonlight, and silent. Taking a chance that the Nos were more interested in evacuating than killing stray Alliance troops, he turned on a light to search the ground. He found her, lying on her back, one knee up and a hand on her stomach.
He dropped to the ground and searched for her wound with his light. "Caina, I'm here."
A shaking hand touched his arm. "I saw my brother."
"I know. Are you pressing d-down on the wound?" He put his hand over the cold hand she had clamped on her abdomen, feeling her fingers tremble.
"Yes. I don't think it's going to help, though."
A warm gush of blood seeped through his fingers, and a wave of despair broke over him. He leaned down, touching his forehead to hers. "Baby, please. Hang in there for me."
She smiled, but her eyes had lost focus, gazing somewhere in the distance, and then they closed.
His heart stopped. The next few moments froze, and then he felt her take a shallow breath.
"That's it. You can do this," he whispered, but she didn't open her eyes. Her small body was very still. Under his firm grip, the hand she'd pressed against her side stopped shaking.
He put his hand under her neck, putting his fingers against her artery so he could feel her pulse. He forgot what he was doing, about the war and why they were lying in a field. One heartbeat came and then another. Far away, shouts ran out and explosions lit up the sky. He didn't care about them—he was waiting for the next heartbeat.
∆∆∆
Joshua didn't bother with stealth as he entered the building. He found the building's occupants swiftly. Even if he couldn't hear them, that much fear was easy to smell.
Emergency lights flashed off the glass and metal walls. Before the war he'd loved this place. Despite the academy's commitment to tradition, they'd chosen sleek architectural lines rather than Old Earth style. Any part of this building could have been a sculpture, from the massive foyer to the translucent classrooms. Now cracks and gaping holes riddled its halls.
Finding the central headquarters, he crushed glass under his boots as he pushed open the doors. The red plasma that shot out at him was easily avoided.
A line of soldiers faced him, some of them already going for their second shot. The lights above flickered, making movements hard to track.
"I'm here on behalf of the Alliance," he shouted.
"He's got red eyes!" someone cried out, and another volley of plasma crisscrossed the room. Apparently the Cyphers were no longer a big secret, he thought to himself. It was only a matter of time before the elite team and its abilities were discovered, no matter how many loose ends they tried to eliminate.
He assessed the room. There were twenty professional soldiers and about twelve armed civilians. The soldiers shot with expert marksmanship, so he knew they were good. Even some of the civilians weren't half bad. He was fast, but maybe not that fast. He scanned the crowd and stopped at a thin, blonde man. The recognition threw him off-balance for a moment, and then using Alter speed he grabbed the man and put a gun to his head before the soldiers could react.
"Now," he said, pausing to make sure they were all focused on him and his hostage, "I am here on BEHALF of the Alliance. I do not have time to talk about my eyes. You can keep your weapons, shoot the hostage, shoot me, I don't care. But you have to evacuate this building now. You are all about to be hit with a satellite laser that is already honing in on you."
No one moved and he sighed. "I meant NOW."
Some of them looked over at the soldiers. One of the soldiers with a bald head and a red goatee spoke. "What about the hostage?"
Joshua withdrew his hands from the man, who made no move to get away.
"I told you," Joshua with all the patience he could muster. "You can shoot me if you want now that I've delivered my message. You have to leave."
The man hesitated, and then barked, "Let's move, now!"
With a few curt gestures, the soldiers began escorting the civilians out of the room. The bald man kept his gun trained at Joshua, but both of them knew Joshua was too fast. He finally dropped his gun and fled out with the others.
Alone with Joshua, the hostage turned to him. "I never thought we'd see you again.”
"Hello, Dylan," Joshua replied. The doctor's dark eyes examined him in return.
"Are you with the Nostekoi?" the doctor asked.
"Not anymore," he answered, and then nodded toward the place where he'd left Caina. "My sister is injured––deep. I need your help and we have to get out of here. They've got the Beringer.”
Dylan showed no surprise, though Joshua knew the doctor had to be stunned. “Let's get to a transport.”
They ran in the flickering emergency lights to the small transport bay on the west side of the building. The main transport bay was across the campus, but they'd probably be able to find a few small transports here.
They made it to the bay, but skidded to a halt in front of the massive, two-story doors.
Like everything else, they were glass—and cracked.
Dylan paused. “I don't know if we can open them, but let's give it a try.”
He gave the voice command and one of the doors moved, jerking back to create an opening. The other door moved and then began to shake violently. A giant shard of glass quivered and crashed down to the floor.
Joshua snatched at the doctor's shirt and threw him out of the way. The glass crashed to the floor, splintering into thousands of sharp little daggers. Joshua shook the glass out of his hair and looked over at the doctor.
“Are you okay?” Joshua asked, focusing his eyes on the doctor for signs of injury.
“Probably,” Dylan answered, his fingers touching the bare back of his neck. “Let's go before we're laser ash.”
They stepped through the jagged, broken hole in the giant doors ran to find a transport. Dylan pointed to a small, blocky craft with reflective solar paint. “It's my old med ship,” he shouted as they ran.
“Is it intraplanet?” Joshua asked, hoping it wasn’t. It would be better if they could get off planet.
“Yes, sorry.”
A voice command opened the ship, and Dylan took the helm. Joshua stood in the open doorway of the craft as they lifted off, bracing himself against the frame. As they moved out of the bay, the small hairs on the back of his neck rose. In his head, he was counting down. Any minute now an undetermined stretch of land was going to become burnt ashes.
He directed Dylan to the field where Caina and Cristian waited. As soon as he spotted them, he shouted to Dylan and jumped out of the doorway.
He landed, dropping into the long grass, the med ship's lights making a white circle around Cristian and Caina. For a moment, Cristian's face stopped him. The solemn look was an ominous warning.
Joshua knelt down, trying to listen for his sister's heartbeat over the sound of the med transport's engine. It came, but faintly, and there were long pauses between.
The prickling on his neck came again, and he put his arms under Caina. Cristian met his gaze, his hand clamped tightly over Caina's on the knife wound. With a simultaneous nod, they lifted her and made their way to the small ship.