“Great. So everyone else gets the answers and I have to do all the work?”
“That’s the only way your powers will develop.” Asteran put his hand on my brother’s shoulder. “Especially if they need you to drive the ship back home.”
“W-what?” Leo’s eyes widened.
“You can do it.” Asteran stepped back. “And you may need to.”
My stomach sickened with his words. Maybe I was in denial, but I refused to believe we’d be leaving without him.
“May the blustery wind usher you home safe.” He nodded to Nova, then his gaze fell on me. “If I don’t see you again, I will see you in the land of shining light.”
I wanted to kiss him one last time, but I couldn’t do it in front of Tauren. Hot tears brimmed in the corners of my eyes. Don’t fall apart. It’s better this way. If I’d started kissing him again, then I wouldn’t be able to tear myself away. I cemented my feet in place and nodded solemnly.
“What about me? Don’t get a good-bye?” Tauren hefted his end of the weapon.
I raised my hand to my forehead in the official salute. Although I knew he wanted something more intimate, he couldn’t argue with the formal, respectful farewell right from the pages of the Guide. “Good luck.”
Nova and Leo copied me with their own salutes, and we waited until Asteran and Tauren started walking before moving in our direction. I refused to think it was the last time I’d see Asteran. If what he said was true about the memory-sharing, and us being destined to be together, then he’d find his way back to me. He had to. Now, I had to toughen up and do my part.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sight
I tried not to think about where Asteran was headed or where we were headed, for that matter. I trudged on, following the blinking light on my locator. None of us spoke. I was too afraid to draw the arachnids’ attention. The hair prickled on the back of my neck as if all their multiple eyes watched my every move. Every nerve in my body stood at attention.
Leo raised his hand to wipe his nose on his sleeve, and I jumped, holding up both barrels at each of his eyes.
“Calm down, sis. It’s only me,” he whispered and pushed down my guns before I shot him.
“Sorry.” I breathed deeply to calm myself. The thin air heightened my senses but also warped my perception of reality.
I relaxed my arms but didn’t take my finger off the trigger guard. We’d distributed the guns evenly, with two each. I had a microbe sprayer in one hand, and a metal webbing-maker in the other. Lasers were almost useless because they ricocheted right off the arachnids’ carapaces, unless you were a good shot and able to hit an eye. Which I wasn’t. So Tauren took his original laser gun.
Poor Asteran and Tauren had to carry the bomb, so they couldn’t have their weapons out. If I thought about how vulnerable they were, my stomach tightened into a knot.
Nova tugged Leo and me behind a stalagmite. Around the corner, arachnids entered and left through a tunnel barreling down into the planet. I checked my locator. It was the closest path to take to the mother brain.
I pressed my back against the rock until it dug into my spine. “What are we going to do?”
Leo blew a gust of good luck air over his gun barrels. “I say we try these babies out. See how much damage they can do before we get up to our necks in bugs.”
I glanced at Nova and she nodded. “Let’s go.”
We turned around the corner, brandishing our guns.
Two arachnids stood in the entrance. When they saw us, they hissed and brought up their front legs. Their brain sacks drooped behind them, where we couldn’t get a clear shot. Spires shot from their carapaces. Leo rolled forward, and Nova and I turned sideways. The scraggly metal hair on the spire scratched the chest of my uniform as it passed. The pain from the one that had hit me flashed in my mind, and my scar burned and itched.
“Shoot!” Leo opened fired with his webbing gun, aiming for the legs of the closest one, and we followed. Each shot wrapped around a few of its legs, slowing it down.
Meanwhile, the other one closed in, so I turned toward it and began shooting as Leo and Nova took the other one down. It came at me in awkward lunges, but I held my ground, shooting at each leg until the arachnid fell before me in heap.
I fired my microbe spray, and it slowly stilled as the little buggers buried deep into its brain.
“Freaking black hole!” Leo fired his microbe spray at the other one. “It takes four or five shots to bring one down. We’ll never make it.”
“There are three of us.” Nova kicked the beasts out of her way and walked toward the tunnel. “If we all shoot at once, we can take them down pretty fast.”
“Pretty fast ain’t gonna cut it.” Leo skirted around the corpses. “Let’s hope we don’t run into more than two at a time.”
I clicked on the motion detector on my wrist locator as I followed Nova in. “I’ve got it covered. If there are too many, we’ll back up and hide.” What I didn’t say to Leo was what we’d do if they surrounded us from both directions.
Clammy, cold air blew around us from the depths of the tunnel. Goose bumps pricked my arms and legs. A metallic smell, like blood mixed with gasoline, thickened the deeper we descended. Metal hairs littered the floor. Sharp as blades, they cut through the legs of our uniforms and scratched lines in our boots.
“Well this sucks like a garbage chute.” Leo kicked at a metal hair clinging to his ankle.
“Try to walk around them.” Nova picked her way through. She had long legs and elegance on her side. I had short legs and clumsiness on mine.
“That’s hard to do when they’re everywhere.” Leo cursed as he ripped his pants leg, yanking it free of a hairball the size of a human head.
Five little green dots registered ahead of us on my locator. “Wait.” I held up a finger, trying to remain calm. If I started freaking out, Leo would go ballistic. “There are more coming.”
“How many more?” Leo’s voice shook.
“Too many.” I used the light from my locator to scan the jagged walls. “Find a place to hide.”
Panic squeezed my chest, making it hard to breathe. I had to stay strong for Leo, for Asteran, and for everyone else on Paradise 21. If we didn’t make it, they’d meet the same fate really soon.
“Over here.” Nova waved us over to the other side. She’d found a crack that deepened into the wall. She slid in and held out her hand.
“I can’t fit in there.” Leo threw his arms down.
Clicking noises echoed from the shadows. We didn’t have time to argue.
I shoved him in. “Hold your breath.”
As Leo squeezed deeper into the cave, I crawled in backward at his feet, where there was the most room left.
“Turn your lights off.”
I clicked my locator screen just as the arachnids shuffled through the tunnel before us.
My pulse racing, I positioned both guns at the opening. Leo placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. If they found us, we’d go down fighting together.
Four of the arachnids were large, towering taller than Leo by about a foot. The fifth one was smaller, reaching just under where my chin would be if I were standing. I swear I heard the pulsing of their brain sacks.
As they passed, I released my breath and my body loosened up. I felt like a gob of jelly, made weak and pliable by fear. We waited a few minutes then slipped back into the tunnel. This time, no one spoke a word.
The tunnel veered right and slanted down at a steep angle. We skidded down on our butts and reached some sort of plateau at the bottom that spread into a larger cavern.
I checked my locator. Fuzzy pixels covered the screen. My heart stopped. Of all the times to stop working, it chose now?
“Damn locator went out.” Nova hit her wrist behind me.
“Mine too.” Panic rose up, threatening to take over. The walls pressed in, and I choked on the metallic scent. I didn’t want to die down here, on an ugly alien planet with creepy crawlies all over the place.
“Crap.” Nova shook her head. “There must be crystals somewhere nearby interfering with the signal.”
Leo started pacing beside me, both hands on his head. “What are we going to do? How are we going to find the mother brain?”
“Calm down.” Nova breathed deeply, checking the tunnels around us. Without the movement sensor, we’d have no way to tell if anything was coming. “We’ll think of something.”
I wished Asteran were here. He seemed to know more about these arachnids than any of us. He’d know what to do. Then it hit me, and all of the panic melted away.
“Leo.” I turned to my brother. “Asteran didn’t give you the map because he said you could find it yourself.”
“I can’t even find where I put my socks from a week ago, Lyra. I have no idea what he was talking about.”
“Yes, you do. He said you have stronger powers than he’s ever seen. And Telehedron was capable of some pretty cool stuff. If you have stronger powers than him...all you have to do is figure out how to tap into them.”
“Like now is the best time? While we’re under pressure with those things walking around?”
Nova stood beside me. “Lyra’s right. It might be just when you need to figure it out.”
Leo shook his head. “I can’t. I don’t even know how to start.”
My brother had bursts of confidence interspersed between spells of whining. Maybe it was just a part of him growing up. Or maybe it was a product of growing up with what everyone labeled a mental illness. What he needed most was my support.
I touched his arm gently. “I should have believed in you more when you said you wanted to come on this mission. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.” I squeezed his arm. “I believe in you now.”
“So do I.” Nova leveled her gaze with his.
“All right.” Leo ran both his hands through his hair. “But I’m not gonna promise anything.”
We nodded and he closed his eyes. Slowly, he raised each arm in an opposite direction. His fingertips danced in the air like when he played the imaginary piano. This time he seemed in control.
His mouth was set in a skeptical frown, and I hoped he could open his mind and get beyond his self-doubt.
Come on, Leo, try.
His brow creased, and I feared he’d fall into one of his visions of the past. Nova took my hand, and we watched in silence. Any noise might interrupt his concentration. Hopefully, no arachnids would come by. The walls were sheer rock. As far as I could see, there were no hiding places in this part of the tunnel.
Quickly, like an instinct, he tore off his crystal. As it hit the floor, his body shuddered back.
I moved to help him, but Nova held onto me and whispered, “Believe in him.”
I could have imagined it, but I thought a blue light emanated from the fingertips of his right hand. As quick as it came, it disappeared back into the shadow, and he opened his eyes. “This way. I know where the mother brain is.”
“What about your crystal?” I picked it up from the floor. Asteran hadn’t confronted the ruin of his home planet for nothing. I slipped the crystal, along with the string, into my pocket.
“I don’t need it. It only blocks my senses.” Leo spoke and it sounded like another person, someone older and wiser. My mouth dropped open, and Nova pushed me forward.
He started down a smaller tunnel to the right, and we all had to stoop to walk through. I wanted to ask him if he was sure he’d chosen the right path, but I had to believe in him.
He put both arms up, stalling us. “Wait. We’re close.” We turned the corner, and a large cavern spread before us, with crystals as large as skyscrapers digging into the ceiling, casting the floor in lavender light. White eggs littered the ground like a box of my mother’s pearls. In the center, beyond the reach of our weapons, sat a bug as large as a landrover. Three black, unblinking eyes scanned the cavern, and we ducked underneath her penetrating gaze. The veins on her brain sack were thicker than my arms. The pulsing throbbed in my head, producing a highly concentrated pain between my eyes. I clutched my crystal, and the pain ebbed a bit but was still forceful enough to send me to my knees.
“There she is,” Leo whispered. How would we ever get over those eggs without her noticing?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mailbox
“What’s our plan?” I whispered to Nova as we kneeled around the corner, out of sight.
Nova peeked around the edge again then leaned against the wall, breathing like she was halfway through a marathon. “I’m not sure. She looks alone, but who knows if any of those eggs will hatch while we’re down there. Leo, what’s the best way?”
I stared at my brother with awe. The team expedition leader had just asked him for advice. He’d gone from insane to mastermind in a matter of days.
Leo closed his eyes. “The crystals enhance her psychic powers, but they also strengthen mine. I can see everything she’s thinking. She knows we’re here.”
A shiver crept over my shoulders. “Then why aren’t the other arachnids around?”
Leo squeezed his eyes shut like he was thinking hard to reach into her thoughts. “She doesn’t trust them around the eggs. She thinks she can take us all by herself.”
Nova touched his arm. “Is she right?”
My stomach roiled. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer.
Leo opened his eyes. “Let’s hope not.”
A plan sparked in my mind. On our last mission, the arachnids had shown protective tendencies to their young. So Nova had used the eggs as a shield. “I say one of us attacks the eggs and distracts her while the other two sneak around the side and catch her off guard.”
Nova nodded. “I’ll do it. After what they did to Alcor, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on more of those buggers.” Her hands tightened on her weapons and she glanced at Leo. “You have the greatest advantage, so you must confront her.”
I put my hand on his arm. “I’ll go with you.”
Leo put his hand over mine. “Some adventure, huh? I’m glad I came with you, sis.”
“I’m glad you did, too.” Deep melancholy threatened to drive me to the ground. He was reminiscing, as if we weren’t going to make it. I squeezed his arm. “This is just the beginning. We’ll have many more adventures.”
Clicking sounds echoed from below, where the mother brain stood nestled between the crystals.
Leo locked eyes with Nova, then me. “It’s time.”
Without speaking, Nova signaled to us and disappeared into the shadows. Leo and I crept toward the entrance to the cavern below and waited for a sign.
Thoughts of creepy crawlies scrambled all over me, making me want to itch every inch of my body. My heart pounded, and every breath I took felt shallower than the last. The adrenaline felt like coffee had been pumped into my veins, turning into liquid fire.
A popping noise reverberated from the other end of the cavern. The mother brain hissed and shrieked in an ear-piercing squeal.
Leo tapped my arm then moved. I followed him through the rows of eggs.
Nova stood at the opposite end of the cavern, shooting both guns at every egg she passed. Some of them exploded under the pressure of the metal nets, while others squirmed with black-legged movement as the microbe spray dug its way in.
We approached the unguarded brain sack from the other direction as the mother focused her on Nova. The arachnid moved with surprising speed while shooting spires from her carapace. Nova ducked and rolled, disappearing back into the tunnel. We were almost in shooting distance. Resolve hardened inside me, eclipsing my fear. Nova had risked her life, leaving the mission up to my brother and me. Nowhere in a thousand years would I have guessed life would turn out this way. Here we were at the end of our world, Leo and me.
Another screech at a different pitch sent us to our knees. The crystal at the hollow of my neck vibrated. I held it and squeezed. Please keep me safe. The crystal shattered and the broken shards dug into my skin. At the same time, Leo fell t
o the ground, only the whites of his eyes showing under his fluttering lids.
Screaming, I crawled to my brother while blood trickled from my fist. The sound intensified, and the cavern around me disappeared into black oblivion.
***
Bumps jostled me in gentle nudges. I opened my eyes. Trees larger than anything that could grow in the biodome towered over a dirt-packed road. Dirt. Why did it seem so special? Dirt was everywhere, and so were trees. Sure, parts of the world had deforestation, but the EPA was working on replanting the rain forests, and it would only get better from there, right? I’d donated three weeks of my allowance to pay for an acre of rainforest preservation. I’d done my part.
“How can you sleep when such an important letter is waiting for you?” Leo growled beside me.
“What?”
He was using a wheel to navigate the dirt road. We were in some type of landrover, but the seats felt strange, like real leather, which was impossible, and the glass of the sight panel was poor quality, with scratches and nicks. It would never have passed vehicle inspection.
“I already know what it says,” Leo sighed.
“Well, I don’t, so don’t spoil the surprise with your fortune-teller predictions.” Where had that comment come from? Was it even my mouth talking? What was a fortune teller?
Leo laughed bitterly. “What surprise? You’re going and I’m not. You’re going to leave me behind.”
“I’d never leave you behind.”
“We’ll see about that.” He ran his fingers through his unusually long hair. How he could have grown it out in so little time? “Besides, you’d be a fool not to.”
The vehicle pulled up to a small white box attached to a pole sticking up from the ground. Leo stopped the vehicle. He flipped something on his portal and it opened. I searched for a panel to slide my locator, but my wrist was bare.
Bare? Locators were inserted and fused to our bones when we were infants. It was impossible not to have one. Yet when I ran my fingers over the skin, there were no scratches or scars. I felt oddly naked and isolated from the world. What if I needed to hail someone? Or look up information about something?
Alliance Page 17