by R. E. Rowe
“Hey, have you seen Lorcan?” Jayden asked.
“Still fighting,” he replied. “We’ll pick him up at the backup extraction point. I hear there are twenty masons still trying to get out. Lorcan is with them. We’ll pick them up, hightail it to an intergalactic transport, and then travel back to Andromeda.”
“Nice going out there,” another mason said to Jayden. “Glad Parker is okay, man.” The kid took off his SECC cap, shook out long brown hair, and then threw his cap in the air. “Hoorah!”
It wasn’t long before more masons transported into the Atilla spacecraft. The spacecraft’s hull was nearly full. Jayden seriously didn’t realize so many masons had been recruited for the rescue.
“Medical! Need medic here!” Jayden turned his head towards the shouting and saw five wounded masons on their backs. An Andros mason with long, green fern-like hair jogged over to the injured with a small box.
Jayden, Parker, BBgun, and Nora sprinted to catch up with the medic.
Jayden recognized one of the wounded masons lying flat on his back. The boy’s cap was missing, and his long, jet-black hair spread out under his head. Blood soaked the tattered uniform.
“Oh no," said Jayden. "It’s Lorcan.”
Chapter 26
The mason medic ripped open Lorcan’s shirt, then applied electronic compresses to his chest wounds. But the high-tech compresses appeared useless as yellow blood oozed out of his wounds.
Lorcan coughed hard, and then gazed up at Jayden. “You did well, Killgeek.” Yellow moisture collected on Lorcan’s lips. “Did all twelve prisoners make it out?” he asked, squinting his eyes against the pain, his forehead creased.
This can't be happening, Jayden thought. The raid had been a success. They had pulled it off. But when he looked at Lorcan, his chest tightened. “Yeah,” he said with a slight nod. “They all made it.”
Lorcan turned his head and coughed again. The medic wiped the yellow flow of moisture from his nose and mouth.
“What happened?” Nora asked Lorcan.
“Nuk’ana,” Lorcan said, struggling to breathe. “I guess he figured I’d chase him. He was right. Only he didn’t count on us having an Atilla spacecraft or our secret weapon.” He grimaced. “You, Zeekmo, star hacker.
You cracked his mesh net. Good going.”
As Jayden watched the mason leader struggling to speak, he realized just how much he respected him.
Lorcan was the real reason they had pulled off the rescue. He held off the Zepar so the rest of them could escape.
“I saw Nuk’ana flicker and disappear,” Jayden said, his throat tightening. “Same with Jazu and Shazu.
They were holograms?”
Lorcan jerked his head in a nod. “Leader was somewhere close. That’s the only way the hologram tech works.” He forced another breath and coughed. “I thought he’d be hiding on the side of the stage, but ten of his Zepar shimmering grunts were waiting for us. The buzzard . . . got away.”
“Just hang on,” the mason medic said to Lorcan. “We need to get you back to Andromeda. The empire has cures. Be strong and bold.”
Lorcan squeezed his eyes shut and coughed hard. Yellow fluid bubbled from his mouth.
The medic turned and mouthed to the four of them, “He’s not going to make it.”
BBgun trembled as he stood near Jayden. Tears streamed down both Nora and Parker’s faces.
Jayden closed his stinging eyes. He wanted to help the mason leader, fix him somehow. It wasn’t a video game they were playing with a new avatar at the ready. Lorcan was dying for real right before Jayden’s eyes, and there was nothing he could do. Nothing. Jayden’s stomach tightened like a freeze-dried peach.
Parker suddenly collapsed, crashing to the floor near Lorcan. The medic swiftly went to his aid. He cut away the material from Parker’s pants, then went to work on his legs and feet.
“Do not worry,” the medic whispered to Jayden. “The emperor has cures for this mason. Your G-striker will recover.”
“Killgeek . . . listen . . . to me.” Lorcan wheezed.
Jayden knelt down.
“Come . . . closer,” Lorcan whispered, his eyes mere slits.
Jayden leaned in.
“The masons need your help, Killgeek,” Lorcan whispered, and then struggled to take another breath.
Lorcan’s words hit Jayden hard. “Me?” he asked.
“Yes, you have a special energy . . . I’ve seen you in battle . . . You are a natural leader . . . They need you to help end this war.”
Jayden couldn’t believe what Lorcan was saying. Lead the masons? Returning to the comfort of his home in Los Gatos was all he wanted. Lead? No freaking way. “No, I—,” Jayden started.
“Killgeek,” Lorcan whispered, struggling harder to speak. “Don’t doubt yourself.”
“But . . . but I just want to go back to Earth. Go back to my life. Make sure our parents are safe,” Jayden said. He sucked in a deep breath, and then let it out in a huff. He pointed to Nora, Parker, and BBgun. “We need to go home. I don’t want to fight the Zepar or Space Command.”
“I know, I know.” Lorcan wheezed. “In good time you will go home. But first you must lead.” He coughed again. “Our galaxy needs you. The people of Andromeda need you.”
But Jayden still didn’t get why he had to be the one to lead the masons. “Rhea2 can do it. She’ll recover soon.”
Tears dripped from Lorcan’s eyes and ran down his face. “No, she has another path. She must lead Andromeda.”
“But I don't understand,” Jayden said.
“She must govern the people.” Lorcan coughed violently, and then stopped. “You are the one to lead the masons. You are the one who will defeat Space Command. Trust yourself.”
Jayden didn’t know what to say to the dying mason leader. What could he say? Staying light years away from home while his parents could be in danger was the last thing he’d do.
“You must.” Lorcan grabbed Jayden’s shirt. “A trillion souls are counting on you to succeed.”
Seriously? No pressure there. “But there are lots of other masons that know way more about this stuff, masons that have been training for years. I don’t even—”
“Be strong, my friend,” Lorcan said. “You are destined—” He groaned.
Without warning, he gasped. His head jerked left, and then dropped. His eyes froze.
The medic worked frantically on Lorcan. He pressed down on his chest and breathed into his mouth, but nothing revived him.
Lorcan was dead.
The Andros medic covered his body with a gold blanket.
Jayden clenched his teeth, collapsed to his knees, and then yelled. “Screw this! Screw this! I don’t want to fight anymore.”
Nora patted his back, but he continued to shout, “I want to go home! I want to go back to my life!”
All the mason kids around Jayden went silent. Word that Lorcan had died spread through the spacecraft like a wildfire. Some masons screamed, and before long, everyone was crying.
The mason known as Flame kneeled down and wrapped his arm around Jayden’s shoulder. “We all want to go to our homes,” he said. “We all want to go back to our worlds, our lives, the people we love, our families.
We all want peace, Killgeek.”
Jayden gazed around the room. So many had suffered, he thought, too many kids had died. He saw desperation in their eyes. No one wanted to fight the Zepar or Space Command. For the first time, he realized these kids were all lost. Everyone in the spacecraft’s hull was homesick. They’d lost family and friends like he had lost Zebraguts and Knifetango. So much waste. They needed a leader.
But Jayden was just a gamer geek from Cali. A happy-go-lucky, stay-out-of-trouble, keep-his-head-low dude who made extra money interning for his dad. He didn’t ask to be a leader somewhere across the galaxy in a real space war. But the kids around him weren’t avatars or part of an online shooter video game clan. They were alive, real kids like him.
He let
out a deep sigh. The last thing he wanted was for Parker to get hurt or harm to come to Nora or their parents. He didn’t want to die either.
Mason teens silently surrounded him.
Nora and Flame helped Jayden to his feet. “You can do this,” Nora whispered. “Lorcan believed in you.
We all do, Killgeek.”
Suddenly his tablet began to vibrate intensely. As much as he wanted to ignore it, he couldn’t. Jayden removed the tablet and a bright white light beamed out of its display and onto the ceiling. The beam transformed into a blue-white flicker, then a flash. The energy being?
He gazed at the flickering light with his teary eyes.
Yes. It was the same pixie. Everyone around him watched as the pixie light changed color: blue, purple, red, and then yellow—every color of the rainbow. The light moved in a slow circle around Jayden’s head just as before. Around and around it went.
The flash of energy grew bigger and brighter still as the colorful winged pixie took form and flew around the room humming, and then sang.
He recognized the song from his last encounter back in Andromeda. Each note tickled the inside of his brain. Goosebumps ran across his neck.
“Birth of the new,
Light of the full,
A time comes soon,
Align Sol, Earth, and moon.”
She sang with a soothing pixie voice, each note growing slightly louder than the last.
The energy being hovered like a hummingbird. Her form brightened and became more defined as she gazed deep into his eyes. She resembled a perfectly handcrafted porcelain figurine with a small nose, perfectly curvy lips, and marigold-iris eyes. The pixie fluttered long eyelashes as though they helped her fly.
“Exceptionally high,
Exceptionally low,
Worlds collide during Spring Tide.”
The being sang softly. She circled and flew upward, then down and fluttered around him in a dancing motion.
“Where masons try,
As missiles fly,
Must find a way,
To save the day.”
Jayden gazed at the energy being’s beautiful marigold eyes and fluttering eyelashes as she hovered in front of him. She had a calming effect.
“A boy must rise,
A leader must fall,
Decide the boy must,
Lead, follow, or bust.”
She floated gracefully, waving her arms as if she were doing sign language or the hula.
“Decide the boy must,
Lead, follow, or bust.”
She repeated the lines three times, raising her voice and the pitch each time.
She circled Nora and Parker. Then circled Jayden.
The glowing being rose slowly above them and increased the tempo as she sang.
“Find the spot behind the neck,
Push to switch off the hologram tech,
Reveal you will, the truth at last,
Tell all you can,
Quantum fast.”
Her graceful dance continued, and then slowed to the tempo of her song. She sang louder:
“Spring Tide Masons
Face the gun, fighting and dying
Until it is done.”
The energy being hovered six inches in front of Jayden’s face and suddenly screamed in a burst of air:
“The Ga invasion from the sun!”
Her breath blew Jayden’s Space Command cap off his head.
Gasps circulated the spacecraft.
The flying pixie darted about as if she were about to attack someone and screamed until her voice hurt Jayden’s ears. He quickly covered them with his hands, but the screams still managed to penetrate.
The cute little pixie girl had completely freaked out. Her face glowed like fire, and her marigold eyes had wilted and turned gray.
“Death is certain!
Death is certain!
Death is certain!”
Just when Jayden was ready to run, the pixie slowed, and then returned to hover peacefully in front of Jayden’s face in silence, peering deep into his soul.
A hush came over the crowd of masons, and Jayden felt a blanket of calm energy return. The energy being’s wilted marigold eyes had bloomed once again. After a moment had passed, the pixie began to sing softly again.
“If he runs,
If he runs.”
She kissed Jayden’s cheek. It tickled him like a feather. Her touch made him instantly breathe slower. Then the energy being blew warmth into his face that smelled like a summer rainstorm. For a brief moment, it was as though she was somehow holding Jayden, comforting him, making him feel safe.
She smiled from pixie ear to pixie ear, then darted over to Lorcan’s body and touched the body. A golden shimmering glow appeared around his still form.
The pixie blew her warmth, covering his body. In a bright flash, Lorcan was gone. She flew upward, paused, and then disappeared back into the tablet display.
A room full of eyes turned to Jayden.
Me, lead the masons? he thought. Then a sudden wave of clarity came over him. He realized it was simple.
If the Zepar continued battling the Atilla, they’d all eventually be space dust, burnt toast, and dead. Lorcan had believed he could lead the masons and stop the war. And the pixie girl wanted him to make a choice. “What am I waiting for?” he muttered.
Suddenly, Jayden knew what he needed to do. There was nothing to lose and everything to gain if Lorcan and the energy being were right about him. He closed his eyes and still felt the pixie’s warmth and the echoes of her song in his head. I will lead, he thought to himself, and then opened his eyes, searching the faces of the silent masons.
Finally, he said, “We’re going to need a bolder plan.”
Nora and BBgun hugged him, and Flame smiled. Parker forced a grin too.
“Sit tight and light,” Jayden said to the crowd. “It’s time to remove that buzzard bully from power once and for all.”
The entire room of masons cheered.
Chapter 27
Jayden sat at a polished wood table in Emperor Ruchbah9’s castle and reflected on everything that had happened. In the flickering light of white candles spread around the room, two guards in red blaster-proof spandex stood at attention on either side of the door archway, each sporting long, handcrafted swords.
The emperor pounded his fists on the table, and then sat back down. “Damn him. Damn him.” Jayden noticed his double chin had turned dark green. “Nuk’ana must be removed from power. He is getting more aggressive, more evil, and hurting more innocents. Killgeek, what is your plan? How will you take down Leader Nuk’ana?”
“Forget Nuk’ana right now,” said Nora. “We need to get back to Earth, right, Jayden? We need to get our families to safety. Nuk’ana knows where they live.”
“Yeah, I agree with Nora,” Parker said, tapping the table repeatedly with his fingers.
“Lizard gas,” Altair3 grumbled. “Nuk’ana barks like a snake.”
All eyes turned to Jayden. He peered at the red tablet, waiting for the light energy to show up and tell him what to do.
Nothing happened.
“Well, young man?” the emperor said. “Your plan?”
Just when he was ready to give up, an idea popped into his head. He slapped the table. “We need to do both. Return to Earth and destroy Nuk’ana.”
“Both?” Parker asked.
Nora sighed. “Right. But how in holy Higgs particles are we going to manage both?”
“Look, I want to make sure our parents are safe,” he replied. “We know how Nuk’ana works. The slime bucket is ruthless.”
“So we get back to Earth, right?” asked Nora.
“Yes. But—”
“What of Nuk’ana?” Ruchbah9 asked.
“Look, I don’t want us to walk into a trap. We know Nuk’ana is always a few steps ahead of the masons.
Heck, he might even have spies here too.”
“Killgeek is truth,” Altair3 said.
Emperor Ruchbah9 stood and glared at the two guards in spandex. “Out, now!”
They scrambled out of the room, nearly falling on their faces in their haste to obey. The door slammed behind them.
Jayden peered at the emperor.
“Just in case,” Ruchbah9 said, then sat down, and sucked in a long, deep breath.
“Go on,” Parker said. “What’s the plan?”
“We need to change the rules of Nuk’ana’s game,” Jayden said. “Keep Nuk’ana off balance. Something unexpected.” He rubbed his face, slammed the table with both hands, and gained his feet. “We’ll need two intergalactic transports with a UFO on each of them.”
Ruchbah’s eyes went wide. “Done. I have what you need all fueled up in my courtyard.”
“But I still don’t get it. What’s your plan?” asked Parker.
He winked at Parker, and then turned to the emperor. “I’ll need as much explosive as you can pack into the hull of one of the transports. Just leave room for one UFO inside the transport’s hull.”
“Oh, really?” the emperor said as his brow deeply creased.
Jayden turned toward to Nora. “I need you to crack Nuk’ana’s passwords and hack the Ga database using my dad’s tablet, only this time dig deeper. Break into Nuk’ana’s personal data. Find and decrypt his detailed information. We need to know where Nuk’ana’s next communication briefing will be located.” He turned back to the emperor and asked, “Will these new communicator earplugs connect across the galaxy?”
The emperor rubbed his green double chin, which had lightened a tad. He nodded. “Yes, of course. They are entangled.”
“And they’re secure, right?” Jayden asked.
“Indeed. The devices have been custom configured and paired to the three of you with our most advanced encryption. But one limitation does indeed exist.”