Preda's Voice (Guardians of Vaka Book 1)

by Carolyn Gross

  “Are we not supposed to be here?” asked Preda. She was suddenly worried about getting Laney in trouble.

  “You can be wherever you want,” Laney answered. “You’re a Vozia.”

  The way she reverently said the name only made Preda more concerned that she was not worthy. When they were standing next to the Feria, Preda could definitely feel humming coming from the ship. It resonated in her bones, even though she couldn’t hear it. She reached out to touch it, and a green light built up in the metal beneath her fingers. It felt warm, and she pressed her whole hand flat against the metal.

  Preda stood that way for a while, and it wasn’t until she heard the murmurings of concerned voices that she turned her head. People had gathered to stand behind her, and some were kneeling on the ground. She saw worry in Will’s face and pulled her hand back immediately. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Preda, how are you doing that?” Will asked.

  “Doing what?” she responded.

  He indicated the ship behind her, and when she turned around, she saw it. The green light she thought had been only beneath her hand where she had touched the metal was swirling all around the ship. It was like water moving beneath the surface of the black metal. The Feria had come alive beneath her touch.

  Preda backed up to see better, and as she moved farther away, the light slowly died down. The humming she could feel in her bones became quieter. It was still there, though, just beneath the surface. She looked at the faces around her, and most looked scared. She didn’t blame them. She felt terrified herself. Will and Laney started smiling, though. Preda felt better, seeing their reassuring faces. “Is that not supposed to happen?” she asked.

  “It looks like that only when it’s absorbing something radioactive. That’s what it looks like when it’s moving through space,” Will said.

  “I’m not radioactive. Am I?” Preda felt stupid for asking, but she had to.

  “No,” said Will. He was still smiling.

  Laney looked thoughtful. After a moment the people around them started moving again. It was as if some sort of spell had been cast and then broken.

  “You wanna see the inside?” Laney asked after a moment.

  Preda nodded, and they walked toward the center of the Feria. A ramp led to the open entrance. The doorway disappeared when Preda wasn’t looking at it from the right angle. It was like an optical illusion. The metal was curved around either side. Preda felt the humming grow louder in her ears as she passed through the entrance. Once inside, however, it stopped abruptly. “I can’t feel it anymore,” she said quietly to no one in particular.

  Laney and Will exchanged a glance. “Maybe it’s because of the metal’s property,” Laney said. “It absorbs from only one side. The other side is inactive. That’s why it’s safe for us to be in here with all the surrounding radiation that’s in space.”

  Preda couldn’t help but shiver at its sudden absence. She looked around and saw that the color of the walls was a muted gray. It was sharply contrasted with the onyx black of the outside. Once they moved farther in, the front of the ship opened up into a large central room that led off into at least thirty hallways. They extended out like the arms of a splayed starfish. Laney led them through the one straight ahead—to the “control room.” The room reminded Preda of a miniature auditorium. A blank screen covered the entire wall, and the back of the room, where they had entered, was behind the highest rows of chairs. Each chair seemed to have its own console, and one chair in particular sat higher than the rest in the center of the back row. The entire room seemed technologically above Preda’s head.

  “This is where we program the algorithms for interstellar travel,” Laney said. “I couldn’t even begin to tell you more than that, but I’m sure a Vank or Landi could.”

  They left the control room and toured the rest of the ship. The entire thing was like an indoor city. There was a greenhouse that felt like a park, with stone walkways and ponds. The living areas were nicer than anywhere Preda had ever stayed—except her current rooms. Laney had said the Feria could sustain more than a thousand people for over a year. Preda could believe it.

  When they exited the ship, Preda noted that people passing by were carrying supplies and crates. They were preparing to leave Earth for good. She felt a sudden urge to go back to the surface, see the ocean, and walk out in the open air. It felt as if this would be her last chance on Earth, and the thought made her chest constrict.

  As they were leaving the cavern that housed the Feria, Preda turned to Will with pleading eyes. She tried to convey her sudden urgency. “I need to go back up to the surface one last time,” she said.

  33

  Preda looked at him with desperate green eyes, and Will steeled himself. She was definitely projecting her need to him, and he felt it as keenly as a knife. He didn’t trust himself to deny her aloud, so he resolutely shook his head. They had gotten her here safely against all odds, and he was determined to get her on that ship without further harm.

  Will quickly calculated the odds of persuading Jim to help him tie Preda up and lock her in one of the rooms on the Feria until they left. After a moment of consideration, he dismissed the idea. Going to the surface, however, would definitely not be on the itinerary for today. Preda looked as if she was going to keep trying, but Laney quickly stepped in. “Preda, can I show you my favorite cavern?” she said.

  Preda looked determined not to be distracted but reluctantly nodded. Will couldn’t have been more grateful for Laney’s offer. Maybe he was being overprotective, but it was just too risky. The three made their way to Laney’s favorite cavern by passing through several small connecting tunnels. Laney led the way. She was holding a light stone lantern, and for a time it was the only light they could see.

  At one point the three found themselves crawling on their bellies under ceilings so low, they scraped the top of Will’s shoulders. It took about thirty minutes to get there, but the result was completely worth the effort. Will had been wrong earlier. He could feel more grateful to Laney. She had brought Preda to the closest thing to the surface she could. Her favorite cavern was open at the top enough to let sunrays through. The air smelled clean, and ocean sounds could be heard if they were quiet enough.

  Under the natural skylight was a pile of rocks from the surface and a depression next to it that opened up into a large lake. The water was crystal clear and formed a perfect mirror for the rock formations on the ceiling above. The effect was mesmerizing.

  Preda stood in front of them and let her pale skin soak in the sun. Her arms were outstretched, and her eyes were closed. The only thing they could hear were the rhythmic rumblings of waves outside and the occasional dripping of water from stalactites.

  Will smiled at Laney, and she winked. Preda’s contentment radiated through him. They spent the entire afternoon in that cavern. When the sun started to set, the rocks absorbed orange and pink hues in the reflected light.

  When they were leaving, Preda abruptly turned around and started picking through the sunlit rocks. She seemed to be concentrating intensely as she sifted through them. Finally she stood after picking up a flat, oval rock that looked as if the ocean had worn it smooth. She held the rock close to her and seemed content with the souvenir.

  While picking her way over to join them, Preda slipped on an uneven mound of rocks. Will couldn’t move fast enough to stop her fall, and she slid down the slope into the water. The mirror image in the lake was shattered, and she crashed into it, bringing rocks with her. Will ran toward her and saw a metallic flash out of the corner of his eye. It was where she had been standing just before she fell. A knife was stuck between the rocks, with only a handle jutting out. Will would never have noticed it if he hadn’t seen the brief flash of metal flying through the air. It took him only a second to process the significance of what he was seeing, and his warrior instincts kicked into overdrive. Preda’s clumsine
ss might have just saved her life.

  Will looked up just in time to see a dark figure outlined by the setting sun throw another knife. It was aimed directly at him this time. He dove out of the way and landed hard against a large stalagmite. Preda was crawling out of the water and had not yet realized the danger.

  Will was on top of her before she could venture farther out into the open. He shielded her with his body and ran her as fast as she could go in her wet clothing to the exit tunnel. Laney had seen what had happened and was already crouching back in the tunnel and waiting for the two of them to catch up to her.

  Will turned as they approached the exit, and what he saw horrified him. Hundreds of dark figures had appeared where a moment ago there had been only one. They soundlessly started to drop in through the skylight. They were suspended on ropes, and it looked like a spider’s nest hatching out of the sky. Will had only one priority: to get Preda to the Feria. He yelled to Laney ahead of them, “Extinguish the light!”

  Laney did as she was told without questions. Will was counting on her innate knowledge of the tunnels to get them back without the light. Preda grabbed the back of Laney’s shirt, and Will moved with them while facing backward.

  He was amazed at how acutely he could sense where Preda was ahead of him without looking. Will didn’t need a light to know exactly where she was and how she moved. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to marvel at the feeling.

  Laney ran quickly and without hesitation, for which Will was grateful. He could hear movement before he saw a light casting shadows behind them. Laney skidded to a stop, and the three made their way by crawling under the low ceiling.

  When they came out on the other side, Will turned around and saw that the opening was only about the size of two men across—two men who would be crawling. He saw an opportunity to bottleneck the people pursuing them. Will stopped and pulled out his impulse gun. Laney stopped to wait for him.

  “Get her to the Feria. Then find Tamron!” he growled.

  Laney turned away, but Preda hesitated.

  “Go now,” he said angrily.

  Laney urgently pulled Preda and twisted her arm painfully. Preda followed, but the look in her eyes conveyed a desperate plea for him to follow. Will was grateful she didn’t use her voice on him, but he would never forget the look in her eyes or the ache in his chest when she turned away from him.

  Will calculated he had approximately twenty shots left in the gun. He carefully slipped the knife he carried on his belt partly out of its sheath. It would be easily accessible when the gun stopped working. He didn’t want to kill anyone innocent under the influence of the Soundless, but something about the way these people moved told him these were no human drones. Will cursed at himself for not sensing their presence sooner.

  He tensed and waited. He aimed his gun at the opening before him. It would not be long before someone appeared. Will briefly considered that they weren’t supposed to have discovered this ambush in that cavern. It was dumb luck they had been there. He could only imagine how surprised the Soundless must have been to see the Vozia waiting below like a present wrapped with a bow.

  The lantern light appeared just before the first man’s face. Will was practically invisible in the dark. He silently watched him fight to emerge from the narrow opening. He could hear the familiar rasp of the thrashed vocal cords and see the stump of a tongue in his mouth as he struggled. Will shot him in the face. After that they started to aggressively swarm and push into the narrow tunnel.

  Will shot without hesitation, and the unconscious bodies were quickly piling up and blocking the tunnel exit. The others were working frantically to drag them backward as fast as they could, but Will was faster and accurate with his aim.

  This would buy Preda time, but he knew he couldn’t hold them off forever.

  34

  Preda knew she couldn’t stop Will. His plan to stall their pursuers at the tunnel exit made sense. Hot tears fell unchecked down her face as she ran in the dark. She trusted Laney to guide her through the twisting pitch-black maze of tunnels ahead. Preda fell only once and scraped her knees, but she recovered quickly. With nothing but darkness ahead, her mind couldn’t erase the terrifying image of hundreds of people silently swarming into the cavern’s opening. The sight was burned onto her retinas.

  The two reached the main cavern in a fraction of the time it had taken before. Laney ran ahead of Preda, and they quickly reached the house where Tamron and Al should have been. The house was completely empty, though, and Laney belatedly remembered that a Vank meeting was taking place. Her parents were also in attendance at that meeting.

  Preda’s mind was racing as they stood in the house’s front hallway. “I have no idea where this meeting is. You have to go there and find them. I know my way to the Feria and will meet you there.”

  Laney didn’t argue. She nodded tersely and gave Preda a fierce hug before turning to bolt out of the house on long, fast legs. Preda moved quickly. She ran up the stairs and burst into her room at the end of the hall. The one-eared black cat that had made his way this far ran to meet her. Fiver jumped up into her outstretched arms without hesitation.

  Preda had no idea what to carry him in, but Fiver solved the problem by grabbing on to her and hoisting himself onto her shoulder. He steadied himself, and she found she could run out of the house with just one hand to steady him. His claws gripped her shoulder, but Preda didn’t care. She prayed the cat would not panic and would stay where he was. If he jumped down, she could not afford the time to chase after him. Preda left the house and passed a woman walking with a small child in tow. An overwhelming need to warn her overcame Preda, and she instinctively projected urgency in her voice. “Get to the Feria,” she said.

  The woman immediately picked up the child, turned, and ran in the direction Preda was heading. There were no questions asked. Preda was shocked at how easy it was. Maybe the Soundless are right. This kind of power would be easy to abuse.

  Preda shook her head of those thoughts and continued with the cat clinging painfully to her shoulder. She stopped as many people as possible on her way, but she knew it wouldn’t be enough. When she got closer to the ship, she started ordering people to call for evacuation. Soon people were running in all directions to follow the order, and a mass exodus of Deception Island started.

  Preda ran onto the ship and quickly made her way down the hallway that led to the control room. She burst into the room. She was surprised to see that there was already a flurry of activity where before there had been none. She walked over the chair in the center of the back row and let Fiver jump down off her shoulder, ignoring the scrape of claws in her skin. Once he was safely deposited on the chair, Preda turned and stopped the person nearest to her. It was a terrified boy who looked about fifteen.

  “Can you watch over this cat?” she asked, and she projected the need into her voice.

  The question must have seemed absurd given the current panic she had stirred and the circumstances, but he looked over at Fiver and nodded seriously. Preda was grateful and turned to run back out of the ship.

  Preda stopped by the entrance and waited. The humming from the Feria was becoming more insistent as the ship behind her stirred to life with people running into it. Preda wondered if anyone else realized the Feria was aware of what was going on around it. It didn’t matter at that moment. She concentrated on standing guard outside the entrance. She was determined to wait outside for the others to join her.

  35

  Laney ran as fast as she could. She shook her head to clear her vision of endless figures silhouetted against the setting sun and pouring into the cave. It had looked like a scene from a nightmare. Preda had seemed so calm and authoritative in the house. Laney was determined to emulate her. She would not let herself panic.

  By the time she reached the Vank meeting house, she was out of breath. Laney tried to open the door quickly, but she almost
ran into it when it didn’t open. She had forgotten that these meetings were closed and the door was locked. She pounded on it with her fists until someone came and opened it just a crack. It was a Ceren boy she recognized, and Laney knew he would not let her in easily.

  “May I help you?” he asked with presumptive authority.

  “I need to speak to the Kait in there.” Laney tried to convey urgency in her voice. Her heart was pounding against her rib cage. “Go get Tamron!”

  “Wait here a moment. I’ll see if he can be bothered,” the boy replied, and started to close the door.

  Laney didn’t give him the chance to lock her out again. Without thinking she threw her weight against the closing door and knocked the kid onto the floor unceremoniously. She pushed past him and ran into the house as fast as she could, ignoring his cries of protest.

  “Get to the Feria!” she called back as she ran down the main hallway.

  Laney had never been in the meeting house before, but the layout was pretty simple. A corridor led from the front door and was lined with smaller rooms along the sides. Laney immediately saw the large double doors at the end of the hall. She hoped she would not meet resistance as she slammed into them. To her surprise the doors opened easily, and she stumbled gracelessly into the meeting room. She could hear the Ceren boy panting as he followed closely behind her.

  Before Laney could open her mouth, the boy yelled, “She broke in past me! I did not give her permission to enter!”

  Several Vank stood as soon as the two ran into the large meeting room. A large three-sided table took up most of the space and sat at least twenty people. Laney quickly spotted her parents on the side opposite from where she was standing. Her mother looked alarmed, and her father was already moving to stand as soon as he realized it was her. After registering the expression on Laney’s face, her mother put a restraining hand on her father’s arm. Laney ignored her parents to address the two Kait, Tamron and Al, at the far end of the table. The two had known Preda was with her today, and they looked anxious to see her there.