You okay? Mira asks.
Not feeling the best.
She places her hand on mine. I close my eyes and let her energy wash over me.
Her energy is mixed with something else. Or . . . maybe . . . someone else?
I open my eyes. From the front of the Frog, Addy stares back at me. Her eyebrows lift, and she tilts her head. She wants to know if I’m okay, too.
I nod. I’m fine.
She smiles, but the questioning look on her face doesn’t fade. Before she turns around, her eyes dart to Mira.
I’m not sure what that’s about. And right now I don’t care.
I turn my head back to the window. One of the sea creatures is headed our way. It’s almost like the thing wants my attention, too. It opens its mouth and shows me its sharp silver fangs.
I close my eyes, but that’s no better. My mind fills with the image of a bright room and a dozen Alks poking me with needles and prodding me with sharp silver sticks. Tubes connect to my body, pumping thick yellow liquid into my veins.
“Ace!” Marco whispers. “Look!”
Out the window, all the way down inside the tube, I can just make out movement.
“Are there Alks in there?” I ask.
Marco nods. “I think so. They must be headed for the saucer. What do you think they’re doing?”
I shrug. Trying to puzzle that out is way too much for me right now.
Tube. Connection. Mira paints a picture of the tube in my mind, showing the route from the Seat to the saucer.
Yeah. Got it. I might be sick, but I’m not stupid.
“Might call for a bit of investigation later,” Marco says. “You in?”
“Quiet,” whispers Lucy. “Can’t you see he’s about to pull a Bad Breath?”
“What does that mean?” Cole asks.
“Yak, hurl, toss his cookies,” Marco says.
“You guys had cookies for breakfast?” Desmond asks from the row ahead.
I press my hands against my ears and curl up on the bench. I wish I were anywhere but here.
Soon. Mira presses her hand against my back. Soon.
I sit up just in time to watch Steve pilot the Frog into the launch duct and squeeze our way through. We pop out the other end into the broken-down hangar.
“This is where we train?” Minjae asks as the Frog hops across the floor.
“We’re not in the Ezone anymore,” Orla says to her sister.
“No kidding,” Aela agrees.
“Yeah, this place has seen better days,” Addy says as we unload from the Frog.
“Oh, juniors.” Lucy shakes her head. “You’re spoiled already.”
Addy spins around and glares at Lucy, who just smiles.
When my feet hit the hangar floor, I can finally take a deep breath without feeling like I’m going to puke. The day we leave Alkalinia cannot come soon enough. Maybe Gedney knows when we’re scheduled to depart. If we have to stay here all tour, I may not make it.
Better than fighting. Mira sends an image of me pinning down the Youli on their ship last tour.
Stop reading my mind! I snap, and instantly regret it.
Mira sends me some nasty energy and disappears to the other side of the hangar.
Great. Now Mira’s mad at me. This day is going from bad to worse.
“We’re the first ones here,” Cole says once Steve departs. “What are we supposed to do?”
“Steve said the pod leaders are meeting with the admiral this morning and should be along shortly,” Lucy says.
“Until then,” Marco says, “let’s test what these young ones have managed to learn without our help.” He unzips the straps of his blast pack and guns for the ceiling. As he arcs down, he leans into a backflip and coasts along the floor, then lands right at Addy’s side.
“Show-off,” Lucy mumbles.
By the time Gedney and the other pod leaders arrive, the hangar is crowded with cadets. We’re the only ones who have our gloves, so all the focus has been on blast pack training. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from using my gloves to power my blast pack. Me and my manual grips do not mesh well. And I’m not about to embarrass myself in front of all the juniors.
Lucy waves Gedney over.
“Good morning,” he says. “Ready to get to work?”
“Gedney, can we talk to you first?” Lucy and I walk with him to the corner of the hangar.
“We really need to see the admiral today,” Lucy says. “It’s important.”
Gedney nods. “The admiral is planning on it. She’ll be observing the training later this morning, and she wants to meet with you then.”
“Can’t we meet with her sooner?” Lucy asks.
Gedney’s eyebrows point down. “Sooner? I just said she’ll meet with you this morning.”
“I know, it’s just . . .” Lucy shifts into monologue mode and basically unloads every sketchy thing that has happened to us since we arrived on Alkalinia.
“I see.” Gedney turns to me and says quietly, “Tell me more about these dreams, Jasper.”
“That’s just it,” I say. “I don’t think they’re dreams. I’m pretty sure the Alks are running tests on us at night.”
Gedney crosses his arms against his chest. “But you have no evidence of it?”
“Well, no, but . . .”
“Hello! Cadets! We must stick to our training schedule!” a voice booms from behind.
I spin around to find Maximilian Sheek at my back with his huge, unnaturally white teeth bared in a smile. Since when has Sheek cared about training? A dozen Alks hover behind him. Sheek tips his head in his favorite side-angle pose. Behind him, every last Alk does the same.
Creepy. They’re, like, totally obsessed with Sheek.
“We’ll get started momentarily, Max,” Gedney says. “Could you please remind the admiral that she has a briefing with my senior pod this morning?”
“I’m not your messenger boy, Gedney. And it’s Sheek. Don’t make me tell you again. As you’re well aware, I’m the Director of Bounder Affairs, which means I’m in charge of pod leader assignments.” He nods to his Alkalinian entourage and heads to the other side of the hangar, with them flying close behind.
“Was he threatening you?” Lucy asks Gedney as we walk back to the rest of our pod.
Gedney laughs. “Ignore him. He’s just a peacock fanning his feathers. Now let’s unfurl your gloves and teach those kids a thing or two.”
Gedney waves everyone over. “It’s crowded in here. This is going to be challenging.”
“I’ve got an idea, Geds,” Marco says. “We discovered a great place to train just down the hall. Should we head over?”
“Outside the hangar?” Gedney asks. There’s no doubt he’s aware that we’re supposed to stay here, that the Alks actually think we’re locked in.
“Yeah.” Marco nods toward the stacked crates, acting super casual. “We discovered a way out a few days ago.”
Gedney considers this. He looks around the hangar. Sheek is on the other side talking with Captain Han. “Fair enough. Pack up. Follow Romero. And hurry.”
Marco leads the group behind the stack of crates and into the dark hall. As soon as we’ve all escaped the hangar, he activates his blast pack and zooms ahead. “Last one there eats BERF!”
Addy kicks off and is at Marco’s heels before I manage to slip on my gloves.
When I make it to the VR gym, Cole is already standing by the controls. He’s activated the VR and has it set to the jungle template. I swear I hear a monkey screech when I walk in.
“Whoa!” Minjae says. “What is this place? It’s gorgeous!”
I explain to him about the VR tech and how they must use something similar for our quarters. Then I remember Minjae’s art supplies and drafting table. “Yeah, I guess whoever developed this tech must be quite an artist.”
“I’ll say!” he responds. “The palette is so expansive, and the way they’ve recreated sound and movement is mesmerizing and totally immersive. Ta
ke that fern frond over there. You can both see and hear it rustle in the breeze. And it’s completely natural!”
I stare at the giant leaf he’s pointing at. I can’t say I’ve spent a lot of time studying real leaves, but that one looks as close to real as any real one I’ve seen.
Gedney asks us to pair up, seniors with juniors, to work on building basic bounding ports. I spin around to look for Addy, but she’s already zooming away into the jungle, chasing Marco. I guess we’re not partners. No big deal.
It’s really not a big deal. So why am I so annoyed?
Lucy and Mira stand with the twins. If there’s anyone more irritated than me, it’s Lucy. I can almost see smoke coming out of her ears.
There’s a tap on my shoulder. When I turn around, Minjae asks, “Partners?”
I shrug. “Sure.”
That leaves Cole and Desmond, and even though Cole whispers some complaints to me when Desmond collects his gloves from Gedney, I know he’ll enjoy trying to one-up Des on Earth Force rules and regulations.
Minjae and I head out into the jungle until we find a quiet clearing. Once we have our gloves on, I ask him to show me what he knows. He taps in and starts to build a port.
“It’s . . . different here, harder.” He scrunches his faces in concentration.
“Relax,” I say. “The more you try to force it, the more resistance you’ll feel.”
Minjae struggles a minute more, then drops the connection.
“Let me show you.” I shake out my hands and jog in place, then I extend my arms by my sides. I close my eyes and feel the heartbeat of the galaxy pulsing through my veins. When I open my eyes, everything is in perfect focus; each detail is clear down to the tiniest blade of grass. And I can see now that it’s virtual, because each blade of grass is too perfect—everything in here is too perfect. What makes us real is our imperfection.
Minjae’s right, working the gloves in VR is challenging, but it’s not impossible. I reach out and gather the atoms I need for my port. In seconds I have a large ball of light in front of me. I could drop the connection now. I should drop it, but what fun is that? I call up my recollection of the clearing I visited in this simulation last time with Marco, I focus my port, and—BOOM!—I bound.
I land softly and laugh to myself. Minjae’s probably freaking out right about now.
Then I hear someone else laughing as well. Addy.
She’s close. I tiptoe between the trees, making my way to where I hear Addy and Marco talking. I have no reason to sneak. But I am.
I crouch down and peer around a large fern. There beneath a low tree bursting with orange flowers, my sister sits with Marco. They’re cross-legged on the ground, facing each other. I can’t make out what Marco says, but Addy throws her head back and laughs. Then she leans forward and rests her hands on his knees. It’s just for a second, but it almost makes me flee.
I stare at my shoes, and my cheeks grow warm. I shouldn’t be here. When I look up, Marco lifts a hand to Addy’s hair and brushes it back behind her ear.
Then I hear Gedney calling. Any second Addy and Marco will cross right where I’m crouched. They’ll know I’m spying on them.
Is that what I’m doing? Spying?
I don’t want to think about it. I lightly tread back to the clearing and then rush to the metal cube, where Gedney and the other cadets are gathered.
“What happened?” Minjae asks. “You bailed.”
“Sorry,” I say. “I couldn’t resist the bound.”
“Speaking of that, Gedney . . . ,” Orla starts.
“. . . when do we get to bound?” Aela finishes.
Gedney looks up from where he’s inspecting the VR control panel with Cole and Desmond. “All in good time.”
“What about hurry, hurry, hurry?” I ask.
Gedney laughs. “Speaking of hurrying, where are your other pod mates?”
“As if we know,” Lucy says, rolling her eyes.
“Something you care to talk about, Miss Dugan?” Gedney asks.
“No.” Lucy crosses her arms against her chest. “Why would there be?”
Marco and Addy finally make their way out of the jungle. When they reach our group, Lucy repositions herself near the door, like she can’t get away fast enough.
“Do we get to bound now?” Addy asks.
Gedney laughs again. “Your pod mates just asked me the same question, Miss Adams. You kids need to understand that bounding is dangerous. Until you have a solid foundation in glove skills, you aren’t ready. A single bounding mistake will scatter your atoms across time and space.”
“What do you mean, ‘time and space’?” Minjae asks.
“I can’t give you a good answer to that,” Gedney says. “It’s something I’ve been studying for years, and I’ve still only touched the tip of the iceberg. We know that the manipulation of matter involves both time and space, and when an error occurs, the matter doesn’t just disappear. It is likely redirected into a rift—a limbo area, if you will—where time and space are different from what we know.”
“A rift?” Aela and Orla ask at the same time.
“Enough about that now,” Gedney says. “We need to get back on track. The junior cadets will train with me for the rest of the morning, but the seniors have a briefing with Admiral Eames.”
“Can we stay in here?” Minjae asks. “This VR gym is awesome.”
“I agree,” Gedney says, scanning the tech panel. “This alien technology is very advanced.”
“Is it Youli tech?” Addy asks.
At the mention of the word Youli, the other junior cadets flinch.
Gedney looks at my sister, then at me, then back at Addy. “Yes, I believe it is Youli tech. The Youli aren’t the only race in the galaxy to have advanced virtual technology, but I’m fairly certain this is theirs.”
“Why would the Alks have it?” Cole asks.
“I’m not sure why they have it,” Gedney says. “My understanding is that the Youli have a trade embargo with the Alkalinians, so it would be surprising if they acquired it through direct commercial channels. Of course, the Alkalinians are known to acquire things in other ways.”
“You mean they steal things?” Addy asks.
Gedney’s eyes widen. “You are certainly direct, Miss Adams. I’ll stand by my original statement: the Alkalinians are known to acquire things in other ways. It is quite curious, though. Quite curious, indeed. Now we need to get back to—”
“So the Alks and the Youli are enemies?” Addy interrupts.
Lucy throws up her hands. “If no one else is going to say something, I will.” She turns to face Addy with her hands on her hips. “I think you’re a bit slow on the uptake, Adeline. When Gedney says ‘you are certainly direct,’ what he means is you ask too many questions and you talk too much. So cut it out!”
Marco guffaws. “Addy talks too much? Are you kidding, Miss Chatterbox?”
Addy puts a hand out to silence Marco. She doesn’t need him fighting her battles. “Oh, I understand what Gedney means,” she says to Lucy. “I also understand that we’ve been lied to by Earth Force our entire lives, and that doesn’t even touch all the critical information that has been withheld, which is really just another name for lying. So I’m here now, and I’m not going to play that game anymore. I don’t care if that makes you uncomfortable or mad or whatever. If Earth Force is asking me to fight their war, they’re asking me to my face, and they’re answering my questions.”
When Addy falls silent, we slowly look to Lucy and then to Gedney, waiting to see what will happen next.
“Ummm . . . ,” a quiet voice calls from the door.
Meggi stands there. Her eyes find mine, and her lips lift in an apologetic smile.
“The admiral will see you now,” she says.
18
WE FOLLOW MEGGI BACK TO the hangar. We’re lucky she saw us slip behind the crates. When she heard one of the admiral’s guards say he was looking for our pod, she came to find us. If she hadn�
��t, our secret exit wouldn’t have stayed secret for long.
Meggi leads us across the hangar to a small room by the Frog tube. Inside, Admiral Eames sits at a low table with her top advisers.
“Cadets, come in,” the admiral says. “Take a seat. We’re in a room with low ceilings, which I think is good enough reason to dispense with formality.” She dismisses Meggi with a word of thanks and turns her attention to the five of us.
“Officer Johnson informed me that you located the occludium tether,” she says. “Well done. Who would like to brief me?”
We exchange glances. Marco and Lucy both nod at me. I take a deep breath. “Okay, sir, I . . . uh . . .” Her smile eases my nerves, and I take another deep breath. “What I mean to say is we located the occludium tether. It’s connected to this building, the saucer, which we believe used to be an active spaceship. The tether is visible when you’re coming over on the Frog . . . or . . . uh . . . I mean, the shuttle.”
As I talk, the admiral’s guards input what I say into their tablets.
“At the far end of the saucer is a generator room,” I continue. “You can get there by following the runner lights. A narrow shaft connects in that room and leads to the ocean floor. There’s a small bubble building at the end of the shaft that we believe houses the occludium tether. A silver glow around the structure verifies our hypothesis.”
Cole smiles at me. He likes that I used the word hypothesis. What did he say? Observe, hypothesize, report. Checks on all three.
“Thank you, Mr. . . . Adams, isn’t it?”
I can’t believe she knows my name. “Yes, Admiral.”
“I understand your sister is with us this tour.”
Why is she saying that? Does she know Addy has been telling the juniors about the Youli and other Earth Force secrets?
“That’s right, Admiral. Addy is here for her first tour of duty.”
Admiral Eames smiles. “She’s lucky she has you as a role model.” Then she nods to the rest of my pod mates. “Good work, cadets. I’ll send a few of my officers over to check out the occludium tether tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Cole blurts out. “Why not today? Shouldn’t we be ready to take the shield down?”
The Forgotten Shrine Page 16