by Kate Rudolph
“Consider us wrangled,” Zac said. He tried to stand, but Emily pushed him back down. She didn’t think he had a concussion, but she didn’t want to risk it.
“I’d kill for a cell phone,” Lena muttered. “Some way to keep track of us. It’s like we’re stuck in the eighties with no hope of tech. I don’t know how the guys did it twenty years ago.”
“Twenty?” Emily looked at Lena in confusion.
“Are we moving?” Zac asked over her.
“What happened to you?” was Lena’s response.
Zac sank into his chair. “They were rough with Luci.”
Lena sucked in a harsh breath. “Soon.” Lena promised. “We’ve got to make sure Luci and Joel are prepared before it goes down. But when it happens, it’ll happen fast.” She turned for the door. “I’ve got a performance. Be ready.” And then she was gone.
“Won’t be soon enough,” Zac muttered.
Emily agreed.
GRACE GLARED AT HIM and Oz tried not to shrink back. The woman knew how to kill a person with her eyes. “Are you trying to compromise the mission?” she hissed, backing him up against the wall of the little closet they were hiding in. She stuck her finger at his chest, poking until it hurt.
“No,” Oz insisted. “I came looking for you.”
“I heard you, ynstit.” She spat out the curse. “Your interest in Emily has already been noted. You’ve put her safety and the safety of everyone else at risk. And buying a person? Who do you think you are?” She was on fire with rage, and Oz got the feeling it wasn’t entirely about him. She’d been embedded among these humans for months, hiding who she was, finding information. This was her first opportunity in a long time to actually show her emotions.
“I wanted to get her out. I planned to free her.” But now that he said it out loud, it sounded weak. “I doubt Cru will make a move to save them.”
Grace sighed and sank back. “We can’t worry about that. Things are in motion here, and we’re going to need to move fast.”
“How so?” At least this detour wasn’t a complete bust. No one had been able to get close to Grace in the weeks they’d been in Apsyn territory, but now he was here and he was listening closely.
“They’ve built a new research facility out in the desert. No roads, no civilization. Everything needs to be flown in. There have been a few human escapes and they want those gone. Plus, they’re worried about security here. You’ve got a week at most until this place is made of ghosts. If we’re going to move, it has to happen soon.” She didn’t sound worried for herself; then again, she never would have been given the job if she was.
None of their intelligence said anything about a new research facility, but it was out of date, and he had no reason not to trust Grace. She was a Synnr to the core, even if she was human. “I’ll relay this to the captain,” he said. “You still have your emergency beacon?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
She looked fine. Her skin was healthy, her hair shiny. She looked well fed. Whatever she’d done to get information, it had also gotten her special treatment. Oz didn’t want to think what would happen if they found out who she really was.
“We’ll be back,” he promised.
“I’ll be waiting.” She slipped out of the closet. Oz waited several moments to follow behind. He left the club quickly and was back at his apartment in no time. Solan was already there, but unlike the other day, he was sitting on the couch and reading a book.
“I contacted the asset,” Oz said before Solan could ask any questions. “We need to talk to Cru.”
His roommate closed his book and stood. “Very well.”
They initialized the secure call after applying the necessary security measures to make sure no one on the ground could hear them. It took several moments to connect, but when the call went through, the apartment around them transformed into the holo chamber on their ship, which was hovering somewhere over Kilrym at the moment. Cru and their three other crew members, Jori, Crowze, and Ax, stood at attention and waited until the signal was solid before they began speaking.
It was a bit disorienting to feel the pull of terrestrial gravity while his mind insisted he was on the ship, and the scent of apartment-fresh air was another piece of confusion. All air on the ship was recycled and recycled and recycled until the smell was inescapable. He’d heard of people being fooled by holographic rooms before, but he was pretty sure it was something that only happened in fiction. There was too much difference between this and the real thing.
Cru sat in the captain’s chair, his back as straight as if a metal rod was holding him up. He looked like a prime example of the Synnr military, his hair cropped short, his expression serious, his posture perfect. Even his uniform maintained its perfect creases. To anyone who saw him, he looked the like perfect captain. To anyone assigned to work for him, he was anything but.
“Let’s have it,” he said. And he sounded bored. Then again, the crew was basically sitting still for weeks and waiting for information from Oz and Solan, so he might have a point on that.
“I made contact with the asset,” Oz reported. He told them everything Grace had told him, leaving out his attempted foray into the slave trade. Cru would definitely do something about that, and Oz didn’t want to find out what.
“Our priority is recovering and destroying the research they’ve been doing,” Cru said, “and then we retrieve the asset. We’ll be headed home before the week is out.”
“What about the humans?” Oz asked. If he couldn’t get Emily out on his own, he had to appeal to his captain. He had to try.
“What about them?” Cru seemed genuinely confused. He was good at that. Even knowing it was all an act, Oz could forget at times and hope that Cru had maybe changed his ways. But the hope was always dashed.
“There are a little more than a dozen innocent humans being tested by the Apsyns. Shouldn’t we attempt to free them?” He didn’t mention Emily. He couldn’t. If Cru knew he had a favorite, a weakness, he’d use it against him. He was that kind of man.
Cru leaned forward in his seat, resting his hand on the arm of his chair and looking at Oz for several long seconds. “Worrying about anyone besides our human cannot be the priority,” he reiterated. “Is that clear?”
Oz wanted to argue. He wanted to challenge Cru. He glanced at Crowze and, unsurprisingly, found no support there. Ax offered him a half smile of sympathy, but he was the newest guy on the ship and unlikely to say anything. Jori was always smiling, and always up for a fight, so if Cru gave the word he’d go in strapped from head to toe and ready to bust heads. But he wouldn’t disobey an order.
Oz would have to find a different way to play this. “It’s clear.”
Chapter Five
SHE’D TWISTED HER ANKLE coming down on her final spin. Emily winced with every step, but she didn’t want the aliens to notice. She didn’t think it was broken or sprained, but it was the worst it had felt since she’d started performing a few months ago.
Darn it!
It had to get better. She’d seen what happened to the humans who got taken off the performance roster. They were cycled through every test and treatment the aliens could throw at them and left as hollowed out husks in a matter of weeks. She’d thought she needed gymnastics to survive when she was a kid, but now that was actually true.
Luckily she didn’t have handlers shepherding her back to the resting area tonight. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn’t, but things must have been too busy to pay any mind to her now. She’d take it.
The place did seem quieter than normal. She could hear the audience cheer as whoever was performing did something particularly eye catching. Normally she would have run into another human and more than a few aliens, but today she felt almost alone.
Was something going on?
That question was answered when she got to her destination. She opened the door and Joel Gibbs was waiting. She didn’t know him as well as Lena or Zac, but she knew he w
as part of the escape crew. He was older than Lena, possibly in his forties, and had dirty blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He was also only three inches taller than Emily, but unlike other short men she’d met, he didn’t have a complex about it. He’d had a beard she first met him, but not anymore. And he’d been just as desperate as the rest of them to get home.
“Is it—”
“Yes.” Joel led her out the door and down the hall. He walked with confidence, as if they weren’t in the middle of a long planned escape, and Emily tried to do the same. She didn’t need to be told that they couldn’t attract alien attention. Lena would leave them behind. She’d have to. And Emily couldn’t hold that against her.
But whatever was keeping the aliens away let them cross through the backstage area to where Lena, Luci, and Zac waited. There would be no one else escaping with them. Lena had chosen this group, and Emily was happy to be invited. She tried not to feel bad about leaving everyone else to their fates. They’d never make it out with everyone.
No one said anything, silent anticipation lacing the air. Whatever the plan was, Lena was the only one who knew all of it, and even now Emily doubted she’d reveal it. If this thing went sideways, she’d want as much preserved for a second attempt if the chance ever came.
“Are we—”
“Wait—” it was barely more than a whisper, but Lena’s command sank into Emily’s bones.
Someone screamed.
“Now!” Lena moved, and the rest of them followed. Emily couldn’t tell if the scream had been human or alien, and she could ask later. Clearly this distraction was going to be used to get them out.
And it worked. By some miracle Lena led them to a door and they were out in the fresh air of the alien night in a handful of minutes. They walked into a parking lot that would have looked human if not for the alien vehicles. They didn’t have the same shapes as cars and motorcycles back home, but she was sure they served the same basic function.
“Head for that blue vehicle.” Lena pointed to something that sort of looked like a van. “Keep Luci in the center.”
“Le—” the girl tried to protest, but none of them would let her be harmed.
They moved as a unit, jogging through the lot. Emily’s heart beat rapidly, sure this was going to go wrong at any moment. They weren’t hiding what they were doing. If there were cameras out here someone had to see them. As far as she knew, this planet didn’t exactly have humans roaming around. And while the aliens didn’t look that different from humans, it would be obvious up close.
A door banged open behind them and someone yelled at them to freeze.
They didn’t.
The van was getting closer. If they could get there, they could get out. That had to be the plan. There had to be one safe place for them on this entire planet, and there had to be a way home. Emily hadn’t come this far to fail now.
She felt electricity crackle in the air.
Oh hell no.
“Move!” she yelled. She didn’t want any more electricity sizzling through her veins. She knew exactly what these aliens could do with it and she was sure they could make it hurt even more.
Lightning struck, but not from the sky. Luci gasped, but they all kept moving. But when more sparks crackled at their side it became clear that they wouldn’t be making it to their destination anytime soon. The group ducked between a vehicle and some bushes, careful not to touch anything that looked like metal. Emily met Lena’s gaze and she saw the fear there. They had no weapons, and the plan had hinged on making it to the van before they were caught.
“We’re not giving up,” Emily said. “We’re outside. We can do this.” She would have suggested they duck through the bushes and take their chances on foot, but the bushes backed up to the building they’d just escaped from. There was no hope of escape there. They had to make it to the edge of the lot.
“How many of them are there?” Zac asked, craning his head back but not quite far enough to get a good look.
Lena leaned further, and looked for longer than Emily would have been comfortable with. The woman’s nerves were made of steel. “Four, but only two are wielding lightning.”
“Only,” Joel muttered.
He had a point. Five on four might be decent odds, but not when two of those four had magical powers.
Lena took a deep breath and seemed to come to a decision. Emily’s stomach sank as she realized what the other woman had to be thinking. Lena reached into her pocket and held her fist out to Emily. Emily took the small device and shoved it in her own pocket. Directions, she guessed, and maybe a way to get into wherever they were going.
“Make for the van,” Lena said, getting up into a crouch. “You won’t have much time.”
“What?” Luci clutched Lena’s arm. “No. We go together.”
Lena gave the girl a sad smile. “I’ll meet you. When I can. Now go.”
Emily didn’t think they could make it without Lena. She’d put the whole thing together and she deserved to make it out. But she wasn’t going to let the woman sacrifice herself for nothing. “Come on,” she urged the others. “We can make it.”
Zac, Joel, and Luci didn’t seem so confident, so Emily did her best to make up for it. It was just like performing through the pain. Slap on a fake smile and pretend everything was okay. She could do this. She had to.
The air behind them rustled and there was a shout from the guards. Lena was drawing them away.
Emily moved along with her companions. They kept low, dodging between vehicles to stay out of sight. If the guards realized they’d split up, they’d never make it out of there.
Lena’s first scream almost stopped them in their tracks. That kind of pain tore at her soul. But Emily took it inside herself and used it to push forward. They couldn’t fail Lena now. Not when she’d given them this chance.
The van was within sight. They could do this. They had to.
Electricity was heavy in the air, so thick Emily could barely breathe without feeling the crackle in her lungs. When they made it to the van she was almost afraid to touch the door for fear of the shock, but she slid the door open and urged the others in.
Then she looked back. Lena wouldn’t want it, but she couldn’t stop herself. If there was any hope of going back for the woman, Emily would do it in a second.
But she didn’t see Lena.
She didn’t see the guards.
What had happened?
She took a few steps away from the van, trying to figure it out. She could hear the others calling for her, just as nervous as she was. Every second exposed was a second this thing could go even more wrong. She was two vehicles away from the van when she saw the hulking figure, shoulders way too broad to be a single person.
Emily hadn’t seen an alien shaped like that yet, and she didn’t want to get a better look.
She stumbled back, making her way to the van, but by the time she got there, the figure had stepped out of the shadows.
“G-grace?” What the hell was she doing here? And why did she have Lena slung over her shoulders?
“Come with me if you want to live.” Grace dumped Lena in the back of the van and opened the driver’s door. “We don’t have time.”
Emily scrambled inside. Maybe this was a bad idea, maybe Grace was about to betray them, but there was no fighting it anymore.
The doors slammed shut and they were off. Emily rolled Lena over and looked for wounds. Her skin was a bit bruised in places, but there were no cuts. She was clammy and cold, but her chest rose and fell. “She needs medical attention,” Emily called forward.
“Obviously,” Grace muttered back.
Helpful.
Emily held Lena’s hand, hoping it might help, and settled in next to Zac. He was whispering something to himself and she was pretty sure it was Harry Potter.
“What’s that for?” she asked.
He swallowed and gave her a wan smile. “Lena said to have a goal. I’m going to finish the series when I get home.”
“You haven’t finished Harry Potter?” She could remember sneaking the books after lights out when she was little. She’d wanted a flying broom so badly.
Zac gave her a strange look. “Who has?”
Had she somehow missed one of the books? Before she could ask, Lena moaned and Emily leaned forward to see what she could do to help.
The drive took forever and at the same time was over in a blink. They arrived in front of a squat building that didn’t look special and Emily wondered why Grace had chosen it.
“Come on,” said Grace, “time’s running short.” She hustled them up the front walk and knocked on the door.
Lena was held up between Zac and Emily, not quite conscious but able to keep her feet under her. But when the door opened, Emily almost let go as shock ripped through her.
“Oz?”
SIX HUMANS, ONE OF them Grace. This wasn’t the plan. Oz couldn’t take his eyes off Emily for a moment, but when she almost dropped the woman she was half supporting, he rushed forward to help. Emily flinched and shielded the dark-haired woman from his grasp.
“You’ll be safe here,” Grace assured the humans. “As safe as you can be, at least.” And then she melted back into the night before Oz could try and stop her.
He looked back to find Solan watching him, a curious expression on his face. They didn’t have anywhere to store injured humans, and Cru had made his thoughts on the matter clear. But they couldn’t exactly leave them sitting on the front stoop. Vanen was a free city. They didn’t need to worry about guard patrols catching them. But they had neighbors, and a pack of humans was bound to be noticed. Eventually.
“Please, come in,” he said, stepping out of the way.
Emily stared at him. Well, no, she glared at him. And Oz couldn’t blame her. She’d heard him try to buy her the day before. Why would she trust him now? But she clearly didn’t have another choice.
Was Grace getting the humans out? Or was this some other plot that she’d stumbled upon? Whatever it was, it meant they’d have to work faster. If the Apsyns didn’t want escapees, they were sure to be upset at losing nearly half of their stock.