“We really have to go, Jane,” Evelyn said hurriedly, breaking the tenderness of the moment.
Tate stood and noticed the thin blond girl standing next to Jane.
“Now, who is this?” Tate asked, looking at Evelyn and shepherding the children to the exit.
“Later, Tate,” Evelyn said, already pulling Jane toward the same set of doors. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Stepping outside, Jane could barely hear the sound of sirens in the distance, but even in the few seconds she listened, she could tell they were growing louder as the troops approached.
“The troops don’t know about the children. They have been ordered to shoot on sight,” Evelyn communicated through the earbud in Jane’s ear, certainly to avoid worrying the children.
“We have to hurry,” Evelyn said audibly as they all descended the steps.
Jane bolted out in front of the two girls, jogging along half-sideways. “Come on, kids! We have to run as fast as we can to the shuttle!”
Not fifty yards from the chapel, the littlest girl—the one who had hugged Jane earlier—slowed down and started to walk.
“Why don’t you come with me, sweetie,” Jane said, scooping her up in both arms. “Hold on tight, okay?” She scanned back and forth between the shuttle and the building behind her. Evelyn had run on ahead, presumably to prep the shuttle for takeoff.
The sirens had grown considerably louder, and Jane could see the glow of flashing red and blue lights reflecting off the glass of the buildings around the church.
“They’re getting close,” Jane mumbled, noticing that Tate had picked up the other little girl and was walking alongside Joseph, who was laboring to get his legs to work.
“You’re doing great, Joseph,” Jane encouraged him. “We’re almost there.”
Joseph only glanced for a fraction of a second up at Jane, a look of determination in his eyes, and then looked forward again, concentrating hard on running as fast as he could manage. Watching them pass by, Jane turned toward the church, still thirty yards from the shuttle’s ramp.
“Is the shuttle ready, Evelyn?” Jane asked.
“Yes, we’re ready to go when you get here.”
“So we have three—we’re missing Mary and the boys—and Marcus.”
Standing in the darkness, even as far away as she was from the buildings, she could hear the troops over their radios. Jane continued to stare, breathless, and then she saw a small flicker of light from a door opening and a large shadow moving quickly.
“Evelyn, is that Marcus coming?”
“It’s me,” Marcus responded, clearly trying to whisper so as not to draw attention to himself. “I found Mary, but not the others.”
So I have four, Jane thought, feeling a fleeting sense of relief that she only had to take care of four kids, not seven. She felt her gut wrench almost immediately, disgusted with herself for feeling relief at leaving three kids behind. Trying to shake it off, Jane turned and ran toward the shuttle with the girl still in her arms. Just seconds later, she was up the ramp.
“Go with Evelyn,” she told the girl, placing her hand in Evelyn’s. “She’ll get you buckled in.”
Tate had emerged from the front of the shuttle.
“Marcus has Mary?” he asked Jane, hardly out of breath even though he had just run hundreds of yards with a child in his arms.
“He does, but not the boys … They’re gone, Tate,” Jane replied.
Jane watched as Tate furrowed his brow, obviously saddened by the news that three of his kids were going to be left behind. Jane already knew Tate had made up his mind, but she couldn’t help saying what flitted across hers. “The soldiers are going to be everywhere in just a few minutes. Please come with us.”
“I can’t, Jane. Even if wanted to, I can’t go now … not with the boys still out there.”
“Then you’d better go, Tate,” Jane said, grabbing her brother and squeezing, starting to shudder at the realization she may never see him again.
“I love you, sis,” Tate said, not urgent to let her go.
“I love you too. Keep the boys safe until I can get back here for them,” Jane said, her eyes getting blurry from the tears.
Tate pulled away, and as Jane wiped the tears from her eyes, she looked again at his face.
“Oh my God!” she shouted, shocked to the point of almost passing out. In the few seconds she had held him, Tate’s face had twisted and distorted, almost like she was seeing his reflection through the warped glass of a fun-house mirror. His eyes had narrowed, his nose had broadened, his cheeks were sunken—even his chin and forehead seemed more pronounced. It was still him but nothing was quite right, and looking at Tate’s mutated face almost made Jane sick to her stomach.
“What happened to your face?” Jane said, putting her hands to her mouth.
“It’s my disguise, Jane—I told you I had an escape plan,” Tate said, smiling strangely. He took a few steps toward the shuttle’s ramp and looked back at Jane. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother to those children, Jane. Trust your instincts, and trust God … and don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
With that, Tate jumped off the side of the ramp and sprinted into the darkness. Stepping to the edge of the ramp, Jane watched him for a few seconds until he disappeared.
It was the sound of gunfire that drew her attention back to Marcus. In the distance, Jane could see that a vehicle was trying to catch Marcus, racing toward him and the shuttle through the field. Though it was still some way off, it was closing in fast.
“They’re shooting at Marcus,” Evelyn shouted through the earbud. “They must not realize he’s carrying a child!”
As the shuttle’s engines powered up, more flashes of light came from the vehicle, followed by the crack of gunfire. Instinctively, Jane ducked her head.
Not twenty yards away with the guards closing in, she heard Mary crying and Marcus screaming, “Get on the shuttle, Jane!”
Jane heard another crack of gunfire, and then, as if someone had flipped a switch and turned off his power, Marcus tumbled to the ground.
“Marcus!” Jane screamed, running into the dirt. Mary had tumbled five yards closer and was crying hysterically. Terrified, the girl looked at Jane. “It’s okay, Mary,” Jane said, helping the girl to her feet and trying to reassure her. “I need you to run on up into the shuttle,” Jane added, giving the girl a little push toward the ramp and hearing a sobbing “okay” from her as she ran inside.
“Marcus,” Jane said, scrambling toward him as he tried pushing himself out of the dirt. Lifting his face, Jane could see the blood coming from his mouth.
“Oh my God, Marcus!” she said, putting his arm around her shoulder and helping him to his feet. The vehicle was only fifty yards from them now, and the hair all over Jane’s body stood on end as the sound of gunfire cracked the air all around her.
Almost dragging Marcus on her shoulder, nearly in a fit of panic, Jane hauled him as he stumbled toward the shuttle’s ramp.
Jane could hear the voices of the soldiers shouting at them to stop, but she continued to pull Marcus with every bit of strength she had. As they neared the top of the ramp, Jane and Marcus fell forward into the belly of the shuttle, and with the ramp still open and the vehicle bearing down on them, the shuttle lifted off the ground, turning quickly to shield the open door from the gunfire.
The ramp closed behind them, and Jane pulled at Marcus’s arms to get him clear. He was obviously in agony, his expression pained. He didn’t seem to be breathing well, coughing up and spitting blood all over the floor.
“Evelyn, Marcus needs help—what do I do?” Jane said, frightened and unsure whether she should touch him or not. “I don’t think he can breathe!”
Seconds later, Evelyn appeared, running back from the cockpit. Getting close, she looked at his back.
“He’s been shot in the lung and it’s filling with blood. Help me get him into the seat,” she said, motioning to a chair to one side of the ba
y.
Jane grabbed Marcus under one arm, and Evelyn grabbed him under the other, and together they lifted him up. Grunting and wincing in pain, Marcus pushed himself into the seat.
“Go get me the emergency medical kit, Jane—hurry!”
Jane bolted around the corner to the medical closet and grabbed the emergency kit. Rushing back, she handed it to Evelyn.
“Is he okay?” Jane asked, wincing at his pain.
“I think I can stabilize him, but we have much bigger problems. The base nearby has launched a surface-to-air missile at us, and it’s a nasty one. It seems they’re determined not to let us get away. We have about two minutes before it catches up to us, unless we go vertical—even then it’ll be close.”
Evelyn dug into the emergency kit and started pulling tubes and needles and other things out. Jane knelt next to Marcus, not knowing what to do.
“You’re going to be okay, Marcus,” Jane said, touching his shoulder.
Marcus reached up and grabbed her hand, his rough and calloused fingers squeezing hers harder than he may have wanted. He looked in Jane’s eyes, nodding as if he had a lot to say but knew he didn’t have time.
“Sorry … ’bout … what … I said,” he spat, wincing with every word and wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his other hand.
Jane’s mind raced. “Sorry?” she asked, her mind racing to understand, and then it clicked. “For what you said about me to the soldiers?”
Marcus nodded. “Yes,” he mouthed, with nothing but the sound of wet air coming out. “I lied … to you … and … about you … You … deserve … better.”
Jane was speechless, unable to form anything resembling an appropriate word. She felt a fluttering in her chest. She was touched and moved, and felt flattered in a way she had never felt before. Her eyes welled with tears.
“It’s okay, Marcus,” Jane said with a creak in her voice.
Marcus tried to smile, and Jane had a fleeting impulse to kiss him, but another mouthful of blood running down his chin lessened the effect.
“Go make sure the children are okay, Jane, and buckle in. I’ll take care of Marcus.”
Jane peeled her eyes off Marcus, having completely forgotten Evelyn was even there.
“But what about you?” Jane asked, snapping back into the moment.
“Oh, I’m tougher than I look,” Evelyn said, smiling quickly over her shoulder at Jane. “Kind of like my big sister.”
Jane smiled and laughed hesitantly, and after gently squeezing Marcus’s hand, she turned and ran up the corridor to where the children were seated. Even though Evelyn hadn’t really started to climb the shuttle, the grade had become steep enough that Jane felt more like she was walking up a flight of stairs than a level floor.
Though the kids were all buckled into their seats, it was complete chaos in the passenger area as Jane entered. Everyone was screaming, and Joseph was trying to yell everyone else into submission.
Jane’s eyes went wide. She didn’t have time for chaos.
“Children! Children!” Jane yelled, bringing her voice down an octave in the hopes it would sound more authoritarian. “Children!”
The children quickly quieted at the sound of her voice, though the littlest ones, who were crying, continued to whimper.
“Children, let’s all quiet down,” Jane said, finding her way to a seat near the littlest girl, with the curly hair, a chore that was becoming increasingly difficult given that the nose of the shuttle continued to rise. “Everything is going to be okay.”
Jane climbed into her seat and quickly latched the buckle on her harness.
“We’re all buckled in, Evelyn. Go when you’re ready,” Jane whispered.
“Children, I know some of you are scared right now,” Jane almost yelled to compensate for the roar of the engines as the shuttle started to climb steeper and faster. “Just—be calm.”
Jane reached for something encouraging to say, but nothing came. The nose of the shuttle tilted to vertical and there was a sudden surge of power. Jane could feel the entire weight of her body amplified and pressing into the back of the seat. At the sudden pressure, more of the children started crying. Even that was short lived, as the increased g-forces made it hard enough to breathe, let alone cry.
“It’s going to be okay, children,” Jane heard herself mutter. “Close your eyes … Take a breath … Count to three,” she added, almost more to herself than to the children.
Jane’s peripheral vision started to blacken, and the sounds around her softened—though she didn’t know if that was because she was losing consciousness or because some of the children already had.
The alarm in the shuttle sounded, with red lights flashing from the cockpit. “Collision alert. Collision alert,” the shuttle’s warning system sounded over the intercom. Even in her haze, Jane realized the missile must be getting close.
“Evelyn,” Jane mumbled. “Save these kids—please.”
Not a second later, Jane felt another surge of power from the rockets, and everything quickly went black.
DECISIVE
“Wake up!” Jane heard in her ear, though as she emerged from her grogginess, she realized that she had been hearing that call over and over for a while.
Jane felt a hand on her shoulder. “Jane, wake up!” Evelyn said, now standing next to her.
Jane’s blurry vision started to clear, and her blood-deprived brain started to warm and work.
“I am,” Jane managed, still groggy. “The kids—they’re safe?”
“You really are out of it, Jane,” Evelyn said giggling. “Obviously they’re safe—we’re talking aren’t we? Have to admit, though, it was a little close—that missile got within about fifty feet of the back of the shuttle before we crossed through fifty thousand feet and it lost power. Heck of thing to watch. The children are waking up—they all passed out, but they’re fine.”
Jane shook her head, trying to get the blood flowing.
“How about Marcus? Is he okay?”
“He’s in a lot of pain, and we need to get him to the infirmary quickly, but he’s stable—I think he’ll be okay. He’s pretty tough.”
Jane felt a wave of relief flow over her body, but as quickly as the feeling came, it was replaced by a gnawing feeling of revulsion and guilt as she realized that for a moment, it was gratitude she felt that it had been Marcus who was shot and not her brother. Jane shook her head in disgust with herself, feeling so callous about the man who had just saved one of her kids.
Quickly unclipping the buckle to her harness, Jane stood, trying to distance herself from the moment.
“Good,” Jane said stiffly. “That’s good.”
The children were waking. Most were quiet, though the youngest was starting to whimper again.
“It’s okay, children. The scary part’s over,” Jane announced, making her way toward the cockpit with Evelyn. “We’re almost home. Please stay in your seats until I say it’s okay to get up.”
“Are we in Heaven?” Mary asked.
“No, not yet … It may seem like it, though,” Jane said, trying to keep the conversation light even though she was concerned about where they were.
“How far are we from Vista, Evelyn?” Jane asked, passing into the cockpit with Evelyn close behind.
“Just a few minutes out, but as it happens, so are more than a dozen military troop shuttles. I am taking our shuttle around to the hatch in the back—the same one we used before. I am assuming they will try to dock in the main bay. I don’t know for sure, though—I can’t seem to read their radio transmissions any longer. They must have figured out that I had hacked into their communications, and they have changed all of their encryption.”
Jane was confused. “Unless you unlock the docking bay’s doors, they can’t board the space station. Isn’t that right?”
“It is.”
“Then, what? Do they think we’re just going to let them walk onto Vista?”
“I really can’t say, Jane.”
Jane looked through the window at the space station. Off to one side, she could see several of the military troop transports heading toward Vista as well.
“What’s the matter, Jane?” Evelyn said, picking up on Jane’s obvious look of concern.
“I don’t know, Evelyn. But something doesn’t seem right about this. They have to know that we aren’t going to let them board. Do you think they might try to destroy the space station if they can’t get on—you know—out of spite?”
“I doubt it, Jane. The shuttles are for transportation, not warfare. They don’t even have any weapons that would be effective in outer space.”
“I still don’t like it. Pay close attention to those shuttles, Evelyn. If you see anything out of the ordinary—tell me.
“And make sure the doctors are at our dock, and tell them they’ll need to hurry Marcus off the shuttle,” Jane added, thinking about him again.
“Already done, Jane.”
“And make sure my dad is at our dock too. He was pretty out of it in the infirmary with Mom. If something strange is going on, he needs to be close by.”
“I’ll make sure he’s there, Jane.”
Jane’s mind whirled, and then she remembered the other guards on Vista. “Marcus said he got the guards back onto their shuttle.”
“He did,” Evelyn said. “And as soon as they boarded their shuttle, I locked it and powered it down. It’s probably pretty cold in there now, but they’re safe and they are completely in the dark with no communication.”
“As soon as we dock and get on board Vista—all of us, Evelyn—and you too—cut their shuttle loose.”
The shuttle was swinging around toward the back of the space station, and Jane could see their dock ahead. They were coming in quickly, and Jane knew they would be docked in seconds.
“Children, we’re home,” Jane announced with a smile, coming through the doorway into the passenger area. “Some doctors are going to come on board to help Marcus, and as soon as they are on board, I want all of you to move quickly and quietly off the shuttle.”
Jane thought for a second. “Who’s hungry?” she asked.
Jane and the Exodus (Stargazer Series Book 1) Page 23