by Nick James
My stomach turns. I fight back nausea as the words repeat in my head. I feel like I’m not really here now, that I’m watching someone else’s life.
Alien. The word doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t sound real-just something made up by people with too much imagination. Groups like Heaven’s Rain. But as my heart starts to slow, I realize that I know it’s true. I’ve known it since I saw the girl.
The girl. I look down at her, lying unconscious in the rubble. She looks so… human.
Cassius scoffs. “Aliens don’t exist.”
Madame shakes her head. “There are things we don’t talk about, remember? Your past is one of them. You are one of them.”
“No,” I sputter. “No. I’ve been here my whole life. I would’ve remembered-”
“You were very young,” she interrupts. “The first. The first Pearls and the means to unlock every one that fell after.”
I look down at my hands, the hands that destroyed two Pearls already.
“And that makes you dangerous,” she continues. “An enemy to both the Surface and the Skyships. To the entire planet.”
I clench my fists. “You’re crazy.”
“Am I? Or am I the one unlucky soul who must carry this secret?”
“No,” I respond, “you’re crazy.”
Her eyes narrow. “Tell that to the millions of people who died the day our country exploded, the day your chemicals nearly drove this planet to extinction.”
Cassius steps up beside me. “The Scarlet Bombings. But terrorists did that. You said… ”
“There is terror beyond this planet.” She frowns. “The invaders were sneaky, disabling our radar systems to mask their location.”
I shake my head, unwilling to believe that anybody related to me could be responsible for killing millions of people.
Cassius frowns. “But the government’s retaliation efforts-”
“I told you I must carry this secret, Cassius. Our people demanded revenge. Someone had to pay. That someone happened to be a group of people that had been troubling our country for far too long.”
“Skyship was right,” I say, gritting my teeth. “There were no terrorists. Your retaliation… it was… murder.”
Madame pauses. For a moment I think that she’s gonna defend herself, but she just shakes her head, eyes shut. “No one knows what Pearls really are, what they carry inside. And nobody knows the terrible sins we’ve committed better than me. It’s our duty to correct our mistakes… to use the energy from the invaders to make this world livable.”
“And kill people in the process,” I say.
“They are not people,” she counters. “It’s Homeland Security. They’ve prepared this world for colonization… triggered environmental change and pitted us against one another. They thrive in heat, Jesse, and they’d prefer we lie down and die before they arrive. I cannot let them win.”
I look up at the charred, skeletal buildings around us, trying to imagine chemical-filled missiles shooting down from space. The only missiles I can imagine are the ones deployed by America after the bombings. It’s true what the Tribunal always said. The Unified Party is more than dangerous. They destroyed an entire chunk of the world. They’d do it again if they had to.
I cross my arms, glaring at her. “So what are you gonna do? Kill me?”
“No,” she replies. “Not unless you force me to.” She places her hand on her hip. “I’ve been watching you, Jesse Fisher. As soon as I saw what you were capable of in Portland, I had my team move into action. We caught the invader you freed and disposed of it. I nearly pounced on you then, but decided it was better to wait. You were heading to Seattle, after all. What better place to have this conversation? Vacant buildings all around us. No one need know.”
“Captain Alkine’s on his way,” I start. “My friends-”
“Oh?” She holds the device up to her lips and whispers into it, smiling. “These friends?”
Footsteps surround us. I notice movement among the rubble and watch as Unified Party soldiers approach from every angle, forming a wall around the entire intersection. Their uniforms blend into one another until we’re surrounded on all sides by a dark, unmoving circle. Two particularly large soldiers approach farther, positioning themselves on either side of Madame. One grips Skandar. The other pins Eva close to his chest. Handcuffs, leg restraints, gags. The whole deal.
Madame’s eyes dart from side to side, then settle back on me. “Your so-called Academy really needs to raise its standards.” She cranes her neck, snapping her fingers to get the attention of the soldiers behind us. Before I can turn around, they creep up and drag the Pearl girl away into the ruins. Avery lies peacefully beside me. Skandar and Eva stare at me with wild eyes, struggling with their restraints.
“I can destroy everything you love,” Madame says, “so I suggest you listen closely to what I’m about to say.”
I glance around at the ever-increasing wall of soldiers, so many that the ones in the back fade into the smog.
Several hundred, at least, and only one of me. One snap of Madame’s finger and they’ll rush in. I don’t really have a choice.
“Join me,” she continues. “We need you. You can control them… bring Pearls to us and away from the Skyships. We’ll restore America to what it once was. A beacon of hope, of progress.”
I grit my teeth. “Why would I want to help the Unified Party?”
Her eyes slit. “Because it is the winning party. Because we alone have the capabilities to harness your power and use it where it is most needed.”
“No,” I say. “Not you. I won’t help you.”
She scoffs. “Perhaps you’re not understanding. You’re not in a position to be disagreeing with me. If you don’t turn yourself in, I will kill you. Sure, it’ll make things harder on my end, but I can’t allow you to exist if you’re not working for me. It’s a matter of survival.” She advances. “Without a Pearl you’re just a scared little boy.” She glances up at the sky. “And I don’t see any Pearls falling, do you?”
Cassius shifts beside me, clearing his throat of the smog. “You lied to me.”
Madame stops in her tracks and turns to him as if she had forgotten that he was standing there. “Excuse me?”
“You said you’d find a cure,” he mutters. “You said you didn’t know where I came from. You lied to me.”
She shakes her head. “I was looking out for you, Cassius. I was protecting you.”
“No,” he continues, “you didn’t protect me on the Chute. You didn’t protect me afterward, in the desert.”
“There are very important things that you don’t-”
“There is no cure, is there?”
She sighs, dropping her hands to her sides. “This is what you are, Cassius. The reaction. Your brother unlocks the Pearls, you channel whatever energy he’s unable to control. It manifests itself as fire, an element native to this planet. I didn’t want this for you, but there’s no going back.”
He stares at the ground, dodging her eyes. “That’s what I am to you, then. A reaction. An afterthought?”
“That’s not it, Cassius. You’re very powerful.”
His head darts up and he shoots out his hand. A fireball erupts from his palm. Madame staggers back, shielding her face. The fire dissipates almost as quickly as it had appeared. “That’s right,” Cassius says. “I’m powerful.”
Madame adjusts her jacket, then motions for another soldier to approach her. This one carries a black cube half a foot long on each side. When he’s close enough, he tosses it to Madame. Cassius watches her catch it with great interest.
“The cube I brought to you in the infirmary,” she says. “It’s not a lie. When your bracelet had finished decoding its warning it… transformed-melted and dripped from my fingers right down onto the floor.” She cradles it in her hand. “Into this. This is your bracelet, Cassius. There’s one keyhole at the top, that’s all. Nothing will open it.”
I feel the silver key press aga
inst my chest beneath my torn shirt.
“Join me, boys,” she continues, “and we’ll unlock it together. We’ll see this country flourish. We’ll take care of our people down here, every one of them, and we will be a family. You’ve always wanted a family, haven’t you Jesse?”
I watch Skandar and Eva kick at the soldiers holding them captive, then glance down at Avery, still unconscious on the ground. Some family.
I shake my head. “People in Fringe Towns, you’ve forgotten them. You’re trying to start a war with Skyshippers. That’s not family.”
Her expression hardens. “Cassius?”
He glances off to the side. “I don’t know… ”
She sighs, pivoting to face the two closest soldiers. “Very well. We’ll start with your friends, Jesse.” She nods to her men. The soldiers’ hands move to Eva and Skandars’ necks, closing in and gripping tightly. Their expressions strain as the soldiers choke them. Their arms are secured tightly behind their backs. There’s no way they can break free.
I rush forward. “No, wait!”
Madame raises a hand. The soldiers’ grip weakens. “Second thoughts, Mr. Fisher?”
“Don’t hurt them,” I say. “Please.”
She smiles. “Then you’d better do as I ask.”
“Let them go.”
“Not until you are escorted safely onto my shuttle.”
I mentally curse myself, wishing I had a Pearl in my hand. Or something… something to distract her.
I take one last look at Avery and step forward. Madame motions for the nearest soldier to grab me. I hold out my fists. The soldier removes a pair of shackles from a compartment on the side of his belt. Madame smiles.
Then a voice cuts through the silent city, calling my name in the distance. The soldier turns, distracted. A figure breaks through the line of soldiers, stumbling into the intersection.
The smog lifts from his grizzled features and I see Captain Alkine’s concerned face locked onto mine. He walks with a noticeable limp, a dark sack slung over his shoulder.
Despite my anger with him, the sound of his voice instantly raises my spirits. It’s the voice of safety. Reinforcements.
I wait to hear an agent shuttle overhead, or see a battalion of troops come bounding through the line of soldiers to help me. But with each fragile step Alkine takes, my optimism wanes. And then it hits me. This is not the rescue I was hoping for.
It’s Captain Alkine, all right, but he’s completely alone. And worse yet, unarmed.
45
“Jeremiah.” Madame shakes her head and chuckles like she’s staring at some pathetic little kid. “It’s been too long.”
“Not nearly long enough,” he mutters as he staggers over my way.
She watches him approach, smiling. “Got a little limp there, I see. Not as spry as you used to be. Training children for so long must have tempered your fighting spirit.”
He ignores her, his eyes latched on to mine. “Jesse, I’m sorry. I should have told you everything. I never meant to put you in danger.”
Madame rolls her eyes. “It’s too late. You may have underestimated the boy, but I haven’t. Look around you, Jeremiah-250 fully equipped Unified Party soldiers, with more on the way if necessary. I will not let this go.”
He continues to approach me, ignoring her. “You see why we were protecting you now. They want a war, Jesse, but only if you’re on their side. Only if you’ll bring them Pearls.”
“Nonsense,” Madame scoffs. “The Skyship Community is just another terrorist organization masquerading as a gang of peace-loving idealists. They’re every bit as dangerous as the invaders.”
Alkine shakes his head. “You know that’s not true, Jesse. We’re your family. Come with me.”
Madame laughs. “You’re in a funny place to be making demands, Alkine.”
He glances at her, sneering. “You kill me and it’ll be the beginning of the end.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
He limps closer, unafraid of her. “Let the kids go, Jessica. Do what you want with me, but let them go.”
Eva and Skandar squirm in their captors’ grip. Madame’s eyes slit. She raises the control pad and whispers something into a tiny speaker. Before I realize it, three soldiers creep up behind Cassius and me.
Expecting them to attack, I jump away, fists ready to fight.
But they’re not after me. One removes a rifle from his side and points it at my heart. The others lift Avery by the arms and drag her off into the rubble.
“Let her go!” I rush toward them, but the guy with the gun fires a round into the concrete inches in front of me. Another hefts Avery over his shoulder and steps farther back. “Please,” I turn to Madame. “Let her go!”
“She’ll be waiting for you at the Lodge,” Madame replies, turning to the soldiers beside her. “Kill the children.”
I watch in horror as fingers tighten around Eva and Skandar’s necks once more. Both struggle for breath, faces white and panicked.
“Wait!” Alkine shouts. “You’re forgetting something, Madame.”
Madame motions for the soldiers to loosen their grip. I crane my neck to see Avery, but they’ve already taken her away into the mist. The soldier with the rifle holds his position. If I move, he’ll shoot.
Madame strides forward, sizing Alkine up. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Reinforcements,” he mutters.
She chuckles. “Oh by all means, please bring your reinforcements.”
Alkine’s eyes dart up to the sky, to the layer of mist above the city. I follow his gaze, but there’s nothing to see. No shuttles or transports. Just the foggy ceiling.
Madame shakes her head, motioning for her men to raise their weapons. “Take him out.”
I hear the click of artillery. Hundreds of guns lock onto our small group. It’s a shooting gallery, and there’s no way of escaping.
Then the mist begins to swirl above us. A deafening roar, like a thousand freight trains, forces my hands over my ears. The sky darkens. Unnaturally fast. It’s at least an hour until sundown. This is more like an eclipse.
Madame looks above her for the first time, taking two steps back and mumbling to herself.
A jagged point pokes through the layer of churning mist like a knife reaching down to stab the earth. It’s needle-thin at first, but widens as it lowers. Soon it’s as thick as a tree trunk-then a rocket.
Waves of smog spread away from the vast object, revealing a canopy of dark weathered metal that blots out the sky above us-a constantly lowering ceiling to what’s become an intersection enclosed on all four sides. Rocks tumble down the sides of buildings as the behemoth settles down. The engines rumble above us like never-ending thunder.
Alkine smiles. He says something, too, but the thrusters above our heads are too loud to make out words. But I don’t have to hear him to know what’s happening. I’ve approached the hull of this ship enough times to recognize the scuffed underbelly.
Skyship Academy.
I back up, dwarfed by the shadow of the approaching Skyship. The southern spire drills into the ground, kicking up chunks of rock and dirt. I can’t believe it. The Academy… on the Surface. The engineers must have been working overtime to keep it cloaked from Madame’s cruisers.
Madame pulls in her jacket as the wind from the thrusters pummels the pavement. Her perfectly styled hair blows into a mess, sticking to her teeth. “You have no idea how many laws you’re breaking,” she shouts.
Alkine shrugs. “Never did like to play it safe.”
The thunderous engines die down to a low rumble and the bottom level of the Academy opens up. Shuttles shoot from all sides, bursting from around the perimeter like flower petals. Everyone in the intersection ducks. The soldiers lose their grip on Skandar and Eva. I spin around, looking for Avery. She’s long gone. I don’t know where they took her.
The Academy ships bolt out into the city, then loop up in the air and reverse their path, barreling do
wn on the intersection. Explosions rattle the pavement.
Madame gives her troops the attack signal. They spread out, quickly filling the intersection like a hive of dark insects. Some run back to cruisers. Most raise their weapons and fire, aiming for the shuttles that dart underneath the Academy’s expansive hull.
Trapdoors open from below the shuttle. Agents rocket down into the intersection, aided by upturned ankle boosters that slow their descent until they land on the pavement with the grace of acrobats.
While she’s distracted, I lunge at Madame, grabbing the control pad from her hand and chucking it away into the chaos. “Where is she? Where did you take her?”
She slaps my face, pushing away and grabbing a small pistol from her belt. “This is not what I wanted for you.”
“No!” Cassius tackles her from the side, knocking her to the ground. She keeps her grip on the pistol, but the black cube tumbles into the intersection. Cassius dives to retrieve it, then grabs my hand and pulls me away. “Come on.” He drags me through the dense battle zone. Agent versus soldier, more of them every moment. Shots ring out through the intersection. An explosion pummels the ground to our left, sending up a fountain of debris. Shuttles whiz by overhead, dropping detonators on large swaths of government forces.
A soldier bumps into me, pulling my hand from Cassius’s and dragging me back through the crowd. Seconds later, he slumps onto the ground, a bullet through the chest. I turn to see Alkine brandishing a gun in the distance. He tosses his bag to Eva, shouting something. I’m too far away to hear it. Then they’re both swallowed by the crowd.
Another explosion pulverizes the pavement behind me. Soldiers fly into the air. Cracks spread from the ground, snaking toward me. The concrete wobbles, then slants into a diagonal. I jump forward, careful not to be swallowed by the sinkhole, and collide with a Skyship Agent.
I turn to see August Bergmann standing before me, armed like the ultimate soldier, his buzzed hair already glistening with sweat. “Oh man.” He frowns, and for a second I’m convinced he’s gonna punch me in the arm. Instead, his frown curves into an amused smile. “Jameson was right. This is a rescue mission. Takes a freaking army, huh Fisher?”