Mira took a bite of a Hostess CupCake, smiling at Holt.
Holt kissed Mira for the first time, inside an old dam, her eyes perfectly clear, her mind her own again.
“I can share with them the one thing they’ve never let themselves feel … and I can do it because of you.”
Holt shuddered and looked away as Ben lifted Mira up and kissed her.
Mira floated in Holt’s arms in Bismarck, after the Tower, toward a bed where they touched and slid and were everything they were supposed to be.
Holt pulled Mira to him in Currency, at the end, as the Landships set sail around them, forcing them apart.
“Your love will tie them together. They will abandon their search. They will be one, as the Nexus always wanted. Don’t you see? Without you, none of this could happen. I wouldn’t be who I am.”
Through it all, laced in between each individual moment and feeling, Holt danced with Mira around a campfire, long ago, as the stars filtered down through the trees.
Holt and Mira opened their eyes and slowly looked at one another. The past, everything they had been through, everything they had meant to each other, shown to them in the space of a few seconds. Zoey knew how much they’d changed, but she knew, more than anything, that they could find each other again.
“What do we do?” Mira asked, her voice barely audible. She believed now, understood. It made Zoey love her all the more.
“I have to … feel it,” she told them. “What you feel for each other. So they can feel it. The rest … takes care of itself.”
Explosions flared again, the platform shook. The three shared their looks. None of them could imagine how they got here, but knowing, somewhere deep down, it was the only true resolution there could be.
Holt was the first to move. Zoey couldn’t see his eyes now, but knew, if she could, they would be red and sad. He pulled her close, hugged her tight, and whispered into her ear. “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known.”
She touched his face and smiled. “Look inside yourself more often.”
Mira was next, her arms wrapping around her, and she held on, as if committing the feel of Zoey in her arms to her memory, locking it in forever. “I just … want more time.”
“We had our time,” Zoey told her. “Now it’s their turn.”
Mira fought tears and nodded, pulled away, stepped back with Holt. Max whined, not understanding, but sensing something monumental was happening.
Zoey reached one last time for Max, grabbed one of his ears, ran it through her fingers, scratched him. “Do this, when you can. He loves it the best.”
“We have to hurry,” Rose urged Zoey.
She let Max go, and Holt called the dog to him, held him in place by the collar. Together, the three of them—Holt, Mira, and Max—stepped off the platform that held Zoey and Rose. They all watched one another a moment more … and then Zoey felt Rose reach out, find the platform with her mind, and power it.
It shook as the rail system lifted it back and away from the dais, leaving Holt and Mira there, staring up at her. Zoey stared back as long as she could, until they became distorted blurs in her fractured vision and she couldn’t see them anymore.
Rose ran her fingers through Zoey’s hair as the platform moved toward the Nexus. She could feel its energy and warmth, could feel it growing.
“You will live on for them,” Rose stated, lying down next to Zoey, waiting for the inevitable. “Wherever they go, whoever they become.”
“I know,” Zoey replied, and the knowledge gave her comfort. The heat from the Nexus was growing. She could feel its eagerness. It had waited a long time after all. In spite of that, Zoey felt a tremor of unease. “I’m scared.”
Rose nodded and pulled her close. “I am too.”
“Will it hurt?”
“Only a little,” Rose told her. “Only a little.”
Zoey concentrated on the feelings of being in Rose’s arms again, the memories the sensations brought. She would add it to the rest, she decided, share it as well. Maybe in that way, even more of both of them would live on.
The world began to lighten, growing brighter and brighter, until there was nothing left but warmth and feeling and memory.
Scion, the Nexus welcomed her. You are home.
The world burned away …
* * *
THE PLATFORM FLASHED AND buckled, seemed to warp somehow as it passed into the Nexus. When it did … it was gone. And so was Zoey.
Mira fell to the ground in grief as the world disintegrated. Explosions flared, the Citadel shook, Mantises and Spiders slammed into one another. All around them, the Citadel was falling apart. The giant structure was doomed, and they were at the very top, thousands of feet from the bottom. There was nowhere to go.
Mira felt Holt’s hands on her. She fell into his arms, sobbing. Zoey was gone, truly, forever gone now, and the tension and anguish that had built to this moment over the last months was finally free. They’d run out of road, and if she were honest, she didn’t really understand what the point had been.
“It’s not doing anything,” Holt said into her ear. He was staring at the Nexus in the distance, where Zoey’s platform had been enveloped. “Why isn’t it doing anything?”
“She said we had to feel it.” Mira moaned into his chest. “So that they could feel it.” Holt pulled her free, stared down into her eyes, and Mira voiced the unspoken fear they were both feeling. “What if we can’t? What if we lost it?”
A violent explosion flared out from the wall across from them, spraying flaming debris through the air. Streams of new gunships poured in, thousands of them, all painted in shades of brown. The fighting intensified in the air.
“We didn’t,” Holt told her, trying to ignore the chaos.
“How do you know?”
Holt wiped the tears from her eyes, then his hands circled her face. “Because … I know.”
He kissed her, gently at first, then with more passion as their stifled emotions, ones that had almost died, were reignited: by each other, by what Zoey had shown them, and by everything they had been through. Adversity and change didn’t have to destroy feelings, Mira realized, sometimes it morphed them into something new, something more powerful … something better.
More explosions flared, gunships roared past, but none of it mattered now, except that they had made it, to this place, to each other, all over again.
Nearby, the Nexus flashed brilliantly … and began to grow, spreading outward, full of new light.
49. ASCENSION
“HOLD ON!” Casper shouted.
Olive did just that, as the Landship in front of them careened into a building and disintegrated. Casper pulled the Wind Rift hard right, and the wheels on the port side lifted off the ground, threatening to tip over.
“Jesus, Casper!” Olive shouted.
“Would you rather I hit it?”
The Wind Rift flew past the destroyed ship and the wheels slammed back down.
Two Menagerie dune buggies burst apart one street over. The radio chatter was frantic. They’d lost five Landships so far, which meant five batches of people Olive used to know. They were all gone.
The Barriers on the stern flared as the brown gunships rained down plasma. She felt slight satisfaction as her ship’s cannons took one out, but there were far too many. The clock was ticking, and there wasn’t much time. She hit the button on her radio. “Dresden?”
The ship shook, Casper barely managed to keep it on course. Any jarring impact at this speed threatened to knock the Landship off angle, and in tight streets like this, that meant you went bow-first into a concrete building.
“Yeah?” Dresden answered.
“Since this is pretty much it, there’s something I’ve always wanted to tell you.” She smiled as plasma flared by. “Your boots are stupid.”
Olive heard him chuckle. “Says the girl with the pink hair.”
She looked to starboard, past the buildings, and saw the Wind Shear dodging pl
asma bolts a block away, barely staying on course.
“You’re a real pain in the ass,” she told him, gripping the railing, “and the best Captain I ever saw.”
“Don’t get all mushy on me, Olive. This isn’t the finale.”
Olive frowned, looking at all the chaos. “Sure seems like one to me.”
The air was rent with the sound of a massive thunderclap, and everything flashed bright. Olive flinched and peered behind them. It had come from the Citadel, a bright burst of light and energy directly above it, as something began to mass there. Golden, glowing energy swirled like some kind of mercurial pool of light.
Olive’s eyes widened. “What. The. He—”
An explosion just above and to port rocked the ship. Two more behind them, another to starboard, fire and concrete sprayed everywhere. It seemed like an artillery barrage, but it wasn’t.
The gunships themselves were crashing, falling out of the sky, exploding into the streets and buildings, and Olive could see why.
The Ephemera, the entities inside, were abandoning the ships, rising up and out of them. Hundreds of them filled the air, and they were all floating toward the energy field that was building above the Citadel.
Olive didn’t have time to enjoy the view.
“Casper!” Olive yelled at him. He was staring behind them with everyone else. “Eyes front!”
Directly ahead, a dozen empty gunships slammed into buildings on either side of the street. Glass rained down like a hailstorm, the structures buckled and began to fall.
Casper shoved the Chinook to full. The wind roared louder and the ship jarred as it darted forward. Olive held on. There was no other option, they were going way too fast to stop.
Everyone held their breath as the buildings collapsed and tumbled into the street, ten stories each, showers of concrete and steel raining down.
Olive gripped the railing …
The Wind Rift roared underneath the cascade, racing through the last space of open air that was left. Then the structures careened into the ground behind, decimating everything under them.
The gunships rained down for another minute or so, and when it was over, everything was eerily quiet. Olive ordered full stop, could see the other ships doing the same.
The crew moved for the stern, staring back the way they’d come. Fires were everywhere, crumbled buildings, and the remains of Landships and Menagerie vehicles. And farther, at an unearthly height, the energy field continued to build over the Citadel. It was the Nexus, and the sky was full of Ephemera, thousands upon thousands, floating to it, sparkling like stars.
The Citadel itself glowed and shook. Explosions flared outward from it. Olive could see why. The Nexus was growing not just outside the huge building, but inside as well. It was going to burst the thing like a massive balloon. Watching it, all Olive could think about was that Mira and Holt were in there somewhere.
* * *
IT WASN’T THE EXPLOSIONS or Max’s frantic barking that made Holt pull away from Mira. It was the heat. And when he opened his eyes, the sensations from their kiss fading away, he saw the source.
The Nexus was expanding. Filling the interior of the giant structure, and it was almost on them.
“Move!” he shouted, pushing Mira forward, and whistling for Max.
They dashed back toward the center of the dais. It shook badly, detaching from its wall supports. The air above them was full of Ephemera, all rising toward the Nexus.
Holt saw the walkway they’d use earlier rip loose and plummet down. Explosions flared everywhere. Behind them, the Nexus flashed as it touched the dais, beginning to dissolve it, and it shook violently under their feet.
There was nowhere else to go. Whatever they had started, it was going to be the end of them too.
Holt looked to Mira again, and she stared back. She seemed content, in spite of it all. Her hands took his, she moved close, and the feel of her calmed him.
“It was always going to be a one-way trip, wasn’t it?” she asked.
Holt nodded. “It was.”
There was so much he wanted to say. Like she’d told Zoey, Holt wished they’d had more time, but the little girl had been right, they had had their time.
A huge explosion blossomed above them. A massive shower of black metal rained downward through the air, plummeting toward them. There was no escape, it would take the dais with it, and that would be that.
“Come here.” Holt pulled her against him, felt her shaking arms wrap around him. With his free hand, he pulled Max close. They shut their eyes, tightly, waiting.
The fire raced inevitably down …
… and there was a sound. Like a powerful, punctuated blast of static. In a flash of light, something big materialized almost on top of them. An Assembly walker, huge with five legs, its colors stripped away. It was dented and broken, two of its legs barely worked, the red diode on its eye was dark … but it was alive.
It had found them.
“Ambassador!” Mira yelled. Holt reacted, shoved her and Max farther under the walker, right as the flaming debris slammed into them.
Ambassador’s shield was gone, and it rumbled as the debris slammed into it, puncturing and ripping it apart.
The dais shook one last time … then tore loose and they were all falling in a torrent of metal.
“Hold on!” Mira yelled over the chaos.
Holt grabbed Max as they plummeted, the bottom so far below it couldn’t be seen. “Hold on to what?”
Then colors exploded in his mind, he felt heat wash over him. The sound again, the blast of static. Max howled in his arms … and then he was somewhere quiet.
* * *
THE LANDSHIPS APPEARED AT the last, miraculous moment, thundering through the debris near the battleground, as the giant building above Avril began to shift and groan. Avril couldn’t see why from this vantage—they were still under it—but it was pretty clear what was about to happen.
The Citadel was coming down. Right on top of them.
Everywhere outside, gunships and walkers collapsed in the street or fell like meteors. They could take their chances out there, or be buried alive when the massive structure came down. It was an easy choice.
“Go for the ships!” she yelled. “Helix, grab someone and get them out of here!”
The Helix moved for what was left of the Menagerie and Regiment, then dashed them forward in blurs of purple toward the street.
Avril saw Isaac struggling with his buggy. She leapt for him, her vision covered in yellow, then started unstrapping him from the thing.
“Wait!” he yelled. “I love this thing.”
“I’ll get you a new one.” She pulled him free, then dashed them both through the opening, out of there.
Outside, looking straight up, they could see the energy of the Nexus pooling above the Citadel and bursting through its walls. It must be growing. The air was full of Assembly entities, lighting up the streets as they rose.
Avril kept moving, carrying Isaac over her shoulder, running for the ships just ahead.
Explosions rocked the Citadel, the Nexus finally burst through the thing’s exterior walls … and the inevitable began.
* * *
“FULL CHINOOK, HIT IT!” Olive yelled, watching the last of the Menagerie board the Wind Rift. Her sails plumed outward, the ship began to roll. The same thing was happening on the neighboring blocks, the other Landships loading up and engaging full sail.
The Wind Rift tore back through the streets, trying to get clear of what was about to happen. The Citadel shuddered … then began to lean.
A loud, awful groaning sound ripped the air as the whole thing started to come down, thousands of feet of black metal, caving in on itself.
Olive watched it fall right toward them. The lower parts hit and decimated the old skyscrapers there, flattening them like they were made of paper. The rest of the giant obelisk fell, its shadow looming over them, growing darker.
Behind them followed another Landshi
p, and Olive recognized the color of its sails. It wasn’t going to make it, it was too far away.
“Dresden!” Olive yelled into her radio. “You have to hurry!”
No response. The huge structure kept falling, crushing, swallowing up acres of ruins every second with a horrible rumbling.
“Dresden!” Her voice was harsh, she felt her heart pounding. “Please, you have to—”
From the front of the Wind Shear, rockets exploded into the air, trailing long lengths of cable that unfurled three additional sails and yanked the ship forward, almost bringing its wheels off the ground.
Olive watched the Wind Shear begin to gain on the Wind Rift.
The Citadel thundered down, decimating everything as the Landships raced forward, trying to get away.
The Wind Rift shuddered violently, every piece of it vibrating and tearing loose under the strain.
“She’s going to break apart!” Casper yelled.
“Break her apart then!” Olive yelled back, keeping her eyes on the Wind Shear, still gaining. “Come on, you bastard,” she said to herself, watching, gripping the railing. “Come on.” The Wind Shear rumbled forward, the falling Citadel on its heels. She’d never seen speed like that, never seen a crew work so well together. It was beyond inspiring. “Come on!”
The remains of the Citadel slammed into the ground in a symphony of fractured sound unlike anything Olive had ever heard. The ruins vanished. The sky went dark. The shock wave from the impact hit, and the Wind Rift careened out of control.
“Brace for impa—!” Casper started, but it was too late.
The ship slammed into the side of a building, ripping the port side to shreds, flattening trees and old traffic meters before plowing into the corner of what had once been a bakery.
Olive flew forward, slammed into the helm. Casper slid by but Olive grabbed his hand, kept him from going over the side.
And then it was finished.
The horrible sound of the fall echoed in the ruins for what seemed like forever until it finally faded away. The air was full of dust and smoke, and she could hear people coughing nearby, could see shadows moving. Good. She wasn’t dead.
Valley of Fires: A Conquered Earth Novel (The Conquered Earth Series) Page 42