by Sherry Soule
“Wait.” General Tall, Dark, and Mental commands.
“What?” With my hand on the doorknob, I glance over my shoulder. “I have a ride to catch and I’ll be taking my parents with me.”
Doctor Krilova approaches me and grabs my upper-arms, dragging me closer to him. He touches my arms, hips, cheeks examining me like I’m an intriguing new specimen under his microscope.
“Let go! Sheesh! You guys are weird…and that’s saying a lot coming from me.” I kick him in the shin, and he grunts, letting me go. “You don’t score points with the ladies much, do you, buddy?”
“You are a crossbreed.” Doctor Krilova scratches his cheek. It isn’t a question. “Except you’re somehow different than the others. You’re the first shalinaya we’ve ever come across. How intriguing…”
“Do you want a gold star for figuring out the obvious? Trust me, being a hybrid—”
“Shalinaya.”
“—has been a cakewalk compared to this interrogation crap. But if you don’t stop manhandling me and release my parents, you’re gonna see what a pissed off hybrid—”
“Shalinaya.”
“—can really do,” I finish.
His hand shoots out and grips me above the elbow. “I can’t wait to see that, but first you’ll accompany me to the lab downstairs,” Doctor Krilova demands. “We have much to learn about you, Miss Masterson. Having a shalinaya is such a rare find!”
I wiggle away, trying to free my arm. “No. Thanks.”
“But I insist you stay with us a while. Because…” His chilly stare bores into me and everything inside me turns cold. “…as a shalinaya, you are quite extraordinary. Our weapon had no effect on you, which is very interesting. However did you manage that?”
“Remove the hand, creeper, before you lose all five fingers.” My voice sounds hard and rough.
Doctor Krilova stares for another second, chuckling, and I swear it’s like being laughed at by Lucifer himself. The mad scientist is about as charismatic as an ironing board.
“What a prize you are,” Doctor Krilova says, and my arm goes numb from his tight grip. “You’re a special snowflake, indeed.”
“Like ‘stop-eating-the-glue’ special?” I ask, batting my eyelashes at this freakshow.
“Please stop with the snark,” Doctor Krilova orders.
“Sorry, but I’m already dating someone. So let go!” I tug, but his hold on my arm constricts like a snake.
“I wonder,” Doctor Krilova says in an eerie voice. “If you’ll scream like the others…or if you actually are exceptional.”
“I’ve had it, get off me!” I shove him hard with my free hand.
Doctor Krilova staggers into a counter, and my emotions boil over. My blood pumps hot and fast. Swirls of air surround my body and my gaze narrows on the tray. Then everything goes wacky all at once, like I’m starring in a wicked cool SyFy movie. Although the whole event takes no more than five seconds, I watch it play out in slow motion.
Every piece of metal in the room flies into the air and floats there like ghostly objects for an instant. The next second each implement of deadly steel stabs everyone in the room through clothes and flesh and bone, pinning them against the walls like squirming bugs caught in a spider web. The men writhe and cry out in pain, but the metal tools hold them in place. Blood seeps from raw wounds.
Too awesome! Guess my other badass hybrid abilities are finally emerging.
Even Doctor Krylova hangs from the wall with scalpels sticking out of each shoulder and one in his thigh, along with a knife thrust through his hand. His gray eyes narrow, then he slowly grins.
Oh, yeah, with that crazy smile, he’s definitely a distant cousin of Lucifer.
Saxton flings open the door. “There you are.”
Pushing him aside, I run out of the lab to freedom.
Saxton joins me in the corridor. “You good?”
“Never better. Where are my parents? I’m running late.”
“Late? For what?”
“Never mind. I don’t have the time or the crayons to explain myself to you.”
“Okay, okay,” he says.
“My parents?”
“Come with me.”
Saxton takes off at a brisk pace and I follow. We turn down three more hallways before stopping at a set of double-doors. He yanks a badge from his pocket and swipes it through the electronic lock near the entrance like a credit card and the door clicks open.
I enter the room and find Karen and David—Mom and Dad—strapped to stainless steel tables. My mom’s eyes are red-rimmed and watery. They’ve dressed her in a white hospital gown, with her hair skinned back in a bun so tight it forces her eyebrows into her hairline. Tubes attach to her bare arms and her skin looks deathly pale.
My mom lifts her head, bursting into tears. “Oh, Sloane, I thought I’d never see you again.”
“No such luck, Mom.”
“What are you doing here?” My dad asks.
“I’m here for the epic rescue scene—duh.” My parents blink and I roll my eyes. “Never mind. I’ll explain later.”
I rush to my mom and undo the straps while Saxton helps my dad. The instant my mom is freed, she embraces me, weeping against my neck. My dad joins us in a group hug and tears fill my eyes.
Saxton clears his throat. “Um, you’d better save the reunion for later.”
My dad backs away. “Karen, let go. We’ll be okay now.”
We enter the corridor and make a sharp left. This place seems like an endless maze. Saxton leads the way and we turn a corner, hurrying toward an exit door with a winking red sign above it like a beacon of escape.
“Wait.” My mom grips my arms and I wince. My left arm is sore from where Doctor Krilova dug his claws into me. “Is Jonah safe?”
“He’s with Viola. He’s fine.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” She hugs me hard again and my bones crack.
“We have to go,” my dad says more urgently.
“We’re supposed to meet at the cottage on the Lancaster’s property,” I say. “Have you been there before, Dad?”
His head snaps back, probably because I didn’t call him David, but he recovers quickly. “Once for a meeting many years ago.”
“Good, but before we go, I need to find Hayden and the others,” I say.
“They’re not here, Sloane,” Saxton says. “They got away.”
“And left me?”
“They didn’t have a choice,” Saxton says. “I’m sure they’ll be coming back for you. I know I would.”
“Thanks again.” I give Saxton a quick hug. “Just tell your dad I forced you to help me by threatening your life or something.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Saxton steps closer. “Sloane, if you ever need—”
At the far end of the corridor, the doors burst open and armed soldiers charge inside. About now, I should be shrieking like a doomed girl in a suspenseful thriller.
TWELVE
Before the Doom Squad can fire their weapons, my dad holds my mom closer and she squeezes her eyes shut. “Time to go, Sloane.”
In a blinding flash of sapphire illumination, the three of us teleport to the cottage, leaving Saxton and the soldiers far behind. We reappear on the porch next to the open door. Inside Zach and Delta sit on the sofa beside a stack of luggage. Hayden and Arcane lean over the coffee table with the Naval base blueprints spread out.
“We’re getting Sloane and her parents today,” Hayden says. “Even if we have to burn that base to the ground.”
“No need!” I rush into Hayden’s arms.
We hug and kiss, and then I step back. My parents stay close to my side.
“We did it. We saved our loved ones and survived. But we still have a flight to catch and if we don’t hurry,” I say to everyone, “those Sector Thirteen soldiers will show up and we’ll all be sharing a cell together.”
“Time to leave,” Arcane agrees. “It’s a long drive and the Zetas won’t wait for us.”
>
“What about Viola and Jonah?” I ask. “We need to pick them up on the way.”
“Already taken care of,” Zach replies. “I had Tanisha give them a ride this morning. They’ll be waiting for us on the ship.”
I squint at the luggage. “What’s that?”
“We teleported to your house and packed your stuff,” Hayden explains. “Don’t worry—I got your laptop, notebook, and lots of black clothing from your closet.”
“Whatever else we need, we’ll get it when we arrive,” my mom replies.
“Let’s move out!” Arcane says.
Everyone goes outside, dragging our suitcases along, and pack everything into Hayden’s Range Rover and Arcane’s Lexus.
My dad hugs me. “Thank you again for the rescue. I’m proud of you, Sloane.” He places a hand on my mom’s back, ushering her to Arcane’s car. The three of them drive off.
I get in the passenger seat of the Rover while Zach and Delta sit in the backseat. The GPS on Hayden’s dashboard states the location is two hours away, and Hayden keeps the speedometer just above eighty. The freeways are clear since commute traffic has died down. I keep checking the side-mirrors for a caravan of black SUVs hot on our trail, but the road remains void of any Sector Thirteen soldiers.
My adrenaline crashes and I slump in the leather seat, yawning. I open my laptop and send a quick email to the editor of the school newspaper, attaching a bunch of articles I already wrote to post online for me while I’m gone. At least I won’t have to worry about my Fright Night Babble fanbase not getting their weekly fix of humor and snark.
“Ah, man. I can’t believe we forgot to bring tunes,” Zach whines from the backseat.
“Hayden, we missed a turnoff,” I say.
Zach sits forward, his head poking between the front seats. “Do you realize that we have a two hour drive without decent music?”
“No, we didn’t,” Hayden says to me. “I programed the GPS myself.”
“What is a road trip without jamming tunes?” Zach slumps in his seat.
“Um, yeah, we did,” I say. “The yellow sign with bold lettering said CA-one-twenty east.”
“You could read instead,” Delta says in a whispery voice. “There are eBooks on this Kindle I brought with me.”
“No thanks. Reading makes me car sick.” Zach belches and laughs. “Never been in a car for this long without listening to Linkin Park or Daughtry.”
“You should’ve made a left back there,” I say.
Hayden frowns, jerking his chin at the dashboard. “The GPS didn’t tell me to turn.”
“Guys, I need my music,” Zach complains. “I could teleport home and grab my CDs and come right back.”
“It’s too risky,” Delta says. “ST will be at our house by now.”
“Seriously, Hayden.” I twist in my seat to read a sign we whizz past. “We should turn around or take the next exit.”
“Sloane,” Zach says, “turn the channel on the radio. I can’t stand this top-forty crap. I need my rock-n-roll.”
“Zach, stop complaining about the radio!” I snap.
“Stop complaining about my sense of direction,” Hayden says.
I lift my hands. “Excuse me, but my complaint is justifiable, and Zach’s is just whiney.”
We drive in silence for several miles.
“Hmmm…” Hayden squints out the windshield, then glances at the built-in GPS on the dashboard. “I think you’re right. We missed an exit.”
I roll my eyes. “I told you!”
Zach leans across the console and hits the buttons on the stereo. A blast of country music flows out of the speakers. “Oh, he-haw.” He turns the station and an alternative band rocks through the speakers. Zach sits back, and the four of us listen to the music in silence.
Hayden takes an off-ramp and the GPS voice says, “Recalculating. Recalculating. Take the onramp heading east…”
Hayden follows the instructions, and I turn in my seat. Delta reads on her Kindle and Zach has his head against the headrest with his eyes closed. Facing front again, I do the same, my eyes drifting shut.
Someone shakes my shoulder. “Sloane, wake up. We’re here,” Hayden says, getting out of the car.
Groggily, I open my eyes and stretch. I peer through the bug-splattered windshield, suddenly wide-awake, and undo my seatbelt to scramble out of the car. The SUV is parked between a powder-blue Mini Cooper and a rusty, fender-dented Ford truck.
I’m standing on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, gaping at two gigantic spaceships in an infinite field of wheat. Believe it or not, the Zetas spaceships weirdly resemble the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. The outside hull is a hard shell made of strange silver metal. I spot my parents with Jonah ascending a lowered ramp with other Meleah on a spacecraft to my far left.
“Where’s Arcane?” I ask.
“He dropped off your parents and said he wanted to skip this trip,” Hayden says. “He’s going to setup around-the-clock surveillance with other Meleah to keep tabs on Sector Thirteen while we’re gone.”
I jerk my head at one of the spaceships. “This might sound like a dumb question, but why can’t the Zetas just teleport everyone to their planet?”
“The Zetas can’t travel through space that far a distance with everyone and successfully reassemble.”
“Makes sense. Who owns this post-apocalyptic land?”
“A Meleah family,” he says. “We can leave our vehicles here while we’re gone.”
“Are the Zetas cool with humans, Viola and my mom, coming along?”
“They’re a peaceful race, and welcome all species to Reticuli.”
I glance behind me at the empty Range Rover. “Where’s Zach and Delta?”
“They’ve already boarded with the luggage and Delta’s with my mother. She seemed grateful that you helped save her daughter. We’ll join them inside.”
Huh. I must’ve scored brownie points with his parents for the daring rescue.
Hayden and I walk through the thick grass to the spacecraft’s ramp. My mind is blown. I’m going into outer space to a galaxy far, far away with Hayden.
Steven Spielberg and astronauts everywhere, eat your heart out!
I just hope Sector Thirteen doesn’t become too power-crazed while most of the Meleah flee Earth and attempt to kickstart their stupid plans for hybrid extermination.
A redhead in leggings and an oversized T-shirt shoulders past us, pulling a rolling backpack up the ramp, and I have to jump to the left to avoid becoming alien roadkill. Biting my lip, I ascend the ramp and venture inside, struggling to act as if I belong here. Except I’ve never navigated these barren rooms, never meet these grim-faced Meleah. Several of my fellow hybrids turn to stare, and I know it’s not because of my all-black commando outfit.
Insecurity strikes my heart, but I remind myself that fitting in for the terminally weird like me is so overrated. I’m not human and I’m not a full-blooded Meleah. I have purple hair and wear funky-fresh clothes. Even among all these crossbreeds, I standout, but pretending to be someone I’m not isn’t a prize worth winning. I never want to be a generic carbon copy.
Lifting my chin, I brave another step, and Hayden takes my hand. A biting cold strikes my skin and I shiver. My breath rises in puffy clouds of white. The interior is gray and black with a cavernous space filled with Meleah. On the far side of the alien craft, similar to the movies, are rows of cryogenic sleeping pods that resemble metal coffins.
“Once we leave Earth’s atmosphere, we get into the sleep chambers.” Hayden squeezes my fingers. “The Zetas will awaken us when we reach their home. With their advanced technology, the trip only takes about one day of Earth time.”
“Talk about a wicked fast hyperdrive!” I exclaim. “Supersonic space travel is astonishing.”
Zach, Viola, and Tanisha amble over to us.
Viola touches my elbow. “We’re going to find seats on the second-level.”
Hayden and I follow them into a side-room
. An older man waves at Hayden and Zach as we pass.
“Who’s that?” I whisper to Hayden.
“My dad, Garvin. I’ll introduce you later,” he replies.
“And Mommie Dearest?” I ask.
“She’s aboard the other spacecraft with Delta and members of the Galactic Brotherhood.”
“So, Viola, are you excited about space travel?” Tanisha adjusts the belt she’s wearing with skintight jeans.
“I’m more interested in meeting the Zetas,” Viola replies. “When do we get a meet and greet with the aliens?”
“They’ll introduce themselves once we land on Reticuli,” Zach says.
We kickback in comfy leather seats arranged in a circular pattern in the common room. Most chairs are already occupied. From the entrance, I spy Hayden’s father near the closed hull door, talking into his cell phone. He resembles a shady accountant who tried to screw people on their taxes. Very unlike the ultra-cool Ben Affleck hitman slash accountant.
I fasten my seatbelt and my stomach takes a nosedive that, luckily, has nothing to do with the spaceship rumbling to life and lifting upward.
“Don’t be nervous.” Hayden’s knee bumps mine. “We’ll be there before you know it.”
Viola arranges the skirt of her lacey black dress. “I can’t wait to see the planet!”
“You’ll love it, trust me.” Tanisha curls her long legs onto the seat, and accepts a glass of red liquid from a female Meleah who must be part of the cabin crew. “Let’s fill in Sloane and Viola on the backstory.”
“My family has been visiting Reticuli ever since Hayden and I were in strollers,” Zach says.
Tanisha sips her red drink. “Also, Neela Voorhees—”
“Why does that name sound familiar?” I ask.
“She’s Xavier Voorhees’s daughter, the CEO of Voorhees Global Tech in San Francisco,” Tanisha explains. “Well, not anymore since he’s in prison.”
“No.” I shake my head. “The name sounds familiar because of Jason Voorhees, the serial killer from the Friday the Thirteenth series.”
“That’s right!” Tanisha’s head turns in my direction. “I wonder what’s gonna happen when you meet Neela. Will it be an epic showdown? Sloane versus Neela?”