Crimson rising sa-2

by Nick James

  Wasting no time, Cassius lunged for the stunner, wrapped his finger around the trigger, and fired right into Theo’s shoulder.

  31

  The last of the sun sets beneath the mountains in the distance. I hold Ryel’s cube in front of me, marveling at the sheer sleekness of it. It’s seamless-perfectly uniform. I’m not sure how something so simple can have such a hold on me, but I can’t take my eyes off it. I’ve gotten used to the chill that runs up my arm when I hold it. Now all I want to do is look at the tiny reflection of my face in its gleaming walls.

  I’ve never looked worse. Scratches and bruises cover my face. My hair sticks to my scalp, matted by dirt and sweat. A cut splits my bottom lip. I picture all of the insects from the swarm running around on top of me, fighting to crawl up my nose or under my eyes. It’s a miracle I’m still walking at all.

  I reach under my shirt and feel the scars on my chest. They seem to fade with each passing hour. The sting is gone too, replaced with a dull, sick feeling every time I touch them.

  I am already here.

  Ryel’s words repeat in my head. I wish I knew what they really meant.

  The cockpit door opens and a pair of footsteps approach us. I turn to see Avery supporting Cassius, who grips his wrist.

  “He’s a Shifter alright.” Cassius sits against the wall. “My bracelet… he was able to control it.”

  I grab my wrist instinctively. “You wanna drop him now?”

  “No,” he replies. “He’s out. I’ve got plenty of tranquilizers. He doesn’t seem to know anything about it. It’s like he becomes a different person.”

  “The red in his eyes,” Skandar says. “Like back outside the swarm.”

  Cassius nods.

  Eva glances at the radar. “We’ve still got approximately two hours until we can think about landing outside Lenbrg.”

  “The stunner’ll keep him down at least that long,” he says. “But nobody disturb him. It doesn’t end well.”

  I drop the cube into my pocket. “And then what?”

  “And then I hit him with another round from the stunner,” Cassius replies. “I can’t shake the feeling… If you can free some more Drifters, maybe they can tell us something about him. If he’s an enemy, he may be more use to us alive.”

  Avery frowns. “That’s something Madame would say.”

  “Well,” he started. “You don’t grow up in the Lodge without learning a thing or two.”

  – 10:30 PM. Our ship sets down a quarter mile from the north end of Lenbrg. The closer we get, the more I start to recognize the scenery. Last time we were here, we were speeding from a Unified Party battalion on our way to Seattle.

  After Avery kills the radar, Eva shuts down the engines and we crowd into the cabin. Theo comes to almost immediately, sitting upright. Groggy, he eyes us one by one. He doesn’t smile.

  I glance at Cassius. He grips the handle of a stunner and takes a step forward until he’s about two yards from Theo’s chest.

  Theo smiles. “You coward.”

  Cassius pulls the trigger as his reply. Then twice more. Three darts of tranquilizer pierce just below Theo’s left shoulder. The boy barely reacts, even at the loud thwack, thwack, thwack as the darts stick in his skin. He keeps his eyes locked on Cassius’s the entire time. In moments, his head slumps forward. His fingers loosen on the arm rests and, eventually, his eyes close.

  Cassius lowers the pistol. “We have six hours. Maybe seven, given his size. Keep an eye on the time. We get in, we get food… rest. Then we’re out before dawn.”

  With that we leave the comfort of the ship for the unbearable warmth outside. We must look like one motley bunch as we approach Lenbrg. We could all use a shower, to say the least.

  The moon lights our way, casting a glow on the hilly fringe landscape. We’re heading into the coolest time of the night, not that it means much out here.

  Heaps of trash form dark mounds in front of us. They’re the first signs of civilization, George Barkley’s collection of junk piled outside the back of his farmhouse on the northern edge of the town. It’s where the Unified Party ambushed us before. A shiver runs down my spine. I glance at the stars, half-expecting to see the outlines of cruisers following us.

  Up until that point, this had been my one good experience on the Surface. Avery and I had been shocked to find a colony in the Fringes banding together to instill some sense of order. Rather than give in to chaos, they scavenge food and power a generator. There are bound to be other Fringe Towns like Lenbrg, but it’s not something you hear about often.

  We continue to approach the piles. With every step, the smell worsens. From what I can remember, most of Barkley’s collection is nothing more than mass old junk he finds in the ruins of Seattle, but who knows how long it’s been since he’s seen the bottoms of the heaps. Things could be rotting down there. The oppressive heat definitely isn’t helping.

  A few more steps and we’re bathed in floodlights. Everyone freezes. Sheets of light blare down at us from both sides, so bright at first that I have to shield my eyes. Before I acclimate to the glare, I hear the cock of a gun. Then a voice.

  “Oh, hell no.” Barkley’s gruff, unimpressed drawl comes from somewhere in front of me. I rub my eyes and watch him appear from the light, walking forward with an oldfashioned revolver pointed in front of him. “It can’t be,” he continues. “Y’all are temptin’ fate.”

  I raise my hands in the air, even as I take a step forward. There’s no way Barkley’d recognize Cassius, and probably not Skandar or Eva either, but he obviously hasn’t forgotten me. The old man looks more beaten down since the last time I saw him. Tired. He’d helped us get to Seattle and it hadn’t turned out well for him.

  “Installed these floodlights myself,” he continues. “Part of a new precautionary system, thanks to the likes of you. You here with Unified Party cruisers trailin’ you again?”

  I glance over his shoulder, relieved to see that his farmhouse is still standing. Madame could’ve easily leveled it last spring.

  Avery moves to my side. “How’s your son, George?” The man’s eyes narrow. “Alive. You’ve got a lot of balls coming back here. We pride ourselves on staying out of the eye of the government. You brought ‘em straight to us. Still haven’t recovered completely.” He waves the nozzle of the revolver. “Go back. Wherever you came from, go back. We don’t want you.”

  I slowly lower my hands, sighing. “We need your help.”

  He chuckles. “Heard that one before.”

  “It’s not like last time. It’s… we just need a place to stay for a few hours. Somewhere safe.”

  George keeps the gun cocked, not saying a word.

  I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Cassius standing behind me. “Come on. Let’s just take our chances back in the shuttle. This wasn’t a good idea.”

  Barkley shakes his head. “Always knew you’d be back eventually. Didn’t think it would be so soon. How’d that army of Unified Party troops work out for you, anyway?”

  “We didn’t mean any harm,” I say.

  “Sure you didn’t. It was a mistake helping you in the first place. In fact, I ought to-”

  A second voice interrupts him from beyond the lights.

  “Dude, no way!” Bobby Henderson jumps into sight, a smear of oil on his cheek, black hair grown into a shag since the last time I saw him. Last spring, when Avery and I had stumbled into the town, he’d been the first to find us. Without his help, we’d have never made it to Seattle. Out of everyone we could’ve found out here, he’s the one I was hoping for the most.

  Bobby’s about the same age as me, yet seems ten times more untroubled. He wears a broad smile on his face as he bounds toward us. Before I can move, he grabs my shoulders and forces me into an awkward hug. When he’s done, he moves onto Avery. “Oh, man, you don’t know how many nights I thought about you guys. Barkley told me you were ambushed by Unified Party soldiers as soon as you got to Seattle. I hope you didn’t worry about
us. Those bozos left as soon as they realized they weren’t a match for you Shippers.”

  He steps back and takes us all in. “Most exciting thing that’s happened to Lenbrg ever. Of course, my pops doesn’t agree, but who cares about him?”

  George lowers the gun, shaking his head. “Why the hell are you out here, Henderson?”

  Bobby brushes him off. “Don’t you worry about it.”

  “This is my property,” he replies. “I’ll worry as much as I like. I’ve told you again and again. Too many times to count… ”

  “Aw, cool it old man. These are friends. They don’t need you harassing them.”

  “I ain’t harassing them,” he says. “You’re supposed to be organizing cans in the supply room.”

  Bobby shrugs. “I got bored. They don’t need me, anyway.” He glances back at the piles beyond the lights. “Some security system, Barkley. You’ve got a blind spot there,” he points, “and there. And there. I can help you fix it if you want. I’m good at-”

  “Shut up, boy.” George rubs his eyes before turning to us again. “You better leave. They ain’t gonna let you in the city. I can guarantee that.”

  Bobby smiles. “You let me have ‘em, Barkley. You won’t even know we’re here.”

  Avery steps forward. “We’re really not asking for your help, just some food if you have it… and a place to catch our breath.”

  “Doesn’t seem like too much trouble to me.” Bobby beams. “Don’t worry, Barkley. I’ll take ‘em. And you have the added bonus of getting rid of me for a night.”

  George shakes his head, cursing. “Stay clear of the city walls.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Bobby grabs my shoulder and leads me to the side. He turns to whisper in my ear. “I’ve got this awesome place all set up. Wait’ll you see it.” He pushes me away from Barkley. When we’re completely out of sight, the floodlights shut off behind us.

  Bobby releases my shoulder and walks in front of me, leading our group around the edge of the town.

  Eva moves beside us. “Shouldn’t we be heading toward the city?”

  Bobby bends over to pick up a rock, then chucks it into the distance. “You heard the man. They don’t want people like us hanging out with them.”

  I glance back at the farmhouse. It’s nothing but a dark shadow in the distance. Even the junk heaps are hard to spot. “Where are we going?”

  “Just a little more.” Bobby points in front of us. “You see that?”

  I squint. All I see is another blob of darkness against the sky, like a toe sticking up from the ground.

  Bobby doesn’t wait for a response. He breaks off at a jog, oblivious to the heat. “Sometimes I get sick of being inside the walls. Lenbrg never changes. Plus, ever since you guys dropped by, the city council’s been freaking about the chances of another attack. I figure the town needed a lookout. I’m just fidgety enough for the job.”

  We echo his faster pace. With each step, the details of the dark blob come into view. What looks like a miniature lighthouse stands before us, an awkward structure against the flat horizon. Farther beyond that, I see the outline of a turbine. Blades turn lazily in the breeze.

  Bobby bounds to the side of the building and pulls a key from a necklace beneath his shirt. Opening a lock on the door, he ushers us into a tight circular room. It’s an uncomfortable fit for all six of us, but Bobby squeezes to the far side anyway. “Shut the door.” He grabs a nearby crank and turns.

  Skandar pulls the handle, closing us in the hot room. I adjust my collar. “I don’t think this place is meant for more than two people.”

  “Just wait.” Bobby continues to turn the crank. Three clicks echo along the walls around us, followed quickly by a half dozen more. Something whirs to life.

  Suddenly, a cool breeze fills the chamber. I watch as a dozen fans, positioned at all angles, shoot cold air into the center of the room. Two floors up, directly above my head, is a temperature regulator attached to the ceiling. An old model, and loud, but it does the job. Within seconds the entire structure’s temp-controlled, even as Fringe air spills through the open windows.

  “Rigged it up myself.” Bobby climbs a nearby wooden ladder and sits on the second floor, which is basically a ring of reinforced wood attached to the walls on all sides. “I call it my fortress.” He smiles. “Far enough from town to give me space to breathe, but close enough to keep watch for any trouble.”

  Cassius runs his hand along the wall, careful not to get too close to the whirring blades of the fans. “You built this whole place by yourself?”

  Bobby shrugs. “Nicked a lot of stuff from Barkley’s yard. He won’t even miss it. I was hoping to snag some new shades for these windows tonight but, you know, you guys are a much better find.” He leans back and emerges with an armful of cans. “Catch.” He tosses them down to us one by one, followed by an opener. “I forget what I grabbed, but it’s all edible. We throw out any bad stuff.”

  As soon as I’ve got the opener in my hand, I rip the top of the can and shove my fingers inside, not caring what’s in there. I eat so fast that I can’t taste anything. We pass the cans around without a word, slurping and chewing and drinking the juice at the bottom.

  “Whoa,” Bobby laughs. “I guess you really needed that. So Jesse, what’ve you been up to? Who are your friends?”

  It’s a long story. Too long to tell him everything, but I give him the shortened version. I leave most of the stuff about Ryel and the Authority and Matigo out, but even without those parts, his eyes widen with every word. It’s the kind of eager curiosity I wish I had. I used to be like that, I think. Maybe.

  “Well, you’re safe here,” Bobby says. “I’ve got scopes looking out every window of the tower. Nobody sneaks up on me here. I see ‘em first. In fact, just a few weeks ago I saw a Pearl land outside the east window, about half a mile away. Saw Unified Party Pearlhounds pick it up and everything.”

  My stomach sinks at the mention of the word. The thought of the Unified Party hauling Pearls back to the Chosens makes me cringe.

  “You can sleep here,” Bobby continues. “I’ll keep watch. You all look like you’re about ready to pass out anyway.”

  “Thanks,” I reply. “And I know it doesn’t mean much, but I’m sorry about what happened last time we were here.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he smiles. “Like I said, it was the most exciting thing to happen to Lenbrg in ages.”

  I nod, but it doesn’t mean much. The truth is, I feel like a time bomb. The way things have been going, I’m not sure Bobby knows what he could be getting himself into, even if it is only for a short time in the middle of the night.

  “Five hours,” Cassius says. “I suggest you all start sleeping now because we’ll be back on our feet before you know it.”

  Skandar yawns.

  “I’ll settle for three,” Eva says.

  As for me, I’ll take anything I can get. Anything without a surprise or an attack or some terrible combination of the two. It’s not much to ask, but it would mean everything in the world right now.

  32

  I manage a fitful hour of sleep. An hour and a half, maybe. And then I feel it.

  At first I think I’m still dreaming, that this is one of those blissful, sail-away-on-an-island-of-peace dreams that you never want to wake up from. But as the feeling coalesces, as the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, I know that this is no make-believe.

  I sit up. Most everyone else is passed out. Bobby’s crouched on the second level, leaning on the base of one of his lookout windows. I can’t tell, but I think he’s asleep, too.

  A Pearl. I’ve felt this too many times not to know what’s happening.

  Careful not to disturb any of the others, I tiptoe to the door and ease it open. Without a sound, I step into the night air.

  I see it instantly, hurtling down like a meteor. It leaves a line of green in the sky as it approaches. I pray it didn’t pass a Chosen City on its way down. If their scanners had enough tim
e to pick it up, we’ll have Pearlhounds all over us. But if I break it and let the freed Drifter sail back into the air, they won’t know where to look. If they come looking at all.

  I stretch out my arms like I’m about to catch a baseball. The Pearl keeps its trajectory, right toward me. I imagine alarm systems going off, like they used to at the Academy when a Pearl was this close. I picture crowds of people running from the deadly force. And here I am, waiting for it.

  The Pearl begins to slow, controlled by my fingertips. I pull it closer, every inch causing more somersaults in my heart. No one else can feel this. Nobody else ever will.

  Before I know it, I’m holding the green orb in my hands. I stare into the deep waves of energy. It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to luxuriate with a Pearl like this. My heart swells with the healing warmth of it. This is better than sleep.

  I survey the horizon, half expecting Alkine or Madame to jump out and steal the Pearl. Instead, Bobby’s voice cuts the silence of the night.

  “I didn’t want to mention it,” he whispers, “but I knew I saw you catch one last spring.”

  I turn, still holding the glowing orb.

  His mouth hangs open in astonishment. “I’ve never seen one so close.”

  “Duck,” I say, and toss the Pearl into the air. It casts a wide arc behind me. Bobby hits the ground. I close my eyes and feel the path of the Pearl through the sky. When it’s high enough, I break it.

  “Christ almighty.” Bobby stands and shields his eyes as a firework of energy blazes through the darkness. It’s brightest at the center and dissipates as it streams toward us. By the time it reaches my skin, it’s only a tingle. Like feathers brushing against me.

  I grit my teeth and whisper to myself. “Please come back, please come back.”

  I spin and watch the Drifter shoot into the air, away from us. “Damnit.” I kick the dirt. “They never come back. Never when you need them.” I turn to Bobby. “I think it must be instinctual or something, like caged animals. They just wanna get as far away as possible.”