Together, they descended to the next floor and entered a converted cargo room that smelled of saltwater. Four large mechanical diving suits lined the walls like gleaming silver trophies. A giant robotic arm waited nearby. At the end of the room, a large circular hole opened to the ocean.
Jack gulped as he stared at the rippling pool. Until yesterday, a bathtub was the most water he'd seen in one place for several years. Being this close to the open sea made him break out in a sweat.
“Tell me about your time in the Navy,” Mazu said.
“There’s not much to tell, really.” I spent most of my time in a spacesuit, Jack thought, not a diving suit. Not that I can tell her that. “I flew marines from one place to another.”
“Did you see any action?”
“Only from a distance.” From thousands of kilometers, Jack thought. Most space combat was fought out of sight from your enemy, using sensors and lidar to ‘see’.
Mazu unbuttoned her uniform and pulled her jacket off. Underneath she wore a skintight black bodysuit. Blue lines embedded into the material connected to hard discs at the joints. She left the headpiece off, letting it hang against her back like a hood.
“You need something?” she asked as Jack continued to stare at her.
“Some things are coming to mind.”
“Get dressed.” Mazu grinned and pointed at the gray package in his hands.
Jack sat on the floor and tugged his boots off. He took off his leather jacket and piled the whole lot in the corner of the room. Next, he unfastened his belt and worked at his uniform pants.
“While I’d love to see how far you’ll go, there’s a changing room over there.” Mazu pointed at a stall in the corner of the room.
“Oh.” Jack entered the stall and pulled the door closed. There was barely enough room to turn around. He would have preferred to change out in the open. Sighing, he tore the package open. Inside was a black suit like the one Mazu was wearing. The elastic fabric was a lightweight, carbon fiber weave. Blue lines traveled up each leg, crossing the torso, and continued down each arm.
Jack stripped out of his Cabin uniform. He thrust his bare foot into the first suit leg. The damn thing is sticky. His foot refused to go any farther than the knee. He yanked hard, and his other foot slipped on the wet floor. He fell backward into the room’s flimsy siding and landed hard on his backside. “Ouch.” A cold draft blew over his exposed skin from the gap under the door.
“You alright in there?” Mazu snickered.
“Yeah.” Jack’s face grew hot. “Just dandy.” He was about to get up but found that it was easier to pull the wetsuit on from the floor. Once he had his feet in place, he stood up. He checked that the thin knife strapped to his thigh was secure before pulling the suit over his legs.
“Do you have someone special back home, Jack?”
Jack thought about his ex-wife and touched the finger where his wedding ring used to be. Pepper had been stubborn and feisty. Not dissimilar to Mazu. “Not anymore.”
“Oh? What happened?”
Jack worked an arm inside the suit. “Well, my moral judgments clashed with Pepper’s smuggling practices. So, we fought. Then divorced.” He thrust another arm inside, and like Mazu, he left the suit’s hood off. With the suit on, Jack stepped out of the changing stall and presented himself to Mazu.
“Looking sharp.”
Jack could feel her eyes rolling over his body. “It’s a good fit.” Though he wasn’t as chiseled as he’d been in his youth, he still sported some of the ripcord muscles he’d earned as a pro fighter. He balled up his clothes and stashed them in the corner of the room farthest away from the water.
The door to the room slid open, and a massive dark-skinned man entered.
“Marcel!” Jack approached the man, and the two performed the handshake the big man had taught him on their supply run. It involved several finger holds, hand slaps, and fist bumps.
“Marcel, you’re late,” Mazu said, rolling her eyes at the masculine display.
“It’s good to see you too.” Marcel unstrapped his holstered handgun and checked the safety and the chamber. “I had to make sure I wasn’t being followed.”
“Always the cautious one.”
“It keeps me alive.” Marcel stripped out of his black uniform, folded it, and set the whole pile next to Jack’s clothes. Underneath, he wore the same black wetsuit Jack and Mazu had on.
“Would you help Jack with his Tumlare suit?” Mazu asked.
“Sure,” Marcel said.
“We need to leave as soon as the Locator arrives.”
“It’s not here yet?” Marcel asked. “Looks good.” He patted Jack on the shoulder with a huge hand.
“No. I’m worried,” Mazu said. “Lin should have delivered it by now.”
“What’s the big rush?” Jack asked.
Marcel picked up a hefty controller from the wall. A thick cable connected it to the robotic arm.
“He doesn’t know?” Marcel asked.
Mazu shook her head and looked at Jack. “A large ship just arrived through the Terminal. We think it’s Tyr.”
Victus. Jack almost sighed in relief but stifled his emotions. It was absurd that the man who’d betrayed him, who’d killed Hocco, could stir such a feeling of comfort.
“Tyr?” Jack asked, feigning ignorance. “Who are they?”
“They’re the agency that keeps the Selkans as slaves.”
If Victus gets here while I’m out with Mazu, Jack thought. Then there’s a chance I’ll miss him and be stuck here on Earth. “Ah yes,” Jack said. “Shouldn’t we stay and help?”
Mazu studied Jack. “We are helping, by leaving now instead of tomorrow.”
“I just thought—”
“The only way we can help them now is to recover the virosuit.”
“Virosuit?” Jack cocked his head. Victus didn’t mention that.
Mazu sighed. “That’s enough questions. Time to get in your diving suits.”
“I thought I was in my diving suit,” Jack said, indicating the skintight black carbon fiber that covered his body.
Marcel laughed. “We’re not skin diving.”
Using the robotic arm, he plucked a mechanical diving suit off the wall and set it down near the open pool. With its flipper-like tail folded up—to give it a solid base—it resembled a Selkan in shape.
“C’mon,” Marcel said. “I’ll show you how to suit up.”
Jack approached the newly deposited Tumlare suit. Marcel slid a switch at the belt, and the suit flipped open at the waist. “Climb in.”
“Yes, sir,” Jack answered automatically. He gripped the sides of the suit and stepped onto the flipper-like appendage. Now, this feels familiar. During his service, Jack had donned powered suits for heavy work on spaceships.
He heaved both legs inside at once. The hard discs of his wetsuit tugged at his leg joints as they made secure connections inside the suit. He gave Marcel a lopsided grin. “Snug.”
Marcel used the mech arm to set two more suits by the pool. After setting the last suit down, he handed Jack a rucksack. “Basic supplies. Food, water, and a survival knife.”
Jack opened the pack and found six food rations, a head-mounted light, a water canteen with a purifier, a multi-tool, a paracord, and a thin heat barrier. Marcel showed him where he could store the bag inside his Tumlare suit.
Mazu stared at the door and tapped her foot. “Where is that Locator?”
Marcel retrieved his handgun and stashed it inside his Tumlare suit.
“Expecting trouble?” Jack asked.
“Always.”
“If it’s dangerous, shouldn’t we all have one?”
“If it were up to me, you would.” Marcel approached Jack. “But I’m one of a select few who are permitted to carry a firearm.”
Jack thought about his own weapon. After arriving at the Endeavor, he had returned it to the secret compartment in his spaceplane.
“Damn.” Mazu rubbed her face. “I
’ll have to get the Locator myself.”
Jack twisted in his Tumlare suit to watch Mazu cross the room. Before she reached the door, it slid open on its own. A blond girl rushed inside, followed by Kensei Drake with an unconscious Jenny Tripper in his arms.
“What happened to Jenny?” Jack asked. And how is a skinny kid like Kensei able to carry her so effortlessly?
“Uh.” Kensei looked down at Jenny, then up at him with a blank face. “I, uh…”
“She’s fine,” the blond girl said. “It seems to be a side effect of her power.”
“Oh,” Mazu said, “she finally triggered it. What is it?”
Adriana scrunched her face. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, we can ask her when she wakes up. I see you brought the Locator.”
“Oh yeah.” Adriana stepped forward and handed it to Mazu.
“Thank you.” Mazu studied the brass-looking device for a moment before setting it next to her Tumlare suit. “If that’s all, you can go and report back to Lin.”
Adriana and Kensei turned and made for the door.
“Oh, and tell Jenny congratulations when she wakes up.”
“We will,” they answered and left the room.
After the door closed, Mazu and Marcel quickly climbed into their suits.
Jack just stared at the blue-green water in the pool and imagined hidden terrors lying beneath the surface. His heart thundered painfully in his chest. At least in space you can see for millions of light-years in any direction. “So, how do I close this thing?”
“It’s easier than it looks.” Marcel winked at Jack. “Just do what I do.”
Reaching back, Marcel flipped his helmet forward and thrust his hands into the suit’s armholes. The chest responded by folding around him like a butterfly closing its wings, locking him into a water-tight cocoon.
Jack steeled himself and followed Marcel move for move. He slipped his head inside the helmet as it hinged forward and his breathing sounded loud. The familiar sound of breathing inside a suit worked to calm him. Next, Jack thrust his hands into the armholes, and the chest hinged closed, clicked, and sealed shut. He could almost convince himself that he was going out for a spacewalk. That was, until Mazu dove into the moon pool, sending a fountain of water into the air. Then, her voice sounded in his helmet. “You’ll need to activate your fins once you’re in the water.”
“Okay,” Jack replied.
Marcel tipped over and fell into the pool, causing a flood of water to wash over Jack’s feet. Jack’s heartbeat quickened. I can do this, Jack thought. It’s just water. I drink it all the time. He took several deep breaths to calm himself. What did she mean by activating my fins? Jack twisted around to see the fins, still folded up against the back of the suit, lost his balance, and toppled to the side. He fell into the pool with a plunk. Instantly, the murky water surrounded him and greedily pulled him into its dark depths.
27
Second Test
Jenny trod water in the middle of the ocean. Huge waves lifted her up and down in a rhythmic motion. The dark abyss tickled her feet and pulled at her legs. She screamed for help, and her eyes shot open to find that Kensei was carrying her on his shoulders. That explains the rhythmic movement, Jenny thought.
“Welcome back,” Kensei said.
“Thanks, now can you put me down?”
“Sure.” Kensei set her down and leaned against the wall. He fought the dizziness that came from using his ability.
Jenny felt the burstepi on her back and sighed internally. She glanced between Kensei and Adriana and saw their empty hands. “Where’s the Locator?”
“We delivered it to Mazu,” Adriana said. “While you were asleep.”
“Thank goodness.” Jenny sighed in relief. “What happened?”
“You saved us,” Kensei said between deep breaths. “You were Sadi, or you controlled her body or something.”
Jenny remembered the encounter with Sadi, and all the pain and raw emotions from it flooded into her mind. Sadi’s life flashed before her eyes. I possessed her. Jenny shook her head and rocked on her heels.
“How did you do it?” Adriana asked.
“I don’t know.” Jenny looked away and saw a map that indicated that they were on the gym floor. “Where are we going?”
“To Lin’s office,” Adriana said. “To let her know that we delivered the Locator.”
“And to tell her what Sadi did,” Kensei added.
Jenny thought of the little girl and her abusive father. “No, just let it go.”
“Why?” Adriana demanded.
“Because I know she won’t try anything like that again,” Jenny replied.
Lin sat behind her desk, a game consisting of cards and a collection of colored stones arranged in different numerical groupings pushed to one end. “Hi, friends, did you deliver the Locator to Mazu?”
They all talked over each other in reply.
“One at a time, please.” Lin waited until they quieted down. “Okay, I believe you were first, Adriana.”
“Yes, we delivered the Locator to Mazu.”
“And Aindriu and Sadi were on the engineering level,” Jenny said.
“But we snuck by them,” Kensei said. “Thanks to Adriana’s ability, and Jenny—”
Jenny kicked him.
Lin looked at Jenny and Kensei curiously, then Adriana spoke up. “I think they were looking for Mister LaGrange.”
“Interesting.” Lin looked distracted. “You know, I can’t find him either.”
“Did he leave?” Jenny asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Is his plane still here?” Kensei looked up at the ceiling as if he could see the cement platform floating above the spaceship.
“Yes,” Lin said. “All the planes are still up there.” She looked back at her young pupils. “But I don’t want you three to get distracted,” she warned. “The final test is tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow?” Adriana said. “I thought we had a week.”
“We did”—Lin sighed—“but recent events have accelerated our timeline.”
“Recent events?” Kensei asked.
“A large ship arrived through the Terminal. We believe it’s a Tyr warship, come for the Selkans.”
The trio gasped. “How long until they arrive?” Adriana asked.
“We have a day, maybe two.”
“What about Mazu?” Adriana continued.
“And the artifact she’s seeking with the Locator?” Kensei asked.
“We don’t have time to wait, and we only need the Riftkey to unlock the Terminal.”
They sat in silence for some time.
“Lin?” Jenny asked.
“Yes?”
“I was wondering about Sadi.” Jenny paused. “What made her the way she is?”
“Her ability gave her a difficult life, and while Cabin taught her to control it, there were some things we could not heal. There was a traumatic event in Sadi’s childhood that caused her to flip her empathic sense.”
“What do you mean by ‘flip her empathic sense’?” Adriana asked.
Lin weaved her fingers together. “Instead of feeling good when she sees positive emotions, she feels bad. The more powerful the emotion, the worse she feels.”
“Which means that she would feel good seeing others in misery,” Adriana said. “It’s all starting to make sense now.”
“What about her parents?” Jenny asked.
“Her father is out of the picture. Her mother brought Sadi to us, and she quickly became one of Lance’s pet projects. Now”—Lin ushered them out of her office—“I suggest you focus less on Sadi and more on your tests. Go.”
Once they were outside Lin’s office, Adriana turned to Jenny and asked, “What was all that stuff about Sadi?”
“Was it because of what happened down there?” Kensei asked. “When you possessed her?”
Jenny turned away. “I’m not ready to talk about it.”
“I understand.
” Adriana held the back of her hand to her mouth and yawned.
“Where do you think Lance is?” Kensei asked.
“No idea,” Jenny said.
“Do you still think Sadi is involved?”
Jenny shook her head. “She doesn’t know any more than we do.”
“Well”—Adriana stretched and yawned again—“I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day. I’m going to get my chores done before dinner so I can go straight to bed.”
“Good idea,” Jenny said. “A mindless task like cleaning the bathroom sounds dreamy after this hectic day,” Jenny said goodbye to Kensei and Adriana before returning to her room.
Billo was on her bed with her Topo in hand. A drum and bass song played from its hidden speakers. “Hey.” Billo turned the music down and waved her Topo at Jenny. “Did you hear that tomorrow is the last day for testing?”
“Yeah.” Jenny walked to her closet. “Just a minute ago, from Lin.”
“We were supposed to have a week left. I can’t believe it’s really happening.”
“Yeah, it’s surreal.”
“I hope Adriana can stay on top,” Billo said.
“Yeah, me too,” Jenny agreed, but she didn’t really mean it. She wanted to win, and not just because of her bet with Sadi. After being in the other girl’s body…Jenny didn’t hold the same sense of anger or fear toward her. It was more about proving to herself that she could do it. That she’d earned the right to wield the Riftkey.
Billo smirked. “The grays are worried about you.”
“What? Why?” Jenny opened the drawer to get her meds.
“I don’t know.” Billo walked behind Jenny. “But I heard them talking about you.”
Jenny rotated the amber pill bottles in her hand. “For the past four months I haven't missed a single dose, and now I’ve missed three.” I’ve also never traveled to another universe before, Jenny thought.
Billo watched Jenny in silent anticipation.
Jenny’s right foot began tapping the floor. “If I want to win,” she said, “then I’ll need every advantage.” One by one, she opened each bottle and dumped the contents into the trash can. An enormous weight lifted from her shoulders, and she collapsed onto her bed.
The Key of Astrea Page 30