Slowly, Jenny turned to look at the scoreboard, but Adriana and Billo rushed up to her.
“You scored 463.” Billo stared at her in awe.
“Good job, sister. I knew you could do it.” Adriana gave her a hug.
“You did it, you beat Sadi.” Kensei patted her back. “And by a lot.”
Jenny looked at the center of the room. Kett’l smiled warmly and beckoned her closer. She walked numbly through the crowd, grasping people’s hands and returning high fives in a stupor.
Moeshe, the tall, dark-haired boy who had complimented Jenny on her first test, stepped out of the crowd. He winked and gently pushed her toward the pedestal. She had earned the right to wield the Riftkey, and now everybody wanted to see her bond with it.
Jenny hated to disappoint them.
Lin walked up to her and said, “Well done.”
“Thanks.” Jenny beamed. “Do you think it’s okay to show them my Riftkey now?”
Lin nodded. “I think it’s okay.”
The guards parted as they walked up to the pedestal and the newly crafted Riftkey. The crowd fell silent. Jenny unlocked the burstepi’s clasp at her chest and shrugged the strap off her shoulder. At the sound of clapping from outside the gym, Jenny paused with her hand on the flap. What is that? Jenny thought. Is it Lance? Everyone turned toward the entrance to see.
A tall stranger in black armor darkened the door to the gym. He was flanked by two huge figures in bloodred armor. Gruesome red skulls decorated their face masks. Three normal-sized soldiers in plain black uniforms and black helmets stood behind them. Pistol carbines hung from their shoulders.
Jenny returned the burstepi to her shoulder and fastened the clasp at her chest.
The tall stranger stepped forward and removed his helmet. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and had platinum-blond hair and pale skin. He was handsome, with a sharp jaw and high cheekbones, yet his most striking feature was an entirely black eye.
“Don’t stop because of me,” the man said. “What are we celebrating?” His blue eye lit up. “Ah. The Riftkey.”
“Who are you?” Lin placed herself between the pedestal and the intruders while the contestants took a step back.
The man held himself in perfect posture. “Admiral Vae Victus of the Tyr Ministry of Defense.”
Jenny’s blood grew cold. Tyr? They’re here? The floor seemed to drop out from under her feet. We’ve lost.
“And you are?”
“Lin Yuan Song.” She stood up as tall as she could, but only reached Victus’s shoulder. “Archaeoastronomer of Cabin, and current leader of this team. What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to recover stolen property.” Victus stepped forward, the rippling light of the sea reflecting off his black armor. “You have nothing to fear as long as you cooperate.”
A black uniformed soldier entered the gym and rushed up to Victus. “Sir, it’s not on board.”
A muscle in Victus’s face twitched. He stared down at Lin, and his blue eye blazed with deadly intent. “Where is the virosuit?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lin said.
Victus studied her for a moment, then his lips formed a thin line. “Maybe you don’t, but you are hiding something.” He looked at one of the huge red soldiers next to him. “Perhaps killing someone will loosen your tongue.” Victus looked around the room, then pointed at Moeshe, probably because he was a head taller than anyone else. “That one.”
The armored soldier stepped forward and raised his arm. In response, the Cabin guards drew their handguns and took aim. Several recruits screamed and took cover behind the stone pedestal. Others ran to the side and backrooms bordering the gym. A few were too scared to move, including the tall Moeshe.
Jenny’s stomach lurched, and her legs felt like cement. She looked from Moeshe to Lin. Just tell him, Jenny thought. There were several loud bangs as the Cabin guards fired at the huge red soldier, but their bullets had no effect on its armor.
The armored soldier aimed his arm at Moeshe. Lin launched forward and knocked the soldier’s arm aside. There were three flashes, and three bullets flew outward. No, not bullets exactly, more like needles. Jenny saw a red line indicating the path of each round, like the ball in the perception test. The projectiles slammed into the back wall, forming small craters in the white composite siding.
The armored soldier slammed a fist into Lin’s side, but she twisted around the punch and grabbed his wrist. Using her shoulder as a fulcrum, she pulled against the joint. Motors whined and groaned. There came a sound like the snapping of a branch, and the armored soldier’s arm fell limp. To his credit, he didn’t cry out. Instead, he punched at Lin with his other metal fist. But she was too fast. Lin dodged to the side of his injured arm and kicked hard at the armored soldier’s knee. He crumpled to the ground.
Kensei ran forward and grabbed him by one leg and said, “Have a nice trip.” He spun, once, twice, and let go. The armored soldier soared across the gym and smashed through the mirrored-glass window to the maze room.
The next armored soldier raised its arm toward Moeshe. There was a flash and a testing room window shattered. Somebody screamed and Moeshe stumbled backward and fell to the floor. Two red blotches bloomed in his chest. Adriana ran to Moeshe and dragged him into a side room. Sadi held out her hand toward this armored soldier and said, “I want your pain.” He dropped to the ground and writhed in agony.
Three normal-size soldiers stepped forward and raised their pistol carbines at Sadi, Kensei, and the Cabin guards.
I have to do something, Jenny thought. Maybe I can use the Pulse to stop their guns. The needle-like fléchettes of the armored soldier were a mystery, but Jenny had a good understanding of how normal firearms worked. She knew that a firing pin initiated an explosive charge in each round, an action that was similar to how the Selkans created sound by hitting their drums with clubs. Jenny seized her key and focused on one of the pistol carbines. Just as the soldier pulled the trigger, she found the gun’s firing mechanism and stopped it from initiating a charge.
The gun refused to fire. Sadi was safe, but another soldier had aimed at Kensei. I need to stop it, Jenny thought as she focused on the firing mechanism. No—her heart sunk—I’m not going to make it. Even with her ability to slow her perception of time, Jenny couldn’t nullify the firing pin. Luckily, Kensei was suffering the side-effects of using his ability, and he stumbled to the side before the soldier fired. The monitor displaying the first maze shattered.
Two of the Cabin guards fell to the ground, and something slammed into Jenny’s left shoulder, wrenching her arm from its socket. Did I just get shot? Jenny asked herself. Her left shoulder burned, and her arm hung limp. I must have. The adrenaline flooding her body masked most of the pain, and she felt a sudden urge to run. No, I have to stay. There were just two more soldiers to stop. There, that’s one. Jenny switched her focus. And there’s the other one. I did it! Jenny shouted in her head. Now that all the pistol carbines are disabled, maybe I can relax.
Suddenly, three new armored soldiers appeared in the doorway in their hulking red suits. This time, some sort of blue shield shimmered like an egg around their bodies. One of them stood out from the others. He had a white skull on its black mask instead of red, and gold accents on his blood-red armor.
Damn it, Jenny thought.
The three armored soldiers charged into the gym. Their suits whirred and thudded against the floor. Sadi brought the gold one down right away. Lin and Kensei focused on the second. Aindriu rushed in to attack the third. He ducked inside the armored soldier’s reach and exploded like a coiled spring. Aindriu slammed into the soldier’s gut with the force of a freight train. The armored soldier toppled backward. Aindriu hooked his foot behind the soldier’s leg and shoved. The armored soldier hit the ground with a crash. Aindriu jumped onto the soldier’s chest and delivered a flurry of crushing blows. As he punched, Aindriu’s skin peeled away from his knuckles, revealing a glint of me
tal underneath. The soldier’s armored chest buckled and his helmet flipped open. Inside, a young man stared up into Aindriu’s face.
“You look soft without all that armor,” Aindriu said as he rolled out of the soldier’s reach. He tore the helmet free of the suit and slammed it into the man’s bare head. Aindriu didn’t stop until the young man fell unconscious.
At the gym entrance, a dozen more normal-sized soldiers rushed into the gym and opened fire with their stubby pistol carbines. Red spots bloomed on the black uniforms of the two remaining guards.
There are too many, Jenny thought as she dove to the ground. But I have to try. She focused on each pistol carbine, disabling them as she had done earlier, but it was a painfully slow process, and she was so tired. I need help. Aren’t we all Æons here? Everyone here has powers. Why aren’t they using them? Then it dawned on her. They’re scared. They need motivation. Jenny called out to the recruits. “Fight back! If we all use our powers, we can win.”
As Jenny focused on disabling the carbines, a gray-uniformed recruit walked out of a side room. Suddenly, electricity arced through three soldiers, making them spasm and collapse to the gym floor. Then, a blue-uniformed recruit stepped out from behind the pedestal and knocked two more soldiers over with a gust of wind. Suddenly, more recruits stood up and fought. A soldier burst into flames, while his neighbor froze solid.
Jenny felt their powers buzzing inside her mind, like a symphony playing uplifting music. Within seconds, the fight had turned in Cabin’s favor. The power of their attacks had thrown the Tyran soldiers into chaos. We’re actually going to win, Jenny thought as she disabled another gun. We’re going to save the Selkans.
Victus worked his way toward the Riftkey while his soldiers fought. Kett’l and Thork’l moved to block his way. While the Selkans were bigger and stronger than a human, neither of them were a match for Victus in his enhanced armor. The admiral shoved the aliens aside, then he noticed what was happening to his soldiers. His look of shock transformed to wonder, then determination. Black mist sprang up around a gray-uniformed recruit, and his lightning fizzled out.
The black mist, Jenny thought. That’s what I did on the Selkan island. He knows the Pulse.
Victus turned his attention back to the pedestal. “The Riftkey is mine.”
“Over my dead body,” Lin said.
Victus ducked and Lin’s foot passed through thin air. She landed from her jump kick and dropped into a low fighting stance.
“It would be my pleasure,” Victus said.
Lin slammed a fist into his gut. Victus’s armor cracked and he doubled over in pain. Victus held his arms up in defense. He focused on a freckled red-haired girl and nullified her fire ability.
“You chose the wrong group to attack,” Lin said.
“You are mistaken,” Victus said. “I’m right where I want to be.”
Lin kicked between Victus’s legs, but he twisted to avoid the blow. Lin punched at his side and then his neck. Victus blocked the punch with the pauldron of his suit. Lin’s fist crumpled on the reinforced armor, and the bones in her hand fractured. Lin cradled her injured hand and kicked at Victus’s head. Victus caught her foot and held it.
“Enough of this!” Victus shouted. Using the full power of his suit, he kicked the smaller woman in the chest. Lin flew through the air and smashed into the stone pedestal. She collapsed to the floor while the massive block staggered from the impact.
Jenny gasped and rushed toward Lin, sliding across the floor to the base of the pedestal. “Lin! Lin—” Though her shoulder flared with pain, she straightened Lin up to a sitting position. Lin rasped, and blood oozed from the corner of her mouth. “You have so much potential.” Lin smiled up at Jenny. “Don’t hide from your true nature.”
A loud buzz filled Jenny’s mind as the black mist crawled over her and the other recruits. A chasm formed in her head, and the familiar buzz was gone. She could no longer sense the waveforms of the world.
Ever since the wedding, Jenny had been keeping the eleven-year-old version of herself a prisoner. The part of her that was Roma. The part of her named Djangini. It was time to accept who she was and let that part of herself be free. “I won’t hide, Lin. I’ll be true to myself.” Jenny choked out a sob as she stroked Lin’s smooth black hair.
“Remember Mazu.”
Jenny nodded, and suddenly the wind was knocked from her lungs as Victus kicked her in the gut. She slid across the gym floor and screeched to a stop near Adriana. Jenny struggled to breathe, and tears blurred her vision.
“Take the Selkans,” Victus ordered. The soldiers shackled Kett’l and Thork’l and led them out of the gym. “At last,” Victus said. He approached the pedestal and pulled off an armored gauntlet. He then lifted the Riftkey with his bare hand and smiled triumphantly. Suddenly, his eyes snapped shut, and his whole body shook.
As Victus bonded with the Riftkey, his nullifying effects slipped away, and the black mist receded from the recruits.
“You have the Riftkey.” Lin pushed herself upright and faced Victus. “Let them go.”
“You are right. I have what I came for.” He looked down at the Riftkey. There was a loud crack, and the black edges glowed blue. Sparks lit the air. “But someone must pay for their freedom.” He gestured at those who remained alive in the gym. “Will it be you?” He aimed the Riftkey at Lin’s chest.
Lin nodded.
Jenny screamed, “No.”
But it was too late. As the Riftkey touched Lin’s loose white shirt, gray dust puffed into the air. Victus casually flicked the tip upward, carving the Riftkey into her torso, and Lin’s body fell motionless to the gym floor.
“You bastard!” Jenny tried to get up and run toward Lin, but Adriana held her down. She didn’t have the strength to resist, so she collapsed to her knees. The Selkans are doomed. A pit formed in her chest and threatened to consume her. Her soul ripped apart, and her consciousness exploded from her body.
This out-of-body experience was different than before. When Jenny had possessed Sadi, her entire consciousness had transferred into her spirit. This time only half of her left her body, and Jenny was aware of both her physical and ethereal forms at the same time.
Slowly, Jenny’s glowing ethereal form turned to look at her physical self, and when her spirit eyes met her physical ones, the rest of the world became insignificant. Death didn’t matter. The Selkans didn’t matter. This was Jenny’s true self, the energy within her physical body made real. The experience was overwhelming. Tears ran down her face. She was overcome with happiness and awe and felt truly free for the first time. She giggled like a child.
Those around me must be thinking I’ve gone mad, Jenny thought, but I’ve never experienced anything so pure and honest. Jenny saw herself for the first time, bare and open, with no filter. Her truest innermost self. Not just Jenny Tripper, but Djangini the Roma, daughter of Rubelli Tripper, leading back through a hundred more ancestors to Astrea Baillie, the Æon who discovered the Waypoint keys and traveled across universes.
However, maintaining this ethereal form was physically draining. As Jenny weakened, her ghost vanished with a snap and returned to her physical body. She was filled with an oppressive sense of claustrophobia and loss. More than that, her shoulder throbbed with pain worse than before.
Victus set the Riftky on the pedestal and approached the place where Jenny’s spirit had stood. She felt his gaze as though he had touched her with it. His hard stare bored into her as if he were peering at something beyond. One eye may have been black on black, but it was his sapphire-blue eye that gave her chills.
All thoughts of joy and happiness evaporated from Jenny’s mind. She shuddered as a pressure pushed against her brain and she vibrated like an off-cycle washing machine. The room grew darker, and her body grew heavy.
Victus leaned in close, and whispered into her ear, “I know what you are.”
“Go to hell,” Jenny growled, cradling her limp arm with her uninjured hand.
> All around the gym, the armored soldiers were getting to their feet. Even the one that Aindriu had knocked out.
“You’re the one who disabled the guns.” Victus placed his boot on Jenny’s gun wound and pushed. Her shoulder exploded in pain, and she fell to the floor. While holding her down, Victus turned to address the room. “Mister Spriggan failed to inform me of your talents.”
Mister Spriggan, Jenny thought, isn’t that Jack’s last name? He did betray us. He told Victus that the Selkans were here.
“It was not my intention to harm any of you.” Victus slipped his armored gauntlet back onto his hand. “I am only here for the Selkans.” He spread his arms out wide and spoke sincerely. “It is with their help that we have put an end to a century-long war. Already, they have saved billions of lives.”
All around her, voices murmured in response.
There’s no way anybody really believes him, Jenny thought as she beat at Victus’s armored leg. He didn’t seem to notice.
“We need people like you.” Victus scanned each face in the crowd. “People with the power to maintain peace throughout the galaxy. Come back with us. We know how to properly train you. Join us and you can reach your true potential.”
Sadi stepped forward and glanced back at her comrades in gray. “Lance abandoned us. I owe him no allegiance.” She looked down at Lin’s body, at Jenny, then at Victus. “I’ll join you.”
“Excellent.” Victus held out a hand to her. “Welcome to Tyr, Miss…”
“Cassadi Stevens.” Sadi walked up and took his hand.
“Miss Stevens.” Victus looked around. “Is there anyone else?”
Aindriu stepped forward. “Me.” He walked over and stood beside Sadi. “I’m Aindriu Ward.”
Victus smiled and nodded in recognition, “It is my pleasure, Mister Ward.”
After that, all the gray-uniformed recruits had offered their loyalty to Tyr. Jenny felt numb. Her strength gave way. Her skin tingled. This can’t be happening, Jenny thought as she drifted into unconsciousness under Victus’s boot.
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