Immersed

by Jenetta Penner

  Behind Waters, the sheriff moves from the group of townspeople. One of the guards trains a gun on him. "President Waters!" he yells.

  Waters holds his hand up to the soldier, who lowers his weapon.

  The sheriff jogs toward us, and as he comes beneath the lamplight, his stress becomes obvious. Brow furrowed, he halts alongside the president. "You need to let my town go. The children are frightened. You said if we cooperated, you'd leave us alone."

  His words prompt me to scan over the group again. I find the little boy, Ash, in the group, huddled by a woman. His mother, I guess. Next to them stands Katherine from the café. Vincent is nowhere to be seen. Maybe he died in the woods.

  For a few beats, Waters considers the sheriff's plea. "I don't know. I don't feel as if you're all completely loyal to Philly. You're still holding back."

  Fright fills the sheriff's eyes. "No, no," he says, shaking his head.

  "Then who was Ms. Lark staying with?" Waters says, raising his eyebrow.

  The sheriff hangs his head, defeated. "A woman named Gabrielle. She lives several miles from here."

  Waters smiles and places his hand on the sheriff's shoulder. "Now, wasn't that easy?"

  The sheriff glances at me and casts his eyes down. Out of the corner of my eye, Waters' other hand makes a quick motion, drawing something from his side. A ray of light discharges from a stunner. The sheriff's body goes limp and falls to the ground in a horrible thump. Blood drips from his lips and dribbles from his chin.

  That was not on stun.

  I gasp, nausea lurching in my stomach. Waters doesn't respond, swinging around to address the townspeople. "Who wants to take me to Gabrielle's?"

  The crowd momentarily shrinks back in horror, cries sounding from several men and women. Not waiting on their answer, Waters turns back to me, weapon continually readied.

  "Get her on the ship and bring her friends. They'll keep her cooperative," he instructs the female guard beside me.

  She clutches my upper arm and tugs me toward the ship. A flash lights up the night and the craft explodes into blazing yellow. My guard clutches me tighter and shoves her weapon into my back. I spin around and scan for Meyer and Aron again. Across the road they're both up, but still held by several guards. The people scream and scramble to escape from whatever is happening. Soldiers scatter to contain them, thankfully not shooting. Yet.

  Another burst comes from above and makes impact with one of Water's ships on the ground.

  "Stop them!" Waters' muffled voice shouts through the chaos, a soldier ushering him to safety. He waves someone from the crowd of townspeople to follow him, a tall man with dark hair.

  Vincent.

  My chest tightens at the sight of him. He's alive and I abandoned him outside the town thinking he might be dead.

  My guard swings toward Waters, momentarily distracted by his words. Without another thought, I slam my elbow into her face. I meet her cheek with a satisfying crunch and grapple for the stunner in her hand. She screams and lunges for me. Out of the corner of my vision, three soldiers rush us. As her body collides with mine, the stunner slips from my hand. Everything goes white as I immerse with her nanos, and in the blink of an eye, all her data downloads to me. She has CosmoNano tech in her hair. I command her tech, and the reddish-blonde locks assume the same color as mine. I might be able to get myself out of this mess.

  I open my lids and compel my hair and camo suit to change to mimic her appearance. With all my strength, I thrust the guard from me.

  "She's getting away!" I shout to the oncoming soldiers. They lift their weapons and waffle between the two of us, settling on her in the dim light. The female guard stumbles backward, confused, and another ship roars above and releases a blast.

  I grasp for the stunner on the ground and immerse with it, reversing the setting to nonlethal. I aim and hit the female soldier, then wheel around and strikes the next three in the chest. They fall limply to the ground, stunned, but not dead. The rest of the guards are busy rounding up townspeople for the moment, not paying attention to me.

  A burst of wind and dust hits my face as one of the attacking ships descends, followed by a smaller pod. Whether they're friendly or not, is a mystery. I cover my eyes and mouth and search for someplace out of view to figure it out. Someone grabs my arm, and I wrench from the grasp, forcing myself around and pointing my stunner into the air at my attacker.

  Aron tosses his hands up. "Not again," he chokes out.

  Instantly, I lower the gun. "Sorry, but don't do that! Where's Meyer?"

  "Here," Meyer's voice calls.

  I dash for him and throw my body into his. After a beat I pull and drag him through the confusion toward Katherine's Café, waving for Aron to follow. We make it to the door with glass on the front and I reach for the handle. Locked. I raise my elbow to smash the glass.

  "Meyer, Avlyn," a woman's voice sounds. I turn to see Gabrielle jogging our way, lowering my arm from breaking the window. Ruiz and a group of soldiers are exiting the craft that just landed.

  Affinity.

  Gabrielle jogs to our group. "I was able to get in contact with Ruiz, but Affinity figured out the attack and was already on the way," she says, out of breath.

  "Where's Waters? Do they have him in custody?" Meyer peers around as if to search for him.

  "I don't know," she says.

  Adriana saved me. Again. I reel with guilt for not trusting her. "Who are all these people? It can't be only Affinity."

  "When Ruiz realized what Waters had in store for you, that he didn't care who needed to die to get you back, she rounded up support. The ships are from Philly. There are factions who desire peace. She sought them out. Some guy named Sloan helped her organize the whole thing."

  My mind moves to my strange experience in New Philly with Dr. Sloan; how I felt as if I trusted him when we spoke in Virtual Reality.

  Ruiz's soldiers continue to round up the ones brought by Waters and contain them apart from the townspeople. On the opposite side of the road, Ruiz bends to comfort a group of small children and their worry-worn mothers. One of the kids is Ash. I look down at my tan camo suit with red stripes on the sleeves and compel it to return to black, then convert my hair to its original color.

  I holster my weapon and step from the café door, away from Meyer, Aron, and Gabrielle. "I'm going to speak with Ruiz."

  As my foot hits the street, the roar of a vessel above fills the air and shudders through my body. I duck as Ruiz's soldiers raise their guns toward it and shoot, but the shots are absorbed by the hull, doing nothing. A pulse emits from the front of the vessel, and as if the world moves in slow motion, the beam stretches over the sky. With a kick, time resumes and explodes into a burst of light.

  My mouth opens to let out a scream, but I'm blown to the ground with heat, flying shrapnel, and pressure. Dazed, I force myself to stand as screaming residents run past me. The building across the way, and everyone in front of it—Ruiz, the mothers, Ash—are dead. There's little left but fire. They never had a chance.

  I flinch as shots come from the side and up at the ship, but it's already flying away, unharmed. Terror and anger twist in my chest and I turn back to the café. Aron's on the ground, shaking his head, and Meyer is already on his feet. Gabrielle's not. Blood flows from her neck. Meyer stares at me wide eyed, then to Gabrielle, rushing to her side.

  "No, no, no!" he yells as he lunges for her lifeless frame. "Not you, too!" He feels for her pulse. "We need to move her. She's hit."

  Aron and I both rush to them as soldiers fire shots into the sky and toward any threats on the ground. I grasp for my stolen stunner and ready it to protect from potential attackers. Meyer grasps Gabrielle's shoulders and the jostling snaps her eyes open.

  "You all need to get to my pod," she chokes out, blood seeping from her mouth.

  "I'm not leaving you," Meyer argues.

  "Sweetie," she says in a low voice, "I know enough to be certain this is not good. Now, take your friends, an
d get in my pod."

  I look up to check if Gabrielle's vessel even still exists. The four-seater is sitting down the road, for now.

  I touch my hand to Gabrielle's shoulder to confirm her nanos are working properly. Maybe she has a chance. I shut my eyes to immerse, but nothing happens.

  She doesn't have any.

  I open my eyes to watch her labored breath against her blood-saturated shirt. "She's right, Meyer. She doesn't have nanos, and where would we take her?"

  "The coordinates are programmed," Gabrielle whispers. "They're encrypted, but Avlyn can decode them. Get Ben and Avlyn to safety."

  The mention of Ben slams my heart into my throat. I reach out to him with my thoughts, but emptiness comes back.

  Gabrielle struggles for breath and then she stops. Meyer leans into her and Aron grabs his shoulder. "Come on. She's gone."

  Meyer shrugs him off and plucks the gun from Gabrielle's side. He motions a 'let's go' and follows the two of us as we book it for our one hope of escape.

  Somehow, through the barrage and explosions, we make it to the craft. "I'm flying," I say to Meyer, sprinting ahead of him toward the pilot's door.

  He opens his mouth to protest.

  "Get in on the other side," I say firmly. No way I'm backing off.

  Brokenness washes over his face and he obeys. Aron climbs in the back as I rip up the hatch and throw myself into the craft. My hands fly over the console and with barely a thought I decrypt and download our destination. The screen displays the hovercraft in the air and on the ground, but at this point I don't know which is friendly. Their call tags are all cloaked. I activate the pod and it hovers over the ground.

  "Get us out of here," Meyer mumbles.

  "I'm doing that." I merge with the pod's computer system another time and propel the craft forward using the on-ship sensors to avoid fire. I weave the pod through the lightshow and flames that are soon to engulf the town, staying trained on the data fed to me by the pod as we exit and scramble to the hill. Somehow, we aren't followed.

  My mind carousels and I focus to settle it. We have to locate Ben. We can't just abandon him.

  Ben, I think to him again. You have to answer.

  But all I get back are my thoughts and the inky wasteland of my own emotional state.

  "Where did we leave Ben?" I ask Meyer.

  "After Water's ships went after us, they drove us off course. I've forgotten the coordinates where we crashed. It could be anywhere."

  "If I had my controller, I could track the drones." Aron leans toward us from the back. "But it's gone. I lost it."

  My stomach drops at his words. "That means they might find the drones and Ben."

  Meyer runs his hands nervously into his hair. "There's no way to know if they haven't found him already. You can't connect with him?"

  "Well, he wasn't in the city, so I'm not going to give up hope."

  "Avlyn," Meyer says in a low tone. "He might be dead."

  Anger and fear burn in my chest. "I'd know if he were dead!" I shout. The emotions overwhelm and consume me. My head goes light.

  Avlyn.

  Ben's voice weakly cuts through the viscous state of my emotional being. He tells me his coordinates.

  My eyelids fly open. "I know where he is." I download his location to the pod's computer and check the vicinity for enemy vessels.

  "What?" Meyer says, confused.

  "I know where he is. It's not far."

  "Then we pick him up. But we won't have long." Meyer twists to Aron. "I might need your help getting him inside. We have no way of knowing what kind of shape he's in."

  Aron nods. "No problem."

  "You have to stay here, keep the engine on," he says to me.

  I swing the ship around, hope building in my chest as we fly over the terrain.

  I'm coming for you, I think back to Ben.

  In the distance, I spot something shiny in the night light. Our crashed pod. I propel us toward it and start my descent, ever alert for new vessels. Below us are two additional wrecked enemy crafts, still smoking, and at least ten dead bodies.

  What happened here?

  Gabrielle's vessel brushes the ground and I look to Meyer, who pulls his stunner out. In an instant, he and Aron have the doors open and surge out.

  "Ben!" Meyer calls.

  A glowing green orb hurls toward Aron across the sky and halts in front of him. Aron waves to Meyer and the two of them sprint in the direction of the abandoned pod. Five more orbs follow close behind. Ben's shadowy figure inches out from the pod and everything in me wants to go and help, but I need to keep put.

  I study the scanner on the operating console and my breath skips. Two unknown green vessels blink on the screen. I jerk up my head to face my friends and watch as the once-green orbs switch to red.

  Chapter

  Thirty-Two

  I shove open the door and hurtle from my seat. "Attack imminent!" I shout.

  Meyer's shadowy figure rounds his head my way and grips Aron by the arm, pushing him back to the pod. Aron shakes his head and continues to Ben, who's now dragging toward them. Aron's drones zip over my head with a whoosh and fly in the direction of the oncoming ships. Lit by the moon, Aron slips his arm under Ben's and moves him in my direction. Meyer stays on guard, weapon ready.

  "Hurry!" I scream as the roar of a ship sounds from behind me. The drones circle above, shooting at the opposition. The already-bright night lights up with energy, pulsing back and forth. I step from the pod and raise my stunner, compelling it to the kill setting.

  The orbs assume an attack formation and descend on one of the hover pods, weaving in and around it, releasing a steady stream of energy pulses. The ship returns the charge, but the drones are too small and agile. Flames and smoke burst from the hull, and the craft pitches, crashing to the earth.

  The six drones turn on the second ship, but it's faster and better at avoiding them. Smoke fills the air and my lungs, but I hurry through it to find my friends and brother, mouth covered.

  "Meyer?" I shout over the rumble of an explosion inside the crashed ship. The hatch on the vessel groans open and a group of soldiers, five— no, six—emerges, their guns extended. A fusillade of light races our way.

  I raise my stunner and shoot, a blast hitting a soldier straight in the chest. He falls and I move to strike the next, but an energy burst comes from Meyer and Aron's way, then another from the direction of the soldiers. A beam zips past me, just missing my shoulder, but the energy drives me to the ground. I pivot to right myself and fire again. One, two, three. The pulses enter the soldiers' bodies and they collapse.

  The second ship lands just beyond the crashed one, despite Aron's drone attack, opens. Ten soldiers pour out of the now-released hatch, guns blaring. The drones zip in and destroy several. I get to my feet and dart in the direction I last saw Meyer. Through the smoke of the burning ship, Aron and Ben emerge, dragging to our pod. Gunfire surges in their direction, and I toss my arm out and start discharging to cover them. Some of the soldiers take shelter behind the wreck, but keep firing.

  Still not locating Meyer, I throw myself down, hoping for camouflage in the brush. I twist Aron and Ben's way. They're nearly to the pod.

  "Meyer!" I yell, my chest heaving for breath.

  As if the call made him appear, he slides in alongside me. "Get to our ship," he pants. "I'll cover you and be right there. I think we have a chance with the drones. Most of Water's troops are down."

  "I'm not leaving you."

  Meyer looks back at me. "I'll be right behind. I promise."

  I stare up to the battle between the drones and soldiers, quickly scanning for the fallen fighters. Meyer's right. I think there are only two left now.

  I hesitate and give him one last plea, then rise and tear off for the pod. A shot lights up over my head, but I ignore it and keep running. I meet with Aron, whose loading a nearly unconscious Ben into the pod. I nab Ben by the opposite shoulder and shove him in.

  I flash a
look to Aron and he shuts the hatch, then rounds to the opposite side of the pod. I do the same and release the door to the pilot seat, flinging myself in and activating the controls. With a beep the screen comes to life, and I merge my mind with the ship computer.

  "Meyer made it," Aron says.

  Thump. Meyer slams his body into the other side of the pod, making me jump, and forces open his door.

  "They're all down, but I don't know about the pilot. Let's go!" he yells.

  Once he's in, I command the ship's system to secure the doors. As they do, the navigation screen fills with several new arriving ships. I gasp at the sight of them.

  "There are more ships half a mile out!" I shout. My hands fly over the controls and the ship hovers slightly from the ground.

  "You need something bigger to cover your escape," Meyer says. "And I can fly that ship. Put the pod back on the ground."

  "Back down? No way."

  Meyer's face grows stern. "If you want Ben and Aron to live, do it now!"

  I hesitate, turning to peer back. Aron sits terrified, gripping his chair and Ben is passed out beside him.

  "You're out of time!" Meyer yells. The pod lowers with a thunk to the earth and Meyer twists to Aron. "She doesn't need it, but take care of her."

  Without waiting for an answer, he grabs his stunner and frees the door, throwing it shut in back of him, bolting for the enemy ship. He waves two of the circling drones our way and takes four with him.

  My stomach drops when I realize what he's doing. "He's going to be the bait!" I yell, pushing open the pod door and leaping from the seat to the ground.

  "Get back in!" Aron's muffled voice comes from inside. "Don't waste his sacrifice!"

  The two drones Meyer commanded in our direction race toward us.

  "Meyer!" I scream, tearing after him, but he's already entered the ship. One of the downed soldiers lying in front of the ship lifts and points his weapon my way. My reaction is too slow.

  With a burst, the world goes white, and I fall limp. I fight the desire to let the world go and my eyes blink open to Aron's terrified face. My body hits the back seat inside of the pod and falls next to Ben.