by Tess Sharpe
Tossing the weapon—and then her magnificent white mane—she turned around to gaze at Carol and the team through the smoke, her tail twitching as if it wasn’t ready to stop fighting.
“Did you miss me?” the woman asked Carol with a sly smile.
Carol smiled back, relief singing through every inch of her body.
“Never… and always, Hepzibah,” she replied.
17
“DON’T WORRY, she’s a friend,” Carol called over her shoulder to the team.
“A friend who’s made it a habit to save you,” Hepzibah added, dashing over to Carol and inspecting her closely. After deciding that she was fine, she turned her head to watch the guards remaining on the ridge. “How many times is this now? At least a dozen? I do love an even number.”
“I think you’re overestimating,” Carol shot back with a grin, shading her eyes against the suns circling in the sky and trying to assess the situation. They needed to get up on the ridge before more fireballs were hurled their way—and more troops arrived. “I didn’t think you were gonna show.”
“You pulled the favor card,” Hepzibah said. “And how could I resist getting even?”
“She has a tail!” Carol heard Rhi whisper to Scott in awe. She hoped Hepzibah wouldn’t take offense.
“They’re going to hit us again!” Amadeus yelled, pointing to a cluster of lights gathering along the ridge.
“Take cover!” Carol ordered, and the team scrambled behind the ship. She turned to Hepzibah, her eyebrow rising in challenge. “What do you think?” she asked, jerking her head toward the cliff. “You up for a climb?”
The woman frowned. “Why not fly?”
“I can’t right now,” Carol said, hating to admit it out loud.
Hepzibah had known her long enough to understand. Sympathy flickered in her eyes.
“Let’s get to it, then!” she said briskly.
As they began to scale the ravine, the red stone slippery beneath feet and fingers, Carol was glad she’d spent all that time in Yosemite free-climbing—when you were Captain Marvel, you didn’t exactly need carabineers and ropes. But now, as she dug her fingertips into a half-inch gap to hoist herself over a deep crevasse, she was acutely aware that if she fell, she wasn’t flying out of here.
Scrambling for the next foothold, she launched herself upward onto a small ledge just seconds before a fireball plummeted through the air inches from her head and landed on the spot she’d just jumped from, obliterating it.
The tang of singed hair filled the air. Wedging her knee against the rock to keep her balance, she patted the back of her head to make sure it wasn’t smoldering, watching the ball explode on the ground below and spreading lines of flames.
Hepzibah growled, swinging up effortlessly behind her. “These fools don’t know when they’ve been beat, do they?”
“They’re not exactly used to women fighting back.” Carol reached for a new handhold. “You feeling one hundred percent?” she asked.
“One hundred and ten,” Hepzibah replied. “And you?”
She shook her head. “Their weapon—some sort of power suppression—stole my flight. It’s messing with Scott and Amadeus, too, so I’m especially grateful you’re here.”
Hepzibah grimaced in sympathy. “You poor creatures really do need me,” she cooed. “Fortunately for us all, I feel nothing.”
“Fortunately,” Carol echoed.
Crouching on the edge of the cliff, Carol raised her hand and shot several blasts out of it, a rat-a-tat-tat of photon energy. Someone screamed as the air lit so brightly it made the Damarian fireballs look like children’s toys. She heard another shout and footfalls—the guards retreating from the edge of the ridge, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. She and Hepzibah locked eyes and spoke aloud, in unison, to each other and the universe.
“Now! ”
The pair leapt out onto the smoldering ridge as one, honed into a synchronized dance of death from their years as a fighting unit. Her shoulders pressed against Carol’s as they lined up, back to back, turning in a slow circle to survey the surrounding terrain. The guards were nowhere in sight—but their ship was just ahead, set down on a flat shard of rock ten feet away.
Carol moved, Hepzibah at her back, quickly and silently toward the ship, hopping over charred and melted bits of rock.
“There.” Carol nudged Hepzibah gently. She could see the tips of muddy boots just behind the ship. The men were cowering in the wake of Carol’s show of power.
Good. About time they got a taste of their own medicine.
Carol pointed, signifying that she’d circle around the right, Hepzibah to the left. Her friend nodded, mouthing, One, two, three.
They broke apart, heading in opposite directions, Carol soft-footed and sure, and Hepzibah? Well, she had her own style. It involved yelling like a banshee and using her tail to swipe at the feet in those muddy boots, knocking the guard to the ground.
“Don’t even think about it,” Carol said, extending a crackling palm in front of his partner, who was reaching for one of those damn ember bombs. She pushed him against the hull of his ship so hard that it creaked. Her arm pressed against his neck like a steel band and his eyes widened in horror at Carol’s glowing fingers, the photonic energy pulsing around them like a pyrotech’s would, and then looked at Hepzibah, who’d already finished binding his unconscious partner’s hands behind his back. She caught him staring at her, and her tail twitched, her smile mocking as she rose to her feet.
“You’ve never seen anyone like me, have you?” she asked. He gasped as she drew closer. “What foolish men. You cannot contain a Mephitisoid’s powers, not even for a short time. We are an ancient species. Your planet was barely a speck in the stars when my people rose.”
“Liar!” His outburst seemed to startle even himself, sweat trickling off his face as Carol’s arm tightened against his neck.
Hepzibah chuckled. “Bold words for one who stinks of fear. Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.” She smiled, a menacing crescent blooming across her pale face.
“We need to get moving,” Carol interrupted Hepzibah’s game. They had no idea how long it would be until more guards showed up—these two might have called for backup already.
Hepzibah sighed. “Very well. Step aside.”
Carol did as she asked, and she grasped the guard’s head between her hands, passing her wrist along his mouth, under his nose. He jerked backward, his head striking the side of the ship, trying to resist, but there was nowhere to go. He couldn’t help but breathe them in, the powerful pheromones that Hepzibah—and all Mephitisoids—could use to manipulate others.
Though Carol had seen her do this before, it was always fascinating. As soon as the pheromones hit the man’s system, the change was almost instantaneous: His body slumped against the hull and his shoulders relaxed, his hands falling aimlessly to his sides. His eyes grew hooded, and a trusting smile bloomed across his face.
“Doesn’t that feel better?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Now, tell me, where’s the weapon?”
He blinked. Once. Twice. “It’s guarded day and night, inside Fort Olvar.”
“And how do we turn it off?”
He hesitated, his mouth opening and closing like a fish’s. Hepzibah waved her wrist under his nose again, painting his skin with pheromones.
“I… I don’t know,” he said. “It’s beyond my security clearance.”
She rolled her eyes, annoyed. “Too bad.” She punched him on the cheek—a fast, vicious slug that snapped his head backward— and stepped aside as he dropped to the ground, unconscious.
“So,” Hepzibah said, tail thrashing. “What do we do now?”
“Gotta clean up this mess and get out of here quick.” Carol gestured at the guards, and Hepzibah picked her way over the prone bodies to follow her.
* * *
THEY ENDED up piloting the guards’ ship down to the bottom of the ravine and
piling the remaining guards, still unconscious, inside. Carol sealed the escape hatch shut, the heat from her hands melting the metal with the kind of seal that could secure a submarine. They wouldn’t be getting out anytime soon, and whoever came to find them would have a hard time setting them free.
“I’ve collected everything we need from our ship,” Amadeus said, pointing to the pile of crates and bags he’d stacked outside of what was left of the ship they’d arrived on. “Did you take their comms?”
“Of course,” Carol said.
“And I have their weapons,” Hepzibah said, lovingly stroking the gun she’d brought. Her pockets were bulging with ember bombs.
“Here,” Carol called out, tossing Amadeus one of the bright-red comm balls that each guard had worn strapped to their chests.
“Is everything a sphere here?” Amadeus muttered, catching it.
“Seems to be,” Scott said. “So, Carol, who’s your friend?”
“This is Hepzibah,” Carol said. “We used to run a crew together back in the day.”
“We were feared far and wide across the galaxy,” Hepzibah added. “But we can talk history later. Your friend there—Mantis, isn’t it? We know the same people—is not looking good.”
She was right. Mantis was slumped against the charred remains of the hull with her eyes half closed and her legs twitching every few seconds, as if her entire body was trying to reject the overload of emotion. Rhi crouched next to her, dabbing at her sweaty forehead with the sleeve of her jacket.
“My ship’s just beyond the ravine,” Hepzibah said.
“Let’s get out of here before more guards show up,” Carol said, striding over and picking Mantis up in her arms. The empath didn’t protest, which sent a spear of worry through Carol.
The ravine opened up to a swath of ancient rock formations shining scarlet against the horizon, jagged and fierce, like crooked fingers reaching for the twin suns. Behind them, the red gas swirled through the black sky, obscuring the stars. With Carol carefully carrying Mantis, they made good time traveling through the rough terrain and soon came upon Hepzibah’s small ship—a sleek, bullet-shaped shuttle—wedged between two towers of red rock, their shadows falling over them, cooling the evening air.
“I can’t believe you got through their shields and sensors undetected,” Amadeus said, all eyes as they piled inside. The vessel was a one-woman show, designed to be flown solo or with one co-pilot, so it was short on elbow room. It reminded Carol of a swallow, designed for speed and agility. Which, considering the welcome they’d just received, they were going to need.
“I left my main ship two moons away,” Hepzibah explained. “My long-range shuttle’s stealth technology is clearly superior, and the Damarians were also distracted by your arrival, so I was able to slip under any radar they had.”
“I’d love to talk to you about what you’re running in here,” Amadeus said. “You know, after we get everyone rescued.”
“I’m better at flying ships than building them,” Hepzibah smiled, turning to go. “Come with me to the cockpit if you like. I’ll show you the setup.”
“Where are we heading?” Rhi asked her.
“My scanners say there’s a cave about two klicks from here,” Hepzibah said. “It’ll be a secure spot to lie low and make a plan.”
Carol nodded her assent and gently laid Mantis down on a bench in the tiny kitchen, Rhi following close behind her as Hepzibah disappeared into the cockpit, Amadeus at her heels. Soon, a soft rumble from the engine filled the air, and the shuttle took off gently, straight upward.
The kitchen was neat and orderly, with a set of metal cabinets full of food and supplies bolted to the wall, a polished stove, and a toaster oven that Carol recognized as the one that had gone mysteriously missing the last time Hepzibah had visited her in New York.
Mantis whimpered, her eyes drifting shut. Rhi shot Carol a concerned look. “What can I do?”
“I’m not sure,” Carol said. Rhi looked even more worried, but stayed silent.
Scott walked up to stand with them, worrying his lower lip. Before she turned back to Rhi, Carol noticed a shiny ember-bomb burn on his arm that would need some treatment. “You did an amazing job out there, Rhi.”
The girl let out a shaky breath. “We’re not anywhere near the Maiden House. The Field of Fire—that’s what these stone formations are called—is hundreds of miles away. We’re closer to the capital than to my Maiden House. And your powers…” She looked up at Carol, panic in her eyes.
“I know,” Carol said, trying to sound reassuring. “It’s a rough start. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get control of the situation.”
“We kicked their asses even without most of our powers, albeit with Hepzibah’s help,” Scott pointed out, holding a coaxing smile until Rhi returned it for a moment. “And maybe we’ll get used to the weapon faster because we’re all different, in terms of how we got our powers. The Damarians will be running scared in no time.”
Minutes later, Hepzibah called out from the cockpit, “Secure for landing!” Guiding the ship into a graceful descent, she tucked the shuttle into a narrow hollow in the stone at the base of a crooked rock that speared toward the sky.
Carol could feel it in the air, how the adrenaline surge from the fight was starting to fade from her team’s bodies while the Damarian weapon still buzzed in their heads, obscuring their powers. As the ship powered down, she rooted around in the set of cupboards in the kitchen to find a first aid kit.
“Here, let me,” Rhi said. She found the burn cream and spread it across Scott’s arm as he winced.
“What’s in that burning blue gel?” he asked, tucking in the end of the gauze Rhi had just wrapped around his arm.
“A caustic mineral that’s mined in the Tukan mountains,” Rhi said. “When it’s exposed to a Keeper’s flame, it turns into the gel.”
Amadeus and Hepzibah entered: Amadeus looked thoughtful. “That could be interesting… Maybe I can reprogram the flame trigger to be something we could use,” he said. Mantis had fallen into a fitful sleep on the bench; concerned about her fragile state, Carol let her doze on. “Is there a bunk for Mantis?” Maybe some space away from the team would calm things down in her mind.
Hepzibah nodded, and Carol followed her down the shuttle’s narrow hall. There were a few paintings along the walls, skunks and stars and even a flying figure that looked a little like Carol. There was definitely a figure who had to be Corsair, Hepzibah’s partner in crime and life. It looked like he was ripping off someone’s head, but maybe Carol was reading into the rough sketches.
Hepzibah stopped behind her as she crouched down to slide open a door leading to the empty bunk. Carol set Mantis down on the bed built into the wall, and she didn’t stir, even when Carol covered her with a blanket.
“Hopefully some rest will help,” Carol said, looking grim. “I’m worried about her.”
“This weapon of theirs, it must be destroyed,” Hepzibah said. “We—” She frowned, her head whipping toward the mess. Carol heard it, too, and she hurried out into the hall, following the muffled voice.
A voice that didn’t belong to any of her team. A voice that she suddenly recognized, with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
The guard’s comm, the one that she’d given Amadeus to examine, was on the kitchen table. Rhi had sunk onto the floor against the wall, staring at the comm like it was broadcasting every nightmare she’d ever had.
The speaker crackled, and a haughty voice filled the air. President Ansel’s voice.
“I know you’ve returned, Rhi,” he said, his words sharpened with static and cruelty. “I must admit, I am surprised. I didn’t think you had the mental capacity to pilot such an advanced craft.”
“It’s okay,” Amadeus muttered to Rhi. “He can’t find us through this. He doesn’t even know you’re listening.”
“He knows,” the girl said, rocking back and forth, her knees drawing up to her chest as Amadeus stared helplessl
y at her. “He knows. He knows.” Rhi was on the edge of a meltdown. Carol decided she had to show her, right then and there, how someone—a woman—could stand up to this man who had made her an orphan, tortured her, and stolen the woman she loved.
“Umbra wept when I told her you’d escaped,” Ansel continued. “She was punished for it, of course. But I can never stay angry at her for long. What do you think she’ll do when I tell her you were stupid enough to return? Did you think you could take her from me? Foolish thing—she’s mine.”
Carol reached for the comm, thumbing the switch from Off to On. Rhi’s gaze shifted to her, startled.
“Hey,” Carol began, her voice lowered to an unnatural growl as a disguise. “Finished with your ridiculous villain monologue yet? ’Cause I’ve got a few things to tell you.”
There was a pause—a prolonged one.
Rhi gasped. Amadeus patted her hand gingerly, an awkward moment made sweet when she squeezed his fingers back tightly.
“Who is this?” Ansel’s voice changed, growing deeper, less mocking.
She thought about how the Damarians had reacted when she’d claimed their mythic star woman. The fear it had inspired in them. “Ask the guards you sent after my ship,” she said. “What’s left of them, at least. They have an interesting story for you. Believe every word, because I’m coming for you and that precious weapon of yours.”
Without even waiting for his answer, she slammed the comm against the wall with all her strength. It shattered in her palm, the bits of plastic and metal ground to dust under her grip.
“That was either really smart… or really reckless,” called Scott from the hallway.
“I vote for smart,” Hepzibah said, thrashing her tail. “Now they’re scared. And they should be.”
Carol raised an eyebrow, smiling.
“But now they’re going to have even more security surrounding the president and the fort where the weapon’s kept,” Scott countered.
“They will,” Carol replied, a new plan already unfolding in her mind. “But it won’t matter. Because we’re going to walk right through the front gate.”