Shattered Skies

by ALICE HENDERSON

  “She’s right,” Parrish said beside H124. “Our ancestors tried a bunch of times to hack it when they first got here, and they almost blew themselves up. So instead they opted for wind and solar, building new conduits to power the improved shield. But supposedly that old power grid is still there. You can access it from a substation.”

  “Where is it?”

  Parrish pulled up the map on H124’s PRD, dropping a pin on its location.

  H124 noted the distance. “That’s sixty-seven miles away!”

  Onyx raised her voice over the gunfire. “Juliet says it’s all PPC tech there. Might not be that different from what you’re used to from New Atlantic. There are a number of locked doors that have theta wave receivers. You have to get through those first.”

  TWRs. They were H124’s specialty. “I can do that. What about a decoder?”

  Onyx glanced over her shoulder as the craft banked and she almost came out of her seat. Her eyes drooped, and for a second H124 thought the hacker was going to be sick. But she swallowed and pulled herself together. “They don’t know. But I’m thinking Olivia must have one. It’s got to be her backup plan.”

  “What does this thing look like?” H124 asked.

  Onyx called to Juliet over her shoulder, but Juliet only shook her head in bewilderment. Willoughby came forward, struggling as the aircraft took evasive maneuvers. “H,” he said, gripping Onyx’s chair. “I’ll bet it’s an enigma decoder. High level PPC execs use them for all kinds of things—safes, vaults, locking up rooms where IPs are stored. They pick a thirty-three digit code for a scrambler. Without a decoder, they’re impossible to break. But if you’re high enough in the pecking order and you have one, you should be able to crack it.”

  “Is Olivia high enough?”

  “Definitely.”

  “What would it look like?”

  “Should be pretty small. Maybe just an inch long, half an inch wide. It should have a floating display. Might have her exec number etched on it.”

  “What is that?”

  “43279.”

  “Can you get a lock on her position?” H124 asked Onyx.

  The hacker’s hands flew over the virtual keyboard. “She’s here.”

  Seconds later, H124’s map beeped with the new location.

  “I’m going to find her.” H124 signed off.

  She needed a way to close that distance and fast. As she watched, another Death Rider airship lowered into view. They were arriving faster than they could repel them. The sooner she got the shield up, the more they could block out.

  She scanned the battlefield for options, her sights falling on an unmanned Death Rider combat glider parked in the distance.

  She turned to Rowan. “I need to get to that glider,” she told him.

  She was about to dash out from the cover of the rocks when Onyx called back. She brought up the comm window.

  “There’s a snag,” the hacker told her. “Juliet just told me that their shield controls aren’t designed to work with the PPC power grid. It’s different tech entirely.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “They won’t be able to selectively turn the shield on or off in different parts. Once it’s on, it’s just on. And the power substation is miles outside the shield edge.”

  The realization hit her hard. “So you’re saying that whoever goes out there and brings up the power to turn on the shield…”

  “Won’t be able to get back in.”

  H124 glanced over at Rowan and Parrish, who were firing at the night stalkers and Death Riders as the battle moved ever nearer their location. They hadn’t heard what Onyx had said. She’d lost sight of Dirk, Astoria, and Byron. She knew they’d argue with her, but she didn’t want them on the outside of the shield when it came back up. They wouldn’t have time to get anywhere safe before the asteroid hit.

  She looked back at Onyx. “Could one person conceivably get the power grid up and running?”

  “If they had the decoder and a way to get through the TWRs.”

  “Where are Byron and the others? Raven?”

  Onyx typed in a few commands. “Their PRDs are saying they’re about fifty-two miles to the west of you, closer to the interior. Looks like they’re on an aircraft heading to an armory to restock.”

  H124 nodded. “I’m heading out to find Olivia. Then I’ll get to the power station.”

  A sudden blast on Onyx’s side of the link blew out the audio for a moment. Onyx squeezed her eyes shut, and her PRD’s camera went askew. H124 saw a fire spring up inside the craft, a panel behind Onyx sparking, igniting.

  “We’ve been hit!” she heard Juliet say. “Get ready to abandon the ship as soon as we touch down.”

  The camera shuddered. With some difficulty, Onyx lifted it back up so H124 could see her face.

  “I have to go,” Onyx told her.

  “Let me know when you’re in the clear,” H124 asked her.

  Before she could respond, Onyx’s screen went black.

  Chapter 25

  Worrying for Onyx and the others aboard the Binit ship, H124 crept around the boulders. She eyed the unattended combat glider, then pointed it out to Rowan. “I’ve got to get on that. Have to clear some distance and fast.”

  The battle was almost at the rocks now. Parrish took off running, gaining some distance. Byron and H124 hastened away at an angle, trying to avoid attracting the night stalkers’ attention. A few Death Riders shot at them, but there was so much smoke that hitting a moving target in all the chaos was nearly impossible.

  She reached the glider where it hovered just above the ground. “Ever flown one of these things before?” she asked Rowan.

  He shook his head.

  Undaunted, she slung a leg over it, then quickly studied the controls. Rowan jumped on the back, holding on to her waist. She moved her fingers to the handlebars. The grips twisted. She turned the right one, and the glider suddenly jumped forward. Byron almost flipped backward. She turned the other one, and it brought them to a halt. On the right and left handlebars were buttons that operated the glider’s guns. The entire front of the craft turned, pivoting on a shaft that allowed her to steer. She twisted the accelerator, and they shot away from the battle. She heard a crack behind her, and checked over her shoulder to see a Death Rider training his rifle on them. She veered wildly to one side, pushing the accelerator even more.

  The glider shot across the terrain. She discovered two foot pedals. One lowered them, one raised them, so she pressed down hard on the ascender pedal. They climbed into the clouds so fast that her whole body slammed down heavily into the seat. Rowan held on to her.

  As they skirted away from the fight, she brought up her PRD’s map, locating the glowing dot that marked Olivia’s current position. It was twenty-four miles away.

  H124 punched it, and they rocketed through the air. She’d hardly ever felt so giddy and free.

  Flashes of light lit up the distant sky. As they drew near Olivia’s location, H124 spotted three Binit aircraft mounted with pulsar cannons. They flew fast on the heels of Olivia’s airship, firing relentlessly at the rear. Olivia’s transport attempted to pivot, bringing it alongside the three Binit craft. Her panel of guns blasted at the Binit, but the smaller crafts, far more maneuverable, simply dropped down beneath the lumbering airship.

  The Binit craft split up, arranging in a triangular pattern with the airship between them, all firing simultaneously. One of Olivia’s engines caught, then a stream of fire hit the exhaust ports. The skin of the craft ignited, and the ship took an accelerating nosedive.

  The Binit aircraft hit it again and again, igniting other parts of the solar-collecting skin. Olivia’s plummeting airship finally hit the ground, crashing at an angle, dragging vertically along the dirt, the cabin turned on its side, everything sliding toward its nose. H124 didn’t think anyone co
uld have survived that uninjured.

  The airship ground to a halt three hundred yards away. The ramp slammed down.

  H124 slowed the combat glider, hanging back at a safe distance. Olivia emerged, still wearing a smug demeanor despite the pounding they’d just taken. She smoothed her silver hair back as the Death Rider with the skull epaulettes stepped out beside her. Two haggard looking men erupted from the smoldering ship behind them, taking off at a full clip to the south.

  “Don’t let those workers get away!” she shouted to Epaulettes. The escaping men struggled to maintain their pace as their tattered clothes hung off their thin frames. “We can’t get into the substation without them!”

  Epaulettes ordered two of his warriors to go after the workers. Rowan sniped the Death Riders. H124 unslung her rifle, fixing her sights on Olivia. Battle axe in hand, Epaulettes launched himself toward one of the small Binit aircraft as it flew past. He swung down hard, clipping the craft as it flew by. It teetered, though it managed to stay aloft, swinging around for another pass. He ran to meet it.

  Olivia stood in front of the burning airship, exposed and alone. H124 took a knee, and even more careful aim. She hit Olivia twice, once in the thigh, once in the shoulder. Her grandmother cried out as she collapsed. H124 took off toward her.

  Olivia didn’t spot H124 in the frenzy until she was almost on top of her. Her grandmother struggled for a flash burster at her side, but H124 stomped on the woman’s hand.

  “Where’s the decoder?” H124 demanded.

  Olivia’s hateful eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she enunciated, indignantly.

  H124 lowered her eyes to her grandmother’s wrist. Attached to her PRD was a sleek inch-long device, exactly as Willoughby had described. H124 kneeled down and tore off the woman’s PRD as Olivia’s grasping hands clawed desperately at H124’s arm. She studied the device’s surface. Etched upon it was the number 43279.

  “No!” Olivia cried, trying to grab it back.

  H124 stepped away, leveling her rifle at Olivia’s head, finger on the trigger. Suddenly Rowan was beside her. He placed his hand on hers. “Don’t,” he told her. “She doesn’t deserve to live. But if you’re the one who kills her, it’ll haunt you forever.”

  H124 paused. Would it? She wasn’t so sure. It’s not like she grew up with the woman, and the only thing she’d seen from her was pure evil.

  “He’s right,” Olivia pleaded, sniffling, trying to get to her feet. “You don’t want to live with that memory. I’m your grandmother. Your family. You have to help me.” Olivia looked back at the smoldering airship. “My medpod is destroyed. You have to get me to another one.” Blood seeped through her suit, soaking the fabric. Her tone hardened. “You shot me. It’s the least you can do.” Then she seemed to think better of her demands. “I’ll help you get the shield back up. We can do it together. All I ever wanted was to raise you, to work with you. But that opportunity was stolen from me.”

  “Because you tried to kill your own daughter,” H124 yelled, her throat constricting. “You robbed me of my family!”

  “Don’t listen to her,” Rowan urged. “Let’s just leave.” He gripped H124’s shoulder, coaxing her away. The roar of the surrounding battle reminded her that they were just as exposed as Olivia had been.

  “Goodbye,” she said to her grandmother, turning away.

  “Wait!” Olivia called after her. “The decoder! We have to get the shield up now. There are more Death Riders on the way! I thought by now I would have gotten rid of that stupid slab of meat.” A shadow fell over Olivia’s face. H124 looked up to see Epaulettes standing over her grandmother. He’d heard every word.

  Olivia struggled to her feet, holding out her hands, trembling. The Death Rider’s eyes flashed a cruel gleam. He hefted his battle axe high above his head, and Olivia tried to stagger back, but too late. The axe parted through her head, cleaving her skull in half, splitting her all the way down to her pelvis. Satisfied with his work, the Death Rider removed the blade, pressing his foot against his butchered quarry for leverage. Olivia, or what remained of her, peeled apart, her splintered ribs and exposed organs sloughing off to the ground. Then both halves pitched backward, falling still in the grass.

  Epaulettes turned slowly, setting his sights on H124. He gave a vicious sneer.

  “Let’s get out of here!” she shouted to Rowan.

  They raced back to the glider, where the Binits and Death Riders had shifted their conflict. Three Death Riders stood by the glider, and one was about to board it.

  “We can’t let them take it!” H124 said. She dropped to a knee, aimed, and shot the presumptuous rider. His neck erupted in a geyser of blood, and his companions watched him slump off the machine.

  H124 searched the area for alternatives, a downed Binit aircraft perhaps, but couldn’t find any. With Olivia’s airship down, the Binit aircraft had moved on to other targets. The glider was her only way to close the remaining forty-two miles to the power substation.

  More and more Death Riders ran to the transport. Another tried to climb on, but his compatriot grabbed him by the collar, flinging him off roughly before trying to get on himself.

  Rowan fired his pistol into the crowd, winging one in the shoulder, hitting another in the chest. They whirled on him, and in a unified roar took off toward him. The distraction working, he raced away from H124 and the glider, firing again and again, aiming back at the advancing killers. Then he clicked on an empty chamber.

  H124 fired at the pursuing Death Riders with her rifle, killing two. More kept coming. Rowan reloaded and fired, but they were almost upon him. One raised a chainsaw over his head.

  Now even more Death Riders across the way had noticed the combat glider, and started to run for it. She only had seconds to get there.

  “Get to the glider!” Rowan shouted as he was overrun.

  She ran, leaping onto the glider. Starting its engine, she wheeled it around just as the Death Riders reached her. She veered away from them, ducking as one threw a hatchet at her. Her mind focused only on the roar of the chainsaw as she banked toward Rowan.

  But what she saw was ghastly, and her heart caught in her throat.

  More than ten Death Riders had gathered around him, the chainsaw rising and plunging, with blood shooting up in arcs. She gunned straight for the group, sailing over them as they dove aside.

  And then she saw Rowan, sprawled on the ground, his body limp and red. They’d decapitated him.

  H124 couldn’t believe it. Grief surged within her, a white-hot fire. She wheeled the glider back around, knowing she shouldn’t, knowing she should head to the substation immediately, now, while she still had the chance, that Rowan had died for that chance, but the rage within boiled to the surface, and her fingers slid over the glider’s gun controls. Speeding past the Death Riders, she pressed hard, laying down a stream of fire, blasting two in the head. The one with the chainsaw glanced the back of the gilder with his roaring monstrosity, only to bounce off and narrowly miss her.

  She veered around for another pass.

  This time she targeted the man with the chainsaw, who wore a mask of a human skull. He was missing an ear, sporting a puckered hole instead. H124 never felt such a rage in her core. She roared, savagely pressing down on the gun controls, speeding directly toward him and letting loose a torrent of gunfire.

  His torso blew open. He fell gracelessly. She caught a last glimpse of Rowan’s ruined body, and her whole body shook.

  She thought of him helping her in New Atlantic. He was her first friend, the first person with whom she’d ever had any kind of real conversation. He’d helped her get out of the city, helped her at the very start of the journey that had taken her so far from where she’d come.

  He couldn’t be gone.

  All she could do was blink away the tears, and speed toward the power substation.
<
br />   Chapter 26

  H124 sped onward, tears blurring her vision. When she reached the edge of the shield wall, she brought the combat glider higher, sailing over it.

  A rolling set of dunes blocked her view of the ocean, but she could taste the salty tang of sea on the air.

  H124 checked her location against the map, and brought the glider to a stop fifteen miles from the shield wall. She cut the engine and sat for a moment. She couldn’t believe it. She fought away images of Rowan’s corpse.

  A deep thunder brought her eyes to the sky. For a terrifying moment, she thought Orion had been wrong, that the asteroid was already coming down, right on top of them. She searched the clouds, unable to pinpoint the source of the noise. Then she saw it—a fleet of airships in the distance, closing in on Tathra. She pulled out her diginocs, and zoomed in on the crafts. From what she could make out, it was a mixed fleet of Death Rider and PPC dropships and airships, probably ordered out to the location by Olivia.

  H124 had to get the shield up and fast.

  She resumed her trek to the power substation. She crested a rise and the ocean came into view, whitecaps tossing the surface. She raced along the beach. Before long a squat grey building came into view. It was covered with so many vines she almost missed it. She slowed the glider, once more checking the location. This had to be it. She dismounted.

  Hurrying to the building, she brushed aside the long snaking vines to reveal a door. Part of the building’s wall came away with the vegetation. The thing was crumbling into ruins. She stared out toward the sea. Somewhere out there floated the energy platforms, charging with every rise and fall of the waves. She hoped their cables ran underground, since she didn’t see any snaking in from the water. It would have made sense to bury them, protect them from the elements.

  She closed her eyes, reaching out with her mind, trying to connect with a TWR. But the image of Rowan came flashing into her head with such visceral force that she could only gasp in pain. She tried again, forcing her mind to be still. She reached out, exploring, sending the signal for the TWR to disengage the lock.