by Paris Singer
“What you want?”
“It’s me. You know it’s me.”
“No practice tonight. Where the other one?”
“The coach wants to see me.”
“Why no say so before? Wasting my time,” replied the doorman, and he allowed me access inside. The lights were on, casting bright spots around the empty gym. It was strangely still, almost unnatural. I almost expected to see Brong rushing toward me with a list of exercises to do that night. There was a soft clang and I saw Alana standing inside the Sphere cage.
I walked over to her and stepped inside.
“I’ve spent thousands of hours playing this sport. Spilled my own blood and sweat. And that of others. I’ve won so many trophies in my lifetime. I’d never have thought it would ever be illegal. Moved underground.” I noticed a large black box on the floor beside her. It had been hard to get used to the fact that my memories and experiences of Sphere, and everything else aboard the Sky Drifter, had been echoes of Alana’s own. Despite knowing and accepting this, I had strong nostalgia for those days. Everything had been set up for me to win, to be successful in all I did. It was all so easy. I guess, when that was taken away and reality hit, all of a sudden everything became hard. Very hard.
“Remember the Malacs?” I said, sharing in her memories.
Alana smiled and rolled her eyes. “How can I forget?”
“Were they really real?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Even Gamal Metafrick? Seriously?”
“Even him.”
“Mr. Hist’s head almost exploded from how irritating he was.”
“I remember,” she smiled.
“I miss Mr. Hist,” I said. “Where is he now? I’d love to meet the real him.”
Alana’s face saddened. “He passed some years ago, Seven.”
“Oh…”
We stood in silence for a moment.
“He was a good coach, and a good friend,” said Alana.
“He was. The best.”
“The best. Seven, I needed to speak with you.”
“Did you find anything out at the Council?” I asked.
“Not very much. Every file is encrypted to an astonishing degree. The only thing I could find was a file relating to the old Simian monarchy before it ended, but that’s about it. A waste of time.”
“So maybe Perusak really was talking about us.”
“Maybe. But something in my gut tells me he wasn’t. I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right. I wanted to talk to you about something else, too.”
“What about?”
“The situation with the Morex will get worse. Much worse.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Seven, it may get so bad, that we may need to evacuate.”
“Where?”
“Likely underground. If that happens, I may not be able to come find you, so I need you to promise me you would do everything Ms. Photuris asks you to do, okay?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“No—I need you to swear to me. She tells you something, you do it. Clear?”
“Of course, clear.”
“Good. If Simia needs to evacuate, know that I’ll find you, okay? I will find you. No matter what happens, or where you go, know that I’ll be on my way to you, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good. Now…” Alana bent down and picked up the black box on the floor. “This is for you.”
“What is it?”
“Find out,” she smiled.
I placed the box down and lifted the lid off it. I reached inside and pulled out a Sphere uniform. But it wasn’t just any uniform. My eyes opened wide. “Is this…?”
“The uniform I—we wore on the Sky Drifter.”
It really was. It was the same blue and white uniform I’d worn for all those years. Even the same number seven was printed on the chest. “Wait,” I said, narrowing my eyes.
“Yes, seven was my number, too.”
“Is that why my name is…”
Alana smiled. “Try it on. The helmet, boots and gloves are in the box, too. They’re yours, Seven.”
“Are you serious? I can have them?”
Alana laughed.
“But… Won’t you miss them? I mean, So much history…”
“Those memories as much mine as they are yours. It’s only right you should have it. There are two conditions though.”
“Conditions?”
“Win many matches wearing it; become one of the best. Deal?”
“It won’t be easy, but… deal.”
“I’ll hold you to it,” replied Alana, beaming.
“And what’s the other condition?”
“You have to clean the suit and polish the boots.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. Think you can do it?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll give it a shot.”
“Promise.” The look in her eyes told me she was serious. I guessed the suit meant as much to her as it did me.
“I promise,” I replied.
“There’s another uniform in here,” I continued. “And another pair of gloves and boots. And a helmet.”
“That’s right,” Alana grinned. “You and I are going to do something that has been a long time coming.”
I looked at her with suspicion. “What?”
“We’re going to see who’s better.”
CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
Once geared up, Alana and I faced off against each other as we stood on either ends of the Sphere, our helmets by our sides.
“Are you ready?” asked Alana, grinning.
“Ready.”
“I think you should know, I won’t hold back. So you’d better not, either.”
“Are you sure you’ll be able to handle that? I mean, once we start, I won’t stop until I win.”
“Then prepare yourself to be in this Sphere for a long, long time,” she replied. She put on her helmet, and I mine. We were ready.
I took a step forward, ready to try a move on her, but Alana had already taken two steps and jumped, cartwheeling over me. She must have released her light-chain because, in a flash, the yellow beam of light moved down past my eyes. As soon as I heard her land behind me, I felt an enormous pressure around my throat, and I was lifted backward off my feet. Next thing I knew, I was hurtling through the air, and crashed hard against the Sphere cage. My back screamed in pain, and I struggled for breath, as I got to my feet. I looked up expecting another attack, only to see Alana sitting down on the floor, one leg outstretched, her forearm resting on her knee.
“That all you got?” she teased.
I don’t know if she was trying to motivate me, but it worked. I hated losing, and I especially disliked trash-talk. I waved her toward me in a taunt. Alana raised her legs and flipped forward onto her feet. I used that split second to propel myself off the Sphere cage with my feet at full speed, crashing the top of my helmet square into her visor. Alana’s head whipped back, and she was thrown backward before she landed hard on the floor.
“Better?” I said.
Alana raised her arm and gave me a thumbs up. “Don’t get too cocky, though—that one was free.” Swinging her legs sideways, round, and up, she raised herself off the floor, and onto one hand, where she remained for a moment.
Show-off, I thought.
“One-one,” I said. “Get ready to lose.” Just as the last syllable left my lips, a flash of light followed by a deafening sound shook the ground, causing Alana to fall.
“What the cric was that?”
“Language,” said Alana, taking off her helmet. “I have a terrible feeling, Seven.”
Another ear-splitting sound caused one of the overhead lights to fall to the floor as it shook.
“Stay right by me, okay?” she said. I nodded, worried about what may be happening. We put our helmets back on, and ran outside, the doorman allowing us immediate exit.
We turned and watched the city burning with fire and rolling s
moke reaching high into the sky. From within emerged Morex attack ships, cruising as they blasted anything in their paths. Smaller Simian ships flew in and out, trying to intercept them, but were shot down by the greater number and power of the Morex. Screams and explosions echoed in the night, as buildings crumbled into a rising pile of fire, dust and smoke.
“How can this be happening?” I cried.
“They must have found a way past Simian defenses.”
“I didn’t think that was possible.”
“Neither did I, but they did it.” Alana looked around her with urgency. She grabbed my hand, and we ran to the nearest bar, where its few patrons were gawking in awe at the unfolding scene. Alana pulled me toward an unoccupied bispeeder. She jumped in the front part, and I sat behind her. A clear roof slid from the back to the front meeting the panel of lighted controls, sealing us in.
“Hold on,” she said, as the bispeeder levitated off the ground. Alana pressed her finger against a few switches, and the vehicle shot forward at great speed.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The academy. We have to get off this planet. There’s a secret underground hangar for emergencies. Ms. Photuris and the other teachers will usher any students down there. I just hope we get there before they leave.”
We streaked across the industrial zone, into the chaotic main city, zigzagging past falling debris, burning vehicles and weapon fire from aggressive Morex ground troops. Civilians who tried to escape with their vehicles came hurtling down to the ground like burning comets after Morex ships shot them down. There was so much smoke, I couldn’t see much farther than the front of the bispeeder. Somehow Alana got through the havoc, and into the park where, moments later we reached the bridge that led to the academy. Alana stopped.
“What is it?” I asked, craning my neck round her.
“It’s too late,” she breathed. The clear roof slid back, and we got out. An enormous Morex ship positioned itself above Laurea academy. From beneath its center, a yellow light glowed for a moment. A single gigantic beam from within it shot straight downward into the academy, briefly engulfing it in its light, before razing it to the ground in a cloud of fire and black smoke.
“Sally,” I gasped.
“Come on,” said Alana, getting back inside the bispeeder, “we have to move.”
I stood gazing at the smoking chasm of where the academy had been, hoping against hope that those who had been inside had long escaped aboard the ship.
“Seven—come on. We may have one last hope.”
Alana closed the roof of the bispeeder as soon as I was inside, turned it round sharply, and blasted off back into the city.
“The academy’s gone,” I said, “along with the ship. What can we do now?”
“The Council,” replied Alana. “I know they have a secret underground hangar, too. I’ve never seen it, but I saw the building’s blueprints—it’s there, and it’s our last chance.”
CHAPTER FORTY SIX
The screams of fleeing people echoed through the streets as squads of Morex footmen marched in unison, blasting anything that moved. They fired on us as we streaked through the chaotic city, but Alana somehow avoided us getting hit. Soon we reached the wide road where the Council building stood. It’s silver and violet gem walls, recently so imperious a sight, were now cracked and broken, thick gray-black smoke billowing from inside.
Alana stopped the bispeeder inside a shadowy alleyway, and we continued on foot, sneaking and crouching our way closer to the Council building. Some Torus guards lay lifeless by the open doors, replaced by Morex—five or six—who stood over them. They seemed to be guarding the entrance.
“How are we going to get past them?” I asked in a low tone.
“You’re a Sphere player, aren’t you?” she replied, “Just think of them as opponents. We’ll need to be fast: if they hit us with their weapons, it’s permanent lights out. Think you can do it?”
“I think so,” I said. I was nervous, but thinking in terms of Sphere made it exciting in a way. Suddenly a flash of adrenaline rushed all over me. “Yeah, I can do it.”
“I know you can. Ready?” she said lowering the visor of her helmet. I nodded and did the same. We sneaked forward, using the destroyed vehicles and fiery debris that surrounded us. I moved around until the Morex were straight ahead of me, and crouched behind a silvery-gold pile of rubble, while Alana approached from the left. I watched for her signal. A yellow-orange mist had settled all around, muffling the surrounding screams and shots.
From where Alana stood a fist-sized rock darted through the mist and hit one of the Morex square between his eyes. A split moment later she emerged, back-flipping toward the confused, yet alerted, Morex.
“Crap,” I breathed, coming out from my hiding spot, and dashing toward the footmen. The Morex raised their weapons, but Alana was already somersaulting above them, swinging her leg wide, and crashing the heel of her boot onto the top of one of the enemy’s heads, knocking him out, then kicking another in the face with the same foot. Just before the two closest ones could fire on her, I swung my light-chain and ball round at full speed, sweeping their legs from under them. As they fell, one Morex shot the other in the chest. I flipped forward and landed on the face of the one that was still alive. Meanwhile, Alana had narrowly avoided being shot, and had defeated the last of the Morex with a series of quick kicks and punches, ending the fight by swinging her ball into the Morex’s throat, and kicking him between his legs.
“Whoa,” I breathed, my heart beating like a drum.
“Nicely done,” said Alana. “I’m happy to see the training I gave you was useful.”
“Is that why you made me do all those horrible exercises?”
“The Morex attacks were getting worse, and I wanted to make sure you were fit if there was an invasion. Looks like I was right.”
“But I thought you made me do them because you found out I’d been intoxicated.”
“That made the decision much easier, yes. We’re wasting time.” We ran inside. The darkened hall was empty.
“The hangar is on the lowest level,” she said, walking to the back. Alana placed her hand in front of the small, square protrusion on the wall next to one of the elevators, but it didn’t open.
“Looks like we’ll be forcing our way in. Help me.” We each worked our fingers into the narrow groove between each door and pulled back as hard as we could. The doors slowly yielded to the pressure and opened just enough to allow us entrance. The square elevator shaft was pitch black and appeared bottomless. Attached to the walls were a series of pipes that ran all the way as far as I could see.
“Long way down,” I said. “Now what?”
“Well, we’re sure not going to jump,” she replied. Turning her attention to the pipes, she said. “I’ve got an idea. Follow my lead.” Alana pressed the button on her right glove, releasing the light-chain and ball, and took them in her hands. Turning to the right wall, she leaned toward the pipes, and threw the ball behind the closest one so it came out the other side, and picked it back up with her left hand. In one move, Alana jumped and placed both her feet against the wall, as she pulled back with her body. The force of the friction between the light-chain, her body and the pipe was enough to keep her from falling. Alana eased her way down a little to allow me enough space to do as she had.
A moment later, we were both descending the long elevator shaft, with only our light chains to keep us from sheer darkness.
“It’s like we’ve been going down for hours. How much longer can it be to the bottom?” I said.
“It can’t be much farther now,” replied Alana.
“You sure there’s a hangar down there? Feels like we’ll just come back up on the other side of Simia.”
“I’m positive. I saw the blueprints—it’s there. Trust me.”
Soon after our feet reached the ground. A thin vertical line of light from the elevator doors bisected a small, dark, square space.
“Thi
s should be it,” said Alana. “We need to be careful, Seven. The Morex might well have found the hangar, and may be guarding it. If we have any chance of taking a ship and getting out of here, we have to be silent and quick. I don’t know how many footmen there will be, but it could be more than we can handle.”
“Got it.”
We retracted our light-chains, and slowly pulled the elevator doors apart, ready to attack if we needed to.
CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
The hangar wasn’t much larger than the vehicle parking area the VAIAs had taken me to when I’d first arrived. It was large enough to store a few ships though. The high metallic walls were illuminated by bright blue overhead lights built within. Scattered around were pieces of machinery, cranes and yellow drums of various sizes.
We stepped away from the elevator doors, making sure they closed silently behind us, and crouched behind some drums. Alana had been right: clusters of footmen walked around the hangar in threes, or stood around two Morex ships in the center. The biggest was one of the attack models I’d seen before, while the other had sleek curves and was much smaller.
The sound of a single shot filled the hangar. Alana pulled me down lower toward her.
“They can’t have seen us,” she whispered.
“I want the other one found and brought to me, yes?” I recognized the voice of Perusak, but drums and machinery obscured his location.
“He just killed someone,” said Alana craning her neck to look around. “They must be distracted. This is our chance. I think we can make it to one of the ships nearest the exit. Keep as close as you can and don’t make a sound. Wait for my signal; we’re going to try to make it over to that crane,” she pointed, “then those drums, then that ship, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Search the whole building. She must still be around somewhere, yes?” Perusak continued.
Three Morex marched toward the drums we hid behind. I held my breath, convinced they’d be able to hear me breathing. As soon as they walked by, Alana said, “Now.” We hurried at a crouch in partial shadow toward the back of the crane and stopped. From our new position, I could now see Perusak. The cloaked figure was beside him, and they both stood over the sprawled body of Fhior, the councilman.
