Ignis

by Tracy Korn

  “All right, listen, there ain’t an easy way to say this…you have to try to reprogram the trajectory, wise? That ship is trying to take you to ground zero of the port-cloud explosion.”

  No one else talks for a few seconds, and it’s just long enough for me to listen to the frequency again, as broken as it is. How fast are they going? Where are they? I think.

  Equations start to populate in the dark—the dark water leaking through the rock fissures all around them and boring them up toward the seafloor. I hear the electromagnetic pulse of the ship under their voices, under the frequency warble. I hear the rock cracking and crumbling above them, which makes more equations fly into focus. I don’t do the calculations. I just watch them solve themselves and come to life like the most jacked virtuo-cine ever made.

  “Arco!” Jazz gasps, the shock of it sending a spike of adrenaline through me. All the equations collapse back into symbols and numbers…into the totals of a scrolling report.

  “I lost the audio—“ Azeris starts, but I push the rest of whatever he says away so I can focus on the totals coming into view.

  “They’re going to break through six miles of seafloor in seven hours, at an impact of eighty-seven knots. The debris field is getting softer, less compacted. The electromagnetic pulse is going farther. They’re picking up speed,” I hear myself say, but I’m watching the impact of that ship take shape behind my eyelids, the symbols and speed formulas breaking apart and forming the images just like before.

  “Arco, stop. You’re bleeding again!” Jazz says, but I push her voice away because it makes the images blur and fade.

  “The impact will hit all points along the six-mile stretch at the same time with equalized displacement value...” I laugh in disbelief. “The ship accounted for variances in the rock thickness…incredible.”

  “What’s happening? The visuals are off! How is he getting any of that?” my sister says.

  “I think he’s...hearing it,” Ms. Reynolt says.

  “We need to stop that bleeding. Help me with him,” Denison says. People grip my arms from both sides. I struggle until the effort distorts and fades the images too, and I try to refocus on the sound of the feed. It’s working…it’s working.

  “Wait—a six-mile breach in seven hours at eighty-seven knots…they’re about 7,000 meters down…” Avis says. “Figure gravity at 9.81 meters per second…they’re 1,500 miles out. No…crite…it’s too fast. The wave from that impact would wipe out everything like, almost a mile up the Skyboard mountain.”

  “2,087 feet...” I say, watching the square root symbol in the corner of my vision stretch and bow upward, blocking out the setting sun against the water in the image. “It’s coming.”

  “Turn it off!” Jazz’s scream wipes the images out of my head for good this time. I open my eyes and Denison has a small, purple penlight in my face, and the room is spinning.

  “Hey, whoa…” Jax says, gripping my arm.

  “Let…me up…” I say.

  “Arco...be still. Can you hear me?” Jazz asks, pushing something else into my face.

  “Stop… Everybody, stop. It’s OK.”

  “No, it’s not OK,” she says, pulling back a cloth full of blood. I take it from her and force myself to sit up.

  “I’m OK, listen to me… Damn it, where’s that oxygen thing?” I find it on the coffee table and shoot a blast of it to stop the nosebleed that has already half-soaked the little towel I took from Jazz. “The wave that’s coming…that will be the biggest wave in history. A train of them has already started. The swells are growing. They will keep growing as long as that pulse keeps coming. The culminating tsunami will level everything for several miles inland and nearly a mile up the Skyboard mountain.”

  Everyone just stares at me until Ellis breaks the silence.

  “If he’s right,” he says, “then the people being evacuated are not at high enough ground. The shelters are only just within the Skyboard Mountain limits. We have to inform the Maritime Council.”

  “And tell them what?” Avis asks. “We know it’s true because our friend with the psychic nosebleed powers told us?” He shakes his head.

  “Aren’t there people whose whole job is predicting this stuff? They’ll have to realize the evacuations aren’t going high enough, right?” Jax asks, obviously trying to keep his voice level.

  “They don’t even know what’s causing the tremors,” I say. “And they won’t be able to see the trajectory until it’s too late.”

  “All right. Everyone, stop talking for a minute,” Denison says, then scrubs his hands over his face. “The first problem is this hemorrhaging. Those oxygen freezes are a bandage, and I don’t have much more than some basic diagnostic tools and bandages in my gear. We need to get back to Reese’s clinic.”

  “Is anyone listening to what I’m saying?” I press.

  “Son, do you understand you may not be around to say much more if we don’t get that brain bleed under control?” Denison snaps, then takes a controlled breath. “You want to help people, then let us help you first, all right? I need equipment.” He turns his attention to Ms. Reynolt. “Luz, have you had any contact with Sandra?”

  “She’s not answering her cues.”

  “Is this another teacher?” I ask.

  “No, she’s one of our insiders with The State. She can get help rerouting the evacuees,” Ms. Reynolt answers. “In the meantime, I have contacts at Skyboard Secondary Prep who can help us relocate people there. It’s three miles above sea level.”

  Denison nods to her. “Good. I’ll cue Reese and let him know we’re coming back.”

  CHAPTER 43

  Three Places at Once

  Jazz

  Arco paces back and forth from the door to the far end of the sitting room while we wait for Dr. Denison to return from cueing Dr. Halliday.

  “How did that ship even get down there?” he asks, shaking his head.

  “What we know is that it’s at least a hundred years old, if we’re going by the age of its navigation code,” Lyden says.

  “But people have been in the tunnels down there for two hundred years…” I add. “Doesn’t that mean the Phase Two facility and whatever that dome thing is had to be there at least that long for a ship to be buried in the rock?”

  Lyden shakes his head at the ground. “Two hundred years ago…they would have had to lower rigs down through that volcano to print the facility and the dome. The biomes and the ship could have come later, but…”

  “Either way, they were going to leave Earth at some point—maybe it was an emergency escape plan in case they were caught?” Fraya says.

  Ellis raises his eyebrows. “A ship that big? It’s more likely they were using passage as a bribe for partnership. As in, when everything goes to hell here, you and yours can come with us…to our paradise rock landing in space.

  “Right.” Arco nods. “We triggered their launch too early, and look how long it’s taking to get airborne. That ship was meant to leave for good, regardless of the fallout, and without anything in pursuit.”

  “We have another problem,” Dr. Denison says, gripping the frame of the doorway to the sitting room. “Reese picked up the cue and then disconnected it, but it was long enough for him to tell me there were a few State Patrols there looking around. They must have traced the Phoenix and the Wraith somehow.”

  “What does that mean?” Myra asks.

  “It means we’re not safe here. Where those ships came from is not common knowledge—either someone went looking for them and is not going to stop until they find who brought them here, or Van Spaulding saw the newsfeed with Reese and didn’t like his speculations about that Organic we left on the perimeter.”

  “Those Patrols will kill them, Briggs,” Ms. Reynolt says.

  “I know…I know…I’m thinking.”

  The floor starts to vibrate, just a little at first to where I’m not even sure it’s really happening, but after a few seconds, the feeling shoots through my kn
ees and makes me grip the edge of the couch.

  “What’s happening?” Myra asks in a pinched voice.

  Glass breaks somewhere in the room, and the neural feed on the wall turns on again by itself.

  “—I repeat, not naturally occurring tremors, Monty, but updated reports from The Maritime Council have determined that the source of the disturbances is originating about 1,500 miles offshore. The swells continue to grow and are expected to culminate in an estimated tsunami scale wave that is predicted to hit landfall in approximately two and a half hours. As investigations continue, Shoreland Council personnel have mandated evacuation for Seaboard North and all inland communities. Shuttles are running on a loop to the Southern Skyboard North evacuation centers. Please only bring critical items with you so shuttles may accommodate as many people—“

  The feed turns off again with a sudden, stronger rumble, which then fades completely away. Everything is still again as we all get to our feet slowly, just to be sure.

  “Did you hear that? She said that wave is going to hit in two and a half hours!” Ellis says.

  “If we’re lucky,” Avis says, shaking his head. “If that tremor was the pulse effect all the way up here, it has to be battle ramming the ocean floor.”

  “We have to leave now,” Arco says, commanding everyone’s attention. “Azeris, if Spaulding’s men are already watching your hab, is there somewhere else we can go with tech capabilities to stop that ship?”

  “There’s one place, but it’s inland. We won’t have much time.”

  “Thank you, thank you, Sandra. We’ll be ready,” Ms. Reynolt says, coming back into the room. She lowers her hand from her temple and turns to us. “Sandra got my cues. They’ve just realized the destruction will be more than anticipated and have already opened the school. They’re rerouting people, but it’s not going to be a small job.”

  Denison blows out a surprised, relieved breath. “Finally, some good news.”

  “There’s more,” she says, furrowing her brow. “There’s been an accident near the Seaboard school just off the coast—a shuttle collision on the tracks. There’s a massive fire they’re trying to put out, but with so much smoke, they can’t get back to the shore for a final sweep like they’ve been doing in the outlying areas.”

  “But that’s exactly where our families live,” I say, feeling the blood suddenly pounding in my ears.

  “I asked about their estimates of how many people are still there. They’ve already done a few sweeps, and air support doesn’t see anyone on the ground.”

  “But how will we know for sure?” Myra asks. “Can we find out if they’re already at the evacuation sites?”

  “We’ll have to figure out what to do on the way—she sent a transport that will be here any minute for us.”

  “One transport? What if we need to carry more people? Even just our families alone wouldn’t fit,” I say, shaking my head at Ms. Reynolt. She can only draw her brows together in reply.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Jax says.

  “We’ll find them.” My father presses his lips into a determined line.

  “This is the only way to be in three places at once.” Arco nods. “Who’s going to Reese’s clinic?”

  Before I can even process what he’s just said, Calyx is already volunteering.

  “I’ll go. We have a few from The Seam in the area. They’ll help,” she says, tapping her temple to access her cue line.

  “Arwyn, you need to make sure Mom and Dad get to the school, all right? You have to make sure they get out,” Arco says.

  “Your surges…” she starts to reply, but trails off when her voice breaks. My stomach sinks and twists… Helplessness again.

  “I’ll go with him,” Denison says, gripping her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep him on a short leash.” The corner of his mouth twitches as he gives Arco a sideways smile.

  My head is spinning with the reality of this whole discussion setting in. There’s no question I have to go with my father and brother to make sure the rest of our family gets to higher ground…to make sure everyone in our stacks gets to higher ground. But that means I have to leave Arco. Again.

  “And you’ll meet us there,” Lyden says to Arco, briefly meeting my eyes. His lips quirk in an almost smile as I take a deep breath and feel the tightness in my chest start to dissipate. The reassuring feeling has to be from him, and I don’t care if it’s not real… I don’t care if he’s pushing it on me. It’s the only thought keeping me from drowning in the alternative.

  “In two hours,” I say abruptly, interrupting the dismissive agreement Arco has already started to give Lyden with his nodding. My throat starts to tighten again, and my words crack. “No more than two hours, Arco.”

  He sighs, all dismissiveness aside now. He crosses to me and pulls me into his arms. “It’s OK,” he says, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks, and it’s only then that I realize there are tears running down my face. “I’ll be there,” he whispers into my hair. “You think a stupid 2,000-foot tsunami can keep me away from you?” He laughs, and for some reason, the sound of it makes my chest seize with tears that can’t seem to find their way out. I grip the back of his shirt and pull closer to him.

  “Promise me.”

  “I promise. I promise…”

  “Uh, we interrupt this beautiful moment to inform you that we only have one heliocar,” Avis says, opening the front door and extending his hand like the vehicle is going to fly right in at any second, then quickly shuts the door. “Crite, they’re here! They found us!”

  Calyx rushes to the window. “Settle down, killjoy—that’s my ride.” She blows out a breath and winks.

  Avis blanches. “How are they here already?”

  “I said they were in the area,” she shrugs. “Everyone, meet at the school in two hours, no matter what. All our destinations right now are going to be wiped out when that wave hits, all right?”

  “And our trackers are still connected, correct?” Ellis asks. She nods to him, and a second later is out the door.

  Avis and Ellis stand next to me with Arco, along with Zoe, Azeris, and Dr. Denison. My chest feels hollow again as we watch her go, like I’m falling, and everything inside me has been left somewhere above.

  ***

  A large, black shuttle bus glides to a stop at the end of the walkway several minutes later. I’ve never seen a heliocar this big before, and I panic for a second that it won’t stay in the air. In the same moment I remember the Phoenix ship we landed in and push the fear away.

  “Jazz, hurry,” my brother says, waving me toward the door. I start to jog and catch up with him after a handful of strides. He gets in after me and shuts the door.

  “This is Jazz and her brother, Jax Ripley,” Ms. Reynolt says to the driver. He seems familiar with his ponytailed hair sticking out from the back of his hat. It’s dark like my father’s, but that’s not why he’s familiar.

  “Fancy meeting you here, ain’t it?” he says, and then I remember.

  “You’re Liddick’s friend from the tunnels.”

  “In the flesh.”

  “He’s one of your contacts?” I ask Ms. Reynolt. She shakes her head at me as we start to move.

  “No, he’s one of Sandra’s. He’s with The Seam.”

  “But how—?“ I start, then realize I have no idea how to say anything about this economically.

  “Liddick didn’t know I’m with The Seam,” he says. “I got involved because of him, though. When he went looking for Liam those years back. The Seam would have recruited him too if he hadn’t been tapped for Gaia Sur. He asked the right questions,” Finn adds, looking over his shoulder again at me with a small, remorseful smile.

  “He was in the Vishan tunnels with you and Liddick?” my father asks. “How?”

  “He helped us get away from Spaulding’s men,” I say. Finn clears his throat.

  “And served as double agent extraordinaire when our golden boy came off of the Grid freshly minted as a
new Biotech subliminal storyboarder. I never want to see that look on his face again, crite.”

  “You were there! Then you know…” I say, turning to Jax and the others. “See, I told you. I told you Liddick didn’t betray us. Spaulding tricked him.”

  “That’s the truth,” Finn says. “Whoa…” he adds when we fly over an endless line of vehicles trying to get through the Skyboard North checkpoint.

  “They’ll never make it in…” I say, glancing at the waves pummeling the shore. “Crite, do you see that?”

  “Your brother was right,” Lyden says, taking Arwyn’s hand. “This is going to be more than anyone is prepared for.”

  “Where are you going?” I ask Finn, making myself look away from the water and the line of gridlocked vehicles.

  “Skyboard South shelter. That was the plan, I thought? Load ‘em up, move ‘em out?”

  “No. I mean, yes, but we need to make sure people got out of the area near the shuttle crash,” I insist. “Our families live there.”

  “Sandra said that air support was blind in there. They’ve been working on controlling the fire,” Ms. Reynolt elaborates.

  Finn blows out a big breath, then sucks in another just as big. “All righty… Hang on to something,” he says, veering toward the roaring waves and the haze that’s starting to thicken in the night sky.

  CHAPTER 44

  Another Hole in the Sky

  Arco

  Azeris punches what I assume is an address into the wrap-around console of the heliocar, making it flash in my eyes.

  “Sorry, security override,” he says with a shrug.

  “Where are we going?” I glare at him.

  “Somewhere that doesn’t exist.”

  “We don’t have time for riddles, man,” I say, already losing patience, so I take a deep breath. Get it together, Hart…focus.

  “There’s another hole in the sky not far from here,” Azeris explains, raising an eyebrow. “A Seam operative who was running between Van Spaulding and an old associate of mine set it up. Tell you what, the more power people get, the stupider they get.”